Big Brother Next Door

The window of the study was opposite the door. By now, the night had already fallen dark, and the lamplight from the study shone out through the window. Outside, one could see the tall Ling Scholar tree;

Directly below the window was a desk, on which were scattered thread-bound books, paper, writing brushes, and the like;

To the left of the window on the wall was a small bookshelf, on which books and bamboo and jade slips were neatly arranged;

To the right of the window was a large bookshelf, which also had books on top and cabinets below.

At this time, Qin Ran was sitting in a chair made of woven bamboo strips, with a thick, soft cushion underneath him, lying stomach-down on the desk writing something.

Li Shiyin opened the door and walked over, wanting to see what Qin Ran was writing.

The sound of her opening the door made Qin Ran turn around. Seeing her approach in a white changshan, he felt a bit awkward inside. The clothes were his, but when worn by Li Shiyin, they only looked loose while still fitting her.

"Ah-hem!" He gave a light cough and spoke up, "I'm thinking about how to teach you cultivation."

Li Shiyin was puzzled. Cultivation, wasn't it just being given a cultivation method, then following the instructions to practice? But she didn't respond, only looking at Qin Ran to see what he would say.

"My cultivation level is only at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Although I believe my understanding of cultivation is still thorough, but..." Qin Ran turned in his chair to face her as Li Shiyin walked over to the tableside. He continued, "My cultivation is still too low. I still don't know if my understanding is right or not. So I still feel confused about how exactly I should teach you.

"Generally speaking, the higher one's cultivation level, the more thorough their understanding of cultivation, especially regarding lower realms. Therefore, it's best to take a master whose cultivation level is definitively high. Looking down from the high vantage point, he can guide the disciple to walk each step perfectly.

"In my personal opinion, a good master is more important than good cultivation resources.

"Yet my cultivation is only at Foundation Establishment. To teach you the foundations, this is really..."

He shook his head.

Beside him, Li Shiyin lowered her head.

"My cultivation isn't high, my experience isn't broad. My understanding of cultivation may be mistaken, which could affect your future development," Qin Ran went on. "So I have to be extremely prudent."

"Master..." The head-lowered Li Shiyin suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?" Qin Ran raised his head to look at her. He saw determination surface on her cold, no, he was certain, blank face.

"I trust you," she said.

"Thank you," Qin Ran felt a current of warmth sweep through his heart. Nothing was more touching than trust. He smiled and no longer agonized over the matter. Instead, he moved on, "Then, regarding your cultivation, I've decided to first test your alchemy talents. Since the Golden Spirit Root isn't traditionally considered suitable for alchemy. If you don't have talent in alchemy..."

He didn't get to finish as Li Shiyin interrupted, "Master, I must learn alchemy."

Qin Ran wasn't angry. He looked at Li Shiyin and saw the young girl gritting her teeth, set on learning alchemy no matter what. He knew she had to come to Dan Peak and learn alchemy no matter what, surely for reasons of her own which he didn't ask about. He only nodded.

He took a book off the table and handed it to Li Shiyin, saying, "This is a foundational cultivation method that only teaches you how to sense qi. You can cultivate with it, but progress will be very slow. It has one advantage, which is that the cultivated qi has no attribute, making it suitable for switching cultivation methods later."

"Master, I..." Li Shiyin wanted to refuse. She wanted to directly learn the alchemy cultivation method. Young people always have some inexplicable confidence in themselves.

"Take it first," Qin Ran said.

Although his tone was gentle, it made Li Shiyin not dare to refuse. She reached out and took the book.

Seeing that she had taken the book, Qin Ran suddenly recalled an important matter. He asked, "Do you know how to read?"

"Mn," Li Shiyin nodded. "Although family teachings weren't strict, I did learn poetry, books, rituals, and music."

Qin Ran nodded, relieved. As long as she could read, that was good. Otherwise he'd have to teach her how to read, which would be too terrifying.

"Many who aren't sure of their cultivation path start with this method. The major sects are also like this. So this method has a name, called Foundational Cultivation Method," he said with a laugh as he stood up and walked outside.

"I'll give you the method first for you to take a look, consider it...preview. I'll explain and teach you how to cultivate, how to sense qi later. But that's it for today. You must be tired too. Rest first. Anything else we'll talk tomorrow."

Holding the book, Li Shiyin pursed her lips, evidently reluctant to practice this Foundational Cultivation Method. But she kept her head lowered and didn't object, following Qin Ran out of the study.

Qin Ran led Li Shiyin through the corridor and opened the transparent door, introducing, "This is the exercise room, self-explanatory, a room for exercise. The essence of cultivating immortality is making oneself stronger, so necessary training is indispensable."

Following behind, Li Shiyin glanced around. From the outside, she had felt the room was a bit big, but coming inside now, she felt it was extremely spacious. She privately measured and guessed one could even ride a horse in here without issue.

The room held many apparatuses she didn't recognize. Some looked like torture devices, some she recognized, like the weapons rack, the circular plates for building arm strength.

The two passed through the exercise room and exited from the other door, coming to the place opposite the storage room downstairs. Arranged in a row here were two rooms.

"This room is my bedroom..." Qin Ran pointed to the one nearer the exercise room, then pointed to the room at the end of the corridor, "And the one opposite, originally belonged to my master. But Master didn't like living upstairs and barely stayed here a few times. After he ascended, it was converted into a guest room, but Dan Peak has had no guests needing lodging."

He brought Li Shiyin to the end of the corridor and opened the door. The lights inside automatically turned on. The not-very-large room held a bed, a table, and a cabinet, nothing else.

"It's yours from now on," he told Li Shiyin.

Due to the dust-repelling array, the four-piece bedding set on the bed remained spotless. The blue covers looked clean.

"The bedding is all new, actually no one has used them," he added. "Change them if you don't like them."

After Li Shiyin entered the room, he turned to leave, saying, "That's it. It's late, rest early. I'm right next door. If you need anything..."

As he spoke, he felt he didn't seem like a master, but more like an innkeeper, or a parental figure. So he didn't continue admonishing. After all, there was no danger at Dan Peak.

He waved his hand, bid goodnight, then turned and left.

After Qin Ran departed, Li Shiyin looked around the room. She went and put down the Foundational Cultivation Method on the table, then sat at the bedside and gazed up out the window at the nightscape, spacing out.

Since arriving at Dan Peak, everything had been better than imagined. Aside from fewer people, Dan Peak had no other shortcomings. Aside from lower cultivation, her master had no other flaws.

It was just, her master was too good, too gentle, completely unlike the immortal grace and bones she had imagined, completely the opposite of the harsh cruelty she envisioned. He didn't even seem like a master, more like the gentle older brother next door, like family.

If her subsequent cultivation could continue so smoothly, then her start in cultivating immortality was simply perfectly ideal, completely unlike the dangerous cultivating world described by others.

She drew her gaze back from the window and lowered her head, suddenly feeling bashful seeing that she still wore her master's clothes.

In the bedroom next door, Qin Ran lay in bed looking out the window, a pillow under his head. His feeling was a bit numb, a bit...unreal!

He had been leisurely cultivating here, not bothering anyone, how could he suddenly, "pah", gain a disciple?

For a shut-in in his twenties, wasn't this a tremendous psychological damage!?

His small world had been abruptly shattered by an external object. This feeling of insecurity...was truly too horrifying. The freedom and ease of being alone was gone, changed to being two people. And not only that, he even had to teach his disciple to cultivate...

"Ahhhhh..." Qin Ran suddenly collapsed at the snapping heartstrings after holding up all day. His heart was a tangled mess.