In Yan Hai's five years of teaching, Jiang Yifan's aptitude could be ranked among the very best, but his effort was merely average.
Yan Hai listened as Jiang Yifan listed his own flaws. Finally, Yan Hai offered his conclusion.
"Your summary of your own problems is on the right track, but it's incomplete. Your biggest problem is a lack of self-awareness."
Yan Hai paused for a moment, then continued speaking to the perplexed Jiang Yifan.
"You're too proud!"
The words struck Jiang Yifan's heart like a volley of sharp, unforgiving arrows.
Jiang Yifan was stunned!
Mr. Yan continued, "You think you're very talented, and that's given rise to a series of problems.
First, your training intensity is insufficient. This month, your progress in stance training is far behind Yu Fei's."
"Yu Fei, how often do you practice your stance training!"
Mr. Yan had turned to Yu Fei suddenly. His gaze was incredibly sharp; in his estimation, Jiang Yifan should have completed the skin-refining stage by now, but in reality, he hadn't.
The fact that Yu Fei had managed to catch up to Jiang Yifan meant he must have been putting in the work secretly.
"Me?"
Yu Fei thought for a moment and decided not to hide anything. After all, his progress wouldn't have been possible without the medicinal support from Mr. Yan.
"I practice once a day. Any more and my body can't take it!"
"And what about you, Jiang Yifan?"
Jiang Yifan's face flushed red. He did a quick mental calculation and realized he only practiced three times a week. With the medicinal support, practicing every two days should have been the bare minimum.
"Three times a week!"
His voice was subdued.
"That's why I said your training intensity is insufficient. You think you're so talented you can slack off occasionally and still surpass others.
You might not think so consciously, but your actions reveal that's what you believe subconsciously."
Mr. Yan's words were harsh. From his perspective, if Jiang Yifan couldn't withstand this psychological blow, there was no point in investing in him any further.
"The second problem is that you're too emotional. In both of your sparring matches, you were affected by Yu Fei's little tricks every time, which led you to make poor decisions.
A Martial Artist, no matter the predicament, must always remain rational!
Understand?"
Jiang Yifan didn't speak, just shot a glance at Yu Fei.
Meanwhile, Yu Fei looked up at the sky, jiggling his leg with an expression of pure innocence.
Seeing Yu Fei's infuriatingly smug act, Jiang Yifan's anger flared instantly.
Controlling one's emotions is easier said than done. When truly tested, few people have such restraint.
Mr. Yan sighed softly and quickly gave Yu Fei a rap on the head.
"You, knock it off!"
Yu Fei instantly grimaced, clutching his head as he crouched on the ground.
"Ow, that hurt!"
Seeing Yu Fei get smacked made Jiang Yifan feel inexplicably better.
"Now for the last problem. In my opinion, Yu Fei's talent is even better than yours!"
Jiang Yifan was in disbelief!
Mr. Yan looked straight at him and said,
"Putting cultivation aside for a moment, in combat, do you find it very difficult to land an effective attack on Yu Fei?"
Jiang Yifan nodded dazedly, looking like a complete fool.
"In your first sparring match last month, you didn't manage to touch Yu Fei even once. In this match, you didn't land a single effective attack. Do you think that's normal?"
Recalling every detail of the fight, Jiang Yifan realized it was true. His attacks had either barely missed or been blocked.
Conversely, Yu Fei's punches landed with unerring accuracy. More often than not, it was as if Jiang Yifan himself was running straight into them.
Seeing the contemplative Jiang Yifan, Mr. Yan glanced at Yu Fei and continued,
"I suspect Yu Fei's talent leans towards combat. His reaction speed is far beyond that of an ordinary person.
This means that in a fight, unless you far surpass him in some aspect and hold an absolute advantage, you cannot win."
Yu Fei felt a twinge of apprehension as he crouched on the ground.
'Mr. Yan can see through me that easily?'
He immediately jumped to his feet. "No! I don't have any talent, I'm just an ordinary person!"
Mr. Yan waved his hand. "Don't be so quick to deny it. Having talent is a good thing! A good talent makes the path of martial arts easier to walk!"
"Didn't you say willpower is the most important thing?"
"Yes, willpower is still the most important. A person's talent is decided the day they are born and cannot be changed. But willpower... willpower has no limits."
Mr. Yan said this with deep emotion, his tone almost reverent, as if on a pilgrimage.
Yu Fei glanced at the Fate-Defying Pearl.
"Right, right, right! You're absolutely right. Talent really can't be changed!"
Mr. Yan ignored him.
"Jiang Yifan, the reason you can't control your emotions is that, in your subconscious, you believe Yu Fei is inferior to you. You lost to someone you consider lesser, and that is why you're angry.
But if you ask me, Yu Fei has always been stronger than you. Why should you be angry about losing to someone stronger?"
Jiang Yifan stood frozen on the spot, as if struck by lightning!
"Impossible!"
"There's nothing impossible about it."
Mr. Yan pinched Yu Fei's cheek.
"His skin-refining progress is no worse than yours, his progress with the Single-Line Thrust Style is greater than yours, and his combat talent is far superior. More importantly, Yu Fei works much harder than you! With all that, what makes you think you're stronger than him?!"
Mr. Yan was utterly merciless, his sharp words like a scalpel, dissecting Jiang Yifan and exposing his innermost feelings to the harsh light of day.
Jiang Yifan's conviction was completely shattered.
"Jiang Yifan, you need to develop a correct self-perception. A Martial Artist's greatest opponent is always themselves. Don't get angry just because you're comparing yourself to others.
Tianning County is just a county in a remote province. The world is full of countless geniuses. There are people who, upon first encountering martial arts, achieve skin-refining in a single day and break through the five gates in a month.
Compared to them, what do you, Jiang Yifan, have to be proud of?"
"Skin-refining in a day, breaking through the five gates in a month..." Jiang Yifan muttered to himself, feeling like a toad in a well!
Meanwhile, Yu Fei was completely unfazed, and even felt the urge to pull out his phone and take a picture of Mr. Jiang.
Mr. Yan suddenly felt a headache coming on.
He had to admit he had misjudged Yu Fei.
He had devoted some of his attention to observing Yu Fei during martial arts class this month, but the more he watched, the more troublesome he found him to be.
Yu Fei was hard to read. He had his own unique perspective on the world, was intensely individualistic, and couldn't care less about others' opinions. On top of that, his martial arts talent was an extremely dangerous, combat-oriented type.
This also meant Yu Fei was his own man, and others would have a hard time changing him.
"Yu Fei, you tell me your problems!"
"Me? I'm too weak. I'm sorry, Mr. Yan. I failed to achieve skin-refining in a day and break through the five gates in a month. I've failed to live up to your high expectations!"
"Oh, cut it out. Fine, I'll just say it. Your problem is blind confidence, bordering on arrogance. Don't think I haven't noticed. You're dismissive of the martial experience I talk about, especially when I mention the importance of a martial artist's will.
I just don't understand where a martial arts beginner like you gets so much confidence.
This is something you absolutely must change. A Martial Artist still needs to have a sense of reverence!"
Yu Fei instantly snapped to attention and said gravely, "Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Yan is right!"
Mr. Yan's temples throbbed. He had a strong suspicion that Yu Fei was treating his words as nothing more than hot air, but he couldn't prove it.
"The two of you will continue your monthly sparring sessions. Any problem with that?"
"No," they both replied.
Though Jiang Yifan's voice was subdued.
'I should probably let the little bro win a little next time,' Yu Fei mused. 'If Jiang Yifan loses his drive, I'll lose my best mark.'
"Alright. Today, we're going to learn something new."
In Mr. Yan's view, the two of them were no longer suited to practicing with the main group. They had both reached a certain level with the Single-Line Thrust Style; it was time to learn a new fist routine.
"The two of you will learn the second routine of the Six Harmonies Killing Fist from me today."
"Yin Stream Shattered Jade!"