Two days later, inside the quiet confines of his personal chamber, Wang Fang paced back and forth across the hardwood floor, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.
"What do I even do?" he muttered to himself, running a hand over his face. "I don't know a single cultivation method. And even if I did, what's the point? It's not like my body can actually retain Qi anyway. Ahh... I'm losing my mind."
Exhausted and overwhelmed, he collapsed backward onto his bed, closing his eyes in a desperate bid for rest. But the moment his eyelids shut, his hyperactive mind violently visualized the dreaded tournament day.
In the vivid theater of his mind, he stood in the center of a massive, crowded arena. It was the fateful match: Wang Fang versus Wang Zhi.
"You shameless bastard," Wang Zhi mocked, a cruel, arrogant sneer plastered across his face as he circulated a visible aura of Qi. "You actually think a pathetic cripple like you can win?"
"I will grind you like a potato!" Wang Fang barked back, stepping into a defensive stance.
The watching audience of clansmen instantly erupted into roaring, mocking laughter.
"Fight!" the head instructor shouted, his arm dropping.
Wang Fang dashed forward with a loud, desperate scream, throwing a wild punch—but he was far too slow.
BAM!
A heavy, Qi-infused fist slammed squarely into Wang Fang's jaw, sending him crashing violently into the dirt.
Immediately, the Fourth Elder stepped forward from the viewing gallery, his voice echoing coldly over the arena. "Collect all of his belongings! Strip him of his robes, his clothes, and even the sacred Wang family name! Throw this trash out of the mountain!"
"Wait... Father! Help me!" Wang Fang cried out from the dirt, reaching toward the stands.
But Wang Yun merely turned his back, his powerful shoulders slumped in profound disappointment. "Son... I am so sorry."
Beside the Patriarch, Madam Xinyi wept hysterically, reaching her trembling hands out as guards dragged him away. "Take care, my child! My poor, sweet child!"
"Noooooo!"
"No!"
Wang Fang jolted back into reality, screaming aloud as his eyes flew open. He sat upright in his bed, his face wildly pale and cold sweat dripping heavily down his neck.
"I'm dead if I don't find a way," he whispered frantically to himself, running his fingers through his damp hair. "I just want to disappear..."
He racked his brain, desperately trying to figure out a viable training regimen, but in this world, absolutely everything revolved around the manipulation of Qi. Suddenly, the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps rushed toward his room.
BANG!
The wooden door burst open.
"Young Master!" Xiao Lan shouted at the top of her lungs, stumbling into the room.
"What happened?! Why are you shouting so loud?!" Wang Fang snapped, but he stopped mid-breath. His eyes were completely bloodshot from hours of intense, overloaded thinking.
Xiao Lan rushed closer to the bedside, her hands flying to her cheeks in utter terror. "Young Master, please don't die!"
Wang Fang stared at her, a flat, thoroughly annoyed expression crossing his face. Look at this girl... out of all the things to assume, she immediately thinks I'm on my deathbed.
He let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Ah... Xiao Lan, what do you think I should do?" he asked, throwing his hands up in utter despair.
"Huh?" Xiao Lan blinked in complete confusion, her frantic energy halting. "You're... asking me for advice?"
Seeing her hesitation, Wang Fang immediately resorted to a child's ultimate weapon. He squeezed his eyes shut, puckered his lips, and pretended to cry.
"What am I going to do? I don't know..."
As he let out a series of fake, tremulous sobs, his mature adult mind was actively calculating his next move. How can I get you to help me? Ah, I'm sure a maid who hears all the clan gossip has some kind of idea. Let's try a little leverage.
"Boohoo! I am going to lose my Young Master status in the clan," Fang wailed, peeking through the gaps of his small fingers to gauge her reaction. "And I feel so terrible, because when I get kicked out, you'll lose your job and get thrown out too!"
Xiao Lan's eyes widened in absolute, unadulterated panic. The threat of unemployment in a ruthless cultivation clan worked instantly. "Okay! Okay! I have something, Young Master! Please stop crying!"
Yes, got her, Fang thought, instantly cutting off his fake tears and looking up with wide, expectant eyes.
"There is something my grandfather always told me when I was little," Xiao Lan said, taking a deep, stabilizing breath.
What is it? A hidden technique? A secret manual? Fang thought, his internal adult growing deeply impatient.
"And it always works to calm me down whenever I use it," she added softly.
Wang Fang's hopes soared as he leaned in closer, hanging on her every word. Finally, Xiao Lan spoke, her voice shifting into a soft, rhythmic cadence:
"When the wind grows restless, do not chase it. Sit beneath the silent sky and let your heart become still.
When the river appears empty, it has not lost its water; it merely flows where impatient eyes cannot see. So too is strength. What seems absent may simply sleep beyond your reach.
Do not fear the vessel that feels small. A cup filled to its brim does not remain unchanged forever. Drop after drop, the weight reshapes it. Pressure deepens it. Time strengthens it.
When every path seems closed, do not search outside. Listen within. Calmness reveals what struggle conceals. A single breath may become a hundred. A hundred breaths may become a tide.
What is gathered can be refined. What is refined can be condensed. What is condensed can expand. And what expands beyond its limit is no longer bound by its former shape.
Remember, little one—the weakest seed often hides the deepest root. Be patient, and even silence will teach you how to grow."
For a long, agonizing moment, Wang Fang's face went completely blank.
The hell was that? he thought, utterly dumbfounded. What kind of stupid poem is that? It sounds exactly like a generic line from a fantasy web novel I read in my past life...
Wait. My past life?
A sudden, blinding lightning bolt of realization struck Wang Fang's mind.
I might not remember my exact modern identity from my previous world... but that doesn't mean I forgot the knowledge, the science, and the physical training methodologies of that world!
He instantly replayed the poem in his head alongside his buried past-life memories, analyzing the verses four times over. Slowly, his adult intellect stripped away the mystical, poetic fluff and decoded the underlying physical logic.
"Drop after drop, the weight reshapes it... Pressure deepens it..."
"There is a way to refine and train a body without energy," Fang whispered, a massive, earth-shattering realization dawning upon him. "Through extreme physical conditioning, muscular hypertrophy, and progressive overload, I can manually tear down and rebuild my physical limits without needing a single drop of Qi!"
A wide, ecstatic smile slowly spread across his small face, his eyes sparkling with newfound fire. He looked up at the bewildered maid. "Xiao Lan, you are an absolute genius!"
Before the startled girl could even open her mouth to reply, Wang Fang turned on his heel and dashed right out of his chamber, entirely fueled by a brand-new sense of purpose.
Xiao Lan stood frozen in the middle of the room, blinking rapidly. "Huh? What in the world does he mean by genius...?"
Meanwhile, Wang Fang sprinted down the winding wooden corridors of the inner estate, his tiny leather boots clacking loudly against the polished floorboards. His heart raced with a burning, desperate urgency. If he was going to survive the next three months, he needed proper training equipment and a secluded space.
He slid to a sharp halt right outside his father's private study. "Father!" he called out, eagerly pushing the heavy sliding door open.
The room was completely vacant. The grand mahogany desk was meticulously organized, and his father's formal ceremonial robes were conspicuously missing from the rack. A cold, sinking feeling hit the bottom of his stomach.
Disappointed but refusing to quit, Fang turned on his heel and rushed toward his mother's private courtyard. But as he neared the beautiful arched entrance, a rigid line of busy maidservants blocked his path.
"The Madam is currently hosting an emergency council meeting with the clan's senior female elders, Young Master," one of them whispered apologetically, bowing low but firmly barring the way. "She strictly cannot be disturbed right now."
Frustrated and growing increasingly anxious, Fang bolted toward the clan's main training hall. Yet, as he peeked through the gates of the sprawling courtyard, he found the head martial instructor completely surrounded by a massive, dense crowd of eager disciples, intensely demonstrating a complex sword form. The instructor's eyes swept right past the gates, entirely failing to acknowledge the small boy standing in the shadows.
Fang stepped backward under the eaves of the roof, an unsettling, heavy dread settling deep over his chest.
How come today feels so wrong? he thought, his brow furrowing deeply. It is almost like everyone in this entire clan is deliberately avoiding me. They won't even look me in the eye.
He stood beneath the shade of the roof, completely at a loss, feeling the crushing weight of isolation. Then, a sharp, vivid memory sparked in his mind. He remembered someone who might actually have answers.
But his small shoulders slumped instantly as a wave of harsh reality hit him. Will they even let me step foot inside after what happened?
Fang let out a heavy sigh, lifting his right hand to nervously scratch the back of his neck, carelessly swinging his long black hair over his shoulders. Steeling his resolve, he decided to take the risk. He navigated the quiet, overgrown side paths of the estate until the grand, sweeping tiled roof of the Medicine Hall came into view.
This was the sanctuary where Doctor Li resided—the very man who had lost his entire cultivation base trying to diagnose him.
Fang stopped right outside the grand entryway, staring intensely at the closed wooden doors. A deep, agonizing wave of shame and guilt washed over his mature soul.
If Doctor Li hadn't tried to help me that day, I don't even know where I would be right now, Fang thought bitterly to himself, his small fists clenching. I must go see him first. It is the only honorable thing to do. Besides, I need to find out exactly what he saw inside me... and only then will I finally know what I am truly up against