Chapter 340 Inevitable Defeat
"why is that?"
I felt something was off, but then I came up with a reasonable explanation: "Is it because my power is too great?"
If a human being can move at dozens of times the speed of sound, can flatten a mountain with a single punch, and is so strong that he wouldn't be afraid even if a nuclear bomb exploded in his face, then ordinary people's martial arts skills would indeed be useless against him.
Putting aside everything else, the most basic and core principle of traditional martial arts, "power originates from the ground," is useless for this superhuman. If a casual stomp could shatter the earth, then the step of borrowing power from the ground is completely unnecessary; and if this person can move freely in the air, then he doesn't need to worry about his center of gravity, since he doesn't even need to worry about whether his body will fall to the ground.
Mr. Zhu shook his head: "Although that is a factor, it is not the most important one."
"Zhuang Cheng, you've never fought a normal witcher before, right?"
Upon hearing this, I recalled the opponents I had fought so far.
Aside from not having fought a Bad-level Witcher, I have fought enemies of all levels so far, from Standard to Advanced, and even had a brief encounter with a Great Impermanent. Since Elder Zhu refers to "normal Witchers," then the Advanced and Great Impermanent ranks obviously cannot be included.
As for the enemies at the "Residual" and "Complete" levels, I mostly encountered freaks. Among them, the only "Complete" level enemy was the Freak Creator, who was clearly not a normal demon hunter. When Lu Youxun led the team to kidnap Ma Zao, there were some normal demon hunters among them, but they were all subdued by me before they could put up a proper resistance, so it's hard to say that I fought them.
I nodded to Mr. Zhu.
Mr. Zhu revealed an expression of certainty, and then said, "If judged by the standards of a Witcher, Zhuang Cheng, your level of control over power has reached the highest level that a Witcher can achieve... or even far surpasses it. We Witchers who are still trapped in the system of common sense are simply no match for you."
Receiving such high praise actually made me feel like things had gotten really bad.
“But I’ve never properly learned how to manipulate magic,” I said.
"Magic resides in the realm of intuition and premonition. The knowledge learned and the techniques trained are merely to help the demon hunter reach that realm. This is also the biggest difference between mysticism and science," the old man patiently explained. "Think carefully about the skills you've used so far: elementalization, fire materialization, fire teleportation, fire clones, heat perception..."
"Any one of your many supernatural abilities is a skill that a normal witcher would need to spend countless years learning and imitating, and might not even be able to replicate even after a great deal of time. You can also make your flames automatically identify different components within the same object, and destroy only a portion of it without damaging the rest... Do you know how advanced and profound this is in our eyes?"
"And all of this you can accomplish with just your instincts. This is the innate realm that countless demon hunters dream of, and you've been standing in that position from the very beginning."
"I also have some knowledge of fire-related spells, and I can teach you that knowledge now. After you hear it, you will definitely find it absurd, and you will think that I am teaching you how to breathe and how to walk, and you will think that I am going to spend tens of thousands of words to explain such a simple thing as 'picking up a cake from the table and putting it in your mouth'."
"The magic of the Witcher originated from a clumsy imitation of the workings of nature and the actions of the gods. Although it has become more or less authentic, it still cannot escape the essence of imitation. And your current attempt to learn the techniques of the Witcher in using power is like Xi Shi seeing Dong Shi trying to imitate her... Doing so will only reduce your own strength."
After listening, I could only sigh, "So that's how it is... I understand now."
"So, Mr. Zhu, in your opinion, what should I do next to improve my skills?"
Old Master Zhu isn't a Great Impermanence (a figure associated with death and instability), so he can't give me specific guidance, and I don't expect that. However, since the Zhu family has produced Great Impermanence figures in the past, perhaps they've left behind some useful knowledge, which could at least point me in a vague direction.
"It's very simple. Just keep honing your intuition and accumulating your own insights," said the old man. "From the Great Completion stage onwards, demon hunters will enter an unknown realm where all knowledge and technology are of little use. And after reaching the Great Impermanence stage, you will stand in a place that no one can understand."
"Not to mention us Witcher who haven't become Great Impermanence, even among you who are also Great Impermanence, we often can't truly understand each other's power and can't provide guidance."
"You are all solitary travelers on your own paths."
In other words, there are no shortcuts on this path; I can only spend time practicing step by step and gradually accumulate experience.
I was hoping to catch up on the knowledge I had missed in the past by "cramming at the last minute," but in the end, I was the one who "crammed at the last minute."
Strictly speaking, I do have other "Buddha's feet" to rely on now, namely the power of the Divine Seal Fragment and the power of weapon forging.
I could continue to sense the connection between myself and the fragments of the Divine Seal, trying to extract its power. Even for the Great Impermanence, the power of the fragments of the Divine Seal was absolutely not to be underestimated. However, as my perception deepened, I gradually realized that this was a challenge that was difficult for me to overcome in my current state.
There are only two ways to truly grasp the power of the Divine Seal fragments, one of which is to deepen my connection with them. I have a premonition that my connection with the Divine Seal fragments is actually my connection with the Void Realm. And the most direct way to deepen this connection is to make more deals with the Lord of the Divine Seal.
This is the approach that emphasizes "quality." There's also a approach that emphasizes "quantity," which involves collecting more Divine Seal fragments. The more Divine Seal fragments I have bound to, the more connections I'll have, making it easier for me to perceive the power of those fragments. This is also the safest method.
Even if I obtain a sufficient number of divine seal fragments, I estimate it will take more than three months to perceive them. And neither method can be implemented in a short time. I cannot afford to delay until then to challenge the Fate-Turbid.
As for the power of weapon crafting... to be honest, I still haven't figured out how to craft someone else's soul into a magical artifact, rather than turning it into slag. Even if I could, I don't believe that simply crafting enemies at the Great Completion level or below into magical artifacts would be effective against enemies in the Great Impermanence Domain.
"Mr. Zhu, are you and Zhu Shi really okay with me together now?" I asked.
I made no attempt to hide the fact that I was going to challenge the Fate-Turbidity Sect. Not only did Old Master Zhu not try to dissuade me, he also took Zhu Shi with him to the Luoshan headquarters.
To avoid being targeted by Mingzhuo and his subordinates, the Zhu family had previously publicly distanced themselves from me while secretly continuing to provide me with intelligence support. Now, by adopting this cooperative stance, they are essentially telling everyone that the Zhu family and Zhuang Cheng are in cahoots.
Does Mr. Zhu think I have a high chance of winning?
"I have no intention of hiding behind the scenes until the very end, leaving you to fight alone on the front lines. Although we cannot offer any substantial assistance in your battle against the slumbering spirit, we should at least show an attitude of sharing weal and woe. If we don't even have this level of attitude, then in the future, let alone joining your ranks, even the idea of maintaining a friendship with you would seem insincere."
Old Master Zhu glanced at Zhu Shi, who was meditating and communicating about forging the Yama Sword, and continued, "I never imagined that your path would be smooth sailing after you became the Great Impermanence; on the contrary, after you became the Great Impermanence, your own tribulation was bound to descend. At first, I thought this tribulation came from the turbidity of life, but I never expected it to come from the duality of the mountain..."
"But no matter which one it is, the calamity that befalls you will not disappear, and it has nothing to do with whether you can overcome it. Your calamity may affect everyone related to you; and it is also necessary for those who stand on the same side as you to be determined to take this risk."
“I discussed this matter with my granddaughter beforehand. Originally, when she realized that you might directly challenge Mingzhuo, she wanted to dissuade you, but I persuaded her.”
Upon hearing this, I voiced my doubts: "So, in your and Zhu Shi's view, if I were to fight Ming Zhuo... I wouldn't be without a chance of winning?"
But Mr. Zhu replied without hesitation, "No, you are bound to lose."
(End of this chapter)
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