In the world of martial arts, I can invest in countless realms.

Chapter 38 Good Things

"Big brother!"

Standing before his elder brother's memorial tablet, Shi Xiangsheng inserted the lit incense into the incense burner.

"Mo Wen and the others have successfully merged their souls and belong to the Li Chou brothers. Don't blame me for being ruthless, after all, the position of clan leader must be passed down."

"It would be one thing if my good nephew made a huge scene or looked full of hatred after learning the truth."

"But given his current behavior, I'm really worried about him, so as his younger brother, I can only arrange a good marriage for him."

"Brother, you should be happy, shouldn't you?"

Standing in front of the memorial tablet, Shi Xiangsheng's lips curled up slightly.

"Last time I was with you, I mentioned giving my two good nephews' secret souls to my son. You didn't say anything, so I'll take that as a yes."

"Now that you're not saying anything, I'll take that as a yes!"

"Brother, I appreciate your kindness. You suffered so much for me back then."

"Now, for my sake, I'm willing to let my two nephews suffer a little more. I'm sure you wouldn't mind, brother."

After rambling on for a while, and glancing triumphantly at the memorial tablet, Shi Xiangsheng finally closed the door and walked out of the house.

My already excellent mood has become even better now.

"Liyou, you're finally awake! You scared me to death!"

On the other side, Shi Lichou was taking care of his seriously injured younger brother. He carried his brother all the way back, but before they even got home, he had already fainted.

Nearly a day has passed, and Shi Liyou has finally woken up, which has given him a slight sense of relief.

Shi Liyou, who had just woken up, was agitated and struggled to get up. "Brother, he lied to us! He lied to us!"

"He lied to us, but there's nothing we can do right now. All you need to do is rest and recover. As for the rest..."

She placed her hand on her younger brother's shoulder and pressed him down on the bed before letting out a sigh.

"The elder is right. What's done is done, and we are now a collateral branch. From now on, we must never show the slightest dissatisfaction, do you understand?"

"But, brother..."

"No buts!" Shi Lichou interrupted her younger brother directly, her expression more serious than ever before.

"We have to live, don't you understand!"

In the other world, Shen Che continued riding forward on his horse, observing quietly throughout the entire process without ever speaking.

He didn't really understand what the so-called "secret soul" was; it was probably something unique to this world.

However, even though the secret soul was given away and the Qi Sea was damaged as a result, Shi Lichou's aptitude evaluation did not drop much.

"A natural physical talent, an innate ability to train to be physically imposing!"

His talent rating hadn't dropped much, meaning that even if his secret soul aptitude remained, his achievements in cultivating those so-called secret techniques were far less than those from physical training.

Therefore, losing the Secret Soul aptitude is not necessarily a bad thing for Shi Lichou, as it allows him to focus solely on this one task without being distracted.

Well, at least for Shen Che, it's definitely not a bad thing.

"Cousins, I've come to see you!"

Shi Lichou had just calmed her younger brother down when she heard that familiar voice that they never wanted to hear again.

When Shi Mowen arrived carrying large bags and small packages, Shi Liyou, the younger brother, turned ashen-faced, his emotions, which had just calmed down, instantly exploding again.

"What are you doing here? Did you come to laugh at us brothers? To laugh at us for being fooled by your father?"

"Cousin, what kind of attitude is this? My father is the clan leader, and I am now a legitimate member of the direct lineage."

"Not only do you not bow to me, but you also dare to yell at me. Is this the awareness you have as a collateral branch?"

"you!"

"What do you mean, 'you'? According to the rules, once we meet, I wouldn't be too much for you to kowtow."

"Liyou, shut up!" Shi Lichou gritted her teeth and scolded her younger brother before managing to force a smile.

"My younger brother is young and doesn't know any better, please..."

"Hey, cousin, what are you doing? I was just joking with you!"

With a beaming smile, Shi Mowen stepped forward, put down what he was carrying, and said, "I've come to tell you some good news, brother!"

"happy event?"

"Yes, Dad knows you've had a tough time, so to make it up to you, he specially found you a good marriage."

"Speaking of which, I must congratulate my cousin! Xu Muyan, the eldest daughter of the Xu family in the south of the city, is a famous talented woman, a beauty that many people yearn for. This is wonderful news, truly wonderful news!"

"Xu Muyan? The eldest daughter of the Xu family?"

"That's right, it's Miss Xu." Nodding, Shi Mowen continued, "My cousin has been focused on cultivation these past few years and hasn't paid much attention to outside affairs, so it's normal that he hasn't heard of her."

"The Xu family was once on par with our Shi family. Although they have declined, they are by no means a small or insignificant family."

"The eldest daughter of the Xu family is also the sole heir to the Xu family patriarch. Brother, you are truly blessed!"

"Impossible!" Upon hearing this, Shi Lichou was about to speak when his younger brother, Shi Liyou, spoke up first.

If he still can't see through his second uncle's true colors at this point, then he truly deserves to be sold out.

"The Xu family is considered a prominent and wealthy family, while my brother is currently only from a collateral branch. Even if my brother were willing to marry the eldest daughter of the Xu family, the Xu family would not agree."

"It's not marriage, it's marrying into the Xu family. Congratulations, cousin, you're getting married!"

Although Shi Mowen's face was still all smiles, those smiles contained disdain and mockery.

"You!" This was a blatant insult. Marrying into another family was such a niche term in the Shi family.

If he agrees, he will be completely removed from the Shi family genealogy and forced to join the Xu family.

"Brother, the Xu family has been producing fewer and fewer talented people in recent years. Xu Muyan is the only heir and cannot marry outside the family, so we came up with the idea of ​​finding a son-in-law. Moreover, we want to find someone with excellent secret skills."

"These conditions are indeed a bit difficult, which is why Miss Xu is over twenty years old but still unmarried."

The Xu family's choice is actually easy to understand. Two qualified people have a greater chance of having a qualified child. If both parents are of excellent quality, the chances of their child being highly qualified are naturally greater.

Since the Xu family has been losing talented men in recent years, and is now facing a talent gap, finding a husband with exceptional abilities would be the best option for Miss Xu.

But what he wanted was to marry into the family, which was not only difficult, but also required exceptional talent, as those with secret arts talent were already few and far between.

To put it nicely, it's called marrying into the family; to put it bluntly, it's just going there to breed.

Which person with exceptional talent would be willing to bow their head like that?

Shi Lichou understood that his second uncle had squeezed him dry before reselling him for a good price.

Once he truly entered the Xu family, he would become a member of the Xu family, and nominally, he would no longer pose any threat to Shi's second uncle.

He had indeed underestimated the ruthlessness of his second uncle; the man gave him absolutely no chance to bide his time and seek revenge.

"Not only will you be forced to marry into the family, but you'll also be an unwanted old maid in your twenties?" Upon hearing this, Shi Liyou could no longer hold back. "I disagree! I absolutely disagree!"

"Brother, Shi Xiang Sheng is clearly trampling on your dignity. You absolutely cannot agree to this, absolutely not!"

"Whether you agree or not is not important; what matters is your cousin's choice."

"Do I even have a choice?"

"Of course you have a choice. You can choose to resist, but..."

His gaze swept over Shi Liyou, who was still cursing on the bed. Although the threat was not spoken, it weighed heavily on Shi Liyou's heart.

"For someone from a collateral branch to insult the head of my Shi family, according to clan rules, he should be punished with at least one hundred strokes of the cane."

"Brother, I wonder if my younger cousin's body can handle it?"