Chapter 134: The Weight of a Beauty's Grace!

As Sun Tzu said, know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.

Tang Fei sat at his desk, preparing to list and compare the strengths of both the enemy and himself.

He first fetched a piece of paper and neatly wrote four large characters on it: "Enemy Forces."

At the very top was naturally the Phoenix Empire Royal Family, wielding wind and lightning, whose single word could decide the life or death of any mortal.

The Shen family ranked first among the Nine Great Families. Shen Wuxiang of the Shen family commanded the military department, making them clearly the greatest beneficiaries after the annihilation of the Tang family. Therefore, they rightfully ranked second.

The Yu family were imperial relatives and the Empress's clan, sharing a destiny of mutual glory or common ruin with the royal family. They naturally ranked third.

The Qin family was also one of the Nine Great Families, possessing formidable strength and occupying one of the wealthiest industries in the empire. Let's put them in fourth place.

Who asked Qin Jianyi and his good-for-nothing younger brother to run over and provoke him in the first place?

Of course, there were also the Shi family, the Dongguo family, including the Gongshu family where the old man came from...

Having just arrived on Nova, Tang Fei was not yet familiar with the roles these families played in the case of the Tang annihilation, nor their hidden strengths, and would need long-term observation and understanding.

Or perhaps he could just ask the old man. After all, he had harbored a grudge against those people for so many years, bent entirely on revenge and retribution. Surely he hadn't done nothing at all?

Tang Fei swapped for another piece of paper and wrote four large characters on it: "Own Forces."

Tang Fei: Himself. As the son of the Marshal and of Tang blood, he was undoubtedly the undisputed vanguard and main force of revenge. This first place, whoever tried to snatch it, he would hand it over.

Little Fatty: His good brother who lived and died with him, never abandoning him through thick and thin.

Based on Tang Fei's understanding of him, you couldn't beat him away, nor could you scold him away...

Let's rank him second (for now).

The Old Man: He and Tang Li were sworn brothers. For Tang Li's sake, he spared no effort to take him—the son of a "rebel general"—far away to seek refuge in the Old Lands. His hatred burned higher than mountains and deeper than the sea... Third.

Fourth... There was no fourth.

Tang Fei looked at the densely packed "Enemy Forces" on the left, alongside the countable-on-one-hand "Own Forces," and felt that the mortal world was hardly worth the trouble.

How was he supposed to fight this? How was he supposed to exact revenge?

No matter how much beating Little Fatty could endure, how many slashes could he take? He was exhausted; he didn't want revenge anymore.

Yet, the raging flames upon that high platform, the couple struggling and roaring in the fire without uttering a single sound, made his heart ache as if pierced by knives, cutting deep into his marrow...

This was torture and slaughter!

Moreover, what they slaughtered were his own biological parents.

Thinking of the palpitation in his heart when he saw that woman, that blood-connected reflection and pull, a familiar soreness surged up his nasal cavity once again...

In the past, Tang Fei had no clear concept of the words "parents." He only knew they gave birth to him, and then they both died.

As for what kind of personalities they had, what they looked like, and why they died, he knew nothing. Whenever he pressed the old man too hard, the latter would only brush him off with a few perfunctory words.

For instance, when Tang Fei asked the old man why his mom and dad gave him the name "Fei" (meaning bandit or rebel), the old man replied that it was because his parents thought he looked too handsome and worried he would be bullied when he grew up, so they gave him a name with a bit of a bandit's aura to toughen him up.

Tang Fei found this explanation quite persuasive and believed it implicitly.

Now it seemed this name was probably given by the old man himself, wasn't it?

Did he hope that he would become a "rebel bandit" dedicated to opposing the empire's royal family? This old fogey had already mapped out the trajectory of his life right from the very beginning, hadn't he?

Just then, there was a rapid rat-a-tat-tat knocking on the room door.

Ignoring the smart doorbell and stubbornly using hands to knock just like back in the Old Lands—that naturally had to be Little Fatty.

Tang Fei hid the strength comparison chart from the desk, rubbed his face hard to keep his facial muscles from looking too stiff, checked his appearance and demeanor in the mirror, and finding nothing unusual, walked over to open the room door. Looking at Little Fatty, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Bro, you didn't eat much tonight... I cut a plate of fruit for you." Little Fatty handed over the fruit platter he was holding.

Ice-spring fruit, desert watermelon, and dragon-blood fruit—these were a few rather special fruits on Nova, and also the ones Tang Fei particularly liked to eat.

Little Fatty knew Tang Fei's palate very well.

"Thank you." Tang Fei took the fruit platter and prepared to close the door. "Bro..."

Little Fatty blocked the door frame with his hand, looking at Tang Fei with a worried expression.

"What is it?" Tang Fei looked at Little Fatty with puzzled eyes and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Bro, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Tang Fei cracked a smile and said, "What could possibly be wrong with me?"

"You're not fine," Little Fatty said.

"How am I not fine?"

"You didn't tell any jokes during dinner," Little Fatty said with a deadly serious expression. "Not a single joke."

Tang Fei shot Little Fatty an annoyed look and said, "I'm tired, I couldn't think of any."

Little Fatty, however, acting as if he had discovered a new continent, stared gloomily into Tang Fei's eyes and said, "Bro, why are you crying?"

He had never seen Tang Fei cry before.

No matter how severe his injuries were, or how harshly the old man scolded and beat him, he had never shed a tear.

Once, while hunting in Mount Hatred, his chest was swiped by a bear's claw. Several ribs were broken, and a large chunk of flesh was torn away, yet he gritted his teeth and endured it...

Even the old man who applied medicine and treated him couldn't help saying that if he couldn't bear the pain, he could scream a few times, and nobody would laugh at him...

Tang Fei said he would laugh at himself.

In the past, it was always Little Fatty who cried, while Tang Fei stood by scolding him for being a crybaby. Yet today, his older brother had actually cried.

Just what kind of person had bullied his big brother?

***

Thinking that someone had bullied his big brother, Little Fatty was filled with boundless anger, itching to pick up his skull hammer and go smash people to pieces.

"I didn't cry. Why would I cry?"

"Your eyes are swollen," Little Fatty said. "You were completely fine during dinner just a moment ago, and in the blink of an eye, your eyes are swollen..."

"That's just sand getting into my eyes... Fine, say whatever you want to say." Tang Fei simply dropped the act and laid his cards on the table.

With such huge events occurring, his heart felt stifled and uncomfortable; he indeed needed to find someone to share the burden. He now admired the old man with unprecedented reverence—how had he managed to endure all these years?

Thinking of his appearance, which didn't match his actual age, Tang Fei more or less understood what was going on.

The fires of hatred gnawing at the heart had long since burned a person beyond recognition.

Would he eventually follow in the same footsteps?

"Bro, what on earth happened?" Little Fatty squeezed right past Tang Fei, wearing an expression that suggested he wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk all night, and said, "Will you tell me, please? Whatever it is, we'll bear it together."

Tang Fei closed the room door, placed the fruit platter on the desk, looked at Little Fatty, and asked, "Little Fatty, are you afraid of death?"

"I'm scared," Little Fatty nodded.

Then he shook his head, looked earnestly at Tang Fei, and said, "Bro, if anyone bullies you, then I'm not afraid of death anymore."

"What if I want other people to die?"

"Then they must deserve to die," Little Fatty said without the slightest hesitation. "I'll come help you smash them to death."

"Alright, it's nothing." Tang Fei patted Little Fatty's shoulder and said, "Go back to sleep."

"Bro, you still haven't told me what actually happened."

"I'm afraid that once I tell you, you won't be able to sleep."

"I can choose not to sleep."

Tang Fei looked solemnly at Little Fatty and said, "If you want to help me, focus on breaking through your realm and cultivating properly. Learn as much as you can from your master... The stronger you are, the higher our chances of success. At the very least, we'll have one more chance when escaping."

Little Fatty nodded earnestly and said, "Bro, I know... But Master makes me smash rocks all day long. Either I'm smashing them in the back mountains, or smashing them in the gravity chamber. When will I ever become strong?"

"Your master is doing the right thing," Tang Fei said. "This is your unique breakthrough system, and you are the only one in the world who can pull it off..."

"Really?" Little Fatty asked happily. "To what extent can I reach?"

"I'm your brother, not your teacher," Tang Fei said. "If you have questions, go ask Shang Xiulin."

"Oh."

Little Fatty nodded in agreement and said, "Bro, are you really okay?"

"I'm fine, really. Hurry back and get some rest," Tang Fei said aloud.

Sending Little Fatty away, Tang Fei felt a slight warmth in his heart.

No matter what, he still had Little Fatty, he still had a brother.

However, if he truly agreed to start the revenge plan with the old man, into what kind of perilous situation would that drag Little Fatty?

Once his identity was exposed, Little Fatty naturally wouldn't be able to stay on Nova any longer.

After all, he was far too close to him; given the methods of those people, they would rather kill the innocent by mistake than let him go.

He was entirely blameless—was this fair to him?

Furthermore, the old man said he was Tang Li's child, so then who was the child burned inside the fire pit the other day?

Could it be that this was just some random wild child the old man snatched from outside? Given the old man's ruthlessness, that was indeed something he was capable of doing... Yet, by what means had he managed to swap the people?

To be able to pull off such a feat and preserve a shred of bloodline for the traitorous marshal—this wasn't something the old man could achieve all by himself, was it?

Who else was involved?

Tang Fei lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

***

During the mechanics class, Tang Fei saw Lu Siyu once again.

Lu Siyu was dressed just like before, wearing a simple hoodie and jeans, a look of casual ease.

Her hoodie was pulled over her head, and she wore headphones, exuding an aura of "I am the greatest under heaven and I don't care to talk to anyone."

Tang Fei smiled and greeted her, saying, "Good morning, class monitor."

Lu Siyu glanced sideways at Tang Fei and asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Nothing much, just had a question I wanted to consult the monitor about..."

Lu Siyu nodded and said, "No problem."

"Thank you, monitor." Tang Fei immediately handed over the mechanics problem he had prepared in advance. Lu Siyu did not hold back her knowledge; she sat at the operating console and began explaining it earnestly.

Tang Fei looked at Lu Siyu's profile. Her skin was very fair...

Usually, she always wore a huge pair of black-rimmed glasses and a hat, obscuring more than half her face. The clothes she wore also prioritized looseness and comfort, making it easy for people to overlook her appearance and figure.

Actually, she looked quite decent; it was just that she didn't care for makeup or dressing up.

Of course, for a mechanics girl to make herself look so exquisite didn't hold much meaning anyway... Those mechanical beasts were her best makeup.

Which man could look at that and not be mesmerized?

"Does she know about the time I tailed her?"

"After entering Luban Mountain, she vanished, yet I ended up triggering the Luban Grand Array... Could this matter have nothing to do with her?"

"Didn't the old man tell her anything? What kind of relationship does she actually have with the old man?"

Observing her expression, which was as indifferent and icy as ever, Tang Fei sighed in inner praise—women really were born performers.

Since she was willing to pretend as if nothing had happened, Tang Fei was more than happy to accompany her in acting out this grand play.

After all, he was the one who had tailed someone, and he was the one with a guilty conscience.

"This is a dual-power device. You install a chip on both the head and the tail end, and then use a Kirin 991 processor to link them together, using it as the main brain to issue commands to them. This way, the problem of its insufficient power is solved... Go give it a try."

"Thank you, monitor," Tang Fei said with a chuckle. "If I get the chance, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Not eating." Lu Siyu flatly refused.

"Hahaha... The monitor really knows how to save me money."

Tang Fei chuckled dryly, then walked over to his own operating console and began assembling the first mechanical beast he had designed according to Lu Siyu's just-given instructions: the White Tiger.

***

Ever since learning about his own life background, the person Tang Fei dreaded seeing the most was Phoenix.

Because he didn't know how to face her, nor what attitude to hold toward her. Now, and in the future.

Would they still have a future? Could they even have a future?

Such questions were ones he didn't even dare to contemplate. Thinking about them made his head throb with pain.

In the past, Phoenix was one of the people he could trust the most on this planet. Aside from Little Fatty, it was Phoenix.

Moreover, Phoenix was a local of Nova, an imperial princess. He felt that because of her existence, both he and Little Fatty had a sense of security on this brand-new planet and would have a wonderful future...

As long as you hug a thick thigh tightly, star-coins will never be in short supply later on. What was he supposed to do now?

Yet, he still ran into Phoenix.

When the day's training ended and Tang Fei emerged from the gravity chamber, he discovered Phoenix standing outside waiting for him.

Seeing Tang Fei drenched in sweat, Phoenix reached into her pocket and handed over a handkerchief.

Tang Fei took it, wiped his face, and asked aloud, "Why are you here?"

"Can't I come over?" Phoenix asked with a smile.

Ever since the coming-of-age banquet, she hadn't seen Tang Fei for several days.

Reason told her to keep her distance, but emotion made her yearn to draw close. Besides, she had come with proper business to attend to...

"That's not what I meant," Tang Fei said. "It's class time right now, don't you have classes?"

"I do, but I skipped." Phoenix candidly admitted to ditching class, pulled a book out of the bag she was carrying, and said, "I came back to fetch this for you."

"What is this?" Tang Fei reached out and took the book.

After the Cataclysm, ancient-style books like this were becoming increasingly scarce. Every single one that managed to survive possessed irreplaceable value.

Ordinarily, people wouldn't casually bring out an original copy; most of the time, they only used photocopies or digital versions.

"Didn't you want to reconsolidate your cultivation foundation? I brought a book out of the palace for you." Phoenix looked at Tang Fei and spoke aloud.

Tang Fei looked at the book in his hand, upon which three small characters were written in running script: *The Imperial Court Scripture*.

"*The Imperial Court Scripture*?" Tang Fei asked.

He was worried he might have misread the characters.

"Yes, *The Imperial Court Scripture*. This is the cultivation technique used by members of the royal family when building their foundations," Phoenix said not without a hint of pride. "Personally, I feel it's the most formidable among all foundation-building techniques."

"How did you manage to smuggle this out?" Tang Fei's eyes widened.

Cultivation manuals and secret arts like this were treasures cherished deeply by various families and clans, impossible to be casually displayed to outsiders. For Phoenix to directly bring out the original copy felt somewhat rebellious...

"I said I wanted to look it over again to properly reconsolidate my foundations... Surely nobody would dare go to my Phoenix Cottage to inspect it, would they?" Phoenix said with a cheeky grin. "As long as you don't take it out and let others see it, you'll be fine."

"Then once I master this kind of technique—"

"The raw rice has already been cooked into porridge; what can they do even if they find out? Besides, this is merely a foundation-building technique; they won't care too much about it. Rest assured and use it."

Tang Fei lowered his head to look at the book in his hands. Was this a cultivation manual? This was a heavy debt of gratitude from a beauty.

After a moment of silence, Tang Fei spoke in a low voice, "Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for? It's just a small effort."

Tang Fei put away *The Imperial Court Scripture* to prevent passing teachers and students from seeing it.

He looked at Phoenix and asked, "Do you know how to enter the White Egret Academy?"

Phoenix paused for a moment, then eagerly advised, "Is this because of Shen Xiulin? Tang Fei, don't fall for his provocation. You just need to be yourself... You are you, and you don't need to compare yourself to anyone."

Phoenix thought Tang Fei wanted to enter the White Egret Academy in the shortest time possible because of her. After all, Shen Xiulin was indeed a man capable of exerting immense pressure on others.

He had invited Tang Fei to join the White Egret Academy early in front of all the guests; could Tang Fei possibly not have any thoughts about that?

"It's for my own sake," Tang Fei said with a smile. "If a person lives without dreams, how are they any different from a salted fish?"

Phoenix cast a suspicious glance at Tang Fei and asked, "Really?"

"Really. I just want to become stronger."

As for what he would do after becoming stronger? He couldn't say.

Only then did Phoenix let out a sigh of relief and speak aloud, "Every year, the White Egret Academy selects and admits students from major universities nationwide. Top-tier prestigious schools like the Imperial First Military Academy are allocated one quota every year..."

"However, it's usually senior students who compete for this quota. Exceptionally outstanding freshmen can also participate in the selection, but the hope is slim... After all, having studied for two more years, the foundation will naturally be much more solid."

"Therefore, to be admitted to White Egret Academy, first of all, you need to rank number one in the whole school..."

"Of course, there is another admission method. Just like those genius youths who made a name for themselves at a very young age and underwent personal examination by the academy's dean, who then opened a special admission channel for them... Those ones even stand a chance of becoming the dean's personal disciples."

"Is Shen Xiulin one of those?"

Phoenix looked into Tang Fei's eyes and said, "Shen Xiulin is indeed one of those."

"I understand," Tang Fei said.

He wasn't a genius youth like Shen Xiulin, nor did he possess Shen Xiulin's family background. The path available to him was to become the number one student in this school.

Since becoming the school's number one was required, he would simply claim the number one spot first.

"Are you truly going to try?" Phoenix asked.

"I am truly going to try."

"This year?"

"This year."

Phoenix looked at Tang Fei with a worried expression and said, "Then the time left for you is running short..."