Strength and weakness

Yang Ge leisurely sipped his tea, leaving Shen Fa undisturbed as he leafed through the Snowfall Palm manual.

Only after a long while did Shen Fa close the manual and exclaim, "What an exquisite palm technique! Better still, the kicks and palm strikes share the same lineage and complement each other beautifully. Once I find you a weapon technique, your martial arts repertoire will be complete!"

Yang Ge thought for a moment, then asked slowly, "Could you tell me what cultivating in the Qi Sea Realm actually involves?"

Shen Fa pondered briefly and asked, "You've already read this palm technique manual, haven't you?"

Yang Ge nodded. "Of course."

Shen Fa said, "Proper Qi Sea cultivation goes just like this: pile qi into peaks, break through barriers, and open your meridians. Just opening the Twelve Orthodox Meridians and achieving yin-yang harmony takes the better part of ten years."

Yang Ge shrugged. "As you know, I'm not exactly proper."

Shen Fa resisted the urge to roll his eyes and explained patiently, "That's precisely what I'm getting at. All your meridians were open from birth, so you don't have to endure the hardship of breaking through barriers and opening them. In theory, provided your inner qi is powerful enough, you could attempt yin-yang harmony and refining essence into qi right now."

Seeing how serious he was, Yang Ge obligingly set him up for his next point. "There's always a 'but,' isn't there?"

Shen Fa nodded. "Martial arts are rigid; people are alive. However good a martial art might be, it still depends on who's using it!"

"Think about it. Take two great masters of the Return to the True Realm. One reached that realm through twenty or thirty years of diligent, grueling practice, while the other reached it in just two or three months. Even if their cultivation were equal, do you think the two would be comparable?"

Yang Ge considered this for a while, then shook his head. "Didn't you say their cultivation was equal? Even if there were a difference, wouldn't it just come down to their skill?"

"It's not just a difference in skill!"

Shen Fa thought for a moment, then continued, "Put it this way: practicing martial arts is like a blacksmith forging a weapon for himself... You've seen someone forge iron, haven't you?"

Yang Ge nodded.

Shen Fa continued, "There are two blacksmiths. One spends over a decade forging a saber, tempering it through thousands of hammer blows."

"The other casts a saber directly from molten iron."

"If those two blacksmiths fought with their sabers, who do you think would live, and who would die?"

This time, Yang Ge understood. "You mean that when martial artists train, they aren't just honing their martial arts, but themselves too, right?"

Shen Fa nodded. "Exactly. As the blacksmith tempers his saber through thousands of hammer blows, the saber grows tougher and sharper, while he himself grows stronger and more powerful."

"But if he simply casts a saber from molten iron, not only will its edge be brittle and easily broken, he won't have trained himself at all."

"They're both blacksmiths, and both wield sabers, but the one who forged his saber could probably cleave the other man and his cast saber into four pieces in a single exchange."

"And the heights they might reach in the future are equally obvious."

Yang Ge asked thoughtfully, "Then couldn't I cast a saber blank from molten iron first, and keep hammering and tempering it afterward? That way, I'd have a saber in hand, ready to grab and slash someone whenever I needed to, while still getting plenty of training."

Shen Fa seriously considered his words. Only after a long while did he nod hesitantly. "In theory, that should work..."

Yang Ge couldn't help laughing. "Another 'but'?"

Shen Fa laughed too. "Yes. The most foolish thing a person can do in life is insist on having it both ways."

"That's especially true of martial arts. You reap what you sow. Cheat your martial arts, and your martial arts will cheat you in return."

"The suffering, hardship, difficulties, and unattainable desires of martial training are all torments and obstacles, but they are also the tempering that everyone destined for greatness must undergo."

"Speaking from the shallow experience of your older brother's thirty wasted years, those martial prodigies with boundless talent, who make astonishing progress and rise to fame at a young age, later either collapse and never recover or become trapped at some barrier, unable to advance another inch for the rest of their lives. Very few ever achieve greatness."

"By contrast, those with ordinary aptitude but resolute minds all manage to achieve something after enduring countless trials."

"Among the Four Elders, Seven Heroes, and Twelve Champions who dominate the martial world today, only Quanzhen Sword Immortal Li Qing could be called a martial prodigy. All the others fought on through repeated defeats, unbowed by a hundred setbacks!"

"Even among those blessed with your once-in-an-age constitution, with bones like jade and every meridian open, haven't some ascended to the Peerless summit and gazed down upon all the lesser peaks, while others languished in the Return to the True Realm and died with their eyes still open in regret?"

These words carried earnest concern and came straight from the heart.

Yang Ge put away his smile, straightened up, and solemnly cupped his fist in salute. "Your words strike like a staff blow to the head, sir, awakening me and giving me much to reflect upon. I shall engrave them in my heart and examine myself three times each day!"

Highly satisfied, Shen Fa leaned forward and gently patted his shoulder. "Don't rush. Though the path of martial arts is long and boundless, every step has its own scenery, and every step brings its own understanding."

"You must believe that none of the sweat you shed or the trials you endure will be wasted. One day, they will return to you in a way you could never imagine and help you climb a higher peak!"

Yang Ge thought for a moment, and the chest he had just puffed out instantly deflated again.

Tucking his hands into his sleeves, he said quietly, "Sweat is fine, but I'll pass on the trials. I practice martial arts to protect myself and live a better life. If I go looking for suffering just to improve my martial arts, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?"

Shen Fa gave a cold snort. "Trouble won't leave you alone just because you don't go looking for it... You were beaten until you vomited blood only a few days ago. Have you forgotten already?"

Yang Ge said, "I haven't forgotten. I've already decided to keep even farther away from people in the martial world!"

Shen Fa said, "And what if someone still comes looking for trouble after you distance yourself from them?"

Yang Ge said, "If I'm staying that far away, who would have nothing better to do than come and bother me?"

Shen Fa fumed. "Hopelessly foolish! Hopelessly foolish!"

Yang Ge looked at him in surprise. "I think you're the one whose reasoning is off. If you accidentally step in dog shit, shouldn't you think about how to stay farther away from it next time? Why insist on getting shoes that can take the filth and stepping in every pile you see?"

Shen Fa said, "Your reasoning is the problem. If you've stepped in dog shit, that means there are dogs nearby. Instead of figuring out how to make those dogs never dare shit outside your door again, you only think about dodging their shit in the future. Does that solve anything? Can you guard against thieves for a thousand days?"

Yang Ge said, "So by your logic, if a dog shits outside my door, I have to turn myself into the dog king and command the whole pack?"

Shen Fa said, "Why would you think of becoming the dog king? Can't you just pick up a stick and beat it to death?"

Yang Ge said, "Beating it to death won't solve the problem either. Can you kill every dog there is?"

Shen Fa said, "Why would I need to kill every dog? Whichever dog shits where it shouldn't, I beat that one to death. Isn't that enough?"

Yang Ge said, "But there'll always be dogs that aren't afraid to die!"

Shen Fa said, "Then keep beating them to death!"

Yang Ge said, "You're twisting reason to force your point!"

Shen Fa said, "Rotten mud can never be plastered onto a wall!"