Chapter 3369 — Yu Xiaoke's Power

Yet when it came to staying by Wei Zhao's side at all times, Yu Xiaoke hesitated. "I'd like nothing better than to be with you day and night, but the orphanage — I can't just let it go..."

"The orphanage is on solid footing now. There won't be any more funding shortages, so it's time you learned to let go. Hand it over to Little Ken and the others to manage — you can't spend your whole life tied to that place," Wei Zhao said. Since you've mastered your family's secret art, there are greater challenges waiting for you now.

"You're right... the orphanage has found its feet. I could keep the old, small orphanage running smoothly enough, but now that we have more and more welfare enterprises under our wing, my abilities are stretched thin. I never went to school — I'm less educated than Little Ken and the other children. They're studying business management in earnest now. Our orphanage is a welfare institution, but we can't go on accepting corporate donations forever. We need to establish a foundation, run the fund ourselves and generate income — that's the future direction and trend for the orphanage. And my old skulking ways no longer suit the times..." Here Yu Xiaoke smiled at herself. It suddenly struck her that she could no longer contribute much to the orphanage's development — or rather, her old dream had already come true, and now she had no more ties to bind her.

"You can't put it that way. You've made indispensable contributions. At the very least, without you the orphanage would have ceased to exist long ago — and without you, I never would have invested in it. So Fatty Lai and I suggested that the charity fund you set up be called the Yu Xiaoke Fund," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Ah? That doesn't seem right..." Yu Xiaoke was startled when she heard this.

"Ha ha, it's settled then. I think it's a fine name." Wei Zhao waved his hand and dropped the subject, turning instead to Yu Dake. "Dake, stop the car. I'm going to raise Yu Xiaoke's strength..."

Though Wei Zhao expected no danger on the road back, caution never hurt. Since Yu Xiaoke could now be elevated to the Heaven rank, he would raise her to it right away — if they ran into any formidable opponent, Wei Zhao would be able to handle things with ease.

The old Yu Xiaoke had dreamed that one day the orphanage could run without the money she stole, dreamed that one day Little Ken and the other children would grow up, dreamed that one day she would find her own kin, dreamed that one day she could be with the Male Thief...

But she had never dreamed that she herself could become a Heaven-rank expert. How impossibly distant that had seemed! Even her master had never reached that rank — how could she?

Yet now she truly was an early-stage Heaven-rank expert, and it had taken her only a few hours to complete this magnificent transformation! True, the breakthrough from peak late-stage Earth rank to early-stage Heaven rank had been agonizing, but the moment she became a Heaven-rank expert, she felt as light and renewed as if reborn!

Yu Xiaoke was overjoyed — joyful that she could help Wei Zhao from now on and be his right hand; joyful that she too was a Heaven-rank expert whose beauty would never fade, with no fear of growing old before Wei Zhao did.

"Xiaoke, let's test it out." Wei Zhao turned to Yu Dake. "Dake, attack me with everything you've got, and Xiaoke, you defend with the Goddess Nüwa Mends the Heavens Art. I want to see how it works."

"Ah? This is my first time using it. I may be an early-stage Heaven-rank expert, but I've never once tried it. If it fails, won't you be injured?" Yu Xiaoke was alarmed.

"It doesn't matter. With Dake's strength, he can't hurt me." Wei Zhao waved his hand. "Dake, attack with all your power now. Xiaoke, get ready!"

"All right." Yu Dake knew Wei Zhao's strength well. At the Hidden World Clan Summit, Wei Zhao had been formidable in the endurance contest — Yu Dake had nearly been beaten to death while Wei Zhao emerged without a scratch. That was proof enough that Wei Zhao was not boasting but truly capable.

Of them all, the most nervous was Yu Xiaoke. She had no confidence in herself at all. In the inner-school cultivation, she was little more than a beginner, and she could not guarantee that her defense would succeed.

"Mr. Lin, here I come!" Yu Dake drew a deep breath, circulated his mental cultivation formula, and unleashed the strongest move his current strength allowed. Of course, that strongest move looked quite ordinary to Wei Zhao — the martial arts Wei Zhao had encountered lately were all of a high order, and his enemies were powerhouses like Little One and Zhang Naipao. So no matter how strong Yu Dake was, he could not possibly harm Wei Zhao; moreover, constrained as he was by Earth-rank strength, the power of his martial technique was not all that great.

"Boom—"

Yu Dake turned his twin fists into palms and struck at Wei Zhao's chest with all his might, without the slightest hesitation — a sign of his absolute trust in Wei Zhao, knowing his move could not inflict any real harm.

Yu Xiaoke circulated the mental formula of the Goddess Nüwa Mends the Heavens Art. Seeing her brother attack, she hurriedly channeled the art with all her strength, her hands shifting ceaselessly, tracing a beautiful afterimage in the air as if weaving a great net, and energy true qi burst suddenly from between her palms.

A great net woven of true qi instantly appeared before her and Wei Zhao, and Yu Dake's attack arrived right on cue. His twin palms struck toward Wei Zhao but landed upon the great net before him with a thunderous crash — yet his whole body came to an abrupt halt before that net, which blocked his assault like a city wall!

The net quivered twice but did not split. Yu Xiaoke was now a Heaven-rank expert, and a mental art channeled with all her strength was clearly not something an Earth-rank expert could shake!

Yu Dake did not pause but circulated his mental formula once more and unleashed his martial technique again. The result, however, was the same — his twin palms crashed against the net once more, bringing Wei Zhao not the slightest injury!

"Impressive!" Wei Zhao nodded, signaling Yu Dake and Yu Xiaoke that they could stop.

"Xiaoke, this mental art of yours is every bit as formidable as the legends say. With you and Mr. Lin together from now on, you'll be unmatched under heaven! One attacks, one defends — you'll crush anyone you meet!" Yu Dake exclaimed in delighted astonishment.

Fishman has a new book out, titled Top-Tier Cultivation Young Master — please go collect it and recommend it! There's a direct link on the School Beauty's page.

Chen Mengyan and Gu Mengyao say: My favorite in the new book is Cheng Mengying — just seeing her name gives me a good feeling! Everyone go take a look too! RS