45: The Chen family presents a gift: a new system reward.

At the entrance of the Su Family courtyard.

Chen Tianxiong's heart was in his throat, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Behind him, Chen Bin was so scared that his legs had turned to jelly; if not for two servants supporting him, he probably would have collapsed on the ground long ago.

In front of them, those Foundation Establishment Stage guards stood as straight as spears, their eyes cold as they stared at them without saying a word, yet naturally exuding a powerful aura that warned strangers not to approach.

"Fellow Daoists, please pass word that... that Chen Tianxiong of the Chen Family has come to pay respects to Senior Chu." Chen Tianxiong squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying, keeping his posture extremely low.

The guard captain leading them only gave him a cold glance and spat out two words: "Wait."

After that, there was nothing else.

Chen Tianxiong's pride was bruised, but he didn't dare utter a peep; he could only maintain a smiling Face and stand honestly at the entrance to wait.

In his heart, he cursed that man named Chu He a thousand times.

He's too good at putting on airs!

So what if he's in the Golden Core Stage? What's so great about that? I'm also Golden Core!

If the situation in the capital wasn't so unclear right now, he really would... forget it, don't dare think about it, don't dare think about it.

If that guy really is a Nascent Soul Old Monster who's pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, with his little schemes, he wouldn't even know how he died.

Just as Chen Tianxiong was lost in thought, the courtyard gate opened with a "creak."

Chu He walked out with his hands behind his back, looking at them with a calm expression.

"Se... Senior Chu!"

Chen Tianxiong's heart trembled, and he hurriedly bowed in greeting, his attitude respectful to the extreme.

"Junior Chen Tianxiong, bringing my unworthy son Chen Bin, has come specifically to seek your forgiveness! A few days ago, my unworthy son failed to recognize greatness and offended Senior and Miss Su. I hope Senior will be magnanimous and spare his dog's life!"

As he spoke, he kicked Chen Bin behind the knees.

Chen Bin fell to the ground with a "thud," kowtowing like a woodpecker: "Senior, spare my life! Senior, spare my life! I was wrong! I won't dare do it again!"

Chu He looked down at the father and son from above, his heart completely unmoved.

He had seen plenty of this kind of trash who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

His gaze fell upon the dozen or so large chests, and he asked indifferently: "What are these?"

"Just a small token of my respect!" Chen Tianxiong said hurriedly with a hunched back, "Consider it an apology for Senior and Miss Su! Please, Senior, you must accept them!"

While he spoke, he signaled the servants with his eyes.

The servants immediately stepped forward and opened the chests one by one.

In an instant, treasures gleamed and Spiritual Qi surged!

The chests were filled with all sorts of Heaven And Earth Treasures.

There was ten-thousand-year-old Blood Dragon Ginseng, Deep-Sea Spirit Pearls the size of fists, various rare Ores and Artifact Refining Materials, and several chests of neatly stacked High-Grade Spirit Stones!

By a rough estimate, these things combined were worth at least three hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

Chen Tianxiong introduced them from the side, his Face twitching with the pain of the loss.

This was half of the Chen Family's entire fortune!

To appease the wrath of this mysterious Senior, he had truly paid a heavy price this time.

Chu He glanced over them, slightly surprised in his heart.

This Chen Family is actually quite wealthy.

However, his Face remained as calm as still water as he merely gave a faint "mm."

This nonchalant appearance, in Chen Tianxiong's eyes, made him even more terrified.

It's over, it's over. Does this Senior not even care about three hundred thousand Spirit Stones?

Just how big is his appetite?

Could it be that today, the Chen Family really has to bleed dry to escape this disaster?

Just as Chen Tianxiong was about to grit his teeth and increase the offer, Chu He spoke.

"I will accept the items."

"Ah?" Chen Tianxiong was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, "Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!"

"However," Chu He's tone shifted, "The death penalty is waived, but the living punishment cannot be escaped."

Chen Tianxiong's heart jumped back into his throat.

Chu He extended a finger and lightly tapped toward the kneeling Chen Bin.

An invisible burst of energy shot out, instantly sinking into Chen Bin's Dantian.

"Aaaah—!"

Chen Bin let out a scream that didn't sound human; his whole body went limp as if his bones had been removed, collapsing to the ground, twitching and foaming at the mouth.

"You... you crippled his cultivation?!" Chen Tianxiong pointed at Chu He in shock and anger.

"Sparing his life is already giving Face to these items you brought," Chu He withdrew his finger and said indifferently. "If you dare say one more word, then today, both father and son can stay here together."

The cold words, like the freezing wind of midwinter, instantly extinguished all of Chen Tianxiong's rage.

He looked at his son on the ground, who was now a cripple, then at Chu He's indifferent eyes. Ultimately, all his resentment and venom turned into deep fear.

He couldn't afford to provoke him.

This person was truly someone he could not afford to provoke!

"Thank you, Senior, for your mercy in not killing us!" Chen Tianxiong gritted his teeth, squeezing these words out from between them, then signaled the servants to carry the unconscious Chen Bin and fled in a wretched state.

The disturbance was thus settled.

In the courtyard, Su Qingxue and Su Mo looked at the dozen or so chests of priceless treasures, both feeling a bit dazed.

Just like that... it's ours?

"Husband, these..." Su Qingxue was a bit at a loss.

"Keep them; they're our Family's from now on," Chu He said dismissively, then swept all the chests and their contents into his Storage Ring.

The Su father and daughter were once again shocked by his overbearing wealth.

"Alright, the packing is mostly done. Let's go," Chu He said.

He didn't want to delay any longer.

However, just as they were about to set off.

A long-awaited System notification sounded in Chu He's mind.

[Ding! Detected that the Host has successfully married the SS-grade potential wife/concubine 'Su Qingxue' and she has successfully conceived; the Family power has further expanded!]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a special reward: Family building blueprint—'fortune gathering altar (Rank 1)'!]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining a cultivation infusion: Fifty years of cultivation!]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining family fortune value: 100 points!]

Boom!

A surge of energy, more majestic and pure than any before, roared into Chu He's limbs and bones!

Under the impact of this energy, his Early Golden Core Stage Bottleneck couldn't offer even a sliver of resistance and was instantly shattered!

Middle Stage Golden Core!

Furthermore, his cultivation was still skyrocketing!

It surged all the way to the peak of the Middle Stage Golden Core, only a step away from the Late Stage, before slowly coming to a stop.

Chu He only felt that the Golden Core within his body was several times more solid than before, and the magic power fluctuations it emitted were more than a level stronger!

Incredible!

This feels amazing!

As expected of an SS-grade wife; this reward is truly powerful!

Not only did his cultivation skyrocket, but he was also rewarded with 100 points of Family Luck!

He immediately checked the Family panel.

[Family Luck: 195 points. Destiny Golden Dragon Status: Light Slumber (Origin slowly recovering).]

The Luck value had directly doubled, and the Destiny Golden Dragon's status had changed from 'Origin Depleted' to 'Slowly Recovering'—this was absolutely wonderful news!

And what surprised Chu He the most was the blueprint named 'fortune gathering altar'.

[Building Name: fortune gathering altar (Rank 1)]

[Building Effect: Can slowly gather stray Luck within a hundred-mile radius and convert it into Family Luck. Daily Luck value production: 1 point.]

[Upgrade Requirement: Consume 1000 points of Family Luck to upgrade to a Rank 2 altar.]

[Construction Materials: Thousand-Year Star Wood, Nine Nether Frost Iron, Solar Essence Gold, Rank 5 Spirit Gathering Formation Plate, Rank 5 Luck-Locking Formation Plate.]

Chu He's breathing instantly became rapid.

This... this is simply a Luck perpetual motion machine!

Although it's only 1 point a day and doesn't seem like much.

But over time, that would become an extremely terrifying number!

Moreover, this is only Rank 1!

If it were upgraded to higher ranks, wouldn't the effect be even more Heaven-Defying?

With this thing, the Foundation of his Chu Family can finally be considered truly stable!

The only trouble was that the construction Materials made his head spin.

Leaving everything else aside, just those two Rank 5 Formation Plates were not something he could obtain right now.

It seems this matter will have to fall upon his Formation Genius wife and his future Formation prodigy child.

Chu He suppressed the wild joy in his heart and looked at the dumbfounded Su father and daughter beside him.

Although he had tried his best to restrain the aura of his Breakthrough just now, the pressure of that moment was still felt by the two of them.

"Se... Senior, you... you've broken through again?" Su Mo asked stutteringly, his gaze toward Chu He no different from looking at an immortal.

How many days has it been?

To go from Early Golden Core Stage to Middle Stage Golden Core?

What kind of Cultivation speed is this? Even a rocket wouldn't be this fast!

Su Qingxue's beautiful eyes also shone with brilliant light, her gaze toward her man filled with admiration and pride.

Her man was just that extraordinary!

"Just a slight insight," Chu He waved his hand nonchalantly, maintaining his impressive aura to the fullest.

"Let's go, let's go home."