When Chen Yan got home, he heard the sound of stir-frying coming from the kitchen.
Calling it a kitchen was generous. It was just a stove built from mud and bricks beside the courtyard wall, with a wooden shack cobbled together from planks around it.
"Bro, you're home."
A clear, lively girl's voice rang out. A girl of about sixteen stepped out of the kitchen, wearing a white T-shirt. She bore a six-out-of-ten resemblance to Chen Yan, with smooth skin touched by a faint wheat-gold hue and a very pretty face.
The instant she saw Chen Yan, her big eyes seemed to shimmer with starlight. She beamed brightly.
"How did a girl get so tall?"
Chen Yan teased her with a laugh. His younger sister, Chen Yu, was only sixteen, yet already stood a full 1.7 meters tall—only half a head shorter than him. In a crowd of girls, she would stand out like a crane among chickens.
Chen Yan soon noticed a few scrapes on Chen Yu's left wrist.
They were probably from the car accident.
Still, it was a blessing in disguise that she'd come away with only such minor injuries.
"Keep talking about my height, and I won't speak to you anymore."
Chen Yu deliberately put on a frown and grumbled at him, but the next moment she noticed the wounds on his body and asked with concern,
"Bro, those injuries..."
Chen Yan's injuries weren't serious, but with his torn, scuffed clothes, he looked pretty miserable.
"I got hurt by accident." Chen Yan brushed it off, then asked, "Where's Dad?"
"He said he was going out to buy some vegetables."
Chen Yu's reply made Chen Yan nod. At last, he breathed a sigh of relief. He would have to talk things over with Dad tonight.
For now, though, there was the matter of his sister's car accident.
He was about to bring it up, but Chen Yu went back into the kitchen.
"The food will be ready soon. Go change your clothes first, Bro. You're filthy."
"I'll cook."
"Ugh..."
Chen Yu's disgusted voice came from the kitchen.
"Bro, do you have no self-awareness at all?"
Chen Yan pursed his lips. What did she mean? Was his cooking really that bad?
He decided to ask about the accident over dinner and went inside.
In the kitchen.
Chen Yu continued stir-frying. The pan held cured meat and cabbage. Pork fat sizzled out of the meat, filling the whole kitchen with a rich aroma.
"Your brother hasn't even awakened his Qi and Blood. Compared to you, he's far too ordinary."
In Chen Yu's Consciousness World, a blurry figure in a red dress stood quietly and spoke softly.
"I haven't awakened my Qi and Blood either." Chen Yu pursed her lips and smiled unconcernedly, though her voice couldn't be heard in the kitchen.
"That's different. Your talent for formations is one in ten thousand. Awakening your Qi and Blood is merely optional."
The woman's voice sounded in Chen Yu's mind again. Chen Yu pressed her lips together and quietly continued cooking.
"There's no end to the Martial Dao. Sooner or later, you'll have to cut away what you cherish. One bottle of Qi and Blood Drink costs five hundred yuan—enough to buy you a basic formation-inscription plate. Yet you spent it on a bottle of Qi and Blood medicine that's no use to your brother."
The woman sighed in Chen Yu's mind.
"I couldn't afford Qi and Blood medicine." Chen Yu muttered. The voice in her mind fell silent for a moment.
"You have to grow stronger as soon as possible. The Five Clans Competition is about to begin, and you're still at the starting line. You're too weak.
"If I hadn't been there this morning, you'd already be a corpse. They've made their move."
At the woman's words, Chen Yu's hand paused over the pan. Anger flared in her eyes.
"Was it really them?"
"It must have been. I don't know who else it could be."
The Red-dressed Woman spoke gently.
"Your brother is still alive because he isn't strong, and there's no chance he'll become strong. But you're different. You'll be powerful one day. Your family will forever be left watching your back. Leaving them is your best choice."
Chen Yu furrowed her brows, her expression darkening.
"Teacher, what meaning is there in becoming strong that way?"
The Red-dressed Woman was taken aback. She said no more, only smiled and sighed softly, as if she had already seen Chen Yu's future.
"Why are you only telling me now!"
Inside a two-story rural house, Hu Zeyuan glared furiously at his son, Hu Yuan, who was lying on the sofa.
"That little bastard hit you, and you just put up with it? How can you be so spineless!"
Hu Zeyuan's eyes were full of disappointment and indignation. If someone else hadn't told him, he wouldn't have known that Chen Yan had punched his son and sent him flying.
He'd just lifted Hu Yuan's shirt and found a huge red mark across his chest.
The more he looked, the angrier he became. His son had always kept Chen Yan down, and for years their family had kept the Chen Family down, too.
Deep down, Hu Zeyuan had always looked down on Chen Yuxu's family.
Now his son had scored worse than Chen Yan on the Punching Strength Test and had even been beaten up by him. How could he not be furious?
"Pathetic!"
Hu Zeyuan barked, then turned and left.
"Dad, where are you going?"
Hu Yuan hurried to his feet and asked.
"Worry about yourself. Didn't you make plans to meet Zhang Qingsi tonight? Why haven't you left yet?" Hu Zeyuan walked straight out of the courtyard.
In the Living Room, Hu Yuan opened his mouth, but the scene of Chen Yan punching him into the air surfaced in his mind again. For some reason, it sent a shiver through him.
Still, he quickly gathered his clothes and got ready to go out.
His father had told him to get close to Zhang Qingsi. That was important.
These past few days, he'd come to understand more and more just how powerful martial artists were. No matter how hard ordinary people like them tried, they couldn't even touch a martial artist's hair.
If he could get close to Zhang Qingsi, a single word from him in the future might change his whole family's fate.
Chen Yuxu didn't get home until six that evening.
He was carrying a bag of cold side dishes.
In the Living Room, Chen Yuxu set out the food, his eyes clearly showing a trace of fatigue.
Chen Yan sat down quietly, planning to take out the Red-haired Ganoderma during dinner. As for Luo Puxin's promise to have someone deliver Qingju Snake Meat, he didn't plan to mention it yet.
If the Qingju Snake Meat was valuable and Luo Puxin later changed his mind, it would only leave the family celebrating for nothing.
"Bro, bring the rice!"
His sister's voice came from the kitchen.
"Okay."
There was a plate of cured meat stir-fried with cabbage, a bowl of tofu mixed with preserved egg, and the cold beef Chen Yuxu had bought.
A meal this lavish came only once or twice a month.
Chen Yu had been in a car accident that day, yet suffered only a few scrapes. It was truly a blessing in disguise.
"Where did you go? Why are you so badly hurt?"
Only then did Chen Yuxu notice the scrapes on Chen Yan's body.
"I fell."
Chen Yuxu nodded and didn't ask any more about Chen Yan's injuries.
"Bro, I have something for you." Chen Yu smiled mysteriously from beside them.
"Oh?" Chen Yan was surprised. "I have something I want to show everyone, too."
Chen Yuxu watched the mysterious siblings without smiling and shoved a steamed bun dipped in tofu into his mouth.
Soon, both siblings came into the Living Room carrying their backpacks.
Chen Yan was surprised, but Chen Yu's face was alight with joy. His attention shifted to the backpack in her arms.
Could there be another expert?
"Here, Bro."
Chen Yu took a bottle of Qi and Blood Drink from her backpack. It was exactly like the one Wang Yang had given him earlier.
Chen Yan opened his mouth, but couldn't resist Chen Yu's excitement. He took the bottle with one hand.
A question arose in his mind.
One bottle of Qi and Blood Drink cost five hundred yuan.
Where had Chen Yu gotten the money?
Beside him, Chen Yuxu's gaze was fixed on the bottle. His expression gradually darkened.
"Xiao Yu, where did you get the money to buy Qi and Blood Drink?" Chen Yuxu asked with a frown.
"Dad, don't worry about it. Today is Bro's—" Chen Yu was saying.
"I sent you to school, not to scrimp and save!" Chen Yuxu sighed. "What good is Qi and Blood Drink? Spending five hundred on this stuff—isn't that a waste of money?"
Chen Yu pressed her lips together, looking at Chen Yan with a wronged expression in her eyes, silently asking for help.
Chen Yuxu sighed. Seeing that Chen Yu was about to cry, he really didn't want to press her about the bottle of Qi and Blood Drink anymore.
"Xiao Yu, your teacher sent word through someone this morning. County No. 1 High School is forming a Qi and Blood Surge Class. It's been a whole month. Why didn't you tell me?"
As he spoke, Chen Yuxu took a cloth bundle from his pocket. Something was clearly wrapped inside the tattered floral fabric.
He handed it to Chen Yu.
"Take this to school with you tomorrow."
Chen Yu's expression shifted slightly. She didn't take the bundle.
"I'm not joining, Dad."
Chen Yuxu's expression darkened.
"Your teacher said you're in great physical shape and have a good chance of awakening your Qi and Blood in your senior year. You have to sign up for this class!"
"Dad!" Chen Yu tried to speak again, but Chen Yuxu waved his hand.
"Sign up."
Looking at his father and sister, Chen Yan spoke up.
"Dad, don't blame Xiao Yu. It's only one bottle of Qi and Blood Drink. Today, I..."
"One bottle of Qi and Blood Drink?" Chen Yuxu frowned and looked at Chen Yan, anger plain in his eyes, but the anger vanished in an instant.
He couldn't bring himself to criticize them too harshly.
The family was in this state because he couldn't earn enough money.
"Xiao Yu, take this bottle and drink it. Teacher Wang Yang gave me one as a reward the day before yesterday." Chen Yan spoke quietly. He looked at Chen Yu and met her pleading, teary eyes. His words caught in his throat, and he took the bottle of Qi and Blood Drink back.
On an ordinary day, he definitely wouldn't drink it. He'd even have returned it right away.
But when he remembered that he also had a piece of Red-haired Ganoderma in his backpack, Chen Yan realized that this bottle of Qi and Blood Drink wasn't such a big deal.
"Thanks, Xiao Yu." Chen Yan patted Chen Yu on the head and smiled.
"Mm." Chen Yu's tears turned to a smile, and she nodded hard.
In Chen Yu's Consciousness World, the stunning Red-dressed Woman saw everything through Chen Yu's eyes.
She had meant to speak, but after sensing Chen Yu's feelings, she simply smiled and shook her head.
As an outsider watching this scene, the woman had never experienced anything like it in her life.
But she could clearly see the difference between Chen Yan, Chen Yu's older brother, and their father.
Chen Yuxu's anger over Chen Yu's Qi and Blood Drink was understandable.
But Chen Yan had only made a polite remark before taking it back.
Even though he could guess how much his younger sister had scrimped and gone without to buy that bottle of Qi and Blood Drink, he still accepted it.
Chen Yu was still young, but she had naturally thought of many things.
Were children's thoughts really simple?
Not at all. Sometimes, the younger they were, the harder it was for them to let go of their desires.
One bottle of Qi and Blood Drink had already revealed so much.
But in the next instant, the Red-dressed Woman's expression changed.
"Let's eat first."
Chen Yuxu spoke quietly. He reached into the bowl to take a steamed bun, but his gaze shifted slightly and caught sight of a red object.
It looked like something Chen Yan had just taken out of his backpack...
Wait!
Chen Yuxu's eyes flew wide as he whipped his head around.
"Red-haired Ganoderma!"
Before you continue