Netero stood with his fist lowered and looked at Nara Dan's pose, one hand resting on his head. "What's that called?" he asked.
Nara Dan lowered his hand as well and stood calmly. "Gods Worship Me."
Hearing such an arrogant and unusual name, Netero merely nodded, unsurprised. He even seemed to think it perfectly reasonable.
There was even a hint of admiration in his eyes.
"What incredible spirit."
"So you even mean to surpass the gods..."
"In terms of conviction, I really did fall short."
From the beginning, Nara Dan had held back his physical abilities while fighting Netero, keeping his strength and speed at the same level.
Otherwise, overpowering this martial arts master, who was already over a hundred years old, would have been too unfair.
Their exchanges had mainly been contests of martial arts cultivation and Martial True Intent.
The reason Netero had just been put at a disadvantage was that his conviction truly fell short of Nara Dan's in purity and depth.
Although Netero's Sincerity of Heart and Mind was also pure and grand, it was in truth no less than Nara Dan's Gods Worship Me.
A clash of convictions wasn't something that could be won just by talking big.
Otherwise, Nara Dan could have invented some "Way of Severing Heaven" or "Rule Through Nonaction" and founded a religion to become a sage.
In truth, your will was shaped by the road you had walked, the things you had experienced, and the achievements you had already attained—not by the bullshit you spouted.
Netero had fallen behind because, compared with Nara Dan's relentless progress on the path of Seeking the Way and his repeated breakthroughs,
Netero had been stuck in place for a long time. His strength was also steadily declining with age, leaving his spirit and will