Martial Peak
chapter-5238

Xiao Xiao eventually decided to join Water Moon Pavilion.

She wasn’t willing to part ways with her parents, but a conversation with her Father changed her mind.

When she became a successful cultivator who could fly freely through the sky, not only could she take in all the different sights of the continent, but she would also be able to enjoy all kinds of rare delicacies from all over the world.

Her Father had explored different parts of the world when he was young, and his descriptions of the food that Xiao Xiao had never heard of before were very tempting to her.

She was unable to resist enjoying delicious food.

Therefore, she decided to become a part of Water Moon Pavilion in the end. Her thinking was simple; she just had to cultivate in the Sect for several years and come back. By then, she wouldn’t have to be separated from her parents again. Furthermore, when she became a successful cultivator, she could bring her parents to different places and buy them delicious food.

Despite being reluctant to part ways with Xiao Xiao, the couple kept their emotions to themselves as they wanted the best for their child’s future.

The incense stick, with only half of it left, was lit, and soon, Wen Yuan rushed over from Water Moon Pavilion and picked Xiao Xiao up.

Watching the petite figure, who had stayed with them for the past 10 years, leave, the stout woman squatted and broke into tears. The hunter came over to console her, but his eyes had reddened as well.

Standing in front of the school, Yang Kai felt somewhat speechless as he looked up.

If Xiao Xiao wanted to cultivate, he could have taught her; however, considering the fact that the Old Ancestor was here to recuperate, it would be good to let her live freely to experience the Bustling World as a mortal would. Therefore, Yang Kai had never thought about teaching Xiao Xiao how to cultivate.

It never crossed his mind that those from Water Moon Pavilion would have a hand in this.

He didn’t find it appropriate to interfere though, so he decided to watch in silence.

Nevertheless, Yang Kai was certain that Xiao Xiao’s future performance would shock those from Water Moon Pavilion.

She was an Old Ancestor, after all. Although she had sealed off her memory, her aptitude in cultivation could never be concealed. Wen Yuan and the Elder couldn’t see it through because their vision was simply too limited to understand what they were seeing.

The secrets within the Old Ancestor’s body were far beyond what they could comprehend.

Those from Water Moon Pavilion were unable to judge if Xiao Xiao had an extraordinary aptitude; therefore, even though Wen Yuan had invited her to the Sect, he just let her cultivate along with the other new disciples with no special treatment for her.

These new disciples ranged from 7 to 10 years old, so Xiao Xiao seemed to be the youngest as she looked like she was only 3 years old.

Xiao Xiao suffered a huge setback at the start of her cultivation journey, but it had nothing to do with her aptitude.

Since she was a child, she had never been separated from her parents; therefore, she wasn’t used to it as her parents were no longer by her side. Water Moon Pavilion was far away from her village, so whenever she thought about her parents at night, she would secretly weep.

This kind of melancholy stayed with her for an entire month.

Although Yang Kai could easily settle this issue, he decided to sit back and watch.

That was because he had discovered something interesting. Xiao Xiao, who had never grown in size for the past 10 years, grew a little three days after she arrived at Water Moon Pavilion.

The growth was so negligible that even her parents wouldn’t have noticed it, but it wasn’t hard for Yang Kai to.

The revelation allowed him to relax.

Based on his previous observation, the reason the Old Ancestor hadn’t changed one bit over the years was that her injury was too severe. Her body was currently using all its power to treat her wounds, which was the reason she never grew bigger.

Once she started growing, that would mean that she was truly starting to recover.

Therefore, the moment Yang Kai noticed this, he knew that the Old Ancestor was fine and it was just a matter of time before she would fully recover.

This kind of change couldn’t just be a coincidence; otherwise, it wouldn’t have happened at this exact moment.

Initially, Yang Kai thought that it was because the Old Ancestor had been living in the village for far too long, but after an investigation, he realised it wasn’t the case.

This kind of change had nothing to do with where she lived, be it the village or Water Moon Pavilion, it had to do with her emotions.

After leaving her parents and the village she had lived in for the past 10 years, she was overwhelmed by a myriad of new emotions. That was the reason that prompted her to start growing.

Parting with one’s loved ones was something everyone in the Bustling World had to experience.

Yang Kai had never expected that such a change would take place after Xiao Xiao joined Water Moon Pavilion, but it seemed that he was right to refrain from interfering in this matter.

Now, it seemed that it would be useful to the Old Ancestor’s recuperation to let her experience more of life.

Xiao Xiao went on to be dejected for a month, but at the same time, she started showing her remarkable aptitude in cultivation.

In just half a month, she had successfully sensed World Energy and drawn it into her body. Since then, she had set off on the Martial Dao and was now a budding cultivator.

Wen Yuan, who had been secretly observing her, was thrilled and promptly told the Elder about it.

The Elder was a much calmer person and simply told Wen Yuan to keep observing Xiao Xiao. They would only make a decision based on her future performance.

Two months later, Xiao Xiao successfully achieved a breakthrough and ascended to the Initial Element Stage.

After another two months, she made it to the Qi Transformation Stage.

Another two months later, she ascended to the Separation and Reunion Stage.

In just one year, she had broken through several Great Realms. Her cultivation grew from zero to the Immortal Ascension Boundary at an unimaginable speed.

This kind of cultivation speed was unheard of on the entire Void Continent, let alone the small Water Moon Pavilion. No prodigy in history had ever achieved several breakthroughs in such a short period of time.

This was indeed unusual.

The leaders of Water Moon Pavilion were ecstatic. The Sect Master and the Elders pinned all their hopes on Xiao Xiao, thinking that she would be accepted by the Dao Temple and continue cultivating there soon; that way, Water Moon Pavilion’s reputation would soar.

However, Xiao Xiao seemed to have used up her potential after her first year.

For the next three years, her cultivation didn’t improve one bit.

The leaders of Water Moon Pavilion, who had high hopes for her, were naturally disappointed. Although they had done their best to solve this issue, their attempts were futile.

Four years after Xiao Xiao joined Water Moon Pavilion, she was allowed to visit her parents.

In the past four years, she was never allowed to leave Water Moon Pavilion.

This couldn’t be helped, as her initial performance was too astonishing. The leaders of Water Moon Pavilion made sure to hide her from public view as they were worried that the larger Sects would snatch her from them. Such incidents had happened before. Even though the smaller Sects could sometimes find talented disciples, they couldn’t always keep them.

Xiao Xiao’s initial performance was too Heaven-defying, so it was expected that the leaders of Water Moon Pavilion had to keep her a secret.

It wasn’t until they confirmed that her potential had been used up that they allowed her to return to her little village.

After leaving the Sect she had stayed for the past four years, Xiao Xiao rushed over to the village as she couldn’t wait to go home.

When she returned to the familiar village and pushed the door of her home open, she saw the stout woman, who was handling the prey in the yard.

In an instant, Xiao Xiao’s eyes were soaked in tears.

Noticing her presence, the stout woman looked up and saw her Daughter standing at the door. Pleasantly surprised, she turned her head and shouted, “Darling! Xiao Xiao is back!”

The next instant, Xiao Xiao crashed into the stout woman’s arms and hugged her tightly.

Upon hearing the noises, the hunter left the house and saw this heartwarming scene.

All three of them were celebrated that night. A pot of broth was made from the prey the hunter had caught that day, and they enjoyed their meal together. The hunter chugged down the wine that Xiao Xiao had brought back from Water Moon Pavilion and soon became intoxicated.

Since Xiao Xiao was now a disciple of Water Moon Pavilion, she would never get rid of this identity; however, she was no longer treasured by the leaders of the Sect. Moreover, she was currently just in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, so the leaders didn’t bother trying to restrain her. Furthermore, given the uniqueness of her appearance, they had never given her any missions for the Sect.

Although she had started growing in size since she became a part of Water Moon Pavilion, only four years had passed.

Presently, she only looked like she was seven or eight years old.

It wasn’t like they could expect such a child to carry out any important tasks; therefore, even though Xiao Xiao was still a disciple of Water Moon Pavilion on paper, she could stay in this village for as long as she wanted, and no one would criticize her for that.

This was exactly what she had always wanted.

The reason she even agreed to join Water Moon Pavilion back then was that she was a filial child. What she really yearned for was to stay by her parents’ side.

After helping her drunk parents to the bedroom that night, Xiao Xiao didn’t immediately think to rest.

Instead, she headed to the mountain and arrived at the log house where the hunter had picked her up in the past.

Although more than 10 years had passed, the log house had always remained there. Many hunters would rest here whenever they went hunting on the mountain.

Xiao Xiao set up a barrier around the log house before she entered it and started cultivating.

She had been hiding a secret from the leaders of Water Moon Pavilion; she wasn’t really in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, but instead the Origin King Realm!

Furthermore, her potential still hadn’t been used up.

The reason she was able to pretend to only be in the Immortal Ascension Boundary and have used up her potential in front of the leaders of Water Moon Pavilion was that she accidentally obtained a certain technique in the Scripture Pavilion of the Sect.

In the first year after she joined the Sect, her performance was astounding, and it was then she realised that the more astonishing her performance was, the more unlikely she could leave the Sect. Before Xiao Xiao was accepted into the Void Dao Temple, those from Water Moon Pavilion would never allow her to leave. Once she entered the legendary Void Dao Temple, she would never have a chance to return to the village.

Therefore, she thought that it would be wonderful if there was a Secret Art that could help her conceal her cultivation.

That was the reason she headed to the Scripture Pavilion, where she had really found such a Secret Art.

She secretly memorised the Secret Art and started cultivating it. What surprised her was that it was extremely effective.

Since she started cultivating that Secret Art, even the Sect Master and Elders of Water Moon Pavilion were unable to find out the truth. All of them thought that she was still in the Immortal Ascension Boundary when in fact, her cultivation had never stopped improving. Instead, it increased significantly day by day.

It never crossed Xiao Xiao’s mind that the Secret Art she had discovered would be so amazing.

She headed to the Scripture Pavilion again to look for it, but she could no longer find the Secret Art. It was as though the Secret Art had appeared at that point just to grant her wish, and then disappeared.

After concealing her cultivation for years, she finally achieved her goal and returned to the village.

Xiao Xiao decided that she would never leave her parents again.

Since her return, the couple had never asked her anything about cultivation. Four years of separation didn’t make them feel distant from each other; instead, their bond had become even stronger.

However, the couple could sense that Xiao Xiao was already different from the past.

The most noticeable change was that she would frequently disappear for one or two hours, and when she returned, she would bring back a lot of delicious food. Whenever they went hunting, she could always detect the prey before everyone else did.

And so, the days went by peacefully.