Chapter 17: 17 Now, see how I fare?

Chapter 17: 17. Now, tell me, how do I look?

Ning Xuan slowed his pace and walked slowly toward a row of white walls. He stood straight, tilting his head slightly upward, his eyes dancing with complex emotions.

The sounds from the distant study gradually quieted down. The two people inside were clearly conversing in a much softer, more discreet manner.

However, a few fragments of words were enough for Ning Xuan to glimpse the tip of the iceberg of the truth.

It was a truth regarding his family.

This world was clearly not a world of only low-level martial arts, as he and the vast majority of people perceived it to be.

The imperial court of this world possessed a very mysterious power; this could be implicitly deduced from terms like "Great General Qin Shanjun," "Dragon Qi," and the "Celestial Master Realm."

And his father's true identity was most likely a member of this mysterious imperial court.

What his father had done before the age of thirty-five, Ning Xuan did not know. But he knew that back then, his father already had an heir—an heir he hoped would inherit his mantle. That person was the one who "claimed to be his elder brother."

But that mysterious imperial court did not seem to allow his father to do so.

He could roughly guess the reason.

To prevent the emergence of a "hereditary local tyrant."

Ning Xuan could easily imagine that with his father's prestige, a single word would cause many factions in the surrounding prefectures to flock to his side. This was even while his father was merely a pampered, useless playboy; if someone were to completely inherit his father's mantle, it would truly become a "private empire." The mysterious imperial court would certainly not permit such a thing.

Therefore, his elder brother could not be exposed.

Consequently, Ning Xuan's own birth became a matter of course.

To divert suspicion, his father had conceived him with his mother.

And Ning Xuan had naturally been raised as a profligate wastrel who indulged in drinking, eating, gambling, and debauchery, specifically to put the mysterious imperial court at ease.

Speaking of which...

He had inherited wealth and honor from his father, while his elder brother had inherited skill, danger, and a path filled with tribulations.

Now, his father appeared to be suffering from declining vitality. No matter how unwilling Ning Xuan was to admit it, he could feel that his father did not have many years left to live. Within that seemingly elegant shell, the flesh and blood were as decayed as those of an octogenarian.

Thus, an arranged marriage was inevitable.

The mysterious imperial court clearly had rules. These rules required the "potential heir" to be completely moved away from their original land, so the court required him to marry.

His father also had his own plans. His father wanted to consider for him, for his mother, and for the entire Ning family. Thus, he had fought to secure a marriage arrangement that, from his own perspective, was quite decent.

Moving to the Hanzhou Ranch to marry the concubine's daughter of General Qin was, in essence, not much different from marrying into the bride's family.

But General Qin must be extremely powerful.

His father's thought was: *Suffer a little grievance, it doesn't matter. Who isn't aggrieved? As long as you live in peace and prosperity, that is enough.*

For a moment, Ning Xuan couldn't tell which one his father favored.

Suddenly, his thoughts drifted far away.

He remembered his childhood, when his father would take him riding, galloping across the ancient plains, viewing the blooming flowers, and telling him "fairy tales from other worlds" heard from who-knows-where; how his father would carry him on his back, running everywhere, holding his hand to teach him how to fly a kite, never scolding him even when he made mistakes—in short, spoiling him to death...

To reach this stage, Ning Xuan could imagine that his father was undoubtedly a ruthless, decisive, and ambitious man; otherwise, he would never have made this move.

Yet, such a father had once given him all the tenderness in his life.

In this life, his father was his true father.

Therefore, he should cooperate with his father.

He must not allow any variables to enter his father's plan.

He must not place the entire family in danger due to his own whims.

In doing so, he could fulfill the bond of father and son in this lifetime.

"The Hanzhou Ranch, huh..."

Before Ning Xuan's eyes, an endless grassland with drifting white clouds seemed to appear.

He would dismiss Xiao Jie to prevent the legal wife from becoming angry; he would live under someone else's roof and work hard to perform, cautiously concealing his strength, revealing only a tiny bit at a time to gain status; that legal wife was a concubine's daughter and would occasionally become a scapegoat in her own home, so he would need to become the scapegoat among scapegoats—becoming a man who appeared to be a useless coward but was actually growing stronger, all while thinking every day, "One day, just one day..."

***

Nightfall.

The Ning family study.

Master Ning was not yet asleep.

The door pushed open once more.

Master Ning looked tenderly at the youth who walked in, revealing a kind smile, and said, "I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep and would definitely come to seek me for clarity. I already had the chef prepare wine and food. By the way, have we ever shared a drink together, just the two of us?"

"Father."

Ning Xuan interrupted him.

Ning Taiyi looked at him with interest and smiled, "Do you have a surprise for Father?"

Ning Xuan nodded.

Ning Taiyi withdrew his smile, stood up, and said solemnly, "Father is looking forward to it."

Though he spoke of anticipation, he didn't truly expect anything; he had even guessed what his son was about to do: nothing more than being restless, feeling himself to be a martial arts prodigy, and wanting to use that to refuse the marriage to Hanzhou.

He possessed great tolerance for his son's "immaturity," so he wanted to listen seriously to his son's reasoning first, and then slowly persuade him to understand: in this era, a martial artist was merely flesh and blood with a bit more flavor, merely cannon fodder on the battlefields of a new era, merely trash.

However, to his surprise, Ning Xuan said calmly, "Father, I know that your actions are always thoroughly planned, and that this arrangement for the Hanzhou Ranch marriage was a decision made after considering all aspects."

Ning Taiyi was stunned and said, "My Xuan'er has grown up."

Ning Xuan said, "Precisely because of this, I do not want any variables in Father's plan."

Ning Taiyi asked in surprise, "What variables?"

Ning Xuan asked, "Father, can you perceive a person's vitality and level through their aura?"

Ning Taiyi nodded.

Ning Xuan said, "Then, tell me, how do I look right now?"

As his voice fell, he no longer hid the calm vitality within his body. Even without using the Heavenly Demon Script, he was already an existence with a physical constitution of 2.2.

If his vitality had been a calm river before he spoke, after he spoke, that vitality instantly boiled, surged, and roared.

He clenched his fists, and strands of lean muscle surged like steel rods. He lifted his eyes, looking like a predator in a midnight forest ready to devour its prey; his aura was powerful, like a fierce war smoke, pressing down so heavily that people could not breathe, making them shudder with fear.

He was truly a monster wearing human skin.

Since his physical constitution broke through 2.0, Ning Xuan had vaguely sensed that this "2.0" was likely the limit for martial artists.

To break such a limit required external force.

And he possessed a natural external force—the Heavenly Demon Script.

He had already easily broken through that impossible limit that others found thousand-fold difficult.

A look of growing disbelief appeared in Ning Taiyi's pupils.

In the next instant, he suddenly shouted sharply, "Have you been infected by the Demon Plague?!"

Ning Xuan was bewildered. "What Demon Plague?"

Ning Taiyi stepped forward quickly, anxiously reaching out to touch Ning Xuan's forehead.

The elegant old man suddenly glowed with golden light.

He closed his eyes, clearly examining Ning Xuan.

After a long time, he withdrew his finger and said in a somewhat dazed voice, "You... you aren't infected by the Demon Plague? That's impossible. Without the plague, it is absolutely impossible to reach this level. You... you..."

Ning Xuan said honestly, "I train hard every day; it is not just talent."

Ning Taiyi asked, "How do you train?"

Ning Xuan recounted his daily training routine.

Ning Taiyi was clearly somewhat disoriented. He rubbed his forehead and said, "Xuan'er, go rest first. Let Father sort this out, let me sort this out properly."