Tight-Lipped

"Those born with Martial Bones were one in ten thousand, rarely seen in this world. Once one appeared, he became synonymous with invincibility—the beginning of a glorious legend."

"Before such a person, no matter how illustrious your family background or how abundant your resources, you would still have to bow your head. You would still be overtaken. With talent alone, he was destined to ascend the summit as a True Dragon..."

Head Escort Liang spoke with great animation, longing in his eyes. "If I ever get the chance in this life, I would truly like to witness the bearing of such a person."

Hiss!

Everyone sucked in a breath, their hearts pounding in alarm.

So there were peerless geniuses who could surpass all their peers without relying on family background or resources. What a dazzling figure that would be!

Only Jiang Ping, standing off to the side, found that the more he listened, the stranger it sounded. It seemed to match up with him?

After all, he had entered the Ninth Grade Martial Artist realm through the Nourishing Life Technique in less than half a month. His Blade Art had progressed even more monstrously than the head escort had described.

Could I be the prodigy with Martial Bones the head escort was talking about? Jiang Ping thought, his expression turning a little strange.

At that moment, Liu Wensheng could not help saying:

"So you mean that if someone possessed Martial Bones, even if he came from a cold gate, he could still look down upon the many geniuses of thousand-year aristocratic families?" Liu Wensheng could not help asking.

"Of course. Even geniuses relied heavily on resources, but Martial Bone prodigies would not be constrained by resources. They were destined to soar into the heavens in a single flight."

"How can one tell whether someone has Martial Bones?" Fang Yong could not help interjecting.

Head Escort Liang merely glanced at him and shook his head. "Even without Bone Reading, such people could be recognized as soon as they came into contact with Martial Dao. Stop hoping for it. If our Escort Agency had someone like that, the Chief would have appeared long ago, and Yang City would already have been shaken to its foundations."

"I see." Fang Yong was somewhat disappointed. He still held onto a sliver of hope for himself.

"Then, Master Liang, do you know Bone Reading?" Still unwilling to give up, Fang Yong asked again.

Liang Sheng shrugged and shook his head again. "Forget me—even the Chief cannot read bones. Only experts above Fifth Rank understood how to use such methods to probe the minute details of another person's body and determine whether he had the aptitude for martial training. Otherwise, our Escort Agency would not have recruited all one hundred of you. We could simply use Bone Reading to pick those with martial talent and train them carefully. Wouldn't that be far more convenient?"

The moment the head escort finished speaking, Jiang Ping's face darkened amid the crowd.

He instantly thought of the martial instructor from Jidao Martial Academy—the Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, Chen Weimin!

Back then, it had been this man who had declared through "Bone Reading" that his younger brother possessed talent for martial training. That had led to the six years of hardship he had endured being ruined in a single stroke, and to his choosing to leave home.

"But why do I remember that, some days ago, a martial instructor from Jidao Martial Academy was going around reading people's bones?" At that moment, a local from Yang City voiced what Jiang Ping had been thinking.

Clearly, others had encountered the same thing.

Hearing this, Head Escort Liang paused, then said calmly, "Then I don't know."

"I remember it too. My neighbor had been working himself to the bone, saving some silver to arrange a marriage, but that martial instructor declared that he could train in martial arts. He got excited and took all his silver to the Martial Arts Hall to train. Who knows how he is now, or whether he regrets it." Another person spoke up, his voice grave. "Now that I hear what the head escort says, I'm afraid Chen Weimin lied. He was cheating people out of their money..."

Before he could finish, Escort Huang cut him off:

"Shut your mouth! Disaster comes out of the mouth. How dare you falsely accuse an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist?"

He suddenly barked, pointing at the man with a cold expression. "Our Escort Agency has ties with Jidao Martial Academy. The Lingxi Meat eaten by the escorts in our agency is supplied by Jidao Martial Academy, and we have other collaborations as well. If you keep wagging your tongue, Instructor Chen may not come looking for you, but I'll kill you first."

The man immediately lowered his head, breaking out in a cold sweat from fright.

The others were also startled by Escort Huang's sudden coldness, though some clever people quickly understood.

Escort Huang was not defending that martial instructor. He was protecting this person, and even warning everyone that this matter could not be discussed. Perhaps there were other hidden circumstances.

Otherwise, why would Head Escort Liang, who possessed strength equal to Chen Weimin's, choose to play deaf and dumb in the face of such wrongdoing?

"Instructor Chen represents the face of Jidao Martial Academy. Forget you lot—even Fang Yong, who truly has the makings of a genius, would not be protected by the Chief if he offended the Martial Arts Hall." Escort Huang spoke again, also as a warning.

Everyone hurriedly nodded obediently, promising to let the matter rot in their stomachs.

Only Jiang Ping, who had remained silent all this while, had a flash of coldness in his eyes.

"This debt must be settled!"

Others might not be able to afford to offend Chen Weimin, but he was different. He held grudges, and he had never forgotten this matter.

His parents taking his silver had been the result; Chen Weimin had been the cause.

If this man had not lied and deceived his younger brother, he would not have lost those Eight Taels of Silver.

"However, Chen Weimin is an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist with quite a good reputation. For him to suddenly do something so despicable, there is likely another reason. And whether it is Escort Huang or the head escort, they certainly know the inside story, yet all remain tight-lipped. This matter is probably not simple. I must settle this debt, but I also need to plan it out carefully and investigate the truth."

Jiang Ping pondered it carefully.

A gentleman did not let vengeance go unavenged, but he could not be hasty. How should he take revenge, and how could he take revenge... Well, he should first raise his strength to Eighth Rank.

"In any case, you should first work hard to meet the Escort Agency's standards. Stop letting your thoughts run wild. Once you become escorts, then you may investigate other matters."

At last, Head Escort Liang offered this instruction, then hurriedly left with Escort Huang.

Time flashed by, and several more days passed.

That afternoon.

Buzz, buzz.

Liu Wensheng, who had been practicing the Nourishing Life Technique, suddenly changed in aura. His movements carried a fierce wind, startling those around him.

"This is?! The fourth layer of the Nourishing Life Technique!"

This had happened before. When Fang Yong broke through to the fourth layer, the same change had occurred—his fists and kicks carried Wind Force.

Without question, the second person to cultivate the Nourishing Life Technique to the fourth layer had appeared!

"Liu Wensheng broke through. Amazing." Many found it unexpected, yet entirely reasonable.

After all, he had reached the third layer long ago. Suddenly breaking through to the fourth layer was only natural.

"Congratulations, Brother Liu! Congratulations! You are absolutely the first person beneath Fang Yong."

A crowd gathered around him, and Liu Wensheng found himself surrounded like the moon among stars.

"Good luck, good luck." Liu Wensheng cupped his hands modestly.

He seemed to understand how it felt for a genius like Fang Yong to be surrounded by others. His smile was exceptionally brilliant, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He even deliberately showed off in front of Jiang Ping, since he was the second to break through to the fourth layer.

Yet two days after Liu Wensheng's breakthrough, Jiang Ping too refused to fall behind. He likewise "joined" the ranks of those at the fourth layer of the Nourishing Life Technique and enjoyed being surrounded like the moon among stars once.

"You really put pressure on me," Liu Wensheng said in surprise, while Jiang Ping appeared helpless.

Actually, after confirming that Chen Weimin had swindled people out of money, Jiang Ping had wanted to keep a lower profile. After all, he was one of the victims. If he drew too much attention and Chen Weimin learned of it, he feared Chen Weimin might cut the weeds and eliminate the roots.

However, since Liu Wensheng had already broken through, his own "breakthrough" would no longer seem so astonishing and should not cause a stir.

What was more, Jiang Ping's Flying Snow Saber Qi was about to be mastered. The head escort had said that Saber Qi could kill an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist. In the future, even if he faced Chen Weimin himself, once he stepped into the Blade Qi Domain, he certainly would not lose his life—and might even be able to kill in return.

That was why Jiang Ping chose to "break through."

Of course, it was also because Chen Weimin was a potential threat that Jiang Ping wanted to grow quickly while he was still "weak and unknown."

Therefore, becoming an escort, earning silver, and buying a Stance Technique were the most urgent matters.