Li Fang Ren moved toward the door as the knocking continued, but something felt different about this visitor. The presence didn't match what he expected. As he opened the door, he immediately recognized the voice calling out to him.
"Brother!"
This voice... is it Li Suyan?
Standing in the courtyard was his third cousin sister, dressed in a simple white hanfu and carrying a basket of food. Li Fang Ren raised an eyebrow at her.
"Hey, isn't there a servant I appointed for such work? Why are you doing this yourself?"
Suyan smiled and sat down in one of the courtyard chairs, setting the basket beside her.
"I could have come a long time ago, but it would have been bad if people saw you receiving visits. The family is watching everything right now, so I had to be careful."
They started eating the food she'd brought, and Li Fang Ren had to admit it was much better than what he usually received.
"Oh, this is really good."
Suyan watched him eat with a slight smile.
"So when are you thinking of coming out of seclusion?"
"Well, I just started, you know? And honestly, I kind of like this whole locked-up-at-home situation. It's peaceful," Li Fang Ren replied, enjoying the meal.
Suyan liked talking with her third brother because unlike her other power-hungry siblings, he didn't seem to care about noble status or political maneuvering at all. He was just... normal, despite his position.
After about an hour of conversation, Suyan left to avoid drawing suspicion from the family's many eyes.
Li Fang Ren thought as she departed, She must have thought I was being too polite, or maybe she just understood that I kinda prefer this.
[HOST HAS REMAINED IN SAME LOCATION FOR 5 DAYS]
[REWARD: ONE YEAR OF CULTIVATION ADVANCEMENT]
Li Fang Ren felt something shift in his body heat. His cultivation base was rising steadily, slowly but noticeably.
Have I actually leveled up just from being here and doing nothing?
He sat down and began to cultivate properly this time, not just as timepass but with some focus due to a good meal. Hours passed as he cycled his qi through his meridians, trying to reach the next breakthrough point.
Huff... this is the fifth time now and I'm still stuck at this level. It's like I reset every time I stop cultivating for even a second.
But his mind was becoming clearer with each passing day. The constant practice was helping him understand the fundamentals better, even if his cultivation realm wasn't advancing as fast as before.
A week passed in the seclusion courtyard.
[HOST HAS SPENT ONE WEEK IN CONTINUOUS SECLUSION]
[REWARD: SILVERTONGUE TECHNIQUE ACQUIRED]
Li Fang Ren spent the entire day learning and practicing the new technique. It was a mental ability that allowed him to manipulate and control someone's nervous system through qi transmission, making them believe in his lies more and more as he progressed.
Hmm, although I can't really use this on anybody here since they're all loyal to the family.
But then an idea struck him. If he could reach living things through qi, why not try sensing beyond the courtyard walls using an aura search?
Even if something wasn't human, if it had life force, he should be able to sense it.
He concentrated deeply, extending his inner qi outward as far as it could reach. The range was impressive—he could sense flowers swaying in gardens, birds flying overhead, small creatures scurrying through the walls, fishes in ponds, worms in the soil, and more birds.
Then he sensed something that made him retch....monkeys fucking in the yard.
Bleghhh... what the hell did I just see?
I shouldn't be randomly sensing things like this or I'll definitely end up scarring my mind, he thought, quickly pulling his senses back in.
A sudden shout came from outside the courtyard.
"YOUNG MASTER IT'S TIME TO EAT!"
Hmm, that's not my butler, and it's not Suyan. Then who is it? But I don't think many people know about my outside food delivery, Li Fang Ren thought with slight confusion.
And somehow I can feel a pulse of anger from this one. That's strange.
The courtyard door opened and a man with freckles across his face stepped inside. No one was supposed to enter the courtyard without explicit permission, which made his arrival suspicious.
"Hehe, young master, I've brought your food," the man said with a faked smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Oh... thanks," Li Fang Ren replied, extending his hand to take the box.
But the moment his qi touched it, he sensed something terrifying. Three of the chicken pieces inside the box contained an extremely faint but unmistakable lingering qi—the scent of poisonous gu eggs. These were parasitic creatures used to infect a person, growing inside them while feeding on their qi and weakening them from within. Eventually, the person controlling them could manipulate the host's entire body.
This is fishy. This guy will be my first real test subject for the silvertongue technique.
Li Fang Ren's aura exploded outward in waves of deathly qi. The man immediately froze, terror flooding through him as he felt the overwhelming pressure.
"Who sent you here today?"
"The... the... the Zhuang mansion's miss!" the man stammered, trying to explain.
That fucker's mother, huh? But he's lying, Li Fang Ren thought there was more to this.
He unleashed the silvertongue technique he'd just learned, attacking the man's nervous system directly. A shock of pure qi coursed through the man's body, and he collapsed to his knees, completely paralyzed.
"Now that I've got your control. Tell me the truth—who sent you?"
The man, now unable to resist the mental domination, spoke the truth.
"I'm a cultist. No one ordered me specifically. I saw an opportunity and took it. The cult thought controlling one of the young generation's top talents would be a major victory for them."
A cult? Is it like those evil organizations from novels?
"Tell me more about this cult," Li Fang Ren asked, keeping the pressure on the man's nervous system.
"Our cult controls most of the western plains in the neighboring nine clouds continent. Most of our followers don't follow any laws. Every day they fight each other, and the strong devour the stronger. We're not as numerous as the main families, but our strength shouldn't be underestimated."
This cult seems quite dangerous, and if they control most of an entire continent, that's definitely problematic. Although I usually leave such things to the old men to handle, if someone stronger comes while I'm secluded, the compound could face real damage.
The man suddenly tried to resist the mental control, breaking free for a brief moment. His eyes started bleeding from the strain, and he pulled out throwing knives from his sleeve. He began attacking wildly, trying to strike Li Fang Ren down.
Is it finally time for an actual fight?
The cultist lunged forward with a knife aimed at Li Fang Ren's throat, but the young boy sidestepped and countered with his spirit fist, the impact sending the man flying backward. The cultist recovered quickly and came again, this time with multiple knives spinning toward Li Fang Ren from different angles. Li Fang Ren used the imprisoning qi to slow them down and created distance, preparing his next move.
But just as the fight was intensifying, the courtyard door suddenly burst open.
"There's a sound coming from inside!"
"Run, let's go inside quickly!"
The guards assigned to watch the seclusion courtyard had heard the commotion and came rushing in.
"Young master, what happened?"
"Young lord, are you okay?"
Li Fang Ren was still engaged with the cultist, but he immediately recognized this as the perfect opportunity.
Well done, if they see me fighting, I finally have a legitimate reason to get out of this boredom atleast a few years earlier.
He quickly switched tactics and started acting desperate.
"What are you two idiots doing? Help me!"
The guards didn't hesitate. They rushed in and subdued the cultist, overpowering him with their combined strength. They tied him up securely and prepared to take him away.
As they were escorting the bound cultist out of the courtyard, Li Fang Ren watched them go. His expression was calm, but his mind was working quickly.
Although they're taking him away, I can't just let him be captured and potentially released by his cult later. That would be too much of a problem.
He quietly released a strand of the silvertongue qi he'd embedded in the man's nervous system and burst all the nerve connections linking the cultist's brain and spine. The man collapsed completely, his body going limp. The guards thought he'd just fainted from exhaustion and stress.
Another day passed in the seclusion courtyard.
[HOST HAS REMAINED IN SECLUSION FOR ADDITIONAL TIME]
[REWARD: PROFOUND PILLS x3]
Good, these will help me break through to the next realm slightly faster.
In the Zhuang manor, Zhuang Jixiao—Zhuang Jian's father and an elder of the clan—sat in his study with a troubled expression. He had just learned about the cultist incident at Li Fang Ren's seclusion courtyard.
"That damn kid, how can he just sit there while cultists attack the Li family compound? This is unacceptable," he muttered angrily to himself.
He turned to look at his son, who stood silently.
"Don't worry. There are more prodigies in this clan than just him. You are the top talent among your generation, and one loss doesn't make it final. You'll have other opportunities."
The next day, Suyan came to visit again. Li Fang Ren happy to see her, as the constant monitoring by the family elders had become exhausting.
"Brother, can I come in?"
"Oh, you're here! It's actually fun when you come. All those oldies are sending spies here and there trying to monitor what I'm doing. It's tough having to act low-key all the time," Li Fang Ren said while letting her inside.
Suyan settled down and looked at her brother seriously.
"But you have to get strong, or else if more people like yesterday come, you won't have that easygoing 'NEET' life you always talk about."
She knows about the cultist attack already? well, to me it was just one guy though, why are they making such a big fuss out of it.
Li Fang Ren continued eating while responding.
"You don't have to worry. I'm only cultivating to get more lifespan anyway. Who needs to be superstrong? That just brings more trouble."
Suyan smirked slightly, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Heh, I heard someone was even calling two weak guards to help him fight, as if he was some fragile boy who couldn't handle things."
He felt his face heat up slightly.
"That... that's different."
"Yeah right," Suyan said, clearly enjoying teasing him. "Anyway, after your birthday, Lord Juntian is holding a tournament."
"A tournament?"
"Yes, people from all over are participating. Even servants or craftsmen can join, as long as they have some connection to the Li clan. A gatekeeper, a toilet cleaner, even the lowest-ranked family members can compete."
"Isn't toilet cleaner a bit..."
He stood up and walked to the back of the room, retrieving the storage box filled with leftover sign-in pills. He'd received so many of them early on that they were now useless to him since he'd grown much stronger.
"Here, I was given these but I've had too much of them. You can have them."
Suyan's eyes widened at the value of the pills he was casually handing over.
"Thank you for the medicinal pills, brother. These are incredibly valuable."
"Don't worry, I'll give you more next time."
Suyan left shortly after, and Li Fang Ren returned to his seclusion.
A contest where anyone can participate... The old man is definitely trying to find cultists or other threats mixed in with the workers. Of course they would hide in the lower ranks, he thought.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Li Fang Ren continued his lazy seclusion, accumulating power and rewards with each passing day. He read erotic books mostly, some novels, practiced techniques, and occasionally received visits from Suyan or his butler.
The years of constant cultivation, rewards, and simple living gradually transformed him into something far more powerful than anyone realized. His foundation became incredibly solid, his techniques more refined, and his understanding of cultivation deeper.
And finally, after years of patient waiting the day arrived.
It was Li Fang Ren's tenth birthday, and the grand tournament his grandfather had planned was about to begin in just a few days.