Spirit Cultivation

She didn't take her eyes off her grandpa and just in case, she moved a bit forward, trying to protect Xuefeng with her own body. 

Just as she thought, both her grandpa and father were not satisfied with it. Grandpa's smile disappeared at that moment as he ordered, "Little Wu, come to me. There is something I want to tell you." 

Wu didn't move, recalling what they talked about back in the bedroom and with how her grandpa acted, she immediately realized what he wanted to do. 

"No. I'm not moving. If you want to tell me something, do it from there. Xuefeng is my man. Whatever you say, he shall know it too," Wu replied sternly. 

She was slightly mad and disappointed at her grandpa. She didn't expect his first idea would be this. He didn't even glance at Xuefeng from the moment they entered the office as if Xuefeng was non-existent for him. It could only mean one thing. 

Xuefeng was already a dead man to him. 

Her grandpa gave her a stare before sitting back down on the chair, showing a smile. "My granddaughter is really smart. Too smart and too beautiful to be a side character. You know that, right?" her grandpa asked, rubbing his chin with interest as he looked at them.

It was the first time he finally looked at Xuefeng, looking him up and down before stopping at his arm that had the bracelet hidden under his sleeve. 

"So you are the boy that claimed my granddaughter's heart," Grandpa continued. "You do realize what you have on your arm is something that many would kill for?" 

Wu looked at Xuefeng's face in worry, knowing what her grandpa was implying but he didn't seem to be worried, casually smiling. 

"Let me guess, you plan to do exactly that and kill me before gifting the bracelet to your granddaughter. Am I right?" Xuefeng finally spoke, exposing what Wu wanted to say without hesitation. 

To her surprise, her grandpa didn't get angry and instead nodded, confirming, "That is correct. I do plan to kill you for the bracelet. My granddaughter is only stalling the inevitable. You being calm despite knowing it shows you are not a weakling. I respect that."

For Wu it was like spitting on her face so she immediately shouted angrily, putting on her defensive mode. "Grandpa! What are you talking about?! If you want to kill him, you will have to kill me too!" 

She stood in front of Xuefeng with her arms extended to the sides and glared at her grandpa as if saying, 'Ain't nobody touching my man.'

Her grandpa didn't seem to care much and explained, "Little Wu, did you forget what I told you about this bracelet? The only reason I told you was because I have always wanted to gift it to you. I was searching for it everywhere in the Heaven Realm the past few years which was why I stopped visiting you." 

He switched his gaze onto Xuefeng's arm and continued with a smile, "Who would have thought it was in the Earth Realm this whole time? Now that it's here, I can finally groom you to become the greatest cultivator of all times. With the help of Trade Union, you would receive resources and information about all Elemental Stones, allowing you to claim them very easily. The whole time I spent expanding Trade Union's influence was exactly for this moment. Don't you understand it?" 

"Did you even ask me if that's what I want? The answer is no, I don't." Wu felt like she was about to go crazy. In her mind her grandpa was someone she idolized all those years yet now all of that disappeared, bursting like a bubble. 

She wanted to rage more when Xuefeng hugged her from behind, giving her a kiss at the back of her hair and lowered her hands. "Wu, don't worry, nothing will happen to me," Xuefeng assured, holding her still. "Calm down for a second." 

Hearing his calm voice and feeling his warm embrace indeed helped her, allowing to let out all negative emotions with a deep breath. 

He rubbed her arms and suggested, "Don't be mad at your grandpa. He is not that bad. He knows how much power the Elemental Bracelet has and wants the best for you. Just the idea of him searching many years for it should be enough to prove his love for you." 

"Mhmm…" Wu agreed, also thinking it was nice of him. If he was greedy and selfish, he wouldn't care about her and simply take it for himself. 

Xuefeng switched to massaging her on the shoulders and continued, "We already talked about this before. He naturally doesn't know much about me so he is making this decision based on what he knows. Right now his priority is securing the best possible future for you and he doesn't care about consequences. Just like many parents, he thinks he is doing good to you, thinking you will understand why he did it later but he makes a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes." 

"So, don't blame him too much, okay?" Xuefeng added, turning her around to look at him. 

He showed a gentle smile that made it hard for her to reject him. 

"Okay, I won't," Wu accepted, hugging him tightly. 

With how calm Xuefeng was, she decided to trust him. 

Her grandpa stared at them, deep in thought and finally asked while looking at Xuefeng, "Do you really think I will spare you after your speech?" 

Before Xuefeng could reply, her own father voiced out his opinion, asking her, "Wu, don't you want to take this chance and become the biggest cultivator in the Heaven Realm? You can make a mark in the history instead of being a side character and be forgotten. Once you are strong enough, there will be many who will—" 

"Okay, hold up," Xuefeng cut her father off in the perfect moment before she could do it herself. "You both talk all this crap while forgetting one of the most important facts." 

"And that is?" Grandpa's eyebrows rose in question.

"You forget the fact that you need to somehow kill me to get the Elemental Bracelet. Do you really thinking you can do that, Sir?" Xuefeng explained politely and suddenly released her, distancing himself from her. "Come at me. You were worried you will damage your granddaughter yet now I'm all alone now. Show me what you got."

Xuefeng put his arms behind his back and just stayed there, smiling. Her gaze bounced from the two of them, watching the two anxiously as she didn't know what to do. She wanted to protect Xuefeng yet he released her on purpose. She didn't want to disturb whatever plan he had in mind. 

Wu expected some action yet after nothing happened for a while until she noticed something changed in her grandpa's expression. He frowned and looked down at his hands as if they didn't listen to his order. 

"What happened? I thought you wanted to kill me?" Xuefeng provoked, walking up closer. "Weren't you so sure you can easily kill me? Prove it. I'm waiting." 

Her grandpa slowly opened his mouth and stuttered, having problems with his speech, "W-what did you do…?"

Xuefeng grinned to that and finally reached her grandpa's chair. He placed his hand on its armrest and asked while staring into his eyes, "Do you really think your granddaughter is blind and would pick a weakling as her lover? I don't like to brag but I don't have competition left in the Earth Realm. If I can beat anyone under God Stage, do you think you can kill me with a mere avatar?"

Grandpa didn't reply to him, so Xuefeng walked away, no longer bullying him. 

He clicked his fingers on the way back and her grandpa regained movement. Naturally, he didn't attack and instead stared at Xuefeng's back with curious expression. 

"I will take good care of your granddaughter, don't worry," Xuefeng assured as he embraced her waist and warned without looking, "You are my family now so I will only give you a warning but next time you try to take her away from me, I won't hesitate and kill you." 

"You have balls…" Grandpa finally commented, not showing ill intentions anymore. "How did you know the weakness of my avatar?" 

"Its not really a secret. Avatars are made from Qi. You can perform your arts but your consciousness is weak. You can never win against me," Xuefeng explained with a shrug and gazed at the Fire Stone. "I will come to claim that stone when we enter Heaven Realm. If I win against you, the stone is mine and you will assist me in gathering the rest. If you win, the Elemental Bracelet will be yours." 

"Deal. I will wait then," Grandpa agreed without hesitation and turned to her father. "I will be going now. My time is limited. Tell her what we talked about earlier." 

Her grandpa's body dimmed when he looked back at her and she heard his last words before he disappeared. 

"Little Wu, don't blame me. He made this choice himself."