55: Chapter 55: Kowtowing and Becoming a Disciple
Dongfang Shuo knelt on the ground, his eyes staring blankly at the sword fragments scattered across the floor.
The sunlight hit those fragments, reflecting a blinding glare that made his eyes ache. Yet he did not blink once, as if he wanted to carve the image of those shards deep into his mind.
He had lost.
He had lost utterly.
He had lost completely and humiliatingly.
From hand-to-hand combat to weapons, and even the lineage and heritage he took such pride in—everything was as fragile as paper before his opponent.
No, it wasn't even as good as paper.
The opponent hadn't even truly "acted." Like a high and mighty deity, she had merely given a casual display of her power, and he—this so-called "genius of the Ancient Martial Arts World"—had been turned into a total joke.
"Genius..."
Dongfang Shuo unconsciously chewed on those two words, a smile appearing on his face that looked worse than crying.
Since childhood, he had lived under the halo of those two words.
Practicing Qi at three, Foundation Establishment (the Ancient Martial version) at five, and mastering his family's basic fist techniques by ten. By fifteen, he was already undefeated within his clan. At twenty, he descended the mountain to challenge various famous seniors and had never suffered a single defeat.
Everyone said he was the peerless prodigy of the Dongfang Family most likely to break through to the Grandmaster realm in five hundred years, and perhaps even touch the threshold of the legendary "God Realm."
He had always believed so as well.
He was proud of his talent and conceited about his strength. He felt that although the world was vast, those who could be his opponents were few and far between.
Until today.
Until he met Jiang Ning.
He was like an ant living in a bottle, seeing the world outside for the first time.
Only then did he realize how small and ridiculous the little world he took pride in was when faced with the true heavens and earth.
The "Internal Breath" he had practiced his entire life was, in her eyes, merely "Turbid Qi"—full of impurities and leaking everywhere.
The "Rushing Thunder Fist" he regarded as a supreme technique was, in her eyes, "clumsy work" that followed a crooked path and harmed both the user and the target.
The sword "Duan Shui" he treated as a divine weapon was, in her eyes, not even comparable to a piece of rusted rebar.
As it turned out, he wasn't some genius.
He was just a... frog at the bottom of a well.
"Heh... Hehehehe..."
He suddenly began to laugh softly, a laugh filled with self-deprecation and despair. As he laughed, his eyes reddened, and two lines of clear tears slid down his cheeks.
For a proud genius who had never suffered a setback, his Dao heart and his convictions completely collapsed at this moment after suffering a devastating dimensional strike.
The people around them looked at Dongfang Shuo, who was crying and laughing while kneeling on the ground, and didn't know what to say.
Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo and Chief Engineer Wang Heshan exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of sympathy in the other's eyes. Although this kid had been quite arrogant before, his current state was indeed a bit pitiful.
"Chief Consultant, this... this kid hasn't gone mad, has he?" Wang Jianguo asked in a low voice.
Jiang Ning glanced at Dongfang Shuo, whose mental state was clearly unstable, but she had no particular reaction.
In the world where she practiced cultivation, this sort of thing was all too common. Countless self-important geniuses, upon encountering a stronger existence, could not accept reality; their Dao hearts would shatter, and they would never recover, becoming useless people.
The path of cultivation was inherently this cruel.
Character was far more important than talent.
She withdrew the "rebar sword." The sword turned back into a glob of molten iron in her hand, then solidified into an ordinary piece of rebar, which she casually tossed back toward the distant construction site.
It was as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.
She turned, preparing to leave.
In her view, this young man named Dongfang Shuo no longer had any value. A person with such fragile willpower would find it difficult to achieve great things even if given the best cultivation techniques.
"Chief Consultant, are we... just letting it go like this?" Director Zhao Lixin walked over and asked hesitantly.
After all, he was a member of the Dongfang Family. Leaving him here like this might be hard to explain if something happened.
"Otherwise?" Jiang Ning asked in return. "I can't exactly kill him."
"No... I mean, should we... offer some comfort?" Zhao Lixin didn't quite know how to put it.
"No need." Jiang Ning shook her head. "He has to walk out of his own inner demons himself. If he can't, he's just trash. If he can, he might still be of some use."
Having said that, she ignored him further and walked straight toward the headquarters.
To her, this "sparring match" was just a trivial matter, not even counting as a battle. she had more important things to do; at three in the afternoon, there was an experiment waiting for her at Furnace No. 2.
She had no interest in wasting more time on a loser.
Zhao Lixin watched Jiang Ning's departing back, then looked at the still-kneeling, despondent Dongfang Shuo, and could only sigh helplessly.
He walked over to Dongfang Shuo's side, squatted down, and patted his shoulder.
"Young man, try to look on the bright side. There is always a higher heaven. The one you met today isn't a person, but... an existence on another level."
Dongfang Shuo gave no reaction, still immersed in his own world.
Zhao Lixin didn't know how to advise him either, so he could only say to the nearby guard, "Find two people to help him to the lounge. Keep an eye on him; don't let him do anything foolish."
"Yes, sir!"
Two soldiers stepped forward, one on each side, grabbing Dongfang Shuo's arms to help him up.
But at that moment, Dongfang Shuo, who had been as still as a wood carving or clay statue, suddenly moved.
He snapped his head up. On his tear-stained face, the previous despair and dejection were gone, replaced by a nearly fanatical light... the light of having found a new direction!
He shoved away the two soldiers beside him and then, toward the direction where Jiang Ning had left, he kowtowed heavily!
That strike was very forceful; his forehead hit the hard sandy ground with a dull thud.
"Disciple Dongfang Shuo was ignorant and failed to recognize Mt. Tai, offending the Immortal Master!"
His voice was hoarse, yet filled with unprecedented piety and excitement.
"Only today does this disciple know where the Great Dao lies! I beg the Immortal Master to accept me as a disciple! I am willing to follow by the Immortal Master's side and serve for life, even through ten thousand deaths!"
After saying this, he kowtowed again with another heavy thud.