Definition of A Genius
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Yu Tao exited the lotus position and stood up, stretching his body. He hadn't yet gone out of his room for about seventy-five hours since he began cultivating. It was, of course, worth it as he had reached Peak Late-2nd Order Houtian Realm in that timeframe.
He wondered what sub-realm Huang Xiaolong and Huang Wei had reached. He's confident that his cultivation is higher than Huang Wei, but Huang Xiaolong? He has doubts.
It wasn't because Huang Xiaolong has a Top Grade 13 Martial Spirit, but it was because Yu Tao suspects that Huang Xiaolong is in a similar situation to him.
How?
An incredibly strong gut-feeling.
Yu Tao can easily find out who is strong and who is weak, who is genuine and who is pretentious, who is speaking the truth and who is telling a lie, etc.
Huang Xiaolong was far from normal, and Yu Tao has noted multiple instances that proves that.
'Whether or not that's the case, I hope he won't come to find trouble with me. Even without merit, he could be considered as the Huang Clan lord at this point due to his aptitude and potential.'
Yu Tao practiced his previous life's family's martial arts for three more hours before going to the bathroom. He filled up 80% of the jadeite bathtub with water and mixed in a whole bottle of burning cold potion.
A burning cold potion is a top-grade mortal rank body-tempering potion that uses high and low temperatures to temper the body. It is more commonly used by people who don't specialize in body cultivation.
Chen Ying gave Yu Tao a set of burning cold potions on his last visit.
Yu Tao lied down in the bathtub to submerge himself, and resumed cultivating.
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Yu Tao, now wearing clothes that suited his new stature and a sling bag, headed to the central palace's training hall to start training with Chen Ying.
While heading there, the servants that he encountered greeted him and he greeted them back as a sign of respect.
The last thing he would want was for rumors about him having a pompous attitude, causing people to dislike him and giving Chen Jiao a proper reason to go against him.
Soon, he found the door of the training hall and opened it to see Chen Ying standing at the center of a podium.
"Young Master Yu." Chen Ying greeted with a fist-and-palm salute.
"Chief Steward Chen." Yu Tao returned the greeting.
"I see that Young Master Yu has reached the Peak Late-2nd Houtian Realm. Congratulations!" Chen Ying said. He couldn't help but admire Yu Tao's talent.
Yu Tao managed to use a low-grade heaven rank cultivation technique in conjunction with a top-grade earth rank cultivation technique, a sign of true genius.
'It is indeed as Guang Cheng said, Huang Wei, as he is now, can't compare to Yu Tao in terms of aptitude and potential. I just hope that he won't become the second Cai Zhongxian...' Chen Ying cleared his head of the negative thoughts that stemmed from the past, and stretched his arm, palm up, to Yu Tao. He said, "Young Master Yu, please give me the scroll for the Spirit Limbs Technique."
Yu Tao took the scroll from his sling bag and gave it to Chen Ying. He said, "I read it while I was on break."
"Is that so? Were you able to understand how it works?" Chen Ying asked, curious.
"I think so. I mean, it isn't that complicated on paper. The instructions weren't that good, but I think I've deciphered the steps into using the Spirit Limbs Technique thanks to the illustrations."
Chen Ying didn't speak, but he gestured for Yu Tao to continue.
Seeing that he caught Chen Ying's interest, Yu Tao began telling him his discoveries.
"The step before the first step is to have decent qi control. Qi control, as the name implies, is the ability to channel qi through one's body and/or utilize it into a technique. The better one's qi control is, the better the effects of a technique and the lesser qi is used.
"The first step is to shape one's qi into limb-like extension that isn't difficult to control and hold and use for an indefinite period of time. This step is where a thing called shape transformation or shape manipulation comes in. Shape manipulation deals with controlling the form, movement, and potency of one's qi, and determining the size, range, and purpose of a technique.
"From what I understand, shape manipulation is rather advanced, and it's one of the reasons why the difficulty of learning spell techniques is higher than learning martial arts techniques on average.
"The limb-like extensions shown in the illustration were reminiscent of qi threads, a general training method for molding and shaping qi...
"The second step is...
"The third step is..."
The more Yu Tao spoke, the more Chen Ying was amazed.
"I'm not sure if that's correct though. What do you think, Chief Steward?" Yu Tao inquired.
Hearing his title, Chen Ying got out of the slight trance that Yu Tao had put him in. Smiling, he said, "Young Master Yu, I can't find a flaw in your analysis. It's perfect!"
"That is a huge praise, Chief Steward," Yu Tao said.
Chen Ying shook his head and continued, "Don't be too humble, Young Master Yu. The Spirit Limbs Technique is a top-grade earth rank martial skill that is half a step close to becoming a Low-Grade Heaven Rank battle skill. Forget about me, it's said that not even most peak-stage Xiantian Realm masters haven't come close to mastering the Spirit Limbs Technique. The fact that you were able to comprehend the Spirit Limbs Technique's esoterics to such a degree without experience is a tantamount to your aptitude. You and Third Young Master Huang are indeed true geniuses!"
Yu Tao was taken aback by Chen Ying's praise. He didn't think that his thoughts about the Spirit Limbs Technique would astound the old steward to this extent. But it turns out that he was wrong.
Yu Tao knew more than he thought!
Though...
"What is a true genius?" Yu Tao asked. He already has an idea on what the term could mean, but a clarification would be better.
Chen Ying composed himself when he heard Yu Tao's question.
"In the Martial Spirit World, a genius is defined as a person with astounding aptitude and potential. Of course, the definition is relative to the part of the world a person is born into; a genius in County A may not be considered a genius in County B. A true genius is a person that defies expectation and surpasses their supposed limitations. You are an excellent example of that. To have a Grade 11 Martial Spirit is nothing too special in our Martial Spirit World, but using the Exquisite Tree Art to boost the effects of the Blood Spirit Art, and breaking down the steps to learning the Spirit Limbs Technique for someone with your age and experience is nearly unheard of!" Chen Ying stated.
"I see." Curious, Yu Tao asked, "You mentioned Huang Xiaolong, what did he do?"
"It was similar to what you did," Chen Ying said.
"Oh, alright." Yu Tao asked, "Can I start training the Spirit Limbs Technique now?"
Smiling, Chen Ying said, "Yes. First, let's start with qi control methods..."
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In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
Yu Tao had trained non-stop and broke through to Early 3rd Order Houtian Realm. He could've attained a higher cultivation but he wasn't able to because he didn't allocate that much time in cultivation.
Yu Tao had allocated 70% of his time practicing the Spirit Limbs Technique and the Dust Cloud Steps with Chen Ying. While the remaining 30% was allocated to cultivation.
Now, after a night's long meditation, Yu Tao is having breakfast in the training room.
Two gold-veined catfish fillets over a bed of river crab black friend rice with seasonal vegetables on the side and a sauce plate of river oyster sauce for taste.
That is his meal for this morning.
People with beast-type Martial Spirits are advised to eat food that are related to their Martial Spirits.
In Yu Tao's case, he has been eating aquatic demon beasts, and terrestrial demon beasts that can fly or burrow underground.
Finishing the meal, Yu Tao returned to his room, took a bath, and went to find Chen Ying.
Chen Ying's office was below Huang Qide's office, so it didn't take long for Yu Tao to find him.
"Young Master Yu, welcome to this old steward's office! Take a seat, take a seat," Chen Ying said, gesturing at a seat in front of his desk.
"Alright." Yu Tao took a seat and looked at the ornate chest on Chen Ying's desk. He asked, "What's that?"
"It's a gift for my eldest son, today is his 45th birthday," Chen Ying said, joyfully.
"Oh. Congratulations then, Chief Steward. May the thirty-three heavens be gracious and bestow great fortune on Overseer Chen," Yu Tao said with a fist and palm salute.
Chen Ying has four children. His first child was born from a deceased lover while his second and third child were born from his wife.
His eldest son, Chen Xiang, is one of the people in charge of protecting the villages and towns under the Huang Clan protection. Chan Xiang is well-known for his fierce and disciplined character; he is a Peak Early-1st Order Xiantian Realm expert with a Low Grade 10 Eight-Petal Lotus Martial Spirit.
"That means a lot to us, Young Master Yu!" Chen Ying said, smiling from ear to ear. "To be honest, I'm just glad to see Xiang'er again. It has been about seven months since I last saw him."
"Oh, that's a surprise. No wonder I haven't heard of him for so long." Yu Tao asked, "Did he go into seclusion?"
"Well, it's either that or Xiang'er went on a vacation," Chen Ying joked. Then, he rose from his seat and stored the ornate chest into his spatial ring. He said, "Young Master Yu, I must go as the celebration is about to start. I won't be present in your practice for now, so please be careful."
"I don't want to intrude, but could I attend the celebration?" Yu Tao requested, much to the surprise of Chen Ying. "I'll just train more for the lost time after the celebration."
"I..." Chen Ying wanted to decline Yu Tao's request, but the glint in the kid's eyes told him not to, so he relented. He said, "Of course. It's a free invitation for the high-ranking members of the clan."
"Is that so? What are we waiting for? Let's go then!" Yu Tao said as he rose from his seat and headed out the office.
"Alright." Chen Ying chuckled as he followed behind Yu Tao.
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