"Eh?"

Hearing the seriousness and hope in the matriarch's words, the three didn't know how to respond.

They looked to each other awkwardly before turning back to the matriarch.

Seeing this, the matriarch's heart dropped.

"Of course. This technique must have been passed down through generations. It was foolish to think that the creator was still around."

Hei spoke.

"Uh, that's not it. Actually, you have already met the creator..."

"I have? Who is it?"

The matriarch's eyes lit up. If she had met the creator, then surely things would go well for her. She always made sure to treat everyone respectfully.

Bai responded.

"Me..."

Fang Ren couldn't help speaking at this moment.

"You?"

She almost fell out of her chair. There is a limit to jokes!

Bai responded to Fang Ren, who looked like she was about to have a mental breakdown.

"Yes, with the help of my brothers. We created our own body refinement technique."

She turned to the matriarch.

"And by your description, we accidentally mixed in some transcendent realm aspects."

-Sigh.

The matriarch was dejected. She wasn't in the mood to listen to the nonsense of children right now.

The three could see that she didn't believe them.

Hei spoke up.

"Oh? You don't believe us? Then why don't we demonstrate."

He wanted to take this chance to reel the matriarch in. He knew how distressing a cultivation bottleneck could be to a cultivator. If he played his cards right, he could catch a nice little fish here.

The matriarch was interested. Even though she didn't believe it, there was no harm in verifying the truth of the matter.

"Demonstrate? How will you do that?"

"It's not too difficult. Sister Ren here is a body refining cultivator, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll modify her cultivation technique to improve it. If the cultivation technique we create is superior, then you will have to believe us. How about it?"

The matriarch was slightly offended by these words. It basically meant that their Fang Clan's cultivation technique was flawed, and to the extent that a bunch of kids could see it.

"Don't be ridiculous. Even though she is stuck at the peak of body refining, she is still cultivating the Fang Clan's core inheritance."

Fang Ren spoke up.

"I am willing."

The matriarch was shocked.

"This..."

"I do not believe that my friends are lying!"

Hearing this, the three looked to each other. Wasn't Fang Ren getting way too into this? Since when had their relationship been so close?

"This..."

The matriarch was reluctant but then she realised something. If these three were to modify Fang Ren's cultivation technique, they would have to stay in the Fang Clan for a long time.

She could then slowly pull them in.

"Good, then you can stay in our Fang Clan for now. When you complete the technique, you can use this token to request an audience with me."

The matriarch handed Hei a golden token with 'Fang' written on the back.

After the various interactions, she could feel that this middle child was the leader of the three. She was curious as to why it wasn't Tianlan, but she didn't ask.

"Hopefully, you will be able to complete it before the 5-sect summit."

Hei held looked at the token for a moment before handing it back.

"There is no need. We can do it right now."

"...Right now?"

Bai responded to the matriarch.

"Mm. It shouldn't take too long. Big Brother?"

Tianlan responded with a nod. He then activated his eyes and carefully observed Fang Ren's body.

Fang Ren felt an uncomfortable tingling sensation where Tianlan's vision landed.

She started to squirm in discomfort because of the feeling that she was standing naked in front of him.

The matriarch was shocked.

"An eye technique? Is this also a technique of your Shao Clan?"

Bai responded.

"No, this is Big Brother's unique constitution."

"You have two brothers with unique constitutions?"

"Yes."

Bai wasn't paying too much attention to the matriarch. She was waiting for Tianlan to finish his observations. She was interested in seeing how the Fang Clan's yin and yang cultivation techniques worked.

The matriarch couldn't help asking:

"Do you also have one?"

Hei jumped in.

"You are speaking to a 5-year-old."

The matriarch was startled. That was correct. The entire reason she had these three come to meet her was because of the unbelievable 5-year-old talent that had appeared in their selection assessment.

She was used to seeing cultivators who had a youthful appearance despite their age, so she didn't think too much of Bai's speaking ability.

Now that she was reminded of her age, she recalled the previous interactions.

She was left wondering what exactly this Shao Clan was.

Hei then looked towards Fang Ren with an apologetic smile.

"Forgive us, Big Brother has been creepy since birth."

"N-No, it's not a problem"

Krch.

This was the second time today. Tianlan resolved to pay Hei back with interest.

"I'll teach you a lesson one day, Brother. Wait for me to break through your defence, then we shall see who the real creep is."

Hei responded.

"Big Brother... You realise that that was incredibly creepy, right?"

Krch.

"OK. I have finished."

After saying this, Tianlan crouched down onto the ground and used his finger to draw on the floor.

He manipulated his Qi to follow the path of his finger, leaving a visible trace.

Seeing this, Bai thought for a moment before saying:

"Mm. This shouldn't be too difficult."

She then crouched down next to the drawing and started writing words in a similar way.

The matriarch was intrigued.

"What are those lines?"

Tianlan responded.

"They are Sister Ren's Qi circulation paths."

"What? You can see her circulation paths?"

"Mm."

The matriarch was shocked.

She decided to just observe the three for a while. She didn't want to interrupt them further as she could see that they weren't too enthusiastic in answering her questions.

The three huddled together, working on the floor.

The matriarch and Fang Ren looked at each other before continuing to watch.

After a while, Hei started releasing a certain aura.

Fang Ren and the matriarch were shocked once they realised that the aura was very familiar.

"This... How can this be?"

The aura soon faded and the three went back to work.

Tianlan drew some new lines and Bai wrote some more words.

This kind of cycle repeated three times before Hei let out a very pure yin aura.

The matriarch and Fang Ren were shocked further.

Fang Ren spoke to the matriarch.

"It's the same as mine."

"No, it is even purer than yours. Is this Shao Hei a yin cultivator?"

While the matriarch and Fang Ren were discussing this, the three got up.

Hei spoke.

"You're getting pretty good at this, Little Bai."

He said this while rubbing her head.

"It's thanks to the help of my brothers, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do anything."

-Hahaha.

The matriarch was agitated, she couldn't help but break the atmosphere.

"You are finished?"

Hei responded.

"Yes, we're done. We should have Sister Ren test her strength and then practice our modified technique to see if there is an improvement."

"Mm. I have a measuring pillar here."

She pulled out a measuring pillar from her spatial ring.

Hei's eyes lit up.

"Is that a spatial ring?"

The matriarch was surprised to see Hei's excitement.

After all of the surprises the trio had delivered today, she didn't think a spatial ring could surprise them.

"Indeed, it is."

She said this with a proud expression.

"Oh, cool. How big is it?"

"3 cubic meters"

She proudly announced her spatial ring's storage space. She waited for the three to gush in amazement, but what she saw left her stunned.

Hei had a face of disgust.

"So small? Are there bigger ones?"

Even his own storage space was catching up to that size. He could put Bai and Tianlan in there if he wanted to, but they would be floating around in utter darkness.

He wanted to eventually have a dwelling in there, so they wouldn't have to find a place to stay during their adventures.

3 cubed meters is nothing much when you look at it that way. Plus, he had read that most storage rings can't store living beings.

The matriarch almost fell to the ground. This may be a small spatial ring, but very few people have one in Spring Leaf City.

She answered Hei's question.

"There are larger ones, but they would be difficult to obtain in Spring Leaf City."

-Sigh.

Hei sighed, and with an annoyed tone said:

"Let's have Sister Ren test her strength then."

"This..."

The matriarch was lost for words. Was it that big of an issue?

She had Fang Ren strike the pillar and the result was 3,000 jin.

Tianlan spoke.

"Wow, the Fang Clan really is different."

He was impressed that the Fang Clan's juniors could hit 3,000 jin when the average for the peak of body refining was 2,000 jin.

The matriarch and Fang Ren were both proud to hear these words from these freaks.

Bai spoke.

"OK. Now practice our modified technique."

"Mm."

Fang Ren went over to read the newest version of the modified technique.

The matriarch followed behind her.

"I'll watch over you to make sure you don't deviate."

Hei was a little offended by these words.

"... I see where you're coming from, but it's kind of insulting to say that right in front of us."

This was a technique created by Bai, tested by himself and verified by Tianlan.

It's hard to say whether a technique could get much safer than that.

"... Forgive me, that was rude of me."

'Hehe. She lowered her position.'

With that said, Fang Ren took a look at the cultivation technique written on the ground.

Both she and the matriarch were shocked at how similar it was to the Fang Clan's core body refining technique.

If they didn't know better, they would say that the three had long since seen the original technique.

Seeing that there were no obvious problems with the technique, the matriarch allowed Fang Ren to practice it for an hour.

After the hour, Fang Ren opened her eyes which were shining with delight. She could feel immense energy flowing through her body.

The matriarch could feel the yin energy leaking out of Fang Ren's body.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel wonderful."

Bai jumped in.

"That's good and all, but you're leaking your energy all over the place. Control yourself."

Bai had to scold Fang Ren for her lack of control.

It was true that Hei had also leaked energy when he was practising the technique, but that was for the purpose of Bai examining it. When she decided that it was pure enough, that was when they stopped their modifications.

The technique could still be further improved, but to do so would offer diminishing returns to the three.

"Yes."

Fang Ren submitted and calmed her mental state.

"Now, go test your strength."

"Mm."

Fang Ren walked up to the pillar and struck it with a palm. This palm was obviously different from the first. One could feel the raw power behind it.

This was reflected in the result of 5,000 jin.

"5,000 jin?"

Both the matriarch and Fang Ren were shocked.

It had to be known that modifying an existing technique was easier than creating a new one, but to do it so quickly, this was unheard of.

What kind of understanding of the body refining realm was needed to achieve this?

The matriarch looked at the three with wide eyes.

She bowed deeply.

"Please help me break through to the transcendent realm. I'll pay any price you ask."

At this moment, Hei could see a slight aura surrounding the matriarch. It was similar to what he had seen on Xiulan, but it was a light blue, instead of golden.

Seeing this, Hei decided to investigate further. He got up off his seat and helped the matriarch up.

He said:

"There is no need for that."

The matriarch got up and looked at him with a blank face. What did that mean?

Hei spoke again.

"Is there such a thing as a guest elder in your Fang Clan?"

"Yes. We have had a few guest elders over the years."

"Mm. Do guest elders have access to your clan's cultivation techniques and combat techniques?"

"They do."

"What responsibilities do guest elders have?"

"They have to swear loyalty to the Fang Clan and lend assistance whenever the clan needs it."

The matriarch was interested in why Hei would ask these questions.

"Mm, OK. Here's the deal. You will make all three of us guest elders and in return, we will improve your Fang Clan's techniques as we see fit. However, we shan't swear loyalty or be bound to your Fang Clan in any other way. What do you think?"

The matriarch was excited to hear this. Now that she knew that it wasn't just one 5-year-old genius and her talented brothers, but was actually a group of people who had the ability to improve cultivation techniques, she couldn't wait to rope them in.

"I will have to discuss it with the elders, but given your abilities, it should be possible to accept your conditions. I only ask that you represent our Fang Clan in the 5-sect summit."

Even though the conditions stated that they would basically have no ties to the Fang Clan, she was sure that she could persuade them to join. If not, she could at least develop a good relationship with these three who were destined for great things.

"Mm. That's not a problem."

Hei agreed to the matriarch stipulation. Part of the reason the three had come here was to obtain quotas for the 5-sect summit.

Now that that was settled, the matriarch realised that her issue was ignored.

"What about my breakthrough?"

"You are an internalisation realm cultivator?"

"Yes."

"Are you able to do things like preventing light and sound from escaping an area?"

"I can."

The matriarch was slightly confused. Why was Hei asking these questions?

"Then do so around us. This shouldn't be overheard."

Hei had a serious face, which made the matriarch nervous.

She quickly set up a barrier around herself and Hei from which, no light and sound could escape.

"It is complete."

She said this as she looked to Hei with a questioning gaze.

"Mm. Well, the condition for our assistance..."

Hei paused for a moment. He wanted to play a little game.

The matriarch was getting more nervous, she couldn't help asking:

"What is it?"

After a slight pause, he responded.

"It's quite simple. Join my Shao Clan."