Chapter 23: Longing in Vain

Guo Hongming’s gaze burned with intensity, his voice sincere, his manner respectful, his etiquette impeccable—his longing was nearly beyond words.

Yet, faced with those hopeful eyes, Xu Yuan shook his head slightly and spoke, “I know nothing of martial arts. You’re asking the wrong person.”

“Sir…”

Guo Hongming froze where he stood, astonishment mixed with deep confusion in his eyes.

You don’t know martial arts?

What kind of joke is this!

Ordinary men, even a dozen of them wielding weapons, couldn’t draw near, yet with two fingers you can snap a blade forged a hundred times over! Just with this display of strength, not only did Guo Hongming feel utterly inferior, but none of those accomplished in martial arts whom he had met could compare.

Someone like this claims he knows nothing of martial arts?

Modesty, absolute modesty!

Guo Hongming hurriedly said, “Your skill must have reached the realm of the miraculous. I have practiced martial arts for sixty years, yet compared to you, I am but a child fumbling with toys, not even worth mentioning.

Your ‘not knowing’ is to me as unfathomable as clouds and mist. I have heard it said, the chasms a fledgling bird cannot cross are but a single beat of the eagle’s wings; the questions that baffle mediocrities for decades are but a blink to the wise.

Today, I have come before you, bold though it may be, to seek your wisdom in martial arts—not to soar as the eagle does, not to possess the mastery of the sage, but merely to cross my own valley, to resolve my own confusion.

Please, guide me just a little. I do not hope to reach your heights, only to feel once more, in this lifetime, the progress of my own martial path!”

His words overflowed with sincerity.

Yet, regrettably, Xu Yuan shook his head again. “I truly do not know martial arts. To be precise, I am neither the eagle you imagine, nor the sage you seek. That is a realm I have never entered.

I have never even trained in martial arts. How could I possibly instruct you?”

“Never trained in martial arts?”

Guo Hongming stared at Xu Yuan, disbelief filling his eyes—this was even harder to comprehend than his earlier claim.

“Then were you simply born with such strength?”

Guo Hongming could not help but ask.

“Not exactly,” Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then added, “but close enough.”

His first descent to the mortal world, he had not been nearly as strong as he was now—just much stronger than ordinary people. Over time, with more descents, or perhaps because he had dwelled in the heavens so long, the vessel the Lowering Pool condensed for him grew ever more powerful.

After all, in the heavens, he did not thirst or hunger, and most times, he was neither tired nor weary. It should have been a fine place—if only he were not so utterly alone!

As for martial arts skill?

Xu Yuan truly had not deceived Guo Hongming; he really knew nothing, not even for a single day.

There was simply no opportunity: the time he spent down below was only a day—when would he have learned martial techniques? Even if he wanted to, wouldn’t it be wiser to seek out some immortal arts in that brief span? Perhaps he might even find a way to escape his prison, or at least regain his freedom!

There was plenty of time in the heavens, but then another problem arose: there was no one to teach him!

The only thing he could do was meditate upon the Erasure Script.

As the saying goes: “Aim for the highest, and you’ll land among the middling; aim for the middling, and you’ll fall below.” To ponder martial ways in the heavens, instead of the immortal path—what person would do such a thing?

So, when Xu Yuan said he knew nothing of martial arts, it was the unvarnished truth.

He merely possessed senses far keener than most, strength far greater, and speed beyond compare—those were his only advantages.

When it came to fighting, as long as you knew how to throw a punch, that was enough; so far, he had yet to meet anyone who could withstand his fist.

To ask him about martial arts was like asking a mountain how to make itself heavier.

“This…”

On his way here, Guo Hongming had considered that Xu Yuan might refuse, or that, if Xu Yuan was kindly disposed, he might offer some enlightenment.

He had even considered that Xu Yuan might take offense and kill him outright.

After all, judging by Xu Yuan’s methods, killing was not beyond him.

But he no longer feared such things.

He was old now, old enough to set life and death aside. The Guo family’s martial school had already prepared a new master; now, he could live for himself, or die for his own convictions.

But whatever he had imagined, none of those outcomes had come to pass.

Xu Yuan had neither agreed, nor refused, nor killed him.

He simply said he didn’t know…

A vast confusion engulfed Guo Hongming. This man, nearing his seventies, suddenly felt as if his whole world had collapsed.

“You…have truly never studied martial arts? Never trained a single day?”

Guo Hongming’s body trembled. He tried to laugh, but couldn’t—he was overwhelmed by a sense of his faith crumbling, a devastation he could not bear.

“No,” Xu Yuan replied with certainty.

Guo Hongming stared directly into Xu Yuan’s eyes, searching for any hint of evasion or deceit.

But there was none.

Those eyes, bright as the stars, were so honest and sincere that he felt himself a fool.

He had worked so hard, training since childhood, for sixty years now.

Sixty years of training, and he could not even measure up to someone who had never practiced?

No, the gulf between them was like an unbridgeable chasm!

What, then, did all those years of effort amount to?

Was there anything more laughable, more capable of shattering one’s faith, than this?

The gap between people, the difference in talent, was so vast that no effort could ever close it.

Just as Guo Hongming’s conviction teetered on the edge of collapse, as the seeds of a heart demon took root, Xu Yuan’s voice sounded again:

“In truth, there’s no need to compare oneself to others in all things. If it were possible, I would gladly do without this body and my circumstances. None of this brings me joy. I only wish to live quietly among humankind.”

There was not the slightest hint of pride on Xu Yuan’s face, nor the air of a superior instructing a lesser. His voice was calm, neither sad nor glad. “But sometimes, people have no choice. The circumstances are what they are—what can one do?”

With these words, Xu Yuan walked toward the distant mountains—much farther than the forests surrounding the Pure Breeze Monastery.

The forests were vast, the mountains towering.

A man venturing alone into their depths was as a single drop in the sea.

Xu Yuan, carrying a bundle of sweets, a jar of honey, and a flask of wine, entered the wilderness.

He did not stop until he reached the mouth of a cave. Gazing into its depths, he called out, “Black Bear, come out for snacks.”

His voice echoed through the cave.

A moment later, a delighted roar rang out, and a massive figure burst forth at incredible speed from within!