A Father's Gift

The school bell had barely finished ringing when a crowd gathered at the school gates.

A black Rolls-Royce pulled slowly up to the curb, drawing the attention of passing students, who stopped to look.

The driver, dressed in a black suit, got out and opened the rear door. Chu Ge and Xiao Yan walked over.

"Young master, Miss Xiao," the driver said respectfully.

"Mm."

Ignoring the eyes on him, Chu Ge bent down and got in first.

Xiao Yan followed, bouncing over and diving into the car.

The car started and headed down the street toward the setting sun.

Inside, Xiao Yan held a tablet, her finger moving back and forth across the screen as she drew with complete concentration.

Chu Ge glanced at her.

This silly roe deer really would draw anywhere: in class, in his room, even in the car.

With that kind of perseverance, she'd succeed at anything.

He looked away, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

During class, he had intended to message his father about the demonic beast appearing in the city, but his father's message had arrived first, telling him to come back to the old residence today because he had something to discuss.

As for Xiao Yan, she had simply overheard the message and shamelessly tagged along for a free meal. Nothing could stop her.

"Hey, what do you think Uncle wants to see you about?" Xiao Yan asked as she drew, without looking up.

"No idea," Chu Ge said mildly. "We'll find out when we get there."

"So mysterious," Xiao Yan muttered before burying herself in her creative world again.

An hour later, the car stopped at the entrance to the estate.

After entering, Chu Ge headed straight for the study. Xiao Yan knew her way around and immediately turned and ran to the kitchen to find food.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in." A deep voice came from inside, almost devoid of emotion.

Chu Ge pushed the door open and entered.

The only light in the study came from a dim yellow desk lamp. Chu Xuan sat behind the desk, his figure looking somewhat thin.

Compared with his mother's unrestrained personality, this man was taciturn to the extreme.

As head of the Chu Family, he neither smoked nor drank and had few hobbies. All he did from morning to night was work.

Even after living two lives, Chu Ge still hadn't quite figured out how to get along with this father he had gained.

"Dad." He pulled out the chair opposite and sat down, waiting for the other man to speak first.

"You're back." Chu Xuan put down the book in his hand and looked up at him, getting straight to the point. "Were you the one who killed the Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rat at Lakeside Park?"

"Yes." Chu Ge nodded.

He couldn't have kept it secret anyway. Quite a few people in the Martial Arts Association came from the four great families, and news traveled fast. The other three families had probably heard by now too.

He suddenly remembered Lin Yuliang and Lin Lan. They were both surnamed Lin, and Lin Yuliang had said he had seen him a few times...

Now that he thought about it, those two were probably from the Lin Family.

"The Martial Arts Association is keeping an eye on the demonic beast invasion. You don't need to worry about it." Chu Xuan tapped his fingers on the desk. "That's not why I called you back."

As he spoke, he took a box from inside his clothes, opened it, and set it on the desk, pushing it toward him.

Inside was a crimson crystal, its surface glowing with a soft luster. Even from a distance, he could feel its scorching heat, as if a little sun were hidden inside.

"Is this... a Sun Stone?"

Chu Ge stared at the stone, his brows twitching slightly.

He had seen it in the illustrated guide to martial arts materials.

If one absorbed it while breaking through to a major realm, one was guaranteed to comprehend the corresponding Power of the Three Aspects.

If he used it when breaking through to the Black Iron Realm, he would become a Sun Black Iron directly.

Besides the Sun Stone, there were also Moonshadow Stones and Star Stones, which had similar effects.

All three kinds of stone were incredibly rare in the world, treasures one could only encounter by chance.

Even as a scion of one of the four great families, he remembered seeing them only twice.

The first time was before his biological sister, who was four years older than him, broke through to the Black Iron Realm. Their father had given her a Star Stone.

She had gone on to comprehend the Power of the Stars, becoming nearly unbeatable among those at the same realm. She had been admitted to the best martial arts university in Huaxia and was now in her second year.

The other time was at an auction a year ago, where a Moonshadow Stone had appeared with a starting price of one hundred million.

The Chu Family had bid on it too, intending to save it to pave the way for him.

Later, the price had been driven up so ridiculously high that Chu Ge decided it wasn't worth it and told his father to stop bidding.

He had even declared then that he could comprehend the Power of the Three Aspects without that lousy stone.

He had heard that a family from Yanjing had eventually bought the Moonshadow Stone for three billion.

"It is a Sun Stone," Chu Xuan said. "Keep it and use it when you break through to the Black Iron Realm."

But Chu Ge shook his head gently and pushed the stone back.

"I won't use it."

He could accept a car or a house worth a few million.

But the Sun Stone was different. It was worth billions, far too valuable.

Even if it came from his own father, he had no reason to accept it with a clear conscience.

Besides, he had said he would comprehend the Power of the Three Aspects on his own. Those hadn't been empty words.

He believed he could do it.

Chu Xuan looked at him, his expression unchanged, as though he had expected him to refuse.

"All right." He nodded, took the box back, closed it, and put it away. "I'll keep it here for now. If you don't comprehend it when you break through to Black Iron this time, that's fine. You can still use it when you try for the Bronze Realm."

"I'll think about it." Chu Ge didn't rule it out.

The study fell quiet for a few seconds.

Chu Xuan spoke again. "Your mother and your aunt went traveling. Before she left, she asked you to look after Xiao Yan. You know about that, right?"

"I know." Chu Ge nodded.

He had received his mother's WeChat message half a month ago. Over and over, she had told him not to let Xiao Yan get bullied.

No wonder. This silly roe deer was guileless and adored by both families.

"There's nothing else." Chu Xuan closed the book in his hand. "Go downstairs and eat. The kitchen made your favorite dishes."

In the dining room, the enormous table held few delicacies; most of the dishes were home-style cooking.

Xiao Yan was already seated.

As soon as she saw the two of them come in, she took the rice paddle from the maid and served three heaping bowls of rice.

She ate with gusto, occasionally picking up food for Chu Ge and putting it in his bowl, her cheeks bulging.

Chu Xuan sat at the head of the table. After a few bites, he put down his chopsticks and looked at Xiao Yan.

"Slow down, girl. Don't choke." His tone was a little gentler than before. "If anyone gives you a hard time at school, tell your uncle."

"Got it, Uncle!" Xiao Yan answered sweetly, looking as well-behaved as could be.

Chu Ge watched silently from the side and said thank you to Xiao Yan in his heart.

If this girl hadn't been here, probably not a word would have been spoken at the table today.

As he thought that, Chu Xuan looked over at him and said:

"Your Uncle Wang already told me you're taking part in the East Sea Martial Arts School Competition. Do your best."

Chu Ge was taken aback, then nodded gently. "I will."

"Mm."

Chu Xuan said nothing more and got up to go to the study, his retreating figure looking a little lonely.

Watching him leave, Chu Ge shook his head helplessly.

There were quite a few people in the Chu Family, but each was busy with their own affairs, and his father was away from home much of the year.

Apart from the family banquet held once every quarter, more than three people rarely sat at this table.

That was also why he preferred to move out.

Besides the freedom and the shorter distance to school, the main reason was that the old residence was too quiet and empty.

Now he lived alone, and the silly roe deer dropped by from time to time to trade barbs with him. He felt that this was what life should be.

"Hey, what are you spacing out for?" Xiao Yan nudged him with her elbow. "I heard about the East Sea Martial Arts School Competition too. I never thought you'd sneak off and enter behind my back. It's unforgivable."

"Then don't forgive me."

Xiao Yan: "..."

A moment later.

She happily ate a piece of sparerib, then asked, "Are you confident you can win?"

"I'll just fight." Chu Ge picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth. "To be modest, as long as I don't get careless, the top three won't be a problem."

"Keep showing off. Watch out or you'll be the first one eliminated." Xiao Yan curled her lip, though she wasn't particularly surprised.

She had known Chu Ge for so many years that she was long used to his personality.

But...

She would cheer him on.

That night, the two of them stayed at the estate and returned to school early the next morning.

Five uneventful days passed.

Chu Ge checked in on time every day and, without exception, received Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo every time.

Combined with his previous stock, he had enough materials to synthesize two two-star traits.

One was [Fierce].

The other was [Draw a Circle as a Prison]-it designated a target whose cultivation was no higher than his own and drew a prison circle one meter in diameter beneath their feet.

While the circle remained, the target's body could not step outside its boundary, nor could the target escape using teleportation or spatial escape techniques.

The trait could be activated at most three times a day, and each activation lasted no more than ten minutes.

[Draw a Circle as a Prison] was interesting, but for now, Chu Ge didn't think it was very useful.

[Iron Cavalry] was truly a divine skill.

He wasn't in a hurry. If he took his time, he would eventually synthesize something useful.

During this time, more demonic beast invasions occurred in East Sea City.

They went from one a day to two a day, then dozens a day... The incidents grew more and more frequent.

Someone even captured footage on their phone of more than a dozen Scarlet-Eyed Giant Rats gnawing on human corpses.

The video was posted online, causing widespread panic, and was quickly taken down by the authorities.

And as the days passed, the East Sea Martial Arts School Competition was finally about to begin.

The evening before the competition, Xiao Yan knocked on Chu Ge's door with a large bag of snacks in her arms.