Ch. 13: Showing Off

Wei Fu closed his eyes and nodded in confirmation.

Everything that Chen Fan stated was true.

"You're correct, young man," Wei Fu started talking. "My lungs have been damaged because I overexerted myself in the past when I fought in a war to protect our nation."

"So, is our family's martial art really defective? Does it mean there are problems with my lungs too?" Wei Ziqing asked suddenly.

In truth, she was shocked that her family's martial art was indeed defective. Why had she never heard about this?!

Wei Fu turned to Chen Fan, deferring to Chen Fan's opinion. In his eyes, Chen Fan was an expert, so Chen Fan had his respect.

"Theoretically. But your cultivation is still too shallow to reach such a degree," Chen Fan responded.

Wei Ziqing glared at Chen Fan and puffed out her cheek indignantly. Then, she started talking sarcastically, "So, I have to thank my shallow cultivation? Thank you very much!"

On the other hand, Wei Fu felt relieved when he heard that. He had always been worrying about his granddaughter's condition after she practiced his family's defective technique.

He couldn't help but reminisce and start talking, "When I learned this martial art from my family's elders, they indeed mentioned this problem. But it was great luck to have a martial art to practice. That time, I thought 'Who cares if it would damage my lungs or not.'"

He paused and turned to his granddaughter. Then, he caressed her hair fondly and said in exasperation mixed with fondness, "If you hadn't wanted to learn it so badly, I'd have taken the secret of this defective art to my grave."

Wei Ziqing stuck out her tongue like a spoiled child.

Wei Fu suddenly realized that they got carried away by the mood and hadn't made an introduction yet.

He turned to Chen Fan and cupped his fist, "Where are our manners? This old man's name is Wei Fu. This girl is my granddaughter, Ziqing. The man over here is a bodyguard working for our Wei Family, Xiao Qi."

Ziqing followed her grandfather's example and cupped her fist at Chen Fan.

After realizing that Chen Fan was a real deal, she didn't mind showing him the respect he deserved.

On the other hand, Xiao Qi clumsily did it, though no one really cared about him, right?

"So, what's your name, young man? Where do you hail from? Who's your master?" Wei Fu asked.

Chen Fan returned their salute with his own and responded to Wei Fu's questions.

"The name's Chen Fan; I hailed from Zhonghai and just arrived here yesterday for my senior year in high school—"

'He's younger than my granddaughter!'

'He's younger than me!'

Wei Fu and Ziqing thought in unison.

"About my master, he taught me how to cultivate Dao, so I'm a Dao Cultivator, not a martial artist."

Chen Fan paused and gazed at the endless blue sky, thinking about the old man that accidentally killed him and sent him here. "He's not in this world…"

Since that old man gave him the knowledge and understanding of Dao and Cultivation, he could consider that old man his master, right?

'Alas, humans are unable to defeat aging, illness, or death. My old comrade-in-arms… although I have cultivated inner strength, I cannot reach the master level. I'll probably meet them soon,' Wei Fu thought somberly after listening to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan sensed Wei Fu's somber feeling and hid his smile. So far, everything was according to his calculation.

He decided that it was time to 'correct' Wei Fu's wrong assumption.

"Excuse me, Elder Wei. I think you have misunderstood something."

"Huh?" Wei Fu and Ziqing turned to Chen Fan in confusion.

"My master is still alive," Chen Fan stated plainly with a hint of amusement.

"But, you said your master wasn't in the world anymore!" Wei Ziqing responded heatedly.

"Because he's not in this world anymore," Chen Fan calmly replied.

"Is your master an alien?" Wei Ziqing looked at Chen Fan with a strange look.

"Perhaps… although he looks like an elder, I'm sure that he can't be called a mortal," Chen Fan answered nonchalantly.

Wei Ziqing shot a half-lidded glare at Chen Fan. "Do you think your master is an Immortal?! Hello, Immortals only exist in fairytales and fantasy stories! Are you actually delusional?"

Wei Fu just listened to their harmless argument silently. However, he didn't dismiss Chen Fan's statement; he knew about the mysterious existence of immortals, unlike his granddaughter.

'Is his master really an immortal? If so, our family cannot offend him! He must be special! If not, an immortal master would not take him as a disciple! I wonder...' He glanced at his granddaughter for a moment, 'Ziqing is already in marriageable age. Perhaps...'

Although Wei Fu was tempted to have a connection with an Immortal Master, he immediately dismissed this thought. He wouldn't force his granddaughter to marry Chen Fan if she disliked him, but if she liked him…

Putting Wei Fu's thoughts aside, Chen Fan smiled wryly when he listened to Wei Ziqing's criticism. He didn't blame her ignorance, but he would correct her.

"That means your understanding of the real world is shallow," Chen Fan stated bluntly.

Wei Ziqing bristled in indignation. She couldn't ignore Chen Fan's insult; it stung her pride!

Chen Fan sensed that Wei Ziqing's temper was going to explode, so he decided to show off a bit. He waved his left hand and used his Qi to create an illusion.

A chart appeared in the air, shocking Wei Ziqing, her grandfather, and Xiao Qi.

'What is this? Is this magic?' The ignorant Wei Ziqing and Xiao Qi thought in unison.

On the other hand, Wei Fu acknowledged that he'd underestimated Chen Fan too much. He thought Chen Fan was only an internal energy user before, but after seeing this trick, he believed that Chen Fan was, at least, at the level of a Transcendent Grandmaster!

This gave him unbelievable pressure. He wanted to build a good rapport with Chen Fan because of his power!

What concept is Transcendent Grandmaster? A Grandmaster can externalize their inner energy and make bullets and blades useless in front of them; their physical strength is unbelievable. Only artillery and missiles can threaten a Grandmaster!

Moreover, the number of Grandmasters is so small.

In the whole of China, only several dozen existed!

They have power and influence that makes the government and military tread carefully around them!

If the Wei Family has a close relationship with a young Grandmaster who has an Immortal Master as a teacher, their power and prestige will be on the rise!

Wei Fu ceased his musing and checked out the chart in front of him. The rest also did the same.

The chart displays the level of cultivation of martial artists and Dao Cultivators side by side.

"Humans are creatures that seek power," Chen Fan pulled their attention from the chart as he spoke up, "Whether it is status, wealth, or personal strength. They have many reasons; attaining a sense of fulfillment, protecting what they care and love, suppressing others, etc."

Chen Fan paused. The Wei Group was listening to his words attentively; even Wei Ziqing had forgotten her irritation and listened to him.

They couldn't help being drawn into his words. It was like an irresistible force that pulled them to him.

Chen Fan continued, "The truth of this world is that nothing is absolute in front of absolute power. Law and order are created and preserved by the most powerful. In ancient times, Lords, Kings, Emperors, and even Gods could create law and order without being challenged because of their absolute power!"

Chen Fan looked into Wei Ziqing's eyes, making her unconsciously flinch.

Right then, his gaze held a depth that it previously lacked.

Wei Ziqing couldn't help feeling pressured by the deep gaze that was directed at her.

Chen Fan spoke up, "You think gods and immortals aren't real? Only tales and legends of old, aren't they? This is why I said your understanding is too shallow! No smoke exists without fire; those old legends came from somewhere; the truth is that gods and immortals existed in the past and still exist at this moment!"

Wei Ziqing couldn't turn away. She kept watching Chen Fan's profound eyes, utterly enraptured.

"Thousands of years ago, when the vital energy of this planet was abundant, people cultivated to become immortals! Houtian, Xiantian, and Core Formation were the known stages of Dao of Immortality in the past, but there are more stages above these three! Unfortunately, our galaxy location is at the edge of our universe where the vital energy of the universe is thin, so the apex Earthlings can reach is the Core Formation Realm! Regardless, let's talk about what's attainable on this planet…"