After hurriedly swallowing a top-grade pill, the Grand Elder slowly followed behind Evan Chu and the others as they headed toward the City Lord’s Mansion main hall. The shock in his heart was something only he himself could understand.
Although his strength in the Netherworld wasn’t the very strongest, he was at least among the top ten. Yet in front of Evan Chu, he didn’t have the slightest ability to fight back. He truly had no idea what realm Evan’s cultivation had reached—it was terrifying.
Once they returned to the main hall, Faye Knox had Evan Chu take the highest seat, while she sat beside him. For this man who occupied her thoughts day and night, she was flooded with emotions she couldn’t put into words.
“Cheng’er, are you alright?” Evan Chu asked awkwardly.
“Dad, I’m fine now. That was really close—you almost killed me just now. Thinking about it still scares me,” Chase Chu said.
“It’s my fault—I didn’t know you were my son. But don’t worry, I’ll give you a proper explanation. How did you end up a wastrel? I despise people like that the most. I’ve killed more wastrels than I can count. If I hadn’t seen you spit pale-gold blood just now, I would’ve killed you on the spot,” Evan Chu said.
“You’ve got some nerve saying that, Evan. You bear a huge part of the responsibility for how Cheng’er turned out. Plenty of people know he’s the son of Evan Chu, the strongest, but no one’s ever seen what his father is like.
When he was little, he was bullied and mocked all the time for being a ‘fatherless child.’ That’s what made him so self-destructive. When he grew up, he started acting out to get back at those people, and over time that became his personality.
I spent so much time in seclusion that I barely looked after him. Most things were handled by the Grand Elder and Second Elder. Just now, you almost killed the Grand Elder too—what do you expect me to say to that?” Faye Knox said.
“I really didn’t know. If I had, none of this would’ve happened. Thank goodness it didn’t turn into something irreversible. I’ll heal the Grand Elder’s injuries in a moment, so don’t worry!” Evan Chu said awkwardly.
“Chase, aren’t you going to greet your father? Didn’t you always say you’d never seen what your dad looked like? Now that you have, why aren’t you saying anything?” Faye Knox said.
“Chase Chu greets Father! I was wrong to upset you, Dad. I promise I’ll change and never do anything again to make you unhappy,” Chase Chu said.
Evan Chu glanced at Chase Chu’s cultivation and was shocked to find it was only at Eighth-Layer Divine Martial Realm—a very low level. He couldn’t understand why; even if Chase was lazy, it shouldn’t be this bad.
“Faye, why is Chase’s cultivation so low? What’s going on? Even if you were in seclusion, you should have kept an eye on him—at least helped him raise his cultivation, right?” Evan Chu said.
“That’s one of the reasons Chase turned out this way. He was born missing one meridian, so reaching his current cultivation is already very difficult. He works hard inside the City Lord’s Mansion, but outside he acts differently and scares everyone.”
“He’s just trying to find a little fun for himself because he’s so frustrated. Otherwise, do you think I’d let him keep acting out? Some things are just beyond my control,” Faye Knox said helplessly.
Evan Chu stepped down and came to stand before Chase Chu. He placed his hand on Chase’s wrist to check his condition and found, just as Faye said, that Chase was born missing a meridian—but the ones he did have were much thicker than normal.
This was the first time Evan had encountered such a situation, and for a moment he didn’t know how to handle it. If Gavin Wei were here, it would be easy—he’d definitely have a solution.
“Master, don’t worry—the young lord’s meridians are actually the legendary Hidden Divine Meridians. Once he forms a true qi-sea, his cultivation speed will be several to even dozens of times faster than others.”
“People with these meridians can become super-experts. You should be happy.” The voice of the Emerald Immortal Empress sounded in Evan Chu’s mind.
“Emerald, are you serious? How can he become strong—how do we get him to form a qi-sea?” Evan Chu asked urgently.
“To form a qi-sea, he needs both his own effort and help from outside. You’re the best external help—send your Immortal Spirit Force into him and shatter his current dantian. As long as you stabilize his heart-meridian, his dantian will transform into a vast qi-sea.”
“You should know, a qi-sea is much larger than a dantian. Whether for cultivation or combat, it’s several times more powerful than others. The only drawback is that once it’s formed, it takes a huge amount of energy to fill—a cost most people can’t afford,” the Emerald Immortal Empress said.
Evan Chu stood motionless, and the others in the hall found it strange but kept silent. Maybe he’d found a way to help Chase Chu break through—his cultivation had been stuck for decades.
After hearing the Emerald Immortal Empress’s explanation, Evan Chu understood. He let go of Chase Chu’s wrist and said, “Chase, do you want to become a super-expert? Stronger than anyone in the Netherworld?”
“I do! I dream of it! Dad, do you really have a way to make me a super-expert?” Chase Chu asked, his face lighting up with excitement.
Faye Knox and the two elders stared in shock at Evan Chu, not understanding why he’d say such a thing. It sounded impossible, and they could only look at him in disbelief.
“Of course I can help you, but the pain will be terrifying—you might feel worse than death. If you can’t endure it, you could die. Are you afraid?” Evan Chu said seriously.
“I’m not afraid. With you here, Dad, I fear nothing. I don’t want to be a loser anymore. Every time I see Aunt Ivy and Aunt Lillian’s kids outshining me, it hurts. No matter how much it hurts, I’ll endure it—trust me,” Chase Chu said solemnly.
“Good. I’ve hurt you before, so this time I’ll help you become a peerless expert to make up for it. Go get ready—tomorrow I’ll change everything for you,” Evan Chu said.
Then he walked over to the Grand Elder and said, “Thank you for looking after Faye and Chase all these years. I injured you just now—let me heal you.”
A surge of powerful wood element entered his body, followed by a wave of Stellar Power. The Stellar Power had been absorbed from him earlier and not yet merged with Chaos Immortal Force, so Evan Chu returned it to him now.
After finishing, Evan Chu said, “Faye, isn’t it time to prepare some food and wine for your husband? Or are you still angry with me?”
“You’re such a tease! The food and wine are ready—let’s go to the side hall!” Faye Knox laughed.
Everyone left the great hall. Evan Chu’s dramatic entrance turned out to be a harmless farce, though he still felt a lingering sense of dread.