Chương 13: The Benefit of a Powerful Background

After being warned by me, Ren Qingquan stopped using the Body Tempering Method. Instead, he tried to practice other techniques he had retrieved from the library. But most of them require quite a lot of spirit qi or specific materials to use. For example, the Basic of Corpse Refining requires a corpse to use. While the alchemy and whatnot technique also requires herbs or other things. This great me heard Ren Qingquan's woe and pointed him in the right direction. [Ding! The host may practice the 'Soul Pinching Finger' section of the Soul Swallowing technique.] Luckily, I've already read most of the cultivation book Ren Qingquan has scanned. So, I knew the Soul Swallowing technique had the lowest spirit qi requirement to practice. The Soul Swallowing technique is separated into three parts. The Soul Sensing section, used to detect a soul. The Soul Pinching Finger section, which contains a method to touch the soul that has left the body.

And lastly, the Soul Swallowing part, which is the main technique that's used to swallow souls and turn them into energy. All three sections require extremely low spirit qi. But, because the Soul Sensing technique kinda overlaps with my ability, while the Soul Swallowing technique requires soul to practice. I decided to advise Ren Qingquan to learn the Soul Pinching Finger first. After reading my notification, Ren Qingquan opened the system library and selected the Soul Swallowing technique.

He read through the whole book once before giving up.

'System, help me learn this Soul Swallowing Technique!' [Ding! Do you wish to learn the Soul Swallowing Technique by spending 1 point? (First purchase discount price)]'Huh? I need to pay for it?' Ren Qingquan paused his head, which almost nodded in agreement.

'But didn't I learn the Body Tempering Method for free?!' [That's because System is still experimenting with the newly created skill learning function.] Ren Qingquan rolled his eyes.

'Then, I'll spend 1 point to learn it!' Good! This is my first income from Ren Qingquan. It seems this kind of business model can work, too. With Ren Qingquan's agreement, I sent him a message. [Please wait, System is preparing the learning material.] Although I've already learned the technique, Ren Qingquan might need me to help him master a newly acquired one in the future. So, I want him to get used to giving me some time to learn the technique. Ren Qingquan read the message and patiently waited.

After fifteen minutes, I gave him another notification and helped Ren Qingquan learn the Soul Swallowing Technique. To be honest, I considered whether to give him only the Soul Pinching Finger section. But I feel generous today, so I give him the knowledge about the whole Soul Swallowing technique, including the Soul Pinching Finger and Soul Sensing sections. With his new technique, Ren Qingquan couldn't wait to leave his courtyard to test the Soul Swallowing technique.

The moment he left the courtyard, Xiao Cai appeared. When she saw Ren Qingquan, Xiao Cai paused and silently stared at him. Xiao Cai realized she had been quite rude and bowed.

"Young master, the physician said your injury should be mostly healed by now. So, you can already start practicing by tomorrow. Please rest early for now to make sure your wound is fully healed." Ren Qingquan nodded. After being reminded of the time by Xiao Cai, he lost the mood to experiment with his technique.

'Let's wait tomorrow. It's not like the technique will run away if I didn't test it today.' When Xiao Cai saw Ren Qingquan follow her suggestion, she smiled and left.

"Please excuse me, I still have something to report to the master."

"Mmhm." Now that his determination and spirit to test the technique are lost, Ren Qingquan returned to his room to read some novels. As Ren Qingquan is wasting his time reading novels, I focused my attention on the [Scan] I placed on Ren Shiluo. Xiao Cai's expression upon seeing Ren Qingquan was suspicious. From the word she uttered before she left, it seems Xiao Cai is going to report something to Ren Shiluo.

I am curious about it, so I waited patiently and focused on Ren Shiluo, who is currently working on some documents. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. A few minutes later, my [Scan] could see Ren Shiluo raise his head and seemed to talk with someone. Having the [Scan] range this small is seriously inconvenient. I couldn't even see the person Ren Shiluo is talking with. But from the voice, that person should be Xiao Cai.

After they greeted each other, I heard Xiao Cai's voice.

"I have something to report. The young master has come in contact with cultivation! Just now when I met him, he has some spirit qi in his body." Ren Shiluo placed the brush in his hand.

"Huh? Has Ren Qingquan already learned how to cultivate?"

"Yes. I suspect he used the Body Tempering Method in the library. Do you want me to stop him from using that technique?" Xiao Cai asked. Ren Shiluo shook his head.

"There is no need, just leave him be."

"Is it okay to leave him as is?" Ren Shiluo sighed, " Although it worries me to leave my son on his own. But that's my wife's will before she left this world. She asked me to stop getting too involved with our son's problem once he reached fourteen years old." Xiao Cai's voice can be heard once more.

"Master, I am always curious, why didn't you taught Ren Qingquan a cultivation technique and only martial art technique instead? Especially with how much you dote on the young master." Ren Shiluo waved his hand.

"That's also the will of my wife. She said, Ren Qingquan is destined to enter the path of cultivation no matter what. So, let fate take its course to make sure Ren Qingquan's path in cultivation will last further and smoother. She even said I must try to not meddle in his cultivation path as much as possible." Xiao Cai's surprised sound can be heard.

"Ah? If it's her will then I understand." They continued to chat a bit longer regarding unimportant things before Xiao Cai left the room. Although I called it chat, it's mostly Ren Shiluo spewing words like a machine gun while Xiao Cai occasionally said 'yes' or 'no'. I became curious about the relationship between Xiao Cai, Ren Shiluo, and Ren Qingquan's mother, and why they seem extremely familiar with cultivation. But it doesn't seem like I could get information regarding that anytime soon.

So I choose to wait patiently for now. Leaving my connection with Ren Shiluo, I returned my focus to Ren Qingquan. I found him currently staring blankly at a novel page that has been scanned into the system library while his mind is wandering around, thinking of a plan to gather souls tomorrow. I overheard some of the plan and couldn't help but gasp at it. I felt some of the plans Ren Qingquan thought of had a great chance of success. At last, Ren Qingquan felt tired and closed the system library.

'I'll talk with my dad to check which plan is the most suitable.' While he slept, I used the time to learn the technique he had scanned and occasionally rested by reading a novel Ren Qingquan had scanned. I never appreciate it while reading those novels where the MC has a cheat system, but perhaps those systems are also like me. They're busy doing background work while the protagonists happily slap faces and collect beauties across the world. Furthermore, their host are often ungrateful for their hard work.

No wonder some of those systems are extremely short-tempered and snappy.

As I waste time by talking with myself or learning from books that had been scanned, morning arrived, and Ren Qingquan woke up. After cleaning himself and eating a breakfast brought by Xiao Cai, Ren Qingquan ran toward Ren Shiluo's place and knocked on the gate. Soon, a gentle male voice came from inside the courtyard.

"Come in." After Ren Qingquan opened the gate, through Ren Qingquan's sight, I saw Ren Shiluo sipping tea while reading what seemed to be a magazine. Once Ren Qingquan entered, Ren Shiluo placed the tea in his hand on the table and said, "It's rare seeing you come on your own." Ren Qingquan nodded and walked closer toward the table where Ren Shiluo sat. I also felt that the magazine had reached within the range of my [Scan] and quickly scanned it in curiosity.

While I scanned the magazine, Ren Qingquan greeted Ren Shiluo and immediately got to the point after a short banter, "I have been thinking through the night and wished to start working." Ren Shiluo looked at Ren Qingquan in confusion, "Huh?" Then, Ren Shiluo's eyes seemed to shine as a faint smile crept up his mouth.

"Well, it's good that you've thought of such a thing! When I was your age, although my talent in martial arts are much worse, I've already started managing some of the family's business and learning about the world. It might be of no use in martial arts training but the experience I gained..." Even though it's still morning, Ren Shiluo's machine gun has activated and launched a barage of attack toward Ren Qingquan.

While Ren Shiluo is talking like there's no tomorrow, I've finally finished scanning the magazine that Ren Shiluo read. There actually aren't any interesting things in it. That thing mainly contains some gossip, like some city lord has got a new concubine, or an interview with a certain eunuch in the imperial palace about some battle inside the imperial harem. There is only one news I felt might be important.

It's news that the succession battle in the Zhang family, where Fatty Zhang came from, is becoming even more serious. There is speculation that one of the siblings vying for succession has been blatantly poisoned, which has prompted the patriarch's wrath.

"... So, what kind of work do you have in mind? I am sure you've also thought of this part before you asked me about this right?"

"Can you place me in our city's fish market? As for the position, I'm fine with any, as long as I can learn from the others and travel around the fish market at anytime." Ren Qingquan immediately said. Ren Shiluo looked at Ren Qingquan's choice in confusion, but he still respected the choice of his only son.

"Well, I am indeed in charge of managing the fish market. Later, I'll tell my subordinate, and you can start working around tomorrow or the day after." After he said that, Ren Shiluo asked Ren Qingquan whether he had anything else to ask before dismissing Ren Qingquan. Meanwhile, I simply felt relieved as Ren Shiluo wasn't holding Ren Qingquan to hear his nonsense.

After leaving Ren Shiluo's residence, Ren Qingquan returned to his courtyard and practiced the Body Tempering Method to increase his vital energy while learning to get used to the method of transforming vital energy into spirit qi.