Talent and Hard Work

Looking at Li Mingru's shocked expression, Lin Xiaolu stood there with his hands in his pockets, the word "arrogant" written all over his cute little face.

"What do you think, boss? Aren't I amazing? Haha, I knew it!"

The young disciple Li Miaoxin was also curiously looking at her master, wondering what Lin Xiaolu's talents were like.

Under the gaze of the elder and the two juniors, Li Mingru let out a sigh and asked, "Xiaolu, you and Xiaoyuer, are you two really blood-related siblings?"

"Yeah," the boy arrogantly replied.

"I see," Li Mingru nodded. He felt that he had been asking too much. These two kids were just ones he had randomly picked up. It was normal even if they had no talent and could not cultivate. It was just that Xiaoyuer was so shockingly gifted that he had gained a sliver of hope for Lin Xiaolu as well, which was completely unreasonable in hindsight.

He looked at Lin Xiaolu calmly and said, "Xiaolu, you have too much innate true essence, so you are destined to be unable to cultivate. In a year's time, you will likely go from being an inner sect disciple to an outer one, because you won't be able to step into the first layer of Qi Condensation."

Upon hearing this, both Lin Xiaolu and Li Miaoxin were stunned. Lin Xiaolu looked at Li Mingru in surprise.

"Master, are you saying I'm useless?"

"Yes."

"There's no way to save me?"

"None."

The arrogance on the boy's face rapidly disappeared. Li Miaoxin was also completely frozen, shocked as she looked at Lin Xiaolu.

The little Xiao Yuer beside them didn't really understand what was going on. She just looked rather confused.

Seeing the dejected boy, Li Mingru coughed and gently comforted, "Don't be so down, Xiaolu. Even if you become an outer sect disciple and stay in Emei as an ordinary person, you will still be your master's disciple. No one will bully you in Emei, and your sister will become a major figure of my Plucking Stars lineage in the future. Rest assured, with your master here, you will definitely live a worry-free life of prosperity and peace."

Lin Xiaolu's little face was still full of disappointment and frustration. Xiao Yuer seemed to sense that he was unhappy, and gently pulled on Lin Xiaolu's sleeve, softly calling out, "Brother."

After a long while, Lin Xiaolu suddenly snorted and arrogantly said, "So what if I can't become an immortal master, it's enough that my sister can! No big deal."

Seeing the boy's forced smile, Li Miaoxin felt pity and couldn't help but ask Li Mingru, "Master, Little Junior Brother really looks up to our cultivation techniques. Can he learn some minor magics and such?"

Li Mingru shook his head and bluntly explained, "If Xiao Yuer is the most gifted genius I've ever seen, then Xiaolu is the most worthless trash I've seen. So worthless it's despairing."

These harsh words stunned Lin Xiaolu. He felt his boss was going too far and not giving him any face at all.

Humph, so what if he can't cultivate? If he can't do it then he can't do it!

Li Miaoxin sympathetically squatted down and held Lin Xiaolu's little hand to comfort him, "It's okay, Little Junior Brother. Bullying others isn't a good thing anyway. Just be a good kid and grow up well in Emei. When you come of age, Senior Sister will find you a good match in the mortal world and you can start a family. I'll protect you your whole life."

Xiao Yuer also looked at her brother with expectation in her eyes. She didn't really understand what was going on, but could feel that he was feeling down.

Li Mingru sighed again. If the siblings were both useless, Xiaolu probably wouldn't feel as bad. But with his sister a genius and himself useless, the difference was hurtful. However, there was no helping it. Perhaps this was just Xiaolu's fate.

From the moment Xiao Yuer entered the first layer of Qi Condensation, the siblings were destined to no longer be of the same world.

Cultivators turn the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into their own through cultivation, allowing them to extend their lifespan and obtain a degree of longevity.

With Xiao Yuer's exceptionally rare talent, as long as there were no mishaps and she cultivated properly, living over a thousand years would be no problem at all.

As for Lin Xiaolu, as time went on he would inevitably grow old and turn into a handful of yellow dirt in less than a hundred years.

Cultivating immortality, once one enters the gates it is as deep as the sea. From then on, mortal relatives will be parted.

From the moment one joins the immortal sect, everything of the mundane mortal world will become passing clouds and smoke, forever sealed away in memories.

So despite how close the siblings were now, there would eventually come a day when Lin Xiaolu would only be an insignificant part of the past, permanently buried in Xiao Yuer's memories.

After all, a hundred years was too short, too short compared to a lifespan of thousands of years...

"I don't want to get married and have kids, I want to bully people!" Lin Xiaolu said dejectedly to Li Miaoxin. "How can I bully people in the future if I can't cultivate? How will I collect protection fees?"

Li Miaoxin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This kid was really fixated on bullying people and collecting protection fees!

She gave a wry smile and said, "In the future your Junior Sister will be a powerful figure of the immortal sects. Who won't you be able to bully?"

"No!" Lin Xiaolu petulantly mumbled, "I want to rely on my own abilities to bully people and make others my underlings!"

After saying that, he looked at Li Mingru expectantly again and asked, "Boss, is there a way I can become really powerful without cultivating?"

"Um...no," Li Mingru concisely replied.

Lin Xiaolu was in despair, his young face covered in disappointment.

"However, there is another way that can make you more powerful than most ordinary people, though limited to mortals," Li Mingru suddenly added.

Lin Xiaolu's eyes immediately lit up as he excitedly asked, "What way, Boss?"

Li Mingru looked at the boy for a long time, then expressionlessly replied, "Martial arts."

Lin Xiaolu was a bit confused, he wasn't too clear on what these martial arts were.

Li Miaoxin beside them was also puzzled. Having entered Emei's gates at a very young age, she had never heard of this martial arts thing.

Seeing his three disciples somewhat doubtful, Li Mingru slowly explained, "Martial arts are methods focused on training one's physical body, or practicing with weapons, to increase combat ability.

The path of martial arts cultivation is extremely painful, countless times more so than our cultivation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

In our cultivation, what we endure is loneliness and solitude, and what is tempered is our state of mind.

But those who cultivate martial arts endure physical torment and injuries, tempering their mentality and willpower."

Lin Xiaolu's eyes lit up in pleasant surprise as he excitedly said, "So in other words, martial arts are about the same as cultivating immortality?"

Li Mingru shook his head, mercilessly laying out a harsh fact:

"Martial arts are studied by ordinary mortals unable to cultivate. They are extremely limited, with a very low ceiling.

A mortal bitterly training martial arts for ten years cannot compare to a common cultivator's single year of cultivation.

Even martial arts masters in the mortal world are not worth mentioning to us cultivators. Any Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily slay them, like killing a dog!

Moreover, cultivators can have lifespans of several hundred or even over a thousand years, but what about martial artists? No matter how high their martial skills or talent, their bodies will generally start deteriorating after forty, becoming weaker and weaker until they end up no different from ordinary mortals, becoming a pile of withered bones.

Therefore, martial arts can only temporarily play at prestige in the mortal realm."

Lin Xiaolu listened in confusion, somewhat unconvinced as he asked, "That's...that's not fair!

Boss, you said cultivating martial arts is extremely painful. The efforts put in are not much less than cultivating, so why can't those who cultivate martial arts gain the same level of skill as cultivators?

Shouldn't people get what they work for?"

Hearing Lin Xiaolu's words, Li Mingru was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected the boy to say something about getting what you work for.

Unfortunately, reality often overrides principles. After all, it was only the weak who spoke of principles.

Li Mingru looked at the seven-year-old before him, his heart unwilling, but still stated a cruel fact: "Effort, diligence, in the face of true talent, these are but a joke."