Chapter 9: Apprenticeship

"Timing begins."

Hao Yi took a metal pocket watch from his pocket, glanced at the time, and placed it on the table.

This pocket watch was also a product of the Mingxin Reform; nowadays, the entire Great Lan Dynasty had changed its method of timekeeping to the twenty-four-hour system of Western countries.

A few seconds later, Li Fei felt his body begin to itch.

His expression remained unchanged, and he continued to stand steadily in the horse stance.

The horse stance was also one of the basic exercises of the Zige Department at the technical school. In his three years at the technical school, Li Fei had gone from only being able to hold the horse stance for a few minutes at the start to being able to stand steadily for half an hour now.

Time passed bit by bit. A few minutes later, it wasn't just his body itching; Li Fei's entire body's muscles began to ache, and sweat started to bead on his forehead.

Seeing this, Li Lei revealed a worried expression and subconsciously clenched his fists.

Li Fei took a deep breath, remaining calm.

He "looked" at the Ten Thousand Blood Bead inside his body; the original 10 blood souls had become 9 + 97%.

In other words, his health bar had decreased by 0. %.

"Only 0. %, not a big problem."

Li Fei thought to himself.

As time passed bit by bit, his muscles went from aching to painful, accompanied by his skin itching. It was indeed quite uncomfortable, but still within a bearable range.

His health bar had only decreased by 1%.

Since transmigrating, Li Fei had spent no small amount of time studying the Ten Thousand Blood Bead inside him, conducting many "experiments."

He discovered that the Ten Thousand Blood Bead quantified his life into 10 blood souls, which caused his body and the blood souls to be closely linked. When his body suffered damage, almost 99% of the damage would be shared by the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, with the blood souls bearing these injuries. This made the injuries his body displayed much lighter than they should have been in reality.

For example, if someone slashed Li Fei's arm with a blade, that strike could have originally severed his arm directly, but because the vast majority of the damage was borne by the blood souls, the final result was merely an extra wound on Li Fei's arm, while the number of blood souls inside him decreased according to the actual damage.

By the same logic, at this moment, as Li Fei took the elixir, over 90% of the damage the elixir caused to his body was directly shared by the Ten Thousand Blood Bead, so the pain, itching, and other sensations Li Fei felt were also reduced by a great deal.

A process that would be extremely uncomfortable and unbearable for others was, for him, just a level he could get through by enduring a little.

But to avoid Hao Yi seeing anything unusual, Li Fei still tried hard to put on a pained and struggling appearance.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

The room was so quiet that one could hear the sound of the pocket watch's hands turning.

Nine minutes had passed, and Li Lei was almost holding his breath waiting for the final result.

The look in Hao Yi's eyes as he watched Li Fei held a bit more satisfaction.

The elixir he had Li Fei take was called the "Bitter Origin Pill," a type of elixir capable of enhancing resistance to the alienation of implants.

Regularly taking this type of elixir could strengthen the human body's ability to adapt to implants, but after taking the elixir, as time passed, the pain felt would become increasingly intense, and this pain would continue until the medicinal effect ended.

The vast majority of people found it hard to even endure the pain of the first ten minutes, let alone maintain the horse stance posture.

Hao Yi required Li Fei to stand in the horse stance while enduring this pain precisely to see Li Fei's willpower.

Many people had good talent but insufficient willpower, wasting their talent in vain.

And Li Fei's performance made Hao Yi feel it was quite good; he was a talent worth molding.

"Alright, time is up, you passed."

One minute later, Hao Yi put away the pocket watch on the table, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

Li Fei let out a heavy breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and cupped his fists at Hao Yi:

"Student Li Fei, greetings to Master."

"Many thanks, Mr. Hao!"

Li Lei stood up with a look of joy, then hurriedly said: "Mr. Hao, this antidote..."

Hao Yi looked at Li Fei: "The medicine I had you take is beneficial for your future cultivation. The longer you hold out, the more benefits you will receive, but the subsequent pain will also become increasingly intense.

So, it is up to you to decide whether you want to take the antidote now? Rest assured, I have already decided to accept you as a student; no matter what you choose, it will not affect this result."

"This..."

Li Lei was suddenly speechless.

Li Fei said without hesitation:

"Since that is the case, this student is willing to hold out a little longer."

He could see his own "health bar" and knew he hadn't lost much health, so he wasn't panicked in the slightest.

"Good."

Hao Yi found Li Fei increasingly pleasing to the eye. "You sit down first."

He stood up and walked to the desk to the side, picking up a slip of paper and handing it to Li Lei:

"Captain Li, you go pay the fees at the finance department first."

Li Fei glanced at the slip of paper and only saw the large characters "Two Hundred Yuan."

"Is the tuition for one semester 200 yuan?"

He was secretly shocked.

As a mid-level cadre of the Inspectorate, Li Lei's monthly salary was only 100 yuan. If other income wasn't counted, this tuition would cost him two months' salary.

However, thinking of Hao Yi's status as a special-grade lecturer, Li Fei felt it was quite reasonable.

Many people probably wouldn't even be qualified to pay this money if they wanted to.

Li Lei took the slip and left the office.

"Adjust your breathing rhythm according to what I say."

After Li Lei left, Hao Yi suddenly said to Li Fei.

"Very well, Master."

"Exhale three times in a row, getting slower and slower, then inhale..."

Li Fei changed his breathing rhythm according to the method Hao Yi taught. Gradually, the pain he felt decreased somewhat, and with the Ten Thousand Blood Bead still continuously sharing the damage, he was almost starting to feel nothing at all.

And seeing that Li Fei's expression had remained calm the whole time, Hao Yi was actually quite surprised.

The breathing method he taught could only slightly alleviate the body's pain; more of it was actually about distracting a person's attention. That Li Fei could appear so calm showed that his willpower was even beyond his expectations.

"Could it be that this student can really bring me some surprises?"

Such a thought flashed through Hao Yi's mind.

He looked at Li Fei and asked:

"Your father is a squadron leader at the Inspectorate; wouldn't it be very easy for you to go work at the Inspectorate after graduating from technical school? Why come to this Martial Lecture Hall to suffer and endure hardship?"

Upon hearing this, Li Fei said without hesitation:

"Because this student wants to become a martial artist."

"What is the purpose of becoming a martial artist?"

Hao Yi continued to ask.

In his mind, Li Fei recalled the incomparably dark two years of his past life when he was suppressed, and then the image of that noodle shop owner lying dead on the ground flashed by again. He said firmly:

"To master my own destiny!"

In this life, he would never again be trampled underfoot like an ox or a horse!

Hao Yi was startled and fell silent, saying nothing more.

In this world, how many people could truly master their own destiny?

Even as the noble Son of Heaven, there were times when one could not help oneself, so he simply took Li Fei's words as the bold talk of a young man's spirit.

Soon, Li Lei returned after paying the fees.

After waiting in the office for a while, Li Fei's health bar had stopped dropping.

At this time, his Ten Thousand Blood Bead had become:

【Level: Level 1, 49%

Blood Soul: 9, 23%】

The health bar had dropped by about 8%, which wasn't strange, but the fact that the level energy had jumped by 12% all at once surprised Li Fei greatly.

The food he ate every day before could only provide 1% energy to the Ten Thousand Blood Bead.

"Could it be that this elixir also contains energy that the Ten Thousand Blood Bead can absorb?"

Li Fei guessed to himself.

"Very good."

Hao Yi said.

At this time, more than an hour had passed since Li Fei took the elixir, and the medicinal effect of the Bitter Origin Pill had ended.

Li Fei had completely endured this period and fully absorbed the medicinal power, which made Hao Yi very satisfied.

"Starting from tomorrow, report to me here at 6: 0 every morning."

Hao Yi said to Li Fei.

"Yes, Master."

Li Fei nodded in agreement.

Although he hadn't graduated from technical school yet, there were no more classes at school in the final month, and all his time could be freely managed.

Afterwards, Li Fei and Li Lei left the office together.

"Not bad, Xiao Fei, to be able to pass this Mr. Hao's test."

Li Lei said with a smile, "If you can become his student, you might really have a chance to secure a spot at a university in the future."

He had brought Li Fei here today just to try his luck; he hadn't expected it to actually succeed.

"Uncle Li, can you tell me about this Mr. Hao?"

Li Fei asked.

He habitually wanted to understand a person's character first so he could prescribe the right remedy later; this was also a survival rule within the system.

Li Lei: "A year ago, I led a team in charge of a murder case. The suspect was a student at the Xingcheng Martial Arts Hall and a student of this Mr. Hao."

"He was his student?"

Li Fei was somewhat surprised.

Li Lei nodded: "That student was already a formal martial artist and very formidable. We all carried guns during the arrest, but he still managed to injure quite a few of our brothers. In the end, it was Mr. Hao who personally took action to capture him. After catching him, he came to the Inspectorate to see the student a few times. I provided him with some conveniences during that period, so he owes me a favor."

"Then this Mr. Hao is truly a man who puts righteousness above family."

Li Fei was lost in thought.

"Indeed. I see that he is very disgusted by those who commit crimes. You have an upright appearance, so it should be easy for you to gain his favor. This Mr. Hao is a capable man. Becoming his student is a rare opportunity; you must seize it well."

Li Lei exhorted.

Li Fei nodded: "I understand, Uncle Li, rest assured."

Then he asked curiously: "Uncle Li, you just said that when you led the team to arrest Mr. Hao's student, you were carrying guns and still had many people injured by him. How do these powerful martial artists deal with firearms?"

Li Lei recalled for a moment and said: "The opponent was very fast and agile; he could even run directly on walls, leaping over roofs and vaulting over walls as if walking on flat ground. Plus, the terrain where we made the arrest was complex, so even though the brothers had guns, it was very difficult to hit him."

"So that's how it is."

Li Fei was lost in thought.

Li Lei glanced at him and smiled, patting his head:

"Now that you have become Mr. Hao's student, you will certainly be able to become such a powerful martial artist in the future."

"Mm!"

As the two spoke, they walked out of the building.

Li Fei looked ahead; a breeze brushed across his face, and the ginkgo leaves on both sides of the road fell with a rustle, covering the ground.

The midday sun shone down, casting the road ahead in a golden hue.

(End of chapter)