Chapter 096: Hu Zi Xuan

Upon hearing Chen Jianzhou’s words, Chen Xiao nodded without giving a definite answer. He currently held the Tianzu Order, making him half a member of Tianzu and under their protection—there was no need to offend them.
Moreover, Tianzu of Huaxia’s Soul represented the will of the nation. Provoking Tianzu was equivalent to antagonizing the country, so Chen Xiao saw no reason to do so.
Just as the grandfather and grandson were about to continue talking, both fell silent. Chen Xiao and Chen Jianzhou exchanged a glance, their eyes showing a hint of disbelief.
“Xiaozi, you’re back! You didn’t even come to see me,” came a grumbling voice from outside. Chen Xiao immediately recognized it as Hu Zi Xuan, his middle school classmate and best friend, also from the same village.
Although Hu Zi Xuan was quick-witted and intelligent, he didn’t engage in serious activities. He hunted birds in the mountains and fished in the waters, skipping classes all day long, which prevented him from getting into high school.
However, Hu Zi Xuan’s family was wealthy. Over the years, Chen Xiao and Chen Jianzhou had relied heavily on their support in the village.
“Alright, Xiaozi, remember what Grandpa said,” Chen Jianzhou said cheerfully. He wasn’t worried about Chen Xiao—after all, Chen Xiao was now extremely powerful. Even a seventh-tier Water-type sorcerer couldn’t inflict serious injuries on him, yet Chen Xiao could heal such wounds in just a few minutes, proving his current strength.
For Chen Jianzhou, everything now depended on Chen Xiao. Of course, he wouldn’t reveal anything until Chen Xiao could truly stand on his own.
By then, Hu Zi Xuan had entered the small tile-roofed house. In the countryside, it was common to call out when visiting someone and then enter directly—there was nothing wrong with that.
“I didn’t believe Uncle Zhang when he said you’d turned fair! You’ve been in the city for less than a year, and now you’re as fair as a girl,” Hu Zi Xuan laughed as soon as he entered.
Hu Zi Xuan was thin, with dark skin, and about the same height as Chen Xiao. His dark eyes darted around. He was the typical rural mountain dweller, either roaming the mountains or hanging out by the sea.
“Zi Xuan, I just got back and was talking with Grandpa. I planned to visit you later,” Chen Xiao, as usual, ignored the comment about his fairness.
“Hello, Grandpa Chen,” Hu Zi Xuan said, finally turning to Chen Jianzhou. He paused briefly before adding, “Wow, Grandpa Chen looks so energetic today! Sure enough, since Xiaozi is back, you’ve picked up your spirits.”
Chen Jianzhou nodded with a smile. In fact, he really liked this young man. “Alright, Xiaozi, you two go ahead.”
Chen Jianzhou waved at them.
Chen Xiao nodded. Now that Chen Jianzhou’s health was no longer a serious issue, with some rest, his strength would recover.
Chen Xiao casually picked up the travel bag. These things were useless to Chen Jianzhou now. As Chen Jianzhou had said, giving them to the villagers was the best choice.

“Come on, I brought quite a few nice things from Jinghua to share with the villagers.” Although these items were carefully gathered by Wan Hu, in the eyes of the villagers, they were no different from ordinary city goods.
Country folks aren’t necessarily short-sighted, but extremely precious things seem like street vendor wares to anyone.
Chen Xiao and Hu Zi Xuan carried a large travel bag and went from house to house distributing the items. There were only a few dozen households in the small village, so the supplies were enough to go around.
……
“Zi Xuan, do you realize you’re like a giant lantern right now?”
It was around 9 a.m., and Chen Xiao and Hu Zi Xuan were lazily lying on a large green stone on the hill behind the village.
“A giant lantern?” Hu Zi Xuan was slightly puzzled and asked, “What do you mean?”
“Have you noticed anything different about yourself lately?” Chen Xiao asked with a smile.
Hu Zi Xuan’s expression changed, and he said, “What’s different?”
Chen Xiao turned to look at him carefully. With his mental power at the middle stage of the fourth level, he could keenly sense that Hu Zi Xuan was like a giant lantern in the darkness—his outwardly radiating mental power. Though not extremely strong, it was still several times stronger than that of an ordinary person. In a crowd, ordinary supernatural beings might not notice anything, but to a highly skilled supernatural being with strong mental power, it would be like a giant lantern in the dark.
This was a characteristic of supernatural ability awakening. Initially, Chen Xiao was the same way—after obtaining the main divine essence, his mental power surged, and since he didn’t know how to control it, Mo Changli discovered him. Of course, not everyone could detect someone whose ability had just awakened; only those with extremely strong mental power or ancient martial artists could.
In this semi-enclosed small village where Hu Zi Xuan lived, there were no supernatural beings, so his ability had been awakening for unknown time without anyone noticing.
Although Chen Jianzhou was a high-level ancient martial artist with extremely strong mental power, he had been using it to control his internal vital energy to sustain his life, so he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Hu Zi Xuan.
“Just like this.” Chen Xiao stretched out one hand, and a water column as thick as his thumb appeared at his fingertip, slowly moving.
Hu Zi Xuan was slightly stunned. He also stretched out a hand, and soon, with a series of crackling sounds, a small purple lightning bolt appeared in his palm.
“A thunder-type sorcerer?” Chen Xiao was surprised. Hu Zi Xuan had extremely strong mental power, clearly a sorcerer, but a thunder-type sorcerer was extremely rare.
“What’s a thunder-type sorcerer?” Hu Zi Xuan clenched his right hand, and the small lightning bolt disappeared. “Also, Xiao Zi, can you control these strange things just like me?”
“Well, you control water, and I control electricity. It seems I can counter you just fine.” Hu Zi Xuan wasn’t too surprised. In fact, his ability hadn’t awakened recently. Judging from his effortless control over lightning, it must have taken at least a year or two to master it.

Hu Zi Xuan’s thoughts were also simple. Since he himself could possess such abilities, it shouldn’t surprise him if the same thing happened to Chen Xiao.
Hu Zi Xuan was still in the initial stage and had not yet guided spiritual energy using guiding techniques; he could only use his most primitive mental power to communicate with the lightning energy.
Crack!
Suddenly, a lightning bolt as thick as a thumb streaked through the air, heading straight for Chen Xiao’s hair.
Chen Xiao wasn’t panicked at all. With a casual wave of his hand, a wave of water firmly trapped the lightning bolt, enclosing it within.
“Haha, Xiaozi, water can conduct electricity!” Hu Zi Xuan laughed loudly, using his mental power to control the lightning and try to break through the water’s barrier.
“Idiot, don’t you know that pure water doesn’t conduct electricity?” Chen Xiao clenched his hand slightly, turning the wave of water into a water ball that sealed the lightning bolt inside. Then, he slapped the water ball onto Hu Zi Xuan’s head.
……