Liu Mei’s Departure

Chao Zheng's eyes continuously darted from Chao Feng to Liu Mei, he was trying to decipher if their relationship was more than what they were letting on.

Chao Feng shook his head and raised his hands in front of his body, smiling: "No, no. It's not like that."

Chao Zheng raised an eyebrow and smiled back: "Sure, sure. Anyways, is this young lady currently awakening her dantian?"

"Yes, I am." Liu Mei nodded her head and then closed her eyes, her facial expression showing her deep concentration.

The two Chao brothers were silent as they watched her aura slowly transcend the realm of mortality and charge into the Origin realm.

A few moments later, she was officially a level one Origin realm cultivator!

Her face revealed an expression of deep gratitude and in her large eyes, there was a shadow of affection as she stared at Chao Feng.

Chao Feng smiled and said: "You are now a cultivator. I think that we should now take our separate ways as you learn more about the world from your own experiences and increase your cultivation gradually. Perhaps, one day, we will meet again."

After hearing those words, the smile disappeared from her face and a blank expression replaced it. She stared at Chao Feng, blinking.

In her heart, she knew that his suggestion was the best option for her, yet she didn't want to leave him, but how could she say that?

She nodded her head and silently walked away, looking at the floor as she left.

After she left, Chao Zheng lightly punched Chao Feng's shoulder.

"How could you treat a young lady as such? Especially a young lady with her beauty and her status, she must be heartbroken!"

Chao Feng was confused: "What do you mean?"

Chao Zheng begun to laugh. "Don't act dumb because you are not. You know what I'm talking about!"

"Honestly, it's not like that. We are just acquaintances." Chao Feng replied, shaking his head and putting his hands in front of him.

"Haha, that may be what you think, but clearly it's not what she thinks!" Chao Zheng replied back.

"Sigh, I am sure that she does not think like that. With such a status, compared to me, why would she ever have such thoughts?" Chao Feng sighed.

"Brother, did you hit your head or something? Our Chao Clan rules over almost the entire realm, her clan only rules over the Spectral Province, what do you mean?" Chao Zheng was also confused after Chao Feng's words.

"Brother, do you understand that our Chao family and the Chao Divine Clan are two different things? While they are related, the relationship between them is the only power that our family holds, the two palaces are only occupied by our family, when the Chao Divine Clan's core members return, Chao Peng and the other members of the family will be forced back into their homes. In fact, I hear that the clan head has already returned a while ago, and that he is living in the Chao Divine Clan Main Palace along with a few Ancestors of our clan." Chao Feng explained.

"Naturally, I know that. But since our family is blood related to the actual clan, we still hold some power, more than the Liu Clan." Chao Zheng argued.

"Brother, you are still wrong. If a fight was to occur between the Liu Clan and the Chao family, the Chao Divine Clan would not interfere." Chao Feng shook his head. "The clan we are related to has such a high power, full of monsters and peerless beings, the amount of face they would lose to attack the comparably weak Liu Clan would not be worth it at all. The strongest cultivators our family do not exceed the Martial Servant realm, and those who did have already entered the Chao Divine Clan."

"There is a reason why we are two separate entities, it is so that we can have our respective affairs and one party is not obliged to get involved. During the many wars that the Clan fought, did we step up? The outside knows this too, that is why our status is not that of the Clan's subsidiary force, but a completely separate family."

Chao Feng knew more about the history of the Chao Divine Clan and the Chao family than Chao Zheng because there were many books detailing the history of the two factions in the library, a place where Chao Zheng had rarely visited.

"I see. Thank you for explaining, but I think we have gone majorly off topic." Chao Zheng rubbed his chin.

"We don't need to return to the topic. Let's talk about why you arrived so late." Chao Feng changed the topic to something he was actually interested in.

"Well, I came late because of something that happened at my school, the number one disciple in our school has broken through to the Golden Martial realm and has been promoted to a core elder. Core elders have great authority within the school, and he has made a new rule that a disciple can only leave once a year with the approval of other core elders and even the head of the school. I have only left once, but I had to return to the school to retrieve some of my belongings that I stupidly left there. Since I returned, I naturally had to leave as well." Chao Zheng explained. "But I did not know about the rule. Due to this, I was barred from leaving. However, I managed to convince the newly promoted core elder to allow me to leave for the annual Rocky Stone Mountain expedition. He agreed, but I had to stay a few extra days for him to talk to other core elder and the head of the school before they let me leave, although there is an issue."

Chao Feng asked, "What issue?"

"Brother, promise you won't tell father about this before I tell you." Chao Zheng deliberated for a few seconds before he sternly made Chao Feng promise.

"I promise. Now what is it?" Chao Feng nodded his head.

"Sigh, due to the newly promoted core elder's decision, I will be demoted to an outer disciple." Chao Zheng sighed.

"Huh? How can you let them do that?" Chao Feng was astonished that the Yueshan Institute that he wanted to join would do such a thing.

"I have no say in these matters. All my work over these years to reach the inner court, all of it was for nothing after all." Chao Zheng muttered to himself, one could even see his eyes becoming slightly moist.

"Brother, do not be upset. That newly promoted core elder, what is his name?" Chao Feng asked, clenching his fists.

"His name is Liu Shai Lan, the cousin of your girlfriend." Chao Zheng explained.

"Girlfriend? Liu Mei's cousin?" Chao Feng understood why his elder brother was so shocked when he saw Liu Mei with Chao Feng, after all, she was Liu Shai Lan's cousin!

But what Chao Feng was more bothered about was his brother's last word.

"Girlfriend? Has a screw gone loose up there?"