Genius

Daya Hall, inner chamber.

Li Changgeng lay on his sickbed. Though this was a time for quiet recuperation, there were several people in the room.

Yang Yuchun was a frequent visitor, having come to check on him often over the past two days. However, the other uninvited guest was truly shocking.

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

"Young Master Qiao, you have come to find us—have you made up your mind?" Li Changgeng asked.

"Master Li is right. This Humble One has decided. I wish to defect to the Crown Prince's Mansion and hope Master Li will take me in."

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

Young Master Qiao replied, "He may be of the Investigation of Things School, but I do not agree with them. The affairs of this world—sovereign and subject, father and son—are the Heavenly Principle. Everything must be governed by ritual and moral order. For the Investigation of Things School to speak of 'investigating principles and determining right from wrong' is simply a preposterous fallacy."

"My father's opposition to the School of Heavenly Principle and the Crown Prince's Mansion was truly foolish beyond measure."

"Oh? I did not expect Young Master Qiao to identify so strongly with our School of Heavenly Principle," Li Changgeng said with a look of surprise. "You have a heart for it."

Yang Yuchun, however, seized the opportunity to make a point: "Young Master Qiao, these actions of yours are completely contrary to your father's, which actually contradicts the very principle of 'father and son' you just spoke of."

"This..." Seemingly unprepared for this question, Young Master Qiao faltered, and the atmosphere grew awkward.

Seeing this, Yang Yuchun shook his head slightly and smiled as he added, "The sovereign comes before the father. The Crown Prince is the sovereign, and we are his subjects; loyalty to the sovereign is the greatest righteousness. If the words of one's father or ancestors are wrong, they should be changed."

"Am I right, Young Master Qiao?"

"Ah, yes, yes, exactly so." Young Master Qiao nodded repeatedly, then pulled a stack of banknotes from his robes. "These two hundred thousand silver dollars—I hope Master Li will help me present them to the Crown Prince. This Humble One's sincere heart to serve is as clear as the sun and moon!"

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

"Alas, you two know the situation of my family. Since my maternal grandfather passed, we have been somewhat weak. My father's stubborn insistence on associating with the Investigation of Things School only made matters worse." Young Master Qiao spoke with apparent sincerity. "The Crown Prince is, after all, the heir apparent. Even if the Qiao family does not directly fawn upon him, how could we possibly oppose him?"

"Fortunately, my father has passed. Now that I have taken his place, I am truly and sincerely defecting to the Crown Prince's Mansion!"

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

Yang Yuchun took the banknotes and said, "Since that is the case, now that you have inherited the family business, you must ensure that Zhong'an Bank serves the Crown Prince well in the future."

Young Master Qiao was overjoyed and hurriedly pledged his loyalty and offered flattery. However, his words were rather blunt, causing Yang Yuchun and Li Changgeng to frown slightly.

Seeing Young Master Qiao's clumsy performance, Li Changgeng had no desire to play along and used his injuries as an excuse to dismiss him after a few words.

As soon as Young Master Qiao left, Li Changgeng asked impatiently, "Well?"

"He has a bit of petty cunning, but overall, he is a fool."

"Hahaha—" Li Changgeng laughed. "Your tongue is as sharp as ever."

"Not to mention whether he will face retaliation for betraying the Investigation of Things School, his gift-giving today was full of errors," Yang Yuchun said, shaking his head.

"Who gives money so openly?" Yang Yuchun continued with disdain. "Furthermore, he wants us to present it to the Crown Prince, yet he didn't prepare gifts for us beforehand. If we were to cause him even the slightest trouble, his money would have been better off not being sent at all."

"He is just a spoiled brat who has never had to flatter anyone; it is to be expected," Li Changgeng said with a smile.

Yang Yuchun sighed, "To think that a man like Qiao Weisheng could have such a son!"

"Qiao Weisheng rose to power relying on his wife's family and was henpecked. He dared not take concubines and ended up with only this one son—a tragedy indeed," Li Changgeng lamented.

"It goes beyond that!" Yang Yuchun said with conviction. "Some time ago, someone in the martial arts world went to great lengths to hire assassins to kill Qiao Weisheng. I never knew who was behind it, but now that I think about it, I fear it was this idiot."

"Surely not? They were father and son, after all," Li Changgeng said in astonishment.

"He arrived too quickly!" Yang Yuchun said. "Qiao Weisheng has only been dead for a few days. Jincheng Prefecture is in the northwest; even with the fastest horses traveling day and night, the news would only just be passing through Chang'an."

"The Qiao family are all from Jin Province; they shouldn't have received the news yet. For this Young Master Qiao to arrive so quickly, he must have been waiting nearby for the news."

Li Changgeng looked incredulous. "What a display of 'filial piety'!"

"Hmph—" Yang Yuchun said. "Such things are common within wealthy families."

"Then should we still accept him?" Although Li Changgeng was a master of the Concentrated Spirit Realm, he frequently deferred to Yang Yuchun, showing how much he had been won over by his intellect.

"Accept him! Not only must we accept him, we must protect him!" The mockery on Yang Yuchun's face deepened. "It is precisely because he is a 'little genius' that we must take him in. If he were truly a clever man, we wouldn't be able to trust him at all."

Li Changgeng was stunned for a moment before he realized the meaning and burst into laughter.

Chen Wu, however, couldn't even cry!

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

Those who practice hard-body techniques are truly not human!

Chen Wu sat cross-legged in a wooden tub with firewood burning underneath. Inside the tub, the medicinal liquid steamed and swirled, feeling like a torture of being boiled in a cauldron.

No! It was a torture of being boiled in a cauldron!

Chen Wu barely managed to circulate his energy to resist, or he would have been cooked through in an instant. But he couldn't hold on for long; he had to take advantage of the moment when his pores opened and his skin could breathe to guide the medicinal power into his bones and temper them.

Each medicinal tempering session could only be performed before the person was boiled alive. Such a dangerous endeavor naturally could not last long. Even a master of hard-body techniques could not endure it daily.

As soon as he focused his mind and his spirit ascended, he suddenly felt as if he could see through his internal organs, skin, and bones.

Chen Wu knew he had entered the state of internal vision, an ability only those who had reached the Concentrated Spirit Realm could possess.

Without delay, Chen Wu focused his spirit and guided the medicinal power toward his entire skeletal structure.

Under the infiltration of the medicinal power, his Concentrated Spirit acted like a steel sieve, sweeping over the more than two hundred bones of his entire body, inch by inch and section by section.

After repeating this process three times, a flash of inspiration struck Chen Wu. Under the observation of his Concentrated Spirit, his bones seemed to be undergoing a special transformation, turning from a ghastly white to a warm, jade-like luster, gradually emitting a precious glow.

Chen Wu felt a surge of excitement; this was about to succeed!

Suddenly, a stinging pain spread across his skin. It turned out that his true qi could no longer withstand the boiling heat of the water; if he continued to soak, he feared he would be cooked alive.

Chen Wu leaped up, jumping out of the wooden tub, and grabbed a basin of cold water from the side, pouring it directly over himself to cool down.

Splash—

As the cold water hit his body, Chen Wu let out a long sigh of relief.

His Jade Bone was truly just one step away; one more round of this dual tempering of Concentrated Spirit and medicinal bath would surely lead to success.

"Chen Gawa, I'm coming in!" Hearing the commotion, Old Ma pushed the door open from outside, intending to enter.

Chen Wu hurriedly threw on a blanket to wrap his body. "I'm fine!"

Old Ma took one look at the skin Chen Wu had exposed and couldn't help but nod. "This Copper Skin and Iron Tendons is truly extraordinary. After such tyrannical tempering, your skin is only slightly red, without a single burn. If it weren't for the need to purge the medicinal toxins from your body, you could likely withstand this medicinal bath tempering every single day."

"I will temper myself once more tomorrow to achieve the Jade Bone in one go!" Chen Wu decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"Will one more time be enough?"

"It certainly will!"

"What about the medicinal toxins in your body?"

"I can use my Concentrated Spirit to force them out; by tomorrow night, there will definitely be no issues!"

"Very well, but you are not allowed to practice martial arts tomorrow during the day! Go find somewhere to relax," Old Ma suddenly said.

"Why?"

Old Ma stroked his beard, sighing with great emotion. "Chen Gawa, your martial arts talent is the greatest I have ever seen in my life. Not yet twenty, you have already cultivated the Concentrated Spirit, and now, through the feedback of that spirit, you have cultivated the Jade Bone, reaching the pinnacle of the physical body. I suspect that even Emperor Taizong, at your age, may not have achieved as much as you."

I dare not compare myself to a transmigrator predecessor; they were a genius, while I am using a cheat!

Just as Chen Wu was about to be humble, Old Ma continued, "There is nothing to be humble about. In martial arts cultivation, if you can do it, you can; if you can't, you can't. But I still say, do not practice martial arts tomorrow during the day."

"Although my talent is not as great as yours, I have drunk more water from the Yellow River and have seen a bit more of the world," Old Ma said sincerely. "In this world, the closer you get to a critical juncture, the more you must remain composed. If you insist on bitter training tomorrow, not only will you not gain much power, but you will be like a taut string. When the moment of achieving the Jade Bone finally arrives, the fluctuation of your emotions might just lead to an accident."

"Old Ma, can't you wish me something good?" Chen Wu joked.

Old Ma also responded with a smile. "I know your talent is peerless, and such a thing is unlikely to happen. But in this life, unless you are forced to, do not gamble. Even if something is foolproof, if it truly fails, then one loss means everything is lost."

These words were spoken with sincerity, and Chen Wu immediately cupped his hands in a salute.

The next morning.

Chen Wu woke up early and decided to follow Old Ma's advice and stop practicing martial arts, though he couldn't immediately think of where to go to relax.

Suddenly, a person came to mind, and he strolled leisurely toward the prefecture city.