Chapter 84 (1/2)

Chapter 84: Heart Ability

Mencius was a lot more famous than the less known Hui s.h.i.+.

Mencius, the man who was given the t.i.tle Second Sage in the teaching of Confucius and Mencius was very famous even in modern times for his vast number of literary works, disciples, and depth of thought. Even a lousy student like Yue Qiang had heard of the great master of Confucianism, Mencius' taboo name. While the parable 'Slaughtered Pig For The Child As Promised' wasn't widespread, Yue Qiang did remember the expression 'Three Moves by Mencius' Mother' that was taught by teachers since kindergarten.

The focus of Ai Qian's story was that he had only taken one glance at child Mencius before his Heart ability level was increased!

This was the part Yue Qiang paid attention to the most.

The Heart ability. Its exact use was unknown, the universal method to obtain it was unknown, and the method to level it up was only cracked a little. It could basically considered unknown too. The one thing they did know about it was coincidence.

All sorts of coincidence.

On the surface, Mencius only needed to glance at the trader once to increase the trader's Heart ability. However, Qian's fear in between the lines of life and death, his struggle between morality and survival, and an extreme level of coincidence should've been factored as well.

If someone were to say that a normal skill could be leveled up through combat experience, and the upgraded version of the skill could be learned from a skillbook, then a Heart skill was the complete opposite in that a universal method to acquire a Heart skill could not be found at all. It was all luck.

Originally, Yue Qiang thought that he should not spend this much effort on figuring out a skill that didn't have any sort of explanation at all. However, from the information he learned up to this point, he began to feel more and more that Heart skill was the true foundation skill that decided one's strength.

Moreover, this strength did not refer to combat-related aspect alone.

”Do you know what's the relation between a Heart ability and strength?” Ai Qian used himself as an example, ”The most direct reflection of this relation is that I'm rich now.”

”Ever since my Heart ability has ascended to a new level, I've gotten rich.”

”I was a worker under the butcher at the market, and in just a few months time I had become a small business proprietor myself. Another few months' time later, I had become a large business proprietor. Then, I became the richest man in town.”

”On the surface, the reason I turned rich is because I'm miserly, I resort to petty tricks, and I know how to scheme. However, I know that is all false. It is thanks to that young boy's one glance that I am everything I am today. My Heart ability had increased after he cast a glance at me, that's all.”

”When my Heart ability had climbed a level, I felt as if my entire being had attained some sort of enlightenment. When I do something, I would experience a kind of intuition… I do not need to think to know what I should do to achieve a certain goal. My code of conducts obeys the meaning represented by my Heart completely.”

”I feel that everything I did is right. Everything I did is to obtain greater 'profit' and 'desire' for me, and this feeling where my choices are auto-selected is pretty great.”

Yue Qiang could not quite understand Ai Qian in this regard.

He could imagine it if Yue Qiang were to say that the Heart affects one's combat strength. However, it felt a little far-fetched to tie the Heart and one's ability to do business; Ai Qian's fortune and his Heart skill together.

However, when he related this to Ai Qian's conducts and deeds, he suddenly felt that he understood what he meant a little:

Ai Qian's Heart skill was 'Greed Clouded Heart LVL 2'. Here, 'profit' and 'desire' were a part of them.

When Yue Qiang first met Ai Qian at Yue Village, he remembered clearly that he was a person of very strong 'desire'. This 'desire' was so strong that he had chosen to consume a pill without hesitation even when he knew that it would only increase his libido at the cost of his Strength and Const.i.tution. This wasn't a choice that a normal person should be making at all!

Or rather, Ai Qian's Heart skill had made the choice for him!

Later on, even though Ai Qian knew very well that this cave contained an immeasurable amount of risks, he still decided to bring Yin and him along to this place in search for precious treasures. This was the maximum reflection of Ai Qian's pursuit of 'profit'. He was willing to use his own life as a bargaining chip in order to exchange for the greatest 'profit'.

This included the action where Ai Qian had burned his own hair in search for knife coins within the gaps of the coffin. Every action he made had adhered to his own intentions. His natural movements had made him appear a little crazy to the point where you could even call him a nut job.

However, one could not deny that his actions were in harmony with his thoughts too.

This was harmony in madness; harmony in abnormality.