Not Haku, How Would You Know His Joy?

The next day.

For once, Wu Bai's biological father did not insult him when he saw him.

Wu Bai glanced toward the main hall and thought, Just as I expected.

Several Wu Family elders had come. His father was putting on an act.

"Greetings, elders."

After bowing, Wu Bai walked toward the edge of the hall, quietly wondering what this was about.

He did not care about the family's future. He was wondering whether this might be his chance to escape.

"Ahem. Now that everyone's here, let's begin."

His father sat in the seat of honor. With so many elders present, he forced himself to hold back.

Besides, when he thought of what was coming, more than half his anger vanished.

"Yesterday, the Han Family invited the heads of many factions, myself included. As before, each family will send a young member to train alongside the Han Family's young people under their guidance."

"I've asked you elders here today to discuss whom we should send."

Silence fell over the hall. The elders exchanged baffled looks. Why was their habitually domineering family head suddenly asking for their opinions?

In the corner, Wu Bai raised his eyes slightly. This happened often. It was how the Han Family tightened its hold on the factions beneath it.

Looked at kindly, the Han Family was generous enough to train talent for other factions free of charge.

From another angle, those young people became informants the Han Family had won over, strengthening its control.

Suddenly, Wu Bai looked up. He had caught his father glancing his way.

"In the past, the candidates have always come from your families. As family head, I've felt rather guilty about that. My children are grown now. It wouldn't be right for me to avoid sending one of them this time."

His father wore an expression of noble resolve as he drew everyone's gaze to Wu Bai.

"My second son, Wu Bai. You'll forgive your father, won't you?"

"...Yes."

Wu Bai suppressed his excitement and nodded in silence.

When the elders left, they still had not recovered from the shock. Had the family head lost his mind? He had actually sent away his own son!

A quarter of an hour later, Wu Bai arrived at the front gate with a small bundle on his back.

A carriage stood waiting outside.

Wu Bai stopped and turned his head slightly toward his blood relatives nearby.

His mother was as timid as ever. When she saw him looking, she averted her eyes.

His elder and younger brothers made no effort to hide their glee, as if to say, That's what you get for defying Father. He doesn't want you anymore!

Wu Bai closed his eyes. What a loving family...

Under his father's impatient gaze, Wu Bai boarded the carriage and left the Wu Family.

Make no mistake: his father had not provided the carriage out of concern. It was only to keep Wu Bai from escaping along the way and angering the Han Family.

Beside Wu Bai sat his father's trusted steward, watching him as though he were cargo. At the slightest suspicious move, the steward would act without hesitation.

But the steward was not Wu Bai. How could he know what Wu Bai felt?

Why would leaving a cold, suffocating family like that be cause for sorrow?

If Wu Bai had not worried that showing too much delight might make his father choose someone else, he would never have bothered with this act.

He was no ordinary child. He had been reborn and had lived two lives. Why would he cling to the false warmth offered by those foolish relatives?

Wu Bai closed his eyes and spoke with his teacher in his mind.

"This is a good thing, too. I looked into the Han Family yesterday. They even have a Fifth-Rank Alchemist. If they're willing to keep up appearances, you might learn a thing or two."

"Teacher, do you mean I have the aptitude to become an alchemist?"

"That's right."

"..."

Now that was an unexpected delight. He had never imagined that being reborn might give him a chance to join the ranks of the truly privileged.

Having a special advantage and the Yellow Springs Demon Saint as his teacher had already thrilled Wu Bai. He had not expected there to be more: he could become an alchemist, too.

With one surprise after another, it was hard to contain his excitement.

But Wu Bai kept his composure.

Creak. The carriage stopped.

"Someone from the Wu Family."

The steward brought Wu Bai before a Han Family manager. Once his identity had been checked, the steward turned and left.

There was no need for the steward to care how this castoff felt.

"Come with me. We'll test your cultivation first, then assign you quarters according to your level."

Remembering the family head's instructions, the Han Family manager forced a faint smile.

He could not slight these young people. One day, they would all be pieces the Han Family used to control those factions.

Soon, they reached the Magic Stone Tablet used to test cultivation.

There were plenty of people around, but almost all belonged to the Han Family itself.

After all, none of the other factions had acted quite as swiftly as the Wu Family.

Wu Bai placed his palm on the Magic Stone Tablet. For the first time in three years, he revealed his cultivation to others.

"Ninth Stage Dou Qi?"

The Han Family manager stared blankly at the result displayed on the Magic Stone Tablet.

He turned to Wu Bai and asked at once, "Child, how old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Fourteen? Has the Wu Family gone mad?"

The Han Family manager could not help muttering to himself. With a few doses of Qi Gathering Powder, this talented boy could become a One-Star Dou Zhe at fourteen. Yet the Wu Family had simply handed him over to the Han Family. How unexpected...

Even in the Han Family, there were only a handful of talents who became Dou Zhe before adulthood.

"I'll take you to your quarters first. Then I'll try to request some Qi Gathering Powder for you from the family head."

"Thank you."

"No need. It's part of my job."

The Han Family manager led Wu Bai to a medium-sized courtyard. It was not the largest in this part of the academy, but only two people lived there.

Compared with the larger courtyards, where eight or ten people shared quarters, a room for two could hardly have been better.

Wu Bai chose the room on the left. When he went inside, he found it was even larger than the place he had lived in before.

"What do you think? Is there anything you'd like changed?"

"No, it's already very good."

"Good. I'll report to the family head before the others arrive."

"Sorry for the trouble."

"Not at all."

After leaving the courtyard, the Han Family manager grew even more puzzled.

What was the Wu Family thinking? There was nothing wrong with the boy's talent or his temperament.

Even if his good manners were only an act hiding a foul temper, he was still fourteen and at Ninth Stage Dou Qi...

"I'll leave it to the family head. I can't make sense of what the Wu Family is doing."

With that thought, he quickened his pace.

"Give it to him."

"Family head, shouldn't we... wait and see?"

"It's one dose of Qi Gathering Powder. Do you think the Han Family can't afford even that?"

"Yes, family head."

Before noon, an emerald-green pill the size of a longan fruit, giving off a faint medicinal fragrance, came into view.