Chapter 2628: Better Reflect on Yourself

Ye Chen's words left Hong Changqing, who had originally felt somewhat wronged and resigned, instantly stunned and speechless.

Originally, when Ye Chen said that the Tai Zhen Dao's "Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao" was not the complete version, he had still felt very resentful, after all, for over a thousand years, the successive patriarchs of Tai Zhen Dao had taken pride in possessing a complete set of martial arts heart methods, even looking down on others because of it.

But after hearing Ye Chen's analogy, he suddenly realized that Ye Chen might not be talking nonsense! The Tai Zhen Dao's "Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao" might indeed be, as Ye Chen said, only a small part of the true "Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao".

Thinking this, he asked in astonishment: "Master Ye, the reason you say this must be because you have a more complete version of the 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao' heart method in your hands, right?"

Ye Chen chuckled lightly and said teasingly: "How are you so sure I have a more complete version?"

Hong Changqing blurted out instinctively: "Master Ye, you just said that the true 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao' is like the 'power generation principle of a thermal power plant', while what Tai Zhen Dao has is merely teaching people how to dig coal, which proves you must have at least read this 'power generation principle of a thermal power plant'..."

Ye Chen also did not conceal it, nodding and smiling: "Your guess is correct, I have indeed read the original complete version of the 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao', and I can frankly tell you that the entire 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao' consists of three volumes and twenty-seven chapters, while what your Tai Zhen Dao patriarch received is merely the opening first chapter."

"What?!" Hong Changqing's eyes almost popped out of their deep sockets, he stammered: "Ye... Master Ye... you... you really mean this?!"

Ye Chen countered: "I've teased you enough, what point would there be in deceiving you now?"

Hong Changqing swallowed his saliva and blurted: "We... our Tai Zhen Dao... over thousands of years and dozens of generations, have we really been practicing only the first chapter of the 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao'?!"

Ye Chen nodded firmly: "Yes! That's exactly it!"

Hong Changqing sat there stunned as if bereaved of his parents, his expression becoming extremely desolate and sorrowful, his eyes unfocused and dazed as he said: "A person starts school in kindergarten and goes all the way to a doctorate, which is merely a dozen or so years, you say the 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao' has three volumes and twenty-seven chapters, then our Tai Zhen Dao is equivalent to having spent all these years studying kindergarten K1..."

The American kindergarten K1 is basically equivalent to the domestic kindergarten small class.

Ye Chen was amused by Hong Changqing's analogy, but also found it quite reasonable, so he praised: "Your conversion method is indeed reasonable; strictly speaking, your Tai Zhen Dao's over a thousand years and dozens of generations have been repeatedly studying kindergarten K1 materials, basically equivalent to learning the stage of the 26 English letters."

Hong Changqing said with a mournful face: "Master Ye... I am not questioning you... but if what you say is true, then having studied the first chapter of the twenty-seven chapters, we already have our patriarch able to enter the dark realm, which is the second major realm for martial artists, yet martial artists only have four major realms in total, so does that mean the remaining three major realms require the remaining twenty-six chapters to be fully broken through?!"

"Yes." Ye Chen nodded, speaking very solemnly: "The path of martial arts is to enter the Dao through martial arts; if you wish to truly enter the Dao, you must cultivate martial arts to the utmost, the bright realm is merely the entrance, the dark realm is also merely the first gate after entering, each subsequent small level of advancement may require a lifetime to achieve, you could reach eight-star martial artist in fifty years, but even given another fifty years, you might not break through the dark realm, even if you luckily break through the dark realm and live another fifty years, do you think you could leap from the first heaven of the dark realm to the second and third heavens? Not to mention the later transformation and grand master realms, each step forward sees difficulty increase geometrically."

Hong Changqing suddenly became even more dazed, he couldn't help muttering: "Does that mean entering the dark realm is actually just completing one twenty-seventh of the path of entering the Dao through martial arts?"

Ye Chen nodded and said in a flat yet cruel tone: "Yes."

Hong Changqing collapsed completely and asked: "Master Ye, if entering the Dao through martial arts, what Dao is one entering? And how many years must this path take?"

Ye Chen smiled and said: "Now you've asked me something I don't know either—I don't know how many years that later path requires."

Hong Changqing sighed sadly: "The path of martial arts is truly too long, with countless withered bones along the way, I just don't know where this old bone of mine will end up..."

Ye Chen smiled: "You shouldn't feel discouraged either; Voyager 1 has flown for nearly fifty years and still hasn't left the solar system; when it does finally leave the solar system, it might still need tens of thousands of years to reach the next star system—treat it as yourself: when you break through into the dark realm, it's like Voyager 1 leaving the solar system; thinking this way, doesn't the future seem incredibly vast?"

"Vast?" Hong Changqing's mouth twitched unconsciously: "After you put it that way, I only feel more desperate, not knowing how far I can go."

Ye Chen smiled: "Don't think so much; this isn't something you should worry about, after all you're only a four-star martial artist now—let alone leaving the solar system, you've at most just reached the vicinity of Mars."

Upon hearing this, Hong Changqing felt his heart bleed even more, he hurriedly promised: "Master Ye, rest assured, I will immediately notify my personal transmission senior disciple to come to Jin Ling to inherit the Tai Zhen Dao master's token, and after that, I will wholeheartedly serve you with the devotion of a dog or horse!"

Ye Chen asked with a smile: "If your personal transmission senior disciple asks you where your ancestral medicine cauldron went, what would you say?"

Hong Changqing gave an embarrassed, awkward laugh and said: "Master Ye, rest assured, the matter of the medicine cauldron is the highest secret of the master's position, only when the old master transmits the master's position to the new master will he hand it over together with the master's token; the master's successor only knows there is a master's token and does not know of the medicine cauldron's existence, so when the time comes, I just need not to say anything..."

Ye Chen gave him a thumbs up, smiling: "You understand the transmission of position."

Hong Changqing gave a hehe laugh, thick-skinned, and asked Ye Chen: "Master Ye... in the future, do I have a chance to cultivate the later contents of the 'Tai Zhen Hunyuan Dao'?"

Ye Chen raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Originally you did have a chance—I had you hand over your sect's martial arts heart method just to see how your cultivation method was; if it wasn't good enough, I would give you a better one; if it wasn't complete, I would give you a more complete one—but I didn't expect you to always harbor selfish motives toward me, so now you've ended up like this—you, these two days, should just reflect on yourself properly."

Hong Changqing also felt deep shame and regret, saying repeatedly: "Master Ye, please rest assured, if I, Hong Changqing, dare to have any second thoughts toward you in this lifetime, I shall surely die without a place to bury myself!"