Yu Fei took out the items one by one. Yu Zhiguo watched curiously from the side, while Mrs. Yu smiled happily. Her grin hadn’t left her face all evening.

Lastly, there were Yu Fei’s own things: the Profound Scale Armor from his Martial Uncle Chen Yu, the Holographic Mirror Helmet from Su Yue, two storage devices, and finally, a wooden sword box from Yan Sea.

Yu Fei opened the sword box. Inside were two swords. One was the broken Cyan Lotus Sword, and the other was an ironwood training sword, identical in appearance to the Cyan Lotus Sword.

He picked up the two pieces of the Cyan Lotus Sword and examined them closely. The break was exceptionally clean.

As the Grandmaster’s Sword Intent within it had steadily worn away, the quality of the sword itself had continuously declined. After the third wisp of Sword Intent vanished, only its sharpness remained decent.

If the Cyan Lotus Sword hadn’t blocked the Inner Qi bandit leader’s attack that day, it was uncertain whether Yu Fei would have survived. Though the sword broke, it had, after all, dissipated some of the Qi Jin. Given his condition at the time, if the attack had been any stronger, he might have died right there on the spot.

Yu Fei put the broken Cyan Lotus Sword away as a memento. From now on, he would use the wooden sword to practice his swordsmanship.

He didn’t plan on telling his parents about the martial arts hall just yet. He had decided to bring Du Mingxuan’s father and Mr. Gao Yunxiang into the venture. Even though the hall wasn’t a top-tier establishment, running it well would be no easy task. He would wait until some of the arrangements were settled before telling his family everything.

Yan Sea and Su Yue also had matters to attend to. As a Grandmaster, Yan Sea couldn’t possibly stay at No. 2 High School teaching martial arts as he had before. Su Yue needed to sort out the martial arts hall and transfer its ownership to Yu Fei.

When word got out that Yan Sea and his group had returned, the county immediately buzzed with excitement. Officials of all ranks, big and small, wanted to meet the Grandmaster, even if just to become a familiar face. In this remote county, even an Inner Qi practitioner was a big shot, and there were only a handful of them. A Grandmaster was someone they had never seen in their entire lives.

And then there was Yu Fei, the Grandmaster’s disciple. Based on his performance in the great battle, he was a rising star.

The following week was a flurry of activity, and it took several days to sort everything out.

First, Yan Sea put a stop to all the commendation ceremonies, especially those for Yu Fei. However, after consulting Yu Fei, Yan Sea did help him secure some tangible benefits, which he deserved.

In the end, all the rewards were consolidated. He received a villa in the same residential complex as Du Mingxuan, a place called Jing Lake Villa, located in the most prime area of the small county.

The villa was already fully furnished and equipped with appliances. Rumor had it that a wealthy businessman had suddenly run into trouble, and his newly renovated house had been seized and confiscated. According to the grapevine, the guy’s business dealings weren’t clean—he was involved in some shady fireworks operations and had been hit hard by a recent investigation.

There was also a cash reward of 5 million. Yu Fei gave all of it to his parents, as he had other ways of making money. This trip hadn’t just been for recuperation. With a martial uncle like Chen Yu, the director of a military hospital, Yu Fei had found himself a small path to wealth.

Additionally, there was one medal and three silk banners, which Yu Fei quite liked.

Yu Fei took full ownership of the Aurora Martial Arts Hall, but he wouldn’t be involved in its day-to-day operations. After talking with Mr. Du, the old man put up 20 million to buy a 30% stake. Mr. Du would handle the daily management, while Gao Yunxiang was hired as the head martial arts coach for an annual salary of 1 million, responsible for training the students.

In fact, Du Mingxuan’s father, Du Changyuan, had been wanting to meet with Yu Fei ever since the outcome of that day’s battle was known, but he never got the chance because of Yu Fei’s injury.

After Yu Fei returned, Du Changyuan arranged a meeting with him in advance. When Yu Fei proposed that Du Changyuan manage the martial arts hall, the latter agreed without a second thought.

"Mr. Du, there’s another crucial point for the hall’s business. On my trip, I secured a channel for Vitality Elixirs. I can get about 1,000 pills a year. This can be a signature feature for the hall."

When Mr. Du heard this, he was utterly shocked. He knew very well how difficult Vitality Elixirs were to obtain. It wasn’t about the price; the key was the lack of a supply channel. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Looking at Yu Fei now, his rise was unstoppable. He vaguely remembered the boy showing up at his door last year, dressed plainly and carrying fruit—just a poor kid. Now, he was casually talking about business worth hundreds of millions. Truly... ’Looking back,’ Mr. Du thought, ’my idea of relying on him to expand my own business was just so petty.’

During his recovery, Yu Fei had asked Chen Yu about this. Yan Sea knew nothing about the supply channels for Vitality Elixirs, and Miss Su was hardly even aware the item existed.

According to Chen Yu, Vitality Elixirs were, strictly speaking, a failed product. The elixir the military supplied to ordinary soldiers to restore their Qi Blood was called the Qi Blood Elixir. The production of this item, from raw materials to the finished product, was a highly mature, industrial-grade process. However, during manufacturing, nearly 20% of the elixirs would experience a degradation in medicinal properties. It was later discovered that if the dosage of these defective products was controlled, they could help ordinary Stage One Martial Artists with their cultivation. Thus, they were sold off to the Ministry of Education for unified distribution.

Vitality Elixirs play a very important role for Stage One Martial Artists, so they always receive a lot of attention and are strictly controlled, with very few ever reaching the open market. As for the saying that you can get them if you have a military background, that’s not entirely true.

The raw materials for Vitality Elixirs come from the Borderlands, which is also where the important production facilities are located. These are military-controlled zones, so it’s naturally very difficult for civilians to get their hands on them.

Yu Fei had joked at the time that if he could get a batch of Vitality Elixirs to help out at home, his parents wouldn’t have to work so hard. Chen Yu had casually replied that if he wanted hundreds of thousands or millions of them, it would be a bit of a hassle, but a few thousand or even ten thousand was a trivial matter.

So, he had casually settled on a quantity of one thousand pills per year with his Martial Uncle Chen Yu. He didn’t expect Chen Yu to say it was no problem and even offer to give them to him for free. Yu Fei quickly refused, stating that he would collect the goods from him after raising the money.

Yu Fei still remembered Chen Yu’s exasperated response: "You kid. In a few years, you’ll realize just how silly you’re being right now."

There was no need to explain the origin of the Vitality Elixirs to Du Changyuan. But when he heard Yu Fei planned to raise 20 million to purchase 1,000 pills, Mr. Du immediately pulled out his bank card, intending to invest his entire fortune in Yu Fei. After much persuasion, Yu Fei finally accepted 20 million as start-up capital and, in return, gave him a 30% stake in the martial arts hall, which also included 30% of the profits from the Vitality Elixirs.

For context, the 100,000 Yu Fei had previously charged Du Mingxuan for a single Vitality Elixir from the school was already a bargain-basement price.

After getting everything settled, Yu Fei returned home, ready to come clean with his parents.

The villa at Jing Lake Villa was extravagantly luxurious, at least in his parents’ eyes. The wave after wave of rewards these past few days had left the old couple numb. They had worked hard for half their lives and never expected to suddenly be living the life of a wealthy family. Life was truly unpredictable.

The happiest of all, of course, was Yu Wei. She had suddenly started acting like a proper lady recently. In her own words, her behavior had to match her status.

Yu Fei was sure it wouldn’t be long before she reverted to her usual self. She just needed to keep up the act for a little while.

"What? I’m not going. I plan to stay home and take care of you and your sister. We’ll see after I’ve sent you both off to college."

Yu Fei had asked if his parents wanted to oversee the martial arts hall, which would give them something to do on a daily basis so they wouldn’t get bored. He hadn’t expected his mother to refuse on the spot.

"I’m not going either. Feifei, didn’t you know? I took some time off work recently, and the general manager promoted me to vice president! I even get my own private office. I’m going to go and enjoy it."

Mr. Yu looked incredibly smug. "Ah, you have no idea. When our department head calls me Mr. Yu, it just feels so good."

Mrs. Yu said with a look of disdain, "Your father just wants to show off."

Yu Zhiguo smiled, then his expression turned serious. "Actually, I really do want to accomplish something. I’ve been at this factory for fifteen years, working my way up to workshop supervisor step by step. I have my own ideas about a lot of things, but I never had the chance to implement them because my position was too low. Now, I want to put my talents to the test and realize my ambitions."

Yu Fei was naturally supportive. Everyone should do what they want to do, as long as circumstances permit.

A comfortable material life can eliminate the pressure of survival, but life is long, and one also needs to find value and meaning in their existence.

Martial Artists are, in fact, the most direct and pragmatic group of people. During the great battle in the rain, the astonishing combat power Yu Fei displayed shocked everyone.

Strength is status. These so-called leaders and teachers were, in reality, failures on the path of martial arts. That was why Yu Fei received so many rewards, and this was even after Yan Sea had turned some of them down.

On November 12th, Yu Fei saw off Yan Hai and Su Yue. They were heading off to embrace their own boundless futures, even though they had been stagnant for ten long years.

"Master, you have to invite me to your wedding!"

Su Yue smiled and said, "Don’t worry. We won’t get married if you don’t come..."