My Grandson Is a Genius?

The heat of midsummer quietly faded with the passage of time, and a hint of early autumn chill entered the air.

Ever since his Martial Dao Talent had taken another leap on his ninth birthday, Chen Fan's cultivation speed had experienced yet another explosive surge.

The Star-Transferring Blood Art had once been so obscure that he could barely circulate it even with all his concentration. Now its workings were clear to him, and he understood every hurdle in the circulation of Qi and Blood.

His efficiency at drawing on the power of the stars increased by the day. That cold, domineering power was no longer an untamable beast, but more like a peerless divine weapon held in his hand.

Only one day remained before the start of school at Jiangnan No. 1 High School.

Under the night sky, Chen Fan returned to his parents' master bedroom and deftly activated the dust-covered military-grade Qi-Blood Detector.

He needed a precise number as his final trump card before entering that Martial Dao holy land where geniuses gathered.

There was no violent surge of Qi and Blood, nor any astonishing display.

He simply extended a finger and calmly pressed it against the cool sensor.

Hum!

The Light Screen lit up, and the numbers climbed at a steady, terrifying speed, as though no obstacle stood in their way.

Sixty-six calories!

Sixty-eight calories!

Seventy calories!

He broke straight through the seventy-calorie threshold without so much as a ripple.

Finally, amid a faint beep, a dazzling number clearly came to a stop.

[Qi and Blood: 73.2 calories]

Chen Fan slowly withdrew his finger. Feeling the vast, profound power within him, like a river of stars, he remained unperturbed.

His Qi and Blood had increased by nearly eight calories.

The cumulative effect of his talent had sent his path of cultivation completely off the rails of common sense.

If outsiders found out, even the word "monster" would probably not be enough to describe how freakish he was.

"Still too slow."

Chen Fan shook his head slightly, then turned and left the room.

What he did not know was that what he called too slow was a height ordinary geniuses would struggle to reach even after exhausting all their resources and cultivating arduously for years.

The next morning.

Dawn had barely broken, and the sizzle of frying oil was already coming from the kitchen.

Grandpa Chen Ping, wearing an apron and humming an old opera tune off-key, was preparing a hearty breakfast for Chen Fan.

There were golden fried eggs, steaming meat buns, and a bowl of carefully simmered Spirit Rice porridge.

After breakfast, he handed Chen Fan a brand-new little schoolbag as usual, stuffed with his grandson's favorite snacks and a thermos filled with hot water.

"Xiao Fan, school starts today. When you get there, try talking to your classmates. Don't always stay by yourself."

The old man rambled on, his wrinkled face full of affection and lingering worry.

"If you don't like it, tell Grandpa. You don't have to go to that school. Grandpa can afford to support you..."

In his mind, today was just an ordinary day on which his grandson was moving up a grade in elementary school.

Chen Fan took the schoolbag and nodded without explaining.

However, just as grandfather and grandson were about to leave, the extremely faint sound of an engine rose outside the courtyard, drawing closer from a distance.

An elegantly styled luxury hovercar, pitch-black from end to end and bearing the East Sea City Government emblem, landed silently outside the old house.

The doors slid upward like wings.

Principal Li Guangming stepped out, dressed in a brand-new suit, his hair slicked and gleaming, his face flushed and his spirits high.

Chen Ping froze.

He instinctively pulled Chen Fan behind him, his weather-beaten face instantly filled with tension and unease.

"P-Principal Li? What... what brings you here in person? Has... has Xiao Fan caused trouble for the school again?"

As he saw it, the principal paying a personal visit could not possibly mean anything good.

"My old friend, what are you talking about?"

Li Guangming burst into hearty, booming laughter and strode forward. His gaze passed over Chen Ping and settled on Chen Fan, full of undisguised pride and admiration.

"I came especially to escort East Sea City's Qilin Prodigy to Jiangnan No. 1 High School to report for school!"

Li Guangming's voice rang out as though he feared others might not hear him, his face brimming with the joy of a man marrying off his daughter.

However, the excited thanks he had expected did not come.

Seeing the bewilderment and astonishment on Chen Ping's face, Li Guangming's smile faltered slightly, and it was his turn to be confused.

"Wait, my old friend... you don't know?"

He pointed at Chen Fan, then at himself, his face full of disbelief.

"This... this has spread all over the city! Didn't you see the banner dozens of meters long that our school put up last month?"

"Xiao Fan... didn't he tell you?"

"Jiangnan No. 1 High School."

"Qilin Prodigy."

"A banner dozens of meters long."

Every word exploded like a thunderclap in Chen Ping's mind!

He suddenly remembered that enormous, dazzling scarlet banner he had treated as a joke.

He suddenly remembered the genius Chen Fan, whom he had taken for someone with the same name, even feeling bitter pity for him.

His body began to tremble violently beyond his control.

His cloudy old eyes stared, stared fixedly at the grandson standing before him, whose face was calm and whose gaze was unchanged, as though seeing him for the first time.

The grandson who had been diagnosed with mediocre aptitude.

The grandson whom the doctor had declared showed autistic tendencies.

The grandson around whom he had always been so careful, terrified of upsetting him even a little more.

Had actually gotten into Jiangnan No. 1 High School??

Chen Ping's lips moved unconsciously, each word seemingly weighing a thousand pounds, striking him dizzy.

Words that appeared only in newspapers and on the Light Screen news were now being forcibly bound to his quiet grandson, who was always spacing out alone, in the most brutal, unreasonable fashion.

He instinctively reached out a callused hand and seized Li Guangming's immaculate sleeve as though grasping his last lifeline, asking hoarsely for confirmation, "P-Principal Li, please... please don't joke with an old man like me... Xiao Fan... how could he possibly..."

"My old friend! How could this be a joke?"

Li Guangming grasped Chen Ping's cold hand in return, his ruddy face more serious and solemn than ever. He straightened his back, his voice loud enough for the neighbors halfway down the street to hear.

"Student Chen Fan surpassed all the top geniuses of the Thirty-Six Cities of the Jiangnan Region and was granted exceptional early admission to Jiangnan No. 1 High School! This is an honor East Sea City and our Martial Dao Elementary School haven't seen in a hundred years!"

Li Guangming's words completely shattered the last trace of hope in Chen Ping's mind.

He slowly let go, his gaze returning to Chen Fan.

At that moment, all the unusual things in the past had a brand-new explanation, one that made his heart tremble even more.

Why had he been so impatient with the doctor at the hospital?

Why had he always been out of place at school, never playing with children his own age?

Why had he been moved to another class not long after school started, and even skipped a grade altogether?

So... so it wasn't autism, and he hadn't been ostracized.

Rather, a true Young Dragon had been mistakenly thrown into a chicken coop.

It wasn't that he couldn't fit in; it was that those chattering children his own age simply weren't worthy of his attention!

An indescribable surge of joy and pride erupted from the depths of Chen Ping's heart like a volcano, washing through every corner of his body. His wrinkled old face instantly flushed scarlet, and even his breathing turned hot.

His grandson!

Wasn't a good-for-nothing!

He was a genius! The Qilin Prodigy of all East Sea City!

But before this wild joy, which nearly set him ablaze, could reach his eyes, it was instantly drowned by a deeper, more bitter sorrow at their coming parting.

A Qilin Prodigy... had to travel far away.

"Go... go to Jiangnan No. 1 High School... then, then how long will it be before he can come back?" The joy quickly faded from the old man's voice, leaving only an inescapable worry and reluctance to part. "He... he isn't even nine yet. Can he look after himself out there alone? Will he be able to get used to the food? Will he sleep well?"

The string of questions left even the previously high-spirited Li Guangming somewhat at a loss for words.

He could guarantee the school would give him the highest level of treatment, but he could not guarantee that a nine-year-old child, thousands of miles away, would be able to eat Sweet and Sour Pork made by his grandpa's own hands.

"Don't worry, my old friend!" Li Guangming could only thump his chest and give him a solemn assurance. "Jiangnan No. 1 High School is one of the Federation's top academies. It will give Xiao Fan the highest level of treatment and care! That's the sky where he belongs! You should be happy for him!"

As the two old men talked, Chen Fan, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his head.

He walked up to his grandpa and reached out the little hand that had crushed knuckles and unleashed Peak Perfection fist intent, gently tugging at his grandpa's large, rough, cracked hand.

He tilted his face upward, and at last a faint trace of warmth, one belonging only to family, appeared in his eyes, which were as deep as the starry sky.

"Grandpa, I'll take good care of myself."

He spoke clearly, one word at a time.

"When I'm on break, I'll come back to see you."

That simple promise was more effective than anyone else's assurances.

Chen Ping could no longer hold back, and two streams of cloudy old tears spilled from his eyes.

He abruptly crouched down and pulled the small figure tightly into his arms, as though he wanted to press him into his own flesh and blood.

"All right... all right... Grandpa will wait for you..."

"Principal Li, it's getting late. We should leave."

The driver's polite reminder came from inside the hovercar.

Li Guangming checked the time and could only step forward and gently pat Chen Ping on the back. "My old friend, it's time to let the child go. The flight to Tiannan City won't wait."

Chen Ping slowly loosened his hold and watched his grandson follow Li Guangming step by step toward the pitch-black hovercar, which gave off an imposing air.

His small departing figure seemed resolute beyond measure.

The doors slowly closed like wings, cutting him off from view.

The hovercar rose silently into the air. Beneath the newly risen sun, it became a gleaming black dot and finally vanished into the azure sky.

In the courtyard, only Chen Ping's lonely figure remained.

After a long while, he suddenly seemed to wake from a daze. He turned and stumbled back into the house.

That was right!

He had to tell his son!

He had to tell his daughter-in-law!

He had to let them know that their son was not a good-for-nothing with mediocre aptitude, nor a burden for whom they had to trade their lives to secure a peaceful future!

Their son was a genius!

He was the pride of the entire family—no, of all East Sea City!

He rushed into the master bedroom, which he had not entered in a long time, lifted the dusty white cloth, and activated the dust-covered Military Quantum Communication Terminal with trembling hands.

A dark blue Light Screen lit up. Peering at it with his aging eyes, he carefully composed a message, character by character, putting into it all his excitement and joy, along with the words "an honor not seen in a hundred years."

He wanted his son and daughter-in-law, far away on the Starry Sky Frontline, to share in this belated, supreme glory, enough to offer solace for all their suffering!

He took a deep breath and pressed the send button hard with all his strength!

However, the expected tone confirming that the message had been sent did not sound.

A cold, utterly emotionless synthesized voice echoed mercilessly through the silent room.

[Warning: target signal source is located in an S-Rank High-Intensity Interference Zone. Message transmission failed...]

[Connection lost.]

On the communication terminal, the green indicator light showing the connection status flashed a few times, then abruptly went out.