The Pinnacle Argument

"Wrong?" Feng Jiu was taken aback, reflexively asking back.

"That's right, wrong. The Keyword's recovery power is so formidable it can even repair a ruptured Dantian. You've eaten so much, yet you still feel stomach pain—do you think that's normal?" Du Ge asked.

"It is a bit abnormal." Feng Jiu frowned.

"So, Ninth Brother, your understanding of Taotie is wrong." Du Ge looked at Feng Jiu. "Let me ask you, what does Taotie mean?"

"A fierce beast, greedy, gluttonous." Feng Jiu thought for a moment and said.

"Exactly. Taotie is first and foremost a ferocious beast, and only secondarily greedy and gluttonous." Du Ge said. "But what about you? When you think of Taotie, you only think of eating. Where's the ferocity? The bestial nature? It's completely absent. And then there's greed and gluttony. What is greed? A huge appetite, never satisfied. What is gluttony? Eating without restraint. Let me ask you, of Taotie's several traits, which one have you actually embodied?"

"I..." Feng Jiu was speechless, unable to utter a word for a long time. A fine sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead. So this was how far off his understanding of the Keyword had been. Looking at Feng Qi, whose face brimmed with confidence, the bitterness in his heart deepened. Was this the gap between him and the other?

"Ninth Brother, extremes. Only by pushing things to the extreme can you grow. If you're not crazy, you won't survive." Du Ge looked at Feng Jiu with a serious expression.

"Extremes?" Feng Jiu blinked, frowning as he sank into thought.

A moment later.

As if a flash of insight had struck his mind, his eyes widened, and he grasped the ultimate essence of the Simulation Field.

He swallowed excitedly, and even his gaze toward Feng Qi shifted slightly. Although Feng Qi had tormented him severely, he really did teach the real stuff!

"That's right, extremes." Du Ge clenched his fist, his eyes burning with fervor. "Just like me. I know full well that we're in competition, yet I'm still willing to safeguard your interests and tell you the secrets to growth, without any consideration that you might turn against me in the future. For your sake, I can give everything, even my own life. This is the extreme of protection. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Feng Jiu took a deep breath, looking at Du Ge with a complicated expression. After a moment, as if he had made up his mind, he said, "Seventh Brother, rest assured, I won't betray you. What you've taught me is enough to benefit me for a lifetime. I know what's good for me. I'm convinced. From now on, I'll do my utmost to help you move forward."

"Ninth Brother, ours is a cooperative relationship. There's no such thing as one having to assist the other. Supporting each other and growing together is the only way to go far. As I said before, when we fight side by side in the future, I hope you can trust me to have your back." Du Ge looked at Feng Jiu with a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Now, do you still plan to take the medicine?"

"No, I won't." Feng Jiu smiled, his gaze gradually turning fervent. "I want to eat more. Even if I can't stomach it, I'll still eat. Even if it bursts my stomach, nothing can stop my craving for food..."

"Exactly, that's the kind of ruthlessness we need." Du Ge looked at Feng Jiu approvingly. "But you still have to take the medicine."

"Still?" Feng Jiu was confused again.

"That's right. Take it. Take digestive medicine on one hand, and laxatives on the other." Du Ge said. "You have to keep your stomach and intestines constantly emptied to maintain a ravenous appetite."

"Laxatives?" Feng Jiu swallowed, imagining himself squatting in a latrine while eating ravenously, and his face turned pale in an instant.

He felt that wasn't how Taotie was supposed to be used.

But at this moment, Du Ge had set the rhythm, and his mind was filled with nothing but extreme madness, leaving him unable to find fault with his words!

Thinking of the gap between himself and Du Ge, he gritted his teeth: "Fine, I'll take them."

Nearby.

Feng Qi's speech left the two Feng Yunming brothers stunned, their scalps tingling and hairs standing on end.

Feng Yunming swallowed hard to moisten his dry throat, thinking to himself, So this is what they call demonic nature!

Too ruthless!

No wonder Feng Qi had devised such a strategy for the Feng Family—it turned out he had taken protection to the extreme.

No wonder they had always felt Feng Qi was too eager and his words and actions too awkward. It wasn't his fault; they had been measuring a Heavenly Demon by human standards all along!

They were the ones who were wrong!

This had to be reported to the Family Head immediately, lest he make a wrong decision...

After instructing Feng Jiu, Du Ge turned to the Feng Yunming brothers: "First Young Master, Fourth Young Master, don't think I'm only talking about Feng Jiu. In fact, the Feng Family's mistake is the same as his!"

"What?" Feng Yunming was stunned.

"For a martial artist to achieve anything, they must first nurture three parts of viciousness in their heart." Du Ge said. "What the many disciples of the Feng Family lack is precisely those three parts of viciousness. Not only that, they lack the courage to step outside and the Blood Qi to fight and struggle with others.

The Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin, yet the Third Young Master's training method is to spar with the family's Training Partners.

The Training Partners' contracts are all with the Feng Family. They eat the Feng Family's food and practice the Feng Family's Martial Arts. Not to mention their skills are inferior to the Third Young Master's, even if they were stronger, would they dare to injure him? Practicing like this—what difference is there from hitting a wooden dummy? Lacking experience in life-and-death combat and never seeing the Martial Arts of a hundred schools, how can he possibly win once he steps onto the arena?"

Feng Yunming fell silent. He opened his mouth to argue but found no ground to refute. In the end, he could only sigh: "Seventh Master's lesson is well taken."

"That's easy to say. Without top-tier Martial Arts, how can the Feng Family go out and fight others?" Feng Yunlu said defiantly.

"I dare to go out and snatch secret manuals for the Feng Family. Does the Fourth Young Master dare to practice them?" Du Ge provoked.

"If you dare to snatch them, I dare to practice them." Feng Yunlu puffed out his chest, refusing to back down.

"Good. So the Feng Family does have men with blood and spirit after all. This is the hope of the Feng Family. It's not in vain that I've gone to such lengths to protect them." Du Ge's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands. "For the Fourth Young Master's blood and spirit, even if the Family Head forbids it, even if I have to turn the martial world upside down, even if it costs me my old life, I will snatch back a few top-tier secret manuals for you..."

Feng Yunlu nodded heavily, clenching his fists in excitement: "Good, I'll be waiting for that day."

Watching his fourth brother, who had been stirred up by a few words into losing his bearings, Feng Yunming shook his head and cupped his hands: "Seventh Master, you two rest here for now. I'll go find Doctor Hu to prepare some digestive medicine and laxatives for Ninth Master, and also arrange some food for him..."

Seeing Feng Yunming making an excuse to leave, Du Ge naturally knew that the patch he had applied had worked. He smiled and waved his hand: "Go quickly, and come back soon."

"Fourth Brother, take good care of the two masters. Don't run off." Feng Yunming instructed Feng Yunlu before pushing open the door and leaving in a hurry.

Du Ge turned back to his chair and sat down, looking at the naive Feng Yunlu: "Fourth Young Master, tell us about the sects nearby. I believe the Family Head will make the most correct decision. Let's prepare in advance and see which one is suitable to start with..."

Feng Yunlu didn't understand why Du Ge said things had already been settled. He thought for a moment and sighed: "Seventh Master, you can't blame the Feng Family for lacking blood and spirit. The Feng Family is truly too weak. The closest to us is the Iron Palm Sect. The Iron Palm Sect controls the water transport business in two provinces, with countless members. They have money and people. Over the years, the Feng Family has been crushed by them too harshly.

The Iron Palm Sect's leader, Qiu Yuanlang, has made a name for himself across the mountains and rivers with his Iron Sand Palm. He's a famous expert in the martial world. Every time the Qiao Family Holy Land opens, the Iron Palm Sect sends at least three people in."

Six years ago, Qiu Muqian of the Iron Palm Sect brought a lightness technique called Eight Steps Chasing Cicada out of the Qiao Family Holy Land, making up for the Iron Palm Sect's weakness in movement techniques and giving their martial arts a tiger's wings. After that, we dared not provoke them even more.

This time, the Iron Palm Sect is sending Qiu Feibao, the fifth son of Qiu Yuanlang, to the Martial Arts Tournament. His iron palms have been trained to perfection—one hit and your bones shatter. Third Brother is terrified of running into him. If we could cripple him in advance, that would be best...

Council Hall.

Feng Shiren swept his gaze across the room and asked, "Second Brother, regarding the matter of the Heavenly Demon, how much do you think is true and how much false?"

Feng Shiyi shook his head. "Big Brother, this matter is too bizarre. I can't tell. I'll leave all decisions to you."

Feng Yunjie sat restlessly in his chair, watching his calm and composed father. Suddenly, he stood up and said, "Father, I think we should give it a try. What if it works?"

"Mm?" Feng Shiren frowned at Feng Yunjie.

Feng Yunjie gritted his teeth. "Twenty-eight years ago, the Celestial Fox Scripture appeared, and the major sects of the jianghu fought a bloody storm over it. In the end, the scripture fell into Yang Luo's hands. Using the martial arts from that scripture, he slaughtered three sects and five schools into closing their doors, founding the Celestial Fox Sect with his own strength. At the time, his status was nothing more than a lowly beggar in the Beggar's Sect.

That time, we didn't compete.

Fifteen years ago, the Fist King's Armory was unearthed, and the major sects fought tooth and nail over the Millennium Stone Milk. Again, we didn't compete. In the end, the stone milk was swallowed by Tong Le of the Five Tiger Sect—a brat of twenty who gained sixty years of Internal Energy out of thin air. With that sixty years of Internal Energy, he brought a Mandarin Duck Saber Manual out of the Qiao Family Holy Land, and the once-lowly Five Tiger Sect rose to become a first-rate sect in just a few years.

Now, the Heavenly Demon descends, and the Feng Family has produced two Heavenly Demons. With such a heaven-sent opportunity, if we still don't compete, when will the Feng Family ever rise?

Father, I have a feeling that this descent of the Heavenly Demon will stir up a bloody storm across the jianghu. It's one thing to let the first two chances slip by, but if we let this one go too, I fear that, as Feng Qi said, the Feng Family will face an undeserved calamity."

Feng Shiren frowned. "Third Son, do you believe Feng Qi's words?"

Feng Yunjie said, "Father, believe it or not, just send people out to search. As long as we find the third Heavenly Demon, the truth will be clear at a glance."

"I'm not as rigid as you think. That was exactly my plan." Feng Shiren nodded. "First verify the truth, then act. There's no rush. Feng Qi is too radical; it always makes me uneasy. If what Feng Qi says is true, we need to find a way to control those Heavenly Demons in advance..."

"Father, there's no need to verify the truth anymore. If we hesitate, we might not even get the scraps." A voice came from outside the door as Feng Yunming stepped into the Council Hall. "Father, Second Uncle, I've learned the true secret of the Heavenly Demons from Feng Qi. We've been going about this the wrong way."

"What wrong way?" Feng Shiren asked.

Feng Yunming caught his breath and, in the briefest words, laid out Du Ge's theory of extremes. Looking at the stunned faces in the hall, he gave a bitter smile and said, "Father, they are Heavenly Demons, not people of this world. We shouldn't measure them by ordinary thinking. Heavenly Demons are nothing but a bunch of madmen who will stop at nothing to grow stronger..."