BXBX NOVEL Chapter 358 - Anecdotes
Chapter 358 Anecdotes
After hanging up, Ding Ning saw dozens of unanswered calls from Luoxue and hurriedly called her back to apologetically explain to her.
Luoxue felt nervous about Ding Ning’s health, but after learning that he had only spent too much strength, she was relieved but still said she would hurry over to accompany him right away.
Thinking for a moment, Ding Ning asked her not to come for the time being. He was now only a little weak but was fine and would leave the hospital after getting the jade.
Luoxue immediately said that she would go to buy vegetables right now and cook a tonic meal for Ding Ning. They also chatted romantically for a while before they reluctantly hung up.
Xiahou came very soon. After getting the glass type jade, Ding Ning finished the breakfast his sister had specially sent as her care of him, and then he wanted to leave the hospital at once. In a dilemma, Xiahou called Ding Qianlie to ask for permission, but the latter firmly disagreed.
Helplessly, Ding Ning answered the phone and started to argue with her with reason. At last, he used the great slogan of saving mankind and then his request was reluctantly approved, but the condition was that he must let Xiahou be his bodyguard because he was now very weak and had no ability to protect himself.
Ding Ning smiled bitterly. When he had no family members, he always wanted someone to care about him, but now when he had a sister who cared about him, he felt it was troublesome. “Man on earth, bitchy at birth.”
But after thinking it over, he knew he was now really weak. If he met the black-robed masked man who could make himself invisible and those Ancient Warriors who wanted “The Treasure”, he would have no ability to protect himself. If Xiahou became his bodyguard, these guys would have more concerns at least, though he might still have worries.
In fact, Ding Ning had been curious about the realm Xiahou had reached. On the way back to Ninghai University, the two of them had a discussion on martial arts.
Xiahou always spoke little, but speaking of the realms of martial arts, he immediately seemed to become another person, who had brightening eyes and talked fluently and much.
Xiahou was not an Ancient Warrior, but he had a clear understanding of the Modern Martial Arts System and the Ancient Martial Arts System. Through what he said, Ding Ning became clear about many of his puzzles.
For example, Ding Ning had always been confused about what realm of Ancient Warriors the Masters of the Modern Warriors’ System should be in.
Last time, his Second Master said that only a Master could understand the Momentum, but he had understood the Momentum when he reached the first phase of the Earth Martial Arts Realm. In theory, the Earth Martial Arts Realm should be equivalent to the Realm of Masters.
But through Xiahou’s blood and the flowing of his True Qi, he could feel that Xiahou was an exceptionally strong Master, even stronger than Ju Zhu and his friends at the peak of the Earth Martial Arts Realm. As for this, he was very confused.
Xiahou explained it to him and then he knew that the Momentum was different from person to person. Some of the Ancient Warriors who had just reached the Earth Martial Arts Realm could understand the Momentum, but some who reached the peak of the Earth Martial Arts Realm could understand the Momentum. So, this could not be regarded as a standard for reaching the Earth Martial Arts Realm.
But for the Modern Warriors, understanding the Momentum was the standard of reaching the Realm of Masters. After all, the Ancient Warriors had the practicing tradition of their ancestors and the superior convenience in the understanding of the Momentum.
The practicing methods of the Ancient Warriors were numerous, their martial arts techniques were various, and their fighting standards on the same level were even immeasurably different. Compared with the single practicing method that the Modern Warriors’ System used, their practicing methods were superb.
If one of the practicing realms of the Ancient Warriors should be equal to the Realm of Masters, Xiahou thought that the Sky Martial Arts Realm which practitioners reached was the one.
He said it also for a reason. For the Ancient Warriors, entering the Sky Martial Arts Realm from the Earth Martial Arts Realm was a process that the True Qi inside them turned into the Spiritual Power, known as “One Step to Reach the Sky”. It was a sign that an Acquired Martial Artist became a Congenital Martial Artist.
For the Modern Warriors, turning into the Masters from the Turning Energy Martial Artists was a process that the True Qi inside them turned into the Vigorous Qi. It was also a sign that an Acquired Marital Artist became a Congenital Martial Artist, known as “Creating a New Self out of the Old”.
In Xiahou’s view, the great truths were always simple and one could reach the same goal by different means. When the Ancient Warriors were in the phase of the Acquired Warriors, they had an extremely great advantage compared with the Modern Warriors, but when the two of them became the Congenital Warriors, they would be on the same starting line, and the Ancient Warriors’ advantage in their early stages would disappear completely.
All in all, the Ancient Warriors and the Modern Warriors were equivalent to two completely different practicing systems and had essential differences, but they also had their individual advantages.
The advantage of the Ancient Warriors was the tradition of their ancestors. As long as one had good qualifications and talents with the help of enough practicing resources and could practice step by step, the one would reach an extremely high realm.
Their disadvantage was that they heavily relied on the environment. In the world where magic powers had slumped to their trough and the Spiritual Aura was thin, if no great powers provided them with enough practicing resources, it was very difficult for them to reach a high realm. Therefore, in the Ancient Martial World, those outstanding practitioners were usually the children of great powers.
Without great luck and opportunities, individual practitioners usually could not compete with the children of great powers in personal abilities. Therefore, once new practicing resources appeared, the Ancient Warriors would even be merciless toward their relatives and take the resources at all costs. Thus, apart from the law of the jungle, there were no other rules in the Ancient Martial World.
The advantage of the Modern Warriors was that they did not heavily rely on the environment and practicing resources. As long as they could work hard and practice arduously with the help of more or less power of understanding, they would always be able to become successful.
Their disadvantage was that they had no ancestors’ experience to use and must fully rely on themselves to practice like the blind people who felt the shape of an elephant. This way did not have high requirements of practicing talent but more stressed on perseverance and the power of understanding.
In short, the biggest difference between the two was that the Ancient Warriors were heaven and earth-oriented and gathered the power of heaven and earth to form the circulation in their body to improve their physical conditions. This was called Outer Circulation. However, the Modern Warriors were people-oriented and constantly worked to strengthen the trace of congenital True Qi from their mothers’ belly to form the circulation in their body. This was called Inner Circulation. The two of them were the so-called practice of the Inner Qi and the Outer Physical Conditions.
What Xiahou said enlightened Ding Ning and gave him lots of benefits. Many problems that he could not think through in the past were solved now, and he also had a clear understanding of the practicing realms of practitioners.
The only flaw was that Xiahou had never met the Spiritual Masters, had little knowledge of them, and only knew that the Spiritual Masters were a relatively mysterious practicing system in the Ancient Martial World and had even more incredible attack means, which were defense-defying and scaring.
According to the guess and analysis of Xiahou, the Ancient Warriors and the Spiritual Masters should be equivalent to the warriors and mages in the game. The Ancient Warriors were more suitable for close combat, while the Spiritual Masters were more suitable for long-range attacks.
The weakness of the Spiritual Masters was perhaps their physical strength. He suggested that Ding Ning should shorten the distance with the Spiritual Masters and conduct close combat with them if he met such enemies. By doing so, he might be advantageous.
Hearing his advice, Ding Ning gave a wry smile silently. He did not know if he was a Spiritual Master, but with his super strong Spiritual Strength, even though he was not a Spiritual Master, he would not be so weak. Xiahou had no idea about the great power of the Spiritual Masters, so he thought that it was easy to shorten the distance between him and a Spiritual Master.
But Ding Ning was very clear that even though Xiahou guessed right that physical strength was the weakness of the Spiritual Masters, when a fight began, the Spiritual Masters who had the powerful Spiritual Strength and Perception Power would not give a chance for anyone to go near them. One would not have a chance unless he could make a surprise attack.
“Although I have powerful Spiritual Strength, I don’t know how to use it to fight and can only use it in exploration and reconnaissance, and my only way of attack is the Flowing Light, but I can’t randomly show it in public. What a waste of a great weapon!
“If only I could master the attacking method of the Spiritual Masters’ Spiritual Strength.” Ding Ning had some longing thoughts. “If I can become a Spiritual Master, with my soldier-like strong physical condition, my only shortcoming will also be gone.”
“Young Master, in the world of Warriors, apart from the Ancient Warriors, Modern Warriors and Spiritual Masters, there are still many other strange skill holders. If you meet them, you must be careful.”
Xiahou’s prudent reminder triggered Ding Ding’s curiosity. “What strange skill holders?”
“Sorcerers!”
Xiahou showed fear on his face. “These strange skill holders have unpredictable strategies, so they are collectively called sorcerers, such as Nanyang Jiangtou Masters, Xiangxi Corpse-driven Sect, Miaojiang Grass-Insect Grandma, Zangjiang Mizong Handprints, Great Snow Mountain of Grassland, Lingnan Ghost Soldier Path, Ganbei Ghost Handprints, Ying-yang Masters of Fusang, Longpo of Ancient Tai, Blood Curse Masters of Mian Nation, Holy Flame Sect of Tianzhu, Mummies of Ancient Aiji, Golden Family of Yatelandis, Yinggeli Witches, Fandigang Holy Religious Court, Ouzhou Dark Parliament and so on. Many people in these places have supernatural abilities that cannot be explained by science, and these abilities can never be measured by ordinary cultivations.”
Ding Ning was very excited after hearing these words. “This world seems not so simple as I think. I wonder if there are little ghosts in the areas where Lingnan Ghost Soldier Path and Ganbei Ghost Handprints are found.”
Immediately, he became quite interested and said, “Brother Xiahou, please tell them to me in detail.”
Xiahou was a little afraid. “Young Master, there are many rumors about the places I mentioned just now. Many people think these are just rumors and are fabricated, but I know they do exist. In the past, when I served as a mercenary doing missions in different areas of the world, I came across mummies, witches, and Holy Flame Sect members and also saw the Ghost Handprints in Ganbei, the Blood Curse Masters in Mian Nation, the Grass-Insect Grandma Grandma in Miaojiang, and zombies in Xiangxi. All of them had the terrifying powers beyond human imagination and could kill people without touching them, and many of my mercenary colleagues were killed by them. If I had not been lucky and had narrowly escaped each time, I’m afraid I would not be able to sit here to chat with you.”
Their car had arrived at the gate of Ninghai University, but Ding Ning had been addicted to these stories and was not in a hurry to get out of the car, begging Xiahou to tell him more anecdotes when he served as a mercenary.
For Xiahou, it was rare for someone to be willing to listen to his mercenary experiences, so he eloquently told Ding Ning about those supernatural events, which interested Ding Ning so much that he did not want to leave.
Miaojiang Grass-Insect Grandma murdering others with her insects, Nanyang Jiangtou Masters killing others with their curses, Lingnan’s ghost soldiers marching down a path, Holy Flame Sect’s fire-controlling power, mummies’ mysterious shrouds, witches’ magical witchcraft, the mysterious Zangbei Depopulated Zone...
With Xiahou’s tireless talk, a world that Ding Ning had never met gradually appeared before him, filling his heart with infinite yearning.
“It is better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 books. The humanities, geography, and local customs and practices I’ve read in books are just my imagination in the end.” Thus, Ding Ning suddenly had an impulse, “The world is so big, and I want to take a look.”
When Xiahou finished smoking two packs of cigarettes and their stomachs began to rumble, they finally realized that it was already the early afternoon before they knew it.
It was better to eat first. The two of them looked at each other with a smile and then ended their chat dissatisfied, but imperceptibly, their relationship became closer.
The lunch Luoxue specially prepared for Ding Ning had been cold a long time before, but after seeing Ding Ning’s return, she immediately looked him up and down to examine his health. After she confirmed that he was only a little mentally tired, she was relieved and went to warm the food for him.
Ding Ning asked Xiahou to stay and eat with him. Xiahou had been hungry a long time before, so he did not decline as he heard the invitation. After Luoxue carried the food to them, he picked up a bowl and wolfed down the food.
As he ate, he kept praising Luoxue’s excellent cooking skill with many sweet words, making Luoxue’s eyes curve into a crescent with joy, and her liking for the fierce-looking scarred uncle increased rapidly.