C7 Love of His Parents

Whether it was the medium-grade Yellow Rank Heart Cultivation Method of the Zhou family or the lower-grade Profound Rank Dawn Mental Cultivation Method, both could enhance the flow of vitality throughout his body. He could nourish his body with this vitality, which could be stored and circulated within him.

Without practicing a mental cultivation method, the vitality would fail to accumulate and become useless. If the method he practiced was of too low a quality, the utilization of vitality would be limited. Even with an excellent bone root, such as Zhou Jibo's top-grade Earth Spirit, his cultivation speed would be hard to improve when paired with a medium-grade Yellow Rank method from the Zhou family—a classic case of a high-level bone root mismatched with a low-level method.

Now, the Frost Freezing Mental Cultivation Method not only made efficient use of the vitality gathered by Zhou Jibo's bone root, but it also surpassed the Dawn Mental Cultivation Method in effectiveness. Additionally, this method had a new and unexpected function.

When his vitality made contact with an enemy's body, it disrupted the flow of their vitality, causing their body and energy to stagnate as if encased in ice. Facing a sixth-layer Acquired Warrior, if Zhou Jibo could maintain contact for ten breaths or land more than ten strikes, he could completely immobilize the opponent's body with his vitality.

The top-grade Profound Rank Frost Mental Cultivation Method granted him a formidable attack capability beyond his martial skills. It was clear that a superior mental cultivation method could overpower an inferior one.

Zhou Jibo was ecstatic. He activated the Frost Freezing method and placed his hand on the teapot on the table. Vitality emanated from his palm, and within moments, the teapot was coated with a layer of frost.

"It requires time to take effect and direct contact with the enemy's body. This must be the extent of a top-grade Profound Rank mental cultivation method," Zhou Jibo mused. Given the opportunity, he was eager to elevate his method further and discover the potent additional abilities that a higher-level mental cultivation method could offer.

Regrettably, Zhou Jibo found himself with only a little over 20,000 attribute points remaining, which meant he could no longer enhance his Frost Freezing mental cultivation method.

His only option was to allocate points to his Mountain Suppressing Palm technique.

Zhou Jibo proceeded to assign the points.

"You have been deducted 14,000 attribute points. Your Mountain Suppressing Palm has advanced to the seventh layer," announced the system notification. With this upgrade, Zhou Jibo gained a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the Mountain Suppressing Palm, refining his proficiency in the technique he already knew well.

Should Zhou Qian engage Zhou Jibo in combat using his Gravel Palm again, Zhou Jibo was confident that not only could he expose more of Zhou Qian's weaknesses, but he could also employ the Frost Freezing method to diminish his opponent's strength.

Thus, in a head-to-head confrontation, Zhou Jibo felt he could now match Zhou Qian blow for blow.

Nevertheless, Zhou Jibo recognized that his power was still insufficient, as Zhou Qian wasn't even among the ranks of the truly formidable.

Zhou Jibo's ambitions extended far beyond the immediate horizon. In the expansive world of martial arts, innumerable masters awaited, and a myriad of thrilling upheavals were bound to unfold. Icefair was merely a small city; how could its minor turbulence possibly hinder his progress?

With his attribute points dwindling to under 10,000, Zhou Jibo, now at the sixth layer of the Acquired Realm, could no longer allocate points, yet his strength had more than doubled in just one day.

He limbered up and opened the door, where his maid, Ninghe, promptly entered with hot water to assist him with his morning ablutions.

Noticing her reddened, swollen eyes, Zhou Jibo inquired, "Have you heard about what happened?"

Choking back tears, Ninghe replied, "Yes, Young Master. Zhou Xiuyun and Fangyin fled the Zhou family yesterday to join others. I never imagined such a thing could happen. Just the day before, we were all cracking melon seeds and chatting together."

Despite her emotional state, Ninghe efficiently tended to Zhou Jibo's needs.

Zhou Jibo wasn't taken aback by the news. The conversations with Ninghe and Zheng Xunqin's recent actions had already hinted at the betrayal.

He got up and made his way to the front courtyard to greet his father, Zhou Kaile, and his mother, Qian Jiajia. They were both delighted and proud to witness their son, who had undergone a remarkable transformation in temperament and revealed an exceptional talent for martial skills just the day before.

"You've done an excellent job, making your father proud for once! It's just that your father isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He lacks talent, which is why he was overpowered by those three scoundrels." As soon as Qian Jiajia saw him, she took Zhou Jibo's hand and urged, "No more martial arts training today. Go spend the day with Xunqin."

Zhou Jibo felt a sense of resignation upon hearing this and thought to himself, "Now I see why the original Zhou Jibo was so poor at martial skills. His days were consumed with trying to please Zheng Xunqin. His mother's overindulgence is to blame."

"Hold on, there's something else." Zhou Kaile interjected as Qian Jiajia was about to send Zhou Jibo off to enjoy his day. "Yesterday, you sent Ninghe to ask for my protection. After questioning Ninghe and investigating further, I discovered two traitors in your household. Zhou Xiuyun and Fangyin may have fled, but I've apprehended two other traitors based on their associations."

"One refuses to confess, but the other has spilled everything. His story is quite preposterous, and you might not take kindly to it."

At that, Zhou Jibo asked, "Preposterous? Is it about Zheng Xunqin?"

Zhou Kaile's frown deepened at his response. "Could it be that the spy's claims are actually true?"

Qian Jiajia, overhearing this, couldn't contain her curiosity. "What's happening here? Weren't these spies sent by Zhou Qian? How does this implicate my future daughter-in-law, Xunqin?"

"Future daughter-in-law?" Zhou Jibo scoffed. "Mother, you're unaware? Just yesterday, Zheng Xunqin and a Second Palace Holy Son from the Shrine of Astral Radiance infiltrated our Zhou family with the help of those spies. The Holy Son himself assured Zheng Xunqin that in three months, the Shrine's envoy would escort her to the Holy Land, as she now deems me unworthy of her."

"What?" Qian Jiajia slammed her hand on the table, fuming. "How dare Zheng Xunqin scorn my son like this! The Zheng family and the Holy Land conspire together and now they want to break off the engagement? Have they no sense of shame? They sought my son's hand in marriage because of his low-grade Earth Spirit bone root!"

"No, I must visit the Zheng family."

"Hold off on going for now!"

Zhou Kaile soothed Qian Jiajia, his face darkening with fury. He murmured, "Something about the traitor's words struck me as odd. How could Zheng Xunqin possibly slip into my son's courtyard with a man? It's inconceivable. Now it all makes sense!"

He spoke through gritted teeth, his fists tightening as he turned to Zhou Jibo, "That woman is despicable! If you had ended things amicably, the men of our Zhou family wouldn't face obstacles in marrying in the future. Yet she dared to bring a man from the Holy Land to flaunt in our faces. We cannot stand for this!"

Zhou Jibo felt deeply moved by his parents' rage.

The love of parents is always so warm and pure, no matter the world.

With a firm tone, Zhou Jibo reassured them, "You needn't worry about me. I will resolve this issue within three months."

Qian Jiajia bit her lip, her concern evident, yet she held back her words.

She feared that this ordeal might alter her son's disposition, causing him harm.

Zhou Kaile spoke with resolve, "I realized just yesterday that our son has come of age. We'll entrust this matter to him. Should he falter, there will still be time for us to step in."