Late-Blooming Prodigy?

"Spirit stones..."

Jiang Yuan muttered to himself, suddenly recalling something.

He had once heard that passing the martial artist assessment would allow one to become a retainer of the City Lord's Manor.

Jiangning City was a major city in the south of the Great Yu Kingdom. The City Lord's Manor wielded immense power and kept quite a few retainers.

Most of these retainers were martial artists. In exchange for serving the City Lord's Manor, they received cultivation resources and could regularly collect a stipend in spirit stones.

"Looks like I'll have to make another trip to the yamen."

Jiang Yuan rose to his feet, changed into a clean blue robe, and pushed open the door.

Jiangning City Yamen.

Zhang Yong was practicing his saber in the courtyard. The blade flashed with a fierce gleam, whistling through the air with tiger-like force.

As the yamen's constable chief, his qi cultivation had already reached the eighth level of Qi Condensation, making him an expert among ordinary people.

"Old Zhang, busy?"

An aged voice rang out.

Zhang Yong sheathed his saber and turned around. When he saw Jiang Yuan entering the courtyard, he burst into hearty laughter.

"Well, if it isn't Old Jiang! What wind blew you here?"

"What, is business at the teahouse bad? Have you come to the yamen to beg for a meal?"

"Scram, scram."

Jiang Yuan rolled his eyes. "This old man has serious business with you."

"What serious business?"

Zhang Yong put away his saber and wiped off his sweat.

"This old man wishes to take the martial artist assessment and register as a retainer of the City Lord's Manor."

"Oh, taking the martial artist assessment..."

Zhang Yong answered casually, then abruptly widened his eyes and stared at Jiang Yuan as if he were a monster.

"What? You want to take the martial artist assessment?"

"What, can't I?" Jiang Yuan remained perfectly calm.

Zhang Yong nearly jumped up. "Old Jiang, have you gone senile?"

"You're a seventy-year-old man. Learning martial arts for a few days to strengthen your body is one thing, but do you really think you're some martial arts grandmaster?"

Jiang Yuan could not be bothered to waste words on him. With a flip of his right hand, he condensed a clearly visible wisp of true qi in his palm.

"This..."

Zhang Yong's voice cut off abruptly, his eyes widening as round as bronze bells.

"Old Jiang, you condensed true qi?"

"How is that possible?"

Jiang Yuan withdrew his true qi and smiled faintly. "This old man is exceptionally gifted. Is that not allowed?"

"Exceptionally gifted..."

Zhang Yong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, yet not knowing what to say.

He had heard of youthful prodigies.

But he sure as hell had never heard of an elderly prodigy.

Generally speaking, once someone was past forty, it became difficult for them to enter the ranks of martial artists.

There were indeed martial artists in this world who stepped into the Qi Condensation realm in their later years, but such people were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns—far rarer even than peerless prodigies.

Legend had it that an old Daoist priest achieved sudden enlightenment and directly entered the middle three realms, becoming a martial arts grandmaster in one stroke and shaking the entire Great Yu Kingdom.

Of course, there was another possibility.

Jiang Yuan might have originally been a martial arts grandmaster. At that realm, one could completely conceal one's true qi and appear no different from an ordinary person.

But that possibility was practically zero.

"Fine."

Zhang Yong took a deep breath and suppressed the shock in his heart. "Since you've already condensed true qi, you're qualified to take the assessment."

"But Old Jiang, let me warn you first. If those old bones of yours get scattered to pieces, don't blame me for not warning you."

"Enough nonsense. Lead the way," Jiang Yuan said.

Seeing Jiang Yuan so confident, Zhang Yong did not try to dissuade him further. He led him to a broad martial arts training ground.

The training ground was extremely spacious, with all manner of weapons—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, and more—placed around its edges.

At that moment, more than a dozen martial artists had gathered there. Some were training, some were sparring, all of them brimming with vitality and imposing momentum.

"Oh, Constable Chief Zhang is here!"

A burly man in coarse clothes spotted Zhang Yong and approached with a grin. "What brings you to the training ground today? Looking to trade a few moves with us brothers?"

"Trade my ass."

Zhang Yong waved a hand and pointed at Jiang Yuan behind him. "I brought someone to take the martial artist assessment."

"Take the assessment?"

The coarse-clothed man froze. Following Zhang Yong's finger, he looked at Jiang Yuan, and his face immediately filled with disbelief.

"Him?"

"Yeah, him." Zhang Yong nodded helplessly.

"Hahahaha..."

The burly man could not help bursting into laughter. "Constable Chief Zhang, you're kidding, right?"

"How old is this old man?"

Hearing this, the martial artists around them also began laughing.

"Hahaha, Constable Chief Zhang, you didn't bring some old grandpa here to amuse us, did you?"

"Old sir, at your age, hurry home and hold your grandsons!"

"Eh, this old gentleman looks familiar. Isn't he Old Mister Jiang, the storyteller from that teahouse?"

"Damn, it really is!"

"Old sir, don't tell me you've gone addle-brained from storytelling and actually think you're some kind of old imp?"

"Hahaha, I can't take it anymore. This is too funny."

Alas, the boys of the southern village bullied me for being old and weak.

Jiang Yuan sighed inwardly, then his gaze sharpened.

Whoosh!

The next instant, Jiang Yuan casually struck out with his palm. The force of the palm tore through the air and landed on a wooden post not far away.

Bang!

In an instant, the wooden post exploded into four pieces, as though it had been smashed apart by a tiger's paw.

All laughter across the training ground stopped dead, and the place fell silent as a grave.

"Fuck?"

Someone could not help blurting out a curse, and only then did the crowd recover from their shock.

"No, this old man is for real?"

"Rumors of the martial world say old men are the ones you must never underestimate—they're often hidden experts. The rumors truly did not deceive me!"

"Heavens preserve us, this old man is really a martial artist!"

The crowd was utterly astonished.

Zhang Yong was also somewhat surprised, because what Jiang Yuan had just used was the Tiger Form Fist from the Five Animal Fist.

This old bastard had only practiced for a few days.

And he was already this fierce?

Jiang Yuan's expression remained calm as he spoke lightly. "Everyone, this old man began learning martial arts at seventy. It may be late, but the City Lord's Manor has no rule stating that seventy-year-olds cannot take the assessment, does it?"

As his words fell, a stern-faced middle-aged man in yamen official robes stepped out from the crowd.

He was Zhao Tieshan, the chief examiner for the martial artist assessment here.

He was a permanent retainer of the City Lord's Manor and a figure of some standing in Jiangning City.

Zhao Tieshan came before Jiang Yuan and slightly cupped his hands. "Old Mister Jiang, we failed to recognize Mount Tai before our eyes and offended you."

"As long as you can defeat any martial artist present, you will be considered to have passed the assessment."

"May I ask whom you wish to challenge?"

Jiang Yuan glanced at Zhao Tieshan before him and said blandly, "No need to choose. You."

Zhang Yong was startled by this and hurriedly pulled Jiang Yuan aside, lowering his voice. "Old Jiang, this guy became a martial artist long ago. Are you sure you want to challenge him?"

"You old fellow, don't let the wind be so strong it makes you bite your tongue!"

"No matter."

Jiang Yuan waved his hand.

He had come to take the martial artist assessment partly to register as a retainer and receive a monthly spirit stone stipend, but also to test the results of his cultivation. He normally had no opportunities like this to spar.

Although he had only cultivated for one month, under the boost of Late Bloomer, it was equivalent to cultivating for a full seventy months. Even martial techniques like the Five Animal Fist felt as if he had practiced them for seventy months, and he wielded them with great proficiency.

Besides, when others cultivated for seventy months, they inevitably slacked off at times. There was far too much watered-down effort.

But him? He relied entirely on cheat boosts!

The difference in superiority was obvious at a glance!