After transforming from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to a Qi Training Early Stage junior, Jiang Yan initially thought he had made a mistake while Cultivating his Cultivation Technique.
As someone who had always been a Genius, he dared not let his Family members discover his cultivation had fallen, so he returned to the stone chamber to continue his closed-door Cultivation.
After another three months of closed-door Cultivation.
Jiang Yan emerged from the foul-smelling stone chamber, disheveled and somewhat deranged.
This closed-door stone chamber was originally prepared for Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and Foundation Establishment Cultivators had already achieved bigu (abstinence from grains), so they would not produce waste, thus there were naturally no facilities like restrooms in this stone chamber.
However, Jiang Yan's current cultivation could only barely maintain at Qi Training Stage Third Level; as a Qi Training Cultivator, Jiang Yan still needed to eat, drink, and excrete during his closed-door Cultivation.
He could manage the eating part with the extra spirit rice pills in his Storage Pouch, but he couldn't possibly put his excrement into his Storage Pouch, as everything he took out of the Storage Pouch later would then carry an odor.
Therefore, Jiang Yan concentrated his excrement in the corner of the stone chamber, thinking he would soon find the reason for his cultivation's decline, and then it would not be too late to move the excrement.
But three full months passed, and the four corners of the stone chamber were almost full, yet Jiang Yan still hadn't found the reason for his cultivation's decline.
After diligently restoring his cultivation to Qi Training Stage Third Level, Jiang Yan could clearly feel himself Cultivating, but the spiritual power within his body simply wouldn't increase.
His cultivation, as the Jiang Family Genius, was completely locked at Qi Training Stage Third Level.
Returning to his Young Lord's courtyard in the Jiang Family like a vagrant, Jiang Yan knocked on the door, and a servant inside quickly opened it to greet him.
However, the servant found that the person who had returned was not the high-spirited Young Lord, but a disheveled stranger.
The servant told Jiang Yan that this was a private residence and begging was not welcome, telling Jiang Yan to get lost.
Jiang Yan opened his mouth, wanting to explain his identity.
But the servant slammed the door shut with a "bang," clearly not wanting to stay an extra second with the smelly Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan looked at the tightly shut courtyard door and didn't knock again.
He suddenly thought it might be good to live with a different identity; this way, at least his Family members wouldn't know that the Jiang Family's Genius had fallen.
Jiang Yan would rather accept that he had gone missing than accept that he had transformed from a highly anticipated Genius into a good-for-nothing who could only remain at Qi Training Stage Third Level his entire life.
So Jiang Yan left, not knowing where else he could go.
This was the Jiang Family's stronghold; besides the Jiang Family members, only a few servants lived here.
Outside the stronghold, there was a Formation for detection, guarded by Jiang Family disciples.
The now rational Jiang Yan knew that if he went out in his current state, he would surely be caught and interrogated, and once his identity as Jiang Yan was recognized, everything would be over.
But apart from escaping the Jiang Family, there was no place for him, Jiang Yan, within the Jiang Family's stronghold.
Every servant in the servant quarters was already registered, so it was impossible for him to sneak in.
Now there was only one way to continue his "disappearance," and that was to hide in plain sight.
Jiang Yan returned to the courtyard gate, and after forcefully pushing open the door with an imposing Aura, seeing that the servant not only didn't recognize him but also tried to drive him away this time, he immediately snarled.
"Open your dog eyes and see clearly, I am Jiang Yan, the Jiang Family Genius! How dare a servant like you block your master?"
Jiang Yan originally thought that after being frightened like this, the servant would surely recognize him and let him in.
At that time, he would be able to hide in this Young Lord's courtyard for a period, and perhaps during this time, he could find a way to restore his cultivation.
But who would have thought that after carefully scrutinizing Jiang Yan, the servant suddenly delivered a piercing kick, sending Jiang Yan to the ground, then sneered.
"You scoundrel from who-knows-where, how dare you try to scare your grandpa here!"
"Do you really think that by wearing decent clothes and looking somewhat similar to our Jiang Family's Young Lord, you can come here to swindle people?"
"You good-for-nothing, why don't you take a look at yourself? A small Cultivator at Qi Training Early Stage, with cultivation not even as high as your grandpa's, yet you dare to impersonate our Jiang Family's incredibly talented Young Master Jiang Yan?"
"I think you've truly eaten the guts of a bear and leopard! Now your grandpa will contact the law enforcement team and have them escort you, this deranged good-for-nothing, on your way."
Jiang Yan's mind exploded; he hadn't expected that even after stating his identity, this servant, who used to flatter and fawn over him, would dare to humiliate him so much.
Enduring the pain, he stood up, circulated his spiritual power, and chanted a Spell; he now only wanted to slaughter this vicious watchdog to vent his anger.
And then he was kicked flying again by the Innate martial artist servant.
Subsequently, seeing that Jiang Yan still wanted to resist, the servant rushed forward and delivered several more kicks, forcefully knocking Jiang Yan unconscious.
Later, when the law enforcement team arrived, after much interrogation, they actually discovered that Jiang Yan was indeed Jiang Yan, and the audacious servant who dared to humiliate the Jiang Family's Young Lord was quickly dealt with.
However, the news of Jiang Yan, the Jiang Family's Qilin son, having his cultivation fall and becoming a cripple still spread like wildfire within the Jiang Family; within two months, people within tens of thousands of miles of the Jiang Family had heard the rumor of "the former Genius completely becoming a good-for-nothing."
Jiang Yan still lived in the Jiang Family's Young Lord's courtyard, refusing all visitors daily; the Family Elders tried every possible method to help him improve his cultivation, but Jiang Yan's cultivation remained completely stagnant, stuck at Qi Training Stage Third Level.
During this period, Jiang Xun'er and Jiang Mei both came to the courtyard, wanting to visit and comfort Jiang Yan, but Jiang Yan refused to see anyone except the Elders who were trying to help him recover his strength.
Three years passed, and the Jiang Family had already given up on curing Jiang Yan; they selected a main branch disciple with a Mystic Spiritual Root to be the new Jiang Family Young Lord.
Jiang Yan lost his Young Lord status and was driven out of the Young Lord's courtyard that very day, moving into a small wooden house on the outskirts of the Jiang Family's stronghold.
His previously contracted spirit beast and the Storage Pouch he possessed were also forcibly confiscated by the Family, under the pretext that he lacked the strength to safeguard these assets.
But these items were then immediately handed over to the new Jiang Family Young Lord.
Another three years passed, making it six years since Jiang Yan became a good-for-nothing.
During this period, Jiang Mei still came to visit Jiang Yan at the Young Lord's courtyard for the first three years, but after Jiang Yan moved into the small wooden house for the latter three years, Jiang Mei never came again.
It was said that she had already become friends with the new Jiang Family Young Lord.
The only person who accompanied Jiang Yan through these six dark years was Jiang Xun'er.
Whether Jiang Yan lived in the Young Lord's courtyard or the small wooden house.
Whether Jiang Yan was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator or at Qi Training Stage Third Level.
Whether Jiang Yan was a favored son of heaven or a good-for-nothing whose cultivation made no progress.
Jiang Xun'er always came to visit Jiang Yan; she would encourage Jiang Yan to start anew, and she always stood firmly by his side.
She was the only light in Jiang Yan's six long, dark nights; without Jiang Xun'er, Jiang Yan might have committed suicide on some unheeded night.