Chapter 153: Exploration of State of Mind, Heart of Slaughter (Large Chapter)

"Hello, Professor Ding."

At 9 AM, Li Fei walked into the classroom and saluted a middle-aged man.

The man's name was Ding Bo, the one who went to the arena with Wen Ke to watch Li Fei spar, and also a professor in the Martial Suppression Department of the Martial University.

Ding Bo had already opened two courses at the Martial University, one "Spiral Strangling" and one "Detailed Explanation of Force Transformation".

Among them, 'Spiral Strangling' was a martial technique he created himself, activated by Innate One Qi, used for various types of Innate One Qi, and was a high-level martial technique that martial masters in the early Qi Transformation stage could cultivate.

As for Force Transformation, it was a high-end operation that could only be involved in the late Qi Transformation stage, and it was also a profound technique.

Now he had opened another "Practical Analysis of Innate One Qi", which was to teach martial masters how to use Innate One Qi in actual combat.

"Mm."

Ding Bo nodded at Li Fei, "Find a seat yourself."

At this moment, more than twenty people were already sitting in the classroom.

There were quite a few martial master level students with a total credit score of 120 points, and a Dao Foundation powerhouse opening a course, so these students were unwilling to miss it.

These students looked complex after seeing Li Fei.

Some smiled to indicate, some were expressionless, some showed jealousy...

Li Fei found an empty seat in the back row and sat down, waiting quietly for class to begin.

"Alright, time is up."

Two minutes later, Ding Bo looked at the pocket watch in his hand and said, "Those who haven't come don't need to come to class anymore."

This professor hated people being late the most; if someone was late, they didn't need to come to this class.

"Can anyone tell me, what is the essence of Innate One Qi?"

Ding Bo raised a big question as soon as class started.

"..."

A crowd of students in the audience were all silent.

"Li Fei, you answer!"

Unexpectedly, Ding Bo called Li Fei's name directly.

Among these students in the audience, he only knew Li Fei's name.

Li Fei stood up with a calm expression:

"Innate One Qi is a kind of energy burst out together by the human body and the implant fused together."

"Then what about force?"

Ding Bo didn't commit himself and continued to ask.

Li Fei: "Force is a higher-level energy than Innate One Qi."

"Then why is force higher-level than Innate One Qi?"

Ding Bo looked at Li Fei.

Li Fei said without hesitation: "Because force is more condensed; if Innate One Qi is iron, then force is steel."

"Mm."

Ding Bo nodded, signaling Li Fei to sit down:

"A good metaphor; Innate One Qi is iron, force is steel, a hundred refinements make steel!"

He looked at a crowd of students:

"You all know that to practice force, you must first pass the heart barrier and comprehend the corresponding state of mind to make steel through a hundred refinements. I opened this course not to tell you how to comprehend the state of mind, but I will teach you how to forge your 'iron'! Even if you can't make 'steel' in the end, it will at least be stronger and harder than other people's 'iron'!"

A crowd of students in the audience showed expectation upon hearing this.

They were all martial masters stuck in the early Qi Transformation stage. If they couldn't break through the heart barrier and comprehend the state of mind for a long time in the future, they would have to find another way to enhance their combat power.

There are some martial masters in this world who can defeat force-refining martial masters across realms, such as Ding Bo, who was teaching everyone; the other party had defeated force-refining martial masters many times when he was still a martial master!

In the following time, Ding Bo didn't talk nonsense and began to explain various practical combat techniques for using Innate One Qi to everyone, all of which were dry goods!

In the process of explaining, Ding Bo would call Li Fei up to demonstrate from time to time, pointing out Li Fei's use of Geng Metal True Qi on the spot, allowing the other students to observe.

In this way, Li Fei's harvest was naturally the most among the audience.

Regarding this, the other students were envious and jealous, but they couldn't say anything.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that three professors opening new courses at the same time was specifically for Li Fei, so the crowd present still had to thank Li Fei.

Without him, these people wouldn't even have the opportunity to come to take this new course opened by Ding Bo.

After the one-hour course ended, Li Fei saluted Ding Bo to thank him.

"If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me at any time."

Ding Bo patted Li Fei on the shoulder and said so.

This scene made the surrounding students' eyes red again.

A Dao Foundation powerhouse, is it something one can ask for advice whenever one wants?

Even at the Martial University, many professors only take responsibility for teaching, not for answering questions. Students who don't understand anything can only comprehend it themselves.

"Many thanks, Professor Ding."

Li Fei saluted again and then walked out of the classroom.

Next, he had to rush to the next classroom—

"Hello, Professor Wei."

Li Fei asked for well-being to a man who looked about fifty years old.

The other party's full name was Wei Zhiquan, also a professor, and the course he opened was called "Detailed Explanation of True Qi".

This Professor Wei Zhiquan practiced the Innate One Qi of the Yi Wood system. Although he was not in the same system as Li Fei, he could still guide Li Fei on many things regarding the various characteristics of True Qi.

"Find a seat yourself."

Professor Wei Zhiquan nodded calmly and said to Li Fei.

This time, there were very few people sitting in the classroom, only three people including Li Fei, one of whom was Wang Fengqing.

"Junior Brother Li, we meet again."

Wang Fengqing greeted Li Fei.

Li Fei nodded: "Hello, Senior Sister."

He didn't expect that Wang Fengqing, who was already a Dao Foundation powerhouse, would actually still come to learn the True Qi course. It seemed that the content taught by Professor Wei Zhiquan was definitely extraordinary!

At this moment, another male student not far away also took the initiative to greet Li Fei:

"Hello, Junior Brother Li, my name is Cao Yiqing."

"Hello, Senior Brother Cao."

Li Fei responded politely.

He had seen the name Cao Yiqing; he was at the top of the Martial Master Combat Power Ranking in the arena!

"I hope there will be an opportunity to spar with Junior Brother in the arena in the future."

Cao Yiqing said to Li Fei with a smile.

Li Fei also smiled: "Definitely."

"Alright, let's start class."

Wei Zhiquan suddenly said.

So the three of them all quieted down and looked at him together.

"The characteristic of True Qi is purity."

Unlike Ding Bo, Wei Zhiquan didn't ask questions and went straight to the theme as soon as he started:

"It can bring the characteristics of the Innate One Qi of the ten heavenly stems to the extreme. For example, Yi Wood True Qi is extreme vitality, Ren Water True Qi is extreme vastness, Bing Fire True Qi is extreme yang-strength, Geng Metal True Qi is extreme sharpness, etc.

Besides this characteristic, True Qi is also the Innate One Qi most compatible with other implants, because True Qi is pure, without any impurities, so it is not easy to conflict with other implants."

Hearing the latter point, Li Fei realized why Wang Fengqing, this Dao Foundation powerhouse, still had to come to listen to the class.

Presumably, the other party wanted to learn how to use the characteristics of True Qi to be compatible with other implants, so as to lay a good foundation for the next cultivation.

In the following time, Wei Zhiquan specifically explained some methods of using True Qi, and then he stopped and looked at the three people listening to the class:

"If you have any questions, you can ask them now."

Unlike Ding Bo who talked from beginning to end, Wei Zhiquan liked to let students discover problems themselves and ask questions, and he would answer them.

"Professor Wei, I have a question."

Cao Yiqing took the lead and said, "When I use Bing Fire True Qi to perform some moves, I often feel unsmooth. Is it because it's too hard and easy to break?"

Wei Zhiquan looked at him: "Show me your moves."

So Cao Yiqing stood up and began to demonstrate the moves...

After Wei Zhiquan answered Cao Yiqing's doubts, Wang Fengqing stood up to ask a question. She asked exactly about the problem of the mutual cooperation between True Qi and other implants.

Finally, it was Li Fei's turn to ask a question. He thought for a while and asked:

"Professor Wei, the characteristic of True Qi is purity. Is it possible to keep it pure while letting True Qi integrate into other energies?"

Wang Fengqing and Cao Yiqing were both somewhat surprised to hear this question.

Because this kind of question should be considered by Dao Foundation powerhouses, and it must be a problem that needs to be considered after incorporating a second implant and cultivating it to the Qi Transformation stage, having a second Innate One Qi.

Even the current Wang Fengqing doesn't need to face this kind of problem for the time being.

Wei Zhiquan looked at Li Fei and said:

"If you want to let True Qi integrate into other energies while keeping itself pure, unless the energy integrated into it is also True Qi."

Li Fei was thoughtful.

The reason he asked this question was that he wanted to know if it was possible to completely fuse the Blood Evil Qi with the Geng Metal True Qi, instead of just 'assembling' them together like now.

Next, Wei Zhiquan specifically explained some matters needing attention for the mutual fusion of two True Qis, which made Li Fei gain a lot.

In the end, this class was spent in asking and answering questions.

After class, Li Fei returned to the dormitory to record the insights and reflections of the morning's two classes with a notebook.

After eating lunch in the cafeteria, he walked into another classroom at 2 PM sharp.

Professor Wen Ke was waiting inside.

This class was the "Exploration of Geng Metal System State of Mind" newly opened by the other party. This was the course Li Fei was most looking forward to among the three courses, because it was related to how he should break through the realm next.

"Professor Wen."

Li Fei saluted Wen Ke.

"Go find a seat."

Wen Ke still wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses and said in a gentle tone.

Next, people walked into the classroom one after another. Before class started, more than ten people were sitting in the classroom.

These people were all martial masters who practiced the Geng Metal system Innate One Qi and were stuck in this state of mind barrier, failing to break through for a long time.

"Start class."

Seeing that it was time for class, Wen Ke began to lecture:

"Geng Metal focuses on slaughter, so the requirement of the Geng Metal system force for state of mind is to comprehend the heart of slaughter. I opened this course to help everyone comprehend the heart of slaughter."

The crowd in the audience had strange expressions upon hearing this.

Wen Ke's temperament was too gentle, and for such a gentle person to say that she wanted to help everyone comprehend the heart of slaughter in such a gentle tone really made people feel a strong contrast.

"Since ancient times, it has been recognized that the battlefield is the place where it is easiest to comprehend the heart of slaughter, and several famous generals in the history of our Great Lan Dynasty comprehended the heart of slaughter on the battlefield."

Wen Ke didn't care about the expressions of the crowd and continued:

"Then has everyone thought about why it is easy to comprehend the heart of slaughter on the battlefield?"

Because Wen Ke's temperament was very gentle, unlike other Dao Foundation professors who were so majestic, the students were also more lively in her class.

As soon as she asked, someone answered immediately below:

"Because killing on the battlefield is killing the enemy for the country, there is no guilt."

"Because killing on the battlefield, the more you kill, the more glorious it is!"

"Because the battlefield has the most atmosphere of slaughter."

"..."

The crowd talked all at once.

Wen Ke waited for everyone to finish answering before shaking her head with a smile:

"Everyone's words have some truth, but it is not the most critical reason. It is easy to comprehend the heart of slaughter on the battlefield because the most people are killed on the battlefield."

"..."

This answer made everyone stunned.

No one thought it was because of this.

"Professor Wen, is it possible that to comprehend the heart of slaughter, one must kill many, many people?"

Someone asked.

Wen Ke still shook her head:

"Killing many people doesn't necessarily mean one can comprehend the heart of slaughter; it's also possible to become a murderous demon. The key to the heart of slaughter lies in knowing clearly at any time why one is killing, whether it is killing one person or a million people, it will not affect one's state of mind. This is the heart of slaughter."

Hearing this, Li Fei frowned slightly.

He considered his will to be firm; if it were just killing some people who deserved to be killed, he wouldn't have any wavering.

But if he killed too many people, becoming a thousand, ten thousand, or even a million, he felt he still couldn't do it without wavering at all.

"I'll share a story with everyone."

Wen Ke told everyone in her gentle tone:

"The famous general Ao Yun in our dynasty's history, everyone should have heard of him, right?"

Ao Yun, a military strategist who could be ranked in the top ten in the history of the Great Lan Dynasty, was also a notorious god of slaughter.

He was the general with the most records of city massacres and the largest number of surrendered soldiers buried alive in the history of the Great Lan Dynasty.

The number of people who died directly or indirectly at the hands of Ao Yun reached as many as one million!

"The 'Great Lan Records' biography of famous generals recorded a small story about Ao Yun. In the seventh year of Jiaxu, the Northern Desert Kingdom invaded the border. Ao Yun led his troops to quell the chaos, and it took less than a month to defeat the invading Northern Desert army, and also captured more than 20,000 surrendered soldiers.

A fierce debate broke out in the army about whether to kill these 20,000 people. Ao Yun was annoyed by the noise, so he took a few attendants to a nearby mountain to relax. On the way, Ao Yun met a woodcutter who entered the mountain. He stopped the woodcutter and asked: All living things in the world have vitality, and they are also a kind of living creature. You cut down trees and make firewood every day, don't you feel unbearable?

The woodcutter asked Ao Yun back: If I don't cut down trees, how can I live?

Ao Yun laughed after hearing this, then returned to the army with his attendants and immediately ordered the slaughter of all those 20,000 surrendered soldiers! Afterward, someone asked him why he did so, and he said: The woodcutter cuts down trees to live, and we kill people for the same reason, there is no difference."

Wen Ke finished telling this story and looked at the students:

"What are your views on this story?"

A student raised his hand immediately: "Professor Wen, do you mean to say that the heart of slaughter is to treat killing as cutting down trees? But the woodcutter cuts down trees because he has no choice, but General Ao Yun had a choice. In the end, there is still a difference between the two, right?"

Wen Ke smiled slightly. She looked at Li Fei for the first time: "Student Li Fei, what do you think?"

The crowd in the audience focused their gazes on Li Fei.

Li Fei said calmly:

"In the seventh year of Jiaxu, there was a great drought in the world. There was a famine in the grasslands in the east, and both the northern and southern desert kingdoms were constantly dying. There was not enough food in the country, so they had to lead troops to invade the Great Lan Dynasty. They entered the Great Lan Dynasty with tens of thousands of young and strong people, one for plundering enough food, and two for consuming the population. That is to say, if they couldn't plunder enough food, those tens of thousands of people would die part of them on the battlefield, and they would have a chance to survive this famine.

So even if General Ao Yun didn't kill those 20,000 surrendered soldiers at that time and let them go back, these people wouldn't be able to survive, and they might even be sent to attack the Great Lan Dynasty again. As for raising these people, the Great Lan Dynasty didn't have enough food for its own people at that time, so there was no reason to take the rations of its own people to raise people from enemy countries."

When he first came to this world, the book he liked to read most was "Great Lan Records". He had an impression of this story about Ao Yun in the book, so he could answer it at this time.

"This..."

The other students heard this and were speechless.

Wen Ke looked at Li Fei with appreciation and nodded with a smile:

"Student Li Fei is right, so in fact, General Ao Yun had no other choice at that time. Killing those 20,000 surrendered soldiers was the only way out.

I told this story to everyone, indeed wanting everyone to learn from General Ao Yun's ideas, but not wanting everyone to treat killing as cutting down trees, but to let everyone remember that killing is not the most important thing; the most important thing is to understand why one is killing.

If one day you can always grasp your own original heart and see through the essence of slaughter, even if you don't kill a single person, you can still comprehend the heart of slaughter."

The students in the audience were all thoughtful and moved.

Li Fei looked at Wen Ke and suddenly asked:

"Professor Wen, the student wants to know if there are any auxiliary means to help us comprehend the heart of slaughter?"

He didn't believe that a professor opening a course would just tell stories to everyone in the end.

"Naturally, there are."

Wen Ke nodded.

Saying that, she took out a medicine bottle from the drawer:

"What is in this bottle is the Slaughter Pill, a kind of pill that can stimulate people's anger and murderous nature, usually given to new soldiers who are on the battlefield for the first time. However, this kind of drug causes greater damage to the human body, and even if you are martial master physiques, you cannot use it frequently."

"Professor Wen."

A student looked at that bottle of Slaughter Pills, "Do you mean for us to take this Slaughter Pill, and then try our best to get rid of the influence of the drug, so as to comprehend the heart of slaughter?"

Wen Ke shook her head: "Of course not only that, I also have an extraordinary ability that can stimulate people's murderous heart. This extraordinary ability, combined with the drug, can make you completely lost in the desire for slaughter. What you need to do next is to try your best to keep clear-headed in this state.

When you can fight me clearly, you will have passed the assessment for this course."

"This..."

This assessment method sounded very difficult, after all, it was an extraordinary ability personally performed by a Dao Foundation powerhouse, plus the influence of drugs.

"Everyone, follow me."

Wen Ke picked up the medicine bottle on the table and walked out of the classroom.

Next, Li Fei and more than ten students walked out of the classroom together and followed Wen Ke to a playground.

"Everyone, take two Slaughter Pills each."

Wen Ke handed the medicine bottle in her hand to the students and said.

So everyone passed the medicine bottle to each other, and everyone took two small red pills.

On the way here, Li Fei had already dispersed all the Blood True Force he had built up in his body and dispersed all the stored Blood Evil Qi.

Because he was worried that he might lose his mind for a while, and if he used these trump cards while fighting, it would be hard to explain.

When taking the drug, he cut off the connection with the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl in advance.

This way, he didn't have to worry about using Blood Soul Skills for a while.

"Go and choose the weapons you are good at."

After everyone took the Slaughter Pills, Wen Ke pointed to the weapon rack not far away and said.

Li Fei walked over and chose a handy steel saber.

At this time, he already felt his body start to become dry and hot, and the 【Steel Armor】 implant in his body was becoming more and more restless, his mood was very irritable, and he wanted to vent.

He turned to look at the others and found that some students had more serious situations, already starting to pant heavily, and their eyes becoming blood-red.

"Come over here."

At this time, Wen Ke not far away spoke.

Li Fei turned to look, only to see that the other party had taken off the black-rimmed glasses she had been wearing all along.

In fact, Li Fei was somewhat curious before; a Dao Foundation powerhouse wouldn't have vision problems, so why wear glasses?

Could it be to look better?

At this moment, seeing Wen Ke take off her glasses, he somewhat understood.

Wen Ke, wearing black-rimmed glasses, looked gentle in temperament and was a very gentle person.

But after taking off her glasses, her entire temperament changed!

Cold, full of killing intent, especially those eyes—

Too sharp!

Looking at them, it felt like being cut by swords!

"Professor Wen..."

Such a change made the students in the audience very stunned, and a chill rose in their hearts.

Wen Ke raised her hand and hooked her finger at the crowd:

"You guys, come together."

This action was originally somewhat ambiguous, but as Wen Ke made this action, something seemed to be ignited in everyone's hearts!

Boom—

The flames deep in their hearts gushed out, and more than ten students roared and killed toward Wen Ke with blood-red eyes!

To spar with more than ten martial masters at the same time without truly hurting anyone, ordinary Dao Foundation powerhouses would feel somewhat tricky.

However, Wen Ke was not an ordinary Dao Foundation powerhouse.

Bang!

Only to see Wen Ke wave her hand, and a student who rushed the fastest flew backward, and the steel saber in his hand broke into two pieces.

Next, students attacked Wen Ke in the most crazy posture one after another. They had no cooperation and forgot all kinds of high-level martial techniques they had learned, just using the most violent posture to smash their most powerful strength toward Wen Ke!

And Wen Ke's response was also very simple, responding in the same rough way, with every punch and kick containing huge strength, blasting the students who rushed over away one after another!

Li Fei was the relatively calmest one among these people. Although he was also very restless, he hadn't completely lost his mind.

His own personality was restrained and cautious enough, plus he broke through to the Qi Transformation stage by the 'breaking mental barriers' method, and his intent and power were strong enough, so even without using the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, he suppressed the influence brought by the drug and extraordinary ability.

"Mm?"

Wen Ke's eyes were cold like knives, suddenly falling on Li Fei who was still standing in the back.

"Why, don't you dare to make a move?"

Her tone also became full of killing intent.

This simple sentence entered Li Fei's ears, as if an invisible force surged into Li Fei's body, causing the volcano that had been suppressed deep in his heart to completely erupt!

"Kill—"

Li Fei's eyes were blood-red, fully exploding Geng Metal True Qi, and the dark golden saber light that was extremely sharp slashed toward Wen Ke.

Wen Ke's mouth curled up, but this smile contained cold killing intent.

She took a step forward and raised her hand to meet the slashing dark golden saber light.

Her palm was also wrapped in dark golden light, soon colliding with the saber light Li Fei slashed out, then instantly crushed Li Fei's saber light, and then slapped Li Fei's body...

PS: This chapter is two-in-one.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 154 =====