Chapter 126: One Cry, Two Tantrums, Three Hangings

Zu An's heart sank. His explanation had fooled the Chu couple, but it wouldn't fool Old Man Mi. Mi knew his true background; a month ago, Zu An had been an ordinary person who only began cultivating after practicing Mi's techniques.

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

"Perhaps because I'm young and strong, I cultivate faster?" Zu An finally managed to come up with an excuse.

Old Man Mi simply stared at him coldly, not bothering to speak.

Zu An's face flushed. The excuse was indeed absurd. After a moment, he added, "When I came to the academy, they provided elemental stones, and the elemental energy here is more abundant than elsewhere, so..."

He was cut off by Old Man Mi before he could finish: "Even with elemental stones, it wouldn't be this fast. Moreover, the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra primarily relies on taking hits to improve cultivation; elemental stones have a limited effect."

Zu An's heart stirred. Old Man Mi said elemental stones had a "limited" effect, not "no" effect. But why couldn't Zu An absorb them at all before? He recalled how the keyboard system had directly transformed the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra into a magical formation pattern imprinted on his body. Could this be why his cultivation method changed? Besides retaining the hit-based progression, did he now only rely on the elemental energy fruits provided by the keyboard? Thinking this way, it seemed more cost-effective for him. After all, compared to rare elemental stones, elemental energy fruits were easier to obtain. He just needed to annoy a few more people.

While he was lost in thought, Old Man Mi had grown impatient. He directly grabbed Zu An's wrist and closed his eyes, sensing. Zu An had just defeated two powerful masters in the arena, feeling a bit complacent, but he couldn't evade Old Man Mi's casual grip. He instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but his wrist felt like it was clamped in iron, unmovable.

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

"Hm?" Old Man Mi suddenly let out a soft exclamation. Then, his long fingernail grazed Zu An's hand, cutting a small opening and squeezing out a drop of blood. He held it to his nose, sniffing. Old Man Mi suddenly trembled, looking at Zu An with disbelief in his eyes: "Super-rank aptitude?"

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. He remembered the beautiful principal's warning and continued to feign ignorance: "Super-rank what?"

Old Man Mi ignored him directly, grabbing his collar with both hands, eyes filled with fanaticism: "What on earth happened to you recently? Why such a dramatic change in aptitude?" A month ago, he knew clearly that this fellow's aptitude was merely "Lower D-rank." Now it had become the legendary "Super-rank." How could he not be shocked?

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

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

"Uh..." Zu An hesitated, then tentatively described it with gestures, "That wild fruit was oval-shaped, entirely red-skinned, felt like flesh when touched, with egg-shaped scales tapering to a sharp point. It was about this long, with thick, waxy skin. The pulp inside was also red, mixed with tens of thousands of black seeds..."

Hearing his description, Old Man Mi mumbled to himself, "Could it be the legendary Datura True Scale? No, the pulp color is wrong. Is it the Red Cloud Divine Fruit? But the external features don't match. What could it be..." Hearing his mumbling, Zu An chuckled inwardly. It would be strange if he could guess it. That's a pitaya from his previous life. He'd been in this world for so long, and he'd never heard of it existing here.

"It seems you are truly blessed with good fortune, having found a rare treasure of heaven and earth, which allowed you to undergo such a transformation," Old Man Mi said. "I just can't understand why such a treasure would be found outside Dragon Concealment Mountain."

Zu An chuckled, "Perhaps it's just dumb luck for a fool like me."

A chilling smile appeared on Old Man Mi's face. He patted Zu An's shoulder. "Good, good. The better your aptitude, the happier I am."

"Thank you for your concern, senior," Zu An quickly replied, his gaze falling on his bleeding finger. He had always thought of Old Man Mi as a benevolent elder, like the 'Medicine Elder' archetype. Now he realized there might have been a misunderstanding. Where in this world is there someone who is good to others for no reason, like the Medicine Elder?

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

"No, I just used the deceptive movement technique you taught me; that was more than enough to handle them." If it had been before, Zu An might have admitted to using a move in the arena, but after what just happened, he dared not tell the truth.

"That's good," Old Man Mi nodded, evidently thinking his movement technique was more than sufficient against lower-rank cultivators, and didn't suspect anything. "Get some good rest." With that, he shakily walked out. Although he appeared to move slowly, he vanished after a few blinks of an eye.

Zu An let out a long sigh of relief. Having Old Man Mi next to him always brought an inexplicable sense of oppression. It seemed he needed to make preparations early. However, the oppressive aura Old Man Mi had displayed moments ago was even greater than the pressure from Wu Wei and Yuan Zhengchu during today's arena matches, proving his cultivation was unfathomable. Thinking about this, Zu An's mood became incredibly heavy.

He quickly returned to his room and closed the door. As per his routine, he washed his face and hands. Now that he had the means, he even bought some incense and added a ritual of burning incense and praying. Only then did he begin his lottery draw. He had earned a total of 58,835 rage points, with the majority coming from splash damage to the onlookers. He mused that indeed, more spectators meant maximizing his gains. *Maybe next time I should find an opportunity to walk out clinging to Principal Jiang's leg in public?* But this thought was immediately dismissed. While it would definitely earn him off-the-charts rage points, he wouldn't live long enough to spend them.

Going through the lottery draws, he didn't get any special abilities, only 59 elemental energy fruits. Zu An was a bit disappointed but also expected it. He swallowed and refined the elemental energy fruits; the fourth magic formation now contained 86 fruits, about one-third full. Seeing this, Zu An felt a pang of melancholy. He was only Rank 3, Stage 4. The rage points needed for subsequent levels were astronomical. *Where would I even gather so many?*

Just then, a knock came from the door. Cheng Shoubing's distinctly fawning voice rang out, "Young Master-in-law, Young Master-in-law, let's go collect the prize! One million taels, you know!"

Zu An's eyes lit up, and his previous low mood vanished. With all the events of the day, he had almost forgotten about it. "Let's go, to collect the prize!"

Zu An eagerly headed out, then suddenly remembered something and turned back: "No, I need someone to come with me." One million taels, though not as exaggerated as the amount from the Silver Hook Gambling House last time, was still a considerable sum. Going by himself, even with a few Chu family guards, might not be enough. He needed someone strong to back him up. After much thought, his cheap wife was the most reliable, and she also had experience from the Silver Hook Gambling House incident.

Meanwhile, Chu Chuyan was sitting 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 confusion flashed across her face: "How could this happen...?"

"Wifey, wifey!" Just then, a frivolous, familiar voice came from outside.

Chu Chuyan flicked her sleeve, and the pool of blood vanished. Immediately after, Zu An burst in: "Huh, wifey, what are you doing in bed in broad daylight?"

Chu Chuyan's breath caught. *This guy is always like this, spitting out nothing but crude remarks.* "What do you want?"

Zu An chuckled awkwardly, "To invite you out for a stroll."

Chu Chuyan closed her eyes again and said indifferently, "No." Last time, this guy tricked her into going shopping, which resulted in a crowd pointing and gossiping. She figured this was just another attempt to satisfy his vanity.

"Uh, to be honest with you, I'm mainly going to the gambling house to collect a debt. I'm afraid they might try something desperate if they can't pay, so I'd feel more secure with you there," Zu An said with a grin. "At worst, once I get the money back, I'll give you a share."

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

"This isn't gambling; this is collecting tuition," Zu An said righteously. "That gambling house dared to offer outrageous odds of 100-to-1 if I won. As a math teacher, it's only natural for me to teach them the importance of risk control. This tuition fee 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 with you to the Silver Hook Gambling House last time was an exception. This time, I absolutely will not accompany you in your nonsense."

"Today, I've at least rendered such a great service to the Chu family. Not only have you given me no rewards, but you've subjected me to all sorts of harsh interrogations. Now you won't even walk with me once. This Chu family is not worth staying in," Zu An said, his face darkening. He turned and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" Chu Chuyan was startled. His reaction was clearly unexpected.

"To announce to the world that we're getting a divorce," Zu An waved his hand, his steps showing no hesitation.

"You come back here!" Chu Chuyan was shocked. She had finally found a husband who was suitable in all respects to act as a shield. If he left, where would she find another? Besides, even if she could find someone similar, she was the dignified eldest daughter of the Chu family; she couldn't possibly marry twice. She couldn't afford that disgrace.

But Zu An seemed to not hear her and continued walking out. Chu Chuyan bit her red lip, and with a flash of her figure, she blocked his path: "Stop being silly. I'll go with you."

"Really?" Zu An suppressed the rising corners of his mouth. *Who knew that the 'cry, make a fuss, threaten suicide' tactic worked just as well when used by a man?*

"Of course it's real," 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 to the world that we're getting divorced."

Chu Chuyan gave him a cold look: "Then get divorced."

Zu An's breath hitched. *How is this guy not playing by the rules?* "Not in the same bed, but sharing a room is fine, right?"

Chu Chuyan simply turned and walked away: "If you don't follow now, I won't even go to the gambling house 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 quickly arrived outside the Four Seas Gambling House, where Cheng Shoubing had placed the bet last time.

"You go collect the prize," Zu An handed the betting slip to Cheng Shoubing.

"Alrighty!" Cheng Shoubing's eyes lit up. He wished for more opportunities to show off like this. He puffed out his chest, strode to the counter, slammed the betting slip onto the table, and loudly declared, "Manager! I'm here to collect the prize! 100-to-1 odds, bring out one million taels!"

His boastful voice was so loud that it instantly drew the attention of everyone in the gambling house. The manager's face changed. He secretly glanced backstage, then gritted his teeth, snatched the betting slip, and tore it to shreds: "Where did this swindler come from, daring to try and cheat us with a fake betting slip? Guards! Get him out of here!"