So you keep bowing your head like this might end up in weakening your Martial Arts Heart, dooming yourself to mediocrity for the rest of your life, another advice i hope you keep in mind .
I heard him loud and clear, but i was completely engrossed more on the words he said earlier about how Martial Arts is like going against the tide after you are barely able to swim, i wondered about how these words applied to my current situation .
If he who had practiced Martial Arts and achieved some success in pursuing it was described as barely knowing how to swim, then me who haven't had a shred of Martial Arts in me could be called a drowned person with no choice but to wait for someone to throw me a lifeline or directly get me out, but on my own it would be impossible to survive .
I'm looking at it wrongly here, that Dojo Master wasn't making a statement about how difficult practicing Martial Arts was, he was describing another factor needed for the Martial Arts to succeed in his practice, Will .
An indomitable will that would allow its bearer to go through hurdles and still grasp success, even though i'm currently drowning, i still have a few breathes in me that should allow me to survive for a few seconds more at most, but the question is do i want to survive for that long or not .
Do i care about surviving in general, do i want to continue living in this chaotic world as Tian Long or i will be in much better state if ilet everything in this life too go, just like how i did in my previous life, i could just attack the senior brother in front of me and in return he would finish this life of mine in seconds, it all comes back to one question .
Do i have the Will to finally begin accepting my identity and the world i was thrown in without even a short notice .
Do i have the Will to swim instead of drowning, even if it was a crude way of swimming, if it allowed me to survive then it's very much fine with me, but do i have the Will to do so .
The emotions and determination that Tian Long Left in this body was telling me that i indeed can, but that was Tian Long answering me, i want to hear the answer from the real me, the me who still refuse to believe that i can aspire to become something big in this world, the same me who still hadn't still accepted living in this cruel world .
The me that the second I'm in danger he would give up on resisting, the me who still care about whether this was a Good world or Evil World, that is the person who i want an answer from, Do i have the Will to live in this world, or do i implement the suicidal plan i had in mind and let it all end here .
Will i swim or sink into the abyss, Will i go against the tide for the slim chance of surviving or Will i let the few breathes i have left in my lungs be for naught, Will i fight or will i cower in fear, Will i die as Tian Long the slave of the Lu family or Will i become a person that other dream of reaching the same height as him .
I finally realized how i longed for the chance this world was giving me, i finally able to see myself aspire to become something, i finally began to set a goal for myself, for now I can finally say that i have the Will to fight in try of achieving that goal, My Current Goal Is To Reach The Heavens .
As if a wall was bombed to pieces as this weird thought of mine, i felt my mind becoming clearer than ever before, my heart has changed, i feel like I'm completely being transformed, no i feel like i'm being reborn, was that me conceiving a Martial Arts Heart .
Whenwill you stop calling for the sky like this, no one will answer you know, those up there care naught about those who are down here ? .
The amused voice of the Senior Brother in front of me awakened me from the wonderful state i was in, i saw that i was currently raising my hand towards the ske and was grabbing something with my hand or maybe clawing at the heaven, wanting to get a piece of it for myself, i would have ridiculed myself on having such a childish thought, but for some reason thinking about the possibility of being able to do it in the future, made me smile from ear to ear .
I believe you already found yourself, congratulations .
He said and cupped his fist at me, i did the same but i was no longer bowing, i thanked him for his guidance and him sharing his experience with me, he smiled and said :
Uncle Lu vision is really quite terrifying, he was able to notice a Monster like you among common people, that's like fishing a needle from the sea, if that a skill i really have no opinion in kowtowing in front of his room for three days and nights so he teach me that skill .
I looked at the guy in front of me strangely, he was telling me not to keep kowtowing just now, yet he is willing to do so if the skill he will be taught was worth it, i don't know whether to laugh or cry at this, i scooping something from his words couldn't help but ask, i was now a bit more confidence than before, i said :
" Senior Brother Fu, you mentioned kowtowing in front of the Instructor Lu room, does Instructor Lu live here ? .
Uncle Lu didn't tell you much about his identity, so it isn't a surprise that you aren't aware, but Instructor Lu from your words is actually one of the Dojo Guardians, we call him Uncle Lu due to him being a sworn brother to the Master, so we're as a Close Disciples are like his nephews, so yes he is staying here .
But currently he took a task in the Lu Family and had moved them temporarily, but don't tell anyone about that, if you did i will come and cripple you .
Before that threat would have drained all color from my face, but after getting the chance to spend some time with the senior in front of me i understood his character a bit better, enough to be able to tell whether he was joking or taking serious .
Him asking me to keep this a secret was him being serious, him telling that he would cripple me was him joking, but i got a bit surprised at finding out that instructor Lu had such an identity, no wonder i felt like he was advertising before, so i was really being set up to join this Dojo from the start, i didn't feel that much bothered by that thought, i now believe that wherever I'm able to practice Martial Arts in, will be the right place for me .
Right, now that i remembered you seem to come out from the same Lu Family where is instructor Lu currently in, you are also from the same family as junior brother Lu Chiang, so you two must get along with one another, but i can't help but wonder, are you a guard in that family or something, why isn't your family's name is Lu .
I believe if he knew what kind of relationship between me and that Lu Chiang, he wouldn't have been able to say those words, seeing that he was curious about me, i decided to satisfy his curiosity, without feeling any kind of discomfort, I said :
" It's pretty simple senior, I'm not a guard or anything like that, I'm just a family slave, hoping to become something more .
His reaction was that of dumbstruck, he after sizing me up and down sighed and said :
I'm really beginning to like you more and more, junior brother Tian Long, i can't even imagine the hurdles you went through to collect the fee to enter the Dojo, i hope you will succeed in pursuing your Martial Path .
I nodded at his kind words and thanked him, I then was about to ask him more details about how to practice Martial Arts, but he seemed to have already caught a glimpse of my thoughts as he began to say :
Tell me junior brother Tian, what were you told about the way to practice Martial Arts ? .
I told him the information given to me by the instructor and added some of my own understanding in the mix, he kept nodding his head at my words, then after i finished saying what i have, he said :
Wow, uncle Lu really wasn't stingy with his explanation, that means he really think highly of you, come with me .
Without waiting for me to response, we began walking towards the doors of the Training Hall, i then saw that we are heading to another Hall, one that had Scriptures Hall writing on it, my heart was pounding in my chest, i wondered if it was finally the time to learn Martial Arts, i also take a look at the guys that were training and saw that they were currently moving in sync with one another, standing in all kind of postures .
We entered the Hall and i saw that unlike what i had thought before, this Hall was a bit shabby, it consisted of only one room, it seemed quite clean and was quite bright even though there was only one window, there was a closet and a book cabinet, there was also a heavy incense scent it was suffocating but it was weirdly quite calming as well, as i was looking around, wanting to see more, i noticed a man sitting on a mat at the end of the room, the moment i stared at him, he opened his eyes, it was the scary man from before .
Nephew greet Uncle Li Bian .
Seeing the look senior brother Fu gave me, i wasted no time and cupped my fist and said :
" JuniorTian Long greet guardian Li .
If I'm not wrong and due to what Senior Brother told me earlier and him being called as uncle, i already had a conclusion about the identity of the man in front of me, he was none other than the second guardian of the Dojo, I saluted him and he nodded at the Senior Brother and still paid me no mind, i had the feeling that the guy in front of me didn't like me at all .
What did you come here for ? .
That man voice still icy cold as before, but i had changed a little bit, but still a change is a change, for some reason his eyes lit up for only a second after he looked at me, after what the Senior Brother replied to his question, saying :
I'm here to get him a copper robe and let him choose a Martial Art, he can read so it won't be a problem to let him decide what Martial Art he want to practice, sorry for the intrusion .
The middle aged Man looked at me a bit surprised, i didn't cower from him looking at me as before, i saw that his eyes lit up, i couldn't help but wonder whether was he surprised that i could read, or me not cowering from his gaze as before .
I also noticed that even the playful Senior Brother seem to be nervous while talking with the man in front of us, i wondered if that had to do with the intimidating aura that surrounded him, I'm not certain, but i believe the incense here seemed to be calming him, a little compared to before, but even in this state, the Senior Brother tone seemed to be formal while talking with him .
After he sized me up and down for 2 to 3 seconds he nodded and said :
You know the rules, he only have an incense stick of time to memorize the book he wanted to practice, he also isn't allowed to talk about the content he learned to anyone other than the Dojo Master and the Senior Brothers, any violation of the rules will be dealt with severely .
After he finished saying this, he once again launched his killing intent for only a second, then he returned back to closing his eyes and didn't care about what happen here any more .
Let's find you a suitable Martial Art, all the Martial Arts here are of the Yellow Grade, Martial Arts are classed in 4 grades, Yellow, Black, Earth, Heaven .
Those four grades also have their own grading system as well, each of those 4 grades are divided into, Low-grade, Mid-grade, High-grade, Top grade .
But for now let's just say that you still incapable of knowing anything about the Earth and Heaven Grades of martial arts, for now you will need to enter the Martial path and the best suitable way to do so is by practicing Martial Arts of the Yellow-grade, then after you gain entry to Martial Arts, you can try practicing Black-grade Martial Arts, not to mention that thos things are to valuable to fall into our hands, you will be able to understand that soon enough .
But luckily for you, the Master's collection of Martial Arts is short in numbers, but they are all of Mid-grade and above, you can only pick one book and once you pick the book you want, the timer will start, an incense stick of time is already considered an advantage over the Outer Disciples and most of those guys entered through their own effort, but they only had half an incense stick of time .
It's neither a long period of time nor a short one, but whether will it be enough or not will completely depend on your aptitude, junior brother Lu Chiang took 5 minutes to completely absorb the content of a Black-grade Martial Arts.... .
Ahem .
Sorry, i already said too much, i will leave you to choose which Martial Arts you want to choose, bear in mind your own capabilities as to not swallow more than you can chew, i will be fetching your robe, so if you have any questions, you wanted to ask, don't be a stranger .
I guess talking about other people Martial Arts was some kind of taboo, at least it was so in my case, otherwise Guard Li wouldn't have interfered just now, seeing me still standing there, he pushed me a little forward and i took a few steps enough to stand directly in front of the Book Cabinet, i still have tons of questions, i still wanted to ask, but i completely discarded of that thought the moment i saw the words witten on one of the books in front of me, the book title said :
DOMINEERING FIST .