Meihui was truly shocked to learn what Ye Jun went through as a kid. She wasn't some sheltered princess, so she had seen the world's cruelty. Even then, she felt like reducing this clan to dust.
"It wasn't directly, of course. He made arrangements so that Ye Jun coincidentally stumbled upon that location and secretly watched everything."
"Despicable!" Meihui spat out in disgust.
"Things didn't end there," the figure said again. "Basically everyone in this clan wants Ye Jun gone, especially his father, who hates him too much. He instilled that hatred in his younger son's heart, the one he had with another woman."
She glanced at Meihui and continued, "You know how the coming of age is for boys. Ye Jun also fell in love with a girl. She became a reason he began to heal and saw hope in his dark world."
Meihui felt like someone was squeezing her heart. She knew there was no good end to this story.
"It's better I don't talk about what happened with that girl, but since then, he changed completely and started to live here while dedicating everything he had to breaking the curse placed upon him by the heavens."
She looked at Meihui and said, "He has gone through a lot already, but he needs to trample the Ye Clan by himself so it doesn't become a heart demon on his Martial Path."
Meihui remained silent for a while, her eyes turning frosty cold. "I understand. You can tell your mistress that he'll be safe here."
The figure bowed before her. "We appreciate your help. I can only do so much from the shadows."
Meihui waved her hand as she cast her Soul Sense over the entire Ye Manor. In an instant, the whole manor became visible in her mind. Every inch, every corner was visible to her as she scanned the faces of people she had begun to hate for a stranger.
Their features were etched into her memory.
Then, her sense landed on Ye Jun, who had reached the training grounds by then. Judging by the smile on his face, it was hard to tell that this was the same person who lived in hell with people who wanted to kill him at every moment.
"He's strong."
Her gaze softened as she began to admire him for his mentality. She didn't think she could have survived and still stood strong through so much, let alone smile like that.
"My mistress says he's a beautiful and exotic pearl hidden in a pile of dirty black coal," the figure said.
"She's right." Meihui suddenly realized something. "Wait! Your mistress helped him reforge his meridians?"
The figure nodded. "Yes. But make no mistake. He's magnificent on his own, which is why perhaps the heavens limited his talent by breaking his meridians. Now that he's complete, the world can see him in his true light."
Meihui hummed as she remembered the stories she used to read while being locked away in her home. The stories showed that the heavens often gave the worst challenges to the most talented to temper them, to see if they were worthy enough to hold that talent.
She liked those stories, but never believed in any of them. She lived a life full of challenges, but her talent wasn't great or anything. It was just a life where she suffered and then suffered even more.
But for the first time in her life, she felt like believing those stories. Perhaps there was some truth to them. Perhaps they depicted someone like Ye Jun rather than her.
'Does he really have a talent surpassing even mine?' she wondered. 'What have I chanced upon?'
Just as Meihui was deep in thought, she noticed something peculiar in the training grounds. Instead of practicing like others there, Ye Jun spent his time mocking others and giving them pointers, which confused her greatly.
"What is he doing?" she asked.
"Oh? You can see it?" the figure seemed surprised. "To answer your question, he spends his day like this. Before his meridians were reforged, he used to practice a lot and speak less with others. But ever since then, he practices even less."
Meihui frowned.
"Nonetheless, he is progressing rapidly. I can't see his exact cultivation base, but his rapid increase in strength and presence shows it."
Meihui blinked in surprise. "You can't? Even though you're at the Soul Tempering Realm?"
"Is it that surprising?"
Meihui shrugged. "Kind of. He's currently at the Sixth-Stage Body Strengthening Realm, though it shouldn't be long before he advances to the Seventh-Stage."
The figure almost slipped from her footing upon hearing that, her voice rising sharply. "At what? I might have misheard."
"Sixth-Stage. Why are you shocked?" Meihui asked in confusion.
The figure took a deep breath to calm herself when she realized Meihui wasn't joking. She mumbled to herself, "I need to report to Mistress. This is insane. Wait! Is he practicing some demonic mysterious technique?"
"No, he isn't. I would have killed him the moment I saw him otherwise," Meihui quickly corrected her. "And what happened?"
"He was at the Third-Stage three days ago," the figure said, still reeling from shock. "How did he advance three stages in just three days? And he didn't even do much."
Now, even Meihui was surprised. 'Three stages in three days? In this backward place? How is this possible?'
Even in the place she came from, this was a ridiculous pace. If she hadn't checked for herself, even she might have believed that Ye Jun was cultivating some powerful demonic cultivation technique.
Meihui relaxed her nerves and smiled. "Perhaps it really is true. The heavens punished him for his great talent, and now that he is freed from the shackles that bound him, he is soaring rapidly."
The figure nodded slowly. "I still can't believe it! At this rate, he would really become worthy of Mistress. She actually chose a gem as her husband."
Meihui's eyebrows jumped upon hearing that. 'Husband? Are they engaged?'
The figure hurriedly bowed before Meihui and said, "I will deliver the news to my Mistress. So I ask you to please protect him. Now that you know his worth, you should know protecting him is even more important."
Meihui nodded, and the figure vanished before her. She then focused back on Ye Jun and thought,
'I never believed in miracles and fate, but now I think I should. How did I stumble into this?'