Potential Energy

  "Little Ai, sister, brother is bothering you again today..."

  While Du Fei was stunned, a loud laughter came from outside the door, and at the same time, a low and heavy footsteps sound came from afar and got closer.

  But when she heard this voice, Xiaoyi's face suddenly turned pale, and her expression had a few parts of the same fear as a small rabbit.

  Seeing this, Du Fei couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow and say: "What's going on?"

  Xiao Ai let out a bitter laugh and said, "It's Du Qing young master. Young master, you've been unconscious for several days so you don't know, but this Du Qing young master has come every day, Xiao Ai is also very worried!"

  Upon hearing this, Du Fei couldn't help but chuckle to himself. To be honest, although Xiao Ai was still young, she had a face that was as beautiful as a painting, skin as white as snow, and a lovely appearance that left people in awe at all times. In the past, in that small town, there were countless people who wanted to make a move on Xiao Ai, but with the protection of the Du family, plus Xiao Ai's own abilities, no one dared to pester her persistently.

  Unexpectedly, in just a few days at the Du's house, someone else has already fallen under her pomegranate skirt.

  "You little devil!" Du Fei couldn't help but stretch out his hand and gently scratch the tip of Xiao Ai's nose, but he also knew that this kind of thing wasn't Xiao Ai's fault, so he didn't say anything else.

  At this time, the wooden door of the room had already creaked open and a young man in white clothes walked over slowly.

  This young man looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, with a complexion that was somewhat pale and sickly. However, his features were quite refined. As soon as he entered the door, the smile on his face suddenly sank when he saw Du Fei's movement, and a hint of anger flashed across his face. But this anger only lasted for an instant, and he quickly returned to normal. If not for Du Fei's exceptionally keen eyesight, it would have been easy to overlook.

  "This guy, I'm afraid he's not simple!" Du Fei slightly furrowed his brow and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. As someone who had experienced two lifetimes, he still had some experience in this regard, and naturally understood where Du Qing's anger was coming from. What's more troublesome is that at the moment, both he and Little Ai were in an awkward position, if it were to be discovered by Du Qing...

  "Master Qing." Seeing Du Qing walk in, Xiao Ai quickly stood up and slightly bowed.

  "Hey, Little Ai, haven't I told you many times? There's no need to be so formal between us, just call me Brother Qing.!" Du Qing chuckled and waved his hand, then deliberately looked at Du Fei after a moment, saying softly, "So it's Brother Du Fei, I didn't expect you to recover so quickly, I was worried about you all these days!"

  Worry about you big head ghost.

  In his heart, he sneered, but Du Fei's face still hung a faint smile, slightly cupping his hands and saying: "Thank you, Brother-in-law, for your concern, but please forgive me, I'm not feeling well and can't get up to pay my respects."

  "Enough politeness, enough politeness, we're brothers after all, no need for such formalities," Du Qing smiled lightly and immediately turned his head to say, "Xiao Ai, Grandfather and the others are also worried about your body, so they sent me here today. Since you've woken up, go inform them now."

  Upon hearing this, Xiao Ai hesitated for a moment and glanced at Du Fei. After seeing Du Fei nod slightly, she responded with a soft "yes" and slowly backed away.

  When Xiao Ai left, Du Qing smiled slightly, walked around the room a few times, sat down casually after a moment, tapped his index finger on the table, and then smiled lightly again: "Du Fei, my younger brother has something to trouble you with..."

  "I don't dare," Du Fei said with a faint smile, although he had already understood the situation somewhat. "Thank you for thinking highly of me, Brother, but I'm new here and it's not suitable for me to get involved in your affairs right now."

  "Hehe, Brother Dù Fēi is being polite," said Dù Qīng casually, picking up the teacup on the table and taking a sip. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up, "If I'm not mistaken, in Fourth Uncle's household, that is, your household, there's only one son, you?"

  Upon hearing this, Du Fei's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. He was quite annoyed at Du Qing's deliberate words. However, he was clear that although Du Qing looked amiable and kind, someone like him couldn't possibly be as harmless as he seemed. If he showed even the slightest disrespect now, his consequences wouldn't be good!

  If I were skilled in martial arts! Why would it be necessary to go to such lengths!?

  Many times, people under the eaves of a house have no choice but to lower their heads.

  Taking a slight breath, Du Fei concealed his anger very well and only lightly sighed: "Du Qing is right, my family indeed only has one son, me."

  "Ah, I see," Du Qing clapped his hands lightly, a look of delight on his face. "So, that means Little Ai is actually the maid of Du Fei's younger brother? Hehe, since that's the case, I'll be straightforward! As for Little Ai, I was smitten with her at first sight. Although I couldn't marry her due to her status, I can take her as a concubine. So, if Du Fei's younger brother is willing, I'll exchange ten beautiful maids, four guards, and a hundred taels of gold for Little Ai. What do you say?"

  When he finished speaking, Du Qing had a resolute expression on his face. With his identity, not to mention in the Du family, even if it were in the entire Bu Yue City, it was likely that no one would refuse such a condition.

  Upon hearing this, Du Fei's eyes twitched slightly, although he had expected it. The request that Du Qing put forward was probably going to be like this, but when the other party said it so clearly, it still made his heart burn with anger.

  However, Du Fei was not a three-year-old child. He took a slight breath and temporarily suppressed his anger, then smiled and said: "Brother Du Qing is really being polite... Originally, if you proposed such generous conditions to exchange Xiao Ai with me, it would be acceptable. After all, Brother's generosity shows that he also loves Xiao Ai dearly... A gentleman should appreciate others' kindness..."

  "It's just that, although Xiaoyi is my maid, she was actually brought back by my father from who-knows-where when I was young. My father had said that Xiaoyi has her own freedom and can leave the Du household at any time if she wants to. Moreover, over the years, Xiaoyi and I have grown up together, and I've long stopped treating her as just a maid... Not to mention, this time when my entire family was slaughtered, it was only Xiaoyi who managed to rescue me with great difficulty... Both emotionally and rationally, I couldn't possibly agree to this matter without consulting her opinion..."

  "So, I hope you can understand, big brother, but I'm afraid I won't be able to agree to this request..."

  In the end, Du Fei let out a slight sigh, with a hint of regret on his face.

  Du Qing's face still had a few smiles on it, but after hearing Du Fei's words, the expression on his face gradually cooled down.

  He slowly put down the teacup in his hand, stared at Du Fei with a cold gaze for a moment, and then smiled again, saying: "So to speak, my younger brother, you are not giving me face?"

  "I don't dare!" Du Fei slightly shook his head, "The specific situation, I've already made it clear to you, Brother. Please forgive me..."

  Du Qing smiled coldly and said indifferently, "So-called maidservants, no matter how beautifully they are described, are nothing more than their master's appendages. Doesn't my younger cousin understand this? As long as you open your mouth, what guts does she have to say no... Today, I'm teaching you a lesson, Du Fei, younger cousin. In this world, power, wealth, and women - if you want to possess them, you must have the corresponding strength... In the past, when Fourth Uncle was alive, you had a backer, but now you're nothing more than a useless person. Although you have the blood of the Du family, your reputation has long been gone! With you being a useless waste, how can you still keep such an excellent woman like Xiao Ai by your side? Isn't that seeking death?! I'm discussing this with you for your own good... If it weren't for the fact that you're also considered a member of my Du family..." Hmph!

  "When I don't keep Xiaoyi by my side, I naturally have a number in mind. This point doesn't need you to teach me, Brother Biao......" Seeing both sides was considered to be breaking the hypocritical relationship between Brother Biao and his nephew, Du Fei slightly sneered and opened his mouth lightly, "So, this matter, I'll just pretend I didn't hear it."

  "You...hello! You're doing well!" Du Qing stared at Du Fei for a moment, then couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Du Fei, oh Du Fei, don't you still think you're that young master from back then? This isn't some poor mountain town, this is the Du family's estate in Yun City! I think it won't be long before you can't resist bringing Little Ai here yourself! By that time, whether or not Ben Shao accepts her will be a whole different matter!"

  Having said that, Du Qing slowly stood up, but his right hand slammed heavily on the table, and he turned around with a cold smile and left.

  "Tempering, Seventh Layer!?"

  Looking at the deep palm print left on the desktop, Du Fei couldn't help but slightly furrow his brow.

  Cultivating martial arts is a single path, with tempering the body as its foundation. Only when tempering the body is successful can one wash away the impurities within and continuously strengthen their physique. Once reaching a certain level, true energy will be produced within the body. When someone possesses true energy, they then have the opportunity to formally begin cultivating martial arts.

  The body is like a martial artist, also divided into nine layers. The first three layers do not change the body much, but the fourth to sixth layers gradually strengthen the body from the outside in. Only when reaching the seventh layer will a mysterious inner energy be produced within the body. This inner energy, after continuous strengthening, will settle in the dantian at a certain moment, forming true qi. This mysterious inner energy has a colloquial term called "true breath".

  But just now, Du Qing's palm had already shown that he had cultivated the true breath, with at least the strength of the seventh level of Body Tempering. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to leave a palm print on the table without destroying it.

  Compared with Du Qing's seventh layer of Body Tempering, Du Fei, who hasn't even passed the threshold of the first layer, is obviously a complete waste.

  In a family, the seventh genius of the martial arts and an awkward waste, who is more valued, who has more power, is indeed an obvious situation.

  "It seems I was too impulsive... If the master of the house hadn't seen me before, Du Qing wouldn't have dared to take action so rashly. Otherwise... " Thinking of this, Du Fei slightly shook his head. If that so-called system couldn't even allow him to start cultivating, then it seemed that the days ahead would be tough!

  But if we can't even get over this little difficulty in front of us, how can we talk about deep-seated family grudges?

  Du Fei clenched his fists and slammed them onto the bed, the intense hatred in his eyes not hiding at all!