Chapter 7

As Zhang Ye jumped into the river and left, his older brother Zhang Shu arrived at a delicate courtyard in the center of the Zhang family estate and found his mother, Liu Suqing.

Although Liu Suqing was over thirty, she had always taken excellent care of herself. Additionally, she was a martial artist with a cultivation level of the middle stage of the third realm of Martial Dao, making her look like a girl in her twenties. Seeing Zhang Shu enter, she smiled contentedly and asked, "Xiao Shu, now that you have two Body Tempering Pills, is it possible for you to advance to the third realm of Martial Dao in the near future?"

One of the two Body Tempering Pills Liu Suqing mentioned was a benefit provided by the Zhang family for the younger generation to cultivate, while the other was taken from Zhang Ye.

Liu Suqing knew that this was unfair to Zhang Ye. However, after the family head, Zhang Chengtian, went into seclusion, the family was divided into several factions, each vying for power. The struggle within the family was extremely brutal; the victor would become the master of the family, wielding power and enjoying all the glory. The loser would, at best, become a nobody in the family, enduring disdain and living a miserable life, or at worst, be exiled and die in a foreign land.

In the end, the family struggle was essentially a competition among the younger generation for higher positions. Zhang Shu, with his outstanding talent, was a strong contender for the family head. To give Zhang Shu more opportunities to stand out and smoothly enter the core of the Zhang family's power, Liu Suqing had to concentrate all resources on cultivating Zhang Shu, who had good potential.

To help Zhang Shu become stronger quickly, she took the Body Tempering Pill that belonged to Zhang Ye.

Among the two sons, Zhang Ye was destined to be abandoned. Who could blame him for his poor talent? In the barbaric world, strength was paramount. Here, strength was the foundation of everything, and poor talent meant difficulty in improving strength. No one would waste precious resources on someone who found it hard to improve.

In the offspring of beasts, only the strong could survive, while the weak would be abandoned, or even eaten by their siblings. The same applied to humans; those with poor talent were destined to be abandoned, even if they were one's own son.

This world was that cruel!

Hearing his mother's question, a hint of pride appeared on Zhang Shu's face, and he said, "Ten days ago, I completed my fifth Body Tempering, almost completely removing the impurities in my body. Now, with two Body Tempering Pills, the remaining impurities will surely be eliminated, allowing me to advance to the third realm of Martial Dao."

Listening to Zhang Shu's confident tone, Liu Suqing nodded in satisfaction and said, "In the current Zhang family, only Zhang Fang can be compared to you among the younger generation. If you can smoothly advance to the third realm of Martial Dao, even Zhang Fang will be overshadowed by you. You must cultivate well and not disappoint your mother."

At this point, Liu Suqing suddenly remembered something and said, "Right, you and Zhang Fang have a match next month, right? Do you have confidence in winning?"

"There is some confidence. However..." Zhang Shu hesitated for a moment and recounted the situation with Zhang Ye.

"What? You mean Zhang Ye has also advanced to the second realm of Martial Dao? And he refused you?" After hearing Zhang Shu's words, Liu Suqing was greatly surprised and quickly asked for more details.

Zhang Shu nodded, his face full of confusion, and said, "I can't believe he could advance to the second realm of Martial Dao, but it's true. Not only did he advance, but his foundation is also very solid. After another one or two months of cultivation, he might be able to advance to the middle stage of the second realm. This is really strange."

"It is strange..." Liu Suqing mused, "I know Ye'er's talent. If he used the Body Tempering Pill, he might have a slight chance of advancing to the second realm of Martial Dao. But now that his Body Tempering Pill is clearly in our hands, he still managed to advance, which is truly puzzling. Did he accidentally take some spiritual medicine?"

Zhang Shu shook his head and said, "Impossible. People who take spiritual medicine will have a special aura, and their spiritual energy will be overwhelming. My younger brother has no trace of any medicinal aura. I'm sure he didn't advance by taking any rare herbs."

"How can someone with poor talent advance without taking rare herbs or using pills to aid cultivation?" Liu Suqing was puzzled and asked in detail, but Zhang Shu couldn't provide any answers.

After a few more questions, Liu Suqing, not getting any useful information, changed the topic. Although talent was crucial for advancing in Martial Dao, there were other factors involved, such as opportunity and luck. Liu Suqing now considered Zhang Ye lucky and believed he had advanced by chance.

After a few more words, Zhang Shu hesitated and asked, "Mother, my younger brother refused me. What should I do?"

Liu Suqing was silent for a moment and said, "Ye'er is now a second-realm martial artist and can be of help to you. As the saying goes, 'Brothers fight together on the battlefield.' With Ye'er's good strength, cultivating him as your right-hand man will greatly benefit your future actions." Seeing Zhang Shu hesitate, she continued calmly, "In this world, everything is about strength. He refused to help you because he doesn't understand your strength. You can show him your strength and make him submit..."

After saying this, Liu Suqing added, "If you can't make your mediocre younger brother submit, how will you make others in the Zhang family submit in the future? Do you understand?"

"Show my strength and make him submit! I understand what to do! I'll go find him right away!" Zhang Shu responded, his eyes brightening, thinking, "Brother, if you still refuse me, don't blame me for being unfriendly..."

**************

The next day, Zhang Shu came to Zhang Ye's small courtyard with confidence and a slight sneer.

His mother's words from yesterday, "If you can't make your mediocre younger brother submit, how will you make others in the Zhang family submit in the future?" were deeply etched in his mind. This time, he was determined to make the disobedient Zhang Ye submit.

With his peak second-realm strength, he believed he could easily overpower Zhang Ye with one hand, making him submit wholeheartedly and become his capable assistant.

"What? You mean Zhang Ye has already gone out to train?" Zhang Shu glared at Qinglian. "When did he leave?"

Qinglian replied, "Just yesterday."

Zhang Shu thought for a moment and asked, "Did he say when he would be back?"

Qinglian shook her head and said, "I don't know."

"Hmph!" Zhang Shu clenched his fist and turned to leave, thinking as he walked, "Brother, although this Three Rivers Town is large, where can you run? You will eventually have to come back! During this time, I'll take the two Body Tempering Pills and advance to the third realm first. The third realm allows true qi to leave the body for attacks, making combat power much higher than the second realm. Hmph, when that time comes, even Zhang Fang will have to submit to me, and you, my younger brother, will be easily overpowered. Ha, want to disobey your older brother? Unless you have the strength of the third realm, you will only have to submit to me!"

Thinking of this, Zhang Shu chuckled to himself.