Genius

Daya Hall, inner chamber.

Li Changgeng lay on the sickbed. It should have been a time for quiet recuperation, yet several people had gathered in the room.

Yang Yuchun was a familiar face; he had come to visit often over the past two days. But the other uninvited guest came as a great surprise.

It was none other than Young Master Qiao, whom Chen Wu had seen at Zhong'an Bank!

"Young Master Qiao, have you made up your mind about coming to see us?" Li Changgeng asked.

"Master Li is right. I have made up my mind. I wish to join the Crown Prince's Mansion, and I hope Master Li will accept me."

"But your father belongs to the Investigation of Things School," Yang Yuchun said in puzzlement.

Young Master Qiao replied, "He belongs to the Investigation of Things School, but I don't agree with it. The affairs of this world are governed by the natural order: ruler and subject, father and son. Everything must conform to rites and the bonds of social order. The Investigation of Things School talks about 'investigating principles and determining right and wrong.' It's utterly absurd."

"My father opposed the School of Heavenly Principle and the Crown Prince's Mansion. He couldn't have been more foolish."

"Oh? I never expected Young Master Qiao to agree so wholeheartedly with the School of Heavenly Principle," Li Changgeng said, his face full of surprise. "You've given this a lot of thought."

Yang Yuchun seized the opportunity to needle him. "What Young Master Qiao has done is the exact opposite of your father's. It also runs counter to the bond between father and son."

"This..." Young Master Qiao seemed not to have anticipated the question and was at a loss for words. The atmosphere turned awkward.

Seeing this, Yang Yuchun gave a slight shake of his head, then added with a smile, "The bond between ruler and subject comes first, father and son second. The Crown Prince is our ruler, and we are his subjects. Loyalty to one's ruler is the foremost duty. What your father and grandfather said can simply be changed."

"Am I right, Young Master Qiao?"

"Ah, yes, yes, exactly." Young Master Qiao nodded hastily, then pulled a stack of banknotes from his robes. "Here are two hundred thousand silver dollars. I hope Master Li will pass them on to the Crown Prince. My heartfelt devotion to serving him can be witnessed by the sun and moon!"

"Young Master Qiao is certainly generous!" Li Changgeng was somewhat moved.

"Alas, both of you know my family's situation. Ever since my maternal grandfather passed away, we've been left somewhat without support. My father has stubbornly insisted on associating with the Investigation of Things School, which has only made matters worse." Young Master Qiao spoke with heartfelt sincerity. "The Crown Prince is, after all, the heir to the throne. My Qiao family may not have openly fawned over him, but how could we possibly oppose him?"

"Fortunately, my father has passed away. Once I take over, I'll sincerely place myself under the Crown Prince's command!"

"Very well," Li Changgeng said, nodding to Yang Yuchun.

Yang Yuchun accepted the banknotes. "In that case, once you've inherited the family business, Zhong'an Bank must do more for the Crown Prince."

Young Master Qiao was overjoyed and hurried to pledge his loyalty and curry favor. But he spoke rather bluntly, making Yang Yuchun and Li Changgeng frown slightly.

Seeing how clumsily Young Master Qiao was performing, Li Changgeng had no inclination to keep smiling along. He used his injuries as an excuse and dismissed Young Master Qiao after a few brief words.

The moment Young Master Qiao left, Li Changgeng asked eagerly, "What do you think?"

"He has a little cleverness in some respects, but overall he's an idiot."

"Hahaha—" Li Changgeng laughed. "You never do spare anyone with that tongue of yours."

"Never mind the fact that betraying the Investigation of Things School could bring retribution. Even the way he brought his gift today was riddled with mistakes." Yang Yuchun shook his head.

"Who openly hands over money like that?" Yang Yuchun said with growing disdain. "And he wants us to pass it on to the Crown Prince, yet he didn't even prepare a gift for us in advance. If we made even the slightest trouble for him, he might as well not have given us that money."

"He's just a spoiled young master. It's normal that he doesn't know how to flatter people," Li Changgeng said with a smile.

Yang Yuchun sighed. "How could someone like Qiao Weisheng have a son like that?"

"Qiao Weisheng rose to prominence by leaning on his wife's family, and he was afraid of his wife. He didn't dare take a concubine, so he ended up with only this one son. What could he do?" Li Changgeng said with a sigh.

"That's not all!" Yang Yuchun said with certainty. "Some time ago, someone in the martial world made a big show of hiring an assassin to kill Qiao Weisheng. I never knew who was behind it. Now that I think about it, it was probably this idiot."

"Surely not? They were father and son, after all." Li Changgeng was astonished.

"He got here too quickly!" Yang Yuchun said. "It has only been a few days since Qiao Weisheng died. Jincheng Prefecture is in the northwest. Even with a courier horse galloping day and night, the message would only just have passed Chang'an by now."

"The entire Qiao family is from Jin Province, so they shouldn't have received the news yet. But Young Master Qiao arrived so quickly. He must have been waiting nearby for word."

Li Changgeng's face was full of disbelief. "What filial love between father and son!"

"Hmph," Yang Yuchun said. "This sort of thing happens often inside wealthy families."

"Then should we still take him in?" Although Li Changgeng was a Mystic Realm expert, he kept asking Yang Yuchun for his opinion, a clear sign of how impressed he was by Yang Yuchun's insight.

"Take him in! Not only should we take him in, we should protect him!" The mockery on Yang Yuchun's face deepened. "It's precisely because he's a 'little genius' that we should take him in. If he were truly clever, we wouldn't feel at ease."

Li Changgeng listened in bemusement, then suddenly understood and burst out laughing.

Chen Wu couldn't even cry!

He had never imagined this medicinal bath would be so brutal!

People who trained in external arts really weren't human!

Chen Wu sat cross-legged in a wooden tub. A fire burned beneath it, and medicinal liquid inside the tub steamed and swirled like a cauldron of boiling torture.

No, it was a cauldron of boiling torture!

Chen Wu could barely resist with his inner force, which kept him from being cooked alive in an instant. But he couldn't hold out for long. He needed to take advantage of the moment his pores opened and his skin could breathe, and guide the medicinal power into his bones to temper them.

Each medicinal bath could only be endured until just before a person was cooked alive. Such a dangerous process naturally couldn't be sustained for long. Even experts in external arts couldn't temper themselves this way every day.

As soon as he focused, Chen Wu entered a state of concentrated spirit. Suddenly, it was as if he could see through his internal organs, skin, muscles, and bones.

Chen Wu knew he had entered the so-called state of inner vision, a power available only to those who had cultivated Concentrated Spirit.

At once, Chen Wu used his concentrated spirit to guide the medicinal power into the bones throughout his body.

As the medicinal power seeped in, his concentrated spirit became like a steel sieve, sweeping inch by inch, joint by joint, over the more than two hundred bones in his body.

After sweeping through them three times, inspiration struck Chen Wu. Under his concentrated gaze, his bones seemed to be undergoing some kind of special transformation. Their ashen whiteness became warm and jade-like, and a faint radiance began to glow from them.

Chen Wu was thrilled. He was about to make it!

Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through the skin all over his body. His inner force could no longer withstand the scalding water. If he kept going, he would be cooked alive.

Chen Wu leapt out of the tub, grabbed a basin of cold water from beside it, and poured it over himself to cool down.

Splash—

As the cold water soaked him, Chen Wu let out a long breath.

He really was only one step away from forming a Jade Bone. One more round of tempering with the medicinal bath and concentrated spirit, and he would surely succeed.

"Chen Gawa, I'm coming in!" Hearing the commotion, Old Ma pushed open the door.

Chen Wu hurriedly grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around himself. "I'm fine!"

Old Ma glanced at the skin exposed outside Chen Wu's blanket and nodded. "This Copper Skin and Iron Tendons technique really is extraordinary. After such brutal tempering, your skin is only red. You don't even have a burn. If you didn't still need to purge the medicinal toxins from your body, you could probably withstand a medicinal bath every day."

"I'll temper myself once more tomorrow and form a Jade Bone in one go!" Chen Wu decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"One more time will do it?"

"Definitely!"

"What about the medicinal toxins in your body?"

"I can work with my concentrated spirit to force them out. Tomorrow night, I definitely won't have a problem!"

"All right. You aren't allowed to practice martial arts tomorrow. Go find somewhere to amuse yourself!" Old Ma suddenly said.

"Why?"

Old Ma stroked his beard, overcome with emotion. "Chen Gawa, your talent in martial arts is something I've never seen in my life. You're not even twenty, yet you've already cultivated Concentrated Spirit. Now your concentrated spirit is nourishing you in return, helping you form a Jade Bone and reach the limits of the physical body. I doubt even Emperor Taizong had achieved as much as you at your age."

I couldn't compare myself to the transmigrators who came before me. They were geniuses; I had cheats!

Chen Wu was about to offer a modest reply when Old Ma added, "There's no need to be modest. In martial arts, you either can do it or you can't. But I still have to say this: don't practice martial arts tomorrow."

"Old Ma may not be as talented as you, but I've drunk more Yellow River water than you, so I've seen a thing or two." Old Ma spoke with earnest sincerity. "In this world, the closer you get to a crucial moment, the more you should take it easy. If you stubbornly push yourself to train tomorrow, you won't build up much strength, but you'll be wound as tight as a drawn bowstring. When you finally form a Jade Bone, the sudden rise and fall of your emotions could lead to an accident."

"Old Ma, couldn't you wish me a little luck?" Chen Wu joked.

Old Ma smiled in reply. "I know your talent is extraordinary, so it's unlikely something like that would happen. But in life, unless you have no other choice, don't gamble. Even if the odds are a thousand to one, if that one chance goes wrong, everything is lost."

His words rang true, and Chen Wu immediately cupped his fists in salute.

The next morning.

Chen Wu woke early and decided to follow Old Ma's advice and stop practicing martial arts. He just couldn't think of anywhere to go for a bit of amusement.

Suddenly, someone came to mind. Chen Wu set off leisurely for the prefectural city.