“You…” Li Fen put down her fork and looked at the boy with narrowed eyes. The boy looked at her with a puzzled look.

“Why do you feel livelier?” Li Fen scrutinized him.

“Oh?” Li Chyou looked at her mother, “So, it’s not just me then?”

“You can play with Daoyun now!” Li Daoyun clapped her hands.

“Hey, Yan!” Li Fen nudged her husband, “Look at him!”

“I am!” Li Yan stopped her from poking as he looked at the boy with a curious expression.

“I think it’d be best if you explain,” Butler Yu calmly spoke from behind Li Yan.

“Very well,” the boy nodded and then looked at the four on the dining table. “I absorbed Qi last night.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere grew heavy. He had anticipated this but man was the silence unbearable.

“Do you know understand what this implies?” Li Yan asked with a solemn look. Of course, he understood what Li Yan wanted to ask. How did he cultivate when he had no Cultivation Art? This effectively implies that he stole it from somewhere.

“Y-You…?” Li Fen looked at him with a disbelieving look.

“What’s wrong, Fen?” Li Yan asked with a frown.

“You actually went and did it?” his wife asked with a soft voice, “Are you even patient enough to go through with this?”

With this question, the boy knew that she had understood how he started cultivating. And as for her last question, it was completely justified. The process of absorbing Qi with all 107 meridians is incredibly slow; much much slower than the one-acupoint system. Among the many people who know of these things, only those who had no choice to join a sect, be from a big family or get a Cultivation Art would choose to absorb Qi through all 107 of their acupoints.

Even then, they wouldn’t do it. Why? It’s incredibly slow. Most people are ordinary and have ordinary talent. With this method, it’d take them at least a decade to enter Qi Refinement. Even the talented would take much time to do so. And in most cases, it is time that they do not have. So, in most situations, it wouldn’t even matter.

“What did he do?” Li Yan felt like they were going in circles. Fuck, just say it outright!

“He…-” Li Fen pointed at the boy with an exasperated look, “-did it with all 107 of his acupoints!”

“You…!” Li Yan’s eyes widened and he snapped his head back towards the boy. The boy smiled wryly.

“Pfft, haha!” Li Yan burst out laughing. “Did you really need to go through with this?”

“I couldn’t help it, Master,” the boy shook his head, “I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold on anymore.”

“Really…?” Li Yan stroked his chin curiously.

Knock! Knock!

Before any further questions could be asked, somebody knocked on the dining-room door.

“Come in,” Li Yan ordered. After which, the doors opened, and in came a young and ordinary-looking maid. Of course, no other servants were as young as the boy but that’s beside the point.

“What’s the matter?” Li Fen asked gently.

“M-Mistress,” the maid spoke timidly, “A g-guest from the Jade Lotus Sect has come.”

“What?” All present in the room were stunned, especially the boy. Within the few weeks he stayed in the Li Clan, he had understood a lot. While Old Man Ouyang taught him about the general situation of Xi Kingdom, he learned a lot about Huangye Town and its surroundings by staying here.

The Jade Lotus Sect, Smoke Lotus Sect, and Seven Aquamarine Lotus Sect were previously all part of the same sect, or rather, were the same sect, the Ever-Blooming Lotus Sect. But as time went on, the top brass of the Sect had a falling out which resulted in the division of the sect into the current three sects.

“Tell the guest we’ll be right there and give her the best tea!” Li Yan sent the maid away before hurriedly wiping his face and hands. Li Fen did the same before the both of them went with Butler Yu following closely behind.

“Help them finish and then take them back to their rooms!” Butler Yu instructed the boy before leaving.

“Understood!” the boy received his orders and turned towards Li Chyou and Li Daoyun.

“Well, Young Misses, as Butler Yu has said, there is no need to hurry. The guest will be handled by Master and Mistress.”

“Can Daoyun see them?” Li Daoyun childishly asked.

“I’m afraid not,” he shook his head. “If you somehow anger the envoy, then it might make things difficult for First Young Miss.”

“Mou!” Li Daoyun pouted but stayed obediently.

Speaking of the Jade Lotus Sect, the boy felt that there was something wrong with the place. Unlike the other two sects, the Jade Lotus Sect was exclusively for females. Men had no chance to enter the sect with some exceptions. Their Cultivation Art was named the Fragrant Lotus Art and it had the peculiar side-effect of making the practitioner promiscuous[1].

Now, a question may arise, with a sect full of promiscuous ladies, how can the sect not have any men? And the answer to this question was, the sect did have men. The sect would hire male prostitutes or groom male children for the sole reason of relieving the female disciples.

And it would be a lie if the boy said that this didn’t terrify him. The boy looked at Li Chyou. Hmm…?

“Young Miss, you’re not keen on seeing the guest?” he asked Li Chyou.

“Why would I be?” Li Chyou replied with a confident smile, “Once I win the Inter-Clan Tournament, I’ll be seeing her every day.”

The boy shuddered, hearing that. You already chose the Jade Lotus Sect? You can go if you want to but don’t drag me there!

“I-I see…” the boy paused and then spoke after a while, “Why don’t you say that after you win?”

“Of course, I’ll win! What are you so afraid of?”

“The Young Masters and Misses of the other clans, some of the hidden geniuses of the smaller clans and merchant families,” the boy replied without missing a beat.

“Hmph!” Li Chyou snorted, “I can defeat that Wang wench with my eyes closed.”

“And Young Master Murong?”

“T-That…” she became shy. With a soft voice, she said, “I-If he wants first place, I can give it to him but he’ll have to marry me!” With that, she drifted off into her delusions.

The boy facepalmed. Just how did this end up happening? He remembered his conversation with Li Fen. All he could see was despair. How am I supposed to complete this task?

The boy fell into deep thought as the two Young Misses finished their breakfast. Afterward, he accompanied the two to the Clan Head’s personal courtyard. The boy sat Li Daoyun at one of the chairs there and then took a bow himself before practicing.

After a while, Butler Yu walked over and called to them. “First Young Miss, I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

“It’s not too bad, is it?” Li Chyou asked somewhat worried.

“Depends,” Butler Yu had a slight smile on his face.

“Just say it outright!” she couldn’t bear the suspense anymore.

“Of course,” Butler Yu turned solemn, “The date for the inter-clan tournament has been pushed forward. It’ll be held at the end of the month.”

“What!?” Before Li Chyou could say anything, the boy exclaimed out loud. He put down the bow and speed-walked out of there. Li Chyou couldn’t even register what happened before she realized that her butler had left her side.

“W-What’s wrong with him?” Li Chyou asked, bewildered.

“It seems the deadline of his task has been pushed forward,” Butler Yu look towards where the boy left with a slight hint of anticipation in his eyes.

“Task?” Li Chyou frowned in incomprehension.

“You’ll understand very soon, Young Miss,” he looked at her with a meaningful smile.

Li Chyou said nothing and went back to practice but inside, curiosity burned.

On the other hand, the boy had gone to the Enforcement Pavilion. The guards posted at the front looked at him and cupped their fists, “Little Butler!” It was clear the people from the Enforcement Pavilion had become familiar with him.

“Brother Shi, I want to go to Espionage Hall,” the boy told him directly.

“Is something the matter?” the guard, Brother Shi asked.

“Can’t reveal too much,” the boy shook his head. “I’m here for a task from the Mistress.”

“I see. Then come with me,” the guard didn’t ask too much and lead the boy towards the Espionage Hall after talking to the other guard.

As they walked through the halls of the pavilion, the boy asked, “Anything I should know before entering the Hall?”

“Not much,” Brother Shi smiled, “Surprisingly, Elder Li Tian is quite amiable!”

“Really?” the boy’s eyes lit up. That'll make my job quite easier!

“Here we are!” Brother Shi and the boy came towards a plain-looking door. Above the door, the word ‘Espionage’ was written in gentle characters. Just looking at them would make one feel at peace.

“Come in!” before Brother Shi could say anything, an aged voice sounded from the other side of the door.

The two looked at each other and the boy nodded. He took a deep breath and opened the door. With steady steps, he walked inside.