Chapter 13: Step-Siblings Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon After leaving Yu Qiubai’s office, Zhou Wen took out his phone and tried to call his dad, Zhou Lingfeng. No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for him to offend a figure like An Tianzuo. For An Tianzuo to know him, a high schooler from a tiny city, and then criticize him by name was truly inexplicable. This time, the phone call connected as Zhou Lingfeng’s voice sounded. “Son, missing daddy so soon?” Zhou Wen was already used to Zhou Lingfeng’s character. Unmoved, he directly asked, “Dad, do you know a person named An Tianzuo?” “Tianzuo? Of course.” Upon saying that, Zhou Lingfeng exclaimed in surprise. “Hey, how do you know that Tianzuo is your elder brother? I don’t think I’ve introduced the two of you.” “My elder brother?” Zhou Wen was left somewhat stunned. “That’s right. Tianzuo is Little Lan’s son. I married Little Lan, so he’s naturally your stepbrother. By the way, you also have a stepsister named An Jing...” He had slipped effortlessly into addressing his fiancée by an affectionate diminutive. Zhou Wen didn’t manage to hear the rest of what Zhou Lingfeng had to say. It was because he was so shocked. The development had exceeded his imagination. Zhou Lingfeng had actually married such a woman. “Dad, how’s your relationship with An Tianzuo?” Zhou Wen tried probing. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎 “Great. Tianzuo and Little Jing honor me greatly. We have a very good relationship,” Zhou Lingfeng answered without much thought. Zhou Wen understood his father’s character. It was unlikely that he was lying. However, he couldn’t help but feel bitter deep down. If An Tianzuo and An Jing really have a good relationship with Zhou Lingfeng, why would they be treating me this way? Could it be that they aren’t agreeable to dad’s marriage with Ouyang Lan?” Zhou Wen could sense Zhou Lingfeng’s good mood and how happy he was about his impending wedding. He didn’t wish to affect Zhou Lingfeng’s wedding because of his matters, much less be a burden on him. If An Tianzuo and An Jing had treated him that way because they didn’t want Zhou Lingfeng to marry Ouyang Lan, he didn’t want his problems to affect Zhou Lingfeng’s wedding. Otherwise, he would fall into their plans. Although he hadn’t met An Tianzuo before, nor did he know what motives An Tianzuo had, Zhou Wen had a terrible impression of him. Regardless of how powerful the An family is, it has nothing to do with me. I have no plans on benefiting myself through the An family. This family is really going too far. Although Zhou Wen now knew the underlying reasons, it was meaningless. It wasn’t as if he could tell others that An Tianzuo was pissed off because his dad had hit on his mom, thus also making him a sore sight to An Tianzuo, right? Not only couldn’t he say it, but even if he said it out loud, it wasn’t going to change the situation he was in. An Jing was able to defeat me with one strike. An Tianzuo’s one sentence nearly made me lose the qualification to take the combat test. At the end of the day, it’s because I’m too weak. I can only be bullied when I lack strength. If I were an Epic stage expert, would they dare do this to me? Zhou Wen wasn’t someone to bemoan his fate. He quickly put the matter aside and focused on grinding on the mysterious phone. Guide High School’s former principal once commended Zhou Wen for being the most focused person he had ever met. Focused sounded like a very ordinary commendation, but to truly be focused was an insurmountable feat. Humans weren’t saints. They had all kinds of desires and emotions that made them prone to enticement and disturbance. Even gods were no exception. Buddha suffered the temptation of Mara the demon, so what chance did mere mortals have? Many people claim studying to be difficult, but that was because they were unable to fully focus on their studies, nor did they have the ability to maintain that focused state. However, Zhou Wen was different. No matter what he did or no matter what the environment was, it was very easy for him to enter a focused state as he put a hundred percent into it. It was very difficult for him to be influenced by external factors; thus, the reason the former principal had made such a remark about Zhou Wen. In-game, Zhou Wen summoned his Companion Beast, the Mutated Vigor Ant. Although it also had 9 for Constitution, this fellow’s carapace was hard and its defense was much stronger than Zhou Wen. The blood-colored avatar rode on the Mutated Vigor Ant, storming through the Ant Nest. Even a horde of Vigor Ants besieging him was no longer a worry. When the Mutated Vigor Ant struck with its front pincers, it killed ordinary Vigor Ants with one strike. With its hard carapace, it remained invincible amongst the hordes. “If only I had a spear.” Zhou Wen discovered that by riding on the Mutated Vigor Ant’s back, the blood-colored avatar could hardly hit the Vigor Ants around it due to the distance. It had to jump off the Mutated Vigor Ant’s back and fight alongside it. Ever since he had obtained the mysterious crystal, Zhou Wen had never had such a good time grinding. The man and ant basically wiped out everything in their path as they stormed through the map. Whenever they met Mutated Vigor Ants, they could quickly kill them with their combined forces. In the past, Zhou Wen was only able to grind in the opening area, dying before he could reach deeper. Now, he was able to storm all the way in, quickly allowing him to enter areas he had never entered before. With so many Vigor Ants killed, two dimensional crystals dropped, but they were of very low values. Zhou Wen only replenished some of his energy after absorbing them. Ding! After killing another Mutated Vigor Ant, Zhou Wen heard a familiar sound. On careful look, he was delighted. This time, it was a dimensional crystal—a Vigor Ant Crystal at Rank 9. Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to pick it up, instantly feeling a jolt of electricity surge into his body as it blasted through his circulation. His Vigor Divine Fist instantly rose from Rank 7 to Rank 9. His Vigor Divine Fist might raise once again at Rank 9. However, the amount of Primordial Energy drained increased as well. Each usage expended 5 Primordial Energy. With only 9 Primordial Energy points, he was unable to use Vigor Divine Fist twice in short periods of time. With this new addition, Zhou Wen lost himself to grinding. The man and ant slaughtered through the Ant Nest, leaving a wake of destruction as they forged deep into the nest. The Ant Nest was like a huge underground maze. After nearly two hours of killing, he finally saw its end. The cave ahead seemed to become broader as the passageway became wide as though he was entering a large warehouse. As he was storming through the horde of ants, he suddenly saw a silver glimmer of light. All Zhou Wen saw was a strange ant with silver wings sweep above the blood-colored avatar, and the next second, the latter’s head flew into midair. The game screen then went black.