Chapter 7

As far as he was concerned, Leo would be able to continue training secretly at least for a short period of time, but he would be unable to hide the fact that he was a Rank 1 warrior from the Third Elder who would be visiting him and his mother soon. When the Third Elder would visit, he would stay for a few minutes in order to check in instead of just handing over some gold pieces to Leo's mother so Leo would be forced to acknowledge the Third Elder's presence.

However, this still gave him time to continue training privately and so this was what he chose to do for this period of time in order to reevaluate his body and to create a brand new training regimen for himself. Since battle qi was different from the strength of a normal human's muscles without it, this meant that soon, Leo would have to put in a request to find a suitable training manual, but at the very least, as of right now the training he could focus on would be tempering this newly acquired strength which was something his previous life's training could handle without the assistance of anyone else.

Like this, two days had gone by and by the third day, the Third Elder had finally chosen to visit Leo and his mother's home. Since they had a high standing previously, Leo and his mother were still able to live in the same home that they lived in before he was born and this home was considered to be bigger compared to others in the village who were not the head of the village guards or elders. Therefore, the Third Elder felt rather at home even while walking into a residence that was not his own.

"Hello dear, how is your body holding up as of late? I hope that this ointment will allow you to still live somewhat comfortably but unfortunately, the Grand Elder has yet to approve a higher priced treatment for you which as always I am very sorry for." After walking in, the Third Elder could not help but to have worry on his face since Leo's grandfather died of old age not too long ago and it was the Third Elder's lifelong friend. In memory for his lost friend, he volunteered to oversee Leo and his mother when Leo was born and the Grand Elder approved of this.

"Thank you Elder Andrew for your consideration. My son has been doing something these past several weeks but due to my condition, it is still too hard for me to walk around leisurely in my own home. Alas, as long as my son is willing to live a peaceful life, I can remain like this forever." Leo's mother replied while slightly bowing her head towards Elder Andrew. Elder Andrew could not show Leo and his mother much favoritism due to his standing within the sect, but it was clear that Leo's mother looked at Elder Andrew similarly as she one did towards her own father.

"Oh Laura, you are always so positive no matter what. Even when growing up when you fell short you were always able to keep pushing forward. I have chosen to come to see you two early because it got back to me that Leo has yet to leave this home of his and I needed to make sure nothing was wrong. You know that I am unable to do things due to my position within the sect, but because of my position, handling matters concerning a twelve year old child should still be manageable."

"Do not worry Uncle Andrew, there is nothing to be concerned about, I have just decided to work a little harder in my training to make my father proud!" Coming out of his room after eavesdropping on his mother's conversation with Elder Andrew, Leo seemed to be in very high spirits and this actually caused Elder Andrew to have a slight look of confusion on his face since the rumors seemed to lean more towards a negative scene rather than an overly positive one.

This confused look actually changed within a single breath of time, because Elder Andrew was able to sense a small yet noticeable change within Leo's body. "Leo my little nephew, what exactly do you mean by working a little harder in your training? Because from the looks of it, you have actually broken into the first rank of your cultivation which even shocks me, an elder who has already lived past the age of sixty years old!"

"Mother told me that sometimes a cultivator would find themselves in a bottleneck and the only way to get past it would be to train much harder and more diligently. I followed her advice and now I can follow in my father's footsteps." Leo replied to this line of questioning. He already played this scene many times through his head so although on the outside he appeared overjoyed and emotional, inside he felt very calm since everything was going according to his plan.

Listening to Leo's words surprised Elder Andrew, but from the optimistic words, it seemed that this twelve year old boy was not joking around with him but there was no telling what kind of hellish training Leo had to put himself through in order to break into Rank 1 as a warrior with a normal mortal's body which was very average looking as well. "I see, well good job my little nephew, if you are walking the path as a warrior this means that when you grow into adulthood, you can handle some additional sect responsibilities which will make things easier on your mother here."

"Thank you Uncle Andrew, I wish to immediately head back into training so I would ask if I could be excused?" Leo asked the elder with excitement in his tone of voice.

"Oh of course you can, just make sure to pace yourself because now that you are a cultivator, there will be times where if you work too hard, you can badly hurt yourself and that is something that neither your mother or I would want to see or hear about." Elder Andrew replied while his left hand, which was hidden from Leo and his mother, let out a very dim and unnoticeable light.

"I am truly sorry Elder Andrew, if I knew that my son had finally let go of the shackles holding him back and was able to take his first step as a cultivator, I would have sent word for you right away. Because of my injuries I am no longer able to sense such changes and since you are the only one who visits us lately, it was impossible for me to notice anything." Laura immediately tried to use her upper body to bow towards the elder. Normally, sect members were required to report changes to an elder level figure so that the overall strength of the sect itself could be properly assessed and so the proper amount of assistance and resources could be given to those who make a breakthrough.

"Do not worry dear, he is a twelve year old boy who was considered to not have the ability to cultivate ever in his life so the fact that he made a breakthrough like this is not something that should be punishable but rather a gift for our sect. Just on a moral standpoint, the fact that a crippled youth chose not to give up and eventually reached his goal is enough for everyone who had lost hope themselves to work harder to achieve something more. I shall report this to the Grand Elder and you have my word that Leo will not be punished for hiding this from the sect."

After handing over some gold pieces which were her and her now deceased husband's pensions, Elder Andrew took his leave and after closing the door, his face turned rather ugly. "It is a good thing I came across this artifact that allows a cultivator of my level to assess the elemental affinity a cultivator of a lower rank has without them noticing. But, I must report this immediately to the Grand Elder who also knows about this artifact before my wife and children become involved in this storm that is about to change this sect!"