Turning Hostile

"Give it back."

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

Chu Meng, however, looked delighted. Turning to Chu Tianke, he said, "Dad, with this Source Energy Potion, Linfeng's swordsmanship can reach compendium too."

"I know."

Chu Tianke could barely contain his excitement. Chu Linfeng had achieved External Martial Arts Compendium only because the Chu Family had spent heavily to buy him a Source Energy Potion.

Thinking of this, Chu Tianke looked at Father Chu and said, "Linfeng's external martial arts have already reached compendium. If his internal martial arts can reach compendium too, then getting into the top 100 in the grade and earning a Dark Domain slot will be a sure thing."

"This is a golden opportunity for our Chu Family to rise to greatness. How can you, you little bastard, have no sense of the bigger picture?"

"I'll take this Source Energy Potion as compensation for your offense."

"You dare!" Father Chu finally erupted. He rushed into the room and came back with a long saber, murderous intent blazing in his eyes. "Want to find out whether my blade is sharp enough?"

At that moment, Chu Tianke finally began to panic.

Even with one arm gone, Father Chu was still at Apprentice Level Perfection. He had also cultivated Intermediate External Martial Arts to perfection, and his Life Level was as high as 8.5. Among those present, Chu Meng had the next-highest Life Level, but it was only 7.5.

If they really fought, even missing one arm, Father Chu might still be able to cut them all down.

"You beast, are you trying to murder your own father?"

Thinking this, Chu Tianke forced himself to remain calm as he spoke.

Patricide was a heinous crime, one of the ten unforgivable evils even in this age.

Father Chu was so angry that he laughed. He pointed his saber directly at Chu Linfeng. "I didn't want to tear off all pretense, but you've gone too far."

"Even if I don't touch you today, what if I kill your precious grandson instead?"

"You dare... You beast, do you have even the slightest regard for the bigger picture?"

Chu Tianke trembled with rage, and the resentment in his gaze toward Father Chu deepened.

Seeing the deadlock, Chu Kuang spoke up at once. "Robbery is a serious crime, and a Source Energy Potion is extremely valuable. If you don't want to end up behind bars, you'd better hand it over."

Chu Tianke's expression changed sharply. The laws of this era were strict, and the Federation dealt with criminals severely. After all, the front lines were desperately short of cannon fodder.

Even if it was merely a family dispute, the Federation would not smooth things over like it had a hundred thousand years ago.

After all, in this era, human civilization controlled an abundance of resources. Aside from cultivation resources, which were strictly regulated, the Human Federation covered the food, clothing, housing, and even elderly care of ordinary people.

For most people neglected by their parents, loving their country mattered more than loving their family. Naturally, national law stood above family rules.

Understanding this, Chu Tianke wore an unwilling expression as he darkly tossed the Source Energy Potion to Chu Kuang. "Using that Source Energy Potion on Chu Kuang would be a waste anyway."

"When this year's Final Exam comes, you'll understand what a real gap looks like."

Only after seeing the Source Energy Potion returned did Mother Chu breathe a sigh of relief. She retorted, "If Chu Linfeng is really that talented, then let him earn a spot in the top 100 in the grade himself first."

"I will."

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

Hearing the threat in Chu Linfeng's voice, Father Chu and Mother Chu's expressions darkened.

Chu Meng and Chu Tianke, on the other hand, looked proud. Chu Linfeng was the Chu Family's prized prodigy. Sooner or later, he would break through to the Mortal Transformation Realm, and he even had a chance of getting into a First-Tier Martial University.

Not to mention that the resources available to Chu Linfeng were far beyond anything Chu Kuang could compare to.

Over the years, Chu Tianke had fathered seventeen children and received more than five hundred thousand Federal Coin in Federation bonuses alone. Chu Meng and his wife also had some money saved up.

It was precisely because of this financial support that Chu Linfeng's cultivation had advanced so quickly, making him the third-ranked Top Student in Class Six.

In their eyes, with such talent and resources behind him, teaching Chu Kuang a lesson would be effortless for Chu Linfeng.

Yet unexpectedly, Chu Kuang remained very calm in the face of Chu Linfeng's threat. "Then I'm rather looking forward to it."

"Hmph."

Chu Linfeng sneered and said nothing more.

Having failed to get the property, the three of them finally left unwillingly.

After they left, Father Chu led the others home. The family of four returned to the living room, and Father Chu looked at the Source Energy Potion in Chu Kuang's hand with an inquisitive expression.

Seeing this, Chu Kuang spoke frankly. "After my external martial arts reached perfection, I felt my strength improve quite a bit. Last night, I tried entering the Tian Heng Star Realm ranking tournament and made it into the top three thousand, earning this Interest-Free Loan."

After hearing the full story, Father Chu and Mother Chu exchanged glances, both showing a hint of delight.

In this day and age, loans were not easy to get. Martial artists over forty like them, whose potential was exhausted, could usually borrow only twenty or thirty thousand at most. After all, their annual salaries were only around ten thousand.

The fact that Chu Kuang had secured an interest-free loan of one hundred thousand 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. Repaying the loan would pose no great difficulty.

Thinking this, Father Chu asked, "How do you plan to use this Source Energy Potion?"

"I plan to use it to improve my Basic Spear Technique, then see whether I can break into the top thousand in the ranking tournament."

Father Chu nodded, his expression complicated. "Basic cultivation arts are the finest foundation. Once they reach perfection, they greatly benefit your cultivation of advanced arts and can even help advanced arts break through to perfection."

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

At this point, Father Chu glanced at Chu Yu before saying, "When you have time in the future, bring Chu Yu along to train. Even if you only help him lay some foundations early, that would be good."

"I will."

Chu Kuang nodded. Chu Yu was about to finish elementary school, and his bones and muscles had mostly developed. Although he still could not train Basic cultivation arts too intensely, learning the basic forms early and building a foundation would be good.

Seeing him agree, Father Chu asked again, "The Source Energy Potion is extremely valuable, and your grandfather's side knows about it now. To avoid unforeseen trouble, it's better to use it as soon as possible."

"Are you confident you can break through?"

"I've accumulated enough over the years. I can give it a try now," Chu Kuang said.

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

"Alright."

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

After he entered the martial arts room to cultivate in seclusion and Chu Yu left home for class, only Father Chu and Mother Chu remained in the living room.

"He can already support himself. You should stop taking risks."

Looking at the door to the cultivation room, Mother Chu spoke with some relief.

But Father Chu said nothing. His expression merely grew firmer, as though he had made some kind of decision.

Mother Chu's expression shifted slightly, and she could not help asking, "You're still going?"

"That child's comprehension is not bad. It's a pity his bone quality is somewhat lacking."

Father Chu spoke slowly, his eyes profound. "If he had enough Source Energy Potions, he might be able to cultivate the Barbaric Bronze Body in the future and truly open the gates of martial arts."

Mother Chu fell silent at once. Pebble Body, Mysterious Iron Body, Barbaric Bronze Body, Adamantine Body—each realm was a world apart. Most Mortal Transformation Realm cultivators only attained the Mysterious Iron Body, while those who cultivated the Barbaric Bronze Body were powerhouses even within the Mortal Transformation Realm.

Aside from a few teachers from the Key Class, most of the teachers at Chu Kuang's school had only cultivated the Barbaric Bronze Body.

But Chu Kuang's Basic External Martial Arts had already reached perfection. He truly had hope of cultivating the Barbaric Bronze Body.

As humanity's most essential foundational cultivation art, Basic External Martial Arts was famous for being easy to learn but difficult to master.

Yet once it was mastered, cultivating other external martial arts in the future would become far easier, and the odds of breaking through their perfection bottlenecks would also increase significantly.

Those Key Class geniuses with hopes of cultivating the Adamantine Body would basically cultivate Basic External Martial Arts to perfection.

But in this era of advanced martial arts, those who could cultivate Basic External Martial Arts to perfection were exceedingly rare. Among commoners, no more than one percent could achieve it.

Because cultivating Basic External Martial Arts to perfection required not only excellent bone quality, but also exceptional comprehension.

Chu Kuang's comprehension was excellent, but his bone quality was merely average. This aptitude truly held him back.

In truth, Father Chu's comprehension was not low either. He had cultivated the Barbaric Bronze Body in his youth, so his comprehension should have been excellent as well. Unfortunately, his bone quality had only been Third Grade, while Mother Chu's was only Fourth Grade Bone.

Dragons gave birth to dragons, phoenixes gave birth to phoenixes. Father Chu and Mother Chu both had ordinary bone quality, so the bone quality of their children naturally could not be much better.

"That is precisely why he needs more resources."

Father Chu explained patiently, his expression incomparably solemn. "My abilities are limited, but even if I have to give everything I have, I must give him a lift while he is still at his weakest."

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

"..."

Chu Kuang did not know what Father Chu was thinking. The moment he entered the martial arts room, he locked the door, blocked all messages, and only then carefully took out the Source Energy Potion.

A First-Order Source Energy Potion was worth one hundred thousand Federal Coin. With the money Chu Kuang earned from tutoring, he would have to go three hundred days without food or drink to afford one. If he still could not cultivate his Basic cultivation arts to perfection with it, that would be absurd.

Thinking this, Chu Kuang looked at his panel.

Name: Chu Kuang

...

Cultivation Arts: Basic External Martial Arts Perfection 0/3, Basic Internal Martial Arts Compendium 95%, Iron Armor Technique Minor Accomplishment 66%.

Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique Compendium 98%, Basic Spear Technique Compendium 99%, Basic Movement Technique Compendium 97%, Mountain Suppressing Fist Nascent Stage 42%, Gold-Splitting Spear Minor Accomplishment 5%.

"The three basic martial arts—fist technique, internal martial arts, and movement technique—still need some time before reaching the limits of compendium."

"The most pressing matter is to cultivate my spear technique to compendium."

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

Although Basic Spear Technique could not raise his Life Level, it could greatly increase his combat strength.

If his Basic Spear Technique had reached perfection yesterday, he would never have suffered such severe injuries while dealing with Xu Hong. Furthermore, once his Basic Spear Technique reached perfection, Chu Kuang's Gold-Splitting Spear would likely reach compendium very soon.