In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 165: The Ruthless Marshal Father (8)

When the little tiger was in pain, Qi Sheng also really wanted to slap the shameless big lion in front of him away.
Unfortunately, he still had to act like a civilized person.
After Huo Zhun arrived, he acted overly familiar, ordering the servants to bring him tea, and then, as if he were at home, plopped himself down on the sofa without any hesitation.
Lounging lazily against the back of the sofa, he looked at the expressionless Qi Sheng and said, “I heard you mentioned at the celebration party a couple of days ago that you wanted to find someone for real combat? Challenge me! I’m always up for it!”
Qi Sheng sat on the other end of the sofa, glanced at the clueless big lion, and replied coldly, “Busy with official duties, no time.”
“How come you have time for others but not for me? Are you afraid of losing to me? Hehehe. If that’s the reason, you should’ve just said so!”
Qi Sheng couldn’t be bothered to respond, but Huo Zhun wasn’t about to give up easily. He had just returned to the central star, and it wasn’t often that the two had time to meet up — not having a fight would make this trip pointless!
Seeing that Qi Sheng was ignoring him, Huo Zhun started poking him.
“I heard Xiao Ye still hasn’t successfully undergone his transformation? Don’t worry too much — it’s really not a big deal. Want me to teach him a few beast-form combat techniques?”
Combat techniques? Scratching with claws? Biting? Or maybe the occasional sneak attack with a roll?
Qi Sheng refused coolly, “No need, thanks.”
“No need to be polite with me. I watched Xiao Ye grow up — it’s only right that I teach him a few skills.”
The big lion took a sip of tea, already used to Qi Sheng’s cold demeanor. Seeing that Qi Sheng had absolutely no intention of fighting him, he continued trying to provoke him.
“Xiao Ye is a good kid. No, I’ve got to go check on him myself. It’s better to get familiar with beast-form combat early — it’ll come in handy later.”
Huo Zhun didn’t dare to say outright that Xiao Ye might never be able to transform. He was worried that this prideful and temperamental guy in front of him might take it out on the child. He only dared mention it at all because Qi Sheng seemed calm about it.
Unfortunately, Qi Sheng had no intention of letting this guy lead his child astray, so he said, “Your army’s got nothing to do? Go find something to keep you busy.”
“Hey, that really hurts, you know. I haven’t been back long, and the first person I thought of was you!”
Qi Sheng was unmoved by the comment. In his heart, he thought: You just want to fight me 24/7!
Qi Sheng firmly rejected him and picked up his light-brain device to start working — a clear do whatever you want, I’m ignoring you attitude.
Seeing this, Huo Zhun chuckled inwardly. If he were the type to give up so easily, how would he have ever gotten Qi Sheng to fight him in his tiger form before?
So Huo Zhun stayed put on the sofa. His son was probably sparring with the little tiger right now. If he went over, he might disturb the match — what a loss that would be! Little did he know his cub had already been slammed into the ground several times.
Huo Zhun started pestering like a pro: “I came up with a new move recently. Curious?”
Qi Sheng ignored him.
“It’s really powerful — even star-level beasts can be taken down with a single strike!”
Qi Sheng continued ignoring him.
Huo Zhun was puzzled. Huh? This guy didn’t even react to the mention of star-level beasts?
He pressed on: “And it looks super cool too. I think three strikes would be enough to take you down!”
Qi Sheng pretended not to hear.
Huo Zhun remained calm: “But don’t worry, we’re brothers. I’ll go easy on you when we spar.”
“Ha!”
Qi Sheng was mentally exhausted. Having this clingy, shameless so-called friend around was really draining.
If he let this go on, the guy could talk all day. The fact that he once got the formerly elegant and aloof Qi Sheng to agree to a beast-form fight just proved that Huo Zhun’s persistence was unmatched.
So Qi Sheng decided to beat him into submission and be done with it!
He put down the light-brain and stood up without a word, walking straight out. Seeing this, Huo Zhun immediately followed, shamelessly continuing to push Qi Sheng’s buttons.
“Where are you going? To the bathroom? Let’s go together!”
Qi Sheng: …
Qi Sheng took a deep breath, nearly laughing out of exasperation at the dumb lion. He said coldly, “To beat you up!”
“Huh?”
Happiness came so suddenly that the big lion was momentarily stunned. Was Qi Sheng really this easy to talk into it today? He had even planned to pester him for a few more days!
Seeing that Qi Sheng was indeed walking toward the training room, Huo Zhun stopped provoking him with words. His plan was to finish this fight now and come back to pester him again in a few days.
So, with a gleeful “hehehe,” he followed Qi Sheng to the mecha combat room. What he said earlier wasn’t entirely false — he really had come up with a new move. Though claiming it could take down a star-class beast in one strike was a bit of an exaggeration, he did feel like his skills had improved a lot. This time, he was confident he could beat Qi Sheng in a mecha duel.
Then, strangely enough, this big lion’s experience ended up mirroring his own son’s beast battle.
In the mecha combat room, an excited Huo Zhun charged in right at the start of the fight. Although he didn’t get knocked out immediately like the little lion, ten minutes later, no matter how he struggled, he still couldn’t get up — and he was starting to doubt reality.
What the hell just happened?
His mecha’s condition was fine. His opening move was perfect. So why was he completely overpowered the entire match?!
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! Even if he couldn’t dominate the fight, it should’ve at least been evenly matched!
Feeling like his fragile little heart had been wounded, Huo Zhun scrambled to his feet and protested, “Give me ten minutes to rest, let’s go another round!”
Qi Sheng lifted his eyes and gave him a speechless look. “Fine. Another round.”
Fifteen minutes later, the results were in again — and this time, the match lasted only half as long.
Huo Zhun’s iron-forged, fragile heart felt like it had just shattered. He stared at Qi Sheng in disbelief, his face full of defeat: “You… you… This can’t be real!”
Qi Sheng smiled faintly, having crushed him with strength, and followed up with a verbal blow: “Go home and train properly. You’re always picking fights, but you haven’t improved much.”
How the tables had turned — at this moment, Huo Zhun found this guy in front of him incredibly annoying!
But annoyance aside, this guy’s rapid progress had to come from some kind of secret technique!
So the big lion Huo Zhun climbed out of his mecha, shamelessly walked over to the calm Qi Sheng, blinked his eyes and grinned in a fawning, puppy-dog way: “Brother Sheng, how’d you do it? Teach me, please!”
His expression and tone were exactly like his son’s — truly a father-son duo!
Unfortunately, when the little lion acted cute, it could at least be called adorable. But when a burly man over six feet tall pulled the same move with a fake smile, Qi Sheng could only think: My eyes! They burn!
At this moment, the ever-dignified Marshal Qi Sheng was deeply perplexed: We’re both marshals — how can there be such a huge gap in class?!
The shameless father-and-son lion duo ended up spending the entire day at the Qi household. The big one pestered the big one, the little one clung to the little one — it made the tiger father-and-son team want to kick them off the central star every minute.
By evening, Madam Huo finally came over and dragged the lion duo home. At last, Qi Sheng and the little tiger could enjoy a moment of peace.
The father and son silently exchanged a glance, both seeing the pain in each other’s eyes.
Tomorrow. That annoying duo must not show up again tomorrow, they both silently vowed.
Since they couldn’t hide at home, the two decided to escape together. The little tiger had always been curious about the reclusive expert in the Dark Domain Forest, but Qi Sheng wasn’t keen on letting him go there yet.
After discussing it, they finally decided to go on a vacation to another forest on the central star.
And so, the next day, when the Huo father-and-son duo showed up bright and early — skipping breakfast in their eagerness — they discovered that their intended targets had escaped!
In two years, the little tiger still showed no signs of undergoing beastform evolution. However, he was no longer anxious about it—not because he had given up, but because he had a feeling that once his cultivation reached a certain level, the transformation would naturally follow.
In contrast, the little white tiger and little white fox had successfully completed their beastform evolution a month ago. However, the two cubs soon realized that compared to cultivating in human form, their beast form seemed to offer better advantages. So even though they had evolved, they still preferred to stay in their original animal forms.
This puzzled outsiders who didn’t know the full story. Since the little tiger from the Qi family hadn’t successfully evolved, was Qi Sheng making the other two stay in beast form just to protect his eldest son’s feelings?
People on the Central Star, clueless about the Qi family’s real situation, began mocking Qi Sheng in private, saying he lacked the presence of a true head of a powerful family and was too biased toward his “useless” eldest son. Only the lion father-and-son duo, who had secretly gained the most, kept their mouths shut and said nothing.
After two years of persistent nagging and coaxing from the Huo family, Qi Sheng had finally started formally taking the little lion as a disciple three months ago. As for the big lion? He could just ask his son what he managed to learn!
September 1st was the official start of the new school year for primary, middle, and high schools across the Central Star. Under normal circumstances, the little tiger should have taken the middle school entrance exams in June. However, due to his inability to evolve, he had stopped attending school after the age of eight. Ever since he began cultivating, he’d lost interest in school altogether. The only reason he was out today was to accompany his younger siblings shopping for school supplies.
When the two tigers and one fox stepped off the airship, they didn’t attract much attention.
It wasn’t uncommon for young beastform cubs to be out shopping, and the little tiger wasn’t exceptionally large, so people didn’t recognize him at first glance.
Thus, the three fluffy creatures entered the first floor of the shopping mall with their butler, beginning a cheerful shopping spree for the two younger ones.
The little tiger was in a good mood watching his younger siblings’ excitement—but that good mood lasted only half an hour.
Because when they got to the third-floor restaurant for some cold treats and snacks, an unwelcome guest showed up to stir trouble.
“Qi Junye?”
Because of his two years of cultivation, Qi Junye’s beastform habits had intensified. He liked to lazily sprawl on soft cushions, which made him look like a listless, unmotivated second-gen slacker—especially compared to the fit, constantly training beastfolk of the Federation.
The restaurant they were in offered a comfortable dining environment for both adults and young cubs. At the moment, the little tiger was happily lying on a soft cushion, tail flicking, while eating ice cream.
The two younger cubs copied him, lying beside him, eyes squinted in contentment as they ate their ice cream too.
It really was a very cute scene—but in some people’s eyes, it became a chance for mockery.
“Beasts really are just beasts, all they think about is eating and sleeping!”
“Haha, this is Qi Junye? He really has turned into a beast!”
“A beast? More like a domesticated pet if you ask me.”
…
With sneers echoing nearby, the little tiger finally lifted his head from his large bowl of ice cream.
He glanced at the four people in front of him, raised his eyelids slightly, then resumed eating, completely ignoring them.
They were all losers he’d already beaten. Not worth his time.
Unfortunately, the more he ignored them, the more riled up they became. The leader, Liang Qiu, saw the little tiger once again brushing him off and his eyes darkened with malice. His long, narrow eyes gleamed cruelly as he walked up and tried to kick the little tiger.
Of course, there was no way the little tiger would let him succeed. With a flick of his tail, he smacked Liang Qiu’s incoming leg, leaving it numb and aching.
Liang Qiu was forced to stumble back two steps. Seeing the little tiger still ignoring him made him seethe. That damn brat!
Their grudge went back quite a ways. The Liang family had always been at odds with the Qi family. Though as a cub, Qi Junye hadn’t really understood this. What truly made Liang Qiu resent him was that Qi Junye never took him seriously.
In their few spars, Qi Junye had always ended the fights swiftly, as if facing Liang Qiu was a chore.
Compared to how he treated other cubs, Liang Qiu felt particularly slighted, and over time, his annoyance turned into hatred—especially after being rejected multiple times when he challenged the little tiger to a match.
So when news spread that the little tiger couldn’t undergo evolution, Liang Qiu was thrilled.
He thought this “crippled” tiger must be living a dark, painful life of intense training or despair—like a beast in a cage. But what he didn’t expect was to see him here, so relaxed and enjoying himself.
The little tiger wasn’t aware of the long, twisted grudge held by his classmate. He vaguely remembered Liang Qiu—strong among the cubs, but not someone he cared to fight.
The reason was simple: the fuzzy little tiger didn’t like playing with cold-blooded snake-type cubs!
This dislike was apparently genetic. One of his great-uncles had once been pursued by a young lady from the Liang family. Despite her pulling out all the stops—good, bad, and ruthless—she failed to win him over. In the end, relations between the families soured, but the great-uncle remained unmoved.
Back then, the Qi family patriarch even tried to mediate and persuade him, only for the man to ask one simple question: “Would you marry a snake?”
After that soul-piercing question, the family head never brought up the idea of alliance again. It was clear: the tiger clan just didn’t vibe with the snake clan.
Of course, the little tiger couldn’t exactly say “we’re biologically incompatible” when Liang Qiu challenged him. So, unintentionally, he earned himself a lifelong enemy.