Chapter 454: The Genius

Li Musheng glanced at the invitation card. Though the plainly dressed elder's words had been rather pleasing to hear, he had no shortage of things to attend to at present, and with the matter of the savage beast White Tiger still unresolved, he had no time to spare for a discipleship gathering.

He hesitated briefly and was about to decline, but at that moment Cang Yinyue spoke up from beside him, "My lord, why not accept the invitation for now and go and have a look if the occasion arises?"

"After all, word has it that the Jiang family's young man is a martial talent that comes along only once in a thousand years. Someone of that caliber would not be easy to find again."

At those words, Shen Anran and the young girl Ah Xiu both gave a nod as well.

Everyone felt that a martial talent like Li Musheng could really only be matched by the Jiang family genius when it came to finding a worthy disciple, and it would be a real pity to pass up the chance.

At those words, Li Musheng thought it over briefly and ultimately accepted the invitation card.

Though he had no particular intention of taking on a disciple at present, if the Jiang family boy truly was exceptional, he wouldn't mind having an extra one.

Of course, this was all contingent on having the leisure to go, since he had more important matters to attend to in White Emperor City first.

The plainly dressed elder, seeing Li Musheng accept the invitation card, could barely contain his delight, and immediately took his leave without further interruption, clasping his hands and withdrawing.

Li Musheng casually handed the invitation card to Cang Yinyue and continued on toward the Hidden Kill Pavilion.

...

Not long after the plainly dressed elder had handed the invitation to Li Musheng, he made his way quickly through the streets of White Emperor City and arrived before a heavily guarded mansion.

Entering through the main gate, the old servant trotted all the way to the back garden of the estate.

The back garden was lush with shade trees and vibrant flowers surrounding a small lake of clear, rippling water, and atop the lake stood an octagonal pavilion.

The old servant walked briskly to the pavilion, where several people were seated inside brewing and savoring tea.

"Master, the invitation has been delivered to His Highness the Great Li prince."

The old servant stopped and bowed respectfully. At those words, a middle-aged man dressed in the manner of a wealthy merchant gentry slowly raised his head, revealing a face that was slightly fleshy and somewhat portly, and asked, "He accepted it personally?"

"Yes, this old servant placed it directly in His Highness's hands."

The old servant gave a quick nod. The middle-aged man in his brocade robe narrowed his eyes slightly, then turned to look at the two people seated at the jade table beside him.

One of the two was a young boy of about twelve or thirteen, dressed in purple robes with handsome features, his face showing little expression, his eyes alone blazing brilliantly like a sky full of stars, gazing intently at a bamboo scroll laid out on the jade table before him.

Of course, anyone with sufficiently deep martial cultivation present would have been able to sense that threads of wandering, ambient true qi of heaven and earth hovered around the boy, resonating back and forth with his own meridians and core.

This was unmistakably the sign that a practitioner was on the verge of stepping into the Heaven-Human Realm, a threshold that very few in the martial world ever touched. That such a thing was occurring in a boy not yet thirteen years old was naturally something of extraordinary rarity.

After all, the false Seventh Prince Li Zhi, himself considered a martial talent, had stepped into the Grand Master Realm at a young age, which had already been enough to catch the Commander of the Hidden Intelligence Bureau's attention. But the boy before him was not only seven years younger than Li Zhi, he had reached the half-step Heaven-Human Realm at this age, which made it clear that his martial gifts were in an entirely different class from someone like Li Zhi.

The other of the two was a young girl of similar age to the boy, dressed in a long jade-green skirt with a sweet and pretty face, her cheeks carrying a slight baby roundness that did nothing to diminish her looks, only adding to her charm and cuteness.

The girl appeared entirely ordinary and showed none of the signs of approaching the Heaven-Human Realm that the boy displayed. On the jade table before her sat a pot of hot tea and a plate of pastries, and she was helping herself to pieces of pastry with her fingers from time to time, washing them down with tea.

"Wang'er, how many days do you think you have left before you step into the Heaven-Human Realm?"

At this point, the Jiang family head, whose gaze had been resting on the boy and girl, suddenly spoke.

At those words, the boy who had been entirely absorbed in studying the bamboo scroll did not turn his head, only raised his hand and extended three fingers, saying, "The Heaven-Human Realm presents no difficulty. Three days is enough."

At the sight, a glimmer of delight appeared in the Jiang family head's eyes, and he gave a slight nod, "Remarkable. A martial world prodigy under thirteen reaching the Heaven-Human Realm, something that has never been heard of in a thousand years throughout the entire martial world."

At the same time, in the corner of the pavilion, two elderly men who had been sitting cross-legged with eyes closed in quiet meditation and who no one had been paying any attention to suddenly opened their eyes simultaneously, both turning to look at the young boy Jiang Wang.

The two elderly men radiated not the slightest trace of martial aura, as though they were nothing more than ordinary old men nearing the end of their lives. But when Jiang Wang felt their gaze settle on him, he frowned visibly and said, "Both Granduncles, I told you before, do not disturb me while I am cultivating."

At those words, both of the seemingly ordinary old men immediately withdrew their gazes and said together, "It won't happen again."

The Jiang family head was entirely accustomed to this. Jiang Wang was a once-in-a-thousand-years martial talent and the entire Jiang family's future. It could be said that the entire Jiang family now existed around Jiang Wang, with everything centered on him. Even the most senior members of the Jiang family stood one tier beneath him in all things, gladly taking on the role of guardians who protected his path of cultivation.

At this point, Jiang Wang, apparently distracted from the bamboo scroll by the two old men's gaze, finally withdrew his attention from it and turned to look at the Jiang family head, his eyes deep and penetrating, "Father, what you said just now, about there never having been a thirteen-year-old Heaven-Human practitioner in a thousand years, that is not quite accurate."

At those words, the Jiang family head paused briefly, but then seemed to recall something and said, "Wang'er, do you mean that the Eighth Prince of Great Li may have displayed similarly extraordinary talent at a young age?"

As he said this, the Jiang family head seemed to recall another question lingering in his mind and pressed further, "And why did you want me to send an invitation to that Great Li prince? Could it be that you wish to take him as your master?"

Faced with his father's questions, the slightly youthful-faced Jiang Wang shook his head, then glanced at the girl in the jade-green dress sitting beside him, and said, "Father should know that throughout the entire world, aside from myself and younger sister, that prince is very nearly the most widely recognized person in the martial world for the strength of his gifts, and at present there is almost no one else in the entire world's martial world who possesses such formidable martial cultivation at so young an age."

The Jiang family head gave a slight nod, and also turned his gaze toward the twin sister sitting beside Jiang Wang, Jiang Si.

Who could have imagined that in addition to the celebrated young genius Jiang Wang, the Jiang family also harbored a girl whose martial gifts were in no way inferior to his?

If any one family could produce a single martial talent of Jiang Wang's caliber, it was unquestionably a fortune beyond all expectations. That the Jiang family was fortunate enough to possess two such talents simultaneously, both capable of stunning the entire world, was a blessing beyond any measure.