Chapter 193 — Revealing the True Form
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Wanyun and the others had been dealt a heavy blow, and Si Yunxiang was likewise unwilling to concede. Shen Mu, however, felt that it was not that they were too dull, but that Imperial Teacher Jingping was far too clever. A prodigy of the sort that appears once in five hundred years grasps any principle at the moment it is spoken, understands with a single hint, and can even perceive countless truths all by himself with no one to guide him. But other people did not have his heaven-defying comprehension. Even between genius and genius there were enormous gaps. Shen Wanyun and the rest were talents singled out from ten thousand scholars—whether in outstanding aptitude or outstanding insight—yet when measured against a monster seen once in five centuries, an existence whose aptitude and understanding both ranked first under heaven, they fell short by a vast distance. What Imperial Teacher Jingping regarded as utterly normal and simple, they could only quietly chew over step by step. The gap in inborn talent between them and Imperial Teacher Jingping was almost a heaven-wide chasm, an unbridgeable gulf!
"Take the Azure Dragon's Primordial Qi. Do you truly think it is wood-attributed?" Imperial Teacher Jingping continued, patiently leading them on. "Have you ever seen a true Azure Dragon? I have. The Azure Dragon I saw commanded wind and thunder, wielded water and fire—by no means merely wood-attributed. And besides, what is wood attribute anyway? Hug a log and gnaw a couple of bites off it, and that makes it wood-attributed? You cannot simply take the word 'azure' in Azure Dragon and assume its Primordial Qi is wood-attributed. If you think that way, then your head really is a block of elm."
The whole company was struck down yet again, and even Shen Mu felt a twinge of defeat. Even he, with his "illustrious family learning," had from childhood assumed it natural that Azure Dragon Qi was wood-attributed. But now, thinking back, when Master Huo had released Azure Dragon Qi, there had been no shadow of wood attribute at all—only wind and thunder mingled in fury. It seemed his earlier understanding had indeed been skewed; had there been no existence like Imperial Teacher Jingping to set him right, he might well have sunk into a lifelong misapprehension.
"The Five Luminaries Divine Vault actually has many arts one can borrow from. Some were created specifically to excavate the combat power of the Five Luminaries Divine Vault," said Imperial Teacher Jingping. "Its combat power is truly fearsome. Of course, if you cannot cultivate it, there is no harm—it will not prevent you from breaking through your other vaults. It is only that you will be a little weaker in the future. And this small gap will gradually widen: the more divine vaults you cultivate and open, the greater the difference becomes."
In midair he traced two triangles, one with a small angle at its apex, the other with a large angle, and then drew six parallel straight lines inside each. "The seven lines in this figure represent the strength at each realm. The second line is the Five Luminaries realm. If you cultivate the Five Luminaries realm poorly, it is like this—the second line is a little shorter than someone else's, the third line shorter still. By the base of the triangle, you have reached the Divine Bridge realm, and by then you will have fallen a whole stretch behind the other person, your strength differing by nearly half. If your enemy wants to kill you, one or two moves will suffice."
His analogy was stark and staggering. Two people might be nearly equal at the Spirit Embryo realm and in the Five Luminaries, yet after cultivating all the way to the Divine Bridge, the disparity could be so great—few had ever thought of this, preoccupied as they all were with simply raising their own realms.
Si Yunxiang suddenly asked, "Imperial Teacher Jingping, what kind of line is yours? Compared with other Divine Bridge masters, how large is your angle?"