Chapter Thirty-Four: Li Qi and I Are a Thirty-Seventy Split

In the past, it would have been difficult for him to find inner peace in such a noisy place. He would have needed to grip a blade, forcibly condensing his qi, blood, and spirit to focus solely on the weapon, just to achieve a fleeting moment of calm.

But now, as the foundation in his spiritual world became manifest, his spirit was no longer adrift. It had found an anchor, a stabilizing force. Although he had not yet unlocked the evolution of life, he had begun to display extraordinary traits. Many ancient biographies claim that a person with great determination can read in the midst of a bustling market; Li Qi now undoubtedly possessed a measure of this aura.

While the outside world remained clamorous, he was entirely unaffected, gathering his essence and spirit to nurture his vitality. In fact, many animals are naturally capable of this; a cat, for example, can sit quietly for an entire day, even in the middle of a noisy street. However, this is merely because most animals possess low intelligence and therefore have few stray thoughts. For a human, the higher the intelligence, the more numerous the distractions. To suppress them is what demonstrates true will and profound determination.

Li Qi lounged, basking in the sun, while elsewhere, countless eyes were fixed upon him, as if trying to discern some hidden secret. With his currently powerful spirit, keen mind, and the extraordinary gift of insight into reality, Li Qi was, in fact, highly sensitive to these gazes. If he chose to focus, he could easily sense exactly where they were coming from. Yet, he paid them no mind, treating these subtle disturbances as a form of training.

If one were to peer into the lake of his heart at this moment, they would see that while the external environment caused ripples to spread, his will remained clear and tranquil, observing the various changes in his spiritual world like a detached bystander. Life is a practice everywhere; although Li Qi had not yet reached the stage where every movement and moment was a form of cultivation, he was intentionally moving in that direction. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and with time and persistence, one will eventually achieve success.

However, Li Qi did not enjoy his leisure for long before someone approached him. It was Li Zheng.

During the past few days, Li Zheng had not attended the old man’s lectures on the blade. Given his situation, he had already learned all he could; deeper concepts were beyond his current grasp, and forcing himself to listen would have been a waste of time. Thus, he had spent the last few days visiting relatives.

Li Zheng’s mother was a daughter of a large family. While she belonged to a branch line, the family had a distinct characteristic: a vast number of siblings and cousins. If not for the mandatory clan martial trials, it was uncertain whether Li Zheng would have been able to return at all.

As for Li Qi’s mother, she was not from the local area. She had been "abducted" by Li’s father back in his youth when he went away to a university in another province. Because the distance was so great—even the fastest high-speed rail took two days—Li Qi’s family only visited his mother’s side of the family during summer vacation.

Li Qi’s parents, being legendary "salary thieves," both enjoyed summer and winter breaks. After they married, they first earned their teaching credentials and then, relying on family connections, secured positions as primary school teachers. Although the pay was meager—barely more than a base salary—the workload was minimal. They did not teach core subjects; instead, they both taught history, a very obscure elective in primary school. They only had two or three classes a week, and crucially, they didn't even take on many classes. Under normal circumstances, such people would have been fired long ago, but as the situation was far from normal, it could only be said that they were indeed "leaning against a big tree to enjoy the shade."

Li Zheng sat down in the empty seat next to Li Qi without ceremony. There were six empty seats around them, yet Li Zheng sat close enough that half his body leaned into Li Qi’s space. He began to reach out, pinching Li Qi’s arm through his clothes to test his tendons and bones.

Once the "Tiger Form" is mastered, one’s entire skeletal and muscular structure becomes fundamentally different from that of an ordinary person. There is a saying, "tiger’s back and bear’s waist," which describes a natural physical gift, but such a gift pales in comparison to the Tiger Form. Even though humanity itself has undergone millions of years of evolution, natural physical traits cannot truly compare to the crystallized wisdom of cultivation developed over thousands of years. After all, the earth has existed for billions of years, yet no one has ever seen a smartphone or computer evolve naturally. Once intelligence appears, it partially subverts the meaning of time.

"Impressive, truly impressive! With muscles and bones like these, if I were to fight you, the best I could hope for is a three-to-seven split!"

"In three seconds, I’m afraid I’d be chopped into seven pieces, and you’d be on your knees begging me to come back to life..."

Li Zheng pinched a few more times, sensing a texture akin to the rubber of a truck tire, and couldn't help but exclaim. Once form training is successful, the flesh no longer feels like flesh, but rather like some sort of high-strength, specialized material. In reality, this is the manifestation of an extremely powerful nervous system. Theoretically, muscle density is innate and almost impossible to change through later effort, but once the nervous system is sufficiently strengthened, muscle density naturally rises as well. This is why Li Qi appeared lean, without massive muscle bulk, yet possessed such terrifying explosive power. And this was without him even engaging in "hard training"—otherwise, it would have been even more fearsome.

Of course, hard training is generally only undertaken after entering the "Dao." Only then is one’s perception strong enough to avoid training oneself to death. Li Qi possessed innate extraordinary gifts and could have started earlier, but he felt it was unnecessary. It was better to focus his energy on increasing his cultivation level first; once the level is high, everything else becomes easier.

"Still, I never imagined that among all us siblings, you were the one hiding the deepest. Without a sound, you mastered the True Form before even reaching the 'Entry' level. With your combat power, beating Li Youan would be like swatting a child. I suspect the only one in the clan who could reliably beat you is the old man himself."

"I never would have guessed that the person the old man was talking about was you. It’s absurd. I actually thought for a moment that the old man had finally recognized my hidden talent..."

Li Zheng clicked his tongue in wonder. Heaven knows how stunned he had been when he first saw the video two days ago. Cultivation is difficult; within the Li family, besides the old man, the highest level currently known was only a veteran at the 'Entry' level; there wasn't even a peak-level 'Entry' practitioner. Li Qi’s rapid progress was due to him "cheating," while the others were playing by the rules. It wasn't as if the family suddenly spawned a bunch of masters just because he became strong. Furthermore, at lower levels, one’s cultivation could actually regress with age. Among the old man’s own sons, some had approached the peak of the 'Entry' level in their youth, but they had since fallen back; as they aged, they no longer possessed even the strength of a veteran. Time is ruthless.

As for Li Tianxing, he could potentially fight Li Qi, but whether he could reliably win was another question. When Li Tianxing tested his strike data before the new year, his explosive power was only about fifty pounds greater than Li Qi’s, yet he lacked Li Qi’s stability. This was why the old man said Li Qi was born for battle. Under normal circumstances, someone at Li Qi’s level and stage of progress should not possess such combat capability. To this, Li Qi could only say that this was the power of concentrated focus.