"Mm, that's more or less the idea."
Shopkeeper Zheng smiled. "Cultivation, when you get down to it, is walking a road. If someone's walked it before, you can follow in their footsteps and save yourself time and effort. If no one has, you'll have to forge a path yourself and become the 'predecessor' for those who come after."
Seeing Qin Geng deep in thought, he added, "But Xiao Wu, remember this: even when you follow a path others have walked, you'll always bring your own understanding and changes to it."
"It's like those writers who publish articles in the papers. They always find a roundabout way to criticize current affairs and slip a little something of their own into the piece."
"We cultivators are the same. Keep cultivating, and sooner or later you'll develop a little something of your own."
"That little something is the skill that truly belongs to you. Carry it far enough, and you can found your own school and become its grandmaster."
"I understand."
Shopkeeper Zheng's words struck like lightning, cleaving through the fog in Qin Geng's mind. Everything suddenly became clear.
The [Wayfarer] and [Settler] options in the Book of a Hundred Trades had not appeared out of thin air.
Perhaps predecessors had paved those two roads, or perhaps the choices had arisen from his own temperament and understanding.
He suddenly thought of his [Martial Artist] profession.
Because he had cultivated the Xingyi Dragon and Tiger manual, the Book of a Hundred Trades had unlocked two dragon-and-tiger-related talents for him: [Dragon Spine Through the Back] and [Sickly Tiger Bones].
If he had practiced Ape Fist or Monkey Fist from the Twelve Animals of Xingyi instead, would the Book of a Hundred Trades have unlocked different talents, perhaps something like Bee Waist, Ape Arms, and Mantis