Chapter 356: Discrepancy
Chapter 356: Discrepancy
Feng Lei paused for a second and continued, "...Even Founder Feng Mong Li. He too failed to completely comprehend the Crimson Fire Arts in the end despite being the one to discover it in the first place."
"Even Founder Feng Mong Li..."
Yi Chen furrowed his brows at this revelation.
"Indeed." Feng Lei nodded and continued, "However, among all the clansmen who have tried to fully comprehend the Crimson Fire Arts in the past, no one has come even close to matching him..."
"Is this difficulty related to the grating voice that flooded my mind a few minutes ago?" Yi Chen asked while connecting the dots.
"Yes, after reaching a certain level of comprehension, this incomprehensible voice keeps popping inside our mind whenever we try to raise the Crimson Fire Arts understanding.
During the initial stages, many try to fight against it, but over time the voice becomes so piercing that even focusing for a second becomes nearly impossible."
Feng Lei sighed the next second and continued.
"It’s because of this reason that this point was named the barrier, as beyond it progress becomes unattainable. Even my father, the former Patriarch, tried to search for a way to circumvent this barrier but wasn’t able to in the end."
"Then..." Yi Chen tightly knitted his brows when he heard this, "...What should I do now? Do I have to give up on the Crimson Fire Arts?"
"Your comprehension of the Crimson Fire Arts has already reached a level that even many Qi Absorption Stage cultivators fail to reach, so why should you give up on it?" Feng Lei asked in an obvious tone and continued.
Among the current set of elders in the clan, the ones who have reached this stage of comprehension could be counted on one hand.
Therefore, instead of giving up on the Crimson Fire Arts and looking for another one, you should come to terms with the fact that raising your comprehension beyond this will eventually cause you to lose your sanity...just like Founder Feng Mong Li did."
"So, this was what had happened..." Yi Chen muttered in realisation as he finally got the reason behind Feng Mong Li rushing inside the Valley of Death.
"Mhm." Feng Lei nodded, seeing his reaction, and said, "It seems you’ve already heard the story. That makes things a little easier.
Therefore, if you don’t want to lose your sanity eventually, then just accept that you’ve reached the maximum attainment possible in the Crimson Fire Arts and focus on other areas like your cultivation and weapon training for now."
"I see..." Yi Chen nodded with a subtle sense of bitterness evident in his voice.
The fact that he won’t be able to completely master the Crimson Fire Arts was quite disheartening for him.
Understanding what feelings Yi Chen was experiencing at the moment, Feng Lei advised, "Because of your inexperience, it’s natural that you’ll think that you’ve made a mistake by choosing the Crimson Fire Arts...however, you’ll soon find out that reality is far from it."
A smirk formed on Feng Lei’s face as he continued, "Even while being unable to fully comprehend the Crimson Fire Arts, a clansman who has reached your level of comprehension will not be at any significant disadvantage against those who have fully comprehended their Qi Absorption Arts.
This holds true not only in the White Jade Kingdom but the entire continent in general. So as long as you keep cultivating and training your swordsmanship, you’ll be no less than anyone who’s at your cultivation level, you understand?"
Feng Lei finished his words with confidence evident in his eyes.
"I understand..." Yi Chen acknowledged Feng Lei’s words, but rather than comforting him, Feng Lei’s words only made his thoughts drift towards the other possibility.
’If it’s this powerful without even being fully comprehended...then just how powerful would it be if I were able to comprehend it fully?’
This thought naturally made it difficult for him to give up on it so easily as he started getting swayed by the thought of trying to comprehend the art while resisting the grating voice that would be invading his mind.
However, while he was entertaining this thought, he suddenly noticed a discrepancy linked to the voice and the diary sheets he had glanced through earlier.
"Wait...Elder Lei, you previously mentioned that the Clan Elders who have reached this level of comprehension could be counted on one hand...Then may I ask whether Patriarch Feng Haoran is also included in this list?" Yi Chen asked the very next instant.
"Yes, he too has touched this barrier." Elder Lei nodded as a matter of fact.
"Then...he must have also heard the voices in his head, right?" Yi Chen probed further.
"Naturally." Feng Lei answered with a subtle frown on his forehead. He wasn’t able to understand why Yi Chen would ask such an obvious question.
"...Then it doesn’t make sense." Yi Chen muttered the next second while furrowing his brow.
"What doesn’t?" Feng Lei asked with a questioning expression.
"Elder Lei, do you know about the sheets from Founder Feng Mong Li’s diary that’s inside the clan’s treasury?" Yi Chen asked instead of answering directly.
"Yes. I’ve gone through them in the past." Feng Lei nodded affirmatively.
"Then you should understand what I’m talking about. The words that were scribbled on those sheets are exactly the ones that were echoing in my head a few minutes ago.
However, back then Patriarch Feng Haoran acted as if he had no idea what those words were, as if he was unable to link them with the Crimson Fire Arts at all. Don’t you find this strange?" Yi Chen asked with confusion evident in his eyes.
However, instead of answering, Yi Chen was met with Feng Lei’s incredulous expression.
"Y-You mean to say you can clearly distinguish those words?" Feng Lei asked with disbelief evident on his face.
"Yes." Yi Chen couldn’t help but feel weird at this question as he asked the next second, "Is it not the same for others...?"
"...It isn’t."
Feng Lei shook his head after a brief moment of silence.