I'm Very Free Right Now

"I never said this was some lousy martial skill. As martial skills went, it was damn impressive. If you really wanted to call it Battle Eight Directions Annihilation, that was fine too. Really." Speaking objectively, Ren Jie did think the name was terribly tacky, but this set of martial skills was truly formidable.

Even in a great lineage like the Ren Family, high-grade martial skills were incomparably precious. Ordinary descendants had to render meritorious service before they could learn them. Every high-grade martial skill represented the painstaking effort of several generations, or resources expended to obtain it from elsewhere. Yet this old man could create such a martial skill himself. He was absolutely incredibly impressive.

"Don't leave yet. Let's discuss it together. Calling it Smiling Face would work too, but that smiling face really doesn't match the aura around you. Don't tell me you deliberately put on that mask because you were afraid of scaring me? Now that I thought about it, a name was just a code anyway. How about we still call it Battle Eight Directions Annihilation?" Ren Jie's drowsiness had completely vanished. That hazy state the Smiling Old Man had brought him into had actually felt more comfortable than resting for several days.

Earlier, in order to break through, he had crazily driven his power throughout the night and circulated the Jade Emperor Art. He had finally adapted more quickly to the gravity and pressure of the third level of the Body Refining Chapter and made his breakthrough. It had originally placed no small burden on his body, yet after that brief while, all his fatigue had vanished.

Ren Jie leaped from the bed and chased to the door, only to discover that the sky outside was already fully bright.

"Go screw your grandfather's egg!" Though the old man had vanished, his voice rang out beside Ren Jie's ear the next instant. Clearly, he had been extremely displeased all night.

He had also finally understood that Ren Jie had not really been hung up on the name. He simply wanted to talk to him a little longer.

After hearing that shout, Ren Jie deliberately said a few more things. When there was no response, he knew the Smiling Old Man had finally left. From the old man's temperament, Ren Jie knew that if he had not left, he definitely would not have been able to resist responding to those last few remarks.

"Battle Eight Directions Annihilation... not bad either..." Ren Jie muttered to himself. This night had truly been strange and wondrous. The Ren Family really did seem to conceal far too many secrets. There was the Council of Elders, who were currently making trouble for him and desperately trying to seize control of the Ren Family's authority; Sixth Uncle, who had always sent only one person and never spoken himself; Ren Tianheng and Ren Tianqi, who truly controlled the Ren Family's military power yet had never stepped forward; and the Ren Family's many affiliated forces...

Now, there was also an old man who was at least a Yin Yang Realm super expert, capable of independently creating a martial skill close to a supreme-grade martial skill, and who had come to forcefully teach him...

Since it was already completely daylight and Ren Jie did not feel the slightest bit sleepy, he pondered as he walked out of his residence. Before long, he reached the Martial Arts Arena. The Guard Squad had already begun training. After Ren Jie's individual talks with them, the entire Guard Squad had entered a frenzied state.

First, Ren Jie had stimulated them. Second, Ren Jie had led by example, cultivating in a terrifying manner they could silently sense. Third, he had helped them find the right direction and answered the doubts in their hearts. They were all elites among elites chosen by Ren Tianxing. The potential they had accumulated over the years was gradually being unleashed by Ren Jie in various ways. In just these past two days, people had repeatedly broken through, pushing their self-training and cultivation to a frenzied peak.

Ren Jie believed that, before long, once they received sufficient resource support and his own realm improved further so he could point out a more distant path for them, they would become a powerful force beyond anyone's imagination. Their numbers might be small, but if every one of them reached the True Qi Realm or even the Divine Power Realm, how terrifying would such a force be?

Those elders did not care that he had obtained the Guard Squad because there were too few of them. In the elders' eyes, they could not play any real role and did not count as genuine martial strength. The Ren Family alone had nearly ten thousand guards within the lineage, not even counting the personnel each elder kept outside, much less those serving in the Imperial Court and controlling military power.

For instance, the Second Elder's son was now the North Camp General of Jade Capital City. That was not even mentioning the other affiliated branches, collateral lines, and frontier Great Generals like Ren Tianheng and Ren Tianqi, who commanded millions of troops.

Quantity and quality were two different paths, and developing high quality was more difficult. If, one day, all these people reached the Divine Power Realm, their combat strength would definitely not be inferior to an army of a million.

Though his heart was filled with a hundred kinds of unwillingness, since he had already come to this world, he still had to keep moving forward.

Although the Ren Family had been glorious for twenty consecutive years, and many even believed that at the peak of Ren Tianxing's control, the Ren Family's true strength had surpassed the royal family, Ren Jie himself was now caught in a perilous situation. Fortunately, he had this identity. Moreover, learning Battle Eight Directions Annihilation this time, helping the Guard Squad revise their cultivation methods and establish training plans, and preparing medicine earlier had all made Ren Jie realize that the overall improvement of his realm in that video was enormously helpful to him.

Because his realm was high enough, he could see through many problems. Whether helping those around him, cultivating himself, or learning cultivation methods, he was a hundred times more gifted than even geniuses. With an elevated realm, it was like already standing at a great height, while even the most extraordinary genius had to climb up slowly. That was the difference between them.

To increase his own strength, a hard fist was the only truth. So he had to find a way to open that video again.

"Splash..." As he pondered, Ren Jie had unknowingly walked quite far. Suddenly, his divine sense detected an old servant thirty meters away, sprinkling water on the ground. Thirty meters... Ren Jie suddenly realized that after his Jade Emperor Art Body Refining Chapter had broken through to the fourth level, the range of his divine sense had increased considerably. It had already surpassed the divine sense range of an ordinary True Qi Realm Ninth Layer cultivator.

But Ren Jie was not paying attention to that right now, because he suddenly recalled something. If his guess was right, last night's Smiling Old Man should be within the Ren Family.

Damn, didn't that mean the Ren Family had an expert like the sweeping monk from the martial arts novels he had read in his previous life? Not a fake expert like that fatty Gao Ren, but a genuine super expert. At that thought, Ren Jie left the courtyard and quickly walked over to the old servant who was sprinkling water.

"Old sir, take a break first. Let's chat for a moment," Ren Jie said on a whim as he approached.

"I haven't finished my work yet. I can't chat idly. Which residence are you from... Ah... Patriarch... Patriarch, this old servant greets... greets the Patriarch." The old servant was not actually very old. He held a bucket in one hand and a ladle in the other, sprinkling water as he spoke. Then he suddenly looked up and saw Ren Jie, frightening him into hurriedly kneeling and saluting.

Everyone in the main household was required to remember the Patriarch's appearance, including the appearances of certain important figures. The old servant's heart was in turmoil. Earlier, even Ren Qiancheng, the Third Elder's nephew and one of the Ren Family's twelve Deputy Chief Stewards, who held considerable power and status, had nearly been beaten to death. Though he had heard that the elders had subsequently become enraged and even punished the Patriarch in a roundabout manner, word had spread in secret among the servants that the Patriarch was fighting the Council of Elders. They did not want to be caught in the crossfire.

The old servant was astonished. He was merely the most ordinary kind of menial worker, so why had the Patriarch suddenly come to speak with him? He had even called him old sir. Had he made some mistake?

He did not work in the Patriarch's main courtyard, and he had worked here for decades without making any mistakes.

"Patriarch... just now... I... I thought you were... another menial servant, that's why... I did not... disrespect the Patriarch. I did not mean the Patriarch was a menial servant, I only... mistook you for... This old servant cannot speak... This old servant deserves death..."

Sweat!!

Ren Jie was speechless. The old servant looked as though Ren Jie was about to punish him. In truth, Ren Jie had merely thought of the Smiling Old Man from yesterday and the sweeping monk from his previous life, and wanted to chat with this old Ren Family servant. He had not expected to frighten him so badly.

Seeing him grow more anxious the more he explained, Ren Jie lost all interest. He knew that with the Smiling Old Man's strength, he truly had no way of discovering him at present.

"Very good. You are very loyal. This Patriarch rewards you." Seeing the old servant panic so badly, Ren Jie wanted to go over and help him up, but he knew that would only have the opposite effect. It seemed the previous incident had spread throughout the lineage, becoming far more terrifying than the truth. Still, that was fine. At least no one below would dare jump out again.

As for now, Ren Jie directly took out more than ten Jade Coins and casually tossed them to the old servant before turning around and returning to his residence.

"Jade Coins... this is worth over a hundred taels of gold..." The old servant hurriedly expressed his gratitude, then felt extremely fortunate that he had reacted quickly.

Through his divine sense, Ren Jie even heard the old servant telling another person who had just arrived that the internal struggle of the lineage had already reached a white-hot stage, that the Patriarch would severely punish anyone showing even the slightest disrespect, and that they must be careful in the future not to get dragged into it...

Ren Jie was immediately speechless. Even if he truly intended to fight the Council of Elders, he would not drag those below into it. If matters had truly spread to this extent, then the Ren Family would be close to finished.

Yet from this, he could see the Ren Family's current state. People's hearts were unstable.

"Patriarch..." As Ren Jie headed back, Tie Ta came striding over in great steps. One of his strides covered more distance than two or three of another person's, and in just a few steps, he had reached Ren Jie.

"Patriarch, Uncle Tong... no, that Captain Tong sent me to find you. He said someone from the Fang Family came asking to see you. Also, someone called Wan Hong came just now, but Captain Tong blocked him outside the gate. He came looking for you too."

Tie Ta's father was named Tie Bi. Tong Qiang and Tie Bi also sounded like copper walls iron walls. Ren Jie had never specifically asked Tong Qiang about it, but since he knew the two had followed Ren Tianxing since childhood and were both orphans, Ren Jie believed their names were absolutely not a coincidence.

As for Tong Qiang's relationship with Tie Ta's father, there was no need to think about it. It had to be anything but ordinary.

"It's fine. You aren't part of the Guard Squad yet; you're simply following me alone. You'll also be attending Jade Emperor Academy in the future, so there's no need to call him the same thing as the Guard Squad. Let's go." After saying that to Tie Ta, Ren Jie quickened his pace back toward his residence.

The Fang Family had finally come. He had expected that long ago. It seemed they could no longer hold out, because without an antidote, even merely keeping Fang Qi alive temporarily would consume an astonishing fortune. Even the Fang Family could not sustain that for long.

What Ren Jie had not expected was Wan Hong coming to find him. Wan Hong represented his Sixth Uncle, Ren Tianzong. Ren Tianzong had already become rather vague in Ren Jie's memories, because from childhood to adulthood, he seemed to have only seen him a few times.

At Ren Jie's residence, apart from the two Guard Squad members standing watch at the entrance, Tong Qiang could be seen from afar, sunlight reflecting off his head and making it seem to glow. He stood at the main entrance, directly blocking Wan Hong outside.

Wan Hong did not become angry or impatient, but his heart was not as calm, composed, and undisturbed as an ancient well as he appeared. It was not because Tong Qiang and the others had stopped him from entering, but because he had already used Sixth Master Ren Tianzong's unique water mirror divine power to observe the Guard Squad's changes over the past two days. He had not seen what happened inside Ren Jie's room, but the changes in those people before and after entering it, as well as the rapid breakthroughs among so many people these past two days, had shocked him.

Was it real? What exactly had Ren Jie said to these people, and what had he written for them?

How had every one of them become like a different person after going in and coming out, even breaking through so quickly? It was simply too unbelievable.

If it had been Sixth Master, or the old Patriarch Ren Tianxing, the Ren Family's legendary figure, offering a few words of guidance in cultivation and helping others break through, that would have been perfectly normal. But how could Ren Jie possess such ability? Could Ren Tianxing have left something behind long ago? Yet Sixth Master had already confirmed that was impossible. Even Sixth Master had sighed that this brat had some tricks. Originally, after Sixth Master said so, Wan Hong had not been in a hurry. He had wanted to observe Ren Jie for another two days before coming to find him. But after seeing the Guard Squad members' changes, he finally could not restrain himself. He had to bring Ren Jie to Sixth Master quickly and see whether Sixth Master could discern something.

Those were the true reasons Wan Hong's heart was unsettled and roiling. As he was thinking, Wan Hong suddenly detected Ren Jie and the others returning with his divine sense.

"Wan Hong greets the Patriarch. Sixth Master sent Wan Hong to invite the Patriarch to visit for a chat whenever you have time. Fang Yan of the Fang Family has also been waiting outside for quite some time. Patriarch, attend to your business first. Wan Hong will take his leave." When Wan Hong had arrived earlier, someone had happened to report this matter. He now spoke neither obsequiously nor arrogantly, gave a slight salute, and prepared to depart.

Though he remained astonished and puzzled by Ren Jie's recent changes, as well as the Guard Squad's strange transformations, Wan Hong had followed Sixth Master for so many years and possessed this much composure. In fact, whether before or now, Wan Hong had always maintained this neither obsequious nor arrogant attitude toward Ren Jie.

"Wait, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Sixth Uncle is looking for me, so of course I have to go over immediately."

Hearing Ren Jie's words, Wan Hong stopped. "Sixth Master has no urgent matter. He specifically said that if it were not inconvenient for him to move about freely, he would have come personally. The Patriarch only needs to visit whenever you are free."

"Free? I'm very free right now!" Ren Jie said as he walked up to Wan Hong. Spreading his hands, he smiled. "This Patriarch is bored to death from having nothing to do. The Fang Family matter is no big deal. He came here to beg us, so let him wait slowly. I'll see him once this Patriarch has time—and feels like it. We told them long ago, yet only now did they think of this Patriarch. Clearly, they look down on this Patriarch. What status does this Patriarch have? Does he think he can see me whenever he wants? Let him wait slowly. Not only must he wait until this Patriarch has time, he must wait until this Patriarch is in the mood to see him."