Chapter 303 “Naturally Strong” (part 2)
You must know, the Ice Dou Qi is a top class martial technique polished through the ages of the Snowy Mountain!
Du Wei, you saw how I fought today and Rodriguez’s Ice Dou Qi, so you must know how amazing this skill is! But the twenty years old then White River shocked us all when he declared he won’t continue cultivating it in front of everyone!
We thought he went mad back then, but he then said to us, ‘The so-called power, in spite of its ever-changing nature, is no more than a path. Only by grasping onto the rules of power will one grasp onto its truth! Ice or fire, what difference is there as long as one can master the rules?’
When his reasoning came out, even our teacher Gu Lanxiu became extremely shocked because a person of that young age can figure out such deep knowledge on his own.
I’m ashamed to say… Du Wei, it wasn’t until I turn forty did I become enlightened to those words.
White River’s talent far exceeded ours, and the path he chose is far more difficult than what we will ever tread on!
You saw his fire Dou Qi today right? The terrain of the Snowy Mountain is most suited for training the Ice Dou QI, but even so, White River said, ‘If you want to master the rules, the most direct method is to break the rules and re-establish a new one!’ Back then he chose a path we all thought was a path that went against the heavens: he wanted to carve out a new form of Dou Qi up in the frigid weather of the Snowy Mountain, the Fire Dou QI!
And the results were…”
Speaking up to here, Blue Ocean’s eye became a little strange before he started to cough harshly, throwing up some blood once again. Unable to bear the sight, Du Wei whispered: “Mr. Blue Ocean, why don’t I first take you back to rest for now.”
Shaking his head: “Rest… Humph, after a person dies they can rest all they want, why hurry to do that now? I’m fine.”
He then sighed: “And afterwards the results were… At that time, many of us felt he was crazy, but eventually all of these doubters were left eating their own words!”
Growing bitter in his voice:
“Everyone is forbidden to privately commit violence atop of the Snowy Mountain. If one does, the person responsible for starting it will be severely punished! However, this doesn’t include the disciples in the sect from sparring with each other. It’s just that, if you don’t want to then no one can force you to take up arms. It can be said that although the place is cold, but as long as you have a passive nature, you can also live a leisurely life without anyone provoking you.
At twenty years of age, White River forfeited his Ice Dou Qi cultivation and never once showcased his strength in front of others for the next ten years! Gradually, many of us had forgotten about the once gifted young man thought to be the greatest talent we ever had. Many thought he had gone astray so his strength would’ve certainly diminished, hence the reason why he never contested with the others.
However, there’s also a rule above the Snowy Mountain that once every decade, there will be a huge competition between the disciples. At that time, the Shaman King will assess and judge the disciples before assigning them to various posts in the three layers of the sect.”
Regarding the three layers of the Snowy Mountain, Du Wei had long learned about it from the female assassin’s confession. Not making more questions, he only nodded.
“That year, when we were thirty years of age, we all competed. Everyone thought White River had gone astray so no one expected him to show after ten years of isolation at the peak of the mountain by himself. Yet it was on that year, White River he… he made his move!”
Closing his eyes, Blue Ocean’s body began to slightly tremble. Clearly the event from the past had left a deep impression on this old man.
Making a weak faint sigh: “He gave up his cultivation of the Ice Dou Qi for ten years so we all thought he’s not capable anymore, but the results shocked all of us! I and Scarlet Water found that his strength not only didn’t decrease in the slightest, the gap between him and us became even larger than what we could imagine!!
I used my Ice Dou Qi to face him that day and couldn’t even last three exchanges before he tore apart my scimitar! And then when it came to Scarlet Water’s turn to fight him….
Hehe, Scarlet Water’s prestige among the other disciples were very high during White River’s self-imposed isolation. It’s to be expected since Scarlet Water’s (Rugaard) talent is extremely high, second only to White River, and it also helped when he never slacked off in the slightest in all those years! In Scarlet Water’s heart, he was hell bent on paying White River back for the shame he received during our childhood. But when it came to their duel, I knew then White River had gone easy on me. Not even one exchange, White River destroyed Scarlet Water’s blade and utterly crushed him under his feet without mercy!
Afterwards, White River continued to face the others in combat with only one scimitar and one white robe on him. A total of eight white robe shamans eventually fell under his might in battle. Whether it be martial art or shaman craft, he only used his scimitar and the Ice Dou QI. But at that time, his strength had already stepped into the Saint level, making him invincible and without equal among the other disciples! After the defeat of the eight white robe shamans, he looked up at our teacher sitting on the stage with his arms crossed.
Among those who lost to him were some that weren’t willing to accept the results. These people went on to say, ‘he’s a treacherous villain who clearly went back on his words, claiming he won’t practice the Ice Dou Qi but had in fact been honing his Ice Dou QI for the past ten years!
In spite of the insults, White River only smiled, ‘people like you lot who only knows the form and cannot grasp the essence will never be able to understand the true nature of power!’
No matter what everyone said, we all had to admit then that White River is the number one disciple of the Snowy Mountain.
But at the end of the day where no one was willing to come challenge him anymore, White River only stood there in the field, refusing to step down. Finally, he raises his scimitar and points it at our teacher, Gu Lanxiu.
The meaning of that pose in the great competition is ‘challenge’… Everyone was shocked, cursing at him for being incredibly rude at the supreme Shaman King.
But unlike the others, teacher only stood up slowly to glance at White River. In open view, our teacher actually accepted the challenge.
Since the beginning of the great Snowy Mountain, no disciple has ever openly challenged the Shaman King! But this time, the practice was broken by none other than White River!
After that battle, we knew then White River was telling the truth. He easily defeated us not because he practiced the Ice Dou Qi, but because he mastered the rules of power!
And in the face of teacher Gu Lanxiu, he finally revealed what he so painstakingly cultivated, the Fire Dou Qi by going against the heavens!
In order to maintain a flame under the frigid conditions of the Snowy Mountain, one must exert far more effort by condensing their energy in into a very small point. Compared to the Ice Dou Qi, the level of control required for the Fire Dou Qi is a miracle in itself. But he did it. White River did something we all thought to be impossible!”
Du Wei finally couldn’t resist his curiosity and asked: “Then… did White River lose?”
Blue Ocean shuts his eye again and shakes his head: “No … It was my teacher who lost, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
In a sigh, Blue Ocean continues slowly: “The duel between them… It’s a shame we weren’t at their level back then and couldn’t see through their amazingness. Both are masters of the rule of power so their fight wasn’t as flashy as what you would expect.”
At those words, Du Wei immediately remembered the battle of Blue Ocean and White River from earlier.
“…. We could only see their movements juggle between fast and slow at times. Out of all their exchanges, I fear all of us couldn’t even make out half of it. One afternoon down, teacher Gu Lanxiu finally cuts down White River’s scimitar and splits it in two. We all thought White River lost after that!
Standing there, White River only stared blankly at the remaining part of his blade in hand. Although we all thought he lost, but to be able to fight the Shaman King to such an extent, none of us could refute his ability and thought he fought admirably.
However, after a while of silence, teacher Gu Lanxiu uttered a sentence that none of us expected, ‘You won, I lost.’
Hearing this, all of us became stunned.
But White River only shook his head: ‘A lost is a lost, and a win is a win. You’ve cut my blade in two so it’s my lost.’
Gu Lanxiu: ‘My weapon is the Beauty under the Moonlight while your weapon is a common scimitar. In terms of weapon, I’ve been fighting with an advantage over you.’
White River: ‘Even if so, I still can’t be regarded as the number one master of the Snowy Mountain. My martial art may be higher than teachers, but my shaman craft is far inferior to yours!’
After stating this, White River leans down to the ground and picks up the other half of his destroyed blade and stores it away. Smiling, he then said to our teacher, ‘Teacher, this is my first defeat in my life so I will keep this blade safely away as a reminder of today’s defeat. Ten years from now, let’s fight again.’
With that said, he drifts away like the falling snow of the mountain!
And in the following ten years, he no longer practiced his martial art and focused entirely on his shaman craft….
The only thing out of the ordinary was the broken blade. He re-forged it and continues to use it to this day!”
Captivated by the story, a sense of respect gradually blossomed in Du Wei’s heart for this man. A extremely prideful person with amazing talents and abilities, how can one not show a hand of respect?
“Then what happened ten years later? White River, did he….”
Blue Ocean suddenly opened his eyes and looked straight at Du Wei: “Hmm, you guessed it, ten years later he once again challenged our teacher! It’s just that none of us could’ve have foreseen the end results that day!”
“Oh?” Du Wei went into high spirit: “What exactly happened?”
Though Blue Ocean seems to be smiling, but his smile was very bitter: “Since ten years ago on the day of that competition, none on the mountain dared to look down at White River again. Even Scarlet Water fell into despair afterwards and needed a whole year before he managed to regain his spirit. Though White River hasn’t in name become the Shaman King yet back then, everyone knew it’s just a matter of time before he inherits the title!
Another ten years down came the arrival of the next competition. Everyone was filled with expectations that day. All of us wanted to see how much progress White River has made this time around. Strangely enough, on that day none of us bothered to contest with one another. It’s like an unsaid rule was in place as we all waited for White River’s emergence!
Under the gaze of the hundreds of disciples of the Snowy Mountain, White River was the last to arrive but was also the first to step into the arena.
It’s been a long time since he showed up in front of someone, but his majestic image back then with the scimitar in hand and the snow like white robe he wore was too impressive to forget. But this time around, his appearance confused us all.
He had long hair hanging over his face, a scruffy beard, and dirty clothes that looked like he hasn’t bathed in years. If one stood close enough, they could even smell a sour odor.
Only thing was, those eyes are still the same like the scimitar he used ten years ago.
Then finally, he went to the middle of the arena and said to the former Shaman King, ‘Teacher, I’ve come.’
And then… Just like ten years ago, teacher Gu Lanxiu accepted his challenge…
But this time, what we thought would be an even more exciting confrontation turns out to be…”
Blue Ocean’s face muscles began to jump erratically, his eyes flashing a glimmer of despair!
“My teacher, the supreme Shaman King, Gu Lanxiu! In the face of his disciple for the first in ten years… Hehe, we kept an hourglass to one side for the fight. If I’m not mistaken, there should’ve been enough sand in there for a meal’s worth of time.
White River didn’t even unsheathe his scimitar and still managed to deflect all of our teacher’s attack with the legendary sword Beauty under the Moonlight!
Not even a third of the sand had leaked down yet and a winner was already decided. My teacher did his best, utilizing both martial art and shamanism to the finest, but incredibly, he couldn’t even last that much in front of White River!!
Finally, teacher sat there on the ground and looked at his apprentice: ‘You are the strongest master on the Snowy Mountain, what now?’
White River didn’t even return teacher’s gaze, instead, he only looked blankly at the environment when he suddenly uttered a sentence. That sentence… even to this day I can still remember it clearly in my dreams!”
“What did he say?”
He said: “What a pity, there’s not a single person left in this world who can make me draw my blade!”
