Li Chen said, "What makes you say that, old brother?"
He Ran said, "These past few days, the qi channels in my body haven't grown at all. Instead, they seem to have weakened a little. Now I know this is like rowing against the current: if you don't advance, you fall back. The ancients truly didn't deceive me!"
Worn by long travels, He Ran was unshaven, his face etched with the hardships of life. Yet Li Chen had never heard such despondent words from him before.
Still, Li Chen could understand him. He knew that people were not forged from iron, after all. When setbacks struck, discouragement was inevitable. Some could recover, while others remained mired in despair, their grand ambitions never returning.
Li Chen walked over and sat beside him. Gazing at the water glittering in the sunlight, he fell silent for a time.
He Ran said, "The experience of those who came before us has long shown that after taking this pill, your cultivation should advance in great strides and your realm should keep climbing. Like crops in their growing season, or people in the prime of youth, this should be a golden opportunity to make gains."
"If progress is slow at a time like this, or even stalls or slips backward, then ordinary difficulties truly cannot explain it."
"It can only mean that I simply lack the root bone and innate talent to forge a Dao Foundation! Or perhaps I once had them, but they've long since been worn away by decades of cultivation."
Li Chen comforted him. "Old brother, how high your spirits were back in Coldwind Valley! You were determined to head east in search of a chance to advance. We've only made it halfway. How can you speak of defeat so easily?"
He Ran