Du Chun drew a deep breath.
He forced down the joy threatening to overflow.
Turning around, he looked at his son-in-law, Chen Kefa, with utmost seriousness.
"Kefa, you're busy with official duties and can't be in two places at once."
"I think... once Xiao Yan's a little older, and can run around on his own, we should send him to my place. I'll raise him myself."
Chen Kefa and his wife, Du Qionghua, exchanged a glance. They both saw that the idea appealed to them.
Having the old man raise the child himself really was the safest arrangement for now.
Du Chun was a bona fide Professional Rank 6 martial artist. Back in the day, he'd been a renowned figure in Jiang City, known far and wide as "Mountain-Suppressing Yellow"!
His family's signature Du Family Yellow Fist was unmatched in its fierce power and domineering might!
Countless people had once fought tooth and nail to get their children into his Zhenwei Martial Arts Hall, hoping they could learn even a little of his true skill.
But fate had other plans...
Later, during an operation to repel a massive wave of ferocious beasts...
The old man had covered the civilians' retreat and been ambushed from behind by an exceptionally cunning fourth-tier beast. Though he'd fought back and killed it, he'd suffered a hidden injury that proved impossible to heal.
His strength had fallen by more than half, and he'd gradually faded from public view.
But even a skinny camel was bigger than a horse!
Though he was no longer as powerful as before, his reputation still carried weight!
With the once-mighty old man holding down the fort, ordinary troublemakers wouldn't even dare come near.
"Dad, wouldn't this... be too much trouble for you?"
Du Qionghua was still hesitant, worried about her father's health.
"That settles it."
Du Chun waved his hand, his tone firm and decisive.
At the same time, in a warm corner of the living room.
Liu Xin was chatting with the Du family's grandmother, Wang Jun, while watching Du Shenyuan play with the two little ones on the carpet.
As Du Qionghua's longtime best friend, Liu Xin had long since become as familiar with the Du family as one of their own.
On the soft carpet, Yu Qingmeng and Chen Yan lay side by side, clutching the art supplies their uncle, Du Shenyuan, had brought and carefully scribbling away.
[You are painting. Skill "Image Projection Scroll" proficiency +5!]
[You are painting. Skill "Image Projection Scroll" proficiency +5!]
Chen Yan's heart stirred.
In the past, using ordinary paper and pencils, he'd gained at most one point of proficiency after finishing an entire picture.
But now, painting with the birthday gift his uncle had brought, his proficiency was rising rapidly!
"Xiao Yan, how are the new brushes and paints your uncle gave you?"
Du Shenyuan crouched down with a smile, bringing himself to the little ones' eye level.
He was quite handsome, too!
He and his sister had both inherited their mother Wang Jun's striking looks.
He had handsome features and a refined, gentle air.
"These are the good supplies I finally managed to get from a friend who works with a mercenary group."
Du Shenyuan explained patiently, sounding rather proud.
"The paints are specially made from the fresh blood of a first-tier ferocious beast called a 'Crimson Flame Porcupine,' mixed with several kinds of mineral powder containing trace amounts of primordial energy."
"The brush bristles come from the softest, most supple hairs at the tip of a 'Three-Eyed Wind Wolf's' tail."
Chen Yan understood.
So that was how it was!
Perhaps... using high-grade materials infused with energy could greatly increase how quickly he gained proficiency!
He subconsciously glanced at the skill panel only he could see.
Ever since all his core skills had successively reached the [Proficient] level, each ability had undergone a qualitative transformation.
[Qi Nurturing Foundation Art] now ran on its own day and night, circulating his blood and energy far more efficiently and purely than it had at the [Minor Accomplishment] level!
With every circulation, he could clearly feel his limbs greedily absorbing energy, undergoing subtle but continuous reinforcement.
[Godly Movement] brought more than just speed. It gave him fine control over his muscles, bones, and center of gravity. Even the smallest shifts and turns had become exquisitely precise.
And [Shadow Concealment] had evolved beyond simply reducing his presence. It could now actively mimic the light, shadows, and fluctuations in the surrounding environment, allowing him to blend almost perfectly into the background.
Of course, with everyone watching, Chen Yan wasn't foolish enough to inject spiritual power into the painting.
So, to everyone else, he was simply using high-end art supplies to carefully paint a lifelike... Peppa Pig.
"Wow, Xiao Yan did such a good job!" Grandma Wang Jun praised with a smile. "Xiao Meng's painting is lovely, too. The colors go together so beautifully."
"And she's such a pretty little girl. She'll definitely grow up to be a great beauty!"
Liu Xin held her daughter close, smiling happily at the praise.
Everyone laughed warmly again.
Chen Yan subtly turned his head and glanced at Yu Qingmeng beside him.
The little girl's skin was so fair it was almost translucent. Her big eyes blinked like black grapes glistening in water.
She had a delicate nose and rosy lips. She really was a beautiful little girl.
With looks like hers, she would've been a top child star from the time she was little in his previous life.
Too bad...
For all her pleasing looks, she was a boundless ball of energy, a little troublemaker who couldn't sit still for even a moment!
When Yu Qingmeng had first arrived, the crowd had made her shy, and she'd stayed behind her mother, Liu Xin, peeking out with half her face.
But once she got absorbed in drawing, all her shyness vanished in an instant, and she grew bolder.
Now she was even copying Chen Yan, calling out to Wang Jun and Du Shenyuan in her childish voice. "Grandma! Uncle!"
Chen Yan couldn't help glancing at her again.
This girl really had no sense of boundaries.
That was my grandma and uncle. Why were you calling them that?
"Hm?" Wang Jun looked at the two little ones lying side by side and seemed to notice something. With mild surprise, she said, "Xiao Yan's grown so sturdy. He even looks just a little taller than Qingmeng."
"That's right," Liu Xin said with a smile, patting her daughter's head. "Qingmeng's already a year and a half old, but she's half a head shorter than little Xiao Yan, who's only one."
"That's why she's always chasing after Xiao Yan and calling him 'big brother.'"
The warm, lively birthday gathering eventually came to an end.
As night deepened, the maternal grandparents' family got up to say their goodbyes.
Most families wouldn't dare go out at night, with supernatural incidents happening so often in Jiang City lately.
But to Du Chun, once hailed as "Mountain-Suppressing Yellow," such minor evil spirits were no threat.
Chen Yan even suspected that his maternal grandfather only needed to release a sliver of the vast blood-and-energy aura forged through countless battles,
and its fiercely yang, unyielding pressure would be enough to keep those sinister spirits at bay—or even scatter their souls.
Over the next few days, Chen Yan began his dedicated fist-training routine.
Sometimes, while playing, he would suddenly stop moving without warning,
then throw a punch into the air at astonishing speed!
The punch was so fast it stirred a faint gust of wind, far beyond what any baby should have been capable of.
Then he would immediately return to normal, going back to his toys or staring blankly into space, as if that punch had been nothing but everyone's imagination.
At first, his mother, Du Qionghua, and Liu Xin were startled by his strange behavior.
"Xiao Yan, what's wrong?"
Du Qionghua would crouch down anxiously to check on him, wondering if he was uncomfortable or had been frightened by something.
Liu Xin would also hold Yu Qingmeng and study him curiously. "Qionghua, is Xiao Yan... practicing some kind of secret family martial art? His movements are so sudden."
After it happened a few times, Du Qionghua's initial worry gave way to helpless amusement.
"Who knows?" she said to her friend with a fond smile.
"Maybe boys just have too much energy. They need to let it out every now and then, like little firecrackers."
Little Yu Qingmeng watched Chen Yan without blinking. Sometimes she even tried to copy him, clumsily punching the air with her little fists and making "iya" sounds, much to the adults' amusement.
Chen Yan paid them no mind and carried on as he pleased, silently repeating to himself:
"Progress +1!"
"Progress +1!"
Meanwhile...
His father, Chen Kefa, spent less and less time at home.
Whenever he returned, the exhaustion between his brows seemed heavier, as if he were carrying a thousand-pound burden.
At the dinner table, Chen Yan occasionally overheard brief conversations between his parents.
It seemed that some unscrupulous martial cultivators had taken advantage of security loopholes caused by supernatural disturbances in the banking system and risked everything to carry out several violent robberies.
"Those people are both stupid and wicked!" Du Qionghua said indignantly, setting down her chopsticks. "As if those ghosts weren't enough to keep everyone on edge!"
"Now we've got these desperate criminals taking advantage of the chaos, too! Are we ever going to get any peace?"
Holding her daughter, Liu Xin wore a troubled expression.
"Yeah. Who knows when these days will finally end?"
"I miss the old days, when life was quiet and peaceful."
Chen Yan listened silently to the adults' conversation, his little face betraying nothing.
But he couldn't help thinking of that famous saying from his previous life: Murphy's law.
The more you worried about something happening, the more likely it was to happen.
Sure enough, what you feared most came to pass.
Before you continue