There were few people Fu Tengfang did fear or even put in his eyes - he usually was superior to his pears - as his cultivation was already half a step into the middle of the second realm, he was barely 10 and could be counted as a genius in this sect.

He had been given the best of the best from the moment he was born, and while his cultivation speed did slow down a little while inside the sect as he did not have access to all of the wealth of his family, as usual, it did not stop at all - many money pans would awaken from a sweet dream to the reality that without the excessive resources they've got they were barely passing as average.

But not he! He was Fu Tengfang and he would rise up above all these peasants and poor nobles, he would get his own title, he would just be his father's son! We would shadow his father's name in the near future on his own!

But right now he was in a pickle, Ning Yu, was someone that could even make his father bow, someone that might become the next emperor in the future! Of course, he was young but his talent insane, he was a few months younger then Fu Tengfang himself but had already left him behind in cultivation, he had even overtaken that freak Xiu Shihong, there was NO ONE in the outer sect that could handle this person.

Even in the lower echelons in the inner sect, you would not find many people that would be stronger then him, if at all, only people in the mid and upper echelon of the inner sect could suppress this Monster, and these people usually were 5 to 10 years older!

Fu Tengfang might be thinking of himself as a genius, but this Ning Yu was just a big fat freak.

And this freak had called him to a meeting .. alone, he could not even bring the twins Mu and Hian with him!

Their meeting place was a restaurant in the sect market, not many outer sect disciples could afford to dine here, even he himself with his underlings could barely get that money together, and that prince just casually invited him!

Still - no reason to back down, Fu Tengfang stepped towards the personal room with confidence. He opened and closed the door behind him, as expected there was a lavish and costly meal in front of him, High-quality spirit water, and rare sorts of beast meat.

If Kou would've been here right now she would throw all caution into the wind nag the meat and make a run for it! It actually was from the late second and early third realm beast! With meats like that someone like her would not need any spirit stones or pills for a while!

Ning Yu was sitting casually, his legs crossed and his head resting on his left knuckle while his piercing eyes were looking towards Fu Tengfang an amused smile on his face while his eyebrows were slightly raised. Heck! Why was that guy so handsome, here was Fu Tengfang still having baby fat and this damn prince looked like he was chiseled out of stone by a one in a million artist!

"Ah, Mister Fu - I'm pleased you have joined Me today - come sit down and eat with me, we have a few things to discuss." His words his arrogant and self-absorbed tone, and his eyes had that amused glint in them, it put Fu Tengfang on edge the moment he had entered!

Still! He moved to the chairs and grabbed a piece of meat to eat while looking at the prince as casually as he could "Well, thank you for your invite, I do have quite the tight schedule but I'll gladly make time for one such as yourself."

It was common to exchange such pleasantries and Fu Tengfang was an expert in swooning people to his side, sadly his efforts did only hit a hard rock in from of Ning Yu. "Ha? Well - I'm quite pleased about that... Now let's get to what I wanted to talk about."

Ning YUUU!!!! Fu Tengfang's mind was screaming, usually, his partner would do some small talk and drop a compliment! This was normal conduct between people of rank, but this price disregarded him completely! As if he was just some common peasant!

"I've called you here, as I have heard that you have some ... problems with a girl I'm rather interested in, not because of herself but rather since she has a relationship with someone that I'm rather interested in..." the prince picked up a spirit fruit and took a bite before continuing. "What can you tell me about Yun Kou? I have been told you tried to make the girls live miserably, I would've guessed it was beneath you to assault some weak child."

He felt like puking blood already... collecting himself Fu Tengfang kept up a brave facade. "A street child - orphan, thief, and cutthroat -was rude to me while I ran past her in DongZhou, she has been a nuisance to me ever since and so I'm looking to teach her a lesson, I'm however rather curious as to why you would need the information of her exactly." Of course, Fu Tengfang would never tell this prince that this dirty kid had robbed him and got away with it while he was totally engrossed in watching a sugar painting, it's been way over a year since this had happened and he would never make such blunders again!

"Oh, rude - hu? Interesting, anyway I want you to bring her to me as soon as possible, ask her to come or catch her, I don't care - I need her as bait for someone more interesting, and since you already have your eyes on her we might as well work together to avoid complications."

Fu Tengfang ..raised his eyebrows and leaned forward, maybe this meeting would be satisfying in the end, he disliked that slippery girl, and he would not be able to rest until he had taken revenge for stealing from him and making him look like a childish fool!

Here they were two young boys, barely 9 or 10 plotting something against another younger girl, while it might seem despicable, in this world the weak are devoured, have the wrong friends? His enemies use you against them!

She had slept like a rock! God this all felt amazing, her body had recovered from the breakthrough in 2 days of just being plain lazy - she did not cultivate at all for this time, she didn't even meditate, she played around, testing her body and stabilizing herself in the early secound realm.

Shi Shi had been a rare sight these days, the woman had much to do, she usually was only around a few hours a day and went out to do "things" outside, she had told Kou that she worked on trials for the sect so that was probably what she was doing?

Now after playing around, she looked towards the cave the woman lived in usually ... empty... mhm... This feeling was somewhat uncomfortable, as she spent the last few days in here, whenever Shi Shi was around she ...felt warm and comfortable and whenever she was not there was this heaviness...

Her eyes darted around a bit again and she let out a sigh, this feeling was weird and confusing to her, she liked Shi Shi, more then she did her friends, or for that matter anything in this sect.. or in general, she felt safe whenever she was around, warm and safe.

Climbing up a tree she glanced at the sky - She had always been alone, nobody ever cared for her - how she made it, get as old as she did, she did not know.. dirty luck and some random strangers "Kindness" probably... Kou had never quite understood what family is or what exactly it felt like to have one, but the blood and the emotional bond she had with the woman made her feel things she never did before.

And so she sat there letting out another sigh, while she simply could not get her head around WHY she missed the woman so much every time she was not around, maybe deep inside her she had just come here to spend more time with the first adult that actually treated her well?

Hei Mei came to mind, but.. to Kou she was not an adult, more like a big sister type - she missed her too but it was different here, she could go a year without seeing Hei Mei but not seeing Shi Shi for a bit made her almost feel anxious...

Suddenly she bit her lower lip and narrowed her eyes "Anxious.." She...She did not want to lose what she had gained! She had always been secretly jealous about children with parents back in DongZhou, peering through windows and looking at streets as mothers and fathers spend time with their children, sometimes gentle, sometimes harsh - but always with compassion in their eyes.

She furrowed her brows deeper a frown now on her face... Understanding oneself is another way of cultivating, an elder had said that before, she understood something about herself right now, she valued family quite highly and once she had gained it, she would not want to lose it.