Spirit Cultivation

"What is it, Elder Yang? Are there any updates on the Tang Family's movements? Any good news?" Xiao Feng asked calmly as he stopped conversing with his wife when Elder Yang entered his office. After Xiao Feng faced his old lover once again and got rejected, he began to really cherish his wife. Since then he was letting her decide many things along with him.

"I have no updates on Tang Family, but an interesting person arrived today in front of our Xiao Family's main gate. He offered to work for us as a bodyguard." Elder Yang told them the reason for his arrival before saying, "This boy is very strong despite his young age. I would like if the Leader checks him out as he looks interesting. I also thought it would be good to provide an additional bodyguard for Young Princess."

"Oh, if you think that someone is interesting, then I'm intrigued to meet him. It's hard to find talented cultivators nowadays. You looked into his background, right? I won't let anyone near my daughter without confirming they are clear. Just as we are having a war with Tang Family, a strong cultivator appears to be a bodyguard. Isn't that a red flag right away?" Xiao Feng asked as he analyzed the situation.

He also knew it was necessary to get another bodyguard for Tianshi as Yi and Yu already became much softer on his daughter. He needed someone who wouldn't hesitate to keep her grounded when he needed her to be.

The situation outside was pretty heated so as her father, he had to keep her locked up because she was the reason that the war started in the first place. Once she is caught by the enemy, the whole war will end with their loss.

"Yes Leader, his background was personally checked by myself and I can say it with one hundred percent certainty that he never met any Tang Family members. He only recently came to the Central Region and kept a really low profile. He admitted that he needs money for cultivation and heard that Xiao Family is the strongest Family out there, so he came straight to our doors." Elder Yang nodded with a smile, explaining further.

Seeing that Xiao Feng was still not convinced, he added, "We also used the Eye Of Truth on him and he passed all the tests. At the very least, he brings no harm to anyone related with Xiao Family and he actually never heard about Young Princess."

"Oh, you even used the Eye Of Truth? It seems this kid is really worth it. Bring him in, I also want to meet such an individual." Hearing all the information, it was Lady Xiao who agreed to screen it, finding the kid intriguing.

The Eye Of Truth was a crystal that was very precious, as it would change colours if the person holding it was lying. If even such a tool was used to test him, he was bound to be extraordinary, knowing that there were only a few such crystals in the Xiao Family and they wore off quickly, so it was advised to use them with mindfulness.

"My wife has decided. We can have a break to check him out." Xiao Feng confirmed, respecting his wife's decision. She thanked him by tightening her grip on his hand as she rubbed it warmly with her thumb. Lady Xiao also really wanted to thank Nuwa for unlocking the knot that was on her husband's heart this whole time, which allowed her to fill that spot completely.

"Alright, I will call him here." Elder Yang nodded happily and left, bringing the guy in question to the office a moment later.

Both Xiao Feng and his wife were surprised that they couldn't even discern at what stage the silver-hair man was. He was also not a little boy in any way but rather a healthy young teen, already reaching the gates of adulthood.

"Leader, Milady, this is Pio." Elder Yang introduced the teen to them before standing behind him. Pio didn't mind being put on the spot and just looked at the two people behind the desk, nodding naturally to greet them.

"So you are the one who would like to work for my Xiao Family, correct?" Lady Xiao started, already satisfied with how calm and collected the teen was. She didn't mind his silent greeting much, as strong cultivators usually are like that.

"Correct." Pio nodded calmly, looking at Lady Xiao's face with his double-coloured set of eyes. He already went through a lot in his life, so such a meeting wasn't stressful for him at all.

"I won't bother asking the same question as Elder Yang and ask something else instead. If you are met with the situation when you have to sacrifice your life for the person you are protecting, would you do it?" Lady Xiao asked a tricky question to learn how his mind worked.

She thought that he will think about it for a moment, but he didn't, replying right away, "I wouldn't." Just as Lady Xiao frowned together with Xiao Feng, Pio added, "I would rather kill all the threats and if I can't, I will run together with the person I'm protecting. There are few things in this realm that can stop me."

"You are quite confident about your skills. Do you mind if we test it further? I suspect that you passed Elder Yang's initial tests." Lady Xiao asked with a gentle smile to which Pio could only nod his head, already expecting that such a scenario would take place.

Xiao Feng flicked with his finger and suddenly a translucent barrier appeared around Pio. The moment he tried to touch it, his arm was suddenly stopped by an invisible force, holding it in place.

"I call it Space Wrap. If you can get out of it without using Ether Qi, we will hire you." Xiao Feng called out with a smug smile on his face. Wanting to chasten Pio's cocky behaviour, he used his most powerful trap skill which only cultivators with high mastery of Ether Qi could fight against.

"No problem." Pio agreed right away, not bothered by it at all, and reached out towards his forehead, touching the star-shaped mark. It lit up with bright light and Pio walked forward, passing the barrier just like that without much effort.

Maybe others couldn't see what happened, but Xiao Feng saw everything clearly. How Pio's body turned into small particles, which then passed through his barrier before reconnecting on the other side as if his body was not a whole.

"Honey, what do you think?" Lady Xiao asked, having no idea how he did it, but looking at her husband's surprised expression, he should know about it.

Instead of replying to her, Xiao Feng asked Pio directly, "Is that one of those skills that are one of a kind and no one can replicate them?" He somehow got a feeling that this teen was connected with the same business that his oldest daughter was, and seeing the sudden smile on Pio's face, he confirmed it.

"I don't think I can say anything about this subject." Pio simply said, not agreeing and not denying, but Xiao Feng knew his intuition was right.

"I know. It's okay. I would like to welcome you to the Xiao Family. Do you mind if you start working right away?" Xiao Feng stood up and asked as he slowly approached Pio. His wife was confused that he agreed so fast, but also followed him, trusting in her husband's judgement.

"I don't mind." Pio shook his head to which Xiao Feng called out to Elder Yang before disappearing with Pio and his wife, "You did well Elder Yang. I will proceed and introduce him to my daughter. If she likes him, I will let him protect her under your watch for now."

At that moment, Tianshi was in her training grounds, practising her sword techniques with Yi and stopped once three people suddenly appeared next to them out of nowhere. She had been annoyed for the last few days, after being grounded by her father for sneaking out of the palace area in the time of war and happened to be releasing her stress through hard training.

"How are you doing sweetie? Is the training going well?" Xiao Feng asked his daughter gently, but Tianshi only looked back towards Yi and continued to train, not replying to them at all.

It was Yi who somehow felt there was a need to stop as she called out, "Young Princess, let's take a break." Sir Xiao was already mad at her to helping Tianshi sneak out so she had to play it defensively.

Knowing that she couldn't ignore them anymore, Tianshi put down her sword and called out frustrated, "What do you want? You took away my love from me and now you are even locking me up inside here, placing a stupid barrier around me. Am I your pet or what?" The day when she was supposed to meet Xuefeng was nearing, but she was still locked up with no way of sneaking away.

"Sigh, we are doing it for your safety. If the Tang Family catches you, they will blackmail us with your life, destroying our whole family. Don't you understand that? We wouldn't mind trading everything for you, but you can't be so selfish. Many people's lives depend on your decisions." Xiao Feng sighed, seeing his daughter still mad at him and tried to explain, but she didn't look like she wanted to communicate calmly with him.

"How about I take mom away from you and then lock you up in your courtyard then?" Tianshi bantered to which Xiao Feng replied right away, fighting back, "I gave Xuefeng a chance. He only needs to get into the Central Region and I will let you two meet again. It shouldn't be too hard, right? If he puts the same effort in which he courts women into training, I bet he would be the strongest cultivator out there."

Just as Tianshi wanted to argue more, Pio suddenly asked, stopping the two from continuing, "Sir, can I say something?" Xiao Feng nodded, knowing that no matter what he says, his daughter will still be hooked up on getting back with Xuefeng.

"If you can touch the corner of my clothes, I will convince your father to let you go and meet with your lover," Pio said in an honest tone as he approached the stand with the swords and picked a training wooden one, before walking to stand in front of Tianshi.

Tianshi planned to ignore the unknown teen, but when she heard what he said, Tianshi couldn't help but ask, "What if he doesn't agree?"

"I will take you away myself. Such a barrier can't stop me." Pio said confidently, not bothered that Xiao Feng was present. Hearing no comments from her father, Tianshi thought it might be true and asked curiously, taking a moment to look at him from head to toe, "Who are you?"

Pio only raised his wooden sword and replied coolly, "I'm your new bodyguard."