Turning Hostile

"Get it back."

Father Chu finally spoke, a sharp glint in his eyes.

Chu Meng, however, looked pleasantly surprised and said to Chu Tianke, "Dad, with this Source Energy Potion, Linfeng's swordsmanship can also reach mastery."

"I know."

Chu Tianke could barely hide his excitement. The reason Chu Linfeng's external martial arts had reached mastery was because the Chu family had spent a fortune buying him a Source Energy Potion.

With that in mind, Chu Tianke looked at Father Chu and said, "Linfeng's external martial arts have already reached mastery. If his internal martial arts can also reach mastery, he's practically guaranteed a spot in the top 100 of his grade and qualify for the Dark Domain."

"This is a golden opportunity for our Chu family to prosper. How can you, you ungrateful wretch, be so oblivious to the bigger picture?"

"I'll take this Source Energy Potion as your apology, you ungrateful wretch."

"You dare!" Father Chu finally erupted in anger. He rushed into the house, grabbed a long saber, and his eyes flashed with killing intent as he said, "Do you want to test if my saber is sharp?"

At this moment, Chu Tianke finally started to panic.

Even with one arm missing, Father Chu was still at Apprentice Level Perfection and had mastered intermediate external martial arts. His Life Level was a high 8.5, while Chu Meng, the highest-ranked person present besides him, was only at 7.5.

If a fight broke out, even with a missing arm, Father Chu might still be able to defeat them all.

"Beast, do you want to kill your father?"

Thinking of this, Chu Tianke forced himself to remain calm and said.

Regicide was a heinous crime, unforgivable in this era.

Father Chu was so angry he laughed. He directly pointed his saber at Chu Linfeng and said, "I didn't want to fall out with you, but you've gone too far."

"Even if I don't lay a hand on you today, what if I kill your Kirin Grandson?"

"You dare... you ungrateful wretch, do you have any regard for the bigger picture?"

Chu Tianke trembled with rage, his gaze towards Father Chu filled with a deeper venom.

Chu Kuang, seeing the stalemate, immediately spoke up, "Robbery is a serious crime, and a Source Energy Potion is extremely valuable. If you don't want to end up in jail, you'd better hand over the item."

Chu Tianke's expression changed drastically. The laws in this era were strict, and the Federation dealt very harshly with criminals, especially since they were so short on cannon fodder at the front lines.

Even if it was just a family dispute, the Federation wouldn't sweep it under the rug like they might have done a hundred thousand years ago.

After all, in this era, human civilization controlled far too many resources. Besides the strict regulation of cultivation resources, the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, and old-age care, were all provided free of charge by the Human Federation.

For the vast majority of people neglected by their parents, patriotism was more important than family loyalty, and thus national law superseded family law.

Understanding this, Chu Tianke showed a face full of unwillingness. With a dark expression, he threw the Source Energy Potion to Chu Kuang, saying, "Using this Source Energy Potion on Chu Kuang is just a waste."

"When the final exams come around this year, you'll understand what a gap is."

Mother Chu, seeing the Source Energy Potion returned, finally breathed a sigh of relief and retorted, "If Chu Linfeng is really that talented, then let him earn a spot in the top 100 of his grade himself."

"I will."

Chu Linfeng spoke up. He glanced at the Source Energy Potion in Chu Kuang's hand and calmly said, "Cousin, I hope you don't run into me during the final exams this year."

Hearing Chu Linfeng's threatening tone, Father Chu and Mother Chu's expressions turned grim.

Chu Meng and Chu Tianke, however, showed a hint of pride. Chu Linfeng was their Chu family's Kirin son, destined to break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm in the future, and even had a slim chance of getting into a First-Tier Martial University.

Not to mention, Chu Linfeng's resources were far beyond what Chu Kuang could compare to.

Over the years, Chu Tianke had fathered seventeen children, and just from the Federation's prize money, he had received over five hundred thousand. Chu Meng and his wife also had some savings.

It was precisely because of this financial support that Chu Linfeng's cultivation had progressed so rapidly, making him the third-ranked top student in Class Six.

In their eyes, with such talent and resources, it would be easy for Chu Linfeng to teach Chu Kuang a lesson.

To their surprise, Chu Kuang remained calm in the face of Chu Linfeng's threat, saying, "Then I'm rather looking forward to it."

"Hmph."

Chu Linfeng sneered and said no more.

The three left with a degree of unwillingness, having failed to obtain the valuables.

After they left, Father Chu led the others back home. The family of four returned to the living room. Father Chu looked at the Source Energy Potion in Chu Kuang's hand with a questioning look.

Seeing this, Chu Kuang stated directly, "After my external martial arts reached mastery, I felt my strength improve significantly. Last night, I tried participating in the Tian Heng Star Realm ranking matches and managed to get into the top three thousand, securing this interest-free loan."

After hearing the whole story, Father Chu and Mother Chu exchanged a look, their eyes revealing a hint of surprise.

In this era, loans weren't easy to come by. For martial artists in their forties like them, their potential was often depleted, and they could usually only borrow twenty to thirty thousand at most, considering their annual salary was only around ten thousand.

Chu Kuang being able to secure a one-hundred-thousand interest-free loan proved that, in the eyes of the Tian Heng City government, he was highly likely to break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm in the future, making repayment of the loan not a significant pressure.

With that in mind, Father Chu asked, "How do you plan to use this Source Energy Potion?"

"I plan to use it to improve my Basic Spear Technique, and then see if I can break into the top one thousand in the ranking matches."

Father Chu nodded upon hearing this, his gaze complex. "Basic techniques are the foundation. Mastering them provides a significant boost to cultivating advanced techniques, and even helps in breaking through to mastery with those advanced techniques."

"Since you've made up your mind, we will support you."

Speaking of which, Father Chu glanced at Chu Yu and then said, "If you have time in the future, take Chu Yu with you when you train. Even if it's just to help him build a foundation early on."

"I will."

Chu Kuang nodded. Chu Yu was almost graduating from primary school, and his bones and muscles had grown considerably. Even if he wasn't diligent enough to practice basic techniques, it was still good to learn the fundamentals in advance.

Seeing his agreement, Father Chu asked again, "Source Energy Potions are not cheap, and your grandfather and the others will find out eventually. To avoid any complications, it's best to use it as soon as possible."

"Are you confident you can break through?"

"I've accumulated for many years and can attempt it now," Chu Kuang replied.

Father Chu nodded and said directly, "Then don't delay. I'll send a leave request to your homeroom teacher."

"Okay."

Father Chu's arrangement perfectly matched Chu Kuang's thoughts, so he immediately took the Source Energy Potion to the martial arts room.

After he went into seclusion in the martial arts room, Chu Yu also left home for school, leaving only Father Chu and Mother Chu in the living room.

"He can already support himself. You shouldn't take any more risks."

Looking at the door of the seclusion room, Mother Chu said with some relief.

But Father Chu remained silent, his expression growing more resolute, as if he had made up his mind.

Mother Chu's expression changed slightly, and she couldn't help but ask, "You're still going?"

"This child's comprehension is not low, but unfortunately, his aptitude is a bit lacking."

Father Chu spoke slowly, his gaze deep. "If he had enough Source Energy Potions, he might be able to cultivate the Barbaric Bronze Body and completely open the door to martial arts in the future."

Mother Chu's face immediately fell silent. Pebble Body, Mysterious Iron Body, Barbaric Bronze Body, Adamantine Body – each realm was a world apart. Most cultivators in the Mortal Transformation Realm only managed to achieve the Mysterious Iron Body, and those who could cultivate the Barbaric Bronze Body were considered strong even among the Mortal Transformation Realm.

Most of Chu Kuang's teachers at school, except for a few in the gifted classes, had only cultivated the Barbaric Bronze Body.

However, Chu Kuang's Basic External Martial Arts had already reached perfection. He genuinely had a chance to cultivate the Barbaric Bronze Body.

As the most fundamental foundational technique for humans, Basic External Martial Arts was notoriously easy to learn but difficult to master.

But once mastered, the difficulty of practicing other external martial arts would be greatly reduced, and the chances of breaking through the perfection bottleneck would increase significantly.

Those geniuses in the gifted classes who had the potential to cultivate the Adamantine Body would basically practice Basic External Martial Arts to perfection.

But in this high-martial era, very few people could practice Basic External Martial Arts to perfection, and among the common people, the number was at most less than one percent.

This was because to reach perfection in Basic External Martial Arts, one not only needed superior aptitude but also the enhancement of superior comprehension.

Chu Kuang's comprehension was of a superior level, but his aptitude was only average. Such talent was truly holding him back.

In fact, Father Chu's comprehension was also not low. He had cultivated the Barbaric Bronze Body in his day, which should also indicate superior comprehension. Unfortunately, his aptitude was only third-grade, and Mother Chu's aptitude was only fourth-grade.

Like father, like son; like mother, like daughter. Father Chu and Mother Chu had average aptitudes, so their children's aptitudes naturally wouldn't be much better.

"It is precisely because his aptitude is average that he needs more resources."

Father Chu explained slowly, his gaze extremely solemn. "My abilities are limited, but even if I do my best, I must give him a boost when he is at his weakest."

"I cannot be like my father and treat my own child as a blood bag."

"..."

Chu Kuang was unaware of Father Chu's thoughts. The moment he entered the martial arts room, he locked the door from the inside, then blocked all external signals. Only then did he cautiously take out the Source Energy Potion.

A first-tier Source Energy Potion was worth one hundred thousand Federal Coins. With the money Chu Kuang earned from tutoring, it would take him three hundred days of not eating or drinking to buy one. If he couldn't even cultivate his basic techniques to perfection with it, he would explode.

Thinking of this, Chu Kuang glanced at his status panel.

Name: Chu Kuang

... (omitted) ...

Techniques: Basic External Martial Arts [Perfection 0/3], Basic Internal Martial Arts [Great Accomplishment 95%], Iron Armor Technique [Minor Accomplishment 66%].

Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique [Great Accomplishment 98%], Basic Spear Technique [Great Accomplishment 99%], Basic Movement Technique [Great Accomplishment 97%], Mountain Suppressing Fist [Initial Glimpse 42%], Gold-Splitting Spear [Minor Accomplishment 5%].

"The three basic martial arts – Fist Technique, Internal Martial Arts, and Movement Technique – will still take some time to reach the limit of Great Accomplishment."

"The immediate priority is to cultivate the Spear Technique to Great Accomplishment."

Looking at his various martial arts, Chu Kuang continuously assessed them in his mind.

Although Basic Spear Technique did not directly increase his Life Level, it could significantly enhance his combat power.

If his Basic Spear Technique had been perfected yesterday, he wouldn't have been so heavily injured when dealing with Xu Hong. Moreover, once Basic Spear Technique reached perfection, Chu Kuang's Gold-Splitting Spear would likely reach Great Accomplishment very soon.