54: It's all because of Xiao Shen

Initially, Xiao Yue didn't know his plan; he only knew that his meridians were blocked, preventing him from cultivating, and that he was considered a good-for-nothing by everyone.

However, Xiao Yue's older brother, Xiao Shen, had awakened his martial artist talent much earlier, and with the help of his father, Xiao Shen condensed his first Qi Vortex at the age of six, becoming a true Level One martial artist.

To spare his biological son from sadness, he revealed his entire plan to Xiao Yue.

Now, it seemed his plan was quite successful.

Although Xiao Yue's control over primal energy wasn't great at the moment, with his diligent guidance, it wouldn't be long before Xiao Yue became as strong as Xiao Shen once was.

On the second floor of the Spirit Gathering Tower, Xiao Yue sat cross-legged next to others, beginning to cultivate, but he couldn't enter a meditative state.

From the moment he gained Xiao Shen's cultivation until now, he had entered the Spirit Gathering Tower five times, but each time he was unable to clear his mind of distractions, thus preventing him from meditating.

He opened his eyes and looked around; several people nearby were also cultivating, and one had even begun to meditate, but Xiao Yue subconsciously believed that these people were all secretly mocking him.

Mocking him for having less talent than Xiao Shen, whether he was a martial artist or not.

But why?

What exactly made him inferior to Xiao Shen??

These people laughed at him, Liu Ling'er was unwilling to marry him; he had merely suffered from blocked meridians since childhood, preventing him from cultivating. If not for that, perhaps his current level would be even higher than Xiao Shen's was back then!

Blocked meridians... To hell with blocked meridians!

It was clearly his father's doing!

If it weren't for his father, he wouldn't have... No, the person he should hate is Xiao Shen.

From the age of six, his father had told him that all his misfortunes were because of Xiao Shen, all caused by Xiao Shen.

If not for Xiao Shen, he wouldn't be mocked by others; if not for Xiao Shen, he wouldn't be unable to control the primal energy within him even now.

It's all because of Xiao Shen... Yes, it's all because of Xiao Shen.

Xiao Yue raised his head, adjusted his breathing, closed his eyes again, and continued to cultivate.

Although the spiritual energy on the second floor was not as abundant as on the third, it was still much better than the first.

These people could only enter the Spirit Gathering Tower once a week, and each session lasted half an hour.

Many people were waiting outside the Tower; they were elders of the Xiao Family, holding some prestige, and since Xiao Zhenxuan hadn't left yet, they naturally couldn't leave either.

“The young patriarch is truly young and promising. Looking at him, he shouldn't be too far from the third floor.”

Xiao Zhenxuan's third uncle, Xiao Yue's great-uncle, praised him with a benevolent smile.

After Xiao Yue became a Level Seven martial artist, Xiao Zhenxuan gathered all the elders of the Xiao Family and confirmed Xiao Yue's status as the young patriarch. Thus, the Xiao Family members no longer debated whether to call Xiao Yue the eldest young master or the second young master, uniformly calling him the young patriarch.

Xiao Third Uncle said this to flatter him, but unfortunately, he missed the mark.

“He still can't get to the third floor after all this time; what's there to praise?” Xiao Zhenxuan said coldly.

The smile on Xiao Third Uncle's face immediately fell.

Why haven't I seen you so strict with Xiao Yue before?

Ever since Xiao Yue obtained the Jade Dragon Acupoint, Xiao Zhenxuan had been personally teaching him, but Xiao Zhenxuan's teaching methods for Xiao Yue were vastly different from those he used for Xiao Shen. He was always very strict with Xiao Shen, but he encouraged Xiao Yue every day.

The person who praised Xiao Yue most fiercely every time was Xiao Zhenxuan himself.

This led Xiao Third Uncle to believe that praising Xiao Yue was a way to curry favor with Xiao Zhenxuan, which resulted in an awkward situation.

“Haha, what is the patriarch saying? How can an ordinary person reach Level Seven at this age? You can't demand too much from the young patriarch.” Xiao Third Uncle said awkwardly.

Xiao Zhenxuan didn't speak after hearing this, merely looking calmly in the direction of the Spirit Gathering Tower.

Everyone else was relieved that they hadn't spoken, or they would have ended up like Xiao Third Uncle, finding trouble. In fact, they all realized that ever since Xiao Shen disappeared, the atmosphere in the Xiao Family had become subtle.

However, this was not something these elders could manage, and under Xiao Zhenxuan's leadership, the Xiao Family had now subtly become the head of the Four Great Families. If he wanted to stir things up, let him... Ferocious Beast Forest.

“Cousin, look quickly, there's someone inside!”

Su Duo dragged Zhuang Sanming here early this morning. It was so early that they shouldn't have encountered other passengers, but to their surprise, after finding the vehicle, they discovered someone already inside.

“I see him, don't be so excited. Come on, let's go up.” Zhuang Sanming was a bit helpless; his cousin had always been flighty. While others avoided crowded places, she particularly loved excitement.

Normally, she was fine within the Wall, mostly staying at home and not going out much, but once she got here, she was like an unbridled wild horse, running around frantically.

“Okay, okay, let's go up.”

Su Duo ran to the car door, and as soon as it opened, she jumped in, pulling out the spirit stones she had prepared earlier: “The usual, two tickets.”

Zhuang Sanming: “...”

They didn't even know if the person in the car was friend or foe, yet her first sentence revealed that this wasn't her first time taking the car.

Could he still keep a cousin like this?

Poor Zhuang Sanming, who had been cautious for so many years, was betrayed by his cousin every day.

Lin Feng hadn't even had time to display the subtitle “Please purchase tickets before boarding” when he received two hundred and forty spirit stones, so he only displayed half of it:

【Welcome aboard this train. Please sit down and hold on tight.】

As for Su Duo, given how cooperative she was today, he wouldn't ask the system if it could blacklist passengers.

After Su Duo got on the car, she saw that the person already seated was a burly man, fierce-looking, and clutching a knife, which immediately made her a bit timid.

“Cousin, Cousin, look at him, he's so scary.” Su Duo leaned into Zhuang Sanming, pointing at the man and whispering.

Zhuang Sanming was torn between laughter and tears. When there was no one in the car, you said you liked crowds, and now that there's someone in the car, you're scared.

“It's fine, we're all passengers on the car; he won't do anything to us,” Zhuang Sanming said.

He deduced this from the car's magical nature; people came to ride it every day, and conflicts were probably common. Since this car could blast away high-level ferocious beasts, humans were even less of a concern.

So, their safety should be somewhat guaranteed while on the car.

It must be said that Zhuang Sanming was very clever. Lin Feng indeed would not allow anyone to fight on the car; he still had other passengers to transport. If a fight really broke out, how unsightly would that be? What if it scared away passengers who wanted to board?

However, Su Duo misunderstood and suddenly became bold. She came up to the burly man with a smile and said, “Hello, big brother, is this your first time taking the car? Why are you just sitting here in a daze instead of cultivating?”