Brother of the Divine Empress

Chen Li stared at his sister Su Yan with utter exasperation.

She was his blood-related sister, right?

'I distinctly remember mom being pregnant for 9 months. She should be my sister!'

Could someone have switched the babies while no one was looking? Was she the daughter of a divine emperor that was sent to the mortal realm for protection, while the real sister of Chen Li was risking her life every day as a decoy?

'She definitely has the eyes of dad, and definitely looks like mom… Even passing traders can tell that we're siblings at a glance…

… Then why the f*ck is her talent in cultivation so good?!'

Chen Li had reincarnated into this world 10 years ago. The sensation of being born… Chen Li never wanted to remember it ever again. Being a baby, wetting his own bed… weren't memories he was particularly fond of as well.

Even though the start was rocky, Chen Li didn't mind it. First, he had already died, and he remembered every second of how his life slipped away from his body. Second, this time around he had a family. There would be no going from orphanage to orphanage in this life.

And even more surprisingly, this was a world of cultivation! Though, unfortunately, Chen Li, like his parents, was stuck at the early stages of the Qi Condensation realm, with no hope of a breakthrough his whole life.

* Boom *

Su Yan, Chen Li's blood-related sister (with >99.999% certainty), had made a breakthrough once again, and advanced to the 2nd stage of the Qi Condensation realm! She had effectively leapfrogged Chen Li's 1st stage cultivation base!

Chen Li shook his head. 'She's only 6 years old and can reach 2nd stage with no resources… Something's fishy…'

In a world with hidden dangers all around, being too outstanding wasn't a blessing! It was the opposite! Chen Li didn't need his extensive web novel reading history to know how dangerous this world was!

Spiritual beasts were common around Still Water city, where their family resided. Though the city was under the protection of the Qin empire, sects would frequently cause commotions every week! One walk through the Flowing Dragon Street, and you could encounter a dozen arrogant young masters in an hour!

"Brother, why are you here?" Asked Su Yan without facing his brother.

Their parents worked as paper-making merchants, and Chen Li would frequently forage some herbs from a safe location to help them. This was the first time he took Su Yan along!

Su Yan stood up from the lotus position and turned toward Chen Li. "Even if you acted as a dharma protector, nothing would've changed." She said with her chin slightly pointing upwards.

"…" Chen Li lightly slapped the back of her head with a finger.

"H-How dare you? This emp-" Su Yan held her head and stopped mid-sentence, but the contents that Chen Li heard had already made him narrow his eyes.

'This emp? This empress? Is she just at that age?'

Like Chen Li, Su Yan had been a "calm" child compared to her peers. Unlike Chen Li however, she had a substantial amount of pride, and she wasn't afraid to show it!

"Hmph!" Said the little girl and attempted to walk away, only to be stopped by her brother's unrelenting grasp!

"We are here to collect Night's Miracle, you know, the blue herb that only blooms at night? The one that will wither away if not collected until the next night?" Upon hearing no answer, Chen Li lowered his voice. "Did you join me just so you could breakthrough to the 2nd stage?"

Su Yan didn't answer. In truth, she had broken to the 4th stage just now, but because of her perfect Qi control, she only released 2nd stage ripples to her brother.

After a moment of silence, Chen Li sighed. "I was going to wait for a few years, but I guess I can't delay this talk any longer. Come here."

Chen Li sat on the grass and gestured for Su Yan to do the same. Unlike him, who almost threw himself to the ground, Su Yan elegantly lowered herself and sat in seiza. The sheer grace of her movements made Chen Li roll his eyes.

Everyone could spot they were siblings from their appearances, but no one would dare to claim the same thing after watching their behavior!

"You're very talented in cultivation. Being good at cultivation is a good thing, right?"

Su Yan elegantly nodded.

"Wrong." Chen Li shook his head. "Cultivating fast isn't a good thing at all! Not for us, anyway!"

Seeing his sister's subtle frown, Chen Li immediately wanted to flip a table!

This little girl seldom showed any facial expressions. The fact that his words got a subtle frown made it clear that Su Yan didn't agree. And if she didn't agree, she usually wouldn't listen!

'F*ck, is she really some reincarnated expert? Can a family really have two reincarnators? Isn't that like lightning striking the same point twice?!'

Chen Li controlled his breathing and tried to find a way to explain the mechanics of Xianxia to both a 6-year-old, and a possible reincarnated expert. Just in case!

"You know our parents are only at 2nd stage, you know they were just loose cultivators. We don't have an extended family backing us, nor can we rely on a sect or someone of influence. You understand this, correct?"

Somehow, Su Yan's subtle frown became subtly deeper! Chen Li shook his head and acted like he didn't see anything.

"Do you remember the Li family, the couple that owned the fried shrimp stand that you liked so much? They didn't move away. They died a year ago." Su Yan's slight frown disappeared; her current expressionless face indicated her surprise at the matter. Probably.

"They died because their son had… Shining Something Bones. Some loose cultivator and a sect fought for the kid, then someone found out the boy's parents and chopped them off into a hundred pieces. No one has ever heard from the kid again."

Looking at his sister's expressionless face, Chen Li continued.

"When the city lord found out a noble house took money from an unrecognized sect, he crippled the entire family and gave them to the slave traders. This was 2 years ago, you remember a burnt smell in the markets that didn't go away for weeks? That came from the noble family's manor.

… Last year, the noise coming from the city at midnight? That was a fight between…

… A noble's cousin's aunt-in-law was once kidnapped by a traveling sect…

… Those big ships that came one day and stayed for weeks, darkening the sky? Those were from Virtuous Crane sect, to get an "explanation" for the disappearance of their head disciple…"

Example after example, Chen Li's mouth didn't stop for nearly an hour!

"So, is being talented a good thing? Yes. Yes, it is. But! Is showing that talent to others a good thing?" Chen Li made a gesture with his eyes to indicate he was waiting for an answer. After a moment of silence Su Yan shook her head.

"That's right! Never show your talent to others! Don't brag about it, don't mention it. A dead genius is no longer a genius. Understand?"

Su Yan closed her eyes. "Then, brother…" When her eyes slowly opened, she stared at Chen Li with otherworldly seriousness. "Are you hiding your cultivation?"

"…" Chen Li opened his mouth, but no words could come out. Instead, he playfully slapped her head with a finger. "Am I hiding? Hiding?! What's there to hide? I've been in the 1st stage for 3 years! Do I look like a genius to you?" He flicked his fingers on her forehead this time. "Stop talking nonsense! Now let's go back. I already have enough herbs…"

Su Yan rubbed her forehead and looked at Chen Li as he walked away. For but a moment, a trace of a smile could be seen on her face 'This brother of mine in this life, is unexpectedly fierce…'

A moment later another thought entered her mind. 'I didn't expect someone from this region to be born with Radiant Jade Bones! Shining Something Bones?... Silly brother, that was a once in a million years constitution…

A pity, if I could extract the bones myself, I could've entered the Foundation Establishment realm directly...'

Opportunities were all around, but only the bold could take them!

Though Su Yan acted as if she agreed with her brother, she had no intention of following his advice! This was the reason why she broke through to the 4th stage out in the open!

Chen Li and Su Yan went back to their parent's shop. After Chen Li convinced her sister not to reveal her cultivation to their parents!

* * *

Time passed. Though Su Yan seemed to be diligently cultivating, Chen Li never saw any other breakthroughs. The ripples from her cultivation seemed exactly the same as their mother's as well. Therefore, Chen Li tentatively shelved the idea of her sister being a reincarnated expert.

Surely, a reincarnated expert wouldn't use the cultivation method of a mere Qi Condensation disciple, right?

Thanks to their parent's being paper makers, Chen Li was able to come in contact with a variety of cultivators. Though by far the group he was most familiar with was the talisman makers.

Would these cultivators teach their techniques for free? Of course not! And while their family business was doing well, they weren't well off enough to pay the tuition fee for Chen Li. Thus, Chen Li could only occasionally take a peek and theorize on his own.

At the age of 11, Chen Li received a Qi control practicing technique. Though the technique itself was only of mortal grade, for their resource-constricted environment, it might as well be a peerless treasure in his eyes!

A year later, at the age of 12, the night after his birthday, Chen Li was sighing deeply.

'Well, I guess I won't get a cheat after all.'

12 years had passed since his rebirth. If he had a system, it surely would've appeared by now, right? However, Chen Li didn't mind not having a cheat. The family life he often wondered about in his previous life… He was living in it!

The only problem was…

His sister.

Rather, the problem was her talent. Her insanely good talent.

Chen Li sighed once again while watching his sister breakthrough to the 3rd stage.

'She's 8 years old. This isn't going to end well…' He fell into deep thought.

Su Yan's talent felt like a ticking bomb. One day, someone would discover her for sure. But there was no way to know if that person would have good intentions!

Even if she could overcome that hurdle, then the inevitable inter-sect drama would come. With a talent and background mismatch like hers, she was bound to offend many random bystanders. Those troubles would eventually spill and sooner or later impact the Chen family! Maybe his parents would be killed on the spot, with Chen Li along with them!

The idea of becoming a part of a tragic main character background story did not sit well with Chen Li! Not at all!

If that wasn't enough, there was also an equally concerning development!

Though both Su Yan and Chen Li looked like siblings, the former's appearance was changing every year. Chen Li could see the outline of a great, cold, jade beauty! Once her metamorphosis was done, his little sister was bound to cause many calamities!

'… I'm still average looking after all these years, yet she's improving at a rapid pace! Is she really adopted or something?'

Though her cultivation was quite fast, Chen Li also couldn't help but notice something was off. She took 4 months to reach the 2nd stage, but the 3rd stage took more than 2 years!

There weren't any hard timing rules about cultivation of course. If one were to reach 2nd stage in a month, there was no way of knowing if they would reach the 3rd stage in 2 months. Extrapolation was useless for cultivation!

'Could it be that those geezers are right? Is it because of impurities from the mortal world? Would she become faster if she ate a marrow cleansing pill?'

The said pill was far outside the Chen family's purchasing range!

Chen Li didn't want to disturb his little sister and went back to his room in deep thought. Deep down, he thought he was making excuses.

The most likely explanation for her slow progress, was their conversation two years ago. Chen Li only wanted her to hide her cultivation, not slow it down! Even if she denied it when he asked, it was obvious that Chen Li had inadvertently put fear in his sister. Perhaps having some Xianxia-phobia was a good thing for him, but for his sister? His 6 (now 8) year old sister?

'What if… I were to somehow get a marrow cleansing pill.'

Could that help in overcoming her hesitation?