Son, Put Your Father To The Test (FF)

"You… you…"

The red-haired elder glared furiously at Zhou Xiang, but he couldn't utter another word. It was as if something had lodged in his throat.

He knew he had lost.

Completely and utterly.

The moment Zhou Xiang revealed his Saint Realm cultivation, any chance of a comeback had vanished—whether Zhou Xiang was right or wrong, he would be treated as being in the right regardless.

"Fine, fine, fine!"

Finally, the elder spat out the words through clenched teeth and stormed off, leaving in defeat. Zhou Shang, who had been utterly terrified and was now paralyzed with fear, was quickly carried away by others.

The surrounding crowd fell into silence.

They understood that the matter had been settled, decisively concluded by the overwhelming presence of this returning prodigy.

"Xiang'er!"

At this moment, an excited voice rang out—it was Zhou Xiang's grandfather, the Zhou family's Fifth Elder.

He rushed over and immediately gave Zhou Xiang a signature headlock, though this time, without covering his mouth.

Tears streamed down the old man's face as he choked out, "Xiang'er, you've finally returned to the right path, you've finally come back... Do you know what these past three years have been like for me?"

Zhou Xiang thought for a moment, unsure, and said, "Could it be… every night... you've been… punishing the maids?"

Mmph!

The next second, Zhou Xiang's mouth was firmly covered by his grandfather.

The Fifth Elder frantically glanced around, but thankfully, the surrounding Zhou family members wore neutral expressions and didn't seem to have noticed.

In fact, though they didn't show it, many inwardly scoffed at the Fifth Elder's reaction—he was making a big deal out of nothing! Small-minded!

After all, as a family elder with great power and influence, who didn't have a few maids to "punish" at night? Did he really think that the many beautiful and graceful maids in the family were only there to serve tea, sweep floors, and run errands?

How quaint!

How naive!!

The old-fashioned Fifth Elder clearly didn't realize that the family's level of tolerance had long surpassed such trivialities.

Seeing no one had reacted, the Fifth Elder sighed in relief and whispered sternly to his grandson, "From now on, no more talk about the maids!"

"Alright, Grandpa."

Zhou Xiang obediently nodded and, as he pulled his chubby head out of his grandfather's grip, he added with a fawning smile, "Well… I need to head back to the pig farm now. There are thousands of pigs waiting to be slaughtered, and I'm worried they're getting impatient."

Whoosh! His words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up a thousand ripples. Everyone stared at him, stunned. The Fifth Elder practically exploded.

"What?! You still want to kill pigs?!"

The old man had thought his grandson had finally returned to the "right" path, abandoning that disgraceful hobby of his. But to his shock, Zhou Xiang had not changed at all.

What could he do about this?

Taking a deep breath, the Fifth Elder asked as gently as possible, "Can you… not kill pigs anymore?"

"No," Zhou Xiang replied seriously.

He didn't bother to explain much, because he knew that no one other than his master, Qin Chuan, would truly understand him.

So why bother?

It was like being locked in a mental institution—no matter how much you insist you're not insane, no one will believe you.

If you say you're not crazy, they'll say, "That's exactly what all mentally ill people say."

If you admit you're crazy, they'll say, "Finally, you've accepted the truth."

And if you say nothing, they'll conclude, "This one's a bit depressive; perhaps it's a new type of mental illness…"

In short, once people have preconceived notions about you, changing their minds is almost impossible. People who don't understand you may never understand.

The Fifth Elder's face twitched several times as he sensed how firm his grandson's resolve was. His heart grew heavy.

He knew his grandson well—when Zhou Xiang had given up cultivation to start slaughtering pigs, he had been just as stubborn. No matter what methods were used to dissuade him, nothing worked. In the end, the old man could only allow him to pursue his strange obsession.

"Wait a minute!!"

Suddenly, an idea struck the Fifth Elder, and he asked, "You've been killing pigs for three years without cultivating. How did your cultivation increase so much?"

Zhou Xiang thought for a moment before answering truthfully, "When I kill pigs, it makes me feel good. And when I feel good, if I want to break through, I just do."

"Also, there's this invisible force that gathers around me as I keep slaughtering pigs. I'm not sure what it is, but it gives me this odd feeling, like… if I want to advance, I can."

The Fifth Elder was dumbfounded.

And so were the surrounding onlookers. They had never heard of such a thing before.

"This is momentum," a calm voice suddenly spoke, mysterious and thought-provoking, drawing everyone's attention.

They all turned to see a handsome man in white slowly stepping forward, hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the sky at a perfect forty-five-degree angle.

"In this world, there exists a profound force known as 'momentum,'" he said.

"This force gathers with one's confidence."

"The more confident a person is, the stronger the momentum they can gather. When that momentum becomes overwhelming, there's nothing that can stand in its way."

"And when it becomes strong enough, it even harnesses the power of luck itself. The phrase 'unstoppable momentum,' handed down through generations, refers precisely to this."

"And when geniuses battle each other, they are not just competing in skill or talent, but also in momentum. A peerless genius who suppresses all others will generate boundless self-confidence, and the collective momentum of all other talents will gather upon him."

"Such a person can dazzle an entire era!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it echoed like thunder in their minds, leaving everyone stunned and speechless.

Of course, Qin Chuan wasn't just making this up—he had pieced this concept together from countless fantasy novels, and it seemed to fit this world as well.

"But Zhou Xiang hasn't competed with any geniuses. He's just been cooped up in a slaughterhouse. Where did he get such powerful momentum from?" the Fifth Elder asked.

Qin Chuan turned to him, his gaze calm. "Everyone gathers momentum in different ways. His way is through killing pigs."

"He treats each pig slaughter as a battle—not just a battle against the pig, but also against himself. He fights thousands of these battles every day and emerges victorious each time!"

"Winning thousands of hard-fought battles daily is more than enough to gather such formidable momentum."

The Fifth Elder's jaw dropped. Staring blankly, he asked, "So… can other people also gain momentum from slaughtering pigs?"

All eyes turned expectantly to Qin Chuan, their hearts filled with hope. If they could also use this method, they too could rise to greatness!

"Impossible."

Qin Chuan shook his head, his voice indifferent. "None of you have his mindset. You will never be able to see slaughtering a pig as a battle. You lack the sincerity he has."

"Slaughtering pigs is his unique talent, his unique path. Others... cannot follow it."

"People's talents are inherently different. Some are destined to become emperors or martial sovereigns, while others are fated to remain in the Pure Yang or Nirvana Realms. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Some people are simply meant to be admired from afar."

Everyone fell silent.

Bitter smiles appeared on many faces. The result was disappointing, yet they couldn't deny that it made sense.

There was, however, a lingering sense of regret.

The Fifth Elder remained silent for a long time before lifting his wrinkled face to look at the tall figure in white. Reverence colored his voice as he asked, "Who… who exactly are you?"

Whoosh! Everyone turned to Qin Chuan.

After delivering this "earth-shattering" speech, Qin Chuan had transformed in their eyes, becoming an unfathomable, enigmatic figure.

It was as though a towering mountain had suddenly risen before them, piercing the sky. He seemed distant, unreachable, like an immortal beyond their comprehension.

"Heh, who am I?"

Qin Chuan slightly turned his head, a faint, enigmatic smile gracing his lips as his clear voice echoed through the air.

"Heaven and earth are but a fleeting inn for all creatures. Time is but a passerby through the generations. As for me… I am merely a traveler in this vast world."

Whoosh! At that very moment, a gentle breeze swept by, causing his white robes to flutter, making him seem light, ethereal, and mysterious, as though he could vanish into the wind at any moment, like a celestial being descending from the heavens.

"Father…"

Qin Zi stared at his father, dazed, his eyes unfocused.

He realized that he still didn't fully understand his father. The man was always more mysterious, profound, and towering than he could ever imagine.

Unknowingly, the ring on his finger seemed to grow damp once again.