Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

"The Old Xu Family is incredible! First Xu Yang, and now Xu Qing."

"I’m so jealous of Brother Xu. He actually gets to attend the Dragon Ascension banquet."

"Brother Xu is their paternal uncle. The banquet can’t even start without him. How pathetic that Xu the Second can only be here, gnawing on a steamed bun."

"Xu the Second, you must be blind. You abandoned two Dragon Ascension Geniuses."

"Xu the Second, do you have any regrets?"

...

As the crowd chattered, the conversation turned to Xu the Second.

Every word they spoke was like a knife twisting in Xu the Second’s heart, and his face turned deathly pale.

How could he not regret it? His guts were practically twisting in knots from it.

Suffocating with frustration, he silently returned to his room. He no longer felt hungry, and he’d even forgotten about snatching the money back from Zhang Cuiting.

Zhang Cuiting’s eyes darted about, and she followed him back to the room. "That little brat Xu Qing is the softest-hearted one. She’s not as black-hearted as Xu Yang. You should go beg her. She’ll probably acknowledge you as her father again."

"I heard she gets a share of the profits from the Qiu Family’s business. She’s about to leave for her Dragon Ascension, so make her give the profits to us. Then we can go back to living the good life."

Hearing this, Xu the Second’s eyes lit up.

Zhang Cuiting was right. Xu Qing wasn’t like that rebellious son, Xu Yang. She was soft-natured. As her father, all he had to do was cry a little, and he was sure Xu Qing would take pity on him.

"You’re the smart one after all. But you got one thing wrong. It’s not ’us,’ it’s ’me.’"

Xu the Second snatched the money pouch from Zhang Cuiting’s hands.

He had seen Zhang Cuiting for who she truly was and had no intention of staying entangled with her. Once he got Xu Qing’s forgiveness and had money, wouldn’t it be better to find an eighteen-year-old? As for this old hag, whoever wanted her could have her.

"Xu the Second, you heartless bastard!" Zhang Cuiting shrieked, furious and flustered.

She had been the one to come up with the idea, and now this scoundrel had kicked her to the curb.

"Didn’t you say there were plenty of men willing to keep you? Go find someone else, you cheap whore."

Too lazy to even pack his clothes, Xu the Second strode away.

’Once I get Xu Qing’s forgiveness, I’ll just buy new ones.’

That very night, Xu the Second went into the city. Gritting his teeth, he spent a hundred copper coins on a cheap hairpin to curry favor and went to wait near Zhou Shunchang’s house.

He found Xu Qing, but he also saw that rebellious son, Xu Yang.

’Why is he back?’

Xu Yang’s aura was even more imposing now. The moment Xu the Second saw him, his legs couldn’t help but tremble, and he didn’t dare to look him in the eye.

"Xu the Second, what is an animal like you doing at my house?"

Before Xu Yang could speak, Zhou Shunchang couldn’t hold back. "Now that Ah Yang and Xiaqing are successful and capable, you want to come and claim them as your own? You wish!"

He was completely drunk and strode forward, about to beat up Xu the Second.

"Uncle, be careful!"

He staggered and nearly fell, but thankfully, Xu Yang was quick enough to catch and steady him.

"My daughter has achieved Dragon Ascension. What’s wrong with me coming to see her?" Xu the Second said, craning his neck and casting a gentle gaze toward Xu Qing.

It was a blessing that his rebellious son, Xu Yang, hadn’t beaten him up already. His only hope was Xu Qing.

Zhou Shunchang exploded with rage. "You animal! Now that Xiaqing is capable, you suddenly remember you have a daughter? When you were running off to be with some wild woman and play stepfather, how come you didn’t know you had a daughter then? If it weren’t for Ah Yang, the two of them would have starved to death long ago!"

At these words, the trace of pity in Xu Qing’s eyes instantly turned to ice. Xu the Second hadn’t had a change of heart; he was just here to take advantage of her now that he knew about her Dragon Ascension.

Guilt-ridden, Xu the Second avoided the question. He stepped forward and offered the hairpin to Xu Qing with a fawning expression. "My daughter is so capable now. Your father can’t afford to give you anything nice, but this is a token of my heart."

Zhou Shunchang glanced down at the cheap hairpin in his hand and scoffed, "You have the nerve to give something like this to Xiaqing? She is a dignified Female Martial Scholar, a Dragon Ascending Genius. Do you want her to wear it out and become a laughingstock?"

Xu the Second’s cheeks flushed with shame. Forget a Dragon Ascending Genius, even a woman like Zhang Cuiting would look down on something like this. But his pockets were empty; he couldn’t afford anything better.

Besides, he was here to play the victim. How could he possibly buy something nice?

Xu Qing pressed her lips together and didn’t take it.

Xu Yang’s large hand reached out from the side and snatched the hairpin. With a surge of Gang Qi, there was a sharp POP, and the cheap hairpin that Xu the Second had gritted his teeth to buy instantly turned to dust.

Xu the Second’s fawning smile froze on his face. It was a ruthless move, as if he had been offering something disgusting. He knew Xu Yang hated him to the core. If he weren’t his biological father, it probably wouldn’t have been the hairpin that was shattered, but his head.

Xu Yang clapped the dust from his hands. "Alright, we’ve received your gift. Now you can get lost. If you want to leech off us, I think you’d have better luck dreaming about it in your sleep. We will never acknowledge you in this lifetime."

’If you don’t want it, you could have just given it back to me! I could have used it to placate Zhang Cuiting!’

Xu the Second’s heart was bleeding. That hairpin had cost a third of his wages. If he failed to get Xu Qing’s forgiveness and had also fallen out with Zhang Cui, wouldn’t this be a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice for bait?

He hadn’t expected Xu Yang to be back. With Xu Yang here, winning any sympathy was impossible.

"Xiaqing, can you really bear to disown your own father? You were so attached to me when you were little..." Xu the Second wailed, trying hard to squeeze out a few tears, but none would come.

Xu Yang snorted coldly. "You remember she was attached to you? Where were you when she was so hungry she had to eat grass roots? Get lost. I don’t want to hit you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t."

"Just go back. My brother and I have considered you dead for a long time," Xu Qing finally said. "If my brother and I hadn’t made something of ourselves through martial arts, would you have come to see me with this fake concern?"

’Considered me dead for a long time?’

Xu the Second felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. His face turned ashen in an instant. He knew that Xu Qing was no longer the naive, easily fooled little girl. She had grown up and could now tell right from wrong.

’It’s over now. I’ve fallen out with Zhang Cuiting, I failed to get Xu Qing’s forgiveness, and I wasted a hundred copper coins for nothing. I tried to steal the chicken and ended up losing the bait.’

...

「The next day.」

"Don’t form any alliances, and don’t join any organizations!"

"Remember to keep a low profile. If people from the Demon Sect come looking for you, don’t trust them and don’t fight them. And don’t let anyone know they ever approached you."

"The moment you get to the Purple Sun Sect, find me."

...

All morning, Xu Yang imparted his personal philosophy of laying low to Xu Qing before waving goodbye.

He was still quite confident in Xu Qing. As long as he was the one who said it, she would carry out his instructions to the letter, even if she didn’t understand them or thought they were wrong.

"Cultivate well. Try to reach Qi Gathering Perfection before you get to the Purple Sun Sect. I’ll be waiting for you there."

"Mhm!" Xu Qing nodded emphatically.

Unlike last time, she didn’t burst into tears. Instead, she flashed a brilliant smile. She would be seeing her big brother again soon, so of course, she wasn’t sad.

"Giddy-up!"

At noon, four swift horses galloped out of Qingyuan County, kicking up a trail of dust as they disappeared into the distance.

Qingyuan County was very far from the Purple Sun Sect. Even with swift horses, the journey would take six or seven days.

In reality, it would only take two days at most to reach the outskirts of the Yunling Mountain Range, but another four or five days to reach its heart.

"Yah!"

Xu Yang cracked his whip. The terrain ahead grew perilous, with clouds and mist swirling around peaks that lay like a slumbering dragon.

He remembered that after passing above a vast canyon, another half-day’s ride would bring them into the Yunling Mountain Range.

Soon, a seemingly endless canyon, as if cleaved from the earth by a giant blade, appeared in their line of sight. It was like a great gash in the land, with billowing white mist rising from its depths.

"Whoa..."

Up ahead, Li Qiang and Gu Haoming, who had been riding in the lead, pulled on their reins at almost the same time. Their galloping horses reared up, then slammed their hooves back down, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Seeing this, Xu Yang and Sun Tao, who were riding behind them, also brought their horses to a halt.

"Senior Brother Li Qiang, why the sudden stop?" Sun Tao asked.

Li Qiang and Gu Haoming turned their horses to face Xu Yang and Sun Tao. Li Qiang smiled. "What do you two Junior Brothers think of the scenery here?"

Sun Tao was confused. ’Did Li Qiang really stop just to ask about the scenery?’

Xu Yang broke into a smile. "It’s a good place to be buried. The fact that you picked it yourselves will save me some trouble."

Sun Tao’s pupils contracted, and his whole body tensed. How could he not understand by now? Li Qiang was going to make a move on him and Xu Yang.

Li Qiang laughed. "As perceptive as ever. I really hate people like you. If you hadn’t refused to help me back then precisely because of that perception, perhaps I would already be an Inner Sect Disciple by now."