Duke

Duke Chen bears the surname Liu, being a descendant of Liu Tichun, the General of the Right Fruitful and Resolute from the Twenty-Two Generals of the Five Camps of yesteryear.

As fellow townsmen of the Great Shun Emperor, the family of Duke Chen, also hailing from Yan'an Prefecture, possesses a dedicated Duke's Mansion granted to them within the prefecture.

Though not as magnificent or imposing as those in the capital, it is quite impressive as a place to rest one's feet when traveling through Yan'an Prefecture.

As Chen Wu stood before the Duke's Mansion waiting for the gatekeeper to go in and announce him, he felt bored and could not help but let his mind wander, gossiping to himself about the history of how this Duke's Mansion rose to prominence.

Even now, when the people of Yan'an Prefecture mention the Duke's family, they habitually refer to them as "that family of Liu Two-Tigers." This is because when Liu Tichun first raised his army, his nickname was "Two Tigers."

Perhaps because the family of Liu Two-Tigers are fellow townsmen of the Emperor and find it convenient to travel to and from Yan'an Prefecture, they often act on behalf of the imperial family to preside over various sacrificial ceremonies in the prefecture.

This time, following the assassination of the Grand Patriarch, the Duke of Chen, serving as a veteran tool for sacrificial rites, was dispatched by the current Emperor to preside over the Imperial Temple and the Merit Temple.

One wonders if Liu Two-Tigers, who was forced to raise an army in rebellion back then because he owed rent to a landlord, would ever have imagined that his descendants would one day live in such luxury, wielding power and prestige far exceeding that of Lord Liu the Second, the man who once forced him to pay that rent.

While he was lost in these idle thoughts, the gatekeeper emerged and told Chen Wu to sneak in through the back door.

Chen Wu had no choice but to take a long detour and sneak into the Duke's Mansion through the rear entrance. After several twists and turns, he finally met the heir he had seen earlier that day.

"Did you bring it?"

Before Chen Wu could even offer a salute, the heir asked the question straight away.

"I have brought it."

Chen Wu opened the box in his hands, revealing the incredibly luxurious carriage clock.

"Is it fixed?"

Chen Wu did not answer; he simply opened the back cover of the carriage clock and gently wound it, and the hands on the front dial began to move automatically. Under the glass cover on the upper part of the clock, the pendulum also began to swing.

Clang—

A few seconds later, the clock chimed again. It turned out that Chen Wu had specifically set the time to the alarm setting so that the young Duke could hear it clearly.

"Good—"

The heir was overjoyed, stepping forward to embrace the carriage clock, looking it over from left to right as if he were about to kiss it the next second.

"Good, good, good!" The heir did not look at Chen Wu, but stared fixedly at the carriage clock. "Your Jinheng Watch Shop has some skill, and your uncle has some skill. Why didn't he come himself?"

"This humble one is young and wanted to see the Duke's Mansion, so I begged my uncle to let me make this delivery," Chen Wu replied.

In reality, Old Liu had been thoroughly disgusted by the heir's spoiled temperament and couldn't be bothered to meet this relative from five hundred years ago.

"You are quite an interesting one," the heir laughed, putting down the carriage clock. "What is your name?"

"This humble one is named Chen Wu."

"Chen Wu..." Upon hearing this name, the heir suddenly looked surprised. "Are you the Chen Wu mentioned in the Yanhe Daily? The one who killed the Jade-Faced Killing God?"

"I didn't expect the heir to know of this humble one," Chen Wu said. "Actually, it was not I who killed him. At the time, the Jade-Faced Killing God had already been severely wounded by the Yan'an Prefecture patrol, and he just happened to run into me."

"Hey, it was still you who killed him in the end!" The heir suddenly became full of interest in Chen Wu. "You share the same name as the Jade-Faced Killing God, so I remembered it at the time."

"Tell me, how did you kill him?" The heir looked excited, eager for the gossip.

Chen Wu had no choice but to recount the events exactly as they happened, though he heavily emphasized the contributions of the patrol officers, framing himself as a mere opportunist at the Concentrated Spirit Realm.

Even so, the heir listened with great relish, nodding incessantly and showing a look of longing.

"I really envy you people who know martial arts!" The heir suddenly looked a bit dejected. "Although I have family martial arts, I cannot master them; I can't even enter the Concentrated Spirit Realm."

"If I had your aptitude, I would have gone to the Wude Palace long ago."

Chen Wu immediately understood: this heir had no aptitude for martial arts and belonged to that class of losers who would spend their whole lives struggling in the first three stages.

"One studies literature and martial arts to sell them to the imperial family," Chen Wu said immediately. "We practice martial arts and study books only to get ahead. You were born a noble. You only need to use your mind; there is no need for you to worry about manual labor."

Chen Wu felt disgusted with himself, feeling that he had quite a talent for being a sycophant.

"Ah—" These words hit the heir right in the heart. "You're right! I've already been born into such a good life, there's no need to have everything. Anyway, as long as I don't make any major mistakes, this hereditary dukedom will always be secure."

"I'll have someone bring you the repair fee in a moment. What other reward do you want?"

Perhaps because Chen Wu's flattery had hit the mark, the heir found Chen Wu more and more pleasing to the eye and took the initiative to offer a reward.

Chen Wu thought for a moment and felt this was a good opportunity, so he spoke up.

"This humble one does indeed desire a reward, but it is a bit presumptuous. I wonder if I should say it?"

"Speak!"

"This humble one has always been obsessed with martial arts. I wonder if the Duke's Mansion has any secret manuals regarding the Concentrated Spirit Realm that I might be allowed to look at?"

"Oh—" The heir laughed. "You're only at the Pulse-Connecting stage, and you're already thinking about the Concentrated Spirit Realm?"

"This humble one is indeed overestimating his own abilities."

"Fine. That shelf over there is full of martial arts manuals; go take a look yourself!" The heir waved his hand, completely indifferent to these manuals. "They were all found for me by my father. I've tried them all, one by one, and I couldn't master a single one."

"Many thanks, many thanks to the heir!"

Chen Wu hurriedly offered a sincere salute.

This was no mere Duke's heir; he was practically a god of wealth scattering his fortune!

Anyone who calls the Heir a straw bag now is picking a fight with Chen Wu, and that includes Old Liu!

Chen Wu hurried over to the bookshelf; it was small and sparsely populated, stuffed with about twenty martial arts manuals.

As expected of the Duke's Mansion, they truly had the resources.

Chen Wu did not try to read them all at once; he was still in the Duke's Mansion, and it would not do to hoard them all. On the other hand, more martial arts manuals were not necessarily better; practicing too many different styles could easily lead to conflicting internal energy and deviation.

Chen Wu already possessed three peerless martial arts and had no need to practice too many others. Looking through the remaining manuals was solely to resolve his own issues with the Concentrated Spirit Realm.

Clang--

Duke Chen had just returned from drinking with the Prefect of Yan'an Prefecture when he heard the toll of a bell. He felt puzzled, wondering why the sound felt so familiar.

Without delay, he led his servants toward the direction from which the bell had rung.

After a few steps, he realized they were heading toward his son's room, and it dawned on him instantly!

"That little brat!"

Duke Chen's anger flared, and he stormed toward the Heir's room, fuming with rage.

Chen Wu first scanned the titles roughly, weeding out the manuals that were clearly for external techniques.

He then gave the remaining manuals a quick glance to see if any contained content related to the Concentrated Spirit Realm.

It took less than a quarter of an hour before he finally found a manual that seemed somewhat interesting.