“I’ve been pondering the path of martial masters and the purpose for our existence!” Hong Yitang chuckled when he looked at He Yong. “I once read an ancient book that spoke of heroes acting bravely for the sake of righteousness, that they championed the cause of justice and redressed wrongdoings for people and nation. I treated it as a joke and felt that was quite an exaggeration. How can martial artists be heroes?1

“What are heroes? They punish evil, support the weak, redress wrongdoings, act boldly for a just cause, and are concerned about the people and nation. Those are heroes! What heroes are there in the modern martial world? We’re just a bunch of martial blockheads obsessed with increasing their own strength at any cost!1

“You are, I am, Yuan Shuo is, and so is everyone else!0

“I paged through the ancient book again these years and came to some different thoughts. Perhaps these thoughts are immature or idealized, but I’ve been thinking about what the purpose of growing stronger is. Is it to gain eternal life? Be at peace with the world? Hold...0