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Chapter 184: The Courtesy of Apprenticeship
When Lin Feng woke up, he found himself not lying outside his master's Thatched Cottage as before, but in the spacious room of his Second Senior Brother.
"Second Senior Brother, are you willing to talk to me now?" Lin Feng asked. For the past month, Dugu Po had completely ignored him. He wouldn't answer any questions and didn't even acknowledge his greetings.
"Congratulations, Junior Brother, on successfully becoming an apprentice," Dugu Po replied.
Lin Feng looked puzzled. In his memory, he had knelt tightly on the First Rank Stone Steps and hadn't even taken a step onto the second tier. How could he have succeeded?
"Senior Brother, are you serious? I haven't even seen Master’s face," Lin Feng said incredulously.
Dugu Po frowned slightly upon hearing this. "You haven't seen Master?"
"That's right," Lin Feng nodded and recounted his experiences of trying to meet Master over the past month.
Dugu Po fell into thought for a moment before saying, "Your situation is different from ours."
"The path of apprenticeship tests one's true heart. Therefore, I cannot interfere with your words or actions."
Only then did Lin Feng understand why his Second Senior Brother had ignored him for the past month.
Dugu Po continued, "Back in the day, when Eldest Senior Brother became an apprentice, he succeeded right away."
Lin Feng recalled his experience of apprenticeship and couldn't help but say, "Eldest Senior Brother must have knelt down right away and then crawled all the way to the top, right?"
Dugu Po nodded and replied, "Indeed. When Eldest Senior Brother saw the steps, he naturally knelt down to proceed, eventually meeting Master. Thus, his path of cultivation was most in line with Master's expectations."
Hearing this, Lin Feng couldn't help but praise, "Eldest Senior Brother is truly a gentleman; I admire him."
"Eldest Senior Brother's character is indeed admirable," Dugu Po reflected.
"May I ask how Second Senior Brother succeeded in his apprenticeship?"
Dugu Po responded, "I share some similarities with you, yet also some differences. The similarity is that I also attempted to apprentice for the first time. I stepped forward but was sent back by Master."
"The difference lies in what happened from the second attempt onward. You tried kneeling to proceed on your second attempt, while I insisted on walking up."
"Senior Brother walked up?" Lin Feng asked in surprise, realizing how great the resistance must have been from experience.
"Yes. It took me ten years to reach the top and meet Master," Dugu Po said.
Upon hearing the time span of ten years, Lin Feng couldn't help but bow to Dugu Po and said, "Second Senior Brother is truly formidable."
"The third person to apprentice is Third Junior Sister. Her method was different from ours," Dugu Po continued.
Upon hearing about the Guan Family, one of the four stunning women from Lin Bai's generation at the Jiu Zhou Gathering, Lin Feng felt a surge of interest and asked, "How did Third Senior Sister manage to ascend?"
"She stood beneath the Stone Steps talking to herself for three whole months. Whether she moved Master or simply annoyed him to the point of exhaustion remains unknown. In the end, the Stone Steps disappeared, and she met Master," Dugu Po said, a slight smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
Lin Feng listened in astonishment and after a long pause remarked, "Senior Sister truly deserves her title as Nine Provinces Tycoon; she has a knack for business."
Even Market had been moved by her. What business was there that could not be discussed between the earth?
After listening to the apprenticeship stories of two senior brothers and one senior sister, Lin Feng recalled that he had never even seen Market. He asked, “Second Senior Brother, if I ultimately did not meet the Master, how can I claim to have successfully apprenticed?”
Dugu Po explained, “Once the apprenticeship is successful, our names will appear on the Stone Steps in front of Master Thatched Cottage. When I brought my junior brother back last night, I saw your name.”
“Is that so?”
Lin Feng was somewhat skeptical. He stood up and walked to Thatched Cottage.
In front of Thatched Cottage, there were only the First Rank steps, made of piled stones. Indeed, names were carved on them. From top to bottom, they read: Xu Ruo, Shishu, Zhou Zhangshou, Dugu Po, Guan You, and Lin Feng.
Seeing the first name, Lin Feng couldn't help but chuckle. It turned out that Master Market's real name was Xu Ruo. This name was indeed unique and shared a similar style with that of Senior Liu Mang. It was likely that few in the world knew Master’s true name.
Zhou Zhangshou—this name felt somewhat familiar, but Lin Feng couldn't recall who it belonged to. Master Da, like him, came from Earth. Lin Feng wondered if there was someone named Zhou Zhangshou on Earth.
After thinking for a while, he couldn't come up with anything. However, Master Da knew Mr. Lu, and his attire resembled that of Mr. Lu. He must have been a figure from the same era as Mr. Lu, and likely had some acquaintance with him.
Suddenly, Lin Feng remembered that Mr. Lu was actually called Zhou Shuren. Could it be that Zhou Zhangshou and Zhou Shuren were relatives?
The given name of the Guan Family was Guan You. Lin Feng thought it would sound even better if he were called Guan Youyou.
Among the people from the Divine Ruins, only Shishu did not have a given name. Lin Feng asked, “Is it true what they say? Is this really our Shishu’s name?”
Dugu Po replied, “This question has been asked by me and the eldest senior brother before. The Master said that due to his special status, he stands equal with the earth. This land does not have the right to give him a name. Thus, the Master refers to him as ‘Junior Brother’, and we call him ‘Shishu’.”
When it came to mentioning Shishu, a fervent admiration shone in Dugu Po's eyes.
Lin Feng suddenly remembered that his second senior brother had persevered for ten years to reach the top of the Stone Steps. This unyielding spirit resembled the temperament of Shishu. It seemed that his second senior brother was following the path of cultivation set by Shishu.
"But I really haven't seen Master," Lin Feng sighed. He hadn't reached the top of the Stone Steps either; why had he succeeded in becoming a disciple?
Dugu Po was puzzled as well. "Did you receive some kind of inheritance from Master?"
"What inheritance?" Lin Feng asked.
"I met Master. In the end, Master passed down the Shishu Finger to me. From then on, I could feel the essence of the Shishu Finger," Dugu Po explained.
"Big Senior Brother has attained Master's true teachings, and his words hold great Divine Ability."
"Third Junior Sister received two treasures from Master. One is the Black Jade Dream Skirt, a Holy Armor. The other is the Divine Travel Sword, a Sacred Artifact. The Black Jade Dream Skirt was crafted by Elder Ji at Master's request in his early years. As for the Divine Travel Sword, it was forged from a star that Master encountered during his astral travels. Master said that there is a chance for the Divine Travel Sword to be cultivated into an Imperial Artifact, depending on Junior Sister's fortune."
Lin Feng had seen the Shishu Finger with his own eyes; its power could annihilate everyone in an instant. He didn't understand what it meant for words to manifest as law, but having received Master's true teachings and inherited a powerful ability was undoubtedly formidable. The Holy Armor and the sacred sword that could be cultivated into an Imperial Artifact were treasures that any Walker would dream of possessing.
"Senior Brother, please help me see what exactly Master gave me. Why can't I see anything at all?"
With courtesy in mind, Lin Feng eagerly looked into his Sea of Consciousness, wanting to know what kind of extraordinary treasure he had received. However, within his Sea of Consciousness were disobedient Stone Pearls, the cold-blooded Moon City Sword, the chilling Yuan Stone Coffin, and his own Ancient Cauldron. There was nothing else—he couldn't find any treasure bestowed by Master.
After examining it, Dugu Po said in confusion, "Your name is inscribed on the stone slab at the foot of the steps; logically speaking, you should have successfully become a disciple. Why did you receive nothing?"
"Senior Brother, I really have nothing!"
Lin Feng felt frustrated and wanted to cry. "Senior Brother, could it be that I didn't succeed in becoming a disciple?"
"Junior Brother, your situation is indeed different from ours. When Big Senior Brother returns, we can discuss it and perhaps find out the reason," Dugu Po pondered.
"When will the Senior Brother return?"
"I don't know. The Senior Brother is very busy; he needs to travel across all nine provinces before he can come back."
"Ah."
Lin Feng let out a long sigh. At night, he stealthily entered the Market's Thatched Cottage. However, Dugu Po was watching everything in the darkness.
Seeing Lin Feng sneaking around, seemingly on guard, Dugu Po shook his head with a smile.
Lin Feng approached the grass bed and knelt before it, saying, "Master, do you want me to bow to you? I will do it right now."
Knock, knock, knock...
Three bows and nine prostrations were quickly completed. Lin Feng then stood up and said, "Master, I've bowed my head; shouldn't you give me something now? Why does everyone else have it, but I don't?"
"What secret realms or Divine Abilities does Shishu have left? For example, Shishu's leg, Shishu's sword, Shishu's knife—anything will do. Just give me one at random."
Lin Feng waited in anticipation but received no response. He continued, "Master, if you don't have any Master's Secret Realm left, please pass down one of your ultimate skills to me."
"Market Finger, Market Palm, Market Fist, Market Sword. Anything will do."
Still no response. Lin Feng pressed on, "Master, I know that among the disciples, my Cultivation is the weakest. But I've been practicing for the shortest time compared to everyone else. Given time, I will definitely become strong in my Cultivation. Since you are unwilling to pass down any Divine Abilities to me, could you grant me two Sacred Artifacts instead?"
"Two won't do; one would be fine. Master, you can't be so stingy as to not give me even one!"
"Master, this isn't fair; it's not righteous. Everyone else has something; why do I have nothing?"
“……”
Lin Feng had been rambling for an hour, his mouth dry and having gained nothing. He sighed deeply, “It seems I’m still not a senior sister. If I had known how skilled she was with her words back in Gaojing, I should have learned more from her.”
Lin Feng lay back down on the grass bed, clinging to a glimmer of hope, and anticipated drifting off to sleep once more, heading towards the endless Stone Steps. As he fell asleep, he enjoyed a peaceful night, but when he opened his eyes, it was already the second dawn.
“Ahhhhh…”
After countless thoughts, they finally condensed into a single ‘ah’ sound. In the end, Lin Feng resigned himself to the situation. As he stepped out of the Thatched Cottage, a sudden thought struck him: “I haven’t even seen my master’s face. Could it be that my master has disappeared, gone too far away, heading towards another universe? Is it that my existence cannot be sensed at all?”
“It must be like that. Otherwise, I would have successfully become a disciple; why haven’t I seen my master? And why hasn’t my master passed on any secret techniques to me?”
With this thought, Lin Feng felt somewhat relieved. (To be continued…)
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