Third Young Master

It was late at night, and the West Courtyard was deathly still.

Li Tui sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes half-closed. The vital essence he had accumulated over the past month slowly flowed toward his spiritual root.

The vital essence enveloped his spiritual root, and the dormant seed gradually took on a jade-green glow.

A quarter hour, then half an hour...

Fine sweat beaded on his brow. The art of drawing in qi was extremely taxing on the mind. The slightest mistake could damage the source of his spiritual root; at best, his cultivation would stagnate, and at worst, he would become a cripple.

Li Tui's mind was taut with tension.

Two hours later.

The first wisp of vital essence merged with his spiritual root, transforming into a thread of true qi so fine yet distinct that it quietly spread through his dantian.

He had done it.

Li Tui did not open his eyes. He simply drew a deep breath.

The sensation of true qi circulating was warm and supple, alive and nimble—a feeling he had never experienced in his previous life.

The gap in talent.

Even a Grade C spiritual root was like this. If he could truly raise it to Grade B, or Grade A... Li Tui tamped down the faint stirrings in his heart and continued guiding the next wisp of vital essence.

He had not slept all night.

At the first glimmer of dawn, Li Tui opened his eyes.

The true qi in his dantian was faint, but it now circulated steadily. His limbs and bones felt light, as though a thousand-jin yoke had been lifted from his shoulders.

He did not get up. Sitting quietly on the bed, he carefully reviewed what he had gained the night before.

Now that he had succeeded in drawing in qi, the next step was to build up true qi and break through the acupoints. After that, he would have to make the acupoints throughout his body resonate with his spiritual root and transform his true qi into spiritual energy. Only then could he truly awaken his spiritual root and enter the Qi Refining stage.

As far as he knew from his previous life, an ordinary cultivator with a Grade C spiritual root needed years of using true qi to break through the acupoints before they had any chance of awakening their spiritual root.

The older one grew, the more impurities clogged the acupoints, and the harder they were to break through.

He needed resources: spirit rice, pills, better cultivation techniques. Anything that could speed up his progress in drawing in qi, he needed.

Li Tui got up and pulled the crude qi-drawing manual from beneath his pillow. Its pages were yellowed, its handwriting sloppy—it was the cheap stuff the Zhao Family handed out to the sons of its retainers.

His fingertips traced the page, his gaze growing colder.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Wang Yuan, are you up?" Zhao Minglai called.

Li Tui tucked the manual back beneath his pillow, straightened his collar, and opened the door.

Zhao Minglai stood outside. Seeing him fully dressed, satisfaction flickered in his eyes. "Come with me. Today, I'm taking you to meet the Third Young Master."

The carved wooden door at the far end of the rear building stood slightly ajar.

Before they even reached it, they heard a woman's giggle from inside, her voice sweet and syrupy, her affected softness unmistakable.

Zhao Minglai stopped at the door, his brows knitting slightly, then pushed it open.

The smell of incense mingled with face powder and washed over them.

The room was lavish. Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were piled on a black stone desk, and the brush handles on the stand gleamed like jade. A water-blue canopy hung down, its tassels swaying gently. Even a single foot of its fabric was worth several years of an ordinary tenant farmer's harvest.

On the bed behind the canopy, a richly dressed boy of twelve or thirteen was playing with two women.

Li Tui's gaze lingered on the two women for a moment.

The woman on the left wore a peach-pink top, a silver hairpin in her hair. She was holding a grape to the boy's lips. A bright smile graced her face, though the corners of her eyes drooped slightly. As she offered him the grape, her fingers paused almost imperceptibly just before touching his lips, then withdrew without a trace.

The woman on the right wore a pale yellow skirt and was massaging the boy's shoulders. Her technique was practiced, and a fawning smile hung on her face.

The boy's face was still childish, but his brows and eyes held a languor beyond his years. He opened his mouth and took the grape, one hand resting casually on the peach-pink-clad woman's waist while the other toyed with the silver hairpin in her hair.

"Third Young Master, as you instructed, I've brought your new study companion." Zhao Minglai stepped forward and bowed.

Zhao Yuanchong raised his eyes lazily, swept his gaze over Li Tui, then turned back to the woman in his arms. "Him?"

"Yes." Zhao Minglai stepped aside and nudged Li Tui forward. "Wang Yuan. He has good talent and a steady temperament."

Zhao Yuanchong scoffed, pulled the silver hairpin from the woman's hair, and tossed it onto the floor. "He looks boring."

The hairpin rolled to Li Tui's feet. The peach blossoms carved into its head caught the window light, glaringly bright.

Li Tui lowered his gaze and bowed. "Your disciple, Wang Yuan, greets the Third Young Master."

As he bowed, he caught the reactions of the two women beside the bed from the corner of his eye.

The woman in the peach-pink top turned her head slightly and looked him over for a moment, as if he were nothing more than a new ornament in the room.

Then she turned back to Zhao Wen, her face once again blooming with a syrupy smile. "Young Master, you gave me this hairpin just the other day."

The woman in the pale yellow skirt did not even raise her head. She simply continued massaging Zhao Yuanchong's shoulders.

The corridor fell silent.

Zhao Minglai let out a long breath, then turned to Li Tui, his expression complicated. "From now on, you'll have to wait outside the room every day at the hour of the Rabbit. You must be there whenever the Third Young Master gets up or calls for you. Except when he's at the academy, you're to stay by his side without taking a step away."

He paused, then lowered his voice. "The young master's temperament... you've seen it for yourself. Speak less, do more, and don't defy him."

Li Tui nodded. "Your disciple understands."

"From now on, you'll receive the allowance for a study companion," Zhao Yuanlai said. "You'll get an extra three ge of spirit rice each month, and your monthly silver allowance will increase by thirty percent. Cultivate well, and don't let this go to waste."

"Thank you, Teacher." Li Tui bowed.

Zhao Minglai waved a hand and turned to leave, but stopped and looked back at him deeply. "You and the young master... Never mind. Take care of yourself."

With that, he hurried away.

The corridor fell silent once more.

Li Tui stood where he was, watching Zhao Minglai's figure disappear around the corner. The layer of respect on his face receded like the tide.