3 Boundless Potential

After a long moment of silent staring, Nie Wei shot to his feet with an incredulous expression on his pale and slightly sweating face. "What is this?! Are my eyes deceiving me?! Indigo soul realm… 62 soul force in just a year with a basic cultivation technique and no proper guidance… Unknown soul form…" He muttered in disbelief as feelings of bitterness and jealousy started to take root within him. 'Why couldn't it have been someone from my branch? Why did it have to be someone from the lowest branch of our Heavenly Marks Family? Why?!' He couldn't help but think heavily in his heart.

Even though he was still making the show of looking at his own results in shock, Nie Li was using his acquired experience of more than three centuries to pay attention to everyone. The other three elders were still frozen in shock as they stared at him with comically shocked faces and Nie Hai was almost vibrating as he stared the soul crystal he was holding in his hands.

Nie Li was inwardly pleased at the awed and admiring look Nie Yu was sending his way. 'Good. If she isn't jealous of me, things will be easier regarding the plans I have for her,' he thought to himself before he adopting a sheepish expression on his face. "Erm, Patriarch Nie Hai… Esteemed Grand Elders… I have something to confess," he said with a hesitant tone of voice.

Nie Hai's entire body twitched as he slowly looked up from the soul crystal to stare directly into Nie Li's eyes with an unfocused but still intense stare. "… yes, Nie Li?" His voice was more than just a bit strained.

Nie Li rubbed the back of his head. "I haven't been using the basic cultivation technique you taught us a year ago."

"What?!"

Six voices, five of them elderly and masculine and one of them young and girly, but with the same shrill tone, exclaimed at the same time as their eyes became as wide as a dinner plate.

Nie Li grimaced a bit as he became even more sheepish. "Well…" He trailed off and hurried to explain when the six stares intensified. "It took me a week to realize that I wasn't making any progress with that cultivation technique. So, I sort of came up with my own using the basic concepts of cultivation and… why are you looking at me like that?" He tilted his head to the side.

Everyone was staring at Nie Li with a dumfounded expression on their faces.

Nie Wei couldn't control his entire face twitching. "This… brat… doesn't he realize the implications of what he just said?"

Nie Fa, the Public Relations Grand Elder, could only shake his head in disbelief. He simply couldn't believe what he was hearing but he had already seen the proof. While he still believed it, he just couldn't quite assimilate it yet. "This… this… this…"

Nie Cong, the Business Grand Elder, continued to make a pretty impression of a fish out of water. "Oh my… oh my…"

Nie Heng, the Scholar Grand Elder, just looked at Nie Li with shock and awe. "Indigo soul realm… a legendary rank soul realm… more potential and talent that even Lord Ye Mo…"

Nie Yu could only continue to stare at her cousin with awe and admiration in her gaze.

"Nie Li…" began to speak Nie Hai with a slightly trembling voice. "… are you saying… that you developed… your own… cultivation technique?!"

Nie Li nodded his head. "Yeah. I didn't want to disappoint anyone with my lack of progress so I tried to find away to show some by time this day came around. It took me a few days but I managed to come up with a way to cultivate that allowed me to significantly progress every day. I did not expect to have an Indigo Soul Realm… or that my Soul Force would have increased that much… and what is that Soul Form? It seems like the only thing that isn't outrageous about me is my Soul Attribute and even Neutral is quite uncommon!" He finished with a sheepish laugh.

Nie Wei finally turned away from Nie Li and turned towards Nie Hai with a sour expression on his face. "What are we going to do, Patriarch?" He knew the answer but even thinking about it was like a physical blow to his coccyx.

Nie Cong snorted and turned towards the Enforcement Grand Elder. "Isn't it obvious what we must do, Elder Wei?"

Nie Fa nodded his head as he started to calm down. "Indeed."

Nie Heng ran his hand through his long beard. "Yes, yes. We must. Doing otherwise would be foolish on our part."

Nie Hai managed to calm enough in order to adopt a completely serious expression on his face. "There's no need for us to discuss and decide for we cannot waste time," he said before locking eyes with Nie Li. "From now on, all our resources that don't go to already stablished matters that we can't absolutely ignore will be directed towards Nie Li's further development!"

Nie Yu gasped and Nie Li made sure to widen his eyes as well even though inwardly he was laughing victoriously. 'I'm glad bullshit can't be smelled otherwise things wouldn't have gone so smoothly,' he thought to himself in amusement. It also helped that his 'explanation' made sense in an outrageous kind of way. Since the had seen the 'proof' of his words, the bullshit he'd told them was immediately bought by everyone there.

"Li'er!" Exclaimed Nie Yu as she jumped towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug as she beamed at him with wonder and awe. "Congratulations! To think that my seemingly lazy and uncaring cousin is actually a genius… I'm so jealous," she finished with an adorable pout that soon morphed into annoyance before she released him and put her knuckles against her hips while 'glaring' at him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Um…" Nie Li blinked before smiling sheepishly at her. "You never asked?" That was actually true. When it came to the topic cultivation for the past year, Nie Yu had only babbled almost endless about it and how much she liked it. She had never asked Nie Li how he was doing.

Nie Yu's eyebrows rose before they furrowed as she seemingly began to think about something. Her cheeks got a little red as she refused to look at him.

After seeing the byplay between the two youngsters, Nie Hai chuckled. "It gladdens me when two family members are so close to one another," he said fondly before becoming serious once again and turning towards the Grand Elders. "I want you to prepare everything we will need for Nie Li's and Nie Yu's development. They are the future of our Heavenly Marks Family and we must do their best so their potential do not go to waste!" He declared strongly.

The Great Elders nodded, Nie Wei visibly reluctant, before they stood and walked out of the Great Hall with determined faces while acknowledging the two youths with nods of their heads. Both Nie Li and Nie Yu cupped their hands bowed in respect at the Grand Elders while thanking them for their time and effort.

Nie Hai then spoke once again when the Grand Elders finally left the room. "We must go and talk with both your parents at once. The must be made aware of this new development after all."

When Nie Li and Nie Yu nodded in understand, Nie Hai smiled before he motioned for the two youngsters to follow him and they also exited the Great Hall. When the Patriarch and his cousin finally stopped looking at him, Nie Li allowed a wicked smirk to appear on his face.

Not even a few hours in and everything was going better than what he had expected.

-XxX-

Nie Ming, a brown-haired muscular man with a scruffy face, stared at Nie Li in amazement. "My son… a peerless genius… with boundless potential?!"

Xiao Yun was covering her mouth with both hands as she also stared at her son with wide eyes. "But… that is… what… I can't…" Needless to say, Xiao Yun was so shocked that she couldn't even form words.

Outwardly, Nie Li just kept a sheepish expression on his face. Inwardly, however, he had a smug expression on his face. 'Bask in my greatness! One day boundless potential won't be the only thing I possess,' he thought, imagining all the power, authority, wealth and women that he will have in the future.

Nie Hai had a serene and joyful expression on his face as he nodded at the couple. "That's indeed the case. Your son is in possession of an Indigo Soul Realm, one that is considered to be legendary amongst soul realms along with the Azure Soul Realm. Even Lord Ye Mo, Glory's City only Legend Rank Demon Spiritualist, only possesses a Cyan Soul Realm. Your son also managed to create his own cultivation technique after the one we taught him didn't allow him to progress. He rose his Soul Force to 62 in a year!"

Nie Hai didn't speak about Nie Li's Soul Attribute or Soul Form. Those two concepts were still quite obscure even after all this time and the only thing that has been discovered so far about them was that Soul Form could be passed down within members of a family even if it wasn't a sure thing and that Soul Form affected someone's growth rate in some form. In regards to Soul Attribute, it determined which kind of Demon Spirit would be best suited for a Demon Spiritualist to integrate into their Soul Realm by matching at least similar or complimenting attributes together.

While Nie Hai had never seen Nie Li's Soul Form before within his family much less read about it in the past, he still could easily tell that it could only mean that Nie Li's potential was actually beyond what his Indigo Soul Realm would suggest. By symbolism alone, Nie Li's Soul Form spoke of Balance, Growth and Infinity. Just thinking about it made Nie Hai think that he was twenty years younger.

Nie Ming suddenly puffed up and gave a loud below of laughter as he pointed at himself with his thumb. "Why am I surprised?! Of course, my son is a peerless genius with boundless potential! It was me who taught him what it means to be a man and…" he trailed off before turning towards his wife with a cheeky grin. "… didn't I do a good job in making him, Yun'er?"

Xiao Yun quickly lost her shock and she stared at her husband flatly. "Keep telling yourself that," she told him with mock disdain. She then shook her head and looked at her husband with scolding eyes. "Nie Ming! Don't you dare start a silly argument between us in front of Patriarch Nie Hai!"

Nie Hai chuckled, gathering the attention back to himself. "I'm glad Nie Li has been brought up in such a lively environment," he commented and Xiao Yun blushed at what was clearly a praise while Nie Ming grinned smugly as he rubbed the space between his nose and upper lip with his index finger while chuckling almost haughtily.

Nie Hai chuckled again when Xiao Yun struck his arm admonishingly. "As amusing as this is…" he trailed off and sobered up as he looked at them with a serious expression on his face. "… I didn't just come here to tell you the good news about your son's potential as a cultivator. There's also the matter of what he shall become to the Heavenly Marks Family from now on. He is without our doubt our future and we must make sure he thrives with as many obstacles outside his path as possible!"

Nie Ming gave him a serious look of his own. "What exactly is it that you mean by that, Patriarch?"

Nie Hai smiled. "You will no longer work as farmers for our family, Nie Ming," he said and he chuckled at the wide-eyed look on his face. "From now on, you and your brother will be working directly under Grand Elder Nie Cong as his representatives in regards to everything that has to do with out harvest. As the father of someone as talented as Nie Li your status shouldn't be your current one. Also, you won't have to worry about paying for anything that Nie Li would need. The family will cover it to the best of our abilities! We will do our best to make sure that both Nie Li and Nie Yu realize their full potential!"

As his father and mother gaped at Nie Hai in disbelief and since they weren't currently looking at him, Nie Li allowed himself to grin in satisfaction. He had already made several major changes. He was already known as a peerless genius by the highest authorities within the Heavenly Marks Family and his family branch, which would raise their status from the lowest one to at least the same level as the branches of the Grand Elders! That wasn't a small thing for certain.

However…

"Patriarch Nie Hai," spoke Nie Li suddenly and when his parents and the Patriarch focused their attention towards him, he bowed while cupping his hands together. "If I might be so bold, Nie Li has a request!"

Nie Hai raised his hand to stop his parents from scolding him. "From now on, as long as it is beneficial towards your development and it is within my power to do so, Nie Li should never hesitate to ask me anything."

Bowing even lower, in both a show of deep respect and to hide his triumphant smirk, Nie Li spoke. "I thank Patriarch Nie Hai for his generosity. I will make sure to return it one-hundred-fold in the future as soon as I can!" He declared before making his actual request. "If it's not too much trouble, I would like for my existence and that of Yu'er's to be kept a secret… at least in regards to our actual cultivation potential and talent!"

Going by the following silence, his parents and Patriarch Nie Hai were clearly not expecting for that to be his request.