22: Chapter 22 Fancy Face Changing

Xu Xue's visit this time seemed to be because she had learned about Bai Shiwei awakening her Martial Aspect and was preparing to give her money to support her martial arts training, but Fang Zhuo had already guessed eighty to ninety percent of her true purpose.

Having had the experience of visiting the Bai family last time,

it wasn't hard to guess.

Xu Xue asking to speak with him alone was nothing more than to get him to divorce Bai Shiwei.

Before Bai Shiwei awakened her Martial Aspect, the Bai family looked down on him, and his mother-in-law had even offered him two million to leave.

Now that Bai Shiwei had awakened her Martial Aspect, and the third-ranked Heaven-Swallowing Python at that, it went without saying.

The Bai family probably couldn't wait for him to pack his bags and get lost immediately, divorcing and cutting all ties with their genius daughter on the spot.

Thinking of this, Fang Zhuo couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"...Alright."

Having her sensitive waist suddenly attacked, Bai Shiwei blushed and scolded him playfully.

Fang Zhuo had a point; there was no reason to refuse this money. Taking it would also relieve some of the pressure on Fang Zhuo, so they wouldn't have to worry too much about money for the time being.

She could even set aside some money for Fang Zhuo's own cultivation. Even if there was no hope, making him happier would still be good.

Besides, this resettlement apartment was a bit too small, and she really wasn't used to living here...

Bai Shiwei pursed her lips, thinking of the loan she still carried. No matter what, she had to pay back that debt of 388,000 herself.

"Then you'd better be careful. Don't engage with whatever Mom says if you can help it, and don't take it to heart. In the future, I am definitely going to support you!"

Bai Shiwei stood on her tiptoes and whispered in Fang Zhuo's ear, her expression serious.

Fang Zhuo smiled and nodded, giving Bai Shiwei a reassuring look.

...

After Bai Shiwei left,

Xu Xue put away her gentle, motherly demeanor and assumed the aura of a powerful career woman. Walking a few steps to the center of the living room, she took control of the room as if she were the host, saying,

"Have a seat."

Xu Xue smoothed her qipao, sat down with her legs together, and looked at Fang Zhuo with her chin slightly raised.

"Speaking of which, Shi Wei's ability to awaken her Martial Aspect is largely thanks to you, Little Fang."

Fang Zhuo merely smiled, in no rush to accept the 'credit' his mother-in-law was handing him, and waited for her to continue.

"As far as I know, you bought two spirit-nourishing pills for Shi Wei?"

"For your family, producing one million must have taken quite some courage. It's clear you truly love Shi Wei, so you should also know..."

"...what a Superior Martial Aspect, especially the third-ranked Heaven-Swallowing Python, actually means!"

Xu Xue's face flushed with excitement. "There is a very high chance of becoming a Transcendent Martial Artist in the future! Even the chance of becoming a Flying Martial Artist is not low!"

"But all of this requires sufficient cultivation resources, starting in the tens of millions. Can you provide that?"

A faint smile played on Xu Xue's face as she waited for Fang Zhuo to shake his head bitterly so she could say, 'If you truly love Shi Wei and want what's best for her, you should take the initiative to divorce.'

"Not for the moment,"

Fang Zhuo said calmly, "but I have confidence that by staying with me, I will never let her talent go to waste."

"Pfft..."

Xu Xue sneered and asked back, "You have confidence?"

What the hell was the use of confidence?

In the Federation's martial arts, if confidence were enough, people wouldn't have to desperately pour money into building foundations for their children in high school and buying all kinds of martial arts cultivation resources in college.

"Little Fang, having confidence alone is useless. Cultivating martial arts requires a massive investment of money and resources! With your Martial Arts Junior College degree and the strength of a Primary Martial Artist, you might earn over ten thousand a month after graduation, but that is just a drop in the bucket for martial arts cultivation."

Xu Xue said, "If you truly like Shi Wei and want what's best for her..."

"That's enough,"

Fang Zhuo interrupted, raising his voice slightly. "At the end of the day, don't you all just look down on me because I'm a Martial Arts Junior College student, believing I'm not good enough for Shi Wei?"

All that talk about cultivation resources was complete nonsense.

"Little Fang, that's not what I meant. You've misunderstood..."

Xu Xue felt a bit awkward. She hadn't expected Fang Zhuo to expose her intentions so directly. She still had to care about her daughter's feelings, so she couldn't make things too tense.

"Misunderstood?"

Fang Zhuo grew inexplicably irritated. His mother-in-law was being a total hypocrite. What was the point of hiding it now?

Last time, she had literally tried to throw two million in his face.

And now she was denying it?

Seeing Fang Zhuo's aura suddenly become sharp and imposing, Xu Xue felt her heart tremble for no apparent reason. What was going on?

Why did she feel as if she were back on the Origin Star, being targeted by a wild exotic beast?

"Little Fang, have you awakened a Martial Aspect?"

Before Fang Zhuo could answer, Xu Xue's beautiful eyes widened, staring unblinkingly. "Your Life Level... Intermediate Martial Artist!"

That's right!

As a veteran level-25 Intermediate Martial Artist who was considered battle-hardened in the Federation and had fought on the Origin Star, she could absolutely not be mistaken!

Xu Xue was shocked.

She had investigated Fang Zhuo's background thoroughly. He was only a level-15 martial artist half a month ago. Even if he got lucky and awakened a Martial Aspect,

there was no reason for his Life Level to soar by so many levels all at once!

Even if Fang Zhuo was only a level-20 Intermediate Martial Artist, the lowest tier, that was still a jump of five levels!

This rate and scale of improvement was simply shocking. Even if martial arts cultivation resources were piled onto someone for free, an ordinary martial artist wouldn't be able to digest the medicinal efficacy in such a short time.

Not to mention, there were limits to taking pills; it took time to purge the pill toxins and impurities.

There was only one possibility: either this son-in-law had been hiding his true strength before, or the Martial Aspect he awakened was extremely special, offering an unimaginably potent cultivation effect!

Xu Xue narrowed her beautiful eyes.

There was also another known piece of information: this son-in-law's Body Control had already reached Micro-Perception, allowing him to exert four times the power of a single unit of force, and his comprehension was exceptionally high!

The combat capability of such a genius would be terrifyingly high.

Fang Zhuo remained noncommittal. Seeing his mother-in-law so astonished made him feel much better.

"Little Fang,"

Xu Xue's attitude grew noticeably warm as she said, "It was Mom's fault before. I failed to see your talent."

"But you can't entirely blame me either. You're also at fault. You have such great talent, yet you kept it hidden and never laid your cards on the table with us."

"Otherwise, how could your father and I have had any objections?"

Xu Xue first blamed herself, then turned the tables back on Fang Zhuo, continuing, "You might feel resentful and upset about how I acted before, but once you and Shi Wei have children of your own in the future, you'll understand me. No parent wants their daughter to marry a nobody, right?"

"..."

Fang Zhuo cleared his throat.

He had to admit, there was a tiny shred of truth in those words.

His mother-in-law was truly silver-tongued and eloquent. She brushed off her previous fault of looking down on him in a single sentence and shifted the blame in just a few words.

"It seems Little Fang is also a reasonable person. Leaving Shi Wei to you, I can rest easy from now on!"

Seeing Fang Zhuo's expression soften, Xu Xue immediately put on a smile, trying to close the distance between them with her words.

It was as if she wasn't the one who had been trying to urge them to break up just moments ago.

"Would it be convenient to tell Mom what Martial Aspect you awakened? If possible, I can help you secure some investments!"

Xu Xue's eyes were full of curiosity. Judging by her son-in-law's progress, this Martial Aspect was definitely of the Superior level, it couldn't possibly be a Mid-tier Martial Aspect!

Unless Fang Zhuo had awakened his Martial Aspect a long time ago and had just kept it hidden.

But that didn't add up, because when Fang Zhuo was working as an intern coach at the Tengfei Martial Arts Hall over ten days ago, his Life Level was only 15.

The massive increase in his Life Level had happened within these past ten days.

She wondered which of the nine Superior Martial Aspects it was.

Looking at his mother-in-law, who had changed her face at the speed of light, Fang Zhuo's lips twitched.

Most of his irritation had dissipated.

As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling face. Xu Xue's attitude right now was simply too good.

Besides, she was his wife's mother after all, so he couldn't really do anything to her. Revealing his talent to send her on her way was enough.

"It's not convenient. Please see yourself out!"

Xu Xue wasn't angry either. After all, it was her 'mistake' first; she had misjudged and underestimated him.