Chapter Sixty-Four: Returning Home

Qin Family Martial Training Grounds.

Numerous young descendants of the Qin family were fervently sweating as they practiced their martial arts. Qin Feng, riding atop his Cloud Tiger Beast, swiftly passed through Luoyang Town and entered his family estate. Arriving at the training grounds, he brought his mount to a halt, leapt down with flair, and then stored the Cloud Tiger Beast into his Beast Pouch.

His actions were breathtakingly dashing, and the presence of that Cloud Tiger Beast drew the attention of countless Qin family juniors. This Cloud Tiger Beast was something Qin Feng had received as a means of transport in Tianfeng City by using Elder Qin Tianshu’s token. For body cultivators, it was an excellent mount, one that many family disciples dreamed of possessing. Yet only the most core members of the Qin family were entitled to such a beast.

In a small place like Luoyang Town, perhaps only the family elders had ever received such treatment. Naturally, the fact that Qin Feng could own a Cloud Tiger Beast stirred up many emotions among his family’s youths.

Envy, jealousy, confusion, and complexity!

Their gazes mingled, each looking at him with a peculiar expression.

As Qin Feng glanced around, he spotted Qin Yu’er among them. However, she seemed somewhat afraid of him, still remembering the lesson he had taught her before. When she noticed his gaze, she took a step back, puffed out her chest defiantly, shook her little pink fist, and shouted, “Qin Feng, don’t get cocky! This time, I’ve awakened the Xuan-grade Chi Soul. Once I advance to the Human Qi Realm, just wait—I’ll show you who’s boss!”

Though Qin Yu’er was somewhat scared, Qin Feng still glimpsed a trace of schadenfreude in her eyes. The little girl had undoubtedly heard about his awakening of the Death Soul, and was secretly gloating.

Damn, she’s even learned to threaten people now!

A Xuan-grade Chi Soul?

He shook his head, having no time to engage with her.

After his journey to Tianfeng City, Qin Feng’s horizons had vastly expanded. Every woman he had met during his travels was a hundred times more beautiful than Qin Yu’er, who, like a sparrow still content in her well, was self-satisfied over a mere Xuan-grade Chi Soul.

“Hmph, a woman with a big chest and no brains, and such short-sightedness—she’ll never amount to more than this,” Qin Feng snorted coldly, making Qin Yu’er tremble with anger, though she dared not lash out.

Ignoring her, Qin Feng strode forward. The other family disciples on the training grounds all made way for him. His accumulated prestige among the Qin family juniors had clearly not faded yet. Furthermore, on the surface, Qin Feng was still at the tenth level of the Mortal Qi Realm. Even if many had awakened their bloodline souls, few could truly be his match. Thus, although the crowd regarded him with odd looks, none dared provoke him.

Even Qin Ba had been defeated by Qin Feng—who would dare stir up trouble now?

Qin Family, Council Hall—

In the vast council hall sat just over a dozen people. Qin Tianzheng was seated in the center, flanked by a group of white-haired elders on either side.

Elders in title, they were merely men who had reached the seventh or eighth level of the Human Qi Realm. Yet in a place like Luoyang Town, such strength was already remarkable. The Human Qi Realm was a true step into the ranks of cultivators, a chasm apart from the Mortal Qi Realm. Advancement slowed considerably here, especially for those with lower-ranked bloodline souls—their progress was as slow as a crawling snail. Achieving the third or fourth level by a hundred years of age was already outstanding.

The elders’ faces were full of rage, but in Qin Tianzheng’s eyes was hesitation.

“Elder Li, can we not make an exception for Feng’er’s situation? After all, his father Xiao’er has but this one son. Forcing him to leave the Qin family, I fear…”

“Come now, Tianzheng, what’s wrong with you? The ancestral rules must not be broken, not by anyone! You are the head of the family, you must lead by example. The elders are unanimous—Qin Feng is to leave with the others this time. Do not hesitate further!”

Elder Qin Li, the chief elder of the Qin family in Luoyang Town, wielded true authority. Not even Qin Tianzheng, the family head, was spared his sternness. He was famed for his impartiality, and now his white beard trembled with anger, his face flushed but his stance unyielding.

To leave meant to step out of the Qin family estate.

Not to put too fine a point on it, it was expulsion! Either to seek one’s own path or to manage family business as assigned. Each year after Soul Awakening Day, the Qin family would clear out a group from the main estate, leaving only the core elite for special training. This was an ancestral rule, but also a practical necessity. The family’s resources were limited, and its expansive business required management. Without sacrifice for the family's benefit, how could the Qin family sustain its prosperity for generations? The freedom to choose was already a privilege. Most Qin family children, when they came of age at eighteen and left the estate, still chose to stay and help with the family affairs—for they knew that only a strong Qin family gave their lives meaning. The difference lay only in how one realized personal value.

“…Very well,” Qin Tianzheng, as the family head, sometimes found himself with no choice.

To lead by example—this principle was enough to weigh him down!

But when the moment came to make the decision, he found himself unwilling. Qin Feng, his grandson, had once been his hope. At times, he had seen in Qin Feng the prospect of returning glory to their ancestral clan.

“Ah, the poor child…”

As Qin Tianzheng sighed, Steward He hurried forward and whispered in his ear. Qin Tianzheng’s spirit was instantly revived, and he blurted out, “What? Feng’er has returned?”

“Yes, master,” replied Steward He, his eyes downcast.

…

Qin Feng, upon returning home, naturally made his way to his own quarters—after all, his little sister, whom he was always thinking about, was there.

“Brother!”

As soon as he entered, a small figure threw herself at him. Qin Feng’s heart warmed, and he let her curl up in his embrace like a kitten. Qin Feng was now tall and sturdy, while his younger sister Qin Yuyan, though sixteen, was due to a special constitution still the size of an eight- or nine-year-old girl. Clinging to her brother’s neck, she really did look like a little kitten.

He tweaked her nose and laughed, “Yaner, did you miss your brother?”

“Of course not, hmph!” Yaner pouted, her little braids swinging, her expression irresistibly cute.

Huh? Is this little one still upset about the Huo Siyuan incident? Qin Feng was taken aback. Could she, who hasn’t even matured yet, be thinking such nonsense?

His little sister was simply too adorable.

“Alright, are you still mad at your brother? How have you been while I was away? Has anyone bullied you? Tell me and I’ll get revenge for you!” Qin Feng held her with one arm, waving his fist dramatically in the air, looking quite the part.

“No one! You know full well that in the Qin family, nobody can bully me. Oh, brother, let me tell you a secret!” She nodded, then with a mysterious smile, leaned in and whispered in his ear.

“Hm? What secret? Tell me,” Qin Feng asked, his curiosity piqued.

“I’ve advanced!”

“Advanced? That’s great! Advanced to what stage? The tenth level of the Mortal Qi Realm?” Qin Feng was delighted and asked eagerly.

“Nope, the first stage of the Human Qi Realm!”

“Well done! You’ve reached the Human Qi Realm… Wait, what? The Human Qi Realm?!” Qin Feng was stunned, staring at his little sister’s sparkling, elfin eyes as if she were a monster.

“Surprised, aren’t you? Hee-hee!” Qin Yuyan grinned with pride, hopping out of his arms and onto a chair, swinging her pale little legs.

“I just advanced a few days ago. Honestly, it’s thanks to that ‘Tai’e Insight’ technique. Ever since I finally got the hang of it, my cultivation speed shot up several times over. I kept training and training, and then, just a few days ago… suddenly, I advanced.”

“What?! ‘Tai’e Insight’?!” Qin Feng was shocked. He too had practiced that technique, but had never experienced such a surge in cultivation speed. Yet this little girl had not only improved severalfold, but even, without any external aid, broken through into the Human Qi Realm? She had advanced just like that—so easily?

To Qin Feng, Qin Yuyan now seemed like a total anomaly.

He knew better than anyone how hard that step was. Thanks to the help of his mutated Serpent Soul, after devouring countless beasts and the flesh of two Human Qi Realm cultivators, he had barely succeeded. What did Qin Yuyan have? Nothing but her own effort—she had crossed the hardest chasm for a body cultivator by sheer will. Genius? Monster?

Comparisons are odious!

He had been so proud of his own breakthrough into the Human Qi Realm, but now, doused with cold water, he was forced to sober up.

Clearly, this world was full of geniuses—Zhan Bai was a genius, but his own sister was one among geniuses!

“Brother, don’t worry. From now on, I’ll protect you!” While Qin Feng was still in shock, Qin Yuyan made a face at him and declared, “I’ll protect you!”

At her words, Qin Feng’s eyes instantly grew misty.

The bond between him and his sister, built over ten years, was unchanged—still pure and sincere. In her words, he could tell that she knew about his failed bloodline soul awakening. She offered no empty comfort, knowing he might be hurting, but instead reassured him in her own way.

This little sister, making it sound so simple—she must have trained with all her might these past days, just for his sake!

Thinking this, Qin Feng walked over, and under her puzzled gaze, hugged her small, thin frame tightly, whispering, “Good girl, from today onward, your brother will be a true man—one who stands tall. You, Father, Grandfather, and the entire Qin family will have me as your protector.”