The woman's words rang like a bell, jolting the soul awake.
Gongyang Yongye couldn't find a single word to refute her.
Indeed. If even inborn, random talents were the exclusive privilege of the wealthy and powerful, the gifted and brilliant, and ordinary people could spend their entire lives without measuring up to even a fraction of a renowned teacher's disciple, then what hope was there for commoners?
Mud could only remain in the mire for a lifetime, gazing up at Qingyun.
Gongyang Yongye exhaled the foul air bottled in his chest.
When he opened his eyes again, he looked at the woman differently.
Before, she had been nothing more than an arrogant commoner who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Now she was an opponent who could meet his gaze on equal terms, like Gongxi Chou and the others. Though in his eyes her strength was no greater than an ant's, her state of mind already belonged among the strong.
Gongyang Yongye's gaze shifted to the broken moonlight rippling across the pond. "The woman has no fishing rod. Even if a fish bites, how will she reel it in? Even if she had a rod, it's late and dark, and she can't see how big the fish is across the pond. A little fish can be hauled up with a flick of the wrist. But if it's a behemoth... isn't the woman afraid it'll drag her into the water and leave her buried in its belly?"
If it only bit the hook but never came ashore, it was all for nothing.
"First, there are no little fish in the pond. Second, the big fish will jump ashore on its own. A fishing rod would only get in the way." She put the bait back into her pouch.
Gongyang