Chapter 40: The Fate-Changing Son-in-Law (Part Two)

Three days later
Su Chen emerged from seclusion.
Xia Yingyue, who had been cultivating at the Shuiyun Sect, returned to her family.
Xia Yingyue was stunningly beautiful, truly deserving of her title as the city flower of Qinghe City.
Wearing a moon-white silk dress, her hair as black as ink, her ethereal qi zhi - a kind of refined elegance/aura was like that of a fairy untouched by worldly affairs; she could inspire affection at first glance.
Yes, the feeling of first love.
"Having such a fiancée and still frequenting brothels, what a scoundrel!"
Su Chen cursed Mu Chen.
Xia Yingyue's return to her family was to fulfill her wish and marry Su Chen.
A proud daughter of heaven marrying a useless good-for-nothing.
Su Chen felt like he'd landed the protagonist's role.
But he pondered deeply, wondering if something was amiss.
Suddenly, Su Chen's expression turned grim.
"Damn it, I knew there was a loophole!"
The one who defeated him was also a good-for-nothing.
The son of the Fang family patriarch, a genius ten years ago, lost all his cultivation overnight.
Three days ago, he defeated him, his fame soaring. Everyone assumed the young master of the Fang family was hiding his true strength.
But Su Chen knew, what a load of rubbish!
Isn't this just the standard old man template?
This isn't his bootleg reincarnation story.
Su Chen suddenly found Xia Yingyue unappealing.
According to the script, he offended the protagonist, Xia Yingyue met the protagonist, developed feelings for him after several encounters, then learned that Xia Yingyue had a fiancé—a nobody who had offended the protagonist—and the protagonist conveniently eliminated him.
Even with the memories of a Transcendent Realm expert from his previous life, Su Chen was certain he couldn't possibly defeat those ancient monsters who had lived for countless years.
Su Chen was wary of those ancient monsters; in his previous life, a single cultivation technique had killed him.
No, he absolutely couldn't bear such humiliation!
Xia Yingyue looked at the stunned Su Chen, puzzled.
'Could it be that Brother Mu Chen is somewhat dissatisfied with my request to marry him after finishing the sect's affairs?'
Xia Yingyue's return to the family this time wasn't just to fulfill her promise to marry Su Chen, but also to shoulder the mission of recruiting disciples for the sect.
Su Chen felt immense pressure.
...
The next day
Su Chen quietly left the Xia family and went to the local auction house.
He had stayed up all night writing a Xuan-grade cultivation technique.
Selling it for tens of thousands of gold coins wouldn't be a problem.
With someone who seemed to be the chosen one of destiny weighing on him, Su Chen felt immense pressure; one wrong move and he might lose his wife.
After Su Chen left the auction house, two men in black robes bumped into each other. They exchanged a glance, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.
Fang Bubai asked in his mind, "Master, why does this man in black robes seem somewhat familiar?"
He felt he had seen this man in black robes somewhere before.
Su Chen also felt a faint sense of familiarity with the man in black robes opposite him.
"Could it be such a coincidence?"
Su Chen's expression was strange.
He was 100% certain that this was the Fang family's eldest young master, the one suspected to be the chosen one.
He definitely had a secret!
Su Chen left without making a sound.
Although Fang Bubai was somewhat curious about the identity of the man in black robes like himself, he didn't chase after him.
He had more important matters to attend to.
Leaving the auction house, Su Chen was certain that the Fang family's eldest young master was likely a person of great fortune.
The thought of killing him flashed through Su Chen's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
He seemed more likely to be killed.
Because he couldn't see through Fang Bubai's cultivation level.
Either Fang Bubai's cultivation was far superior to his.
Or Fang Bubai possessed a technique or treasure capable of concealing his aura.
Or...Fang Bubai had a powerful figure far surpassing him in his previous life helping to mask his presence!
Su Chen dared not gamble.
"Then I can only befriend him!"
Su Chen's eyes flickered.
He was an old monster who had lived for hundreds of years, not a naive young man.
He knew that in this world, no hatred was insurmountable.
Besides, he and Fang Bubai had only had some verbal disputes; ultimately, he had suffered some losses, far from a life-or-death feud.
Su Chen returned to the Xia family and bumped into Xia Chenfeng.
Seeing Su Chen return from outside, Xia Chenfeng sneered, "Oh ho, where has I, Young Master Mu, been gallivanting off to again?"
"A prodigal son's return? Only my father believes that. I know a leopard can't change its spots!"
Su Chen glanced at him indifferently.
He knew Xia Chenfeng's preconceived notions about him wouldn't change overnight.
Seeing Su Chen ignore him, Xia Chenfeng became enraged, even more convinced that Su Chen had wronged Xia Yingyue. He attacked furiously, "Mu Chen, today I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of Father and Sister! I'll show you that you're nothing but a piece of trash, unworthy of Father's devotion, unworthy of Sister's marriage to you!"
Xia Chenfeng clenched his fist, the force of his punch like a blade, unleashing the Xia family's ultimate technique, the Five-Finger Heart-Piercing Fist.
With Xia Chenfeng's fifth-level Spirit Gathering cultivation, if this strike landed on Su Chen, Su Chen would likely be severely injured, if not killed.
But just as the punch was about to strike Su Chen, Su Chen stepped back, the fist grazing his chest and dodging the fatal blow.
"Just lucky. You dodged it once, but do you think you can dodge it twice?"
Xia Chenfeng didn't believe Su Chen possessed such strength.
He changed his fist into a palm, gathering his inner energy, and struck down at Su Chen.
But Su Chen was faster. One hand blurred into a blur, grabbing Xia Chenfeng's arm and using the Heavenly Gang Sealing Meridian Technique.
In an instant, Xia Chenfeng felt his arm go numb and tingling, unable to muster any strength.
Sensing something was wrong, Xia Chenfeng quickly retreated, but one arm hung limply at his sides. He cried out, "My arm... what did you do to me?"
Seeing Xia Chenfeng's alarmed reaction, Su Chen said calmly, "I merely sealed the spiritual meridians in one of your arms. It will gradually recover in a few hours."
Hearing that his arm was alright, Xia Chenfeng breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Su Chen as if he were a monster.
This time, he clearly sensed... that this burdensome young man who only caused trouble for the Xia family seemed somewhat different.
After Su Chen left, Xia Chenfeng finally came to his senses.
"Hmph, even if you defeat me, you are still not worthy of my sister!"
Although Xia Chenfeng didn't know why Su Chen had suddenly become so powerful, able to easily defeat him and change his opinion of him,
he still refused to admit that Su Chen could be his brother-in-law!
Su Chen's defeat of Xia Chenfeng caused quite a stir in the Xia family.
Xia Chenfeng was the Xia family's number one genius besides Xia Yingyue, who cultivated at the Shuiyun Sect.
However, he was easily defeated by Su Chen.
It was truly terrifying.
For Su Chen, defeating Xia Chenfeng was nothing to be proud of. He, an old monster who had reincarnated and cultivated for hundreds of years, couldn't even handle a mere brat; he might as well not cultivate at all.
Except for those chosen by destiny—those are cheat codes.
A week later, Su Chen's cultivation technique was auctioned for 80,000 gold coins.
With this starting capital, Su Chen was confident he could raise his cultivation to the peak of the Spirit Gathering stage within half a month.