As the two children were walking along the brightly lit path, Cheng Hao abruptly looked to the side and came to an abrupt stop. Suddenly finding herself alone at the front, Xiao Wu turned back after a few steps. She was about to question him, when she also noticed the golden gleam emerge from the bushes.

"Our cute Goldy! I almost forgot you were even there!"

"...shut up, stupid Hao." The golden snake appeared uncharacteristically troubled.

Blindlight had witnessed the entire ordeal. Naturally, that would include the latter part of it. As a result, just like Cheng Hao, he was uneasy and tense at the lady's display.

Sparing a thoughtful glance at a stunned Xiao Wu, his yellow eyes eventually unfocused and he let out a wide yawn. Then, as if forgetting all that had happened, he habitually climbed up Cheng Hao's body and settled in his breast pocket.

"Uh? Uh! Uh!!!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Wu was pointing back and forth.

"It really talks! I wasn't imagining things! It really was a talking snake!"

"Pff-Ahahah!" Cheng Hao laughed heartily.

Goldy snarled back in return, "Truly, blood is thicker than water. That little guy was a stalker, and now here we have a cross-dresser."

"Hey, don't bully our little princess as if she did anything wrong, you talking snake." Cheng Hao viciously poked his side.

Xiao Wu: "..."

...

The two children arrived at the hut. After entering, Cheng Hao found the residence had surpassed his expectations.

It had ample room, between two and two and a half thousand square feet total. There was a small compartment at the entrance where one could greet guests, and beyond it was a spacious living room, with a satisfactory kitchen on one side and a large table on the side. The space was overall well-furbished, with plenty of furniture, cutlery, and linen cloths.

There was even a large indoor bathroom, as well as two separate rooms at the back, with a bed and a sizeable wardrobe each. Compared to those small cabins they had seen on their way over, it was without a doubt on a whole other level. It was nightfall at the time, but the large windows hinted that the living room would be brightly lit during the day. All in all, it was a really pleasant hut, spacious enough for even a small family to live in.

Meaning that any 'backers' of theirs would be welcome to stay with them.

Not that there would really be someone coming.

After all, neither Cheng Hao nor Xiao Wu were expecting anyone.

A chosen few of the Xiao Elders that had accompanied her were lying low in an entirely different plane of existence. They had the single task of being close enough for her life-gem to pick up her condition at all times, yet not so close that they would infringe on the happenings there. Given the importance of this mission, the quality of the assigned life-gem allowed them to pick up its signal even from a couple of worlds over, where they had settled.

The rest had all retreated back to their Clan Grounds.

That hidden faction pushover, how desperate. I almost feel bad to be hoarding this all to myself.

As the Reverend Stage powerhouse had mentioned, on the big table in the middle of the dining room was a single book, titled Basics to Martial Cultivation. The cover was particularly eye-catching, unbecoming of a Vacant Sect's measly basic tomes.

Cheng Hao quickly skimmed through it and his expression grew sour.

After all the bizarre discoveries over his time in this plane, he had harboured some expectations for the cultivation manuals too.

Especially since that Lao geezer had obviously replaced the mass-produced copy with a secret manual of his.

However, it appeared even the texts coming from a Protector's faction wouldn't amount to much. Though the content wasn't problematic, it was so outdated that Cheng Hao was thrown off by how obsolete it was.

The children alternated the use of the spacious bathroom. After taking care of his physiological needs, Cheng Hao finished skimming through the tome. As he did, he opened the window by the table and basked in the night breeze as he waited for Xiao Wu to be done.

As she walked out, her face still wet, her androgynous features had visibly softened. The emerald-eyed girl followed him to the living room, sitting before him.

At the table, Cheng Hao began reading the first page out loud,

"A mortal's Sea of Consciousness is their lifeline. Just as a farmer would never compromise their crop, we cultivate and nourish this Sea. From a pond to an ocean, the first steps are incredibly vital..."

"This is part, I liked. The author clearly understood that basics are indeed important, given these first few lines were solid." he nodded solemnly. "Which is why we will honour it by not listening to the rest of its ramblings." With that said, Cheng Hao had thrown the copy of Basics To Martial Cultivation out of the open window.

"Eh?" Xiao Wu's expectant gaze quivered.

"From now on, if you value your future, better rely on your big brother and not believe a word these books say. Not one. There's a reason your Clan sent you here, and that's me. I assure you that, so long as you follow my teachings, you’ll reach never-seen-before heights! In exchange, of course, you shall care for the house. Do we have a deal?"

"Al... right?"

Xiao Wu then quietly contemplated: are you sure you just don't want someone to cook for you?

I wouldn't have minded you just saying so. But why would you throw that book out of the window?

Did it harm anyone? It was simply there, basking in the sunlight during the day and bathing in moonglow during the night...

Cheng Hao stretched contentedly, the boring chores out of his sight and mind.

Then, he chuckled, "Unfortunately for others, that would mean no texts left behind to review in the future. Luckily for you, that won't be a problem as a child of Xiao."

"Be sure to stay focused, Little Wu. We have a lot to go over tonight."

...

"Today, we call it cultivation, but it has been present since the dawn of time. You might have heard from the Seniors in your Clan, describing it as the process that extends one's longevity, or perhaps a method to increase strength, to tap into the world, etcetera. Ultimately, it is a process of gathering, reaping, and harvesting."

"What, you may ask? Again, to some, it's lifespan. To others, it's strength. To many, it's status. But to the World, it is, best put; Authority."

"Cultivators seek to increase their Authority over their surroundings, themselves, and others. However diverse cultivate may get, that is ultimately its essence. The power to change, and to resist change."

Cheng Hao poured some tea into two wooden cups. He then handed one to the girl and took one for himself, placing down the steaming teapot atop a marble stand. He took a measuring sip and continued his explanation,

"Cultivation as of today is commonly divided into the three vast Realms. Namely, they are the Mortal, Ageless, and Immortal Realms. For today, our focus will naturally be on the Mortal Realm, but given how interconnected everything is, we'll inevitably touch on other topics as well."

"Stepping into the Mortal Realm is the first step one must take to graduate from being a normal person into becoming a cultivator. At the same time, however, even a peak Mortal Realm cultivator won't extend their longevity noticeably. Humans, for example, would cap at a hundred or so years at most even at the very peak of said Realm. It's a similar case for other Spirit Beasts. As this is hardly any different from a normal mortal's lifespan, experts of yore eventually dubbed it the 'Mortal' Realm."

"It will only be with the Ageless Realm that one shall gradually stop ageing and falling ill to live longer and longer. Finally, with the Immortal Realm, one can attain an eternal life of sorts, albeit mostly in name."

"In the eyes of true experts, it is only when one steps into the Ageless Realm that one can be considered a 'true' cultivator. Most take until a hundred or so years to reach this level, with those who are slightly faster taking from sixty to ninety years to accomplish the same task..."

Cheng Hao trailed off and then spoke with a bold smile. "The current record holder, however, is a certain prodigy known as Xu Ling. He stepped into the Ageless Realm at age twenty-four and created a ruckus in the cultivation world. After that, he created a legend when he entered the Immortal Realm at the 'young' age of sixty-one. Although a certain person..." He sent a vexed glance at Xiao Wu as he spoke, "surpassed him just a few decades later when he became an Immortal Realm cultivator at fifty-nine, Xu Ling's first achievement remains intact! This person was known as the Evil Saint and was one of the most handsome and talented men in the cultivation world!"

Xiao Wu frowned: revered as an Ancestral Deity among Xiao, she naturally knew of the Evil Saint and his achievements in cultivation. She couldn't help however but feel amused about how the young child had narrated them: wasn't his depiction of Xu Ling placing the Evil Saint into too bright of a light?

Goldy rolled his eyes. "Pff. Show-off."

Cheng Hao clicked his tongue, "Say what you will, you can't argue with facts. Twenty-four years is the mark we are going to be chasing after. I'm confident that, if you put in the effort, we both might just be able to succeed before you even step into your teens! So our actual objective is accomplishing exactly what the Evil Saint has done... in half the time."

"Before you turn thirteen and are still twelve years old, I'm planning on having you step into the Ageless Realm-"

"Pu!" Xiao Wu spat out the tea.

Somehow Cheng Hao must have predicted this as he closed a now damp umbrella and put it back into the miraculous Heaven&Earth pouch.

"S-Sorry." Xiao Wu immediately apologized. Then, she shook her head in disbelief. "Surely you jest... twelve years old? I'm eight, and we both have yet to start cultivating. Four years... how exactly are we supposed to accomplish what even Lord Xu Ling himself couldn't?"

Lord Xu Ling... Blindlight visibly recoiled.

Cheng Hao chuckled and answered her question with another question, "As with many things, it's a matter of Perspective, Little Wu. That handsome lad might have Ascended at twenty-four, but was it ever disclosed when it was that he started cultivating?"

Xiao Wu opened her purple lips to speak, but no sound escaped them… because the public records of her Clan indeed never once mentioned that!

She sent a puzzled glance at an entertained Cheng Hao.

"...Not that I remember? Why is it so?"

"But of course, it was so as not to break the spirits of the promising youths of the Clan." He replied, before relishing in the steaming tea.

"You mean...?"

"Well, the ‘higher-ups’ decided it was better kept vague. After all, even their esteemed Clan Head, who would, later on, become the youngest Immortal, took a whole ten years to transcend Mortality. This, under the guidance of the Evil Saint, starting from seventeen years of age, and Ascending at twenty-seven."

"The record-holder for the fastest First Ascension, the Ageless at twenty-four, on the other hand...” the golden-eyed youth rapped the table with his fingers.

“Four years, it took him.”

He revealed with a proud smile.

“Ascending at twenty-four, Xu Ling actually only began cultivating at the ripe, old age of twenty-one.”