Chapter 34
Seventh Young Master exchanged a glance with Gao Yuan beside him, shaking his head in disbelief.
After all, Zheng Fa had already returned the book; what could he possibly comprehend?
Seventh Young Master glanced at Zheng Fa, shook his head, and picked up a book from the shelf behind him, handing it to Zheng Fa.
“What’s this?”
“Stop thinking about ‘Ling He Shen’ (Spirit Crane Body). I’m telling you, practicing martial arts has no future. Come learn talisman techniques with me!” Seventh Young Master sighed.
Zheng Fa looked at the book in front of him, the cover reading: “Complete Explanation of Talisman Diagrams, Volume One.”
“What’s this?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? Talisman diagrams.”
Zheng Fa flipped through the pages, and indeed, they were filled with those complex and abstract patterns.
Having just endured the torment of the Birdman, Zheng Fa felt a headache coming on. He set the book down and asked, “If I finish this book, will I understand the way of talismans?”
“Ha, finish it? Do you know how many volumes this series has?”
“I don’t know.”
Seventh Young Master held up one finger.
“Ten volumes?”
Seventh Young Master shook his head.
“A hundred volumes?”
“One room full!” Seventh Young Master pointed to a room on the side of the study, his voice tinged with indignation. “It’s all in there!”
Zheng Fa turned to look at the room filled with towering bookshelves, swallowing hard.
“And this series adds new volumes every year! I’ve been learning since I was a child, and the number of books I haven’t seen keeps increasing!”
Seventh Young Master’s tone was so pitiful it tugged at Zheng Fa’s heartstrings.
Zheng Fa truly understood now; this was a boundless sea of knowledge.
“Master, what exactly are talisman diagrams?”
“I don’t understand either.” Seventh Young Master shook his head. “According to this book, all talisman diagrams come from the insights of celestial sect practitioners into the universe, containing the essence of the Dao. In fact, many of the earliest talisman papers were just simple diagrams.”
“But later, some people discovered that although some diagrams looked different, they had the same effects. That’s when practitioners proposed the concept of ‘Yuanfu’ (original talismans), trying to find their similarities.”
“As for these, it’s because celestial sect practitioners are still gaining insights into new diagrams every day…”
Zheng Fa suddenly understood, finally grasping the meaning behind the countless books.
“Exhaustive enumeration…”
Chapter 39: He Can’t Master It
Zheng Fa opened the “Complete Explanation of Talisman Diagrams, Volume One” that Seventh Young Master had handed him, looking at it from different angles, and finally discerned four densely packed characters hidden within the text:
“Save the child…”
He turned to look at the room filled with bookshelves, feeling a bit anxious. No matter how good his memory was, facing this mountain of books, even an extra head wouldn’t be enough.
Exhaustive enumeration must die!
“So how can I prove that I’ve mastered one hundred and eight basic Yuanfu?” Zheng Fa asked the question that had been on his mind.
He remembered that to become a talisman master, one needed to decipher one hundred and eight Yuanfu. If it was just about these, it didn’t seem like there were that many.
Seventh Young Master sat down and began to explain to Zheng Fa, “I just mentioned that the number of talisman diagrams is constantly increasing, right?”
Zheng Fa nodded.
“But the number of Yuanfu is limited. No, wait,” Seventh Young Master frowned. “Currently, celestial sect practitioners aren’t even sure how many Yuanfu there are, but it’s certain that the number of Yuanfu is much less than the number of talisman diagrams. Some practitioners even say that one Yuanfu can correspond to countless talisman diagrams, and the basic Yuanfu are the simplest and most common ones.”
Zheng Fa vaguely understood what Seventh Young Master meant.
“For example, you previously deciphered two basic Yuanfu from those diagrams. The assessment for talisman masters is similar. However, because there are so many new diagrams, you can’t possibly see them all in these books. You can only rely on your understanding of the basic Yuanfu to analyze them on the spot, and not all basic Yuanfu are as simple as the two you deciphered.”
“So it’s impossible to just memorize these books,” Zheng Fa said, a bit disappointed.
“Memorize? This whole room of books?” Seventh Young Master’s eyes widened. “Are you joking?”
Zheng Fa’s expression was so innocent that Seventh Young Master’s mouth slowly dropped open.
“You… you’re serious?”
Zheng Fa was indeed not joking.
Memorizing would torture his memory.
If he didn’t memorize, the only option left was to continue learning topology from the old man, which would challenge his intelligence and pride.
But now, memorizing was useless, so he could only try topology. Although Zheng Fa wasn’t sure if topology would really help in deciphering all the Yuanfu, at least it was a method with potential.
Thinking of the old man, Zheng Fa gently shook his head.
That old man, last time he had tricked him for half a day, and then Tang Lingwu had called out “zoo”... It seemed the old man had lost some of his charm again, appearing to have lost his enthusiasm for martial arts.
This wouldn’t do; if the student lost interest, it would hinder my progress as a teacher.
…
Early in the morning, Seventh Young Master yawned as he watched Zheng Fa standing in the training ground, practicing his stance.
The sky was just beginning to brighten, and Zheng Fa’s hair and pant legs were damp with dew, clearly having stood there for quite a while.
“When did he start practicing?”
Seventh Young Master asked Gao Yuan beside him.
Gao Yuan shook his head. “He was already here when I came to practice this morning.”
Gao Yuan had been feeling that he was close to mastering the Songhe stance, practicing diligently and often coming early in the morning before his first class. So when he arrived this morning, Zheng Fa was already like this.
Seventh Young Master stared at Zheng Fa’s face for a while, frowning slightly, seemingly worried.
Looking at Gao Yuan beside him, Seventh Young Master patted his shoulder and said, “Did you sleep well last night?”
“Uh… it was okay?” Gao Yuan hesitated, feeling a bad premonition in his heart.
“Zheng Fa’s talent is better than yours, and he works harder than you. He gets up to practice before dawn, and you actually slept soundly?”
“…”
Here it comes!
Gao Yuan wore a calm expression, one he had grown accustomed to.
“Practice!”
“Oh!”
Gao Yuan stood beside Zheng Fa, his demeanor calm and unflinching.
He also stood up to practice the Songhe stance, silently reciting the nine-character mantra he had recently comprehended: “Don’t fight, let it go, I’m useless.”
As the two practiced, Seventh Young Master didn’t leave but kept watching them, lost in thought.
“Uncle! I was sleeping so soundly!”
A wail came from outside the training ground.
Then came the voice of Coach Xu: “Sleeping! What are you sleeping for? Zheng Fa’s talent is better than yours, and he works harder. How can you sleep?”
This familiar phrase made Gao Yuan unable to resist opening his eyes and looking toward the entrance of the training ground.
Coach Xu kicked a young man, still half-asleep, into the training ground.
From Coach Xu’s address, Gao Yuan knew this young man was probably his nephew.
Coach Xu’s nephew still seemed unconvinced: “He has talent, so he makes progress every day. If I had his talent, I’d be willing to practice every day! It’s not my fault I don’t have that talent; sleeping a bit more doesn’t delay much!”
Gao Yuan found this reasoning quite sensible; the young man had a certain wisdom about him.
“Are you going to practice or not?” Coach Xu asked, clenching his fist.
“Of course I will!” Coach Xu’s nephew stood in a stance that didn’t resemble the Songhe stance but rather another martial art.
Seeing his unwilling yet compliant demeanor, Gao Yuan couldn’t help but feel a sense of camaraderie and offered a friendly smile.
“What are you smiling at?” The young man, noticing Gao Yuan’s smile, snorted.
Gao Yuan was taken aback, only to hear the young man glance at him, then at Zheng Fa, snorting softly through his nose:
“Getting up so early, just a bunch of losers!”
Gao Yuan could no longer maintain his calm demeanor.
Why should I, a useless person, have to endure the jealousy that should belong to a genius? Is there any justice in this world?
…
The three continued practicing, while Seventh Young Master and Coach Xu exchanged worried glances.
The two moved to a corner and began to speak quietly.
“What do you think, Coach?” Seventh Young Master asked, glancing at Zheng Fa.
“He’s too eager,” Coach Xu frowned, shaking his head. “I’ve told them before, in martial arts, one must not be greedy. Haste makes waste; the more you want, the easier it is to get hurt. I thought Zheng Fa was steady enough not to have this problem.”
“Was he like this before?” Seventh Young Master seemed to recall something and asked.
“No…” Coach Xu’s expression shifted as he looked at Seventh Young Master. “Are you referring to ‘Ling He Shen’?”
Seventh Young Master nodded, his expression grave. “A few days ago, he probably didn’t sleep much, saying he was comprehending ‘Ling He Shen.’”
Coach Xu also looked at Zheng Fa, shaking his head and sighing. “I thought he was more carefree than I was, but it turns out… like me, he had it too easy before and finds it hard to let go when faced with setbacks.”
Seeing Seventh Young Master’s worried expression, Coach Xu reassured him, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Seventh Young Master nodded, glancing at Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan once more before turning to leave.
…
In the lady’s small building, Seventh Young Master and the lady sat across from each other, each holding a cup of tea.
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