Chương 49: Beyond Grade-A Aptitude — The Hierarchy of Geniuses

Sword-Casting Manor ruled over the entirety of Tang Prefecture. The manor controlled eighteen counties and governed the prefecture alongside the Prefect's Office, overseeing a population of three to four hundred million. Over countless years, Grade-A aptitude geniuses had emerged within Sword-Casting Manor in numbers too great to count. Ordinarily, among a thousand Grade-A geniuses, one would rise above the rest and suppress all rivals. Such a talent was known as a One-in-a-Thousand Genius.

Among tens of thousands of Grade-A geniuses, there might appear a true monster of talent—a One-in-Ten-Thousand Prodigy. Most importantly, the standards for "One-in-a-Thousand" and "One-in-Ten-Thousand" were measured against Grade-A geniuses themselves—not ordinary martial artists, and certainly not common people. That alone showed how terrifyingly valuable such talent was. Within Sword-Casting Manor, disciples were divided into three ranks: True Inheritance Disciples. Inner Disciples. Outer Disciples.

True Inheritance Disciples were the personal disciples of the Manor Lord or one of the Four Estate Masters. Even then, receiving the title required passing the rigorous True Inheritance Ceremony. The True Inheritance line had always been guarded carefully. It was never granted casually. Even if a Manor Lord wished to promote someone directly, that person still had to pass the ceremony and earn the recognition of the entire sect. Otherwise, the title would not be acknowledged.

After all, every True Inheritance Disciple was considered a future candidate to become a Manor Lord or Estate Master—the absolute core of Sword-Casting Manor. Beneath them were the Inner Disciples. Generally speaking, anyone with Grade-A aptitude could enter the Inner Sect. However, Inner Disciples were further divided into two categories: Core Inner Disciples and Ordinary Inner Disciples. Core Inner Disciples typically possessed aptitude at the One-in-a-Thousand level.

Many even became direct disciples of Estate Master-level experts, receiving personal instruction from the strongest figures in the manor. Their status was exceptionally high. Ordinary Inner Disciples, meanwhile, formed the backbone of the sect. As for Outer Disciples, Sword-Casting Manor recruited them directly from its territories. Their talent was limited, so they relied on the manor's resources and years of gradual cultivation to improve. Much like ordinary Black-Armored Heavy Cavalry.

Useful, but ultimately expendable. Therefore, anyone hoping to gain status within Sword-Casting Manor had to become a Core Inner Disciple at minimum. Core Inner Disciples usually required One-in-a-Thousand aptitude. The True Inheritance line generally demanded One-in-Ten-Thousand talent. Without sufficient aptitude, future advancement would inevitably be limited. Of course, exceptions existed.

For example, Su Zhe's current aptitude, after equipping his Immortal Aperture artifacts, had reached Peak Grade-A, only a hair away from the One-in-a-Thousand threshold. But his talent in the Dao of Smithing was simply absurd. Within Sword-Casting Manor, no sixteen-year-old military smith could compare to him. In terms of overall talent, he was already comparable to a One-in-a-Thousand genius. Thinking of this, Su Zhe recalled Li Shanyun's words.

"Brother Su, your rarest quality isn't your aptitude."

"It's your Aptitude-Evolving Physique."

"Throughout history, only the founding emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty possessed such a constitution."

"As for how far you'll go in the future... even I can't predict it." An Aptitude-Evolving Physique could continuously improve one's innate talent. That meant limitless possibilities. But exactly how great those possibilities were, nobody knew. Perhaps he would stop at Peak Grade-A. Or perhaps he would soar into the heavens. One reason Li Shanyun regarded him so highly was precisely because of this unique physique. The two had made an agreement.

After Su Zhe entered Sword-Casting Manor, Li Shanyun would examine his bones once every month. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Through those examinations, she could study the evolution of his aptitude. In return, she would provide him with pills and cultivation resources. That was the promise she had referred to before leaving, reminding him not to forget their agreement.

"As long as the benefits are good enough, being a lab rat isn't a problem."

"It's just a bone examination."

"If the price is right, what part of me wouldn't I let her touch?" Su Zhe thought with a wicked grin. He had principles. His principle was that principles could be adjusted for money. And his bottom line was that his bottom line could be lowered for money. Sword-Casting Manor was filled with powerful experts. The most talented enjoyed access to every resource imaginable. After understanding that, Su Zhe became even more diligent.

For the past few days, while preparing for the arrival of Sword-Casting Manor's recruiters, he had spent every day forging weapons. At the same time, he continuously dripped essence blood into the Creation Immortal Cauldron to nurture Treasure Blood. During this process, he discovered an interesting loophole. After reaching Third Rank, he could extract twenty drops of essence blood at once. Doing so left him dizzy and severely weakened, requiring several days of recovery.

However, a single drop of Treasure Blood instantly restored his vitality. In other words, if he invested a little time, one drop of Treasure Blood could effectively become twenty drops later. The profit was outrageous. Once he realized this, Su Zhe nearly laughed out loud. Previously, he could only extract fifteen drops at a time. Each day he consumed one drop of Treasure Blood to recover, while storing the rest in the Creation Immortal Cauldron.

After forging a Peak Mortal Weapon, he had spent ten drops of Treasure Blood and reduced his reserves to only five. Today, the cauldron suddenly emitted divine light. The batch of essence blood deposited seven days earlier had finally matured. From now on, as long as he tirelessly treated himself like a livestock animal and kept drawing blood, he would receive a steady harvest of Treasure Blood every day. Once the seven-day cycle was fully established, he would effectively gain twenty drops daily.

"First, I'll use these twenty drops to improve my aptitude." Su Zhe's eyes shone with anticipation. His first choices were the Phantom Shark Mask and the Demon Scale Inner Armor. One concealed his appearance and altered his aura. The other dramatically increased his defenses and could save his life. Twenty drops of Treasure Blood fell onto the two weapons. Bloody radiance burst forth. The artifacts transformed.

Third-Rank Peak Mortal Weapon — Phantom Shark Mask Third-Rank Peak Mortal Weapon — Demon Scale Inner Armor After equipping them, Su Zhe's aptitude increased yet again. User: Su Zhe Cultivation: Third-Rank Internal Force Realm Aptitude: Grade-A High (Natural Aptitude) Lower One-in-a-Thousand (Equipped Aptitude) (One-in-a-Thousand aptitude is further divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper tiers.)"So even One-in-a-Thousand aptitude has three levels."

"This world really takes its genius rankings seriously."

"If I meet Li Shanyun again, she'll probably be scared out of her wits." Su Zhe stroked his chin and smiled. He then reviewed his current equipment. Gradually, he organized them into several combat loadouts. The first was his Smithing Set. It consisted of the Four-Star Forging Hammers and the Metallurgy Hammer. Unfortunately, he had yet to open his fifth Immortal Aperture and could only equip four weapons at a time. When forging, this set maximized his smithing talent.

At the same time, it accelerated his hammer technique cultivation and nourished his Savage Bull Art. The second was his Tiger Slaughter Set. Centered around the Tiger-Roaring Fiend Blade and supplemented by three other fiend blades. This loadout greatly increased the cultivation speed of the Fiend Tiger Saber Art. The third was his Water Element Set. It consisted of the Demon Scale Inner Armor, Demon Dragon Silk Cloth, Blackwater Steel Trident, and Phantom Shark Mask.

Ideal for underwater treasure hunting, aquatic combat, and cultivating water-based martial arts such as the Flood Dragon Technique. The only regret was that his Spirit Serpent Sword currently lacked enough matching equipment to form a complete set bonus. Still, with his current status and talent, acquiring several Third-Rank swords would be easy. After inventorying the assets of "Wealthy Master Su," he returned to cultivation. Even with a cheat ability, hard work was still essential.

The next day, a new requirement appeared for opening his fifth Immortal Aperture. Fifth Immortal Aperture Requirements: Ten taels of pure gold One thousand jin of black iron One hundred taels of pure silver Fifteen hundred jin of refined copper Two thousand jin of refined tin Su Zhe immediately produced thirty taels of gold and one thousand taels of silver and asked Sun Tiexin to gather the materials. Since he already possessed the required gold, that portion did not need to be purchased.

The silver, however, was another matter. Although he owned several dozen taels, it was nowhere near the required hundred. When Sun Tiexin learned it was a task connected to Li Shanyun, he did not object at first. But after seeing the quantities involved, he nearly exploded. The materials would consume almost half of the Smiths' Guild's reserves.

"Give all of this to you?"

"What are the disciples of the Artisan Hall supposed to forge with?"

"You'll have to pay extra!" Su Zhe couldn't really argue. These resources belonged to the guild, after all. The materials required for the fifth Immortal Aperture would cost well over ten thousand taels of silver on the open market—and might not even be obtainable quickly. After a lengthy negotiation, Su Zhe paid the equivalent of another thirteen hundred taels of silver. Only then did Sun Tiexin relent.

"Four taels of gold and five hundred taels of silver left..."

"I've gone from rich to poor overnight." Su Zhe felt like crying. At that moment, he sincerely wished a few more enemies would come try to kill him. Robbing killers was simply too profitable. More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Ever since Su Zhe had dazzled everyone during the Sword-Casting Manor envoy's aptitude examination, visitors had arrived endlessly. Large and small factions throughout Lu County came to pay their respects. Yang Dingtian was overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, Sun Tiexin had to gather materials for the fifth Immortal Aperture while simultaneously rejecting all those invitations on Su Zhe's behalf. Even he was exhausted. The only person enjoying life was Su Zhe. Every day, he cultivated and forged. Over half a month, he forged numerous Third-Rank weapons and earned more than two thousand taels of silver. Unfortunately, the money barely had time to warm his pockets before being spent on five Third-Rank Spirit Serpent Swords. Then one morning— Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of firecrackers erupted outside the Su Residence. The matriarchs of the Sun family arrived and knocked on the gate. Inside, Lin Xia was dressed elegantly in gold and silver jewelry. Arm-in-arm with Su Yuan, she was preparing to go out.

"Auntie, what's with all the excitement outside?" Su Zhe asked curiously.

"You brat."

"You work like an old ox. Training and forging every single day." Lin Xia rolled her eyes.

"Winter is almost here. Lu County has a year-end temple fair tradition."

"The ladies of the Sun family invited us to go together." Then she smiled mischievously.

"The temple fair is lively."

"I heard plenty of young ladies from wealthy families come out during the festival."

"Normally they never leave their homes."

"If you have time, you should go take a look."

"You're not getting any younger. It's time you found yourself a wife and let your uncle and me hold a grandchild." Lin Xia continued her endless nagging. For once, Su Yuan did not interrupt. His old wooden smoking pipe had already been replaced by a refined copper one. Puffing contentedly, he nodded.

"Your aunt's right."

"You should settle down."

"An old friend from the village already has a grandson."

"The little rascal peed all over my head when I held him."

"Healthy kid though."

"Adorable." As he spoke, Su Yuan looked Su Zhe up and down. For a moment, it was as if he saw the boy Su Zhe used to be. He smacked his lips and smiled.

"Just like you were when you were little..."