In the living room, Qin Zhen was beet red from Li Mo’s second treatment. His spirit was healthy and felt as if he was thirty again.
“Young friend, over the past month I found that all of my body was feeling great. As if I am not even ill. Tell me, do I really need one to two years to recover?”
Li Mo said, “At the minimum. But I’ll only do this just one more time and needn’t do it again. Afterward you will take care of your healing. It is very simple. Drink some baijiu(T/N: an alcoholic drink with 35% alcohol) each day.”
“Drink each day?” Qin Zhen was startled. His coughing got to the point he had to give up drinking a dozen years ago.
Li Mo nodded.
“Only a bit. It will help recover your vitality, what you lack the most at the moment.”
“Also, don’t train in that Stalwart Ox Art.”
Qin Zhen said, “Young friend, do you know the history of my clan’s art?”
Li Mo shook his head.
“Stalwart Ox Art is a fortune bestowed by an immortal who took my ancestor as a disciple. That immortal taught him the Stalwart Ox Art and Piercing Fist. My ancestor was such a genius that he trained the two immortal arts to completion in 30 years and became famous. That ancestor turned to live for 156 years.
“My clan’s second ancestor trained the Piercing Fist and was undefeated his entire life. But only lived until 33. While his brother trained in the Stalwart Ox Art and lived until 166!
“Then, the Qin clan passed through many generations. Everyone who trained in Stalwart Ox Art had a longer life while those training Piercing Fist met a quick end. My 38th ancestor, Qin Gong destroyed the Piercing Fist and the Qin clan had only cultivated Stalwart Ox Art ever since.
“It is strange, however, that after my clan cultivated Stalwart Ox Art for the last century, none could extend their lifespan. Perhaps I am the exception to have lived so long.
“Even reaching this level, I always thought the problem lied with me and not the Stalwart Ox Art. That my talent was lacking and can’t understand the Stalwart Ox Art’s mysteries. Thus I forcefully cultivated and ended like this.”
Li Mo shook his head.
“Young friend, what do you think of Qin Shen’s talent?”
“Plain average.” Li Mo was blunt.
Qin Zhen was startled, “If young friend says so then it must be true. But the result…”
Li Mo interrupted him with a wave, “My average and yours is different. I am saying his constitution is average, only that of a normal person.”
What was an uncommon constitution? Du Fei’s Sacred Light Physique and Su Qingyi’s Nine Yin Body.
“I’ve never seen a better talent than Qin Shen’s. That is until I met young friend.”
Li Mo shook his head.
Qin Zhen thought he was modest, “Qin Shen trained in the Stalwart Ox Art for a short time and his swift speed left me in awe. Just seven days ago his Stalwart Ox Art broke to the 6th level. The same level as mine.
“It took me my whole life to reach the 6th level and he took just a few. If he isn’t qualified to be called a genius, then who is?”
“Young friend must also know that Qin Shen reached the 6th level and is still healthy, unlike me.”
Li Mo smiled, “And what does that prove? That the problem does not lie with the Qin clan’s Stalwart Ox Art but you?”
Qin Zhen chuckled.
“Qin Shen is fine for now because he is young and filled with energy. But based on his progress, when he reaches 40, at best, he will be forever paralyzed.
“Old Qin, your Qin clan’s history shouldn’t lack paralyzed men who trained in the Stalwart Ox Art, right?”
Qin Zhen’s smile fell.
“I used to think your Stalwart Ox Art was a damaged cultivation method. But after listening to you, you actually had another, the Piercing Fist. This is only right.”
“Why?”
“Stalwart Ox Art is inferior, but it is a violent cultivation method. Training it will damage one’s meridians. But if you practice it alongside with a fist art to release the extra strain, the damage to the meridians would lessen greatly.
“While training only in the Piercing Fist, the body lacked the energy to sustain it. It is normal to die young. The same applies to only cultivating Stalwart Ox Art. It would be odd not to end up a cripple.”
Qin Zhen was dumbstruck.
He knew perfectly well if Li Mo was telling the truth or not. In the Qin clan’s history, beginning with ancestor Qin Gong, almost every generation had people that cultivated Stalwart Ox Art and ended up paralyzed.
And this happened to every generation until now.
Qin Zhen slapped himself hard.
The problem that gnawed him all his life had now found its answer.
“It seems the only way to cultivate Stalwart Ox Art to completion, the Piercing Fist must be trained also. But Piercing Fist was destroyed centuries ago, with no way of finding it. It seems the Qin clan is not blessed at all, never again to train the immortal’s arts.”
“To keep cultivating Stalwart Ox Art is simple. You won’t need the Piercing Fist either. All you have to do is train in water.”
Qin Zhen jerked, “Ah?”
“The water will absorb all the body’s strain. The physics teacher taught me that.”
Qin Zhen: …
“Then, young friend, will Qin Shen still be paralyzed later if he starts cultivating in water?”
“Yes. The damage to his meridians is too great. Despite cultivating in water, damaged meridians won’t heal. The opposite in fact, the faster he cultivates, the faster he’ll paralyze.”
“It goes the same to you. You can cultivate in water, but never think about advancing to the next level. The moment you do advance, you’ll be paralyzed. And no one can help you then.”
“Then what can I do?”
“Let me see the Stalwart Ox Art.”
Qin Zhen pondered for a while, then wrote down the Stalwart Ox Art.
Stalwart Ox Art had only 3,000 characters. A page was enough to write it.
After reading it, Li Mo started amending it.
After ten minutes, Li Mo gave the new version to Qin Zhen.
“Here. Cultivate like it says and no only your meridians won’t be harmed, it will even repair them instead.”
“This…”
Qin Zhen was speechless.
Li Mo didn’t add one character, but crossed out many instead. The 3,000 character long page was now about 1,000 short.
Qin Zhen bolted to his feet and gave a deep bow to Li Mo.
There were many things that eluded Qin Zhen’s understanding. However, he did know one thing. Even when he wrote down the Stalwart Ox Art, he was selfish and added many characters to make it wrong on purpose.
And the characters Li Mo crossed out were exactly them.
A coincidence?
‘Highly unlikely…’
Qin Zhen bowed deeply.
He still had no idea how much of an influence his extra characters had.
This was how fate was. If Old Qin had written the genuine version, it would’ve now been perfected.
