Chapter 173
The time reached a little past four in the afternoon, and the rain outside showed no signs of stopping. At this moment, inside Chen Fan’s villa Chen Fan was looking at Zhu Yeqing with a serious expression and said earnestly, “I’m asking you something, and this matter concerns future developments.”
Zhu Yeqing replied, “Young Master, please speak.”
Chen Fan sighed. His own combat strength, in truth, mostly depended on Zhu Yeqing. Several families wouldn’t directly take Chen Fan’s life because he was the sole heir of the Chen family.
In other words, it was just him.
Although the Chen family had withdrawn from the top ten families, it was clear that if something happened to this sole heir, no one could guarantee what a desperate, all-or-nothing Chen family might do. But when it came to the younger generation’s power struggles, naturally, a representative was needed. Chen Fan couldn’t cultivate—that was a certainty. So, Zhu Yeqing had become the symbol of combat strength in many situations.
“What’s your strength level? Is it enough? Among the younger generation.”
The situation at hand had somewhat exceeded Chen Fan’s expectations. If the plot developed this way, Chen Fan would be delighted because the protagonist could show off, and the flexing would be even grander. This was originally a good thing, but the reason Chen Fan was worried was entirely because problems could easily arise on his side.
First, he couldn’t take action himself. Throughout the entire book, he never once fought, so he had to play the role of this useless villain.
Second, the only one who could act was Zhu Yeqing, not Tao Xiaoyao. Tao Xiaoyao was a bit of a rule-breaker—though she looked young, in reality, this woman was a monster.
Thus, Zhu Yeqing’s strength was undeniably something that needed careful consideration. But in the usual plot, Zhu Yeqing’s strength was generally sufficient. In a normal progression, Zhu Yeqing was basically competent, considered a genius among the younger generation.
Only now, things had gone off the rails. Damn it, her strength had to be enough to hold her own in a fight.
“Young Master, how much strength do you need from me?”
Chen Fan said, “I don’t know, but naturally, the stronger, the better.”
Zhu Yeqing looked at Chen Fan and said, “Young Master, is sixth-rank enough?”
Chen Fan froze. What the hell? Since when were you sixth-rank? In my memory, at this point, you were only seventh-rank. How did you suddenly jump to sixth-rank? Could it be my influence?
In his memory, it seemed that after he and Zhu Yeqing became intimate, her strength would increase. Zhu Yeqing’s cultivation technique seemed tied to love—transforming from a girl to a woman would enhance her technique.
And in her lifetime, she would only have one man, allowing her cultivation to improve endlessly.
During this period, Chen Fan had indeed been intimate with Zhu Yeqing a few more times. It wasn’t that Chen Fan had become evil or anything—it was just that … Chen Fan was a man. Not touching a woman when one was available—wouldn’t that make him a real eunuch?
Plus, after gaining inner strength and ancient martial arts, it was easy to let his mind wander. Could it be because of his ancient martial arts?
In fact, Zhu Yeqing was underselling herself. She had already reached third-rank strength and was very close to breaking through to second-rank. Even she hadn’t expected her strength to become this terrifying. But the more her power grew, the more Zhu Yeqing felt that Chen Fan’s strength was unfathomable.
Before, Chen Fan had made an agreement with the twin sisters not to reveal his true strength. The twins had indeed promised, but Ling Yuyan wasn’t exactly a saint. That girl was a blabbermouth who couldn’t keep anything to herself. So, she’d spread the word, though only to the female leads.
Zhu Yeqing was even wondering if, by being intimate with the Young Master more often, her strength could rise to that unknown realm.
“Hm, sixth-rank?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Alright, sixth-rank it is then. It should be enough. I don’t have much of a concept about ancient martial arts, but it feels like it should suffice. Okay, you should be able to protect me tonight.”
In truth, Chen Fan’s strength was immense—how immense, even he didn’t know. Most of the power, martial arts, and secret techniques given to him had instantly maxed out. But Chen Fan never bothered to study what each rank actually represented.
He could only guess blindly. As a result, he’d grown too lazy to care.
In Chen Fan’s eyes, hardly anyone could beat him at this point. Or rather, no one ever had. Take Chen Changsheng, for example—Chen Fan thought he was probably pretty strong. Then he killed him with one punch, which left Chen Fan frustrated for a long, long time.
Testing his strength had ultimately failed.
To put Chen Fan’s situation into perspective, it was like an elephant walking along—whether an ant was a bit taller or shorter made no difference to him. He couldn’t feel the distinction at all.
At this moment, Zhu Yeqing returned to the villa with Liu Feifei.
“Honey, where are you? I need to discuss something with you.”
Chen Fan and Zhu Yeqing stepped out of his study. Liu Feifei glanced over and said with disdain, “You two …”
“What, you think everyone’s like you with such dirty thoughts?”
“I … what’s wrong with me? I’m an angel, and you’re not allowed to say that about me!”
“Then you’re just a birdbrain.”
Wahhh, sob sob sob. “Sis, look at your husband—he’s picking on me! I even helped him flex today, and he’s being so mean!”
Cao Zijin said, “Husband, can we talk alone?”
“I think we can.”
The two entered the study and closed the door. Chen Fan lit a cigarette and said, “You first, or me?”
This time, Cao Zijin didn’t joke around. She stood calmly in front of Chen Fan and said, “I’ll go first. Tonight, if possible, Husband, could you not go?”
After much thought, Cao Zijin had said this.
Chen Fan replied, “Impossible. I have to go. It’s a matter of face—no room for negotiation. Plus, I want to see Ye Zifeng die. I want to watch the Ye family’s Ye Zifeng die.”
Cao Zijin said, “Fine, then you go ahead. I don’t have anything else to say.”
“Tell me about the people who’ve shown up.”
Chen Fan actually knew, but he had to ask this question. Otherwise, the plot couldn’t continue. In the original story, Cao Zijin’s descriptions were used to reveal the identities of these ruthless characters.
It was a way to hype up these villains, so to speak.
“There are plenty of people to worry about, but I’ll focus on the key ones. Compared to the others, the two men you should be most concerned about are: one is called Brother Di—you should know him, right?”
“Yeah, from the Di family, the number one family. An unrivaled genius, currently at third-rank strength.”
“Mm, Uncle Chen probably gave you his file, so I won’t elaborate on him. There’s a woman you need to be careful of—her name is Ye Ziyue. You have to watch out for her.”
Chen Fan said, “That talented woman?”
“Yes. I lost to her by half a move in chess—that’s something I’ve always resented.”
“You resent her? … That’s enough. Let’s deal with her together.”
Cao Zijin was momentarily stunned and said, “Husband … don’t you care about her strength?”
“What’s there to care about? Asking is just preparation. You’re my wife, representing the face of our Chen family. Could I let you lose face? How strong could she be?”
At this moment, Chen Fan thought to himself, Damn, my character is so badass. This Chen Fan persona was a fearless, sky-defying villain. He never cared about weighing his own capabilities. When it was time to be arrogant, he just went for it.
“Thank you, Husband. I feel the luckiest and happiest thing in my life was choosing you.”