Quang Binh, the Vuong estate.
Inside the study, the atmosphere was frighteningly oppressive—even more stifling than when the Sea Viper Somsak underwent his mutation.
The father and son duo—Old Eagle Vuong and Fledgling Eagle Vuong, whose wings had just been clipped—sat like two children who had made a massive mistake, their heads bowed low, eyes glued to the tips of their toes, not daring to utter a single squeak.
Uncle Binh wasn’t doing much better.
After pouring a round of water for everyone, he stood up and rubbed his chest with a pained grimace, as if his internal injuries were threatening to flare up again.
Seeing this, Nguyen Ngoc Linh spoke softly and gently:
“Uncle Binh, you have injuries.
Go back to your room and rest first!”
“Alright!
Madam, then I’ll return to my room.”
Granted amnesty by Queen Mother Vuong, Uncle Binh cast a helpless, sympathetic glance at the father and son before swiftly vanishing like a gust of wind, locking his door tight and washing his hands of the impending disaster.
BAM!!!!
With only the three of them left, Nguyen Ngoc Linh could no longer hold back her fury.
She slammed her hand on the table and shouted authoritatively:
“On your knees!” — The aura of a Late Stage Spirit Channeling Realm powerhouse erupted, plunging the room’s temperature by several degrees.
Thud!
As if out of pure habit, Vuong Thanh smoothly completed the action in less than a second.
This left Young Master Vuong, a first-time offender, slightly bewildered, staring at Old Vuong with a look that seemed to say: Mom is yelling at me, why are you kneeling?
Unfortunately, Vuong Thanh was trembling and had his head bowed, so he didn’t catch his son’s gaze.
On the other side, Nguyen Ngoc Linh didn’t bother with the old man either.
Waiting until the great young master obediently fell to his knees, her chest heaving with anger, she practically shrieked in a voice bordering on tears:
“Vuong Minh, are you satisfied now that you’re grown up, your wings are stiff, and you refuse to listen, trying to anger me to death?
If I hadn’t forced your uncle to rush over today, did you even think about what the consequences would be?
How did you expect us to live on?”
Facts spoke louder than words.
Vuong Minh didn’t know how to refute her.
Aside from bobbing his head, profusely expressing his gratitude, and praising the Queen Mother’s divine foresight, what else could he say?
After venting for a while and exhausting all the anger, worry, and fear in her heart, Nguyen Ngoc Linh finally calmed down somewhat.
Seeing her son’s torn clothes and pale, dirt-smudged face, her heart ached uncontrollably.
She pulled him up onto a chair and began inspecting him all over:
“Son, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?
Promise Mom you won’t take risks like this next time, alright?”
“Mom, I’m fine!”
Answering with a deep, resolute affirmation to set his mother’s mind at ease, Vuong Minh then softly reasoned with her:
“This time was purely an accident.
I guarantee nothing like this will happen in the future, Mom, rest assured!”
“An accident!
Out there in such a dangerous world, who can guarantee things will go their way?
Accidents are the norm!
Baby, listen to Mom, you don’t need to take risks.
If it weren’t for your uncle today…”
“Mom!”
Vuong Minh interrupted:
“Here, I have Uncle, I have you both, and I have people protecting me.
But once I go to university, step out into society, or go to the battlefield, who will I rely on?
You already know what happened today—it was just a D-rank mission with a Fifth Stage Spirit Channeling Realm target.
With Senior Brother Ly Phong and Uncle Binh accompanying me, fully equipped with a Spirit Armor and an energy gun, anyone would have considered it foolproof with zero danger, right?
Yet danger still struck.
If you hadn’t called Uncle and forced him to come check on us, we almost lost our lives over it.
If I don’t take this opportunity while Uncle is around to learn how to handle danger, who out there will sincerely teach me later?
When a crisis occurs then, your son will just be fish on a chopping block, completely clueless on how to cope.”
“Mom, I admit we were a bit careless today, and there were many flaws.
But I need these manageable mistakes to grow.
I promise you I will be doubly careful from now on, okay?”
As a martial artist herself, how could Nguyen Ngoc Linh not understand that behind the dazzling glory lay countless dangers waiting to swallow you whole at any moment?
She just thought that with her and her husband’s strength, they could do their utmost to shelter their son.
But today’s ordeal reminded her that Vuong Minh had grown up.
The little boy she treated as a baby had become a man, one who could be mobilized to the battlefield at any time.
She simply couldn’t accept it right away.
Seeing his wife’s expression fluctuating and sensing that she had softened, Vuong Thanh hurriedly chimed in to comfort her:
“That’s right, honey.
We can’t follow him around for his entire life.
If cultists can appear even in a safe place like Quang Binh, it just goes to show how complicated the situation outside really is.
We have to let our son learn how to adapt, otherwise he’ll suffer greatly when he enters society.”
“Ahem!
Of course, son, you were still too reckless today.
You absolutely cannot act like this in the future.
Before reaching the Late Stage of the Spirit Channeling Realm, you should obediently stay home or at school to study.
Don’t go taking on missions to play the hero!”
Noticing Nguyen Ngoc Linh glaring at him dangerously, Old Vuong hastily shifted his tone to salvage the situation, but Queen Mother Vuong wasn’t buying it:
“It’s all your fault!
If anything had happened to my baby today, this old lady would definitely not let you off lightly.”
“No, honey, how is it my fault!”
“You still dare talk back!
If you hadn’t been filling our son’s head all day with those chuunibyou ideas, would my baby even want to play hero or save the world?
Isn’t living a peaceful, ordinary life good enough?
It’s all because of you, old man!”
Finding a target to vent on, Nguyen Ngoc Linh instantly cursed Old Vuong until he was chewed out mercilessly.
Unable to lift his head, he could only sneak a desperate glance to the side for help.
Unfortunately, if a fellow Daoist must die, better him than this poor monk—his son magnificently ignored him.
In fact, Vuong Minh even heartlessly poured oil on the fire:
“Mom, don’t get angry, it’ll hurt your health and make you age faster.
Dad ultimately just wanted what’s best for us; you shouldn’t hold it against him.”
“Hmph!
If this old geezer were half as sensible as my baby, I wouldn’t have to be this angry all the time!”
Nguyen Ngoc Linh glared fiercely at Old Vuong one more time before turning her attention back to her precious son, her anger not entirely dissipated:
“Son, on the way back, Uncle Binh said you were injured by the Soul-Destroying Iron and it affected your divine soul.
Does your head still hurt?
Do you feel unwell?”
If he kept his mother sitting here, neither father nor son would have a good time.
So, despite feeling perfectly fine, the great young master pretended to look slightly exhausted and shook his head:
“I’m fine, Mom.
Just need to rest a bit and I’ll be good!”
“How can that be?
You can’t take the divine soul lightly.
Let Mom go brew a soul-nourishing soup for you.”
After finishing her sentence, she didn’t forget to sternly glare at Vuong Thanh, ordering him to stay put and sincerely repent, before hastily rushing off to the kitchen.
Unfortunately, that wily uncle had learned his lesson, pretending he had an urgent meeting at the provincial headquarters and couldn’t pick up, leaving Queen Mother Vuong slamming the table in a rage.
Vuong Minh listened with a palpitating heart.
Plus, with his old man still honestly kneeling in the room, the whole situation felt incredibly awkward.
Lacking the courage to call out to his mom, he used exhaustion as an excuse to quickly retreat to his room to shower and rest.
Leaving behind Old Eagle Dad, grinding his teeth in hatred but utterly helpless to do anything.
A Late Stage Spirit Channeling Realm powerhouse—can’t afford to provoke her, absolutely cannot provoke her!
…..
In the time that followed,
Everything passed peacefully without a hitch.
Neither SkyWeb nor the government released any news regarding the operations of the two major cults, as if Somsak and his crew had never existed.
Seeing this, Vuong Minh felt even more relaxed.
Why would he have any complaints?
After receiving a call from his uncle and learning that the mission had been updated, he was honored with a C-rank combat merit.
This guy happily lounged at home, comfortably enjoying his mother’s pampering.
But the leisure didn’t last long, because a few days later, a sudden announcement dropped, causing all the students in Quang Binh—and indeed all of Viet Nation—to start getting restless.
Nothing else, the first preliminary selection period for the Top Ten Academies and Blue Star’s top universities had officially begun.
Vuong Minh had no choice but to hastily end his rare convalescence holiday and rush back to school.
The moment he walked into the administrative office, Ly Manh Hung, the homeroom teacher for Martial Arts Class 1, immediately spotted him.
Laughing heartily, he handed over a grade transcript stamped with a red seal.
“Haha, Vuong Minh, I figured you’d come looking no matter what, so I prepared this in advance for you.
Come here, this is your academic evaluation.
Take it!”
“Thank you, Teacher Ly!”
Vuong Minh gave his teacher a mental ‘Like’.
He politely thanked him, accepted the document, and didn’t forget to pull out a massive fruit basket he had prepared in advance to present to the teachers for refreshments.
That generous gesture naturally earned the goodwill of the teachers present.
After chatting with Old Ly for a bit, the great young master happily bid everyone farewell and quickly ran back home with his transcript.
Skillfully logging into the Martial Selection Cloud—the national candidate data management cloud system—he navigated the familiar interface and uploaded all of his personal data.
His academic grades were absolutely maxed out; his conduct was deemed excellent, noting him as an active and enthusiastic student.
His cultivation was at the Late Phase of the Fourth Stage Spirit Channeling Realm.
After his life-and-death battle with Somsak, he even faintly felt signs of his acupoints loosening.
Breaking through to the Fifth Stage would surely be as natural as water flowing into a channel, devoid of bottlenecks—he’d likely breakthrough in a month, or two at most.
His cultivation method, the Spirit Qi Body Guiding Art, was mastered to great completion—almost the absolute peak for the average 18-year-old, standing far above his peers.
His execution of the Alliance Twelve Stances martial skill received unanimous, exceptionally outstanding praise from the teachers of Quang Binh First High School, a rarity unseen in a decade.
His hands had smacked the Hidden Dragon genius, his feet had kicked a high-risk criminal, earning a C-rank combat merit.
His Mecha Combat rank was a bit scrubby; he hadn’t been able to grind while nursing his injuries recently, but he was already approaching the Silver tier.
Barring any surprises, he would reach the Gold tier next month—an absolute, undisputed genius.
As for his figure and appearance, he was even more strikingly handsome and dignified, a dragon among men, capable of enchanting all the little fairies to death.
The more he looked at his resume, the more Chairman Vuong clicked his tongue in praise:
“With these stats, it’s more than enough even for early admission into the War God Academy.
Sending this to Victoria…
I honestly feel like I’m using a sledgehammer to crack a nut; it’s a waste of my talents!”
But what could he do?
The plan had already been set.
His parents had already scouted and purchased a villa in Aus Nation to make his overseas studies convenient.
Such profound affection couldn’t be refused!
Therefore:
“Whatever, I’ll let Victoria off cheap, picking up a supreme Heaven’s Chosen for nothing.”
A certain Heaven’s Chosen narcissistically praised himself, cheerfully clicking the submit button, officially registering for the preliminary selections.