“By the way, do you have any plans for the New Year’s Celebration?” Xia asked.

“Well, we didn’t really plan anything,” Quin replied.

“Then why don’t you come with us? We’ve invited a couple of our friends and their families here for a party in the afternoon, and then at night we’re going to go to the town’s center together to view the fireworks. They are usually really nice and that way we can at least use you as emergency food for Faiyi,” she said with a serious face.

Quin looked at her in confusion until she started to laugh and then realized that she was actually trying to make a joke. Man, she’s really changed a lot. At first she was quite cold, but then she started to get a bit more friendly, and now she’s making jokes like this. He looked at Leyn and asked, “What do you think?”

“Well, I’d be glad to come if we’re really not bothering you,” she answered.

“Oh, don’t say such a thing,” Xia said with a smile, “Quin and his friends are always welcomed at our house.”

“Alright, thanks for asking us,” Quin said. “What time should we come?”

“The others would be arriving around one or two in the afternoon, so I think you should come around that time as well,” Xia replied.

They stayed there some more, talking about various things and playing with Faiyi. Although she was not able to talk perfectly like an adult and was a bit timid, it was quite easy to communicate with her. She was still growing at an unbelievable rate but Xia told them that it seemed to have slowed down a bit. Currently she looked like an eight or nine years old girl.

On the next day, they went back to them for the party. Quin was a bit surprised at seeing how many people were there, as he had only expected a few families at maximum, but he counted at least a hundred people.

Though there were a few strange ones among them, most of them were actually quite nice people. He even talked to Zhai for a bit, and despite how he was definitely not a genius, -- he had realized that even at their first meeting -- he was quite easy to get along with. Quin saw how much attention he paid to Faiyi and that he spent most of his time with her. All in all, Quin was quite happy with his decision to let Xia and Zhai look after her.

Time went on and it was already nine in the evening, so all of them began to walk toward the main plaza of the town. Unsurprisingly, it was filled with people, but not just with the locals, as at this time of the year a lot of tourists visited Hounxi.

The decorations they put up were rather nice and perfectly fit the style of the town. Quin especially liked the azure lanterns that were hanging from above, as he thought that they gave the town a bit of an otherworldly feeling.

The fireworks at night were beautiful as well, and both Leyn and Quin enjoyed the festival. When it ended about an hour after midnight they decided to go on a late night stroll. The air was a bit chilly at this time, but it was not a major concern for them, only a minor inconvenience. Eventually, they walked back to the lake and decided to lie down on the top of a hill, watching the stars and talking. The sky was completely clear and thus they could see the myriads of glimmering stars.

“You still haven’t talked about how you were able to improve so much... Also, what I’ve been thinking about is whether this healing energy could help you get back your cultivation? Can it regenerate you damaged cores as well?” she asked a bit excited.

“The simplest way to explain it is that it’s because of my damaged Main Core. It absorbs any kind of wild energy from the surroundings, but the thing is that a lot depends on what kind of wild energy it is. Fortunately, this healing type energy is not harmful, in fact, it’s rather helpful if you figure things out. Well, I did and that’s the results,” he explained smiling. “To be honest, if I’d been just sitting on my ass doing nothing, it wouldn’t have changed that much, as my body would have had a lot more energy than what it’d be using up. In the end it’d have slowly killed me. However, as I’ve told you, I’m constantly training so that won’t be an issue for me. This also means that I’m a lot faster at improving my body than anyone else, as I have an inexhaustible source of energy that heals and regenerates me in just a brief period of time. So that’s how I get to the same strength as somebody in the third level of the Qi Condensation sub-stage.

“On the other hand, for some reason it doesn’t restore my cores. At first, when I saw that my fingers grew back, I had high hopes, but no matter how much I concentrated on it, this energy just went straight to my cores but didn’t really interacts with them. Well, that’s not entirely true, as when the energy stays there for some time it starts to hurt, but that’s the full extent of it. I don’t understand why it behaves like that, but it just seems like it doesn’t identify my cores as parts of my body.”

“I’m sorry,” Leyn said with sympathy in her voice.

“Haha, don’t be,” he replied cheerfully, “It’s not that big of a deal, honestly. Although I’m still a bit weaker than I’ve been before my injury, I’ve achieved my current strength in less than a year. I don’t think it’s something I’d have to feel sad about. Besides, I haven’t reached my limits yet, and god knows where that will be. You know, maybe in the end, I’ll be even stronger this way than I’d have been with my original cultivation.”

Leyn turned to him and asked doubtfully, “Really?”

“Hey! Aren’t you always the one who is filled with optimism?” he asked laughing. “I know that it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you have to stay optimistic, don’t you?”

“Sorry, you’re right,” she said a bit weakly.

“Haven’t I already told you to stop apologizing all the time, huh?” Quin asked and poked her on the head, which made both of them burst out in a laugh.

“So does that mean that you’ll be coming back shortly?” she asked with anticipation in her voice.

“Not really,” Quin said, “Though I’m in quite a good shape, that’s because I’m here where there’s a source for this healing type of wild energy. If I leave this place then I’m back to where I’ve been before.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve already tested it and not even after a day the pain returns with full force, so that’s a no-go. I’ve been thinking a few times on how to solve this problem, but I’ve got no idea yet.”

“That’s a shame,” Leyn said with disappointment, “Crows’ Road is quite lonely without you.” She let out a low sigh.

It was then when Quin remembered what she had said before: that she did not have that many friends back there. Hm, I don’t even remember seeing her hanging out with anyone else other than me and my friends. Putting two and two together, he came to a shocking realization.

“Do you not have any friends beside me?” he asked a bit bluntly.

“Well, I--”

“Hey, it was you who lectured me about how telling the truth is important in a friendship, so don’t start making things up,” he said. “I didn’t ask it to judge you, I’ve got no bad intentions.”

She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. Her face turned to a shade of red and after a few moments she said, “No.”

Hearing it from her mouth Quin was rather surprised and confused.

“Why is that?” he asked. “I really can’t understand it... And why haven’t you told me about it before?”

“There are a lot of reasons behind this, but it mainly comes down to my family background.”