Exiting the training

Bai Yun left the gravity chamber once the six weeks were up. Old Hai was waiting for him outside. He smiled when he saw Bai Yun after six weeks.

"You look much better young master." He remarked. Bai Yun only smiled in response.

It was true though. He had lost all of the baby fat that he had accumulated throughout his life. His slightly chubby body had become lean and filled with with muscles. From the outside, no one could tell just how much explosive force was hiding inside his body. He had trained his body using the highest level of techniques in the Assassin God's legacy as well as the God of War's technique in order to prepare a body that was perfect for a fight.

Once he wore clothes, his strong body would be hidden, and no one could tell how terrifying he would be. People would only think of him as a pretty boy. An unfortunate side effect of being human was that they tend to think of of things which look weak as weak. This was a technique of body modification he had picked from the Assassin God's legacy.

That was not the only change he had gone through in the six weeks of training. Bai Yun broke through from the third stage of qi condensation realm to the fifth realm during his retreat. He had also completely consolidated his cultivation in all three paths. He had also assimilated his soul's fighting experience with his body. If he had to fight the current him, the Bai Yun who entered the retreat would be beaten in a manner of minutes. In fact his soul cultivation had reached the absolute peak of the qi realm. If he took even a single step more, he would reach the foundation establishment realm of the soul cultivation. But if he did so, he could not fight in the clan meeting, and thus he kept it sealed up.

"I was quite surprised when you said that you were going to go on a long retreat. I mean how can someone of your age just willingly be prepared to forgo everything and just train for such a long time. Its incomprehensible." Old Hai remarked.

Bai Yun froze for a moment when he heard that. Most of the people of the world started cultivation around ten years of age. There were very few people who were like Zhang Zi and would start to train and fight because they enjoy it. Most people would be more like Song Hui and Gong Ming and tend to enjoy their life. Even when they were being serious, he could see an immaturity to their actions. This was due to the way they were raised by their clans. And when they weren't being serious, he could see the childishness in their actions quite clearly.

And children would never be able to stay still for so long. Bai Yun was able to do so because he was not a child in mind.

"It maybe because I have nothing else." Bai Yun quickly replied. "I have been partially asleep until recently, so the things I have experienced are quite different from others. I am used to being alone." Bai Yun quickly patched up.

Old Hai took a deep look at Bai Yun. Bai Yun quizzically looked back at him.

"Your parents have returned. I have already told them about the things that you did. They will want to speak to you." Old Hai suddenly said. Then he grabbed him by the arm and sped back to the mansion.

Old Hai dropped Bai Yun off in the middle of the mansion's garden. Bai Yun stumbled as he was suddenly dropped by Old Hai. He quickly shook his head to get rid of the dizziness due to moving at speeds his body wasn't used to and then looked around.

He found himself in a small garden behind the mansion. Bai Yun remembered this place from his memories. The garden was a small grass filled meadow, with a few trees here and three. When he was young, his parents would often bring him here to play. Bai Yun slowly turned around. His parents were sitting in the middle of the garden having tea.

His mother was sitting on the couch in the middle of the garden. She stared at him while resting her head on her hands with a smile on her face. His father was frowning while looking at some documents in his hands. But Bai Yun could feel feel a gaze directed at him from his father anyway.

"You finally got out. I was starting to wonder, if you would spend the rest of your life inside the chamber, training." His mother said.

Bai Yun smiled a little when he heard his mother. He had gotten close to them during the months that they had spend together, but it still felt weird thinking of them as his parents. No matter how much he wanted to call them as his parents, he still felt a disconnected.

"I just had to get my body better. It wasn't possible without a little movement." Bai Yun said.

His mother just smiled and the patted the seat next to her, asking him to sit down. Bai Yun alked towards her. "So, tell me what you have been up to these days." She asked him.

Bai Yun quickly told her about all the things he had done in the last few days. Of course he did not go into any detail, and also skipped the part where he killed Bai Shan. There was no need to publicize the things he had done. He had no doubt that his parents had killed before. It was impossible to reach their strength at their ages without walking a bloody path. But there was no need to inform them of unnecessary things. The less people that knew, the less chance people would find out about this.

His parents were startled when he told them that he could easily change appearances. It was only after he showed them, that they believed him. When he told told them of the fight with Zhang Zi, they were both surprised. His father even looked up from the documents. As one of the most promising youngsters in Yellow City, both of them knew of Zhang ZI.

"I can't believe you are as strong as Zhang Zi. I met him when I went to see grandfather before I left. I absolutely would not have thought that you were as strong as him." His father remarked.

"What do you mean as strong as him." Bai Yun grumbled. "The only reason I was able to fight against him was because I exploded out with every drop of qi throughout the fight, while he conserved his qi as one would normally. My meridians were hurting after the fight. I don't think that I could defeat him as he is right now. My guess is that I would have to reach either the eighth stage of qi condensation, or the seventh stage in both qi and body paths before I can defeat him. At the minimum."

When he finished both of his parents were surprised. They did not think that Bai Yun would claim that he could defeat Zhang Zi at a lower cultivation level. Even Bai Mu when he was the same age as Zhang Zi could not be stronger than Zhang Zi at a lower cultivation level.

Suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on his mother's face. "If you are so determined to do so, then you would only have three months left. Zhang Zi is probably waiting for the youngsters meet three months from now. He would most likely break through once it is over."

"Youngsters meet? What is that?" Bai Yun asked. He had not heard of this before.

"Its similar to the clan meeting, except for the entire Yellow city. Its a place where the top youths in the city come to battle out for the title of the best in the city. It is considered quite prestigious, but it is not considered a big deal in the clan." His mother explained.

"Why not?" If this was true, then the prestige one would gain would be much more than the clan meeting. But the people he met were all more interested in the clan meeting than this. In fact he had heard nothing about this.

"Since this is a public forum, the clan cannot allow anyone to lose face. Thus they would only send a few truly powerful people to participate. The event is open to the public to all the people below thirty years of age. And most of the people who register are people who are trying to attract the eyes of someone from the clans or other major forces."

"And it works too." His father interjected. "My father found Old Hai when they were both participating in the youngsters meet when they were teens. Its mostly for this benefit that the major forces hold this meeting. Thus a few people from the clan who are strong and trying to make a name usually participates. But since it is of no concern to pretty much everyone in the clan, no one cares about it. Besides the rewards given for the clan meeting are much better anyway. So everyone is more interested in it."

"Wow. I didn't know that there so many competitions in the city." Bai Yun realized that while he had filled up on the general knowledge of the world, he had forgotten to read up on the knowledge of the city and the events that happened here. This was common knowledge that mostly would not be recorded. He had to rectify this information gap as quickly as possible.

"There are lot. Young people love to fight and show off." His mother continued. "Thus all you need to do is to put up a stage and name a prize, and people would turn up to fight. There will be a noteworthy championship once a month in the city on average. But other than the three clan meetings, the youngsters meetings and the Hunters War, most of the others are useless.

"What's the Hunters War." Bai Yun asked about the unfamiliar term.

"Its similar to the championships, except it is organized by the Hunters Union. But the next one is nine months away, so you will have to wait a while for it." His father explained.

Bai Yun nodded in understanding. He thought for a while. "So if I want to fight Zhang Zi again, I will only have to wait for three more months huh. Then I will be well prepared by then." Bai Yun smiled when he thought of the chance to fight him once again. Of all the people he had met, Zhang Zi was the only person with a similar cultivation as him who he had found to be worth fighting. Every one else was either fighting in a stupid manner or, simply relaying the techniques they had learned without thought. But the moment Zhang Zi threw away his spear without hesitation, he had won Bai Yun's respect and interest.

"Why are you smiling?" His mother asked. "You men are all the same. Nothing in your heads but fighting. Its unseemly."

Bai Yun and his father froze when they heard this, and then slowly turned to stare at Xiao Mei-er. She seemed uncomfortable for a second and then said "What? Do you have any problem with what I said."

The two met exchanged looks for a moment. Then his father cleared his throat and said. "Sweetheart, um, how can you of all people say that we like to fight too much?". Bai Yun nodded as he heard his father. He had read up on his parents during their absence, and his mother did not get the nickname of the demon queen due to her pacifist personality.

Xiao Mei-er smiled sweetly as she looked at her husband and son. "What are you talking about, dear husband?"

"Nothing."

"I was thinking of something else."

The two of them quickly responded.

The next second Bai Mu seemed to find something of vital importance in the documents he was studying while Bai Yun seemed to interested in becoming a tea drinking champion. They shuddered for a moment and stopped talking.

'I must be mistaken.' Bai Yun tried to soothe himself.

'Yep I must be mistaken. There was no way that terrifying manifestation of killing intent originated from my kind and gentle mother. A hell's denizen must have passed by just now.'