Yan Ping could not believe it. Anji emerged from isolated training, her golden core humming at a newly stabilised Solid Core foundation when she greeted her teacher. It felt as if the old Anji had returned. Isolation training did not simply increase Anji's core level. Her personality had also returned to its origin, and Yan Ping would have been fooled if she did not sense a subtle, unusual grace in Anji's words and actions. Her maturity differed from that she had previously displayed. There was a greater sense of non-attachment and unconditional acceptance of everything.
"You could have taken more time to raise your golden core level," Yan Ping sighed. "With a few more years, you could have achieved your first tribulation to becoming a real cultivator at the Enlightened Core stage."
Anji smiled politely and replied cheekily that she had emerged early after meeting the main requirement so as not to miss her upcoming ninth birthday.
