Raising the Stakes, That's Right, I'm a Genius!

"A-Qiao!"

"Why are you yelling so loudly?"

"Don't you know people get less able to handle scares once they get old?"

Chen Liujia walked out of the room, looking utterly helpless.

"A-Zu... his Iron Garment Skill has reached minor mastery!"

Han Qiao pointed at Jiang Wangzu as she spoke.

"Isn't it just minor mastery? That's perfectly normal. He already had a hard-body foundation, and he's a minor-mastery Strength Training martial artist too. Taking three days to get started with Iron Garment Skill... hm?"

"You said minor mastery?"

Chen Liujia appeared at Jiang Wangzu's side like a bolt of black lightning, giving Jiang Wangzu a huge fright.

Not only did this old man make no sound when he walked, he also came and went like a ghost.

If he entered a seniors' race-walking competition, the championship would absolutely be his!

"No corpse-oil ointment, and no other body-refining salves either."

Chen Liujia pried open Jiang Wangzu's mouth and took a look, then continued, "And you haven't taken any forbidden drugs or the like."

"But with bones and roots like yours, how did you cultivate this Third-Rate Hard Body Cultivation Method to minor mastery in such a short time?"

Chen Liujia felt around Jiang Wangzu's body for quite a while longer, confirming that his eyes had not deceived him.

Jiang Wangzu's innate foundation was very average, the sort that would vanish without a trace if tossed into a crowd.

But that still could not explain how he had grinded the Third-Rate Hard Body Cultivation Method, Iron Garment Skill, to minor mastery in three days!

"I got into a group fight with some people a couple of days ago. As I was fighting, I felt a lot of images of cultivating Iron Garment Skill surge up in my mind. Things I couldn't figure out before suddenly became clear, like the clouds parting to reveal the sun."

"After the fight was over, I discovered that my Iron Garment Skill had advanced by a huge chunk."

"Oh, right. When I cultivated Black Tiger Fist before, I also ran into something like this."

"After I drank one bowl of Strength Training secret medicine, I just broke through naturally."

"Oh, right, the Little Medical Immortal also said I had some kind of Innate Drug-Consuming Saint Body."

"Other people can't digest the medicinal effect of one portion of Strength Training secret medicine even in three to five days, but I can digest it very quickly, and no medicine lingers in my body to form residual poison."

"So now I drink one bowl of Strength Training secret medicine a day, which makes it especially money-burning."

Jiang Wangzu had long since prepared his words. Calm and unhurried, with a trace of blank confusion, he spoke.

He was raising the stakes layer by layer.

He would not expose his true trump card, the Attribute Panel cheat!

But he also needed to shape himself into a genius-type martial artist who, though his innate foundation was not all that good, possessed extraordinary talent.

He wanted Chen Liujia and Han Qiao to see his value.

Only that way would they sincerely accept him, and only then could he obtain more benefits.

When that ghostly thing from Dragon River Pier truly came ashore to seek him out, he would be able to borrow Chen Liujia and Han Qiao's hands to preserve his little life.

"Epiphany?"

"That doesn't really seem like it either."

"Perhaps every person's method of epiphany is different."

"What he has probably doesn't reach the level of an epiphany. It counts as awakening—like what people often call having the aperture opened."

"No matter what, this is enough to prove that the boy's comprehension is extremely high."

"On the path of martial arts, comprehension is more important than innate foundation."

"Perhaps in the first three realms, or even the first four realms, having a good innate foundation lets one walk faster."

"But the further martial cultivation goes into the later stages, the more it values comprehension."

"Innate foundation can only guarantee that a person walks fast. Comprehension can guarantee that a person walks far, even far enough to found a sect and establish a school."

"In reality, innate foundation and comprehension often complement each other."

"But such things are not absolute. Some people have excellent innate foundation, but very poor comprehension."

"Some people have extraordinary comprehension, but their innate foundation is very poor."

"From the looks of it, this boy before me should belong to the latter!"

"And his efficiency in absorbing secret medicine is extremely high, which means he can completely use an ocean's worth of resources to pile himself up to an unimaginable realm."

"Moreover, as his strength grows, his sinews, bones, skin, and flesh—even his five viscera and six bowels—will all be strengthened. At that time, his innate foundation will also be continuously remolded, becoming better and better."

"Putting it that way, this boy can be considered a piece of timber worth carving."

"If he's properly nurtured, even if he can't be said to be worthy of A-Qiao, at the very least he won't become a burden to her."

Chen Liujia sized Jiang Wangzu up, thinking to himself.

He was growing more and more satisfied with Jiang Wangzu.

And this was exactly what Jiang Wangzu wanted!

"Old Master Chen, please don't look at me like that. I'm really not gay!"

Jiang Wangzu opened his mouth and said something that utterly killed the mood.

"Get lost!"

Although Chen Liujia did not know what "gay" was, that did not stop him from knowing it was nothing good.

"Keep practicing with A-Qiao for a while. I'll go prepare your medicinal bath."

"A-Qiao, bring him some Black Iron Paste and have him smear it on his body."

Chen Liujia added another sentence.

In truth, he had already prepared Jiang Wangzu's medicinal bath long ago, but now he had changed his mind.

He wanted to add a little something to Jiang Wangzu's bath, put in some good stuff, and turn it into a top-grade body-tempering medicinal bath.

In addition, the Black Iron Paste he mentioned was also an extremely precious secret body-tempering medicine, suitable for all kinds of external-training martial artists.

Never mind a young martial artist like Jiang Wangzu, who had only just begun tempering his body; even for those top-tier external-training experts, it would be of great benefit.

When Han Qiao heard Chen Liujia say this, she also understood that Chen Liujia intended to focus on nurturing Jiang Wangzu.

But what she did not know was that Jiang Wangzu had said he possessed the Innate Drug-Consuming Saint Body.

Words alone were no proof, so Chen Liujia wanted to see it with his own eyes!

"This is Black Iron Paste. Smear it all over your body, then keep practicing!"

"There's a Quiet Room beside the pharmacy. You can go apply it there."

Han Qiao followed Chen Liujia to the pharmacy, took out a jar of Black Iron Paste, handed it to Jiang Wangzu, and spoke.

"Many thanks, Sister A-Qiao!"

Jiang Wangzu took the body-tempering ointment, Black Iron Paste, and happily went to the Quiet Room. Then he smeared the Black Iron Paste all over his body, using up more than half the jar in one go, even spreading it over his face.

He felt a burning pain all over his body, as if someone were mercilessly whipping and urging him on with a leather lash dipped in chili water.

At the same time, the medicinal effects of the ointment seeped into his body, and he felt his physical strength increase by quite a bit again.

"Pfft!"

When Han Qiao saw Jiang Wangzu with his whole face smeared black, she could not help laughing.

"Who told you to put it on your face too?"

"Don't you feel pain?"

Han Qiao asked aloud.

"It's all right."

"Didn't you say to smear it all over my body?"

Jiang Wangzu moved his muscles and bones a little, then answered.

"Don't tell me you even..."

Han Qiao could not help looking down toward Jiang Wangzu's crotch, her face full of astonishment.

She really wanted to know just what kind of heroic soul could be so valiant!

To actually dare smear Black Iron Paste on his own private parts.

That pain should be about the same as having the chicken fly and the eggs smashed, right?

Yet Jiang Wangzu was still acting like nothing had happened.

Amazing willpower!

That was another great advantage for martial arts training!

In truth, Han Qiao had truly wronged Jiang Wangzu here.

Jiang Wangzu's whole thing was that he could not endure even the slightest hardship.

The reason he could withstand it was because he had triggered the quick-leveling bug, Getting Beaten Makes You Stronger!

So he did not feel that much pain at all. Instead, he felt waves of heat surging through his body, his physical strength constantly growing stronger!