Xiaolin served all the builders with tea as all of them stared at her new looks with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. A few of the younger ones were peering at her with those leering eyes, though they didn't advance with that, knowing she was out of their league now.

Xiaolin had a substantial Qi inside of her, leading her hair to glow golden, causing her to look something unique and different from mortal humans. Well, according to her master, her existence was unique, not that she would go around beating her own trumpet. She could as much forgive them for leering at her at first.

"You are Xiaolin, right?" Shang, the red-faced worker, asked. "What happened to you?"

"Master helped get an inheritance," Xiaolin said, which wasn't really a lie, technically. "My hair and looks mutated after that."

"So you can cultivate freely now?" Shi Jun, the master craftsman, asked with a smile on his face. The tea her master let her serve was a high quality that everyone waited for it at this time as they had made a habit of it.

"Not completely, but it is a lot better than before."

"Good for you," Shi Jun said. "I wish your father was here to see you today."

Xiaolin's expression sank, recalling her father. She didn't remain there for long, bowed her head and returned to the old house.

She found her master weeding out weeds from the crops, while Vale was running around like he usually does in the morning.

Xiaolin was ready to get on with the art of Concentration, but halted, finding a carriage stopping near the signboard of Stormhold. A frown appeared on her brows as she watched, but her face spread to a delightful expression when she found a cheerful boy coming out of the carriage, followed by a beautiful woman in her early twenties.

Xiaolin left everything she was doing and rushed towards them. Her training robes fluttered in the chilly wind as she reached there and swooped the kid into her arms.

"Rong'er, I missed you so much!" She embraced, showering kisses on his cheek. Giving no space for the kid to complain, she moved on to the woman and embraced her.

Wang Li was obviously starstruck with her new looks and was about to ask about it, but with the embrace, Xiaolin stopped her from doing anything.

"Elder sister, I missed you too."

"Linlin, let me breathe first," Wang Li said as Xiaolin finally ended the hug. The older woman gave a thorough look. "It seemed many things happened the time you were here."

"Yes," Xiaolin answered cheerfully, as she let go of Rong'er who ran after Vale, yelling "Doggie". "You won't believe me completely if I say it. Elder sister, I advanced."

"Really?" Wang Li hugged the younger girl on her own this time. "Congratulations! When did this happen? And how's your hair changed? Give me every detail of it."

"It's a long story. Come inside the house first."

"Congratulations," Gang Rui, the cultivator her master recruited from the Han Family, said. Xiaolin barely noticed him getting out of the carriage in her delight.

Gang Rui was a silver ranker whom Han Xiao ordered to destroy their farm a few weeks back. Obviously, Gale wasn't present at that time, but Vale took the matter in his paws and showed everyone their place.

After that, Gale put every one of the practitioners through a laborious task of building something that he wouldn't tell her. He also gave them two choices, lifelong slavery, or yielding to him in fair agreement.

Sadly, only Gang Rui was ready, and free of oath, to agree to Gale's term. He even gave testimony against his old masters. He left to complete some tasks back in his home and to be properly situated here.

Xiaolin found herself frowning at the man.

Her master had explained everything behind his acts, about why he simply didn't leave them to the enforcer and left them to rot years long in slavery. She understood his reasoning pretty clearly, but that didn't mean she would accept someone like him so easily.

As if noticing the look on her face, Gang Rui halted.

"I'll go meet up with Master Gale," he said. "Please excuse me."

Gang Rui bowed and left to wander the field alone to meet her master.

"He isn't that bad once you get to know him," Wang Li told her.

Xiaolin shot her a look.

"What?"

"Elder Sister," Xiaolin asked, hesitating, "Are you. . ." She didn't complete her sentence but gestured towards the disappearing Gang Rui.

"Oh, hell no, girl," Xiaolin said, clicking her tongue. "He has a family and a kid. Do I look desperate enough to run after the next man I see?"

"Good." Xiaolin sighed in relief. "Elder Sister, you probably don't know, but they were literally attempting to burn the farmhouse."

Wang Li narrowed her eyes. "I certainly didn't feel that with his behaviour so far. He acted with a calm demeanour and politeness all the way here. Then again, I barely know him"historical

"Master said he was doing his best to rectify all the bad things he had done under the Han family," Xiaolin added as they got into the house.

"Anyway, enough about that. Tell me everything about what happened to you," Wang Li asked, entering the house. "And by everything, I meant Everything."

Xiaolin sat across from her on the couch after serving her tea. She considered how to start with the talk. In the end, she hid nothing from her elder sister and let out everything that happened, which led her to the horrifying calamity.

Wang's face went from startled to completely horrified as she heard that Xiaolin almost died through the process, and only managed to keep her life after Gale helped her with his everything.

"You're really fortunate to get such a caring master like him," Wang Li said, squeezing Linlin's palm. "Then again, Linlin is so cute and tender, no man would ever be able to keep themselves from saving you."

Xiaolin blushed, snuggling in her chest to hide, unable to meet her gaze.

"That expression tells me something else happened as well," Wang Li said. "Linlin, are you still hiding something from me?"

Xiaolin replied with something, but only a muffled sound came, blocked by Wang Li's robe and body.

"Speak clearly."

"Master. . ." Xiaolin said with a shivering voice, "he accepted me."

"Accepted you in what exactly?" Wang Li frowned. "Wait, you meant to say. You mean--"

"Yes," Xiaolin said and literally hit her head onto the older woman's bountiful bosom.

"Wow. . ." Wang held the girl up to meet her eyes. Wang Li was dying to know how that come around. Well, with Xiaolin's new look, she could guess it, but Gale seemed like a person who would wait for Xiaolin to be ready, instead of frustrating her for years. Something big happened must have happened for him to go forward in the next step in the relationship.

"That's great progress. Not only did you achieve your first breakthrough and found yourself a lifelong companion. You haven't told me how this happened, though."

____________

Vote with power stones / Golden Ticket / Simply review to help the book reach to a larger audience.

Thanks, Kolwmn, for the review.