The punchline of
欲练神功，
必先自宫, the line popularly quoted as the first words of the
葵花宝典 in
金庸's 《
笑傲江湖》.
自宫 is 'to castrate oneself', after
宫刑, the old punishment of castration. Online it is a joke about any painful price paid before success, and people extend it with their own lines, such as
即使自宫，
未必成功 'and even then you may not succeed'.
