Quang Binh City, the Trinh estate.
Being woken up early in the morning on the weekend by his old man was already annoying enough for Playboy Hieu.
Now, scrolling through SkyWeb and seeing that his newsfeed was plastered with the face of the guy he hated most, Young Master Trinh grew even more furious.
He wasn’t just mad because Vuong Minh had suddenly skyrocketed to fame and his attention metrics were through the roof.
More importantly, yesterday he had caught his current girlfriend secretly watching the guy’s One-Finger Zen video and then sliding her hand under the covers, passionately trying to mimic it.
That was a feeling no man could possibly endure.
So Playboy Hieu had decisively broken up with her and dumped the girl on the spot.
Just to be petty, he even used a burner account to comment on King Ming’s personal page, exposing the “truth” about him stuffing melons in there to fake it for the masses.
Yet by this morning, his comment had already been buried.
The entire screen was still dominated by the simping screeches of howling fangirls.
“What a total collapse of public morals, completely shameless!”
Irritated, he tossed his phone aside, temporarily pretending the piece of cold meat on his plate was the flesh of Gay Minh as he viciously chewed on it.
That uncouth table manner naturally drew Father Trinh’s dissatisfaction:
“Sit up straight and eat properly!
What kind of look is this!”
“Can’t you look at that Vuong Minh kid?
These past few days, everyone we hear is talking about him until our ears are calloused.
Look at you—all day long you only know how to goof off and play around, never accomplishing a single useful thing.
Soon, the representatives from Victoria Academy will arrive for preliminary reviews.
With your sorry state, what do you have to compete with them?”
Unlike Vuong Minh, Playboy Hieu might be a big boss out on the streets, but at home, he was just a whipped puppy.
Facing his old man, he didn’t even dare to talk back, only lowering his head and mumbling:
“Dad, you don’t even know that Gay Minh guy.
How strong could he possibly be?
It’s all just an act; I’m just too lazy to expose him.”
Trinh Duy Hung, Playboy Hieu’s father—known in the underworld as the Medicine King, and Chairman of the Trinh Family Group, a prominent pharmaceutical and hardware conglomerate in Quang Binh City—was fuming.
In recent years, the Trinh Family Group had been developing rapidly, always wanting to expand into diversified industries.
They had started clashing in quite a few sectors with Old Vuong’s Global Sky-King Transport & Logistics Conglomerate, which gradually fostered a mutual rivalry, eventually trickling down into an antagonistic attitude between the sons of both families.
Hearing his rebellious son make excuses, Trinh Duy Hung cursed in exasperation:
“Stupid beyond belief!
An act, you say?
If a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes the truth.
As long as more people acknowledge Vuong Minh as a genius, anyone looking at him from the outside will immediately get the impression that he is a genius.
Besides, at least he’s willing to put on a show, whereas you don’t even want to put in a shred of effort!
Without any surprises, Quang Binh City will only secure one or two slots for the Top Ten Academies this year.
Lam Phong has already locked down one spot; as for the remaining one, you can just wait and cry!”
Playboy Hieu was startled.
Disregarding his old man’s raging anger, he snapped his head up in shock and asked:
“Dad, are the admission quotas out already?
Why are there so few for Quang Binh City this year?”
Having been busy serving the two of them all this time, Lam Tuyet Mai, Hieu’s mother, immediately answered gently:
“It’s news from your older brother.
This year, the examiner coming to Viet Nation for selections is your brother’s professor.
Little Long was lucky enough to be chosen to go along and assist.
In a few days, they’ll fly to Hanoi to officially screen the applications.”
“Big bro is on the examination committee?
That’s fantastic!”
Trinh Thanh Long, Playboy Hieu’s older brother and the eldest son of the Trinh family.
With extraordinary aptitude, he passed the entrance exam to Victoria eight years ago, recently graduated, and was currently plotting out his career path right at the academy.
He was the Trinh family’s greatest hope; if it were up to a piece of work like Playboy Hieu, Trinh Duy Hung would have died of anger long ago.
Hearing that his big brother had managed to worm his way onto the examining committee, Playboy Hieu was overwhelmingly excited.
He bounced up, gesturing wildly:
“Dad, Mother, why are you only telling me such great news now? You are reading on g.com, the official source.
With big bro acting as an examiner, do I still need to worry?”
Trinh Duy Hung roared angrily, forcing him back down into his seat before glaring at him:
“You think Victoria Academy is run by our family?
Your brother is tagging along to help the examiners and do odd jobs; he isn’t big enough to wield that kind of authority.
If you dare talk nonsense or cause trouble for Little Long, I’ll break your legs!”
Little Hieu shrank his neck in fear, but quickly plastered on a shameless smile and sidled up to him:
“Dad, I won’t cause trouble.
But since big bro is the examiner’s student, he must at least have some say, right?
I have proof that Vuong Minh cheated, hiring Lam Phong to throw the match.
I want to report him so he gets disqualified in the preliminary round.”
Father Trinh raised an eyebrow:
“Really?
You have proof?”
Throwing a match to farm bonus points—put harshly, it was a serious offense; put lightly, it was nothing.
Almost all major conglomerates and elite families used this method countless times to secure points for their children, and the Top Ten Academies usually turned a blind eye.
This was an unwritten consensus; just playing smart with the rules, nothing major.
However, if the admissions council decided to grab hold of it and refuse to let go, it could also be considered a major violation, capable of directly disqualifying an application.
This entirely depended on whether your connections were solid enough or not.
Playboy Hieu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, pulling out his phone like he was offering a rare treasure and playing an audio file:
“Lam Phong… static… Young Master Trinh, I wonder how grand this gift is… static…”
Hearing the incomplete audio recording where human speech was barely distinguishable, Trinh Duy Hung lost all interest:
“Just this?
And you dare call it proof!”
“Dad, how could I not know what kind of person Vuong Minh is after going to school with him for all these years?
He definitely threw the match; Lam Phong daring to open his mouth and make demands is the clearest proof.
Besides, over the past few days, I’ve provoked that Gay Minh quite a bit, but have you ever seen him dare to come looking for trouble with me?”
Playboy Hieu was 100% confident in his own deduction.
Little did he know, it wasn’t that Vuong Minh was afraid of him; it was simply because he didn’t hold any value whatsoever for anyone to bother dealing with him.
Young Master Vuong had a hundred tasks on his plate every day; he wasn’t idle enough to go looking for pointless trouble like that.
Yet Old Trinh didn’t know that.
Recalling Vuong Minh’s past impression—introverted, thin-skinned—there really wasn’t anything bright or impressive about him.
Seeing him deep in thought, Lam Tuyet Mai softly advised:
“Honey, why don’t you try mentioning it to Little Long and see if it’s doable.
If that works out, then Little Hieu getting into Victoria will be a 100% sure thing, and we won’t have to worry anymore.”
“That’s right, Dad!
As long as I get into Victoria, I promise I’ll be good.
With big bro keeping me in line, I’ll definitely cultivate hard!” — Catching a wink from his mother, Little Hieu quickly and pitifully begged for mercy.
With the two of them playing off each other, Old Trinh quickly softened his stance.
Completely helpless, he finally nodded:
“Alright, I’ll try talking to Little Long about it!”
“Hooray!”
That day, everyone in the Trinh family celebrated as if it were Tet.
…..
At the Vuong estate.
Vuong Minh naturally had no way of knowing about the scheming between the father and son of the Trinh family.
But even if he knew, he wouldn’t care, because he had his own plans.
Right at that moment, seeing Mr.Vuong and Mrs.Vuong sitting in the dining room waiting for him, Vuong Minh strode over to chat.
Before he could even open his mouth, Vuong Thanh laughed heartily and waved his hand:
“Haha, son, come here!
Dad’s got something good to show you!”
Curious, Vuong Minh walked over and watched as Old Vuong pulled a metal box out of a paper bag, gently pressing a button on it.
A wisp of cold vapor hissed out, and the item inside immediately came into view.
Vuong Minh’s eyes lit up as he eagerly picked it up to inspect it.
Even though he had anticipated it, upon seeing the product label, Vuong Minh was still extremely thrilled.
This was B-grade nutrient fluid, strictly rationed and supplied exclusively to powerful Meridian Opening Realm experts.
He had previously had to ask his uncle, Nguyen Hung Cuong, to acquire it, waiting a full month just to get a single vial.
On Blue Star, where resources were scarce and cultivation pills were virtually nonexistent, nutrient fluids were the core strategic material supplies for martial artists.
Though their effectiveness fell far short of actual pills, they had the advantage of being more accessible, carrying fewer side effects, and better fitting Blue Star’s modern lifestyle.
Of course, accessibility still depended on personal connections.
Take Vuong Minh before; normally he could only afford the lowest D-grade Basic Nutrient Fluid – Primordial Qi, or occasionally win a C-grade Reinforcing Nutrient Fluid – Steel Bone as a school exam reward if he scored high.
That was already considered great.
Anything above C-grade was extremely difficult for his family to source—or rather, practically impossible without Nguyen Hung Cuong’s help.
In the past, thin-skinned Vuong Minh would never have dared to open his mouth to ask for favors.
But now?
Chairman Vuong was already drowning in debt anyway; since he already owed his uncle a favor, what difference did adding a little more make?
There was no need to stand on ceremony.
“Hehe, truly good stuff!
Dad, Mom, please thank Uncle for me.”
Smoothly and swiftly sliding the vial of nutrient fluid into its cooling case to prevent the spirit energy from evaporating, Vuong Minh smiled as he looked at the two elders gazing lovingly at him:
“Old Dad, Mom!
I also have something to discuss with you two, and it’s also related to Uncle.”
“Baby, what else do you need?”
Nguyen Ngoc Linh answered without the slightest hesitation.
Old Vuong didn’t object either.
Over the past few days, the changes in their son were witnessed by their own eyes and brought peace to their hearts.
Regarding this only son, the couple no longer had any lingering doubts or worries.
However, Vuong Minh’s next words nearly made the couple jump out of their skins:
“Dad, Mom!
Last time we went to the provincial capital, didn’t Uncle mention that matter?
After thinking about it for a few days, I feel it’s viable.
I want to take part in it.”
“No way!
Baby, it’s too dangerous!”
Vuong Thanh didn’t hesitate for a second, frantically trying to dissuade him:
“That’s right, son!
I know your cultivation is progressing fast and your martial skills are impressive.
But that’s just training; actual combat and life-and-death bloodshed are completely different.
You don’t need to take such risks.”
What Nguyen Hung Cuong meant was to use his connections within the provincial police force to let Vuong Minh take on a couple of D-rank missions—hunting down and eliminating cultists.
Succeeding would earn him official Alliance Council combat merit points, which could then be exchanged for college admission bonuses or cultivation resources.
It was extremely useful.
Only, as the family’s only son, how could Vuong Thanh and his wife ever bear to let him go take such risks?
However, they had severely underestimated Vuong Minh’s stubborn nature.
In his past life, this guy could never sit still.
He always loved exploring, craving adventure, and chasing higher heights.
He was never satisfied with the status quo, nor was he the type to enjoy a life of idle comfort.
Cultivation, combat, adrenaline surges, and wild excitement—growing stronger was what he lived for.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bet on digital currency to rake in a massive fortune back then, nor would he have gotten blown to smithereens by the Purple Crystal and brought to this world.
With an unshakeable, resolute gaze, Vuong Minh shook his head:
“Dad, Mom, don’t try to talk me out of it.
This is the path I want to walk.
Sooner or later, I have to step onto the battlefield and learn how to kill and survive.
Rest assured, I’m already grown up and I know how to protect myself well.
Besides, Uncle already said he’d pick easy missions for me and send people along to protect me.”
“An eagle will eventually leave its nest one day; you two don’t need to worry.”
“Trust me!”