Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 1519: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger!

“Naturally. Vengeance has its good things and bad things, and using it to motivate yourself is beneficial!” The Master continued. “Though, that is only one part of it- your talent is also not bad, and that’s why you’ve improved so fast!”

“But, Master... Now my meridians are broken, I...” Naipao said as his face turned down, defeated.

“Why does that matter? This is a good thing!” The Master said. “You understand why you could never open the jade box of the second stage?”

“Could this be because of my meridians?” Naipao was no idiot- he made the connection quickly.

“The Chrysanthemum Arts’s true core is about breaking, and recovering as a stronger being!” The Master explained. “This is an extremely mysterious practitioner’s arts, and the first stage made you castrate yourself- this is what it means by breaking and recovering! The second stage, as well- in order to break through that, it is said in our log that you must be completely destroyed and recover through that destruction!”

“Oh? Recovering from destruction?” Naipao’s eyes lit up with hope.

“Correct. In order to get to the second stage, you would have to let out all your strength- it’s only after losing all your strength and become a normal man that you can open the second stage box!” The Master said.

“Really?!” Naipao stood up suddenly, surprised, and happy.” Could it be that I’ve gained something from my loss?!”

“You could say that!” The Master nodded. “Before, I had been thinking of how to get you through that process- did you know? If you weren’t able to open the second box, I kept thinking that I wanted to help you, but I couldn’t!”

“Ah? How so? If that’s the case, why couldn’t you have broken my meridians yourself and make me lose my strength?” Naiapao said curiously.

“If it were me who destroyed your meridians, would you hate me?” The Master said with a question.

“How could I? Master was the one who helped me- why would I hate you?” Naipao shook his head genuinely. “Even if you did that without reason, I would never hate you- I am a disciple of the sect, and you are the Master- you’re the one who gave me this chance and strength. You could take it back whenever you wanted without my complaints!”

“See? The Master said. “I told you before- the most important thing is hate and vengeance. If it were me, where would the hate go? How could you reach your goal without this hate?”

“So, all of this requires hate?” Naipao said, not fully following. “But why didn’t you tell me earlier? I was still really hung up on why I couldn’t open the box!”

“Of course, you need to hate!” The Master nodded. “If I were to tell you earlier, you’d go and try to get yourself crippled, and that wouldn’t be actual hate! Right now, even if you know the truth, let me ask you: Do you still have hate? Do you want vengeance?”

“Yes! Of course, I do!” Naipao clenched his jaw and nodded, “I wish only to tear Lin Yi apart!”

“And that’s enough, see? If I had told you before, and you just went and got crippled intentionally- you might even thank the person and smile! No hate there!” The Master continued. “This was why I kept it from you, and why I let you join the test! You must understand that I was actually tenser than you were!”

“I understand now!” Naipao said emotionally. “You really are too kind to me!”

“You are my favored pupil, the pride of our sect- of course, I’m good to you!” He said.” But, if you want to climb into higher Wulin heights- you must not rush into revenge. As long as you keep it within you, you can use it to grow!”

“But... I’ve promised Liang Bro that I’d help him take his revenge..!” Naipao said.

“You can go and beat him down all you like, but do not kill him- not only would you relieve yourself, you’d even lose your hate.” He said. “Do you know that once you cross into Sky class, all the aspects- your life force and strength, would go to greater and greater heights, into the path towards immortality!”

“I see!” Naipao took a deep breath and nodded. He wanted revenge for Zhong Pinliang, and while that was the original reason, he was also now part of this sect. The words of his master had the same weight as Liang Bro’s- and this was a good way to always give Pinliang the sense of revenge as he raised his strength! He was sure that Pinliang wouldn’t mind a stronger follower!

“Alright, that’s about it- you can now open the second stage jade box!” The Master said. “From now on, you can go into isolated practitioning- I won’t disturb you! Reach the second stage soon!”

“But... I lost all my strength, will I be able to reach the second stage?” Naipao said, still confused.

“Losing your strength is different from losing your practitioner’s arts- it’s separate from your strength level!” The Master said. ” You need to understand that what you practice ins an ancient art, not a common one! The level of your Chrysanthemum Arts is still a complete first stage- you just need to continue to the second!”

“I understand!” Naipao nodded and got up to leave, disappearing from the Master’s sight.

The Master, on the other hand, mumbled to himself. “Naipao, I hope you won’t disappoint me! You are the most likely among the disciples to break into Sky class and reach the path to the Sky! In the Meeting of the Sky Class, you will be able to earn us a good position!”

Back in the snow mountain, the sky was lighting up, and Qikun did a lazy stretch, evidently having slept well. “With Brother Ling, the strongest Mystic, beside us- sleeping really is safe! I’ve never slept this well even in my house!”

“...” Yu Bing was a bit speechless- wasn’t this bootlicking a bit too much?”

“Asskisser!” Qiqi hmphed, evidently not too pleased at Qikun.