C1 Don't Forget about the Human Nature!

"Wang Feng, wake up!" A thunderous shout jolted Wang Feng from his slumber, startling him. It must have been a figment of his imagination.

Struggling to open his eyes, Wang Feng continued to drift in and out of sleep until a bucket of ice water abruptly drenched him.

Now, Wang Feng was wide awake.

"Who's there?" he exclaimed, shivering from the icy chill that pierced his bones. As he scanned his surroundings, he noticed a group of people had gathered around him.

"Let's be honest, a loser like Wang Feng is just a surplus to requirements. He's the reason our class gets looked down upon," one of them sneered.

"Exactly. I can't fathom what Wang Feng did to make our homeroom teacher refuse to let him go. They say he's got talent, but he's nothing but an idiot," another chimed in.

"If I were Wang Feng, I'd be too ashamed to show my face. I'd rather bash my head against a wall and end it all. He's utterly useless."

The moment the words were out, the surrounding glares grew more hostile. Deep down, they all despised Wang Feng.

Without a word, Wang Feng remained silent. With his current lack of strength, he couldn't dare to speak up, forced to live with this indignity. There was no alternative. The bullies were merely teenagers, yet their words were laced with venom.

"Silence, all of you!" Ouyang, brandishing a pointer, descended from the stage with a commanding presence, silencing the crowd who now looked on with dread.

"Did I just travel through time?" Wang Feng pondered, massaging his temples, trying to piece together his whereabouts, but to no avail.

"Wang Feng, can you write the character for 'human'?" Instructor Ouyang asked, exuding an air of authority that made Wang Feng gulp.

"What? You think I can't write the character for 'human'? I'm not a fool. I learned that in elementary school. Are you really teaching teenagers how to write 'human'?" Wang Feng retorted, baffled by the absurdity.

He gazed at the crowd, perplexed by their sudden laughter. Hadn't he just stated the obvious?

"Is this some kind of psychiatric institution?" Wang Feng wondered, growing anxious as he watched his classmates laugh uncontrollably.

"Hey!"

Wang Feng suddenly felt a sharp tug on his leg. He yelped in pain, only to have his mouth swiftly covered. Looking closely, he recognized his deskmate.

"Wang Feng, what are you thinking, saying such things in public?" His deskmate's eyes conveyed a mix of disappointment and frustration, leaving Wang Feng utterly bewildered. What was he talking about? He couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"What are you on about? What's wrong with what I said? I only spoke the truth." Wang Feng felt as though he had landed on an alien planet, surrounded by oddballs who couldn't grasp his way of thinking.

"You've gone too far. Everyone knows how well Instructor Ouyang has treated you, nurturing you with care, and here you are, making such remarks. It's like you've slapped Instructor Ouyang in the face in front of everyone. And really, your claims are preposterous. Not even someone with a Ten Thousand Year Veiled Vein Physique would dare say such a thing." His deskmate's brows were furrowed in earnest concern, not a trace of humor to be found.

Instructor Ouyang was highly esteemed at the academy. Despite his strictness, he was a formidable teacher and treated everyone well, earning him the respect of all the students.

Wang Feng's deskmate might not have been particularly talented, but they were well-matched and considered friends. However, if Wang Feng continued to disrespect Teacher Ouyang like this, his deskmate would seriously contemplate ending their friendship.

"Veiled Vein Physique? What are you rambling about? The more I listen, the more confused I get!" Wang Feng's head was spinning. "Isn't it normal for people to learn to write the character for 'human' by the age of two or three?"

"You..." His deskmate sensed something was off with Wang Feng today, as if he were under some strange spell, and instinctively kept his distance.

"Three years old isn't an exaggeration, but to say that everyone can write the character for 'human' at that age? This guy must be really sick." The classmates stopped laughing and instead looked on with pity.

Wang Feng wouldn't have drawn such ire had he not spoken out, especially from Instructor Ouyang, who had always held high hopes for him. "Since you're so certain, come up here and demonstrate how to write the character for 'human'."

"Fine, I'll write it. I can write the character for 'human' and a million other scripts. You're all just a bunch of unenlightened yokels." Wang Feng grumbled to himself, eager to graduate and leave this torment behind, as he boldly stepped up to write the character under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

"Why are you staring at me? Keep writing. Do you think we're done here?" Instructor Ouyang had expected Wang Feng to come up with something creative, but it turned out he was overthinking it; Wang Feng still hadn't gotten it right.

"Teacher, I did write it! A downward stroke and a horizontal stroke – the character for 'person'." Wang Feng's expression was one of exasperation. If that wasn't enough, what did he expect? A flower? It seemed Instructor Ouyang wasn't quite reasonable.

"Are you questioning my abilities after all these years of teaching?" Instructor Ouyang was teetering on the edge of a breakdown and fury. "Write the character for 'person' properly!"

Instructor Ouyang's bellow startled Wang Feng, who had been brimming with confidence. Beyond this, he genuinely didn't know what else to write. Was it necessary to scrutinize him so intensely?

"Teacher, is there another way to write the character for 'person'? Like in oracle bone script?" Wang Feng asked tentatively, his chalk now damp with sweat.

"What oracle bone script? Soft bone script? The character for 'person' has been handed down since ancient times. There are countless ways to write it, but there's only one character. Not only can you not write it, but now you're trying to deceive your teacher, is that it?" Instructor Ouyang was so incensed he was nearly beside himself. How could Wang Feng be so dismissive of his earnest efforts?

"Isn't this how the character for 'person' is written? As a modern individual, am I expected to produce a fossil? It seems like he's deliberately making this difficult for me." Wang Feng pondered silently. Yet, considering Instructor Ouyang's demeanor and eloquence, he didn't seem to be nitpicking without reason, prompting Wang Feng to reconsider. "Could it be that the written language in this world I've crossed into is different from Earth's? But then why do we speak Mandarin?"

"Why have you started to zone out again? Can you write it or not?" Instructor Ouyang, seeing Wang Feng's bewildered expression, was tempted to slap some sense into him.

"Teacher, could you please write it one more time? I need to see exactly how it's written," Wang Feng requested, hoping to confirm his suspicions. He needed to know which world he was living in, and that meant understanding the writing.

"So you still don't know how to write it?" Instructor Ouyang was unaware that this Wang Feng was not the same one he knew before. He thought Wang Feng was just being disruptive, but he managed to contain his irritation and wrote the character on the board.

Instructor Ouyang's writing flowed swiftly across the board. His strokes were fluid and connected, reminiscent of cursive calligraphy, with the grace of dragons and serpents, yet they were clear and well-defined, free of unnecessary flourishes and with a distinct structure that lacked any overlapping lines.

He continued to write for a solid ten minutes.

Wang Feng stared at the large character on the blackboard, nearly choking on his own saliva. "Is that really the character for 'human'? How can that be?"

"What do you mean 'how can that be'? Have you been studying for so long that you've forgotten what the character for 'human' looks like?" Instructor Ouyang turned and fixed Wang Feng with a stern gaze. His patience was wearing thin, especially since Wang Feng had been particularly infuriating that day. "Can you write it or not?"

"Cough, cough," Wang Feng managed, his gaze fixed on the elegant character that he couldn't recognize. He coughed awkwardly, feeling embarrassed by his inability to replicate such a complex 'human' character, even with a model to trace. "Teacher, is there a simplified version?"

"The character for 'human' is fundamental. If you could just alter it on a whim, how could it still be considered the character for 'human'?" Instructor Ouyang felt at a loss for words, wondering why he had to address such a childish question. "A person who is incomplete cannot be represented by a character that is lacking. Don't always look for shortcuts. If you're going to write it, do it properly. Constantly trying to find loopholes won't do. Now, step down."

"Alright, thank you, Teacher!" Wang Feng replied, having no further objections. It seemed the world was far more complex than he had initially thought. After expressing his thanks once more, he slowly descended from the stage.

The other students in the room exchanged puzzled glances at Wang Feng's unexpected show of gratitude. Instructor Ouyang, equally perplexed, simply nodded and, as if possessed by some strange inspiration, began to elucidate the cultivation systems of the six ancient races: "Since ancient times, the gods, devils, buddhas, demons, ghosts, and humans have each had their own path of cultivation. Gods cultivate the soul, devils their incarnate forms, buddhas their indestructible bodies, demons their physical strength, ghosts the realm of space, but only humans cultivate their meridians. Have you ever pondered why that is?"

"Because we're human. If we don't cultivate our meridians, what else are we supposed to cultivate? This has been the tradition since ancient times!" one student blurted out.

"But by that logic, humans are individuals, and so are demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters. They're all the same," another student quietly raised his hand and murmured.

"So, you're saying you want to cultivate the powers of gods, devils, demons, and ghosts? That's outright treason!" This clearly crossed a line for the passionate young humans, who immediately lashed out in anger.

"It's not that drastic. It's just a different system of cultivation. We could potentially cultivate those powers, right? Maybe the results would even be better than working on our meridians. Without trying, how can we compare?" a student speculated, his eyes gleaming with possibility.

As the conversation unfolded, other students who were skeptical about meridian cultivation began sharing their thoughts.

"Exactly. The six races of gods, devils, demons, ghosts, and monsters have all been cultivating since the ancient times. But when you compare it to the other five races, our progress in cultivating meridians is not only slow but also incredibly hard to advance. It's both exhausting and thankless. Wouldn't it be better to adopt the simpler and faster cultivation methods of the other five races?"

"Absolutely! Each of the other five races has elders seated in the Holy City, but our human race doesn't have a single representative. What will we do if a dispute arises? We'd be left with no choice but to be hunted down and exterminated, right? Why not start cultivating the powers of the other five races now? Eventually, we could rule the whole world, and no other race would be able to stand against us."

"I couldn't agree more! It's time to update those old-fashioned views. With so many of us in agreement, we should at least give it a shot. There might be some surprising benefits."

"Why aren't we focusing on cultivating our own meridians? If we fail, we'll be neither here nor there. How will the other five races mock us then?"

"…" Wang Feng listened to his classmates' debate, feeling utterly bewildered. What was this madness about demons and ghosts? Could this be the Martial Continent?

The human race was in a precarious state, teetering on the brink of extinction. Many had lost faith in their own cultivation system, yearning instead to master the more formidable systems of the gods, demons, buddhas, spirits, and ghosts.

"Everyone, halt," commanded Instructor Ouyang, rising abruptly and slamming his hand on the table, a look of sorrow etched on his face. "We're here to discuss the opening of our meridians, yet you're extolling the virtues of the gods, demons, buddhas, spirits, and ghosts. We humans should focus on cultivating our meridians. Let's not chase after impractical fantasies. If we don't respect our own meridian cultivation, how can we possibly cultivate it successfully?"

In the face of Instructor Ouyang's wrath, the previously boisterous students fell silent. Still, some remained defiant. "It's a well-known fact that the human race's meridian cultivation is weak. What's wrong with incorporating the essence of the other five clans to enhance our cultivation?"

Instructor Ouyang shot a stern look at the dissenting student, his expression darkening. "I realize some might label me a stubborn old-timer, clinging to outdated traditions, but I must emphasize this: Humans must not forget their origins! Our race once reigned supreme over the other five clans, the sovereign of all six. Yes, there was a disruption in the middle ages, and our cultivation system lost its most vital component. That's precisely why we must cultivate our meridians, to restore what was lost. Only then can we reclaim the ancient splendor of the human race!"

"But Instructor, you're talking about the past," the student persisted, unwilling to concede. "Can't we ascend to the pinnacle using different methods? And are the old ways truly effective after all this time?"

Instructor Ouyang, undeterred by the challenge, ignored the student and proceeded with his lesson. "Humanity is the foundation of all things, with martial arts qi as the core. Qi commands all, transforming matter into spirit. When spiritual qi enters the body, one must open the Veiled Vein. The form of the meridians can be represented by the character 'human.' Writing this character channels the qi to unlock the meridians, marking the commencement of true cultivation..."