Restricted Talent

"oho, look who we have here, miss zhou xinqiu, back to cultivate?" an elder by the name of Zhou Ye called out as Zhou Xinqiu walked into the cultivation chambers.

"yep uncle ye, father has promised me a surprise once I breakthrough to the Qi circulation realm, therefore I must practice hard!" Zhou Xinqiu turned her head to face Zhou Ye with a big smile on her face.

"Wow, I wonder what surprise he has for you, but.. about your conditions, breaking through to Qi circulation, maybe I can help, or rather, have some information for you at the very least."

"Oh? what is it uncle?" Zhou Xinqiu's face lit up while she stared at him waiting for an answer.

"Haha, the Zhou sect is holding its youth ceremony soon!"

"emm, yes but what has that got to do with me?"

"silly lass, at the end of the youth ceremony, there shall be a bronze circulation pool" with a smirk on his face, Zhou Ye teased Zhou Xinqiu and walked to the other side of the room and grabbed a pitcher of wine to drink. "Those who enter with a cultivation of 8th or 9th level body tempering have a chance of breaking through to Qi circulation."

"WAA?!, When is it? I heard my father speaking about it but I hadn't paid much attention to his words."

"In 3 months" Zhou Ye turned to see Zhou Xinqiu having an annoyed expression which really made her look even cuter.

"In 3 months I must breakthrough to the 8th level, I only just broke through to the 6th. It is impossible for me to achieve this. In that case, I should just cultivate normally and wait to breakthrough Qi Circulation." with a dejected face, Zhou Xinqiu began to close her eyes.

"Your father is really shameless, he hasn't even told you of your talent, restricting your every move, no wonder you are still only at the 6th level" he mumbled to himself as he walked closer to Zhou Xinqiu. "Hey, take that depressing frown off your face, uncle knows how to help you reach the 8th level in time, but you must listen to me during this period of 3 months. In other words, no nonsense."

"Yes Uncle! Zhou Xinqiu will listen to you properly!"

"good good, we will begin tomorrow, get a goodnight sleep tonight, tomorrow will be like nothing you have ever experienced before" Zhou Ye spoke while he slowly walked out of the cultivation chambers.

----

"Zhou He" a voice called out to him from behind.

"Who?" Zhou He questioned with a stern voice.

"Zhou Ye, I have come to ask something" Zhou Ye walked into the room and folded his arms and stared at Zhou He.

"Oh, haha, brother, what is it that you ask?"

"When are you planning on telling Xinqiu about her background, or at least her talent? She clearly wants to cultivate yet you restrict her every means. You give her trash techniques that won't do any justice to her level of talent and her cultivation method is the same as when she was 6 years old." Zhou Ye wrinkled his brows and questioned.

"When she needs to know, she will know" Zhou He indifferently spoke and waved his hand.

Zhou Ye slammed his fist on the table next to him and spoke louder, "Her level of talent shouldn't be wasted like this! I know you don't want to tell her about her demonic bloodline but why not tell her about her talent at least? It has nothing to do with her bloodline. Let her cultivate as she desires." Zhou Ye walked towards the door again. "Anyway whether you approve or not, I will be teaching Zhou Xinqiu from now, she wants to enter the youth ceremony in 3 months and I will help her achieve her goals. I know you want to protect your daughter, but you must know that she has to grow up and cannot always live under the Zhou manor. She is a shining star in the sea that is the sky, even we cannot restrict her."

"Oh alright, I hear what you are saying, but are you willing to take responsibility when her head is cut off her neck and displayed to the world as a political trophy? Are you willing to take responsibility when she stands alone helplessly amongst the thousands of people trying to kill her?!" Zhou He turned around and looked into Zhou Ye's eyes. 

"Dont tell me you plan on keeping her here her entire life." Zhou Ye began to laugh uncontrollably. "Forget you or I, even if the capital wants to keep her trapped in one spot, Id wager my life that even that is impossible! That being said, if you want to start her off with the crappy things you've taught her now, go ahead. With what she has now she wont even be able to reach the next city alone without 'her head being chopped off'." Zhou Ye clasped his hands behind his back and scoffed as he started leaving the room.

"You... argh... fine. with the looming threat I guess its better for her to be a little prepared. Just please, be a little careful, and for now, don't teach her anything that can awaken her bloodline. Man level techniques only." Zhou He noticed how determined Zhou Ye was to help his daughter and naturally seeing this, he agreed.

"Alright brother, thank you for your approval, although I didn't need it" Zhou Ye winked and quickly walked away laughing.

"you little punk, Im going to come give you your overdue beating anytime soon!" Zhou He yelled while laughing as well.

----

"Rise and shine little girl" Zhou Ye teased the little girl laying down on the floor who seemed so tired that it looked like she could sleep for weeks.

"eh? oh no I really fell asleep here while cultivating, I'm so embarrassed" Zhou Xinqiu wanted to laugh but only tears of embarrassment came out.

"Dumb girl, I told you to get a good rest, not cultivate all night that you can't move the next day" He smacked the back of Zhou Xinqiu's head with a scroll while laughing so much he couldn't breathe.

"ahhhhh uncle!!!! Don't laugh so much, I will die from embarrassment" her face turned red like a tomato and she ran off to wash up. When she arrived back at the cultivation chambers, she saw Zhou Ye quietly sitting on the floor with three scrolls hovering in front of him, each had a slight glow which gave them a sense of being extraordinary but at the same time they looked very simple and like they were ordinary wooden scrolls.

"Xinqiu, these will be your first new techniques given by your uncle, sit down and let me explain them to you in detail first." Zhou Ye quietly spoke out to her after which she was stunned for a few seconds but then sat down in front of Zhou Ye and listened carefully.

Zhou Ye picked up the first scroll which gave off a feeling of sharpness and obedience, but once again, still looked like an ordinary wooden scroll. "This technique is given the name 'nine sword dance art' as its name suggests, it is used alongside a sword and has 9 stances. Each stance gets progressively more powerful and like many other arts, it's 9 stances corresponds with the 9 levels of the body tempering stage. Therefore, you should at least be able to comprehend 6 of them currently. This technique is a simple but great one for beginner sword users to start with, It will give off suppressing sword Qi along with powerful sword arcs that can cut through steel and bones, however, the backlash of not comprehending it correctly is also dangerous so you must be very careful, do you understand?"

"Nine Sword dance art, Yes Uncle, Xinqiu understands" Zhou Xinqiu nodded her head as her eyes lit up with interest, this was the type of cultivation she always wanted! one that was filled with risks and powerful moves, one that had danger at every corner , and one that could create mighty heroes.

"Good, The next technique I have prepared for you is called 'Thousand Heavenly Soul Imprint'" a bright glow suddenly appeared coming out from the scroll with the character "魂" embedded inside a golden palm shining right above the hovering scroll in front of Zhou Ye.