Chapter: 5409

"What?!" Hong Changqing's eyes almost popped out of his socket as he stuttered: "Master Leaf... Master Leaf... Are you telling the truth?!"

Leaf Chen countered: "I'm not just joking with you. Do you think I have any reason to lie to you now?"

Hong Changqing swallowed hard and blurted out: "We, the Tai Zhen lineage, spent thousands of years and dozens of generations practicing the first chapter of the True Scriptures... Is that really true?!"

Leaf Chen firmly nodded: "Yes! That's exactly how it is!"

Hong Changqing sat there like someone had just died, his expression desolate and melancholic. His eyes lost focus, looking vacant as he muttered: "Someone starts reading in kindergarten, reads all the way to a PhD, and that's only twenty-something years... And you're saying the True Scriptures have three volumes and twenty-seven chapters? That means we Tai Zhen lineage have been reading kindergarten-level material for so many years..."

The kindergarten level in American preschool K1 is basically equivalent to Chinese preschool small class.

Leaf Chen was amused by Hong Changqing's analogy, but also felt that it was reasonable, so he praised him: "Your conversion method is indeed very reasonable. Strictly speaking, you Tai Zhen lineage have been learning kindergarten-level material for over a thousand years and dozens of generations, which is basically equivalent to learning the alphabet."

Hong Changqing said with a sad face: "Leaf Master... I'm not questioning you... It's just that if it's really like you say, we learned the first chapter of the True Scriptures, and our ancestors can already enter the dark realm. The dark realm is the second major realm for warriors, but warriors have only four major realms in total. Is it necessary to use the remaining 26 chapters to break through all the remaining realms?"

"Yes," Leaf Chen nodded seriously and said: "The path of martial arts is one that enters the Dao through martial arts. To truly enter the Dao, you must cultivate your martial arts skills to the extreme. The realm of clarity is just an entrance, and the dark realm is only the first barrier after entering. Each subsequent level of advancement may require using up a lifetime to achieve."

"You can cultivate yourself into an eight-star warrior in 50 years, but even if you give yourself another 50 years, you may not be able to break through the dark realm. And if you happen to break through the dark realm and still have 50 more years left, do you think you can jump from the first layer of the dark realm to the second or third?"

Hong Changqing suddenly became even more bewildered, muttering: "Does that mean that entering the dark realm is actually just completing one-seventh of the path of martial arts?"

Leaf Chen nodded and said flatly but ruthlessly: "Yes."

Hong Changqing looked crestfallen and asked him: "Leaf Master, what is the path of martial arts that we enter? And how many years will it take to walk this path?"

Leaf Chen smiled and said: "You're asking me that now. The next path I don't know either."

Hong Changqing sighed in despair: "The path of martial arts is indeed too long, with countless bones along the way... But I don't know where my old bones will be left..."

Leaf Chen laughed: "You don't need to feel discouraged. Traveler 1 has flown nearly 50 years and hasn't even left the solar system yet. Who knows when it will leave the solar system? It may take tens of thousands of years before it reaches the next star system. If you think about it like that, isn't the prospect ahead of you very vast?"

"What's vast?" Hong Changqing's mouth twitched involuntarily twice: "With you saying this, I only feel even more desperate and don't know where I'll end up."

Leaf Chen smiled and said: "Don't think about it too much. This isn't something you should be thinking about right now, considering you're just a 4-star martial artist in training. Forget about flying out of the solar system; you can barely make it to Mars at best."

Hong Changqing's heart bled as he listened to this, and he hastily reassured Leaf Chen: "Master Leaf, don't worry. I'll notify my direct disciple to come to Jinling to inherit the true path master seal and take over the mantle of responsibility after that. Then, I'll devote myself wholeheartedly to serving you."

Leaf Chen smiled and asked him: "What would your direct disciple ask if they inquired about our ancestral pharmacy? How would you respond?"

Hong Changqing awkwardly chuckled twice and said: "Master Leaf, rest assured. The matter of the pharmacy is a highest-level secret only known to the true path master. Only when the true path master passes on the mantle to the new one will they receive the master seal along with it. The successor only knows about the master seal but not about the existence of the pharmacy, so I'll be fine as long as I don't say anything..."

Leaf Chen gave him a big thumbs-up and said with a smile: "You understand succession."

Hong Changqing laughed awkwardly again and asked Leaf Chen: "Master Leaf... don't know if I'll have any chance to cultivate 'True Reality Mysterious Way' after that?"

Leaf Chen raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Originally, you did have the opportunity. I asked you to hand over your master's martial arts heart method so I could see what kind of cultivation heart you had. If it was inadequate, I'd give you a better one; if it was not complete, I'd give you a more complete one. But I didn't expect you to always harbor private feelings towards me, so now I've fallen into this predicament... Well, take these two days to reflect on yourself."

Hong Changqing felt deep regret and remorse, repeatedly saying: "Master Leaf, please be at ease. As for me, Hong Changqing, if I ever dared to have any ulterior motives towards you in my lifetime, I would surely die without a grave." JrNovels.com