Fen Chang and Yan Yin where on their way to the dining hall for breakfast. Fen Chang was preparing himself for what he should say. 'I think its more likely than not for father to have a hidden body guard watching over me 24/7. And because of that its likely they found out about me disappearing, assuming they reported it. There is a chance that father trusted me enough to not do that, but I feel its less with trust and more than I'm too weak for father to leave unattended. I think I should just go out and say it, it would leave a better impression of my trust towards them if I say I have a master compared to me lying and them finding out. Yes, lets do that. I'll say I have a secret master who is very powerful and gave me a space-time artifact so I can go to him and cultivate in a place of rich QI, that should be enough. Any details can be answered with "my master forbid me from saying", I should also mention that he is teaching me a bunch of professions, since I can use it to help increase the family's status and power in the future.'
Soon after Fen Chang enters the dining room and sits down. Yan Yin goes and stands to the side behind her master like the other servants. Not long after Fen Chang sits down, Fen Zung and Fen Hai Rong enter and enthusiastically greet Fen Chang. "Good morning son, hope you rested well last night".
With this greeting they also take their seats. Since they where still waiting for Fen Caihong the 3 decide to catch up on what Fen Chang missed during his sleep.
20 minutes later, and Fen Caihong has still not shown up. Fen Zung was getting annoyed at how Fen Caihong is keeping them waiting. He looks towards a servant and says "Go get that sleepy head daughter of mine. How dare she keep us waiting like this, especially when even her brother is here."
The servant bowed their head and left the hall is search of Fen Caihong.
"Father its fine if little Caihong is late, I can wait. Also, father there is something I wish to discuss with you and mother after breakfast in private. It concerns my illness and how I got better."
"Ok son. After breakfast us 3 can go into my office and discuss what you want to say" Fen Zong said is a serious tone.
Soon the sound of panicked running could be heard through the halls on the palace.
"Big brother!" was the only thing Fen Caihong said as she shoots over to him and sits of his lap again.
"Caihong your late. Look you even kept your brother waiting and the only thing you hate to say is "big brother"? I demand an apology for causing your brother to have to wait for you. He is still weak and needs to eat." Fen Zung said is a strict voice.
"Sorry big brother." She said in a sad tone, but a second later her tone instantly switched to excitement, and with a mischievous grin on her face she said "I know I was late, but that was because I was busy cultivating all night. I manged to do 8 hours' worth and even managed to break through to Body Refining Stage level 9 and am very close to QI Gathering Realm. As such big brother owes me 2 hours of play time and a reward for getting to the end of level 9."
'Wow, Body Refining Stage level 9 at age 14, is incredible. From my memories even top geniuses in sects only get to that level at 16, with the average being around 20. For her to get to it at 14 means her talent is incredible. What's even more incredible is that she barely cultivates. Before my coma she only did around 2-3 hours a day, and during my come I found out she did even less at around 1 hour per day. Damn, if she is now going to do 8 hours or more a day, then her cultivation level is going to shoot up.'
"well done little Caihong, and as promised I will play with you for 2 hours, and I will give you a little treat later, I will also say this now as motivation. If you manage to get to QI Gathering Realm within 1 month, I will give you a very special reward and take you to a very special place outside the palace.��
Once Fen Zung and Fen Hai Rong also said their comments about her cultivation, the family started eating dinner. 'Man, this food is pretty good. I think father said this was meat from high level beasts. Too bad the cooking level in this world is trash, barely any seasoning or trying anything other than cooking it on a fire. I should teach the cooks some better dishes and try to find some better spices. Maybe we could monopolise the spice trade, especially since I don't taste any pepper. I imagine the people of this would will probably think of it as something inedible. I will have to send some servants to find out. I can also have a look though the Database, since I think the scholar's knowledge had a section on cooking and foods.'
…
Once Breakfast was finished, Fen Caihong went back to her room to cultivate, after being promised a special reward for breaking through to QI Gathering Realm, a fire had lit within her to make it, so she could get the special prize.
Fen Chang on the other hand had left with his parents to his father's office.
"Father is this place secure? This is a private matter. I can't have anyone finding out." Fen Chang said in a cautious voice.
Fen Zung looked at his son with a deadly serious stare directly into his eyes. After a few seconds he then relaxes his stare a bit, he then calls out "Wang Zao, could you please have the shadows leave the room. You can stay."
"Yes, master."
The moment this was said, a shadow figure started to appear from within Fen Zung's shadow. Then a bunch more shadows appeared, from the book shelf, windows, anywhere there was a shadow. Even from his mothers shadow a figure came out. He turns to check his shadow only to see multiple shadows come out. 'Looks like he has been watching me. Seems I was right about him sending secret guards. They seem high level as well, especially the one behind father.'
Only once all the other shadows had left, did the shadow behind Fen Zung started to become solid, until a figure appeared in its place.
He looked to be around 70 years old, with a neat trimmed beard and hair, that was a dull silver/white colour. His hair although made him look like an old man, it didn't have the lifelessness of it, even when old and grey the hair looked like it was full of vigour. His stature was that of a slim man, but if one looked closely, you could see all the tightly compressed muscles on his body.
He was dressed in a black suit, which combined with his looks and attitude makes him look like a professional butler.
The moment he materialized he instantly bowed down and says "Master, Mistress, Young Master. All the shadows have left and the room is now secure. Us 4 are the only ones who know what's being said inside this room."
"Ok, son. What is it you want to talk about? You don't need to worry about Wang Zao here, he is trust worthy enough that I would even put my life in his hands."
Fen Chang gives a quick size up of the old man called Wang Zao, after all he doesn't know if he can trust him, even after the exclamation of his father. 'He should be trust worthy if he is in fathers shadow all the time. Not like I have any choice anyways.'
"Ok first off I would like to say that my getting better was not natural. During my coma a high-level cultivator reached out to me in my sleep, and asked if I wanted to inherit his legacy. As for why, well he said that the illness that I had was caused by something special, though he won't tell me what it is, till I am more powerful. So, due to it being my only option and him seeming like a nice master, I accepted his offer and became his disciple. Then he cured me and left me with a few things. That's the gist of it. Any questions? But please note that my master is very mysterious and secretive, and has sworn me to secrecy on certain things and should I say them then he would disown me as a disciple and bring my illness back."
During when Fen Chang was saying this his parent's expression changed multiples times, from confusion, to thanks fullness then to horror when they heard the punishment for speaking any secrets. Even the cold face of Wang Zao changed slightly at the threat of the illness coming back.
"Son, are you sure about your master? If he doesn't anything you don't want to do then no matter how powerful he is, we will help you." Fen Zung said in a worried tone.
"Its fine father, my master isn't an evil guy. That is just the punishment for betraying his trust. I personally would do the same, after all offering a life line to someone only for them to betray you deserves the punishment of death. And I for one am loyal to my master, he saved my life and gave me a second chance to live my life after all."
Hearing what Fen Cheng said both the parents relaxed a bit. They then spent the next hour talking about his master and Fen Chang explaining that his master will teach him, runes, alchemy, arrays, and refining along with helping him through his cultivation. All 3 in the room where stunned by how 1 person can know all these different professions.
"Ok there are only a few things left to say. First I'm sure that one of the shadows reported to you that I disappeared yesterday correct?"
"I was wondering when this was going to be brought up, but yes you are correct. I was informed that you suddenly disappeared and re-appeared in your room last night and this morning. Care to explain?"
"Me disappearing was because of an artifact my master gave me. It's a space-time artifact that allows me to transport to a secret realm under my masters control. The QI there is many times denser than here and that is also where I speak to my master and gain his tutelage."
Shocked faces where shown when Fen Chang said "space-time artifact" and then when he mentioned "secret realm" their mouths dropped to the floor.
"Son, you mean you have an object that can take you across space and time to a personal secret realm just for you and your master?"
"Yes, that's right father, I told you. He is a high-level expert; I don't know his exact realm since he doesn't want me to expect him to always be there so same me if I get in trouble. For all I know he could just be a very experienced scholar with deep pockets and no cultivation. He is a combination of a hands-on teacher with alchemy and cultivation but when it comes to growth, he prefers a more hands-off method and wants me to figure it out myself and temper my spirit."
It takes a few minutes for Fen Zung and the others to calm down. "Ok, and what is the second thing you wanted to say?"
"The second thing is that last night with the help of my master, I was able to cultivate. I am currently in the Body Refining Stage level 2."
"What!" this time all 3 exclaimed, after all it had only been one night and Fen Chang has already advanced a whole level.
'I guess its pretty surprising for them, though in comparison to novel protagonists they normally get around 3-4 levels in 1 night, but I'm going to take it slow and steady. Building a strong foundation is important, while also living my life and enjoying it to the fullest.'
By the time they finish speaking its almost lunch time, as such they decide to call the discussion quits. They discussed a multitude of things, mostly about Fen Changs master on which he gave the excuse that it's a secret to most of the questions. By the end, Fen Chang had discussed with his father about business opportunities, such as him wanting to open a restaurant in the city and have his father as a financial backer, and his master as the one who provides new cooking recipes and ways to use food to contain the QI within them and be useful for cultivators. Though his master would be the heavens database, but to his father it matters not.
Since at the end, it turned into a business deal, Fen Hai Rong decides to leave and get some work done. The two talk for the next 30 minutes and finally decided on a business deal.
It ended up with Fen Chang being the owner of the restaurant, while Fen Zung will provide the money and land needed to get it started. This was only made possible by Fen Chang tempting his father with the prospect of keeping the affiliation of the restaurant hidden and using as a good way to get information from travellers and a good way for his son to learn some things.