Hidden moth

Chapter 189 Everyone has a naive youth

When Gu Chun was a teenager, means of communication were not as advanced as they are today. He had never even seen a telephone before he started practicing.

The county town had a hand-cranked landline telephone, and the township government also had one, with a dedicated operator on duty. But their village still had no telephone, and there was no road access at the time, so information exchange was extremely difficult.

He met his master while he was cutting firewood in the mountains. The master claimed to have been injured while traveling in the mountains to collect herbs. The master was a Dan Ding sect sorcerer named Huang Wanyu. After Huang rescued him and brought him back to the village, he took him in as a disciple and taught him the art of Dan Ding.

Not long after Gu Chun broke through to the second level of cultivation, Master Huang Wanyu passed away. If you look at this experience, it is a bit like Wu Yanjun.

Unlike Wu Yanjun, Gu Chun's master Huang Wanyu was not dismissed. Theoretically, he was a formal disciple of the sect and could have been reported to the sect to be included in the genealogy, but the master did not have time to do so.

Huang Wanyu's own cultivation level wasn't very high, only at the third level, and he didn't have time to tell Gu Chun more. Fortunately, his master taught him the complete formula, and Gu Chun continued to practice until he broke through to the fourth level.

Then he felt the call from the cave heaven and traveled thousands of miles to find the location of Fengwei Township. Before he entered the cave heaven, he was discovered by the clan hall. The person in charge of testing him was the elder of Xinpanmen, whose surname was He and his name was Kuanzhong.

Elder He personally went to Gu Chun's hometown, inquired about many things about his life from childhood to adulthood, and verified in detail the process of his apprenticeship and practice of magic... He brought Gu Chun with him all the way.

Gu Chun had such a good opportunity, so of course he would ask Elder He all kinds of questions, and his attitude was very respectful. Later, Elder He asked him - would you be willing to become his disciple?
Of course Gu Chun wanted it more than ever.

Some time passed after becoming his disciple, and Gu Chun finally realized that the reason Elder He was willing to spend so much time on him was because he had long taken a fancy to him.

As for the reason, it is nothing more than admiration for his character and talent.

If you only hear the above experience, you might think that Gu Chun is just a rural boy from a poor and backward area, but the truth is that he is an elite of that era.

Gu Chun started school much later than He Kao, entering first grade at the age of ten. What had he done earlier? It wasn't that he didn't want to, but his village hadn't had a formal school before!
He was one of the first children in that village to receive formal modern education. He went to primary school at the age of ten, middle school at the age of fifteen, and university at the age of twenty-one. He went to study in a big city thousands of miles away from home.

At that time, primary school was a five-year program, and university was also a five-year program.

Gu Chun broke through to the fourth level of cultivation in his junior year of college, and he set out for Fengwei Township to look for the Immortal Pot Cave Heaven during the summer vacation of his junior year. He happened to meet He Kuanzhong, the elder on duty at the clan hall.

He Kao had to react after hearing this. He exclaimed, "Did you also go to college?"

Gu Chun touched his chin and said, "I am the first college student in the history of the whole area, and the only one in our production brigade."

He Kao asked with some confusion: "Bachelor's degree or associate degree?"

Gu Chun's face darkened slightly as he said, "Of course it's a bachelor's degree!"

He Kao exclaimed, "A rare talent!" He didn't mean to exaggerate on purpose, and his words were not meant to be flattery.

Nowadays, if you only have a bachelor's degree, it is basically a valuable thing per capita. But more than 60 years ago, in the rural areas of the East, which had not yet entered industrialization, it was rare for children born and raised in ordinary peasant families to graduate from university.

After saying so much, Gu Chun just wanted to tell He Kao that for a disciple of a sect of magic to change to study secret techniques is a bit like changing majors when being admitted to a university.

Changing the technique to practice is not uncommon. The most common situation is this: for example, someone is unable to get started in the art of spiritual intuition, and the elders see that he has good aptitude and suggest that he change to the art of observing the body.

However, it is rare to find someone like Gu Chun who has already started practicing and even become a high-level sorcerer. However, Elder He Kuanzhong of the Xinpan Sect is optimistic about him and personally accepted him as a disciple, allowing him to join the Xinpan Sect.

There are two reasons why Elder He's operation was so smooth.

One is that Master Huang, who taught Gu Chun the art of Dan Ding, has passed away. Before his death, he did not formally report the art to the sect and included Gu Chun in the list of Dan Ding sect disciples.

Secondly, Elder He was also willing to accept a disciple, so he had already taken the initiative. If Gu Chun joined the Danding Sect, there would definitely be other elders willing to accept him as a disciple. He would be a highly sought-after talent.

Ye Liangcheng’s current situation also meets these two conditions.

But no one would compete with He Kao for Ye Liangcheng. Given He Kao's age and cultivation level, according to the unspoken rules of the sect, it was not appropriate for him to accept Ye Liangcheng as his disciple. However, he could claim to be the master's successor and accept Ye Liangcheng as his junior brother.

Then the only question left is whether it is appropriate to modify the technique?
Under normal circumstances, if you have already mastered a technique, there is no need to go through all this trouble; continuing to practice is the best option.

If you were to retrain, it would be like climbing halfway up a mountain and then returning to the foot of the mountain, choosing a new path to continue climbing. Of course, this analogy isn't quite right, because even if you retrain, your existing cultivation level remains.

However, it is not uncommon for disciples of a sect to study magic concurrently, just like a minor course in a university. For example, an engineering student can also take a minor in economic principles, art appreciation, etc., so Elder Gu used the university situation as an analogy.

For example, how to take the exam, he is a sorcerer of Yin E Sect, and he also studied the medicine identification technique of Dan Ding Sect, the object identification technique of Ru Wei Sect, the Ren Di Ban Xing technique of Xin Pan Sect, etc. These applied techniques are equivalent to minor courses,

There is another situation which is relatively rare, which is to study the fundamental techniques concurrently. That is equivalent to minoring in the entire major, and you may even be able to get a double degree or something.

Practicing another fundamental technique concurrently is usually done after breaking through the fourth level, in order to better comprehend the true meaning of the technique and broaden one's horizons, especially when one's cultivation has been unable to make further progress.

If one has achieved a breakthrough to the sixth level and become a clan elder, they effectively possess the complete inheritance of all major schools. They can also cultivate multiple schools, drawing on the strengths of various schools. This is like walking sideways halfway up a mountain, connecting the various paths. Gu Chun clearly wasn't in this situation back then. He essentially switched majors, replacing his minor with his major, and began cultivating the Heart Plate Technique from scratch until he reached the sixth level.

Ye Liangcheng could do the same. For now, he could continue to cultivate the subtle technique, first striving for perfection at the third level, and then study various applied techniques to make up for the loss. After he breaks through to the fourth level, He Kao could teach him the hidden moth technique based on his condition.

By then, he will be practicing the Hidden Moth Technique at the fourth level of cultivation. Another advantage is that no matter whether he succeeds or not, he can avoid many unexpected situations.

No matter which technique it is, if it is not practiced correctly, unexpected situations may occur. Sometimes, even if the practice is done correctly, some strange situations may appear to ordinary people.

When practicing the right method, for example, Wei Luo would often get lost when practicing the art of Tianji.

In the case of improper cultivation, for example, a first-level stealth cultivator from the Hidden Moth Sect needs to be promoted to a second-level assassin within a month, otherwise he may suffer from personality dissociation, become increasingly emotionally indifferent, and even forget to cultivate.

This is determined by the entry-level mental method of the Hidden Moth Technique. Forgetting to practice is secondary. Emotions accompanied by the fading of self-awareness will also lead to indifference towards various people and things, which is not good.

Because of this concern, although He Kao wanted to teach Gao Xue'e the art of hiding moths, he had been letting her practice auxiliary methods for building the foundation, and had been reluctant to teach her the introductory method, hoping to lay a good foundation first.

If a high-level sorcerer also practices the art of concealment, this disadvantage will be much smaller. Even if he fails to master it, the impact will not be great, which is somewhat of an advantage.

Gu Chun continued to use his divine thoughts to explain this aspect of the problem. He Kao himself was only a third-level sorcerer, so he couldn't explain more profound mysteries.

He Kao sighed, "You used the university major as an example, but changing majors is not that easy!"

Gu Chun kicked out a stream of water and said, "Though rare, it does happen. As the saying goes, a master of many trades. After I went to college, I changed my major."

He Kao: "Oh, what major do you always change from?"

Gu Chun: "I originally applied for physical education as my major, but later changed it to mathematics."

"Ah——?" He Kao was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

It's no wonder that he was so surprised. If changing from materials major to civil engineering major is not a problem, changing from literature major to history major is not too difficult either.

But changing from physical education to mathematics is such an astronomical leap.

After Elder Jinggu's explanation, He Kao realized that this was a difference in cognition, because the situation back then was completely different from now.

When Elder Gu took the college entrance exam, he had never heard of the concept of extra points for sports. He applied to a key normal university, which was jokingly called the "eating university" because it was said that the food allowance was good.

His scores were fine, so he could choose any major. His sports scores were also acceptable, so he chose the sports major himself.

But after studying for a while, he found this major difficult, so he applied for a transfer. Why was it difficult? Because the amount of exercise was so intense, and his nutrition wasn't keeping up. He always felt hungry.

At that time, attending Normal University was free, and the school also provided a meal allowance. But with Gu Chun's appetite, that meal allowance wasn't enough, and given his family's financial situation, he obviously didn't have the money to contribute more.

So he applied to the school to change his major. The leaders understood his situation and did not make things difficult for him, so they transferred him from the Department of Physical Education to the Department of Mathematics.

At that time, a teacher also told Gu Chun: "Mathematics is good, and it can be used in everything. Even if you can't be a scientist, you can be an engineer..."

This should have been a sympathetic story, but for some reason, He Kao wanted to laugh. He didn't dare laugh, but instead asked curiously, "Why did you choose physical education when you applied for college?"

Gu Chun's explanation almost made He Kao burst into tears.

When Gu Chun went to college, he was already considered the most educated person in his village, but his understanding of modern university education was still very vague, and his knowledge of the art was also very limited.

He was also wondering if he could continue studying magic in college.

At university, they could teach anything! With so many majors, which one could possibly teach magic? Of course, it would be sports!
Gu Chun's master had been dead for several years by then, and his injuries had never fully healed. Something had gone wrong while his master was practicing Qigong to heal his injuries, and the injuries had worsened very suddenly, leaving him no time to explain much.

Gu Chun had reached the second level of cultivation when he first entered university, so his physique was certainly no problem. However, he didn't have the same favorable conditions as He Kao. Without the aid of various elixirs, he couldn't even get enough to eat in those days, and the salary at the Normal University was already quite good.

If he continued to practice in the village, he could still find a way to go to the mountains to collect herbs and hunt, but how could he do that in college? It really felt like studying physical education wasn't giving him enough nutrition. He was so hungry every day.

More importantly, after arriving at university, he was disappointed to learn that university physical education classes did not teach magic at all!
When he told Elder He about this experience, Elder He burst out laughing. After all, He Kao was a junior and couldn't be presumptuous, so he had a hard time holding back his laughter.

Everyone has their youthful and ignorant years, even Elder Gu. He Kao recalled many embarrassing moments from his childhood, and now he felt less ashamed.

**
(End of this chapter)