A Rare Affinity?

After receiving a good spanking from the city lord personally, Chu Fan made his way to find the two he provided a distraction for. While walking he'd stroke his sore buttocks and suck in a couple breaths of cold air.

He made a way into a cliché alleyway knowing that the two children would be there. As he approached them, he saw that the very talkative girl for once in her life spoke no words. She silently stared at the seemingly heroic figure in front of her as he kept a lookout for her father.

Zhu Zhong noticing the approaching figure to be Chu Fan, received the other kid with a smile. He ran to his side and patted him on the back.

"So you do have indeed have a pair of balls. The first time I saw you, I thought of you to be a coward. How about it? Let's become sworn brothers."

He then extended his right hand aiming to get a handshake..

Chu Fan had been angered by the cliché actions of this generic hero in front of him. he could not deny that he wanted to befriend this detestably likable person.

"Of course I have balls. I'm a boy aren't I? Speaking of friendship, you seem to be loyal enough to be a friend. I happily accept."

Chu Fan happily and firmly shook Zhu Zhong's hand. The two, despite being children, painted the picture of brotherhood that one could only see in modern day films. This made Chu Fan happy for he was finally able to experience the feeling of brotherhood he yearned for; his eyes turned red as he held back his tears.

As the two boys shook their hands; a third hand came to rest on their interlocked palms. This hand was the hand of the city lord's daughter, Huang Mudan.

She felt left out and pouted in anger.

"Hey! Don't leave me out. I need some friends too. You two wouldn't abandon a damsel in distress now would you?"

The two boys noticing the words that came out of this strong-willed girl had no choice but to laugh and concede to her demands.

And so, in that alleyway, three children swear an unbreakable oath of brotherhood. In many ways it was similar to the way an epic trio of sworn brothers had made their promises in a certain peach garden.

And so a string of karmic fate had been strung around the three children that very instant.

It had been nearing lunch time now and Huang Mudan had begun complaining of her rumbling stomach. Remembering that Chu Fan worked in the kitchen, Zhu Zhong recommended that they head to the Zhu Family's kitchen where Chu Fan could find them food. Chu Fan reluctantly agreed: they were only infants and could not afford to eat at any of the stalls or inns around them.

They made their way to the Zhu family estate for lunch chatting happily along the way.

When they arrived at the family estate they found no servants were around. Prior to them arriving, Zhu Jia had ordered that all the servants go home early for the day to celebrate Chu Fan's awakening.

It was also a way of preventing Chu Fan from annoying any of the other servants from his sudden ability to speak at a mind boggling rate.

Ignoring the awkward silence they made their way to the kitchen in hopes of finding something to eat. They found the kitchen to be empty of its usual staff.

Seeing as there was no cook around Huang Mudan started to nag and complain.

"No cook present? I'm starving here. Chu Fan your part of the kitchen staff right? Go cook us up something."

Chu Fan didn't know what to do being ordered by Huang Mudan and couldn't help but to look to Zhu Zhong for help.

All he got was a pat on the shoulder and a smile.

"Good Luck!"

Chu Fan felt like he was about to cry but he was determined to accomplish the task given to him by Huang Mudan. With a determined face he headed towards the kitchen.

Huang Mudan and Zhu Zhong waited outside the kitchen where they heard a variety of sounds ranging from chopping sounds to pots clanging.

Chu Fan in his previous life was an extreme introvert and didn't really step out of his home to eat, despite having so much ambition to try and eat foods exotic to him. And so he was what some deem to be a "closet foodie"; he would buy various ingredients and cooking tools from around his world to try and cook foods from various nations. In doing so, he became proficient in his cooking skills and especially his knife skills.

Not knowing what to make at first, Chu Fan looked at the ingredients before him. He ultimately decided to cook dishes he called: phoenix fried rice, cooked simply using the eggs and meat of a vermilion hen with morning dew scallions and roasted sesame seeds; stir fried blazing boar meat, which included blazing boar bacon stir fried with snowball lettuce; and finally a desert he created called mulberry pudding, made with the milk from a marshland cow and topped with more mulberry and a holy mint leaf.

Chu Fan proudly carried out these dishes and presented them to the others with a slight hop in his step. The children made their way to the courtyard and sat curiously anticipating what these dishes would taste like.

Never before had the other two children seen these mouth-watering dishes before, so they could not help but salivate as the food was handed to them by Chu Fan.

Not expecting these extravagant dishes to come from a child their age, Zhu Zhong and Huang Mudan looked at Chu Fan with puzzled expressions.

"Chu Fan, who taught you how to cook?"

Chu Fan stuck his nose high in the sky, proud of himself. He patted himself on the chest.

"I learned by watching the cooks of course. This is not a problem that I can't handle by myself."

He bellowed out with laughter and the two other children could do nothing but chuckle and shake their heads at this silly fatty before them.

As they began to eat and taste their food; the expression of delight could be seen on the face of the children as they savored every it they took.

Huang Mudan, eating this food was in ecstasy.

"If I could find a husband to cook like this for me everyday, I'd marry him without a second thought."

Seeing the delighted face on Huang Mudan's face, he found it the perfect opportunity.

"If you like my cooking so much, I'd be content with cooking for you everyday for the rest of my life. How about it, Huang Mudan?"

Hearing those words, Huang Mudan began to blush and tear up at the thought of Chu Fan's proposal.

Zhu Zhong then swiftly gave Chu Fan a knock on the noggin with his knuckle like an adult would do to a naughty child when chiding them.

"Stupid, those aren't matters a child should speak about. Now, say sorry for making Huang Mudan cry."

Huang Mudan shook her head.

"No, it's okay. I like the sentiment. I too, would like to one day cook delicious dishes like this for my husband."

She then blushed and looked towards Zhu Zhong with determination.

As Zhu Zhong's face was currently buried in his bowl of food, the only one to notice Huang Mudan's gaze was Chu Fan.

This would only further his heart-ache and depression; it reminded him of his role in his world. He would never be the one to get the girl. But regardless, he was determined to become the hero of this story.

The children continued eating and went to play when after finishing their foods. After playing the two boys convinced Huang Mudan to return home as they would help her plead for forgiveness.

The city lord, upon seeing this, felt happy for his daughter to finally have made friends. He forgave his daughter and lightened her punishment.

The group of three friends would repeat this process: they would meet in the city, head over to the Zhu Family estate, eat a meal Chu Fan would create, and play until day break.

...............

In a brief moment, three years had come to pass and it was time for the children of Mulberry City ranging from the ages of eight to ten years old to take their cultivation aptitude tests.

In this world there were three systems of cultivation pertaining to three parts of a human's potential: Qi Formation, Body Refinement, and Soul Tempering. There were three tests that the children would take: striking a strength-measuring boulder, illusory reality test, and qi crystal formation test.

The strength-measuring boulder was meant for Body Refinement and most commoners took this path. There were some innate talents in this field but they were not that impressive.The path to body refinement was a long and expensive one. A person had to consume a number of pill and/or ingredients to grow muscles and harden their physique. In terms of the three systems, it held the least benefits.

The illusory reality test was made for the Soul Tempering system. It pertained to the mind and soul. The illusions presented would tell if a person had an talents or future in this system. Cultivators here would have to do extensive studying and consuming of pills and ingredients to further enhance their mental strength and soul force. Rarely did anyone have the ability to cultivate in this system. It was the most mysterious of the three systems and only ranked second of the three because of its small number of cultivators.

The qi crystal formation test was the most simple and could destroy many children's hopes of treading the path to immortality. It was a rather limitless system that required one to develop an understanding of the world and it's elements. Those that could cultivate in this system were bound to live virtually forever depending on the level of cultivation they achieved. It currently stood at the top of the three systems as the most favored way of cultivation.

If it were to be put in video game terms: Body Refinement, would be for a person of the Tank, damage sponge role; Soul Tempering, was sort of a support/enchant role; and Qi Energy Formation, was meant for the ADC, damage dealer role.

Each test had two functions: one that tested a child's aptitude for a system and one for elemental affinity.

Hundreds of children from the city and villages surrounding had come to participate; every parent saw glory in having a child enter the path towards immortality. And scouts from various sects around the world would come to recruit; making this event one of the grandest events Mulberry City held annually.

This event would take a whole week for all the children to participate. And so the streets were littered with tourists and citizens.

Various travelling vendors set up shop at designated corners where their products attracted buyers. Mulberry City's profits this year would be huge this year following rumors that an immortal had descended upon their little town bathed in heavenly moonlight just some years prior to this day.

It was nearing noon and Chu Fan had finished his kitchen duties. He had grown taller and his cheeks had become slightly plump and rosy looking like a peach. But he gave off a loving and warm glow with his smile. His dark brown eyes were big and gave a sense of deep understanding. His belly had grown too, despite his attempts at dieting and exercise. When seen by children and adults of the city, they'd say he resembled a big and cuddly panda.

He was ready to go meet up with Zhu Zhong and Huang Mudan at the testing grounds. It was the final day of testing and they figured it would feel more special if they all got it done on the last day; without a real big crowd spectating them.

As he made his way out the door, Chu Fan's sister called for him. She knew he was taking the test that evening and had her step-children delay their own tests so they could take it when Chu Fan took his tests.

"Chu Fan, wait for us. If you are going to the testing grounds, let's bring your niece and nephew along. Are you alright with that?"

Her underlying aim was for the children to make up as she sensed an air of awkwardness between her children and their uncle.

Chu Fan held no grudge against these pair of siblings as those were matters of the past and they knew the severity of there ways. He understood that this meant they were good people capable of reasoning; they had merely been corrupted by the evil ramblings of an ugly person.

"I don't mind. The test is for anyone aiming to enter the path of immortality. Who am I to say who can't come along?"

Seeing the two siblings, Chu Fan gave a greeting to the brother and sister.

"Greetings young master Zhu Ling and young mistress Zhu Hua. Shall we be on our way?"

The two only nodded in his general direction.

"Look, I hold no grudges towards you. The things in the past shall stay where they are. If anything you only taught me how to track people down and brave my fear of the darkness. I forgive you. Now let's just be children and live like uncle, niece, and nephew. Later, I can cook one of my special dishes for you two and we can chat some more. Okay?"

He then went to pat the heads of the two taller children before him.

"Wuwuwu! Wah! Waaaaah!"

Letting go of their hatred of themselves was the hardest thing for them to do, and for the one who suffered the most to comfort them made them feel even guiltier.

They were both happy that he was making an attempt to comfort them; Zhu Ling and Zhu Hua would vow to be loyal to their uncle for life.

Happy of what a cheerful and happy kid her brother had become, Chu Mei smiled.

"Okay now, let's go. We can't be late for the test, it's the last day."

She lead the children to the testing grounds while they happily chatted along the way.

Arriving at the testing grounds, they were greeted by two children who were waiting for them.

One being Zhu Zhong, he had grown taller and slimmer while exuding an aura of great potential. His hair had grown long so he tied it in a ponytail with a pin. His yellow eyes shined brighter as his eyes became sharper than they were as an infant. His ambition could be seen on his face whenever he smiled.

The other was Huang Mudan, she too had grown taller. As a result of her father's strict meddling in her diets, she had grown slimmer. At only eight years of age, she had big grey eyes that shown brightly. And her facial structure was so picture perfect one could anticipate that she'd transform into an unrivaled goddess to the masses in the few upcoming years.

Her father would sometimes get no sleep thinking about how his child grew to look like her mother with every passing moment; despite having a personality the complete opposite of her mother's.

They held big smiles for Chu Fan who skipped to them as they greeted one another.

"What took you so long fatty? We've been waiting forever."

"Right, it's like brother Zhu Zhong said. We've waited forever."

The happiness of the children was short-lived though as soon as they saw the two children arriving behind Chu Fan. The sight of Zhu Ling and Zhu Hua gave them chills as they remembered how bad they treated their friend in the past.

"What are they doing here?"

Chu Fan had told them countless time to forget of the past he had with his niece and nephew.

"Now, now. The past is the past. I believe that we can all be friends. At least do it for me."

But despite disregarding that issue; Zhu Zhong and Zhu Ling were destined to be rivals. All stemming from both their fathers' inner-family drama.

Their fathers' rivalry stemmed from their teenage years. The two were very close as children; but kids grow up and feelings change and develop. These two brothers would come to love the same girl. And throughout their teen years they persistently competed for this girl's affection. But to no avail, she chose neither of them as they held no place in her heart.

This lady would come to marry the current city lord and was none other than Huang Mudan's mother.

Zhu Jia and his older half-brother would often bad mouth each other to their own children. Breeding ill-thoughts and misconceptions about each others uncles. The cousins had grown to detest each other as much as their fathers did.

Zhu Jia would call Zhu Zhong's father a pretty boy who only got his clients using his looks, charisma, and glib tongue.

Zhu Zhong's father would call Zhu Jia a shameless brown noser that would do anything to make a sale.

Needless to say, both parties were salesmen so they each had differing methods of approaching their preferred clientele.

The Zhu Family's business was in the medicine and dermatology field. They sold products for a wide variety of clients like: old men, who needed midnight-vigor pills; scholars, who needed midnight lily pills to stay awake at night studying for the annual civil exams in the imperial city; tan women, who needed snow silk powder to whiten their skin; and pockmarked people, who deep sea lavender extract for to heal their scarred faces.

Zhu Hua, on the other hand didn't like Huang Mudan because of her sudden change in her appearance from being a chubby girl to a slim and elegant lady of noble standing. Despite having ate so much food when she would visit Chu Fan, Huang Mudan seemed to burn those calories away effortlessly.

Zhu Hua was only nine years old but she had already begun to be conscious her future figure. And seeing that Huang Mudan, who ate freely without a care in the world, was fated to be beautiful all her life; she felt jealous and wronged at the same time.

She too wanted to be like her; but she was not willing to take the risk. This made her frustrated and she took out her anger on Huang Mudan by attempting to bully her any chance she got.

Huang Mudan didn't like the pair of sibling merely for the fact that they gave off a snobbish air and felt that they needed to learn to humble themselves in front of others. People who stood behind their family prestige did not deserve her respect.

She favored the people like Chu Fan and Zhu Zhong that held no regard for formalities and family prestige. They simply did things out of the kindness of their hearts, not asking for any form of payment.

Noticing the awkward tension, Chu Fan didn't know what to do so he pondered for a moment.

"Ding!"

A paper lantern appeared over his head lit above his head.

"I know. After this, if we find out that any school has recruited any of us. We'll have a celebratory feast and I'll personally cook the food."

They had all by this point in time tasted Chu Fan's "Exotic" dishes. Their past grievances disappeared at the very mention of Chu Fan's personally cooked food. Hearing such a proposition the other children became excited and started chatting about what kinds of dishes they were anticipating.

Realizing that they had gone from giving hateful stares to each other to happily conversating about food; the children laughed. And almost instantly they forgot why they disliked one another; because Zhu Zhong and Zhu Ling both loved Chu Fan's meat dishes and Zhu Hua and Huang Mudan both loved the deserts Chu fan created.

Happy that it was over, Chu Fan clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"If we're all ready here, then let's go get tested."

They made they're way to the registration where they were separated into different groups.

The group to get tested first was Huang Mudan; she would get tested on the strength measuring boulder and a achieve a high score of 140. She was stronger than the average girl who might score only 70 to 90 at their age.

Next was her illusory reality test; her test lasted an incense stick of time. And though she was pail at first, she regained her color after a couple minutes of rest. The overseers of the illusory reality exam found an innate talent in Huang Mudan; she had the inheritance of an immortal. This meant that she was the reincarnation of an immortal and thus her soul force was of a special quality. Recruiters began to take notice of her and gather information regarding her.

Finally she took the qi crystal formation test; each child would step onto a stage where there was a crystal and four elderly men would inspect the crystals reactions. The test takers were then told to empty their mind of any thoughts and picture a crystal in their minds; the characteristics of the crystals would determine if the person might have a future in the cultivation.

The crystal formed by Huang Mudan looked like a red phoenix, when it appeared the crisp cry of a phoenix rang. The judges were elated as this girl in front of them would hold a promising future in her Qi Energy Formation Cultivation with an elemental affinity with fire.

Looking at the city lord; many others were happily congratulating him as this would attract all types of suitors for his daughter.

The next two to take the test were Zhu Ling and Zhu Hua. They had both performed well in the strength test with Zhu Ling scoring 120 and Zhu Hua, an 85. They didn't meet the requirement to cultivate in Soul Tempering but never held any hopes to cultivate in it.

In the Qi crystal formation though, they made impressive marks. Zhu Ling's crystal was a spear shape with a yellow hue; a sound of rumbling skies could be heard from the crystal giving Zhu Ling an elemental affinity with the lightning.

Zhu Hua's crystal resembled a lotus that was yellow in nature also; but her's caused the ground to tremble lightly. The overseers deemed her to be a great fit for cultivation with an affinity towards the earth element.

The last group to go up was the group containing Zhu Zhong and Chu Fan. He was excited to find out what cultivation he might be meant for; and at the same time he knew that Zhu Zhong would outshine him. So he decided to wait and test at end of the group.

And so Zhu Zhong was the first to finish all his tests. He was above average in strength, scoring a 130 on the boulder. In the illusory reality test, he lasted half an incense stick's time, giving him some aptitude for Soul Tempering. When it came time for him to take the qi crystal formation test the audience was silent he was one of the last kids testing and the audiences were expecting it to end on a big note.

As Zhu Zhong put his hand on the crystal ball, there was a moment of silence followed by a loud boom. In the crystal ball the crystal formed resembled an ancient fire dragon coiled around a lightning striped tiger that had its teeth sunk into the dragon's flesh. It seemed so lifelike the overseers were startled. Zhu Zhong was declared to have a dual affinity for fire and lightning. The sole kid in this city with a an innate affinity for two elements was sure to be recruited by a prestigious sect.

Then came the final test taker of the event. He took the first test of the strength measuring stone and received a score of 110.

He then took the illusory reality test and passed it too quickly, giving off the thought that he cheated and didn't take it seriously enough. It had made itself to be a virtual reality game where you could do anything you wanted. The only thing that limited you in that world was your imagination. He was supposed to face an army; but he ended up destroying them by conjuring up a familiar ball of spirit energy. He decimated the illusory so much so that he hurt the overseer who was maintaining the illusory formation; for a month that overseer would be in a deep sleep to recover his soul force. And thus he was declared to have no affinity for Soul Tempering.

Now came the last and final test; the dreaded test of Qi Energy Formation aptitude. He hesitantly put his hand on the crystal ball and emptied his mind of thoughts. He thought of a crystal for a couple of seconds and eventually figured that since he wasn't going to be much besides a support character; then why bother trying.

He didn't expect much from the test. He figured that the crystal he formed would be different from the crystal that he would imagine. So in his mind he began to form his crystal. Little did know that he would change everything he thought he knew.

When he opened his eyes, the elderly men had all of their eyes glued to the crystal ball. He was prepared to hear of his disastrous results and that he had no aptitude for the Qi Energy Formation.

He had accepted that he might only get to cultivate in Body Refinement.

He noticed that it was too quiet and looked around; everyone was glued to the crystal ball, even the talent scouts from the sects. Wondering what they were looking at, he took a glance at the crystal ball under his left hand.

The crystal that had formed could not be considered a crystal at all because it resembled no crystal. There were no jagged edges and everything looked like it had formed naturally, untouched.

A revolving ball of white and black appeared in the center rotating. Surrounding the ball were five beasts of different colors: an azure dragon, a vermilion phoenix, a white tiger, a black turtle, and a yellow dragon.

These beasts were fighting over which one could devour the revolving ball of white and black. They moved about restlessly as one would approach the ball and be forced to retreat by the opposite beast.

After seeing what he had imagined in his head in the crystal ball; Chu Fan was confused. But before he could think much about it the rumblings and sounds of a heaven shaking battle were heard. Thrashing and roaring sounds could be heard as the beasts battled and stood still, at a stalemate.

This broke the silence as many on-lookers, the overseers, the four elders, and the scouts were now frantically speaking amongst themselves and pointing at the little fat kid on stage.

Stunned, he stepped off-stage while thinking to himself.

"That's strange. This isn't supposed to happen. I'm just the fat support character aren't I?"

While thinking about the number of possibilities he had an epiphany.

The reason he was sent there by the supreme immortal must have been to destroy the clichés of this world's xianxia logic. He was to prove the heavens wrong in their attempt to make the cliché hero fight the ultimate villain that would only result in the destruction of this world itself.

His challenge and one job was to break the mold of being the fat support character, become the hero of the story, and woo the girl(s) of his dreams.

And that light that had descended upon him those couple of years ago was his cheat ability; it was his innate ability. It seems he had to meet a condition for getting it though. He had acquired it the moment he chose to stand up for himself and protect the girl he liked those three years ago.

With a fist pump into the air, he declared, "Thank you supreme immortal. I'm sorry for doubting you."

This served as a way of silencing the commotion. Everyone shifted there sights onto Chu Fan. All he could do was chuckle while scratching his head.

After a brief moment of conversating, the elders came to an agreement. They had been unsure of what sort of innate talent Chu Fan might have and were deducing it. They then announced it to be called an "Inverse Elemental Affinity". It was a fabled innate ability only showing itself once in every billion group of people. It has its strengths and weaknesses.

A cultivator with that innate talent was not confined by elemental affinity and could use whatever element they felt like using. And the chosen element, when used, was twice as strong as when used by somebody of that affinity. But its greatest weakness came from the fact that it made the user twice as weak against an opposing element.

So if he chose the element of fire to battle a metal user with a water user as support; the odds of Chu Fan losing this kind of battle was very high.

Chu Fan understood that the only way to offset this innate ability was to train in Body Refinement to create an impenetrable defense for himself. But to dual cultivate was a challenge in itself. One must reach a certain level in Body Refinement before advancing in a certain level of Qi Energy Formation.

Though his aptitude with Qi Energy Formation was high, the likelihood of him achieving great things may be limited by his fate. He was a gamble on any sect that recruited him because they'd have to invest a lot of resources into his cultivation.

Content with this result he went back to his group. Zhu Zhong praised him.

"Haha, I knew I chose the right man to become sworn brothers with. You put on a better show than even I could have ever have dreamt of doing. I think I speak for all of us when I say you've made us proud. Isn't that right everybody?"

And the people closest to Chu Fan laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Right! My uncle is the best!"

"Uncle Chu Fan, you're so amazing!

"Chu Fan! You're put on a pretty impressive display today. You really showed these fools today. They should never underestimate my sworn brother!"

Chu Fan was in a happy mood today.

"Everybody let's have a feast tonight! I'm cooking all your favorite dishes tonight. Huang Mudan and Zhu Zhong; have your families come over too."

"Yay!"

The group of children accompanied by a lady made their way towards the Zhu Family Estate.

Everybody helped set the table while Zhu Zhong went to gather his family and Huang Mudan went to bring her father.

Chu Fan happily cooked up all the dished he could think of: stuffed scorcher quail, braised lightning pork belly, steamed marshland short-ribs in black bean sauce, desert bull tartare, mountain vegetable terrine, and a snow pear ice cream to finish it off.

When he was finished cooking and the guests had arrived; Chu Fan went out to greet the guests of his event.

He had been acquainted with Huang Dan before and seeing him brought back memories. Huang Dan approached the eight year old.

"You created quite the commotion today. I'm impressed with my daughter's ability to choose her friends."

Chu Fan chuckled.

"Of course! I'm the person who'll be your son-in-law someday. I have to impress you somehow."

Huang Dan didn't know what to say or how to react, because this child seemed to have no filter. He only shook his head and replied.

"Those matters can only be spoken between adults. If you wish to arrange a marriage, have your sister and Zhu Jia come to me and I'll consider it."

All said of course in a teasing manner. He bellowed out in laughter.

Taking this chance Chu Fan spoke at the top of his lungs.

"Sister Chu Mei, Brother Zhu Jia, the city lord wants to discuss matters of my arranged marriage to his daughter with the too of you! Where are you? The city lord wants to betroth Huang Mudan to me, Chu Fan. He gave me his word."

The crowd which was made up of Zhu Family members and the scouts from the various sects were all there to hear Chu Fan's words.

They began to gossip in a frenzied manner; talking about how the city lord wanted to marry his daughter off to the person with such a mysterious innate affinity to the elements to enhance his bloodline.

Hearing his words, Chu Mei and Zhu Jia rushed over; neglecting to even finish the conversations they were currently having.

As they were excited that the city lord didn't even look at status when considering who he wanted as a groom; Chu Mei and Zhu Jia spoke at the same time.

"Yes, we accept your proposal. Thank you for accepting our Chu Fan as your groom. We hope you treat of our little brother as your own son."

Feeling he was duped by this shameless child, Huang Dan felt like saying, " Son of a bit**."

This child seemed to have known that, as a city lord, he couldn't take his words back so easily. He felt that this was all a set-up. All he could do was look at this child with an investigative eye.

Thinking of an excuse he said, "Only if my daughter agrees to it, her opinion matters greatly. Mudan, where are you? We need your opinion on certain matters pertaining to your future."

Hearing her father shout her name, Huang Mudan rushed through the large crowd that was forming around a table nearby.

"What is it father?"

She held a cheerful look on her face as she looked at her father, ready to receive his command.

"How would you like it off you were married to Chu Fan?"

Huang Mudan answered unknowingly. She thought that her father was asking for her preferences in men.

"I wouldn't mind it. He listens to my problems and cooks good food for me everyday. I'd be happy marrying a guy like that."

With his mouth agape, Huang Dan sat down at the table. A little piece of him seemed to have died that day.

For the rest of the night he would keep him mouth shut lest someone else take advantage of his words and turned them against him. And he would sit there quietly drinking as tears started to form around his eyes; his daughter was growing up too quickly.

He would get consoled by the various fathers and cultivators who sympathized with him. They would drink and forget what he was even being sad about.

And the celebration continued and the food was placed on the tables. Everybody congratulated Chu Fan and Zhu Jia who announced this celebration to have become an engagement party.

The adults drank and partied while the children ate and played.

Zhu Zhong sat next to Chu Fan and patted his back.

"This is a fun day we're having. So many things have happened today. I hope things could stay like this forever."

Not noticing the way that things had played out; Chu Fan smiled.

"Me too. I wish things would always stay this way, forever and always."

Those simple words meant more than what Chu Fan was ready for. In the forest behind the Zhu Family Estate, many shadows converged upon the happy celebration.