Master of Kaidan
Chapter 215: Strive for Unity with Everything

Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Strive for Unity with Everything

At five in the morning, Liu Qi awoke to the workings of his biological clock, habitually circulating his True Qi to dispel the remaining drowsiness, but suddenly, he noticed some changes in his state.

"Right, meditation, I successfully entered meditation last night!" Liu Qi slapped his own face, making sure he wasn’t dreaming. A strong sense of joy welled up inside him, which he then forcefully suppressed.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

The sound of knocking came. He picked up his phone to check the time and called out "Who is it?" while quickly putting on the clothes he’d tossed to the side of the bed. Then he heard Feng Xue’s calm voice.

"It’s me."

"Coming!" He hurried to the door and saw his master still dressed in her tattered garb, giving him a sense of foreboding. Before he could ask anything, Feng Xue said:

"It’s time for morning training. Pack your belongings, we’re checking out."

"Checking out?" Liu Qi wasn’t surprised by the training, but his expression soured at the mention of checking out.

"Yes, take the dirty clothes to the laundry, then find an overpass to live under for a few days before we hit the road again." Feng Xue spoke as if she were discussing something utterly mundane, her casual reply leaving Liu Qi feeling extremely awkward. He could handle spending the night outdoors, but sleeping under an overpass...

"Master, may I ask, why must we sleep under an overpass?"

"Cultivating the heart." Feng Xue tossed out two words, feeling they weren’t clear enough, she added:

"Cultivation requires a will firm enough that it can’t be trained simply through travel. To give you a plain example: if someone comes at you with a mop dipped in shit, what would you do?"

"Uh..." Liu Qi’s expression turned bizarre. As someone familiar with the internet, he naturally knew the meme ’a mop drenched with shit, as if Lu Bu were still alive,’ but he didn’t expect to hear such a question from his master.

"True courage is understanding fear and confronting it, taking it into your own hands. To train your mind, mere strengthening oneself is pointless."

Feng Xue spoke calmly, a line she had long wanted to deliver. Although Liu Qi felt these words were somewhat familiar, he couldn’t recall them at the moment. Realizing he couldn’t argue, he turned back to re-pack the luggage he hadn’t had time to tidy up yesterday and prepared to find an overpass with Feng Xue for their morning training.

...

"I have never told you the outline of this martial arts system of mine, do you know why?"

Leaving the hostel, Liu Qi, still feeling awkward, suddenly heard Feng Xue start a conversation, not sure how to respond. However, Feng Xue didn’t expect an answer, simply talking to herself:

"I never thought you would stick with it."

"I can!" Liu Qi said earnestly, to which Feng Xue, with her back to him, waved her hand dismissively:

"Before you, I’ve had other disciples. Some wanted to carry out heroic deeds, some were burdened with a blood feud, and others were simply destitute and wished for a better life. I’ve taught them quite a bit, but none of them learned real kung fu. Do you know why?"

"They didn’t meet your standards?" Liu Qi subconsciously used a respectful tone, but Feng Xue just shook her head.

"Simplicity is not always appropriate," he said as he cast his eyes upon the approaching Yangtze River, moving forward and speaking,

"The martial arts I teach do not belong to a single school or lineage. I have secret transmissions from the Buddhist sects, classics from the Taoist tradition, and of course, some peculiar techniques from smaller factions. If needed, I can completely tailor a set of martial arts for someone. For those thirsting for revenge, I’ll teach them the skills to kill. For those who wish to be gallant heroes, I’ll give them the means to do so. But ultimately, none of them are the type to inherit my mantle."

Watching Feng Xue, who had not picked up the heavy cushion, but instead started practicing a set of fists beside the river and took a horse stance, Liu Qi couldn’t help but become curious:

"Then how can one inherit your mantle?"

"This begins with our sect’s understanding of ’martial arts,’" Feng Xue said as he tried to cover the fluctuations of killing intent with the technique of "spirit division" he had learned from accidentally entering a divine state, all while sharing his concept of "martial arts" with Liu Qi—

"The so-called martial arts seek nothing more than to overcome an opponent. However, this opponent is not just ’people’; it can also be an abstract concept. Your opponent could be an enemy, the world itself, a certain phenomenon, or even yourself.

"This ’opponent’ is the objective of your martial arts training—it is the Way.

"To achieve this objective, you need a theoretical foundation—it is the Law.

"To practice this theory, you need viable skills—it is the Technique.

"Use skill and strength to practice the Technique.

"Use heart and intent to interpret the Law.

"Use spirit and nature to pursue the Way.

"All Skills All Strength, All Heart All Intent, All Spirit All Nature, seeking unity in all—this is our sect’s philosophy of ’martial arts.’

Having said this, Feng Xue suddenly threw a punch towards the river. There was no noticeable special effect, only a fleeting sense of danger, but on the river surface, a trench-like depression clearly appeared and then closed up again under the turbulent river.

"So, by telling me all this, are you saying that I’ve passed the test?"

Liu Qi looked at the river surface, which had returned to normal among the surging waves, and revealed an excited expression. After all, he harbored a little bit of the protagonist’s dream. He felt that since his master was sharing these things with him, it naturally meant that he might be capable of inheriting this so-called mantle.

"You could say you’ve just passed the first stage," Feng Xue affirmed Liu Qi’s thoughts without keeping him in suspense but also very calmly, "You’re different from your senior brothers and sisters. In the end, most people treat ’martial arts’ as a tool. Give them a gun, some money, and there wouldn’t be much difference. Of course, I’m not saying that’s wrong. After all, martial arts themselves are tools, to be used for revenge, for justice, for seeking thrills, even for showing off to pick up girls, there’s nothing wrong with that. But that, after all, does not align with the principles of our sect."

"So, what makes me stronger than them is that I don’t have a heavy burden of vengeance; I simply want to learn martial arts?" Liu Qi quickly grasped the meaning of Feng Xue’s words. Feng Xue nodded in acknowledgment but then shook his head:

"Being simple is right, but that doesn’t necessarily make you strong."

As he spoke, Feng Xue suddenly flicked his hand backward, generating a water arrow shooting out from within the river, which transformed into a basketball-sized water ball, landing in Feng Xue’s hand. In his movements, reminiscent of performing Tai Chi, the water flowed smoothly.

Watching this miraculous scene, Liu Qi’s question, which was on the tip of his tongue, got stuck. However, Feng Xue still started to explain:

"Your goal is very simple, and that’s good. But correspondingly, you also lack the motivation to persist. For those who can hardly afford a meal, when they feel fatigued, poverty awakens them; for those with a deep-seated hatred, when they feel tired, vengeance drives them; for those who long to act righteously, when they feel lax, the injustice of the world spurs them on. But you’re different. You lack this kind of motivation, because everything is just an interest for you, so you have the capital to give up at any time. In the terms of our sect, you lack a consistent driving force."