Forced to Marry a Female Billionaire CEO-Chapter 669 - 670: Xu Zhentai’s Past

"Stop laughing." Xu Zhentai glared at Xu Ke.

Xu Ke suppressed his smile.

Then, he felt a belated sense of fear. Thankfully, Xu Zhentai's act was completely convincing just now. Otherwise, if he had shown even a hint of cowardice or weakness, the three Fire Guards would have certainly seen through it. And if that had happened, it really would have been game over for us.

Xu Ke sat down with a plop and asked, "So, was the task you gave me to kill them serious?"

"Of course not. Do you really think you could pull that off?" Xu Zhentai said exasperatedly. "If I hadn't said that, they would've definitely suspected why I didn't kill them myself. If they had forced my hand and I had to use all my strength to kill them, then you would have been done for as well."

Hearing this, Xu Ke was left speechless.

So Xu Zhentai was just bluffing! If the people inside knew that the unboundedly arrogant Xu Zhentai from moments ago was just pretending, and that his declaration about me definitely reaching the peak was all a sham... I wonder what they would think.

Immediately after, Xu Ke curiously asked, "Why would I be finished if you killed them with all your strength?"

"Because I would have killed you, too," Xu Zhentai answered without hiding anything.

Hearing this, Xu Ke's expression finally changed. "Why?"

Listening to Xu Ke's question, Xu Zhentai didn't respond immediately. Instead, he lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke before saying, "Aren't you curious why I have such powerful True Qi?"

Xu Ke nodded. This was indeed the biggest of the many questions swirling in his mind.

Xu Zhentai took a deep breath, his eyes filled with reminiscence. "Let me tell you a story. After you hear it, you'll understand everything."

"Second Uncle, please tell me." Xu Ke's hands tightened. He knew he was about to learn about his second uncle's past.

"A long time ago, our Xu Family... or rather, your grandparents, met a martial artist in distress. They helped him out a bit, and the grateful martial artist offered to check the four of us siblings to see if we had the aptitude for martial arts." Xu Zhentai flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Guess who had the talent?"

"Who?" Xu Ke asked, surprised.

"Your father and me. As for our third brother and fourth sister, they didn't have any aptitude at all," Xu Zhentai said.

Hearing this, Xu Ke exclaimed in shock, "My dad could practice martial arts, too?" He hadn't expected that his second uncle was talking about not only his own past but the history of the whole Xu Family. And the story even involved his father.

"Of course. Not only could he practice, but his talent also far surpassed that of ordinary people... If I had to describe it, I'd say he had a top-tier aptitude," Xu Zhentai chuckled. "So, now you know where your talent comes from, right? 'The student has surpassed the master'... You truly inherited your father's talent perfectly, and you're even more outstanding!"

Xu Zhentai didn't know that Xu Ke had once reached the Innate Great Perfection stage, but just seeing him at the Innate Initial Stage at his current age was already outrageously impressive!

"So that's how it is..." Xu Ke murmured, his mind wandering. He then quickly asked, "Then, Second Uncle, what about my father's cultivation level? Is he already at the peak?"

My second uncle is this powerful, so my father must be at least as strong as Yan Xuehai!

But Xu Zhentai shook his head. "Your father has no cultivation."

"What?" Xu Ke was stunned. "Why?"

"He didn't want to practice martial arts, so he gave his spot to me." Xu Zhentai sighed with a trace of melancholy. "Training in martial arts costs money. Even though that martial artist owed our family for saving his life, he could only take on one disciple at most. Your dad is just that kind of person. When he learned there was only one spot, he gave it to me."

"Moreover, he said that since Zhenmin and Feng An couldn't practice, he, as the eldest brother, couldn't either. He didn't want them to feel there was any inequality among the siblings..."

Hearing this, Xu Ke fell silent. That really does sound like something my dad would do.

"So, I accepted and began training with that martial artist. After half a year, I quickly reached the Postnatal Initial Stage, and the martial artist left Jiang City. With my new skills, I was eager to venture out and make a name for myself... I pleaded with your grandparents and your dad for nearly half a month before they finally agreed to let me go. But the moment I arrived in Tianhai, I fell head over heels in love."

"You met Second Aunt?" Xu Ke asked excitedly, a burning desire for gossip flaring up inside him.

"No, I was duped by a prostitute." Xu Zhentai's face was filled with melancholy. "I was young and naive. I thought that kind of feeling was true love and foolishly gave her my all. I went out fighting and brawling every day, just trying to earn money to support her. I almost lost my life... and then I caught her in bed with another man."

The excited expression on Xu Ke's face froze.

"My condolences. Everyone makes mistakes when they're young, right?" Xu Ke patted Xu Zhentai's shoulder.

"Cut it out. Show some respect." Xu Zhentai glared at him, then couldn't help but let out a dry, exasperated laugh. "You little rascal, you're just like me."

"How am I like you?"

"We were both duped by women."

Xu Ke: "..."

At that moment, he finally understood why Xu Zhentai had been so vehemently against him bringing Siao Jia back to Jiang City... It turned out he had gone through something similar with a woman when he was young!

"I was so depressed back then that my True Qi didn't advance; it actually regressed. But it's true that when it rains, it pours. While I was wallowing in heartbreak, the brother I trusted most stole all my money. The ten thousand yuan I had planned to send home to your grandparents was all gone."

As Xu Zhentai spoke, his tone was light, but Xu Ke could sense the despair of being betrayed by a woman and a brother. Ten thousand yuan was a fortune in those days!

"Back then, I just cried. I wanted to go home, get a decent job, and support your grandparents... But when I got home, your grandfather had passed away." As he said this, Xu Zhentai rubbed his nose and spat contemptuously. "You want to provide for your parents, but they are no longer there... Damn it all, I seriously wanted to go jump in the river and kill myself."

Xu Ke was silent. He never would have guessed that his second uncle, who seemed to be the strongest in the Xu Family and had the sharpest tongue, had such a past.

Xu Zhentai continued, "Later, I really did go to jump into the river. But before I could jump, I found a cultivation technique."

"What?" Xu Ke was startled, his instincts telling him that this was likely the source of Xu Zhentai's incredible cultivation.

"This cultivation technique is called the Sorrowful Heart Art," Xu Zhentai said slowly. "Its cultivation method is different from normal True Qi techniques. It requires a martial artist to channel sorrow into their Qi. The more sorrowful, desperate, and world-weary you are, the faster and more ferocious your cultivation progress becomes."

"At the time, I was already contemplating suicide, my heart filled with extreme sorrow. I figured, what the hell, I'd see if this cultivation technique was as mystical as it claimed. If I could make something of myself with it, I would go out, earn a fortune, and come back to support my mom."

Xu Ke asked, "And what happened?"

Xu Zhentai took a drag on his cigarette and said with a complicated expression, "Once I started cultivating, it was like I was strapped to a rocket... To be honest with you, I had already reached my current cultivation level by the time I was forty."

"What?!" Hearing this, Xu Ke was utterly astonished.

How is that possible?! If that's true, doesn't that mean Second Uncle's breakthrough speed was even faster than Master's?!