Duke Chen

Duke Chen's surname was Liu. He was a descendant of Liu Tichun, the Right Fruitful and Resolute General of the Right Camp, one of the Twenty-Two Generals of the Five Camps.

As a fellow townsman of the Great Shun Emperor and a family also originally from Yan'an Prefecture, the Duke Chen family had been granted a residence there.

It was nowhere near as grand as the mansions in the Capital City, but as a place to stay when visiting Yan'an Prefecture, it was still quite impressive.

Chen Wu stood in front of Duke Chen's Residence, waiting for the gatekeeper to go inside and announce him. With nothing to do, he let his mind wander and began musing about the history of the family's rise.

Even now, people in Yan'an Prefecture still habitually referred to the Duke Chen family as Liu Two-Tigers's family. That was because Liu Tichun had taken up arms back then under the nickname "Two Tigers."

Perhaps because Liu Two-Tigers's family were all fellow townsmen of the emperor, and could easily travel to and from Yan'an Prefecture, they often represented the imperial family in presiding over the prefecture's sacrificial rites.

This time, after the Grand Patriarch had been assassinated, Duke Chen had been dispatched by the current emperor to perform sacrifices at the Imperial Temple and the Merit Temple, once again serving as the old, reliable sacrificial tool.

He wondered if Liu Two-Tigers, who had taken up arms in revolt after falling behind on his rent to a landlord, would ever have imagined that his descendants would now live in grand halls and wield great influence, far surpassing Lord Liu the Second, who had once forced him to pay up.

After Chen Wu's idle musings, the gatekeeper came back out and told him to sneak in through the back entrance.

With no choice, Chen Wu took another long detour and slipped in through the back gate of Duke Chen's Residence. After turning this way and that, he finally found the young heir he had seen that morning.

"Did you bring it?"

Before Chen Wu could even bow, the young heir went straight to the point.

"I did."

Chen Wu opened the box in his hands, revealing the lavish carriage clock inside.

"Is it fixed?"

Chen Wu didn't answer. He opened the back of the carriage clock and gently wound it. The hands on the front dial began to move on their own, while the pendulum beneath the glass cover at the top swung back and forth.

Dong—

Only a few seconds later, the clock rang again. Chen Wu had deliberately set the time to the alarm's appointed hour so the young heir could hear it for himself.

"Good—"

The young heir was overjoyed. He rushed over and hugged the carriage clock, inspecting it from every angle as if he were about to kiss it.

"Good, good, good!" The young heir kept his eyes on the carriage clock instead of Chen Wu. "Your Jinheng Watch Shop has some real talent. So does your watchmaker uncle. Why didn't he come himself?"

"This humble one is young and wanted to see Duke Chen's Residence, so I asked my uncle to let me make the delivery." Chen Wu answered.

In truth, Old Liu had been so disgusted by the young heir's princely airs that he couldn't be bothered to meet this distant kinsman from five hundred years ago.

"You're an interesting fellow." The young heir laughed, setting down the carriage clock. "What's your name?"

"This humble one is called Chen Wu."

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

"I didn't expect Your Highness to know of me." Chen Wu said. "Actually, I wasn't the one who killed him. The Yan'an Prefecture constables had already beaten the 'Jade-Faced Killing God' badly. I just happened to run into him."

"Come on, you still killed him!" The young heir suddenly became very interested in Chen Wu. "You had the same name as the 'Jade-Faced Killing God.' I remembered you right away."

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

Chen Wu had no choice but to recount the whole story, though he heavily emphasized the constables' contribution and made clear that, as a Pulse-Opening Realm cultivator, he had merely gotten lucky.

Even so, the young heir listened with rapt attention, nodding again and again, his face full of longing.

"I envy you martial artists!" The young heir suddenly looked a little downcast. "My family has passed down martial arts, but I can't learn them. I can't even enter the Pulse-Opening Realm."

"If I had your talent, I'd have gone to Wude Palace long ago."

Chen Wu immediately understood. The young heir had no talent for martial arts; he was one of those hapless fellows who spent their whole lives stuck in the first three stages.

"Study the civil and martial arts, then sell them to the imperial house." Chen Wu said at once. "We practice martial arts and study books only to make something of ourselves. You were born into nobility. You need only trouble yourself with affairs of the mind; you don't need to worry about labor."

Chen Wu nearly disgusted himself. He felt he might have a real talent for becoming a fawning courtier.

"Ah—" The words had struck the young heir right in the heart. "You're right! I was already born into such a good lot. There's no need for me to have everything. As long as I don't make some terrible mistake, this hereditary dukedom is secure."

"I'll have someone bring you the repair fee in a moment. Is there anything else you'd like as a reward?"

Perhaps Chen Wu's flattery had hit the mark. The young heir found him more and more agreeable, and even offered to reward him.

Chen Wu thought it over, deciding this was a good opportunity, and spoke up.

"This humble one does have a reward in mind, but it may be a bit presumptuous. I don't know if I should ask."

"Go ahead!"

"This humble one has always been fascinated by martial arts. I wonder if Duke Chen's Residence has any manuals on Concentrated Spirit Realm techniques that I might borrow to read?"

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

"This humble one knows he's reaching beyond his station."

"Enough. Those bookshelves over there are full of martial arts manuals. Go have a look." The young heir waved his hand, not caring much about the manuals. "My father found them for me. I tried every one, but couldn't master a single one."

"Thank you, thank you, Your Highness!"

Chen Wu hurriedly bowed, truly grateful.

What was this young heir, if not a god of fortune?

From now on, anyone who called the young heir a useless fool was making an enemy of Chen Wu—even Old Liu.

Chen Wu hurried to the bookshelf. It was small, with a couple dozen martial arts manuals stuffed haphazardly onto it.

As expected of the Duke's Residence. They really had resources.

Chen Wu didn't read every single one. He was still in the Duke's Residence; it wouldn't do to sweep them all away. Besides, more martial arts manuals weren't necessarily better. Practicing too many different arts could cause one's qi to clash and lead to cultivation deviation.

Chen Wu already had three peerless martial arts techniques. He didn't need to practice many more. He was only looking through the other manuals to solve his problem with the Concentrated Spirit Realm.

Dong—

Duke Chen had just returned from drinking with the prefect of Yan'an Prefecture when he heard a clock chime. He wondered why the sound seemed so familiar.

He immediately brought along some servants and headed toward the direction from which the chime had come.

After a few steps, he realized he was heading toward his son's room, and understood at once!

"That little brat!"

Duke Chen was furious. He led his people toward the young heir's room, fuming.

Chen Wu first skimmed through the titles, setting aside any manuals that were obviously outer-school techniques.

Then he quickly looked through the remaining manuals to see if any contained information related to the Concentrated Spirit Realm.

In less than fifteen minutes, he finally found a manual that seemed rather interesting.