Waste

Recently, Qin-Er has changed drastically. Ever since he came back from doing Old Huang's job, the boy seems to have become an entirely different person.

Uncle Duan was unsure if it was because he had hit puberty or going through a rebellious phase? But he is just 6 years old, puberty is not likely the case right?

Putting aside that he had disappeared for a couple of days, ever since he returned, he couldn't stop swearing!!! Although Uncle Duan lies in bed often to rest, he sometimes hears the young boy swearing and speaking filthily by himself.

He really wanted to smack that 6-year-old's mouth, but he can hardly stand up now to take immediate action...but on the account that the young boy has become more diligent in training now, he would overlook it.

When he found out that the young boy's spiritual root was a rare one many years back, he tried to nurture it well. However, Qin-Er would always find ways and methods to slack off on his training. But surprisingly, these few days, he would double or even triple his training time on his own.

"Haste makes waste." Uncle Duan will remind the 6-year-old boy whenever he notices that he has tripled his training.

"Qin-Er understands. I just want to catch up on my lack of training in the past few years. Thank you for Uncle Duan's concern, I will be more mindful."

"..."

...He even became more polite? Uncle Duan frowned in confusion but didn't really say anything else. Maybe the reason is that… he grew up.

Looking at the boy in the distance practising with his wooden sword, his heart felt a little sad. Very soon he would pass on and leave this child behind. Although this little boy is lazy and timid, he never regretted finding and picking him up 6 years ago.

Then again… the lazy and timid part seems to have disappeared ever since he came back a few days ago. He thought that maybe his near-death situation really affected the child.

He sighed again.

--

Watching the elderly sigh from afar, Bie Feng looked in confusion as he swung his wooden sword. Ever since he retrieved the original's memories, he realised that the original had been slacking off training his stamina!

Although he really wants to quickly reunite with his Master, he knew that it was not the time yet since he's still weak and probably couldn't protect anyone. He just has to get stronger. He pushed his small little body the past couple of days, always doubling or tripling his training time. If it wasn't for Uncle Duan nagging at him, he would go on the whole day.

As the sun started to hang high up in the sky, the amount of sweat on Bie Feng's head increased. He wiped off his sweat and put away the wooden sword while looking up into the sky. He had been training for 4 hours and it was already noon.

Bie Feng glanced over at the elderly's window but no one could be seen. Uncle Duan must have started to rest. Looks like he won't be awake for the next 20 hours. He sighed as he walked towards the house.

Over the past week, since he was reborn, he noticed that Uncle Duan's condition seems to have worsened and the amount of time the elderly stayed awake was lessened. Now he stays awake for only about 3-4 hours a day and spends most of his time sleeping.

When he is awake, he spends it lounging on the bed, staring into space and occasionally looking at the field when Bie Feng is practising. He has also given Bie Feng a few pointers on using his spiritual power while he practised.

However, Bie Feng was still unable to "unlock" his spiritual powers.

"It will come to you naturally" Uncle Duan commented after seeing the disappointment in the boy's eyes.

"How old were you when you were able to use it?" Bie Feng stubbornly asked.

"..."

"..."

"You really want to know?" Uncle Duan smiled gently.

Bie Feng nodded his head and looked at the elderly with anticipation. Although the elderly is now sickly, in his memories retrieved from the original, Uncle Duan was still really strong and powerful just a couple of years ago.

He has a 1st-grade earth spiritual root and used his powers a lot when he had to clean up the cemetery. It is rumoured that Uncle Duan used to be a famous cultivator a long time ago but there were no specifics, so no information was concluded.

"I was 10 when I was first able to use my spiritual powers."

"????" Bie Feng looked confused. 10 years old? Isn't that a bit too late ah?!

Looking at the confused child, Uncle Duan laughed and patted the boy's shoulder.

"Sometimes some people may take a little longer for their spiritual roots to be willing to let them use their powers. The higher the grade, the rarer it is, the harder to "activate" it. But regardless, everyone should be able to use it when they turn 10. Thus the age requirement for most Major Sects." The Elderly comforted him.

Bie Feng frowned. If he was unlucky, the latest he would be able to train his spiritual powers would be 10...but for now, there's nothing much he could do except to continue training his physique and stamina.

In his last life, he remembered his master, Tie Cheng, started using his 1st-grade lightning spiritual powers at only age 3 ah!