ENG
Schemes and plots, hard to outsmart,
Impulsive nature, a straightforward heart.
He should thank his twin blades,
One cuts through folly, one has the truth displayed.
Gentle mountain breeze, wildflowers-covered ground, inside the stone cave behind the temple.
The purple-faced Daoist Master asked with a gentle smile, "How long have you been in this temple?"
"I... I do not know. I can only remember that the thunder has struck the hall over a hundred times," replied the Venom Daoist, standing cautiously beside the master.
"Then it has been over a hundred years," the master said, walking towards the bare stone wall, about to touch it.
"Master," the Daoist called out, "I have been here for a long time, yet you have not taught me any skills. Could you perhaps teach me a few moves today?"
"You wish to learn my skills?"
"Since the day I called you 'Master', yes."
"Your foundation is solid, and energy channels harmonized. Your have already achieved high. I am afraid learning my skills won't help you much."
The Daoist tensed up at the master's words, fully on guard.
Yet, out of his expectation, the master uttered, "Skills, I can offer no more, but some unique methods of practices, I can offer. Yet they are beyond the minds feeble, and demand strong willpower to succeed. If you are not deterred by hardship, I can let you try."
Intrigued, the Daoist asked, "What kind of unique methods?"
The master shook his head and said, "Without your willingness to learn, I cannot tell you that."
The Daoist pondered deeply, unable to make a decision.
The master gently persuaded, "It is a path trodden by many of my disciples. If you come here, attempt nothing, and achieve nothing, would it not be a journey in vain?"
Hearing this, the Daoist remembered his brother's instructions and inquired, "What can this method achieve?"
"It will refine your body, elevate your divine skills, and the path to ascension shall be an ease!"
"Is it truly so profound?"
"If you find it not helping, you can stop at any time," the master said confidently.
Moved by these words, the Daoist agreed immediately, "I am ready to follow your instructions, Master."
"Come with me," the master said, glancing once more at the stone wall before leading the Daoist away.
The scene opens at a quiet mountain temple: a gentle breeze, wildflowers on the ground, and a stone cave behind the temple. The two characters are the purple-faced Daoist Master and the Venom Daoist. The short poetic lines at the start describe the Venom Daoist’s personality and tools—he is hard to outsmart, impulsive, and straightforward, and he carries twin blades, one of which “cuts through folly” and the other “has the truth displayed.” Those lines set up who he is and hint that his blades and temperament matter to his story.
When the Master asks how long the Venom Daoist has been at the temple, the Venom Daoist cannot say. He only remembers that thunder struck the hall over a hundred times. The Master confirms that this means more than a hundred years have passed. The Master then walks to a bare stone wall in the cave and reaches toward it, which makes the Venom Daoist cautious.
The Venom Daoist asks the Master to teach him skills because he feels he has been at the temple a long time without formal instruction. The Master answers that the Venom Daoist already has a solid foundation and harmonized energy channels and that learning the Master’s usual skills would not help him much. That response puts the Venom Daoist on guard.
Instead of standard skills, the Master offers something different: unique methods of practice. He warns they are beyond weak minds and demand strong willpower. When the Venom Daoist asks what the methods are, the Master will not explain until the Venom Daoist truly chooses to try. The Master presses the point by saying many of his disciples have followed this path and that staying at the temple without attempting anything would be a wasted stay.
The Venom Daoist remembers his brother’s instructions, asks what the method can achieve, and the Master replies that it will refine the body, elevate divine skills, and make ascension easier. The Master also says the Venom Daoist can stop at any time if it does not help. Moved by that promise and willing to accept hardship, the Venom Daoist agrees immediately. The Master glances at the stone wall once more and then leads him away, which signals the start of this difficult, will-testing training with the implication that he now has a real chance at greater power and eventual ascension if he endures.