After a night of commotion, everyone felt quite exhausted and went straight back to their dormitories to sleep.
As for Zhang Fan, upon returning to his dormitory, he was unaware of the immense stir his actions had caused in the Qi family that night.
When Qi Kangming learned that the Flying Tiger team had returned defeated, and that the entire Flying Tiger team had been severely thrashed by the Black Panther team, losing all face, he was so enraged that he smashed his cherished purple clay teapot to the ground, shattering it into pieces.
Lin Xiao, witnessing this, couldn't help but feel a tremor of fear. He had followed Qi Kangming for over a decade, and this was the first time he had seen the latter fly into such a rage.
"Army Major General? What exactly did Zhang Fan do to be awarded the rank of general at under twenty years of age?" Qi Kangming roared in anger, a deep sense of jealousy churning within him.
He, Qi Kangming, had the backing of the powerful Qi family and had joined the army early, yet he had only been promoted to Major General when he was nearing forty.
And that Zhang Fan, barely twenty, with a background that couldn't compare to his own, possessed the qualification to stand as his equal. Naturally, this made Qi Kangming feel unbalanced.
At the same time, he understood that with his own strength, it was unlikely he could avenge his son. Thus, that very night, he rushed back to the Qi family to report the matter to Old Master Qi.
"Army Major General?" Even with Old Master Qi's extensive experience, he couldn't help but be shaken upon hearing this news.
"No wonder Group Leader Liu tried so hard to dissuade us. So that brat had such backing. However, merely a Major General, expecting our Qi family to swallow this insult is too far-fetched," Old Master Qi said grimly.
Even though he had retired and held little actual power now, a mere Major General was still not something Old Master Qi took seriously.
With his Qi family's background and connections, even taking down an Army Lieutenant General would not be difficult.
A Major General didn't even have the qualification to enter their Qi family mansion as a guest.
"He holds a military rank; it's likely difficult to bring him down using force," Qi Kangming frowned.
"Our Qi family ranks among the four great families of Yan Jing not through force, but through profound heritage and far-reaching connections," Old Master Qi said, shaking his head.
"Then what does Grandpa mean?" Qi Kangming, unsure of Old Master Qi's intentions, inquired.
"The great loss our Qi family has suffered this time is solely because we lacked sufficient understanding of this brat's background," Old Master Qi said calmly, seated firmly in his armchair, his mind filled with strategy.
"In that case, I'll have someone thoroughly investigate Zhang Fan's background first, and then act. It won't be too late," Qi Kangming said, his mind having grasped the meaning, and nodded.
"Indeed, acting only after careful consideration allows for a decisive strike," Old Master Qi nodded gently and continued, "As for Jun'er, you need to keep a closer watch on him recently."
"His true qi has been crippled, clearly making it unsuitable for him to develop in the military. You should also consider what path he should take in the future."
Hearing this, Qi Kangming couldn't help but sigh inwardly and nodded.
Qi Jun had always loved to compete and fight since he was young. Now, he had become a cripple with no strength to even lift a chicken. He wondered if, with his temperament, he could overcome this shadow.
...
Zhang Fan paid no mind to how the Qi family might react. His sole concern now was how much longer his cultivation needed to steep before reaching the threshold for a breakthrough.
Although he now possessed the strength to confront peak Divine Realm cultivators head-on, Zhang Fan still dared not relax, for his opponents were far more than just those in the Divine Realm.
In the dragon-and-tiger-filled China, he had no idea how many old monsters had yet to reveal themselves.
Just like Kunlun and Changsheng Daoist and their group of Divine Realm cultivators; if not for the emergence of the Half-Moon Cave Mansion, which attracted a group of Divine Realm cultivators, Zhang Fan might never have known of their existence.
And then there was that Dark Emperor from the Dark Organization. Zhang Fan had interacted with him multiple times, and he was certain that the Dark Emperor's cultivation technique was a genuine immortal cultivation method, yet it did not originate from Immortal Master Half-Moon. Could it be that there were other cultivators on Earth?
It was also possible that it was a legacy left behind by a cultivator who had mistakenly entered Earth a long time ago, who had since departed or died of old age. All these were possibilities.
Furthermore, not long ago, Zhang Fan had severely wounded the divine sense clone of the Dark Pope of the Vatican. If he recovered, he would surely seek revenge on Zhang Fan.
Moreover, the Vatican's Starstone was still in Zhang Fan's possession. Zhang Fan didn't believe the Vatican would give up such a treasure, so no matter what, a confrontation with the Vatican was inevitable.
Even with his current strength, Zhang Fan had no certainty of victory against the Pope of the Vatican.
Then there was Changsheng Daoist from the South Sea, who, for an immortal cultivation technique to enter the Golden Core Earth Immortal realm, had even plotted against and poisoned his long-time sworn friend Kunlun. He was certainly not a benevolent figure. If he were to condense his primordial core and enter the Primordial Core realm, would he come after Zhang Fan?
After all, he had inherited the legacy of Immortal Master Half-Moon; it was hard to guarantee that it wouldn't arouse covetousness.
The Foundation Establishment stage was divided into the Profound Connection Realm, the Divine Sea Realm, and the Heavenly Human Realm. The Golden Core stage, however, was only divided into the Primordial Core Realm and the Golden Core Realm. Once a cultivator condensed their primordial core, it was equivalent to stepping from the Foundation Establishment stage into the Golden Core stage, and their strength would increase significantly.
Even with the many means Zhang Fan possessed, he would still struggle to resist cultivators in the Golden Core stage, as his current cultivation was too weak, not even reaching the Heavenly Human Realm.
Without sufficient strength, how could Zhang Fan face these unknown crises?
Therefore, for Zhang Fan at present, the urgent task was to break through to the Heavenly Human Realm.
Once he entered the Heavenly Human Realm, Zhang Fan's magical power and physical strength would both significantly increase, giving him greater confidence to face those unknown crises and challenges.
While staying at school and enjoying a few days of leisure with Qin Luoshui, Zhang Fan did not deliberately cultivate, yet he felt the bottleneck of his cultivation loosen slightly. Zhang Fan knew that in one to two months at the earliest, or half a year at the latest, he would surely break through to the Heavenly Human Realm.
In fact, Zhang Fan had gone through this stage of cultivation once in his previous life. For him, it was not a bottleneck at all. However, having been reborn in this life and cultivating from the beginning, his early progress had been somewhat too rapid, requiring a period of consolidation to solidify his foundation.
He had originally intended to spend more time with Qin Luoshui before returning to Donghai to enter seclusion and cultivate.
But one day, Qin Luoshui suddenly informed him that her grandfather's sixtieth birthday was approaching in a few days. She needed to return to her family to prepare and also asked Zhang Fan to prepare to attend the birthday celebration together.
"Is this the prospective son-in-law going to meet the future in-laws?" Zhang Fan joked, trying to see Qin Luoshui blush.
However, all he received was a roll of Qin Luoshui's eyes.
...