The three individuals advanced towards the great courtyard; He Yitian and He Quanyi walking closely at either side of He Yiming.
After a few moments, both experienced a strange feeling. The current He Yiming indeed seemed different, but how? They simply didn’t have a clue.
However, after observing He Yiming during the walk, they were now convinced that He Yiming had indeed advanced. However, in any possible case, they simply couldn’t imagine that He Yiming had not actually advanced to the tenth layer, but Xiantian realm.
As he gently opened the entrance of the great courtyard, his face revealed a trace of a queer smile.
He already knew that in the courtyard’s main hall, his grandfather was not alone. His eldest uncle He Quanxin and the old servant He Laibao were also present.
Upon hearing the news of his return, the two had ignored the affairs of Book Pavilion and arrived here.
“Grandfather, Grandpa Bao, eldest uncle.”
He Yiming performed a bow and brightly said.
“Quickly get up.” He Wude stood up and arrived before He Yiming, helping him up while carefully measuring him up as well.
As He Yiming saw pale gray hair on his grandfather’s temples, he suddenly felt sour. The old man had indeed done as much as he could for the clan.
In a few months he’d not seen his grandfather, although the latter had not changed visibly, the above feeling in his heart had increased to the extreme.
The twinkle in He Wude’s eyes increasingly brightened as his smile increasingly widened.
Eventually, he excitedly said, “Yiming, did you succeed?”
“Yes, grandfather.” He Yiming firmly said.
He Laibao and He Quanxin exchanged a glance. Their eyes revealed a trace of their emotionally stirred appearance.
He Wude didn’t lose his cool like He Yitian and only gave a heavy nod while saying, “He Yiming, you are good… very good.”
He Yiming faintly smiled and suddenly said, “Grandfather, during this time’s trip, I didn’t progress in just cultivation, but also received other benefits.”
He Wude asked in an interested manner, “What benefits?”
In his mind, as long as He Yiming could smoothly advance, it would be sufficient. As for the other benefits, he didn’t care about it at all.
He Yiming took out a jade battle and handed it out, “Grandfather, the biggest benefit I’ve obtained is inside this.”
He Wude accepted it and opened it somewhat skeptically.
However, when he opened the bottle, his nose received an extremely familiar smell.
He could never forget this smell. His vision quickly shifted to the insides of the bottle. His complexion immediately transformed as he couldn’t help but cry out, “Gold core?”
Apart from He Yiming, all four individuals had their faces completely change.
They all knew about the hunting of the spiritual beast and also the gold core. They further knew that there were only three refined gold cores and apart from the one that had already been consumed by He Quanxin, the other two were in the hands of He Wude. This being the case, where did this bottle come from?
He Wude’s complexion further changed, for he’d already seen the number of gold cores in the bottle.
Five pills; there were actually five pills. Two more than the number of pills they had been refined from the inner core of the gold-crowned python.
He slowly put the lid back on the bottle. His expression had already turned exceedingly grave.
“Yiming, where did you find these gold cores?”
He Yiming faintly smiled and said, “My luck is quite good. Following the forest, I actually crossed the Gold Forest country and arrived in the Fire Crow country….”
He recounted his meeting with the Xie family. Of course, he omitted some details, especially those pertaining to the Xiantian realm. As for the matter of two long-armed raccoons, he shifted the responsibility onto the Xie family, saying that the two sides joined hands to settle the matter.
He didn’t wish to still conceal the truth. However, if he spoke out now, it would simply offend everybody. This being the case, it would be better for him to wait another half a year. In any case, everyone seemed to be becoming habitual of his breakthroughs every six months.
However, although his story was simple, He Wude and the rest were already alarmed and trembling inwardly.
After a long time, He Wude heaved a sigh and said, “Yiming, your luck is indeed good. Encountering a noble clan, inner core of two spiritual beasts…hehe..Xie family surprisingly didn’t swallow everything by themselves. You’ve indeed made good friends.”
He Yiming chuckled, not retorting at all.
Although he and Xie family could be considered on friendly terms, he knew what had actually transpired. If he’d not revealed himself to be an extraordinary tenth layer cultivator with unparalleled strength since the beginning, whether they would have still treated him fair was hard to tell.
After ascending to the Xiantian realm, Xie family’s bearing naturally turned increasingly respectful. Even a noble clan like them wouldn’t dare covet a Xiantian cultivator’s assets.
He Quanxin let out a sigh. Suddenly rubbing his two hands a few times, he said, “Since He Yiming has broken through, he is also a tenth layer cultivator. Come.. let’s exchange a few moves.”
He Yiming faintly started and said, “Eldest uncle, how could this little nephew dare fight with you?”
He Laibao chuckled and said, “Yiming, just try your eldest uncle. Previously when the eldest lord was still at the ninth layer, he came to me almost every day to fight. However, now that he is unfortunately at the tenth layer, he doesn’t have any opponent left. These few months, he’d already suffered quite a bit.”
He Yiming couldn’t help but laugh.
In the He family’s second generation, He Quanxin was undoubtedly the most talented member. At the same time, he was also the most diligent in cultivation. He’d the highest achievement, which was admittedly a lot because of his talent. However, it was also because the intensity with which he cultivated was far more compared to his two brothers.
Before He Yiming, a member of the younger generation, made his name known far and wide, He Quanxin and Xu Right were reputed to be the two martial lunatics of Tai Cang county.
He Yiming peeked at his eldest uncle. The latter’s face indeed had a trace of embarrassed smile.
The latter had indeed no opponent ever since he attained the tenth layer. As much guts he possessed, he would never try to look for his old man for a duel. However, he’d no such misgivings as far as the current He Yiming was concerned.
He Wude pondered for a few moments, then actually gave a slight nod. He also wished to take a look, in the end, how far his most outstanding grand descendant had reached after leaving home for several months.
The hall was quite spacious. They moved away the tables and chairs and opened up a small area.
He Yiming and He Quanxin stood at a distance from each other, but their faces were quite relaxed. This was, after all, a martial duel inside the family. There was no danger involved.
As He Yitian watched his father and sixth brother before his eyes, his mind seemed to have returned back to the new year’s skill competition two years ago.
At that time, although he was not as good as He Yiming, he still aspired to chase after the latter. However, he hadn’t expected that in a mere two years, He Yiming would completely and thoroughly leave him behind. Even his father, whom he’d worshiped all his life, only seemed to stand at an equal footing with He Yiming. As such, after a few years, what extent his accomplishments would be when he’d matured?
As He Quanxin slowly lifted his hands, the relaxed appearance of his face was slowly substituted by an exceedingly grave one.
He Yiming’s two legs were erected in the position of character “八” and his two fists were placed before his chest. This was the basic position of Rolling Boulder Fist. As soon as it would be initiated, He Yiming could rush towards his opponent like a huge, rolling boulder and strike.
Although He Quanxin hadn’t learned this metal-type technique, it didn’t mean he didn’t know its sequence of movements as well.
Moreover, what he cultivated was earth-type techniques.
In the five phases, the earth-type techniques were undoubtedly the strongest in terms of defense. Even the offensive power of metal-type techniques couldn’t break earth-type technique’s defense under the same ranks.
However, for some reason, as he saw He Yiming’s movements, a strange thought suddenly emerged in his mind. The more they would remain in a deadlock, the more his chances of victory would fade.
This feeling had no reason as its basis, yet was so distinct. Moreover, it was growing stronger every passing moment.
He bitterly laughed inwardly and ultimately took the initiative to act.
The cultivator of metal-type techniques- ranked number one in terms of offense- had actually chosen to defend, whereas the cultivator of earth-type techniques- ranked number one in terms of defense- had chosen to attack.
Apart from He Wude, all the other individuals exchanged glances. All feeling puzzled and confused.
He Wude, on the other hand, was feeling quite pleased. His Internal Energy was at the tenth layer’s peak- a notch above He Quanxin’s. As such, this feeling was even clearer for him. He obviously understood that He Quanxin had not taken the initiative willingly, but was rather forced into it.
If these two continued to battle in this manner, He Quanxin would quite likely even lose the confidence to take action.
At this moment, he suddenly thought, ‘Don’t tell me He Yiming’s cultivation……is truly above He Quanxin?’
“Ha…”
He Quanxin struck out his fist. Although this fist was not quick, it was extremely steady. His arm was as firm as a mountain.
He Yiming neither backed away nor dodged. The Rolling Boulder Fist was eventually unleashed.
The two individuals unleashed every bit of knowledge they had learned. The might in their blows gradually increased. However, under the tacit understanding between the two, the decorations and objects in the main hall were not destroyed.
He Quanxin’s earth-type fist technique and He Yiming’s Rolling Boulder Fist were somewhat similar. However, the only difference was that Rolling Boulder Fist was an ‘always forward’ technique. One fist after another- it was almost completely offensive. On the other hand, He Quanxin’s traditional technique was undoubtedly a defensive one. As the two exchanged blows, the sound of fists colliding continuously sounded. However, in a short while, both seemed evenly matched. Neither of them had gained an apparent lead.
He Wude faintly nodded, and after a while, eventually said in a lowered voice, “Stop.”
He Yiming and He Quanxin immediately jumped away from each other. Although they seemed quite indulged in the battle, none of them dared to ignore Lord Master’s words and immediately opened a distance between them.
He looked at He Yiming with his heart brimming with joy, “Henceforth, our He family also has three tenth layer cultivators. In Tai Cang county, the era of our He family is imminent.”
He kneaded the bottle in his hand as he pondered for a few moments, “One pill will be for Lai Bao. In addition to this, whoever in the clan can cultivate to the ninth layer’s peak can have one as well.” His vision shifted to the jade bottle in his hand as he softly mumbled, “With this thing, perhaps our He family can truly be passed on for a thousand years.”