A look of pleasant surprise appeared on the face of Overseer Wang Li, but it took him just a second to catch Xu Min's leg. Xu Min found himself hanging in the air, his leg held by the older man's strong arm. To lift him with such ease, the man was at least an early stage Warrior.

"No need to rush like this," Wang Li chuckled. With a flick of his hand, the young boy was thrown towards the bed. Colliding against the wall, the young boy could not help but grimace in pain before he fell down onto the bed.

Although Xu Min was in pain, he refused to give in. He forced his body to stand up while he waited to see what the older man would do next.

Seeing that Wang Li did not move, the young boy gritted his teeth and quickly took the Shattering Palm stance that he had trained for such a long time. Xu Min stood up and raised his hand in front of him. The Qi that was roiling inside of him went through his body's meridians in a specific pattern before it started to leak out from the body of the young man, consolidating into a large palm which hovered on top of his head. Seeing this translucent palm that appeared above the head of the young Student Warrior suddenly flying toward him, Wang Li was shocked. He couldn't believe that someone who was not a Warrior yet could have the ability to activate such an advanced technique.

Seeing the palm, a genuine smile appeared on Wang Li's face, and with steady steps he strode to meet the translucent palm. His own fist moved to meet it in the middle of the room.

Seeing that Wang Li intended to take the hit head on without using any Qi to protect himself, Xu Min was taken aback. He was certain that even early stage Warriors would need to use some Qi to protect themselves against his Shattering Palm. Could it be that Wang Li was a middle stage Warrior, or perhaps even a peak stage Warrior?

These thoughts worried Xu Min; however, he already started the attack, and everything was riding on its success. He was sure that if he failed, it would only take a moment for Wang Li to kill him. The boy would do anything to avoid this outcome. If he managed to escape Overseer Wang Li, then he would have to keep running until he found another city where he could try settling down again.

Thinking back, Xu Min cursed himself for stopping in the first city he came across. He should have continued until he was a good distance away from the Zhong family. However, regretting his actions now would achieve nothing. Instead he poured his entire cultivation base and energy into the palm strike heading towards Wang Li.

The translucent hand was growing more substantial as beads of sweat appeared on the young boy's face. His arm was starting to shake, and the shaking was even visible by the naked eye, reflected in the massive palm of Qi.

Two palms, one created by translucent Qi and the other completely bare, collided midair resulting in a resounding boom followed by an intense shock wave. The shock wave caused Xu Min to stumble backwards, blood spraying from his mouth as he collapsed on the ground. The world turned black around him, and a bitter taste filled his mouth as he realized he had failed.

…

Xu Min started coming to his senses, but his eyes felt like they were glued shut. His mouth was dry as the tree bark that he had lived on in the forest.

His entire body was exhausted, with no energy left in it at all. Although his body was filled with discomfort and pain, the first emotion which the young boy felt was happiness; a happiness that was impossible to describe or convey. Even if he had been tied down and brought back to the Zhong family, it was still better than being dead.

Forcing his eyes open, Xu Min found that he was laying on a comfortable bed, still in Wang Li's house. The smell of delicious food permeated the room.

The first thing his eyes landed on was Wang Li. There were no marks on his body, nor were there any scratches on his fist after directly colliding with Xu Min's Shattering Palm Strike; a fact that caused the young boy to feel shocked. He was greatly disappointed with his own performance. Although he had mastered this technique, he was still unable to use it to the fullest due to his lack of cultivation. He became astonished because he came to the conclusion that Wang Li was at least a peak stage Warrior, someone capable of fighting against the Zhong family head!

Feeling the gaze directed at him, Wang Li lifted his head, revealing a smile on his weather-beaten and grim face.

"Well done, waking up so soon!" He complimented the young boy. "It seems you've had a terrible past, but I don't really care about that," He said. "What I do care about, however, is your talent. I've wanted to teach my martial arts to someone else, but I haven't seen anyone who was even close to being worthy of my teaching before."

"You can choose to either become my disciple, or go back to those Zhong friends of yours."

At his words, the young boy's mind was in complete disarray, but soon a smile appeared on his face. Becoming Wang Li's disciple and working hard under his care was something that Xu Min knew he was capable of doing.

Seeing the smile on Xu Min's face, Wang Li's lips curled upwards. He poured soup into two bowls and went towards the young child in front of him. "You better make me believe that having you as my disciple is worth more than one hundred coins of gold."