Chapter 206: The Path of Self-Strengthening

"What kind of future does a Sword Smith have?"

That question... was truly excellent.

Almost everyone felt it was absurd; some opened their mouths to refute it, but found themselves speechless, left only with thoughts. Yet others had already called out.

"What kind of talk is this? How ridiculous!"

"A Sword Smith can cast swords!"

"A Sword Smith is revered by ten thousand people!"

"A Sword Smith... the Sword Smith themselves is sacred. By casting one sword, they can create one Sword Guest and protect the peace of a region! A Sword Smith is a master of Sword Guests!"

"..."

In an instant, there was chatter and debate everywhere, voices rising and falling. While it couldn't be called as noisy as a vegetable market, it had the momentum of a storm about to overwhelm the city.

Zhu Yang sat on the platform, looking calmly at the crowd until the chaotic noise gradually subsided, then said, "I just heard someone say that a Sword Smith can cast swords, so they have a future. Then, a carpenter can make tables, why do they have no future? A weaver can weave cloth, why do they have no future?"

Someone below the platform said, "This is sophistry—how can a table be compared to a sword? A sword is for a Sword Guest!"

Zhu Yang said, "Oh... then an embroiderer can embroider a dragon robe, do they have a future? A dragon robe is for the Emperor, is that even more of an honor? Is it worth you spending your whole life, until your hair turns white, studying it?"

Tang Zhao pursed his lips while listening below the platform. Zhu Yang's words could be refuted logically, but there was no need to; he roughly understood what this Libationer meant.

"What is called a future? Wealth and glory? Being revered by others? Being the center of attention?"

"I believe some of you were born with these things, so-called golden branches and jade leaves, born noble. Compared to those playboys who just wait for death, perhaps you have the addition of being exceptionally clever and having a resilient temperament. So I think you understand in your hearts."

"If a Sword Smith truly had a future, you wouldn't specifically emphasize that Sword Guests look highly upon you. If there truly were a future, you wouldn't feel dejected because your brothers and sisters could become Sword Guests. If there truly were a future..."

He swept a glance at Tang Zhao and said calmly, "There wouldn't be anyone using a Sword Smith as a stepping stone to become a Sword Guest."

Tang Zhao met his gaze without yielding, but Zhu Yang suddenly stood up, assuming a position of looking down from above, and asked, "I will only ask one thing: one hundred years from now, when the Sword Guest has become a Sword Hero or a Sword Immortal, soaring freely between heaven and earth, where will the Sword Smith be?"

"Are they buried in a handful of yellow soil, or carved onto a spirit tablet?"

Tang Zhao was shaken to his core, and he couldn't help but complete the last sentence in his heart:

"Can a Sword Smith attain eternal life?"

If he could say those words, it would be earth-shattering by now, wouldn't it?

"I ask you all again, have you ever seen a Sword Immortal?" After Zhu Yang said this loudly, his tone became soft and gentle, his posture mild.

"I expect you have not."

"It is said: Sword Guests in the Human World, Sword Heroes in the world beyond, and Sword Immortals in the heavens. Nowadays, the times are not good, and even Sword Heroes cannot avoid entering the world. But you still cannot see Sword Immortals, because Sword Immortals are in the heavens, in Tianwaitian. If you could see a Sword Immortal draw their sword, with the heavens and earth changing color and mountains and seas overturning, you would know what is meant by the difference between the immortal and the mortal. You would know that without becoming such a transcendent existence, fame, wealth, and status are merely illusory bubbles within the cage of the human world."

At this moment, Feng Fei below the platform suddenly said, "If there were no Sword Smiths, where would the swords come from?"

Zhu Yang couldn't help but smile and said, "Truly, taking the credit of heaven as one's own. The earth grows all things, with spring planting and autumn harvesting, and thousands of farmers sweating on the soil; why does no one say they created the grain and the nation? A Sword Smith is merely one step in the process of casting a sword; it is a complex, exquisite process, but it is only a part of the sword's growth period. As for who one toils for and who tastes the sweetness? A Sword Smith spends their whole life toiling and busying themselves for the sword."

"But then again. Who isn't toiling for the sword? Isn't the Sword Guest?"

"I have seen the great power of Sword Immortals, the splendor of Sword Heroes, and the ferocity of Sword Guests, but I have also seen the Sword Guest's submission to the sword, the Sword Hero's entanglement and repetition with the sword, and the Sword Immortal's chaotic, inseparable bond with the sword. To live for the sword, to die for the sword—this is the Sword Guest."

"Everyone, the path of the Sword Guest is also full of thorns, and a hundred times more dangerous than that of a Sword Smith. Yet why does everyone flock to be a Sword Guest? Because the Sword Guest is the only path to transcend oneself, transcend the mundane, and point directly to the Great Dao above the nine heavens!"

"This is what is called a future!"

"However, I am still unconvinced. The so-called future is actually the sword's future. Only when the sword is powerful can the Sword Guest be powerful. If a Sword Guest wants to be powerful, they must first nourish the sword to be powerful. In the end, the sword transforms into a Kunpeng and rises, while the Sword Guest is merely following the wings of the sword to fly to the heavens—can this be considered a true path?"

"Is there no path in this world that concerns only oneself, that strengthens only oneself?"

Compared to the speeches of Tang Zhao and the others, his voice gradually became resonant, his emotional infectiousness like waves, one after another. Tang Zhao sat below and heard the breathing of the people beside him; even Wu Yunfei's breathing was much heavier than before.

This is a good speaker.

However, is this "earth-shattering"?

Let us observe further.

Pointing out the flaws of a Sword Smith is fine, and pointing out the flaws of a Sword Guest is also fine; however, criticizing is easy. Without groundbreaking construction, it is just empty talk.

Bring out something real!

"Actually, are there few people who are as unconvinced as I am? Many sages, like me, believe that seeking help from gods is not as good as seeking help from oneself, and seeking help from heaven and earth is not as good as seeking help from oneself. Seeking help from the sword is not as good as seeking help from oneself. Therefore, isn't martial arts transcending the mundane? Internally refining Spirit and Qi, externally refining bones and muscles, transforming Qi into Gang, and finally becoming a Grandmaster of a generation. A top-tier Martial Dao Grandmaster does not fall behind when dueling a Sword Guest. This is the effort of many people."

"But the path of martial arts has an end. And it is reached very quickly. People want to gain greater power, but the body cannot bear it. People want to gain longer lifespans, but the Soul will decay. Humans have limits, don't they?"

"Then one must break through these limits."

"Talisman Dao is born precisely for this."

Having said this, Zhu Yang's argument was complete, and everyone knew what he was going to talk about. His voice was no longer so high-pitched, becoming calm, as if discussing a technical problem.

"I suspect that using Rune Formulas to strengthen the body—not to mention those powerful Talisman Sword Masters—even among you, some have thought of it, right? Have you even tried it? Whether on yourself or on others. There were probably successes. Perhaps you could become stronger because of it, exceeding the limits of martial arts, and becoming a human-shaped Art Tool? But you probably didn't take it to heart, because you all felt it was just a minor path, just something to use; what kind of future could it have?"

When he mentioned this, Tang Zhao suddenly thought of Yi Zhixin and his Bone Servant Vertebra.

That vertebra was the Vertebra Bone strengthened by Yi Zhixin, using the Vertebra Bone as an Art Tool to advance and attack, and retreat and defend; it was indeed very powerful. But it didn't look transcendent at all; instead, it looked like a tool-like monster.

This is surely not the path Zhu Yang wants to promote, right?

Zhu Yang seemed to hear Tang Zhao's inner voice and continued: "The wall of bones, muscles, skin, and flesh is only a temporary strength. What can truly transcend and be immortal is something more essential. It is Qi, it is Spirit, it is the Soul. Qi is the most superficial layer; perhaps the first time someone refined Internal Energy, they felt it was particularly miraculous and revered it as a ladder to climb upward? Refining Qi started from this; strength became Internal Energy, Internal Energy became Gang Qi. If one could then push the Gang Qi to undergo a qualitative change, could it push the change of the essence? For example, changing into a Water-Quality Material like 'Sword Essence'—would that bring about a new realm?"

At this time, Tang Zhao remembered Zhang Rong. When Zhang Rong became a Martial Saint, he pushed for a revolution in Gang Qi, making it follow his heart. But the Free Gang did not transcend Gang Qi, so Zhang Rong did not go any further. This genius, rare in the world, did not stubbornly stick to this path, but instead turned to become a Sword Guest.

"But this step is stuck. Why have so many geniuses and powerhouses dedicated to exploring this path failed to get through? Is it that Gang Qi cannot become Yuan Qi? Or is it stuck further upstream? Because the human origin, the human Soul, cannot support Yuan power existing directly in the body? If the shackles of the source were opened, could the path become smooth?"

"Can it?"

This question was not asked by Zhu Yang, but by Chu Shanxia below, who was so stirred that he blurted it out, his voice very loud.

Everyone heard it, and this was also what they wanted to ask.

Zhu Yang smiled and said, "I want to give you a positive answer. But as a rigorous teacher, I cannot draw a conclusion based solely on speculation. Because I have not yet fully succeeded in my experiments. My strengthening of my own Soul has only just begun. Even though I believe that the strength of the Soul is the true strength, and therefore I dare to conduct this experiment, I cannot make a definitive statement before there is a conclusion."

Tang Zhao felt a chill down his spine. To experiment directly on himself—one has to say, this is truly a ruthless person.

No, one who strengthens their own bones and flesh can be called ruthless, but one who dares to lay hands on their own Soul is a madman. They must never be viewed as an ordinary person.

However, Tang Zhao guessed that even if Zhu Yang were truly a madman, he probably wouldn't have started by laying hands on himself. He must have conducted many experiments, and these experiments, just thinking about them, were more cruel than the experiment with the "vertebra". Only by achieving certain results did he have his current confidence, and only then would he speak of it in public.

Chu Shanxia wanted to speak but hesitated. Zhu Yang looked at him again, signaling that he could ask a question. Chu Shanxia stood up and said, "Dare I ask, Libationer, after your Soul was strengthened, was there no direct transformation that manifested?"

Zhu Yang said, "Transformation... there certainly must be."

Everyone turned solemn.

He smiled again and said, "It is difficult to demonstrate it to you, though; some effects only I know, and they can only be further revealed as my cultivation progresses. After all, this Talisman assembly is still early; if it were ten years later, you would completely see a brand-new superman. By then, I would not need to lecture on these things at a Talisman assembly, but would instead establish a sect and pass down a Daoist lineage."

"So today, I have to demonstrate it in another way. Because besides myself, I have also performed enhancements for my friend; the duration of its enhancement is longer, and the effects are more intuitive than mine. Come—"

He beckoned, and a dragon-like alligator over a zhang long instantly covered the lecture platform.