Aptitude

In the new district of the capital, within a vast and spacious martial arts training ground, three teenagers dressed in black practice attire had just finished a set of fist techniques.

These three youths, around fourteen or fifteen years of age, were younger scions of the Han generation from a branch family of the Ning clan: Ning Hanyu, Ning Hanling, and Ning Hanjun.

Feeling exhausted and their muscles aching, the boys supported each other as they walked toward the lounge. Standing by the entrance was a tall and beautiful maid. Taking a warm towel from the maid, Ning Hanling, the slightly shorter boy in the middle, pressed the towel against his face and suddenly collapsed onto the sofa, groaning and rolling around twice.

"Why hasn't the conditioning therapist arrived yet? Every muscle in my body is aching, I need to relax," Ning Hanling muttered lazily.

"I wonder who it was earlier that complained the therapist wasn't pretty enough, and when she was pretty, her technique was terrible. Honestly, with all your fussy demands, who knows what this new therapist will be like?" complained Ning Hanjun, who was tall in stature.

"She's probably undergoing pre-job training right now, so we'll just have to wait a bit," said Ning Hanyu, who appeared somewhat more level-headed, with a shrug.

"Speaking of which, we have bodyguards and attendants—why on earth should we, scions of a prestigious family, still practice these outdated martial arts? It's not like we need to get into fistfights. Wouldn't it be much better to cultivate spiritual arts directly?" Ning Hanling grumbled with dissatisfaction.

"Stop talking nonsense. If Fifth Uncle hears you say that, he'll definitely beat you up. Practicing martial arts is meant to strengthen the body; only with a strong physique can one better contain spiritual energy. This is laying the foundation! Or are you going to claim your innate talent is so heaven-defying that you don't need to improve your physical strength?" Ning Hanjun warned.

"It would be great if my innate talent really was heaven-defying. Third Brother, do you think those spiritual-measuring stones are accurate? I actually only got a C-grade. Seriously, what the hell, that makes no sense! Because of this, I can't even cultivate top-tier cultivation techniques. You didn't see it, but my dad's face turned completely green at the time," Ning Hanling said with a bitter expression.

"You should be content! After all, those whose talent reaches A-grade and can cultivate top-tier techniques are in the minority. At least you can still cultivate; my eldest brother scored below sixty points and can't cultivate at all. My dad is practically worried sick over it," Ning Hanyu said.

"Sigh, tell me, since the number of spiritual-measuring stones is so scarce—the research institute has only made a dozen or so—and ordinary commoners don't even get to have their talent measured, how do they choose their cultivation methods?" Ning Hanling suddenly sat up on the sofa with a swift, spring-like motion.

"You're thinking too much. Do you really think cultivation techniques are that easy to come by, let alone choosing them?" Ning Hanjun scoffed.

"Whenever the clan organizes a hunting expedition, each team requires at least twenty people or more, and these are all able-bodied young men who have trained in martial arts. For ordinary folks in the outside world, just managing to get hold of a single cultivation manual or stumbling upon a treasured artifact is a matter of sheer luck. Generally, whatever low-tier, ordinary techniques they manage to acquire are what they practice; if they can't practice them, tough luck. However, I heard from my dad that the clan has issued tasks to the Red List branch, buying up everything dropped by monsters. That's because some advanced cultivation techniques, and even strange spiritual artifacts, are completely unusable by ordinary people. They send those people out to collect such items just in case they might stumble upon a bargain," said Ning Hanjun. His father was a mid-level executive in the Red List organization, possessed some authority, and was relatively well-informed.

"Have you heard? That Seventh Uncle from the direct branch scored over two hundred points—he's a heaven-defying ultra-S-grade," Ning Hanling said with a gossipy expression.

"Are you talking about that illegitimate son? I heard about it too. It seems he's the only one in the entire clan with an ultra-S-grade," Ning Hanyu lowered his voice to say.

"With an innate talent scoring over two hundred points, I wonder what it feels like to cultivate? Is it fast, or is the destructive power immense? Do you guys think he's going to soar straight to the top this time? I heard that the eldest young lady of the Gong family has been waiting for him all along! They say he's exceptionally handsome. It's a pity that by the time I was old enough to attend banquets, he had already left the capital. Have any of you seen him?" Ning Hanling asked mysteriously.

"What's the use of being good-looking? He's still just an illegitimate son who can't see the light of day. Just two days ago, when Madam Ying brought people to fetch him back, her expression wasn't pleasant at all. I heard that Seventh Uncle secretly wanted to take people back to Chongzhou," Ning Hanyu said with a hint of excitement.

"No way! Didn't they say before that he got lost while out hunting with the team? What time is it now! Even the military doesn't dare easily venture outside the city walls. To cross provinces to Chongzhou at a time like this—I've never heard of Seventh Uncle's brain being broken?" Ning Hanling wore a skeptical look.

"According to the gossip I picked up, he has already married and fathered a child in Chongzhou, and the clan had no idea at all," Ning Hanyu said smugly.

"Impossible! I heard my little aunt say that he and the eldest young lady of the Gong family are a couple," Ning Hanling widened his eyes.

"Enough! Wouldn't it be better if you used that idle energy to practice properly? It has nothing to do with us anyway. But I can tell you this: the more heaven-defying Seventh Uncle's innate talent is, the harder his days are going to be," Ning Hanjun whispered this sentence and made a silencing gesture.

The newly arrived conditioning therapist was a round-faced, slightly plump woman. With a faint smile on her face, she was already walking toward them.

"Oh come on, you've got to be kidding me!" Ning Hanling, an extreme aesthetic purist, groaned, evidently deeply dissatisfied with the appearance of the new therapist.

Ning Hanjun shot him a warning glance, and Ning Hanling reluctantly closed his mouth.

In the main hall of the Ning residence.

Seated in the seat of honor was a vigorous and spirited elderly man. He put down the white jade teacup in his hand and frowned as he looked at the son standing below him, whose temples were lightly frosted with white, yet who still retained a dashing demeanor.

"I am aware of the matter you mentioned. Even if Qingyun that boy hadn't met with trouble, what could I do if he truly had? Right now, what the clan needs is not geniuses, but unity—pulling together in the same direction. When they were young, we didn't pay enough attention to the squabbles among the children, and your wife gave Qingyun no small share of grievances. Qingyun moved out of the family before he came of age and adamantly refused any assistance from the household, clearly harboring deep resentment. Now, those brothers who bullied him in the past fear his future retaliation; they cannot tolerate his existence and want to strike first. And it's not just one or two people making a move—the law cannot punish the multitude, especially not in times like these." Although the elder's eyes held deep reluctance and sorrow, the underlying meaning of his words made Ning Qingyun's biological father, Third Master Ning, feel a chill in his heart.

"Father, do you mean to condone their plot to murder Qingyun? Qingyun is single-handed, weak, and without a foundation—what kind of threat could he possibly pose to them? Aren't you afraid that once this kind of atmosphere is established, it will be difficult for the clan to ever know peace again?" Although Third Master Ning had never paid much attention to this son, Qingyun was still his own flesh and blood. Learning that his son was being plotted against filled him with intense fury. Unfortunately, Third Master Ning had always been idle and lacked real responsibility, holding very limited authority. Realizing he had no certainty of protecting his son on his own, he had come to seek help from his elderly father, only to receive such a response.

"Do you think I am willing to lose the clan's only genius? But under the current circumstances, maintaining public morale and stability is paramount. In the past, Qingyun lacked the ability to threaten them, but in the future, it's hard to say," the elder's expression was equally grim.

"If Qingyun had any ambition, he wouldn't have fled all the way to Chongzhou," Third Master Ning argued, still trying to reason.

"That was before. Back then, he didn't have a single opportunity or a single advantage—was he supposed to stay here just to swallow insults and grievances? Things are different now. The world of tomorrow will be different; the future belongs to a world that reveres individual martial might. Once he has measured heaven-defying talent and successfully grown, followers will naturally flock to him," the more the elder spoke, the more stifled and frustrated he felt.

"Isn't that a good thing for us?" Seeing the old man's expression, Third Master Ning remained puzzled.