Chapter 99: Whatever

Zhou Ji was thrown into the dark room by his biological father like a dead dog, just as it had been the last time he wanted to save A-Yu but could not take a single step. His father was far more ruthless and cold-blooded than he had ever imagined.

Back in the secret realm, there was a brief moment when he had even thought it might be better to just die under the claws of a demonic beast. With his father’s way of doing things, his death would surely be leveraged to maximize the family’s interests.

His father, Zhou Zhongling, was the father of the Nanfeng City Zhou Family, not his father.

“Are you defying your father?” Father Zhou drew the whip from his waist. This whip was crafted from the spine of a demonic serpent that had failed to transform, and it was the weapon Father Zhou used most often to punish his own son. Its grade was not particularly high, but because the serpent’s spine was covered in barbs, just two light strikes could tear a person’s flesh open. “I truly never expected to raise such a sentimental fool!”

“Had I known this day would come, I should have killed that woman with a single stroke of my sword when you first brought her into the manor!”

“Ahhh!”

Inside the dark room, Zhou Ji’s continuous screams rang out. He had tried his best to hold them in, but with his cultivation sealed, the physical pain still escaped his lips. The dark room was not soundproof, and those standing outside could easily hear the commotion within.

Of course, those permitted to stand outside the dark dungeon were all Father Zhou’s trusted confidants.

“Miss Zhao, please do not make things difficult for us. The eldest young master has made a mistake, so there is no need for you to plead on his behalf.”

Hearing the screams, Zhao Ruowu’s brow furrowed deeply. She likely had not expected things to turn out this way. In her imagination, Young Master Zhou would make a stunning debut at the Five Sects Conference, instantly becoming a highly sought-after genius cultivator on the continent. Even if she only became his concubine, she would still enjoy a lifetime of wealth and glory.

But the reality was that while Young Master Zhou was indeed capable, he was far from as formidable as she had imagined.

Earlier that day, she had quietly sent her maid out to gather information. News about cultivators was indeed difficult to come by, but she carried the Zhou Family crest. Relying on this, the maid had still managed to find out a few details.

Back in Nanfeng City, the most outstanding genius she could meet was Young Master Zhou, so she had used every means possible to cling to the Zhou Family. Zhao Ruowu knew that although she could not cultivate, her family had once produced a cultivator. Though that ancestor had long since perished, a background like hers, combined with her beautiful looks, made her the exact type of woman cultivation clans loved to propose to.

Yet in Sifang City, at the Five Sects Conference, the once-dazzling Young Master Zhou was reduced to mediocrity by comparison. The true favored children of heaven were far more stunning than she had ever imagined. However, Zhao Ruowu was a very self-aware person. The best cultivator husband she could possibly secure was someone like Young Master Zhou.

Therefore, she had to fight for her own future. She needed to present herself before the head of the Zhou Family and convince him that her union with Young Master Zhou still held value for the family, as there was a high probability they would produce talented descendants.

In fact, even if Zhao Ruowu had not shown herself, Father Zhou already planned to have the two of them marry as soon as possible.

Zhou Ji had been beaten to within an inch of his life, but he was a cultivator. To a cultivator, these superficial wounds could be resolved with just a couple of pills. “Fa… ther, let…”

“Let you leave the Zhou Family?” Father Zhou smiled, his voice carrying a hint of gritted teeth. “As a son of the Zhou Family, you have enjoyed the lion’s share of the family’s resources, so you naturally have duties to fulfill. Right now, your father is merely teaching you to face reality. Speaking of which, you actually targeted Yonglu Mountain’s Little Grand-Uncle Master in the secret realm. You certainly know how to pick your targets. Fortunately, the Five Great Sects are magnanimous and seem to have no intention of making trouble for the Zhou Family.”

Father Zhou recalled the youth with the silk band covering his eyes. He thought that if such a child had been born into the Zhou Family, they would surely have been able to step out of Nanfeng City and become a titan of the continent.

Zhou Ji was stunned. “He…”

“You met him before the competition. Where was it? And that day you offended the Tianji Pavilion, was it because…”

“No!”

Zhou Ji’s panicked, overly hasty denial only made his words ring hollow. Father Zhou looked down at his son, who had grown only in cultivation but not in brains. “It seems you saw someone at the Tianji Pavilion who could sway your emotions. And for you to act so unwisely, that woman who ensnared you… she probably isn’t dead, is she?”

Disregarding his injuries, Zhou Ji scrambled to get up. “No! A-Yu doesn’t recognize me anymore. She… she isn’t A-Yu. The disciples of the Suitian Sword Sect said she is… the Little Martial Uncle of the Tianji Pavilion, the last personal disciple of the old Pavilion Master.”

But his A-Yu was just a soft-hearted, kind, ordinary mortal woman.

Shock flashed across Father Zhou’s face upon hearing this. He had not expected to hear such a thing. What kind of place was the Tianji Pavilion? It was a sect second only to the Five Great Sects, and it held an extraordinary status. In a way, the Tianji Pavilion could decide life and death. The continent’s only Heaven’s Pride List stood right in the Tianji Pavilion’s plaza.

He had caught a distant glimpse of A-Yu once before, and she indeed did not look like she possessed a spiritual root. But if the Tianji Pavilion was involved, they might well have the capability to allow a mortal to cultivate.

“Just because you say she isn’t, does that make it so?”

Father Zhou had originally planned to return to Nanfeng City as soon as possible to have Zhou Ji and Zhao Ruowu marry. Now, it seemed he could stay a bit longer. He even had a ready-made excuse: although Yonglu Mountain did not mind Zhou Ji’s baseless accusations, as his father, he still needed to pay a visit to apologize.

“Attendants, take the eldest young master down and tend to his wounds properly,” Father Zhou ordered. Seeing the weak and gentle Zhao Ruowu at the door, he said nothing to her, only instructing his people to look after her properly.

Once he was alone with his trusted butler, he instructed him to keep an eye on the Tianji Pavilion’s movements. Every detail they could gather, no matter how small, was to be brought to his desk.

**

Wen Xu and his two companions had made quite a splash in the secret realm competition. Whether it was the Water Ball Technique at the eighth level of Qi Refining, the Yi Sword Art comparable to a Golden Core cultivator’s, or his blunt claim of being a saber cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining, they had temporarily overshadowed the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators in the competition, despite being only in the Qi Refining Stage.

After all, everyone loved to hear gossip about the favored geniuses.

However, after a period of lively discussion, everyone’s focus shifted back to the Five Sects Conference. After all, the finals were bound to be spectacular, and those competitors were top talents in their own right, too.

The matches between Golden Core cultivators were especially brutal, fast, and fierce. The rankings on the Heaven’s Pride List shifted daily, and the one rising the fastest was Perfected Cultivator Zhi Lianshui of the Hehe Sect, who had leaped from twenty-first place to eleventh.

It was well known that the higher one climbed on the Heaven’s Pride List, the harder it became to rise further. The top nine spots were all held by Nascent Soul Perfected Cultivators, while tenth through forty-sixth were occupied entirely by late Golden Core Perfected Cultivators. With everyone at the same level of cultivation, climbing even a single rank was difficult, let alone jumping ten places at once.

Yet despite this achievement, there was little joy on Zhi Lianshui’s face. His face was remarkably similar to his older brother, Zhi Lianshan’s, but their temperaments were entirely different. He kept his lips tightly pressed together, looking for all the world as if everyone owed him spirit stones.

“Speaking of Perfected Cultivator Zhi Lianshui, one can’t help but mention True Monarch Zhi Lianshan. For two brothers to possess such staggering talent, the Zhi Family’s bloodline is truly enviable.”

“Indeed. Didn’t the Zhi Family just welcome a baby girl recently? Someone snuck a look at her and said her eyes shone with light. She’ll likely be another exceptional talent.”

“I originally thought they just had similar names. I had no idea they were actually biological brothers! But if that’s the case, why didn’t they join the same sect? Why did one go to the Hehe Sect and the other to Yonglu Mountain?”

“No one knows for sure. I only heard that back then, True Monarch Zhi Lianshan’s talent was poor, and the family didn’t bother nurturing him. It was only after he severed ties with the family that he joined Yonglu Mountain.”

Who knows? In the cycle of fate, the outcast who had severed ties with his family had instead risen to third on the Heaven’s Pride List, surpassed only by the Hehe Sect’s renowned True Monarch Guan Xinglan and the Suitian Sword Sect’s Soul-Seizing Sword Monarch.

“There’s actually such a story? Didn’t the Zhi Family try to find him afterward…”

“Though the Zhi Family is powerful now, Yonglu Mountain isn’t a sect they can easily offend. You know how it is, right?”

Zhi Lianshui walked past the cultivators gossiping about him without his brow twitching in the slightest. Thirty years ago, he might have acted on impulse, but now he no longer cared.

Zhi Lianshui made his way back to the Guest Peak where the Hehe Sect was staying. Since he wasn’t flying on his sword, he didn’t see Zhi Lianshan waiting at the foot of the mountain right away.

He hadn’t expected Zhi Lianshan to seek him out, much less to come all this way to congratulate him.

Zhi Lianshui’s brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly. He had never been one to hold his tongue. Looking at his mild-mannered, sickly blood brother, he finally lost his patience: “Zhi Lianshan, do you have no temper at all? If you don’t, why did you leave in a huff back then?”

Zhi Lianshan coughed softly, swallowing the metallic taste of blood in his throat with practiced ease. “I…”

“Forget it. Just stay safe at Yonglu Mountain.” Zhi Lianshui quickly stepped back. “Just you wait. I will surpass you.” When that time comes, the Zhi Family won’t bother you anymore.

Before Zhi Lianshan could say another word, his younger brother had vanished.

“Look at you. I told you to take another two bottles of pills before coming. When you two brothers meet, your bloodlines react. Right now, your blood energy is so strong that if we threw you into a ghost cave, you’d attract every single wraith, vengeful spirit, and unlucky ghost around!” Zheng Jin tossed a bottle of pills over, and Zhi Lianshan swallowed them with practiced ease. “But I did take extra.”

“Then you two should see less of each other in the future.” After all, even when you do meet, you can’t even manage five sentences.

Zhi Lianshan’s eyes dimmed. He supposed that was true; he should listen to his brother. “You’re right, Junior Brother Zheng. What are you doing with all these bags and bundles? Are you planning to…”

“Eat hotpot, obviously. Is it that hard to tell? Everyone gets a share, so you’re coming too. Junior Brother Bian said he’d do the cooking. Though you… well, with your health, you’ll just have to settle for smelling it. Junior Brother Wen, he broke through…”

Dragged along by Zheng Jin, Zhi Lianshan soon reached the top of the mountain.

Since his brief period of secluded cultivation, Wen Xu’s state of mind had cleared up significantly. His cultivation had leaped from the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining to the peak of Qi Refining. Not only had his injuries mostly healed, but he had also gained a deeper comprehension of the sword.

As for Bian Chunzhou, he had turned misfortune into a blessing by learning to draw talismans in midair. He had also gained a deeper control over his Fire in Water. Though his cultivation had only risen by a minor sub-stage, he was already very satisfied.

Chen Zui, on the other hand, was not very happy. “All of your cultivations went up, but mine didn’t.”

“Don’t be unhappy! I’m treating you to hotpot!”

Chen Zui had no choice but to agree. Then, a certain Little Martial Uncle Zheng, who happened to be passing by, heard about the hotpot plan and volunteered to negotiate with the Suitian Sword Sect’s Spiritual Plant Peak. Only then did this lively hotpot feast come to be.

“Little Martial Uncle Zheng, you didn’t pull up all of the Suitian Sword Sect’s spiritual plants, did you?” Bian Chunzhou looked at the various spiritual plants glowing with spiritual energy on the ground, his mind going completely numb.

Zheng Jin leaned his arm on Zhi Lianshan’s shoulder and wagged a finger. “Of course not. This is only a tiny fraction of what they have. I told them it was to help our Little Grand-Uncle Master calm his nerves, and they told me to take whatever I wanted.”