“Sure, no problem whatsoever,” Chen Haoran said. She could take everything and the kitchen sink; his only worry was what to do when he ran out of stuff to give her. “I can call Manager Lin back here and we can get started on that.”

“That was a joke,” Lan Fen said. The bland expression on her face said otherwise but he’d go along with it. Perhaps it was some kind of test but for what he wasn’t sure.

“Of course,” he said. “How are you adjusting to the manor?”

“Your servants live in fear of you,” she replied. Obvious much? “It seems you’ve taken your temper out on more than a few in the past.” Well, he expected that though he still winced when hearing it. He wasn’t the one who did all that but he was living with the consequences, the more he learned how shitty the previous Chen Haoran was the more awkward he felt.

“What about my family?” he said. If anyone could notice he wasn’t the same Chen Haoran it would be relatives. While he hadn’t met any since he got here that wasn’t a guarantee there weren’t any.

“You live alone here, I have heard rumors that you were exiled to Clearsprings City by the Chen Family but I have not confirmed them,” Lan Fen said. “The servants do say that in the six years you have been here your family has not visited.”

Good, perfect even. The more his family didn’t want to see him the less worry he had. He silently thanked the predecessor for being a piece of shit. Now all he had to fool were the rest of the people in his life. Still, Lan Fen was remarkably quick in gathering information. The Chen Family was one thing but getting the servants to open up about the Young Master’s abuse this quickly as an outsider was impressive.

“Speaking of family what will you need to deal with yours?” he said. “I’m still not familiar with what I own so it might take a little bit to get everything.”

“For now I will need cultivation resources and a secluded retreat,” she said.

“You can still cultivate?” he said. Chen Haoran quickly winced as Lan Fen glared at him and he held up his hands placatingly. “Sorry I didn’t mean it like that, I was under the impression you had an accident though?”

Speaking of which he was beginning to wonder what kind of accident it was. While he didn’t have much experience with qi his recent practice showed how personal it was both in its use and how it improved the body. It stood to reason then that losing it would be rather traumatizing and yet while he only felt a little qi within Lan Fen she didn’t seem injured or weak.

Lan Fen for her part took a deep breath and looked at the scars Chen Haoran had left in the earth. “I did have an accident but I am not crippled I simply need time.” She closed her eyes as she seemed to reminisce. “Time I thought I had.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Now, Chen Haoran was no doctor but he was diagnosing some bullshit. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it but there was something that struck him as off with Lan Fen’s whole situation. At the very least whatever conspiracy she was wrapped up in seemed to be a two-way street. Still, he doubted he’d get a straight answer if he asked Lan Fen now, best to change the subject.

“Speaking of cultivation levels do you happen to know what mine is?” he said. “And what they are for that matter.”

Lan Fen arched an eyebrow at him but explained it to him in the end. “There are four realms of cultivation relevant to us: Qi, Liquid Meridian, Crystal Transformation, and the Star Core. There are nine layers in every realm that one must progress through to advance to the next realm.”

So Lan Fen was at the top of the Qi Realm when she had her accident? No wonder people pitied her then. On the other hand, he didn’t feel any liquids, crystals, or stars inside him so he could only be in the Qi Realm.

"How do I compare to you then?” he said.

“You were formerly within the Fifth layer of the Qi realm,” Lan Fen said. “Now you stand at the Third.”

What?

“How can you tell?” He had felt so powerful earlier, did that cheap dragon stiff him on his qi?

No, he could feel the answer circulating within him, the quality of the energy produced by the Yellow Dragon River Refinement was better than what he had before. Of course, it wouldn’t be a 1:1 exchange when he switched from one to the other.

“You should be able to sense another's qi, discerning layers is not obvious at first but comes with experience,” she said. Lan Fen flashed him a grim smile as she leveled a critical eye at him. “I was shocked you gave out your Profound level techniques so easily, but now I see you had superior ones in hand.”

“I can show them to you later if you want,” he said.

“Pardon?” Lan Fen looked confused and Chen Haoran wasn’t sure why. He felt he had made it pretty clear that’d he’d give her whatever she wanted. Although he assumed actions spoke louder than words so he went and took out the Canyon Carving Sword and handed it to Lan Fen. Chen Haoran wouldn’t lie and say his first instinct wasn’t to keep the Gifting rewards to himself but it’s not like he could hide them either if he wanted to actually use anything. In any case, it’s not like the book would be used up if he shared it.

He did feel regretful as he watched Lan Fen check the contents of the book. If only it wasn't a reward, a hundred times better than the Earth level would have to be Heaven level surely.

“This is Earth level!” Lan Fen said. Did she not know that? What did she think they were before then? Now that he thought about it how was she able to identify the Profound techniques at a glance but had to read to confirm the Earth level? Chen Haoran silently filed away those thoughts for later.

“You said Metal and Water positively interact right?” he said. “That means you can use them?”

Lan Fen considered him. He had the faint impression of being visibly dissected by her eagle eyes. Chen Haoran felt goose flesh prickle along his arms sure he had superpowers now and she didn’t but it was still uncomfortable being stared at like that.

“I can use Water Element spells,” she said. “A cultivation method of another element will only interfere.”

Well, he was glad she took it last time then.

“What do you want from me, Chen Haoran?” Lan Fen said. She was wary, or rather she never stopped being wary. He didn’t expect her to completely trust him. Chen Haoran wouldn’t even trust himself were he in the same situation, he totally had ulterior motives after all. Still, now that he knew how to use the Gifting power Lan Fen could be suspicious all she wanted as long as she still accepted what he gave her.

“Let’s go run up a tab.”

Now, where did Manager Lin keep all the money?