Courtyard House: Starting with handing over the keys, the state helps me abuse birds.

Yi Zhonghai felt he had never been so comfortable in his life.

Ever since that morning when he "revealed his true form" under the old locust tree in the backyard, Sha Zhu's attitude towards him has completely changed.

Before, when Sha Zhu saw him, his eyes were as cold as well water in winter, and he wouldn't even give him a second glance. But now? He smiles when he sees him, his eyes narrowing into slits, and he calls him "Master, Master" so affectionately.

Yi Zhonghai sat at the door of his house, holding a teacup in his hand, watching Sha Zhu walk past him.

"Good morning, Master!" Sha Zhu stopped and bowed respectfully.

Yi Zhonghai nodded, maintaining his composure, and said slowly, "Okay, go ahead."

Sha Zhu walked away with a smile, his steps as light as if he were walking on clouds.

Yi Zhonghai watched his retreating figure, feeling incredibly pleased with himself.

That's more like it. That's the kind of treatment an old man like him should receive.

That silly Zhu who used to treat everyone with disdain was simply ungrateful.

Who is Yi Zhonghai? He's the head of this household, a highly respected elder, someone who watched Sha Zhu grow up. Sha Zhu should treat him this way.

Yi Zhonghai took a sip of tea with relish and squinted his eyes while basking in the sun.

The warm sunshine shone on him, making him feel so comfortable that he wanted to hum.

These past few days, Sha Zhu has been coming to see him every day.

The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is to greet him. Then I ask him what he should practice today, how he should practice, and what he should pay attention to.

Yi Zhonghai didn't understand any of this, but he was a "reclusive master," so he couldn't say he didn't know. So he repeated the words Xie Weihong had taught him over and over again.

"Take steady and solid steps, and don't be impatient for quick success."

"The foundation must be solid, and the roots must be firmly established."

"The path of cultivation lies in the mind, not in physical strength."

Sha Zhu nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with admiration.

Yi Zhonghai was incredibly nervous inside, but he had to maintain a mysterious and inscrutable demeanor on the surface.

He maintained an air of superiority, speaking slowly and deliberately, with deep eyes, occasionally shaking his head and sighing, as if to say, "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

Sha Zhu admired him even more.

The problem is, just talking isn't enough. As Sha Zhu kept asking questions, he started asking for specifics.

"Master, these past two days when I meditate, I feel like I can't gather the energy in my dantian. What's going on?"

Yi Zhonghai was stunned.

Dantian? Qi? Can't gather it? How does he know what's going on?

But he couldn't show weakness.

"Well..." He pondered for a moment, "Everyone's constitution is different, and the speed at which they gather Qi is also different. Just practice some more, and you'll get better slowly."

Sha Zhu nodded and asked, "Last night I tried to guide the Qi into my meridians as you instructed, but it got stuck at my shoulder. What happened?"

Yi Zhonghai was stunned again.

Meridians? Shoulder? Stuck?

How would he know what was going on?

"This..." He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then thought for a moment. "Your meridians may be a little blocked, and you need to clear them slowly."

Sha Zhu's eyes lit up: "Then how do we clear it?"

Yi Zhonghai almost choked on his tea.

How do you unblock it? How does he know how to unblock it?

"Well..." He put down his teacup, stood up, put his hands behind his back, and adopted a mysterious and unfathomable look. "Unblocking the meridians is not something that can be done overnight; it takes time. Just focus on your cultivation and take it slowly."

Sha Zhu nodded, looking like he had learned something.

Yi Zhonghai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But Sha Zhu has too many problems.

He'd ask this today and that tomorrow. Sometimes he'd ask several times a day. Yi Zhonghai was driven crazy by his questions, but he couldn't ignore them, so he had to bite the bullet and make something up.

He made up such a story that even he felt guilty.

But Sha Zhu actually believed it all.

Sometimes, looking at Sha Zhu's earnest face, Yi Zhonghai would feel a pang of guilt. But this guilt would quickly disappear—after all, Sha Zhu didn't know, and he had no other choice, anyway…

At least his retirement is taken care of.

---

Training proceeded as usual that morning.

Inside the courtyard, six people stood in a row.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, He Yuzhu, Xu Damao, Jia Zhangshi, and Bang Geng all looked rather unwell.

Yi Zhonghai, in particular, felt unwell all over when he woke up this morning. He had backaches, leg cramps, and general discomfort.

He glanced at Sha Zhu next to him. The man was standing ramrod straight, his eyes were shining, and he was full of energy, like he had been injected with chicken blood.

Yi Zhonghai inwardly groaned.

He used to be able to slack off during training. Since everyone else was doing poorly, Shazhu didn't care. But now…

"Let's begin," Xie Weihong's voice came from under the moon gate.

Yi Zhonghai looked up and saw Xie Weihong standing there, hands in her pockets, her face expressionless. Her eyes swept across his face, lingered for a moment, and then looked away.

Yi Zhonghai's heart tightened.

He always felt there was some deeper meaning in Xie Weihong's glance.

But there was no time to think about it. Training began.

The first exercise: push-ups.

Six people lay down.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and did one.

pain.

The wound on his chest hadn't fully healed, and each stroke felt like a knife cut. He paused, caught his breath, and then did the second one.

It hurts even more now.

He lay on the ground, feeling his vision go black.

The silly boy next to him had already done more than a dozen, moving very quickly, one after another. As he did them, he was muttering something, as if he were counting or reciting a mnemonic.

Yi Zhonghai glanced at Sha Zhu secretly, then slowly slowed down.

Do two, pause for three seconds. Do two more, pause for three seconds again.

This should work, right? Anyway, no one's watching him count.

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard a voice from beside him.

"Master, why are you working so slowly?"

Yi Zhonghai turned his head and saw that Sha Zhu was looking at him with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat.

"I...I..." His mind raced, trying to find an excuse, "I'm too old to compare myself to you young people..."

"But you're a reclusive master," Sha Zhu said. "Didn't you say you've been testing me? With your high level of cultivation, what's a few push-ups to you?"

Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.