Trinity Traitor: From One Person to the Other

Chapter 1036 Disciple Ding Shian pays respects to his master
"Stop! Stop! Stop fighting!"

Ding Shian was so frightened that he cried out like Ma Baoguo. Fortunately, He Songling was not a young man and was quite virtuous, so he actually stopped.

"What, you don't want to learn anymore?"

"What? I don't want to learn? I need to be able to learn!" Ding Shian plopped down on the ground and cursed, "With your move, I'm just a piece of minced meat. How am I supposed to learn?"

"What do you mean by how to learn? You need to know that when the opponent's attack hits you, especially when it penetrates your body, that is the best, most direct, and most convenient time to understand the opponent's way of circulating Qi, which is also the most suitable time to learn the opponent's moves."

He Songling said matter-of-factly, "That's how I learned other people's techniques back then. What, you can't do it? Is your talent that bad?"

Ding Shian really wanted to use all the swear words he had ever learned to curse in the street.

But I dare not.

Being killed is a minor matter; at least I can be resurrected. What if that bastard He Songling really refuses to teach me?

So he could only smile wryly and say, "Elder He, who among normal people has your talent? If we all had it, we would have become immortals long ago. Why don't you try a different way of teaching idiots? You've been running this school for so many years, I'm sure you've taught some ordinary people too, right?"

"Sigh, Xiao Ding, you have disappointed me greatly." He Songling was telling the truth. He had thought he would finally be able to teach a disciple with extraordinary talent, but he did not expect that it would be a mediocre talent like Lu Jin, who could only be considered a "genius" in the eyes of ordinary people at best.

It still hasn't escaped the category of "human" in the eyes of the public.

However, this is obvious; talent is judged by the level of achievement. Among all the characters in "Under One Person," Zhang Zhiwei and his former master Zuo Ruotong are probably the most talented, and they should also rank in the top five.

This can be seen from his daily cultivation and practice. This kind of extraordinary genius, whether in terms of cultivation speed, depth of cultivation, or understanding of techniques and combat, is far beyond what ordinary people can match.

Now, it is said that Ru Hu, under the tutelage of He Songling, was qualified to challenge Zhang Zhiwei, the former "top master," only because Zhang Zhiwei was trapped by the Heavenly Master's teachings and could not become an immortal, while Ru Hu had the support of a high-ranking immortal like himself.

If everyone's conditions were the same, people like Ding Shian and Na Ruhu, even if they cultivated for a lifetime, wouldn't even qualify to inhale Zhang Zhiwei's exhaust fumes. While the "two heroes" in the original work were outstanding figures of their time, weren't all those who had become immortals essentially "Zhang Zhiweis" of their era?

Even when Zhang Zhiwei is placed in the long river of history for comparison, his talent does not seem so outstanding.

Not to mention the likes of Lu Jin and Lü Ci; without He Songling, their achievements in their entire lives would be roughly equivalent to those of Ru Hu and Ding Shian when they were in their forties or fifties.

Compared to Zhang Zhiwei's immortality and otherworldly appearance, and Wugensheng's rare appearance as the official leader of the Quanxing Sect, they are far inferior. They are ranked behind these figures because in this era, there is no one behind them, only themselves. If this were historically accurate, people like Zhang Zhiwei and Wugensheng would likely be two or three hundred places ahead of figures like Lu Jin and Lü Ci.

“Alright, let’s change the training plan.” He Songling thought for a moment and said, “From now on, the first goal is to improve your talent to at least the same level as my old master Zuo Ruotong. As for whether you can catch up with Zhang Zhiwei, that depends on your own destiny.”

Effort determines the lower limit, while talent determines the upper limit. With Ding Shian's talent, which only allows him to be second or third in his own era, even if he works hard until he dies, he will never reach the level he desires.

He could certainly become an immortal, but what truly changed the cultivation world was the impact He Songling had on it—a kind of "elevation of the times." It's like how any ordinary person in the 21st century can now travel by plane or high-speed rail to "travel to Beihai in the morning and Cangwu in the evening," achieving what only ancient immortals could do by riding the clouds.

But if you put an ordinary person in a fight with a god, even with a gun, they still can't win in a one-on-one fight.

Who is He Songling? Despite his seemingly unreliable nature, his arrogance as a transmigrator from beyond the heavens, with its "I don't belong to this world" and "this world is full of NPCs" attitude, made him determined that if he was going to teach a disciple with all his heart, he could not be mediocre.

Possessing talent comparable to Zhang Zhiwei, or perhaps slightly inferior, coupled with his own enhancement and alteration of cultivation methods, he might be able to bring figures like Zhang Zhiwei and Ding Shian to his current level. Even if he is somewhat weaker due to the lack of an extraterrestrial divine soul, he would at least be no less than beings like Lao Tzu, Jesus, or Allah.

This is the meaning of progress. As the old saying goes, you can regard the great figures of the past as a monument, but not as a benchmark to climb forever. From the moment you are born, you are standing on their shoulders to climb upwards.

Why can't the founders of Taoism and Buddhism be equal to their predecessors?
“Little Ding, I have guided many people in my life, but it has all been just exchanges, discussions and guidance. I have never really taken on a formal apprentice. Later, when I founded Trinity University, I advocated abandoning the outdated master-apprentice and father-son relationship of the old era, because only a more advanced system of transmission can better inherit and develop scholarship.”

He Songling stared at Ding Shian and said, "But you are different. I have high expectations for you. To be honest, not that high. The person I have the highest hopes for is actually Zhang Zhiwei. But Zhang and I have been good friends for over a hundred years. I can't possibly take him as my apprentice again."

Your talent might only rank in the top 500 in the entire history. To be honest, you are not my ideal successor. But I have to leave now. I really can't wait for the next person with such high talent as Zhang Zhiwei to appear.

I truly consider you my apprentice, and I also truly consider you my experimental subject. I want to test just how high my path can go, and whether it can enable those who follow to reach my level. I'm making this clear to you now, to avoid any future misunderstandings.”

Ding Shian almost burst into tears. He thought to himself, "You really think highly of me, sir. And I'm already harboring resentment towards you because of this? I'm not satisfied that you want to elevate my talent to the level of Zhang Zhiwei, to the level of all the gods in history, and even help me achieve a divine position higher than ordinary gods?"

Am I crazy?
If kneeling and kowtowing could grant such an opportunity, then Zhang Chulan's speed in kneeling and kowtowing would probably rank outside the top three to five hundred million.

So he respectfully knelt down and kowtowed three times to He Songling, saying, "Disciple Ding Shian greets Master."

(End of this chapter)