Not Relying on Family

After dinner, Feng Yuelan sent Chen Xingyao back to her room to rest, while she herself, after tidying up the dishes, went to Chen Lie's room.

"Knock, knock."

Arriving at Chen Lie's door, Feng Yuelan knocked.

Chen Lie immediately opened the door, and seeing it was his mother, he asked, "Mom, is something the matter?"

Feng Yuelan stood there with a stern face and asked Chen Lie, "Chen Lie, let me ask you, the day before yesterday at the Starlight Hotel, did you lie to your father and me?"

Chen Lie realized what was happening and said, "Did Yaoyao tell you?"

"Mother wants to know what exactly you are thinking, and why you would deliberately damage your own body?" Feng Yuelan kept her face grim.

"I am not damaging my body."

"Not yet? Can you even digest all those high-nutrition dishes? And Yaoyao said you were just in the kitchen boiling something to supplement your nutrition. Do you have any idea that with your current blood-qi value, you shouldn't be taking things indiscriminately? Do you want to completely ruin your future path in martial arts?"

Looking at his mother's serious expression, Chen Lie knew he had to reveal something, so he reached out to pull Feng Yuelan into the room.

To his surprise, Feng Yuelan shook him off.

"What are you doing? Today you must give me a proper explanation. Is this how you repay the expectations your father and I have for you?"

Chen Lie had no choice but to say, "Mom, let me show you something. Come inside first, and I guarantee you'll calm down after you see it."

Feng Yuelan crossed her arms and walked into Chen Lie's room with a cold face.

"Mom, take a look at my blood-qi value test records from the Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall's official website over the past month."

As he spoke, Chen Lie turned on the Superbrain in his room, opened the Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall website, and entered his student ID to query his blood-qi test records.

The blood-qi tester at the Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall required a student card swipe every time it was activated, which allowed the results to be uploaded directly to the official website.

Feng Yuelan leaned in close to the Superbrain and her eyes widened.

Two blood-qi test values appeared on the screen.

November 16: Student Chen Lie, blood-qi value 2.31 units.

November 14: Student Chen Lie, blood-qi value 1.34 units.

"2.31 units? This is your blood-qi test record? You didn't have someone else test for you, did you?" Feng Yuelan asked hurriedly.

"Of course not. If you don't believe me, you can call Instructor Sun at my martial arts hall. Instructor Sun was present when I first tested my blood-qi."

"Wait here, I'm going to contact your instructor right now. Don't you dare lie to me!"

Saying this, Feng Yuelan went to the living room to retrieve her communicator.

On the Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall website, Feng Yuelan looked up the contact number for Chen Lie's instructor, Sun Jian, and dialed it without delay.

Before long, the call connected.

"Hello, is this Instructor Sun from the Dongchuan Martial Arts Hall?"

"I am Sun Jian. May I ask who is calling?"

"Oh, it's like this. I am the parent of your student, Chen Lie. I'm bothering you today because I wanted to ask about Chen Lie's recent progress in blood-qi."

"Chen Lie's parent?" The voice on the communicator paused, then continued, "Chen Lie's parent, is it? It's not that I want to lecture you, but you really don't place enough importance on your child's martial arts training. I've been an instructor for over a dozen years, and I've never seen a situation like yours. Since you've already decided to let your child walk the path of martial arts, don't be stingy. At the very least, you should be providing the most basic martial arts resources for your child, shouldn't you?"

"This... Instructor Sun, what do you mean by that? I'm only calling to ask about Chen Lie's blood-qi progress."

Feng Yuelan was left somewhat confused by this barrage of accusations.

"What do I mean? Let me ask you, have you ever given the child 'Blood Essence Fluid'?"

"No, but Chen Lie's blood-qi value hadn't even broken 1 yet, so he couldn't use Blood Essence Fluid."

The voice on the communicator was silent for a moment, then continued, "You are even more irresponsible than I imagined. As parents, you don't even know when your child's blood-qi value broke 1. I'm telling you now: Student Chen Lie's blood-qi test result a few days ago was 1.34 units, and it was detected that his body was suffering from severe nutritional deficiency."

"Nutritional deficiency?"

Feng Yuelan looked at Chen Lie, completely bewildered.

"Nutritional deficiency, if severe, will affect his future breakthrough to become a martial artist. If Student Chen Lie had used 'Blood Essence Fluid' as soon as his blood-qi value broke 1, then breaking 3 units now—or at the very least 2—would have been a certainty. As a high school senior in the martial arts track, he is at a critical juncture for college admissions. Because of your delay, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to even get into a regular university! I've said my piece; it's up to you whether you listen or not!"

Looking at the disconnected communicator, Feng Yuelan couldn't help but ask Chen Lie.

"What is going on? When did your blood-qi value break 1?"

Chen Lie said, "Mom, actually, I didn't lie to you that day. A while ago, someone who claimed to be from outside the stars told me that I possess a very rare constitution that can directly convert nutrition into blood-qi. It's just that the characteristics of this constitution hadn't been triggered, which is why my blood-qi progress was so slow."

"He helped me awaken the characteristics of my constitution and even passed down a profound body-tempering technique. He told me that if I could get into Starry Sky University before the age of twenty, he would take me on as his disciple."

"Is that for real?" Feng Yuelan asked. "You aren't trying to trick me again, are you?"

"Whether it's true or false, Mom, wouldn't you know just by looking at my blood-qi value test records?" Chen Lie said.

"So, your blood-qi value is now 2.31 units?"

"Yes!" Chen Lie nodded.

Feng Yuelan grabbed Chen Lie's wrist and felt it carefully.

"Your pulse is strong and powerful, and the sound of your blood-qi circulating is like a rushing river. It really doesn't look like someone who hasn't broken through 1 unit; it's more like the stage where one is about to break through 3 units."

"Son, has your blood-qi value really broken through 1 and entered the second stage? You haven't even used any Blood Essence Fluid, so how could your blood-qi increase so quickly?"

Feng Yuelan was suddenly overcome with joy. She had been worrying about her son's schooling, but now that he had made progress on his own, it wasn't just ordinary martial arts universities that were within reach—even key martial arts universities were not out of the question.

"I'm different from others. Once my constitutional characteristics were awakened, combined with that profound body-tempering technique, I can increase my blood-qi value as long as I have enough nutrition."

"The reason I was able to suddenly increase my blood-qi value so much is because I ate those nutritious dishes at the Starlight Hotel these past two days," Chen Lie said.

"Then what's this about a nutritional deficit?" Feng Yuelan asked.

"Awakening my constitutional characteristics requires a massive amount of nutrition. My body's nutritional reserves weren't enough, which caused the deficit."

Feng Yuelan thought for a moment and said, "No wonder Mom thought you looked a bit thinner these past few days. So that's what happened."

"Do you know the identity of this person from outside the stars who awakened your constitution?"

Chen Lie shook his head: "I don't. He said that once I get into Starry Sky University, I'll naturally know who he is."

"Starry Sky University..."

Feng Yuelan couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Starry Sky University was the best martial arts university outside the stars, admitting only three thousand students from Blue Star each year.

With eighty-nine provinces on Blue Star and a population of over ten billion, this meant those three thousand spots had to be divided among billions of eligible teenagers across eighty-nine provinces.

Dongchuan Province was a relatively barren region for martial arts on Blue Star. In the past three years, fewer than ten talented teenagers from Dongchuan Province had been admitted to Starry Sky University.

If it took three years for even ten people from Dongchuan Province to get into Starry Sky University, could her own son really do it?

"It seems that the big shot from outside the stars has high hopes for you, so you must work even harder."

"Since your blood-qi has already broken through 1, I'll contact your father in a while to buy you some Blood Essence Fluid. We'll make one final push and raise your blood-qi value directly to the third stage!"

Chen Lie said: "No, that person from outside the stars told me when he left that one shouldn't rely too much on family. Martial arts cultivation must rely on oneself, and resources must be fought for by oneself."

"How can you call this relying on family? Blood Essence Fluid is just the most basic martial arts resource. Look at the millions of households on Blue Star; which family doesn't prepare basic resources like Blood Essence Fluid and beast meat for their children?" Feng Yuelan couldn't help but say.

"Then if I get into Starry Sky University in the future and need other resources, can the family still support me?"

Chen Lie looked up at Feng Yuelan.

"This..."

Feng Yuelan really wanted to say that fewer than ten people from Dongchuan Province had gotten into Starry Sky University in three years, and that ordinary people like them on Blue Star shouldn't harbor such thoughts, but she was afraid of dampening her son's enthusiasm.

So, she said earnestly to Chen Lie: "Son, although it's good to have goals, you shouldn't set them too far away. We can set smaller, closer goals—for example, breaking through 3 units of blood-qi within a month and joining the elite class at school."

"I understand that, but let's do it my way regarding the purchase of Blood Essence Fluid. Not relying on the family and fighting for my own resources was also the instruction from that big shot from outside the stars."

When it came to relying on the family to buy martial arts resources, once you start, there will be a second time, and then countless times after that.

In his previous life, Chen Lie had seen how martial arts geniuses from outside the stars spent money like water to buy the resources needed for their cultivation.

It could be said that once his blood-qi reached a certain level, any martial arts resource he required would be so precious that it would be enough to bankrupt his parents.

Rather than letting his parents feel helpless and guilty in the future because they couldn't help him, it was better to nip this in the bud now.

"This... is it appropriate?"

If she didn't give her son the Blood Essence Fluid, wouldn't that just prove Instructor Sun from the martial arts gym right?

"Since that big shot from outside the stars who guided me gave such instructions, let's do it this way."

"If my blood-qi progress is slow by then, it won't be too late to make changes."

"Alright then!"

Hearing Chen Lie mention the big shot from outside the stars, Feng Yuelan could only nod in agreement.

Since it was a big shot from outside the stars, their martial arts cultivation shouldn't be lower than a Grandmaster, right?

She naturally couldn't turn a deaf ear to a Grandmaster's instructions.

"Mom, don't tell anyone else about me being guided by someone from outside the stars. Let's just keep it within the family," Chen Lie cautioned.

Feng Yuelan nodded: "Don't worry, I won't even tell your father about this."

Chen Lie added: "I have my own cultivation method now, so please don't sign me up for any martial arts training classes or anything like that. If the school calls to ask why I'm missing classes, just cover for me."

"You can come and check my blood-qi progress at any time. If you're ever dissatisfied, you can call a stop to it then."

Seeing her son speak with such confidence, Feng Yuelan felt joy welling up in her heart, though her face showed no sign of it. Instead, she said with a solemn expression: "This is what you said. If you can't break through 3 units of blood-qi and enter the elite class within a month, then you listen to Mom and honestly use the Blood Essence Fluid."

"Agreed!"

Chen Lie nodded in agreement.

Hearing Chen Lie agree so readily, Feng Yuelan couldn't help but wonder if her requirements had been too low.

However, without the use of Blood Essence Fluid or corresponding supplements, wanting to increase one's Vitality by 0.7 points in a single month was nothing short of a fantasy.

Unable to fathom what Chen Lie was relying on, Feng Yuelan simply said, "Then it's settled."

With that, she walked out of Chen Lie's room.