"Can’t hold it in anymore?"
Yang Ge smiled and looked at him.
Yang Tiansheng let out a breath as he gazed at the azure sea, "Just needed some fresh air."
Yang Ge: "That’s good, it’s about balancing work and rest..."
As he spoke, he glanced back at the cabin and withdrew his gaze, "Do you guys have something you want to say?"
Yang Tiansheng’s smile stiffened, "Ah ha... Well, let’s just chat for a bit, if what the young master says doesn’t seem right, just think of it as me talking rubbish!"
Yang Ge looked at him, puzzled, "What’s the matter that you’re beating around the bush?"
Yang Tiansheng swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Have you noticed that there’s something wrong with the way you’ve been practicing your martial arts?"
Yang Ge: "I know."
Yang Tiansheng: "Huh?"
Yang Ge: "But how did you all figure it out?"
Yang Tiansheng: "We all discussed it, I felt something wasn’t quite right with you..."
Yang Ge: "What’s not right?"
Yang Tiansheng: "We’ve known each other for quite some time, haven’t we? Usually, on a massive venture like crossing to Dongying, you’d come up with at least two or three thorough plans... But this time, you had no plans at all, just one word: ’charge’. That sounds like something I would do, not something Yang Erlang would do!"
"Then I had a private talk with Li, and he mentioned that his dad also acted a bit like you before he succumbed to cultivation deviation..."
As he finished speaking, the figures of Li Jincheng and Xiang Wudi appeared at the cabin door.
Li Jincheng, with his arms crossed, complained, "Yang, that’s not fair, didn’t we agree you wouldn’t sell me out?"
Yang Tiansheng jovially waved him over, "Brother, let’s face the music and watch the drama together."
Li Jincheng: ...
The two moved a pair of small stools over in silence and lined them up at the stern.
After looking left and right, Yang Ge said, "My practice did indeed encounter a bit of an issue, but it’s not the kind you’re thinking of. It’s that my martial arts have been progressing too fast, and my mindset became a bit inflated. There’s no need to worry too much, I’m well aware of it and have been adjusting..."
Unable to smile, Yang Tiansheng pointed at Yang Ge and said to Li Jincheng, "Listen to this, does this sound like something a person would say?"
Li Jincheng rolled his eyes, "Do you think I’m qualified to comment on his martial arts?"
Xiang Wudi stared at Yang Ge’s fishing rod and mused for a moment before suddenly asking, "Big Brother, the martial arts world is abuzz with rumors that you’re one step into the Grandmaster Realm. Is what you’re experiencing now... the mystery of the Grandmaster?"
Yang Ge: "The Grandmaster’s mystery? What do you mean?"
Xiang Wudi looked at Yang Tiansheng, "You’re more articulate, you explain."
Yang Tiansheng thought for a moment and said, "The older generation did have a concept of the ’Grandmaster’s mystery,’ but my father seemed to think it was all nonsense... that is to say, grandmasters first have a path and then a realm. Since there are true and false, real and illusory paths, some isolate themselves trying to figure it out, thinking they have found the way, only to get trapped in a false path from which they can’t escape. This was known as the Grandmaster’s mystery. Indeed, there were some supreme masters who, after discovering the path, traveled the world to learn from the perspectives of other grandmasters, refining their own."
Xiang Wudi nodded, "That’s the idea."
Li Jincheng contributed heavily, "My father was pretty much defeated at this juncture..."
Looking around, Yang Ge then said to Yang Tiansheng, "That makes sense, doesn’t it? Why would Uncle Yang say it’s nonsense?"
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Yang Tiansheng looked at Li Jincheng but said nothing.
Li Jincheng lifted his head, "Speak your mind, fart if you must; my father doesn’t care about this, what’s there to hide?"
Only then did Yang Tiansheng speak, "My father said, any truly supreme master capable of reaching the Grandmaster Realm would be crystal clear about their own way, so where would the mystery of the Grandmaster come from? Those who get trapped by the Grandmaster’s mystery are fools who have no hope of understanding the Grandmaster’s way and end up driving themselves insane with delusions. So, this whole Grandmaster’s mystery is complete rubbish!"
Li Jincheng looked at Yang Tiansheng, pursed his lips, and held his tongue.
After a moment of contemplation, Yang Ge nodded, "Uncle Yang has a point!"
Xiang Wudi sized up Yang Ge and asked, "So what’s going on with you then?"
Yang Ge shook his head, "I’m not puzzled about the Grandmaster Realm, I have no doubts about my own path. It’s purely that my own grandmaster’s path... is a bit too fierce, and my foundation can’t quite keep up. After I strike through Dongying, I should be able to make up for what’s lacking in my foundation!"
Li Jincheng sneered with a venomous tongue, "Tch, that’s what my dad said back in the day too. And what happened?"
Yang Tiansheng also nodded in agreement, "Indeed, you can’t be too full of yourself. I even think I’m the best in the world, so does that make me truly the best? You’ll only know if it’s a mule or a horse when you take it out for a walk!"
Xiang Wudi hesitated slightly and said in a low voice, looking at the brothers who couldn’t stand seeing Yang Ge do well, "Have you two forgotten? Second brother has already killed a peerless grandmaster..."
Li Jincheng:...
Yang Tiansheng exploded, "Didn’t you say you had a speech impediment?"
Yang Ge: "Hahaha... Otherwise, why would Xiang be known as the gun prodigy? Just look at how unique his vision is, unlike you two mutts who can’t recognize gold and jade, completely oblivious to Mount Tai right in front of you!"
This time, the three fell silent, wishing for a bolt from the blue to strike down this smug troublemaker.
With great confidence, Yang Ge patted Yang Tiansheng and Li Jincheng on the shoulders, "Don’t worry, once I’ve conquered Dongying, I’ll immediately demonstrate becoming a grandmaster right on the spot for you guys to see. In the future, when you boast to others, you can thump your chests and say ’I’ve witnessed a peerless grandmaster break through the realm!’"
Before the brothers could retort, he continued, "As for why I haven’t made any detailed and comprehensive combat plans for this trip, it’s not that I’m arrogant or underestimating the enemy, but rather that there’s simply no strategic room to maneuver."
"We’re unfamiliar with the terrain in Dongying, we don’t know the people, and we’ve only got seventy-two men. If we were to methodically and securely engage in combat with the headmen and chiefs of Dongying, that would be playing to their strengths and our weaknesses."
"Better to just get it over with quickly: see a city in Dongying, plunder it, and then move on. If we can beat them, we fight; if we can’t, we run! Our main approach is to be as swift as the wind, audacious, and unpredictable..."
"Only this way can we maximize our advantage of fighting in unfamiliar territory and turn their home-field advantage into a burden for them."
After hearing his explanation, the three let out a long sigh, as if they had been relieved of a heavy load.
"As long as you’ve got some consideration in your head, that’s good..."
Yang Tiansheng looked up nonchalantly at the declining sun, "I’m just afraid you’d get lost in your own fervor without realizing it. As long as you’ve got some strategy, I’m willing to wade through fire and sword with you!"
Li Jincheng glanced at him disdainfully and said persistently, "Do you really think that just by conquering Dongying, you’ll become a grandmaster? You’re not delusional, are you? Let me tell you, the enigma of the Grandmaster Realm is exactly like this: feeling invincible and all-powerful until you face a setback and deflate like a punctured pufferfish, quickly reverting back to your original form..."
"Tch!"
Yang Ge looked at him with a disdainful side-eye, "You think I’m like your dad?"
Li Jincheng leaped up in fury, "You cur, taking advantage of me..."
"I’ve got a bite, I’ve got a bite!"
Yang Ge quickly put out a hand to block him, "Don’t scare my fish..."
While blocking the furious Li Jincheng with one hand, he used the other to grip the fishing rod and jerk it upwards with force.
"Snap."
The fishing line broke, and taken by surprise, Yang Ge toppled over from his little stool and landed on the ground with a thud.
The three spectators burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sight.
Just as the three were cackling with laughter, a head the size of a water tank emerged from the sea’s surface and spat a mouthful of water at the four people at the stern.
"Damn it, I don’t have to put up with this!"
Enraged, Yang Ge stood up, stripped off his clothes in two swift moves, and dove into the water.
Yang Tiansheng:...
Li Jincheng:...
Xiang Wudi:...
After a series of waves churned under the sea, Yang Ge surged out of the water bare-chested, carrying a shark over three meters long struggling violently, and laughed heartily like a child weighing over a hundred pounds, "Zhang, Zhang, come quick, we’ve got a big one! Extra food for everyone tonight... damn it, do you think I’d let you get away with this?"
Xiang Wudi, looking up at Yang Ge who was laughing foolishly in midair, nudged Li Jincheng secretly, "Does he look like your dad?"