Doomsday Code

Chapter 785: The best and worst times for ancient martial arts

"According to you, Grandmasters are inhuman beings. They possess such powerful strength, so why has no one ever heard of them? Don't tell me that Zhang Sanfeng is the only Grandmaster."

Hearing Chen Cheng's question, Ying Ye looked at Chen Cheng with a strange look, thinking to himself, aren't you the master yourself? Don't you know whether you are a non-human being?

Of course, Master Ying couldn't argue with Chen Cheng here, so he started to explain:

"There are certainly more than just Master Zhang in history, and the number of masters has increased in modern times. Within our sect alone, there are more than eight such masters."

"But as I said before, we warriors are not supermen. What we practice is the control and use of our own strength, not the illusory cultivation of immortality.

So even a master like Zhang Zhenren would still lose arms and legs if he was hit by a knife, and being shot by an arrow would leave a bloody hole. If he is not treated in time and the bleeding is not stopped and disinfected, he will die from excessive blood loss and tetanus.

"And this was in ancient times. In modern times, especially after Minié bullets were used as firearm bullets, as long as dozens of musketeers lined up to shoot him, even if Master Zhang were resurrected, he would not be able to escape the simultaneous fire of so many people."

"For example, back then, Grandmaster Cheng Bagua, he had reached the point where he could sense the coming of autumn even before the cicadas started to stir.

Even if he could easily kill a dozen foreign gunmen, he would still die at the hands of the entire foreign gun team in the end."

"Moreover, practicing martial arts is not just about eating and drinking northwest wind like what is shown on TV. Modern young people have to eat a lot of high-nutrition food and drink various supplements to keep fit.

The same is true when we practice martial arts, and the energy consumption is actually more terrifying than fitness, so there has been a saying since ancient times that those who are poor in literature are good at martial arts.

Because martial arts training requires a large amount of food such as meat, eggs, milk, and precious Chinese herbal medicines for energy replenishment, in the ancient times when social productivity was low, it would take hundreds of years to produce a true master.

In modern times, after the Industrial Revolution, social productivity increased greatly, which actually helped the development of martial arts. Therefore, during that turbulent century, many true masters emerged.

But times have changed. This is no longer the ancient times when physical force was used to show off one's strength, but the modern times when guns and cannons are used to sweep the land.

So all the martial arts you see have changed from killing techniques to morning exercises for grandpas and aunts in the park.

This is not a regression of the times, but an advancement of the times. It is too easy to defeat a master. With an ordinary gun and a few months of training, you can easily deal with warriors below the grandmaster level.

Coupled with the constraints of national laws, martial arts are actually heading towards decline, but martial arts are ushering in their best era. "

As Mr. Ying was talking, the topic went a little off track.

In fact, the words that followed were also what was in his heart. He was a warrior who had experienced the alternation of the old and new eras. He had witnessed the decline of traditional martial arts due to the large-scale emergence of firearms, and he had also witnessed the surge of martial arts under the social productivity of the new era.

Chen Cheng looked at Ying Ye. Seeing that his old face had lost its previous sharpness and revealed its old age, he patted Ying Ye's shoulder and said:

"That's already good."

Master Ying came back to his senses and said to Chen Cheng with an awkward smile:

"I'm sorry, Senior. I lost my composure a little bit just now. However, our ancient martial arts are able to produce a young master like you. I believe that you can continue on the path of martial arts in this new era."

However, Chen Cheng shook his head and said:

“I told you, I’m not a warrior, so you might be disappointed.

And in my opinion, it’s actually pretty good the way it is now.

I think the emergence of ancient martial arts was a way for our ancestors to fight against the beasts and enemies living in the jungle. It is the physical embodiment of our ancestors' strength and wisdom.

But now our civilization has entered the next chapter. We have broken through the limits of physical strength, used our wisdom to create guns and cannons, and then we have conquered all creatures in nature.

Therefore, the ancient martial arts of fighting are already a thing of the past. Its better future is to be used as a fitness exercise for grandpas and aunts in parks to exercise their bodies.

This is just like our ancient swords. When they are unearthed today, they are not used to kill people, but to be placed in museums as a testimony to civilization."

After hearing what Chen Cheng said, Master Ying was slightly stunned, then he smiled bitterly and said:

"Perhaps what the senior said is right. This era no longer needs warriors fighting."

Chen Cheng drank the last sip of tea from the cup in front of him, then put it down and said:

"That's all. I might have to bother you for a few more days."

Master Ying said repeatedly:

"No need to bother. Perhaps you could come visit my school and take some of the martial arts lessons we teach."

"Oh, do you guys in martial arts classes actually teach real stuff?"

As soon as Chen Cheng said this, the atmosphere became awkward.

"Sorry, that's not what I meant. It's just that isn't it said that sects like yours take their inheritance very seriously?"

Master Ying smiled and said:

"In fact, in this day and age, there is no such thing as a secret inheritance. Even the secret manuals of our respective martial arts can be searched online, and the content is absolutely true and detailed.

But now is not the ancient times. The times are changing. Practicing martial arts is not only hard work and requires a large initial investment, but even after you have acquired the skills, you won’t make much money.

So what we teach here are all genuine ancient martial arts, but the requirements are not as strict as those for disciples who become apprentices within a sect."

After hearing this, Chen Cheng nodded and said:

"Okay, I'll go to class."

Because according to Ying Ye's detailed explanation, Chen Cheng also had a certain understanding of ancient martial arts.

In his opinion, ancient martial arts is actually the application of a skill, which is a technique that a group of people have used all their wisdom to research and develop to make the ultimate use of their own strength.

Because there is no supernatural power in this world, when physical strength cannot be broken through, skills become the only direction of development.

And this is what Chen Cheng lacks.

Compared to Blue Star, the Cammack continent where he lives is a world of power. Because of the existence of extraordinary powers, the crushing of pure realm power can occur, so the development of skills is very shallow and close to non-existent.

If he could combine the two, Chen Cheng believed that his strength would definitely experience explosive growth.

It is still unknown what the mission of becoming a god is, but Chen Cheng believes that it is absolutely right to learn skills and improve his own strength.

Chen Cheng took a long breath and then said:

"I won't bother you any more. Let someone take me to my room."

At this moment, Master Ying was still not over what Chen Cheng had said before, that the era of ancient martial arts was over.

Because in his opinion, Chen Cheng is a true martial arts master, and for such a young master to say that martial arts has reached its end is something that he, a person who has practiced martial arts all his life, cannot easily accept.

"Okay, senior. I'm having some emotional issues right now. I'll let my disciple entertain you."

As he said that, he took out his cell phone and sent a text message. Soon, a middle-aged man knocked on the door.