Don't Ask—Because He's the Protagonist!

A somewhat childish voice rang out. It was Taishu Jing speaking.

Everyone's gaze converged on him, their faces full of question marks. What the heck was a protagonist?

Hearing his younger brother say something incomprehensible, Taishu Yun looked at him helplessly.

"Jing, you're saying strange things again."

"Hehe, Brother, I mean you're really, really amazing," Taishu Jing said with an unconcerned smile. Paired with his adorable face, no one could bring themselves to scold him.

"Ahem, enough. Taishu Yun remembered it all in one go because he paid attention. The reason you didn't remember is because your minds were wandering—you kept getting distracted and spacing out. Am I wrong, Taishu Hong and Taishu Xiaohu?" To hide the fact that he did not understand what a protagonist was, Taishu Yong could only solemnly change the subject, his sharp gaze landing on the two little boys.

Of the two boys, Taishu Hong was a little fatty, round and plump like a ball of meat. He had probably been eating too well.

Taishu Xiaohu, meanwhile, looked bored. His hands and feet would not stay still for a moment; one look told anyone that he was extremely active. Making him stand still was simply too much for him.

Taishu Hong and Taishu Xiaohu shuddered, not quite daring to look at Taishu Yong.

Taishu Yong was right. After watching a set of fist techniques and a set of palm techniques, they were the only ones whose minds had wandered off from beginning to end. They had not remembered a thing.

Seeing the two cower like quails, Taishu Yong let them off. Children at this age were full of playfulness and hard to restrain.

"Don't let it happen again."

Taishu Hong and Taishu Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief at not being made to squat in horse stance.

Next, Taishu Yong taught the Ascending Dragon Fist and Reverse Dragon Palm several more times, then guided them one by one. Gradually, everyone began practicing with some semblance of form.

More of the little ones chose the Ascending Dragon Fist, while fewer practiced the Reverse Dragon Palm, because they thought the Reverse Dragon Palm was not as imposing.

What do you brats know?

Imposing? Can imposing feed you?

Do you think this is some kind of performance? Be careful not to train properly, then get knocked flat in two moves and have nowhere to cry.

Someone as brilliant as me practices the Reverse Dragon Palm. Isn't slapping people in the face great?

Just watch me suppress every last one of you with a single slap. Above the heavens and below the earth, I'm invincible!

"Hehe." Taishu Jing could not help laughing. Just thinking about it felt thrilling.

Seeing his younger brother suddenly space out and foolishly start laughing, Taishu Yun's face filled with concern. Could his little brother be sick?

Although his little brother sometimes said things no one understood, he had never foolishly laughed like this before.

"Jing, are you all right?" Taishu Yun walked over and waved a hand in front of Taishu Jing's face.

Shaking his head, Taishu Jing came back to his senses. How did I space out again? I still need to stay calm.

Seeing the worry on his brother's face, Taishu Jing scratched his head and gave an adorably sweet smile. "Brother, I'm fine. Let's train."

As he spoke, Taishu Jing assumed an opening stance before him.

Recognizing the Reverse Dragon Palm at a glance, Taishu Yun looked at his little brother doubtfully. "Jing, you know the Reverse Dragon Palm?"

"Of course. I'm your little brother, after all." Taishu Jing crooked a finger, signaling for him to come spar.

Ignoring the latter half of that statement, Taishu Yun looked at his little brother with considerable interest. If Taishu Jing had truly remembered the Reverse Dragon Palm, then his talent was excellent as well.

"Fine, let's have a go." Taishu Yun said no more and took up his stance.

Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing's movements naturally fell into Taishu Yong's eyes.

He watched the two brothers with great interest. A seven-year-old older brother and a five-year-old younger brother—one using the Ascending Dragon Fist, the other the Reverse Dragon Palm. In such a short time, how much could they have mastered?

"Eh? That's not right. This is..." Sensing the change in the brothers' auras, Taishu Yong was somewhat surprised.

Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing's gazes met. The next instant, they attacked at the same time, crossing a distance of one zhang in the blink of an eye.

Fist and palm collided. There was no earth-shaking momentum, no force capable of shattering the heavens and splitting the earth. They had not even achieved complete mastery.

Yet in Taishu Yong's eyes, their movements were spot-on and well ordered. Whether they threw punches or chopped with their palms, neither was shaky or unsteady on his feet. Back and forth they went, their fist and palm techniques gradually improving.

As the brothers exchanged moves, Heaven and Earth Essence visibly seeped into their bodies, slowly tempering their bones and blood.

This scene stunned all the children. Someone had begun tempering their bones and blood so quickly—what were they supposed to do now?

It was not just these little brats. Taishu Yong was the same, staring wide-eyed at the two brothers as if he had seen a ghost.

"Damn it, they're already tempering their bones and blood? If I had that kind of talent, I'd have broken through to the next realm long ago," Taishu Yong cursed.

Crackle!

As Heaven and Earth Essence entered their bodies and tempered every bone and drop of blood, both Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing felt warm all over. Not only did they feel no exhaustion, they felt as though they had endless strength.

"Mmm!"

Taishu Yun let out a blissful moan. The feeling of Heaven and Earth Essence entering his body and tempering his bones and blood was simply wonderful.

Holy shit!

Hearing his brother's voice, goosebumps rose all over Taishu Jing's body. That delicate moan, like one from a young maiden, had actually come from his brother's mouth. It was fucking terrifying.

Having no desire to continue training, Taishu Jing opened his mouth and shouted, "Take this!"

He swung a palm along with the shout. With a smack, Taishu Yun took a slap to the face and was knocked to the ground. He stared blankly at his little brother, utterly confused. Why had he suddenly slapped him when everything had been going fine?

Hah!

That felt good!

Meeting Taishu Yun's puzzled gaze, Taishu Jing smiled shyly, then walked over and pulled his brother up. "Brother, sorry. I got too excited for a moment. Are you okay?"

Taishu Yun did not blame him, though his face felt somewhat hot. Rubbing his cheek, unaware of the faint little handprint on it, he shook his head. "I'm fine, Jing. Just don't do that again next time."

"Mm-hm." Taishu Jing blinked his big eyes and obediently agreed.

"You two brothers are truly unexpected—outstanding indeed. As expected of the clan chief's children."

Taishu Yong walked over, ignoring the handprint on Taishu Yun's face as he happily praised them.

Taishu Yun's face was filled with joy at Taishu Yong's praise, while Taishu Jing merely smiled indifferently. Their cultivation had only just begun; there would be far more shocking things to come.

"Come on, let's test it and see how much strength you have now," Taishu Yong said with interest.

He led the children to an ancient and simple stone stele.

The stele was as tall as an adult and looked as though it had seen many years. Strange symbols were inscribed upon it, exuding a faint air of antiquity.

"This is the Strength Testing Stele, specially used to test the strength of those in the Blood Bone Realm. As long as your strength is below 150,000 jin, it can measure it," Taishu Yong introduced proudly.

"Wow!"

The little ones gathered around the stele, looking it over and touching it here and there. They quickly lost interest.

"Attack it with all your strength and give it a try," Taishu Yong said, gesturing to Taishu Yun and Taishu Jing.

Nodding, Taishu Yun stepped up to the stele first. He sank his qi into his Dantian, let out a low shout, and punched the stone stele.

Soon, the symbols on the stele began to glow, and a line of words appeared.

"515 jin!"

"Mm, very good. Taishu Jing, you try," Taishu Yong said happily upon seeing the number. After being tempered so simply for the first time, he already possessed over two hundred jin of strength. At this rate, breaking through ten thousand jin would not be difficult.

Taishu Jing walked up to the stele. After gathering his strength, he struck it with a palm, and another line of words appeared.

"500 jin!"

"Hahaha, not bad at all! I never expected both you brothers to be so outstanding. Our Taishu Family has produced two fine seedlings in this generation as well," Taishu Yong laughed heartily.

Next, the other little ones also struck the stele and tested their strength. They all had roughly a hundred jin of strength, while even the little fatty Taishu Hong only had a little over one hundred and sixty jin.

However, once they began receiving the tempering of Heaven and Earth Essence, their strength would soar as well.

"The rest of you must cultivate diligently too. As long as you work hard, you can also possess tremendous strength of a thousand jin, or even ten thousand jin."

"Our Taishu Family has been passed down for hundreds of years. We once had a heaven's chosen talent who possessed eighty thousand jin of immense strength in the Blood Bone Realm. Unfortunately, he later died while adventuring outside. What a pity," Taishu Yong said with a sigh.

Listening to Taishu Yong, Taishu Yun's heart raced with longing. Eighty thousand jin of immense strength truly shocked him. He only had a little over five hundred jin of strength now; he was still far from even ten thousand jin, let alone eighty thousand.

A blazing fire lit in Taishu Yun's eyes as he made up his mind. Sooner or later, he would surpass eighty thousand jin and reach the limit of 108,000 Jin.

The moment Taishu Jing saw the look in his brother's eyes, he knew what he was thinking. He definitely wanted to challenge the limit in the Blood Bone Realm.

Don't ask Taishu Jing why. If you ask, it's because he's the protagonist!