Chapter 50: Overwhelmed
Translator: Irene Editor: X
Upon seeing Ai Hui’s stunned expression, the teacher smiled a little, but soon resumed his no-nonsense demeanor. “Don’t worry. Whether you agree or not, I will tell you everything I know and have studied. I will not conceal anything. Plus, even if you do agree, I can only review your training regimen and provide some pointers. Outside of that, I can’t help much. I am poor and do not have many connections despite having taught the basics of training for thirty years.”
He finished his last sentence somewhat self-deprecatingly.
Ai Hui felt odd. “Why are you interested in me? I have a low aptitude and am just as poor.”
“Haha.” The teacher burst out laughing. “I’ve known from the start that you have a low aptitude and are poor, but that’s okay. You don’t need much talent to understand my theories. All you need is patience and perseverance, which are qualities that I saw in you..”
Ai Hui no longer hesitated and made a respectful bow. “Your disciple pays respect, Master!”
The teacher was pleasantly surprised and truly moved. “Good, good, good!”
Ai Hui also became very enthusiastic. He had been an orphan since he was little. Now that a teacher was willing to take him in as a disciple, one could easily imagine how touched he was.
One was an impoverished intellectual who had been struggling to elevate himself over the past few decades, but no one appreciated his ideas. The other was an inept youth who had a thirst for learning. One was old, the other young, but at this moment, they were like partners in crime.
It took half a day for them to calm down.
The teacher was a bit embarrassed. “I am already so old, but my emotions are still not tamed. Shameful, shameful!”
Ai Hui merely grinned.
The teacher continued, “I’ll have to tell you my name first. I am Wang Shouchuan. You are from the Old Territory right?”
“Yes, my name is Ai Hui and I am from the Old Territory. I worked in the Wilderness for the last three years.” Ai Hui introduced himself as well.
Wang Shouchuan came to a realization. “I’ve heard about you before. I remembered the moment you mentioned the Wilderness. Being able to survive after toiling away in the Wilderness for three years, you are remarkable.”
The longer the old man looked at Ai Hui, the more satisfied he became. When it came to survival in the Wilderness, not to mention the laborers without combat experience, even the geniuses from the Induction Ground were not guaranteed to return.
The old man had taught thirty years of classes in Central Pine City and had seen all kinds of students. But one like Ai Hui? This was his first.
Why did it matter if he had a low aptitude? When did the Induction Ground ever fail to produce a few distinguished students out of those who had average potentials?
At the start, he had known that Ai Hui was persistent, but he was not sure if Ai Hui could sustain himself. Now knowing Ai Hui’s history, however, freed the Wang Shouchuan from all his worries.
How else could an impetuous laborer survive a three year stay in the Wilderness?
Bearing typical hardship was even less of a worry.
The old man finally realized why Ai Hui possessed a certain maturity and stability that was atypical for his age. A disciple who had been sharpened by such an experience was not considered an ordinary person.
The old man knew that he had picked up a unpolished gem today.
“Come, come, come, let me properly explain my theories.” The old man was suddenly full of zeal. “You have said a lot. When it comes to human interaction, if two persons have conflicting temperaments and can’t agree on things, then wanting them to build a rapport would be a never-ending process, like the stories told in ‘Arabian Nights.’”
Ai Hui nodded his head repeatedly. That was true. He immediately thought of an apt example.
Duanmu Bangwan!
That despicable, disdainful, hypocritical, childish, heartless fellow. If Ai Hui were to be a team with this kind of person, Ai Hui would definitely have to get rid of him before the enemies.
“Having a compatible partner is very important. If both have similar personalities, it would be easy to connect on a deeper level,” the old educator said.
Ai Hui nodded his head once again. That was true. He thought of another perfect example.
Lou Lan!
Lou Lan was good, warm-hearted, helpful, kind, trustworthy, and had great culinary skills. Despite having known each other for only a short period of time, they had already become close friends who told each other everything without the slightest hesitation.
“Even with a suitable partner, time is still needed to mold the relationship. You have to spend time getting to know your partner, learning his habits, and letting him adjust to yours. This way there will be mutual understanding,” Old Man Wang concluded.
“That’s right!” Ai Hui agreed wholeheartedly.
“Elemental energy works the same way.” The old man continued, “In today’s training routines, people view elemental energy as more of a tool than a partner. There is nothing wrong with this since elemental energy has no consciousness. However, elemental energy as a tool is very complicated and not as easy as people imagine it to be.”
With relish, he concluded, “That is because the nature of elemental energy is mutable.”
However…
When he saw Ai Hui’s calm face, he was taken aback. As if his doubts were not resolved, he asked, “Aren’t you shocked? This is something different from what other teachers are teaching, right?”
“What you said made a lot of sense,” Ai Hui said matter-of-factly, before elaborating, “Just like metal elemental energy for example. Energy in the Suspending Golden Pagoda is more intense and milder compared to the energy in the Whirlpool Spring, proving that metal elemental energy can have different qualities. Although they are different, they can transform. This is nothing strange either. After the metal elemental energy flows out of the pagoda, it will probably undergo gradual changes.”
The old man was dumbstruck. He had extensively researched before reaching this conclusion, and he had not expected Ai Hui to simply list out a reason.
Actually, Ai Hui wanted to add that the energy could be transformed even if it could not by natural process. By shattering it, for example.
Recovering from his stupor, the old man became even happier and complimented, “You have wits indeed!”
He continued, “Every human body possesses slightly different properties. Metal elemental energies of different forms would have different compatibilities too. This is why we need to find the elemental energy that is most convenient for us—so it can better suit our bodies. Training today only considers one issue: compatibility, or what we call ‘aptitude’—whether or not the energy is easy to absorb. But what if there is elemental energy that is more difficult to absorb, yet can be utilized even more smoothly and easily? Few people consider this.”
Ai Hui had no problem understanding, and even expounded from there. “Like me. I have a lower aptitude, but a higher endurance. I can choose to train with purer metal elemental energy. Although the absorption is slower, it is more effective when employed.”
Was this principle not very similar to his own training? Indeed, while both analyzed from different angles, their core idea was the same. Plus, did this not clarify that Master’s theories aligned with his own?
Ai Hui looked forward to the upcoming training.
The old man stared at Ai Hui blankly. Could it be that the ideas he had been deliberating for the past few decades were actually very simple?
Or was it that the student who was willing to listen to him, whom he had finally found and had luckily accepted as a disciple, was actually a genius?
The old man felt overwhelmed.