"You must be Daoist Yuan. I am the Patriarch of the Xuan Family and Xuan Wuhan’s father, Xuan Chao. Thank you for taking the time to visit our humble family." Patriarch Xuan clasped his hands together and bowed to them respectfully with a friendly smile on his face.
"Thank you for having me." Yuan followed his movements and returned the bow.
"Please, come inside."
Yuan and Xiao Hua then followed him into the massive building.
"Welcome, Esteemed Guests."
Two rows of servants standing parallel to each other bowed to them in unison as they entered the house.
Once they were in the guest room, the servants served them tea, and Patriarch Xuan spoke as Yuan held the teacup, "I have heard about you from my daughter, Daoist Yuan, and I must say, you are as talented as... No, you have exceeded my expectations. Reaching the Fifth Level Spirit Warrior realm at such a young age, I can only imagine how talented your Master must be."
"And I cannot help but ask, just how old are you this year?" Patriarch Xuan looked at him with clear eyes filled with interest.
"I turned 18 three months ago," Yuan responded casually.
"E-E-Eighteen?!" Patriarch Xuan exclaimed, nearly standing up from shock. Although Yuan looked young, he did not really expect him to be such a young man since appearance is the most deceptive part about Cultivators with Xiao Hua as the perfect example.
"Unbelievable... I thought you were near my daughter’s age, maybe even slightly older, but alas, to think you were actually younger than her by 3 years!" Patriarch Xuan praised him without feeling any shame, even feeling a little envious of his talent.
And while he wanted to ask Yuan about his background, Patriarch Xuan did not want to appear too inquisitive on their first meeting.
It was at this moment the door to the room opened, and a beautiful young lady wearing subtle yet striking makeup entered the room.
Yuan turned around to look at Xuan Wuhan and smiled upon seeing her, "Hello, Xuan Wuhan. I have come to visit you."
"Daoist Yuan! Thank you for— What the heck happened to you?!"
Xuan Wuhan suddenly exclaimed in a shocked tone midway through her sentence, dumbfounding Yuan and Patriarch Xuan.
"Eh?" Yuan watched with wide eyes as Xuan Wuhan ran towards him in an aggressive manner.
"How are you already at the Fifth Level Spirit Warrior realm?! The last time I saw you, you were only at the first level! And that was only a few days ago!" she looked at him with a gawking face.
"What!?" Patriarch Xuan stood up from shock after hearing his daughter’s baffling words. Not even a cultivating monster can improve their cultivation so quickly! Just what kind of background does Yuan have?
"W-Well... A few things have occurred since the auction house..." Yuan said with a weird smile on his face.
"You must’ve had quite the fortunate encounter to raise your cultivation so quickly. How envious. I also want a fortunate encounter..." Xuan Wuhan sighed loudly.
"I wouldn’t call them fortunate events, though..." Yuan shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Anyway, what brings you to Spring City? Don’t tell me you are here just to see me?" she asked him with flickering eyes.
"I’m meeting with my sister here," Yuan calmly responded.
"Oh..." Xuan Wuhan mumbled, feeling somewhat disappointed.
"Then how long do you plan on staying here?" she asked a moment later.
"I’m not sure, but it probably won’t be long," he said.
"Do you have a place to stay? If not, you can stay here for the time being. We have plenty of guest rooms."
"That probably won’t be necessary, since I will be meeting with my sister in a few hours. Thank you for the offering, though."
"Don’t worry. If you ever need a place to stay, you know where to go," she said to him.
"What about dinner? It’s being prepared right now," Patriarch Xuan suddenly said.
"I can stay for that." Yuan nodded.
While they waited for dinner to be ready, Xuan Wuhan asked Yuan about his activities after they separated from the auction house.
Yuan then told them about his encounter with the Demonic Spider and the Mountain Lord at Pang City.
Both Xuan Wuhan and Patriarch Xuan listened to his adventure with dropping jaws. How can so much happen in just a few days? Furthermore, it doesn’t explain how he managed to improve his cultivation base so quickly.
"You said that you don’t belong to any sect, right? Do you intend on joining one in the future?" Xuan Wuhan asked him afterward.
"I honestly don’t know. I haven’t seen enough of this world yet to want to stay in one place for an extended amount of time," he said.
"If that is your only concern then I don’t think you need to worry because only the newer disciples have their movements and activities limited to within the Sect, mostly for their own safety." Xuan Wuhan said, and she continued, "Inner Disciples and Core Disciples such as myself have plenty of freedom. In fact, most of us spend more time outside than inside the sect."
"Take me for example. I belong to a sect, yet I spend more time outside than at the sect. As long as I don’t slack and continue to progress my cultivation, they won’t restrict my movements."
"And with your talents and your current cultivation, it’s almost guaranteed that you will become a Core Disciple the instant you join a sect. If you are still worried, then you can join my sect. My grandfather is an Elder at the sect, and with his backing, even the Sect Leader will have to think twice before doing anything to you."
Hearing her words, Yuan nodded and said, "I will think about it."
Although he wasn’t interested in Sects at first, if he wants to have a better understanding of Cultivators, he should live around them for some time. And since Xuan Wuhuan has reassured him that he won’t have his freedom limited, it seemed like the perfect time to join one.
However, because he still needed his sister’s opinion on this matter, he won’t make any decisions for now.