Chapter 126: One Cry, Two Tantrums, Three Hangings

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. His excuse had fooled the Chu couple, but it wouldn't fool this man, who knew his true background. Just a month ago, Zu An had been an ordinary person; he had only started cultivating after learning his method.

"Why has your cultivation improved so quickly?" Seeing Zu An didn't answer, Old Man Mi repeated his question, a hint of impatience clear in his tone.

"Perhaps it's because I'm young and robust, so I cultivate faster?" Zu An struggled to come up with an excuse.

Old Man Mi glared at him, not bothering to speak.

Zu An's old face flushed. The excuse was indeed absurd. After thinking for a moment, he added, "When I got to the academy, they distributed elemental stones. Plus, the elemental energy there is much more abundant than elsewhere, so..."

He was interrupted by Old Man Mi before he could finish: "Even with the aid of elemental stones, it's impossible to improve this quickly. What's more, the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra primarily relies on getting beaten to increase cultivation. Elemental stones play a limited role."

Zu An's heart stirred. Old Man Mi said elemental stones played a *limited* role, not that they were useless. So why couldn't Zu An absorb them at all before?

He recalled the keyboard system directly converting the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra into an array pattern imprinted on his body. Was this the reason? Had his cultivation method changed? Besides retaining the characteristic of improving by getting beaten, did he now only rely on the vitality fruits provided by the keyboard?

Thinking about it this way, it was still a better deal for him. After all, compared to rare elemental stones, vitality fruits were easier to obtain. At most, he would just infuriate a few more people.

While he was lost in thought, Old Man Mi grew impatient. He directly grabbed Zu An's wrist and closed his eyes, beginning to sense.

Zu An had just defeated two powerful experts in the arena and was feeling somewhat pleased with himself. However, with a casual grab from the old man, Zu An couldn't dodge at all. He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but his wrist felt as if it were clamped by an iron band; he couldn't move it an inch.

"My goodness, what cultivation rank is this guy?" Zu An was utterly aghast.

"Hmm?" Old Man Mi suddenly uttered a soft exclamation. Then, with a long fingernail, he made a small cut on Zu An's hand, squeezing out a drop of blood.

Bringing it to his nose, Old Man Mi suddenly trembled. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Zu An: "Talent... trans-grade?"

Zu An's heart jumped. He remembered the warning the beautiful Headmaster had given him. He continued to feign ignorance: "What trans-grade?"

Old Man Mi, however, ignored his words. He grabbed Zu An's collar with both hands, his eyes filled with fervor: "What exactly happened to you recently? Why has your talent changed so dramatically?"

A month ago, he knew clearly that this guy's talent was merely 'D-rank inferior.' Now it had become the legendary 'trans-grade.' How could he not be shocked?

Zu An's mind raced. Knowing he couldn't hide it, he quickly said, "I don't know either. It might be related to a wild fruit I ate in the suburbs last time."

"What kind of wild fruit?" Old Man Mi pressed, "What did it look like? Describe it to me in detail."

"Uh..." Zu An hesitated, then cautiously described it with gestures: "The wild fruit was oval-shaped, entirely red on the outside, felt like flesh to the touch, and had egg-shaped scales with pointed tips. It was about this long, with thick, waxy skin. The flesh inside was also red, mixed with tens of thousands of black seeds..."

Hearing his description, Old Man Mi murmured to himself, "Could it be the legendary Datura True Scale? No, the flesh color is wrong. Is it the Red Cloud Divine Fruit? But the external characteristics don't match. What could it be..."

Hearing his murmuring, Zu An secretly chuckled. It would be strange if Old Man Mi could guess. It was a dragon fruit from Zu An's previous life, and he hadn't heard of it existing in this world after all this time.

"It seems you must have a profound destiny and found a rare treasure, which allowed you to undergo such a transformation," Old Man Mi said. "I just can't understand why such a rare treasure would be found on the outskirts of Dragon Concealed Mountain."

Zu An chuckled, "Perhaps it's just a case of 'fools have their own blessings.'"

Old Man Mi's face also broke into a chilling smile. He patted Zu An's shoulder: "Good, good. The better your talent, the happier I am."

"Thank you for your concern, Senior," Zu An quickly replied, though his gaze fell on his bleeding finger. He had always thought of Old Man Mi as a benevolent figure, like the 'Medicine Elder' archetype. Now, it seemed there might be some misunderstanding. Where in this world could one find a 'Medicine Elder' who was kind to people without any reason?

"By the way, you didn't use the Sunflower Mirage during today's grand competition, did you?" Old Man Mi asked again.

"No, I only used the disguised movement technique you taught me; it was more than enough to deal with them." Previously, Zu An might have admitted to using a move in the arena, but after what had just happened, he dared not tell the truth.

"That's good then." Old Man Mi nodded, clearly believing his movement technique was more than enough for low-level cultivators, and didn't suspect anything. "Go get some rest."

With that, he tremblingly walked out. Although he appeared to be moving slowly, in a few blinks of an eye, his figure vanished.

Zu An let out a long sigh of relief. When the old man was beside him, there was always an inexplicable sense of oppression.

It seemed he needed to prepare early...

However, the pressure the old man exuded for that brief moment was even greater than the pressure Wu Wei, Yuan Zhengchu, and the others exerted on him in the arena today, proving his cultivation was unfathomable. This thought made his heart incredibly heavy.

He hurried back to his room and closed the door. Following his usual routine, he washed his face and hands. Now that he had the means, he had even bought some incense and added a scene of burning incense and praying.

Only then did he start the lottery draw. He had earned some rage points previously, with the majority coming from the "splash damage" inflicted on the spectators. He mused that indeed, more audience members were needed to maximize the effect.

Should he find an opportunity next time to appear in public, clinging to Headmaster Jiang's leg?

However, this thought was quickly dismissed. While that would certainly generate an off-the-charts amount of rage points, he wouldn't live long enough to spend them.

After going through all the draws, he didn't get any special abilities, only 59 vitality fruits. Zu An was somewhat disappointed, though it was within his expectations. He swallowed and refined the vitality fruits; the fourth array now contained 86 fruits, filling about a third of it.

Seeing this, Zu An felt a pang of melancholy. He was only at Third Rank, Fourth Stage now. The rage points needed for subsequent levels would be astronomical. Where would he gather them all?

Just then, a knock came from outside the door, followed by Cheng Shouping's uniquely fawning voice: "Young Master-in-law, Young Master-in-law, let's go collect the prize! It's a million taels!"

Zu An's eyes lit up. His previous gloomy mood vanished. With all the commotion today, he had almost forgotten about it.

"Let's go, to claim the prize!"

Zu An excitedly headed out the door, then suddenly remembered something and turned back: "No, I need someone to come with me."

Although one million taels wasn't as extravagant a sum as at the Silver Hook Casino last time, it was by no means small. If he went by himself, even with a few Chu family guards, he might not be able to handle it. So, he needed to find someone powerful to back him up.

After thinking it over, his 'cheap' wife was the most reliable option. She also had experience from the Silver Hook Casino incident.

Meanwhile, Chu Chuyan was seated cross-legged on her bed, cultivating to heal her injuries. Suddenly, an unnatural flush appeared on her face, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. Seeing small pieces of ice mixed in the clotted blood, a hint of bewilderment flashed across her face: "How could this be..."

"Wife, wife~" Just then, a frivolous, familiar voice came from outside.

Chu Chuyan flicked her sleeve, and the fresh blood vanished. Immediately after, Zu An burst in: "Huh, wife, what are you doing in bed in the middle of the day?"

Chu Chuyan's breath hitched. This guy was always like this, "only speaking ill." "What are you doing here?"

Zu An chuckled awkwardly, "I'm inviting you out for a stroll."

Chu Chuyan closed her eyes again and said indifferently, "I'm not going." Last time, this guy tricked her into going shopping, which resulted in a crowd pointing and whispering. She figured he was just trying to satisfy his vanity again.

"Well, to be honest with you, I'm mainly going to the casino to collect a debt. I'm afraid they might default and cause trouble, so I'd feel more secure with you there," Zu An said with a grin. "At worst, if I get the money back, I'll share a bit with you."

"You gambled again?" Chu Chuyan's eyes snapped open, a clear hint of displeasure in her voice.

"This isn't gambling; this is collecting tuition fees," Zu An stated self-righteously. "They dared to offer ridiculous odds of 1 to 100 if I won. As a math teacher, I naturally have to teach them the importance of risk management. This tuition isn't expensive at all."

"No matter how eloquently you put it, it's still gambling," Chu Chuyan scoffed. "The Chu family strictly forbids gambling. Going to the Silver Hook Casino with you last time was an exception. There's no way I'll indulge your nonsense again this time."

"Today, I performed such a great service for the Chu family," Zu An said, his face turning ashen. "Not only did I receive no reward, but I was interrogated thoroughly. Now, you won't even accompany me for a simple trip. This Chu family isn't worth staying with." He turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Chu Chuyan was stunned. His reaction clearly surprised her.

"I'm going to announce to the world that we're getting a divorce," Zu An said, waving his hand, his steps showing no hesitation.

"You come back here!" Chu Chuyan exclaimed, greatly alarmed. She had finally found a husband whose circumstances were perfectly suitable as a shield. If he left, where would she find another?

Besides, even if she could find someone similar, as the esteemed eldest daughter of the Chu family, she couldn't possibly marry twice. She couldn't afford to lose face like that.

To her surprise, Zu An continued walking out as if he hadn't heard her. Chu Chuyan bit her red lip, and with a flash of her figure, she blocked his path: "Stop fooling around. I'll go with you."

"Really?" Zu An struggled to suppress the upward curve of his lips. He hadn't expected that a man using the classic 'cry, fuss, and threaten' tactic would be just as effective as a woman.

"Of course it's true," Chu Chuyan scoffed. "But don't expect it again."

Zu An's eyes darted around. "Then I also want to sleep with you tonight. Otherwise, I'll still go out and announce our divorce to the world."

"Then let's get divorced," Chu Chuyan said, giving him a cold glance.

Zu An's breath caught. *Why doesn't this guy play by the rules?* "Not in the same bed, but in the same room?"

Chu Chuyan simply turned and walked away: "If you don't keep up, I won't even go to the casino with you."

"So you agreed to my condition just now?"

"Shut up!"

Learning from last time's lesson, Chu Chuyan took a carriage directly this time. They soon arrived outside the Four Seas Casino, where Cheng Shouping had placed the bet previously.

"Go collect the prize," Zu An said, handing the betting slip to Cheng Shouping.

"Alrighty!" Cheng Shouping's eyes lit up. He wished for more opportunities to gain such prestige. He strutted to the counter, slammed the betting slip onto the table, and loudly declared, "Shopkeeper, I've come to collect my winnings! 1 to 100 odds, bring out the million taels!"

His smug voice was so loud it instantly drew the attention of everyone in the casino.

The shopkeeper's expression changed. He secretly glanced towards the back, then gritted his teeth, grabbed the betting slip, and tore it to shreds. "Where did this swindler come from, daring to use a fake betting slip to cheat? Guards, throw him out!"