129 Genius in the Academy (2/2)
Chen Pipi looked at him mockingly, and said, ”It's acceptable to cultivate the silver ingot into your natal item as you please, though I have never seen any cultivator doing so before. I must warn you that you've already exerted all your strength, yet this silver ingot still struggles like a dying white maggot. So what's the use?”
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Chen Pipi returned to the back mountain after spending half of the night in vain. He stepped on the stone path that was enveloped in fog and could not help sighing when thinking of the precious cultivating time he had wasted on that guy.
The mist suddenly cleared off and in front of the stone path, a tall figure abruptly appeared. In the darkness, one could clearly see that the guy's black hair was neatly combed, and the tinsel ribbon on the waist was at the exact position, and the ancient crown cap on his head was as motionless as the eave.
”Why do you go to the old library at night? Which book can't you remember so that you have to read at night? Don't tell me you're just there to check on ancient Classics such as Rites of Zhou.”
Looking at his most revered Second Brother, Chen Pipi gave a deep bow but he wore a bitter look on his face, and truthfully reported, ”Second Brother, I went to the old library where I met a friend in the front department of the Academy, and we talked.”
”Hm...” The Second Brother continued with appreciation, ”Gentlemen agree best in sincerity, regardless of wealth or poverty. Classmates from the front department are still friends. You're worth rewarding since you can overcome your greediness and laziness to be a companion, but you should remember the rules of the Academy. You shall not speak about certain things.”
”No way!” Chen Pipi raised his neck and cried graciously, ”Don't you know how timid I am? I dare not give away any information. We just talked about mathematics.”
Upon hearing the word ”mathematics”, the serious Second Brother suddenly remembered the question that Chen Pipi brought back from the back mountain one day. He thought of the painful time he had spent day and night in the room, while he was absorbed in calculating, hiding from his fellow students and sisters. A rare tremble crossed his brows and he said in a hoarse voice, ”So it's that guy.”
Second Brother got gloomy and turned around to walk on the slate ground, since he did not want to remember the painful time nor the entire room of papers on which no answers were written.
Chen Pipi thought of something, and then quickened his pace to catch up with him. ”Second Brother, I'd like to ask you a question.” He panted following him joyfully.
”What's up?”
”There's a guy who doesn't have much potential for cultivation. Only 10 of his 17 acupoints were open and he could barely perceive the Breath of nature and enter the Initial Awareness State as of fourteen days ago. However, he's strangely capable of responding to the outside world and even made the first step into the No Doubts State. Can... he be regarded as a genius?
Second Brother suddenly stopped and turned to give Chen Pipi a cold look. He could guess whom they were talking about. It was the lad in the front department. He frowned for a while before answering in a very positive tone, ”Certainly not.”
”Why not?”
”He entered the Initial Awareness State, the Perception State, and then the No Doubts State in fourteen days... Not a single genius like him exists in the world. Geniuses of this kind may only be monsters, because I, as a genius, still took 15 days to complete these processes.”
Second Brother spoke these words with no facial expression of exultance or arrogance, but the implied meaning in the speech was the utmost of pride and self-confidence. It took him fifteen days to break through three states and no one in the world could complete the same things in less than fifteen days.
Chen Pipi noticed Second Brother's prim black hairdo, and could not admire him more. He thought he still took 17 days to break through the three states after taking Heavenly Power Pills. Second Brother attained enlightenment in the rural place like Linquan County, and only took him 15 days without wise instructors or Tao sects. He was indeed more vigorous than Chen Pipi who was an amazing genius for cultivation. Then Chen Pipi asked with admiration and curiosity, ”How about eldest Brother?”
”Eldest Brother... is also a monster.” Perhaps Second remembered something from the past. His hands stretched up to adjust the slightly crooked hat and he solemnly said, ”Eldest Brother was enlightened at the age of thirteen, and then dazed for seventeen years in the Academy before understanding the meaning of the No Doubts State.
”He didn't enter the No Doubts State until the age of thirty?” Chen Pipi asked incredulously. ”Eldest Brother is too... ”
Second Brother looked at him and replied sarcastically, ”Too dull? Eldest Brother reached the No Doubts State at thirty, but then he only took three months to realize the Seethrough. Of course, I'm already at the superior grade of Seethrough.”
He remained silent for a long time and then he looked up at the night fog amidst the mountain with a long sigh. ”That day, Eldest Brother realized the Seethrough in the early morning, and then reached the Knowing Destiny State while he was observing the clouds in the evening. He entered two of the most wonderful states in one night. The professor praised him for even he himself couldn't do it.”
The voice faded in the night fog in the mountain. Second Brother and Chen Pipi who proclaimed themselves geniuses were indeed geniuses of the Academy. They fell into a long silence recalling the scene then the scholar revealed a smile in the twilight.
The road to cultivation was long and endless. The higher one climbed, the more difficulty one would encounter. So many cultivators who were regarded as geniuses during their childhood could reach the Initial Awareness State and then the Perception State at the age of five or six, the No Doubts State and even the Seethrough State at sixteen or seventeen. However, for those cultivators, entering the Seethrough was like falling into the quagmire, it would be hard to make further progress for decades.
The eldest Brother who entered the No Doubts State at thirty was not the gifted one in the potential for cultivation, he even seemed dull. Yet he could realize the Seethrough in three months and most frightful of all, he could enter the Seethrough and understand the destiny in a day. His experience and fortune were really incredible. Perhaps no other person like him existed in the entire world of cultivation.
There was a long stretch of silence before Second Brother spoke, looking at Chen Pipi, ”Eldest Brother is considerate and kindhearted. He is a real gentleman. He rose unexpectedly with his accumulated strength and attained enlightenment in a day. You and I are far from being compared with him in terms of his great accumulation.
Chen Pipi nodded repeatedly. He revered Second Brother who was rigorous and solemn. Yet both of them were very proud with the same temperament, so he knew some stories of this brother. Tonight, he knew for the first time that eldest Brother who was always gentle and generous to fellows, courteous to professors, and who dressed in the old robe holding old books and a water scoop, and who looked more like a disciple of the Academy, was actually a genius. Then he could not help but nervously reflect and self-examine himself. Had he ever shamelessly shown off in front of the eldest Brother during the two years before the eldest Brother went touring around for studies with his professor?
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