"What is it, my lady?"
Finn asked his mentor respectfully.
Wei Qingqing looked at Finn coldly and said, "Your performance is weak. I am not satisfied with it."
Weak?!
Finn protested fiercely in his mind. I defeated several fighters who opened six Yuan Qi veins while I've only opened two!! And after all that—weak?!
He wanted to shout at Wei Qingqing, but of course, he didn't dare.
Finn lowered his head and said, "With all due respect, my lady, I am doing my utmost."
"Your efforts are not enough!" Wei Qingqing snapped coldly.
"You must become strong enough to protect Wei Bin on this journey! I have trained you and wasted eight full months on you, despite being the Second Commander of the entire Tsang Lan Army! I am needed at the borders, and I have duties and responsibilities far more important than you! And yet I stayed with you, guiding you every step of the way—sharpening you into a shield to protect my brother, and a sword to cut down anyone who dares to harm him!"
Her voice was icy as she stared at Finn with clear dissatisfaction.
Finn clenched his fists tightly in anger.
A shield… and a sword?
Is that all I am to her?
He was not born into this life to become a slave of the Wei family. This was not his destiny, nor something he had ever wanted or asked for. Yet Wei Qingqing had made all the decisions for him—expecting him to obey and accept being their weapon willingly, just because he was weaker than them.
Finn spoke in a flat voice, "I am trying my best. I have mastered most of the techniques you gave me."
Wei Qingqing narrowed her eyes at the cold tone in his voice and said, "That is still not enough. You still have a test in one month. You will have to face five experts who have opened eight Yuan Qi veins. Your current level is insufficient to defeat them."
Finn clenched his teeth and asked slowly, "Then what do you want me to do?"
Wei Qingqing studied him for a moment, then took out a scroll glowing with a reddish-orange light and said, "Take this. It is a low-level Black-Grade technique. It will greatly increase your already formidable combat power and give you a chance."
Finn stared at the scroll in shock.
Black-Grade techniques were usually granted only to soldiers who had achieved outstanding merits in war.
Finn lowered his head and said, "This disciple thanks his master."
Wei Qingqing waved her hand dismissively.
"There's no need for such formality. Just defeat them thoroughly and shut up the officers who attack me in every meeting because I trained you. Now—do you have any questions?"
Finn raised his head. "Yes. I do."
"What is it? Is it related to your training?" Wei Qingqing asked curiously.
Finn looked at her seriously and said, "Wei Qingqing, I have an important question for you—and it has nothing to do with training."
Wei Qingqing immediately frowned. This was the first time Finn had called her by name. She felt it was disrespectful—she was his mentor and his superior.
Ignoring her frown, Finn continued,
"You said you wanted to turn me into a shield and a sword to protect your younger brother. But after all this time—is that truly all I am to you? Is that my value in your eyes? Just a weapon? An investment? Is my entire existence here in this palace with you for eight months solely to protect Wei Bin?"
Wei Qingqing was silent for a moment, then replied coldly,
"Yes. That is correct. Your entire existence here is for the sole purpose of protecting Wei Bin. That is why I trained you. That is why I spent eight full months with you—a mere lowly village boy and foreigner. You are not even a citizen of the Great Chu Empire, nor a soldier of Tsang Lan. And yet here you are—eating our food, drinking our water, sleeping in our beds, and consuming our resources. Why do you think I spent all that time and effort on you? Naturally, it was to turn you into a weapon that serves our interests."
Wei Qingqing stepped forward and leaned close to Finn, whispering in a dark, dangerous voice,
"And you, dear Finn Colonil, would do well to remember this—if you ever attempt to flee or betray us, I will eliminate you without hesitation."
She smiled mockingly and added,
"After all, useless weapons can always be replaced with new and obedient ones."
Finn looked at Wei Qingqing, pain flashing in his eyes.
He had believed he mattered to her.
He had believed there was something between them.
He had believed she saw him as more than a servant, a guard, or a weapon.
But… in the end, he had been wrong.
Wei Qingqing stared at him coldly and said, "Now leave and train. If I find you slacking off, I will punish you severely."
Finn lowered his head, clenching his teeth in rage, and left the room without another word.
Wei Qingqing looked at the closed door, her expression complicated.
She had… lied.
She cared for Finn far more than just a weapon or her brother's bodyguard.
She had trained him, taught him, and spent countless hours with him over the past eight months.
During those eight months, she had witnessed Finn's growth step by step—how he faced impossible obstacles and never once gave up, continuing to struggle forward.
She had seen him suffer with his rubber body.
She had seen him struggle with cultivation, unable to even gather Yuan Qi.
She had seen him struggle to learn their language.
And every time she thought this was the end—that he could go no further—Finn shattered her expectations once again.
Wei Qingqing deeply admired his dedication and perseverance. She was incredibly proud of his strength.
There was not a single genius in the entire Great Chu Empire—whether from noble families or even the royal family—who could accomplish even half of what Finn had achieved in just eight months.
Despite lacking talent in cultivation and possessing an extremely slow cultivation speed, he could still confront—and even defeat—cultivators who had opened eight Yuan Qi veins while he himself had opened only two.
Wei Qingqing was certain that no one in the history of the Great Chu Empire had ever achieved such a feat.
In the past, she believed that a person's fate was determined at birth—that differences between people could never be bridged, and that someone born with average talent could never rival a genius blessed by the heavens.
But Finn had overturned all of her beliefs.
Finn was her first disciple.
She trusted him.
She loved him like a younger brother—like family.
That was why she wanted to take him with her to the Tomb of Lu Qing.
That was why she wanted to grant him a share of the inheritance of an Alpha Origin Realm expert.
But she could not reveal her feelings openly. She could not treat him warmly or encourage him openly—because she feared that if the officers and commanders discovered Finn was closer to her than a mere servant or guard, they would see him as a threat. They would fear that he might surpass them in rank and authority—and would send assassins to eliminate him.
That was why she acted with such coldness and cruelty…
To protect him.
Wei Qingqing sighed softly, then left the room and headed toward her father's chamber.
---
Three days later.
Finn looked at the scroll in his hand with a complicated expression on his face.
The scroll was black, glowing with an orange-red light.
It was the technique given to him by Wei Qingqing.
It was a Black-Grade, Low-Rank technique.
Its name was: Star Explosion Fist.
This technique was a purely offensive Yuan Qi technique.
It possessed the attributes of fire and explosion.
Finn cultivated the Cloud King Technique, which gave his Yuan Qi the properties of wind and storms.
This meant that his attack power would be greatly enhanced by combining his own Yuan Qi with the Star Explosion Fist, because wind simply made fire far more lethal.
Finn opened the scroll and began reading it slowly.
More than eight months ago, he wouldn't have been able to understand a single word written inside.
But Finn had finally broken the language barrier and could now understand most of it—thanks to a powerful "cheat" possessed by cultivators of this world:
Spiritual Power.
Spiritual Power was, quite simply, the manifestation of one's soul.
It was a far more mysterious, dangerous, and difficult power to cultivate than Yuan Qi.
A cultivator could use Spiritual Power from the very beginning of their cultivation path, but they could not directly train it or increase its density.
That was because Spiritual Power naturally grew stronger as the cultivator themselves became stronger.
Of course, it was possible to cultivate Spiritual Power using specialized soul-cultivation techniques—but such techniques were extremely rare and possessed only by powerful clans and empires on the Tsang Ming Continent.
Spiritual Power was also divided into realms, just like cultivation realms:
1. Void Realm
2. True Realm
3. Transformation Realm
4. Saint Soul Realm
Naturally, Finn could not train his Spiritual Power, because he did not possess a soul-cultivation technique.
In fact, no such technique existed within the entire Great Chu Empire.
However, Finn had learned how to use Spiritual Power from Wei Bin.
Through this, he discovered that he could understand and learn languages much faster by using his Spiritual Power.
This discovery greatly helped him translate Garp's training manual, which was written in Japanese, and also helped him comprehend the mysterious crystal gifted to him by the cursed entity that had transported him to this world.
First, Finn translated several pages from Garp's training manual.
He translated the Marine Training Method.
This method was entirely created by Monkey D. Garp himself and was called:
Justice Body Style.
Finn's mouth twitched at Garp's sense of naming.
This style was essentially an enhanced body-training method—an advanced and extreme version of the Marine training style from the world of One Piece.
Finn also translated pages that contained the Six Powers.
The Six Powers of the Marines were six powerful and unique combat techniques exclusive to the Marines in the world of One Piece.
They were also known as Rokushiki.
These techniques were:
Soru (Speed)
Rankyaku (Tempest Kick)
Shigan (Finger Pistol)
Geppo (Moon Walk)
Kami-e (Paper Art)
Tekkai (Iron Body)
Four months ago, Finn had managed to translate a page containing the training guide for Tekkai, but he had yet to master it.
After learning how to properly use his Spiritual Power, Finn was able to translate several more pages containing the following techniques:
Geppo
Soru
Rankyaku
This meant that Finn could now train four of the six Rokushiki techniques.
But saying it was far easier than doing it.
Mastering these techniques was extremely difficult.
Even now, Finn still couldn't fully grasp the fundamentals of Tekkai, despite training it for four months.
Tekkai!!
That was the key to defeating the Monstrous Trio and passing the test in one month!!
Finn's eyes widened as he realized this.
He then looked at the Star Explosion Fist scroll in his hand and clenched his fist tightly.
Wei Qingqing had deeply humiliated him.
She had exploited him and treated him as an object rather than a person.
And he would make her pay a heavy price for that.
He would take advantage of every resource and every technique they gave him.
And when the time came, he would escape and leave the Great Chu Empire entirely.
He would betray them after obtaining a portion of the inheritance of the Alpha Origin Realm expert—or better yet, he would steal everything from that inheritance for himself.
Finn sneered and shook his head.
Him? Betraying and stealing?
His parents would be deeply disappointed in him.
But he would do it without hesitation.
Because there is no place for morality in this cruel world.
He would do anything—everything—to return to his… family.
Finn stood up and immediately began training, a new resolve burning in his eyes.