Chapter Sixteen: Commanding the Armies of the Realm with Restraint

Time slipped away as the two chatted; catching up with an old acquaintance always provided plenty of topics.

They reminisced about embarrassing moments from the past, though they tacitly avoided mentioning Li Qi’s legendary displays of over-the-top bravery. This was because the conclusion to those stories always featured a footnote: the "invincible" Li Qi had been soundly suppressed by Xu Wei. She had insisted, with absolute certainty, that only someone capable of defeating her would be qualified to marry her, declaring that she had no interest in "weaklings."

As they talked, the conversation shifted to swordsmanship. Xu Wei stated confidently that she would be able to reach the "Entry" stage in a year at most. She then added with a touch of regret that it was a bit late; if she had achieved it before graduation, it would have made her resume far more competitive for prospective employers.

Li Qi was well aware that Xu Wei was close to reaching that stage. The moment he had seen her, he had used his ability, seeing the tag: "Pre-Entry, 97%."

People are not all the same. Xu Wei was already twenty-one, and despite years of diligent practice, she was still this far off. Given her natural talent, it would indeed take her another year to bridge this final gap.

"By the way, how is your swordsmanship training coming along?"

"Sigh, when I was back in the village, I didn't realize it, but now that I've stepped out, I finally understand how formidable the old man really was. He created his own style of swordsmanship—that’s the work of a true founder of a school. Having a grandmaster like him provide personal instruction to lay our foundations when we were young really saved us from so many detours."

"Otherwise, with my talent, it’s possible I might never have even touched the threshold of 'Entry' in my entire life..."

Xu Wei sighed, speaking from the heart. In this era, there was no shortage of basic techniques or instructional videos online, but if videos were all it took to succeed, what would be the point of having master teachers? Only after leaving school and facing the real world did one realize how difficult things truly were.

"My swordsmanship is getting close, too," Li Qi replied.

"Close to entering the introductory stage? That’s impressive!"

"I spent a full two years grinding at that hurdle before I could consistently achieve a state of inner stillness. Once you pass that, it’s just a matter of putting in the time. As long as you don't slack off, reaching 'Entry' is just a matter of when, not if!"

Xu Wei nodded, never imagining that when Li Qi said he was "close," he meant close to the "Entry" stage itself. This was understandable; had Li Qi not been "cheating" and grinding intensely for the past three months, he would indeed have only just reached the introductory level recently. Even without his current shortcut, it had taken him a year and a half to master inner stillness.

After chatting a while longer about her university life and the headaches she faced as graduation approached, the two went their separate ways.

Time flows on, and some things can never be reclaimed. Li Qi didn't dwell too much on Xu Wei; regardless of the past, he lived in the present. If one couldn't anchor their mind in the now but instead kept looking back at the past or daydreaming about the future, the present would be strangled by both, leaving behind nothing but emptiness and pain.

Thus, after a few steps, Li Qi returned his thoughts to the matter of Qishan, drifting from the Master of Yu to the legends of the mountain’s treasures.

Beyond ordinary medicinal herbs lie Great Herbs, and beyond Great Herbs lie the Mountain Treasures. Generally speaking, the first time a plant breaks its natural lifespan limit, it becomes an "Old Herb." There are two types of "Great Herbs": one is artificially cultivated by experts using Old Herbs, which mimics some of the effects, and the other is naturally occurring—any plant that breaks its lifespan limit three times becomes a Great Herb.

As for Mountain Treasures, that is harder to define, as no one has ever seen one in the flesh. Legend has it that if a plant can break its lifespan limit nine times, it becomes a Mountain Treasure; consuming it allows one to reverse their innate constitution.

However, breaking the lifespan limit nine times—what is that, if not living nine lifetimes? It was practically becoming an immortal in the mortal world. If such a thing truly existed, Li Qi felt he might even believe the claims that it granted eternal life. Of course, who would be eating whom in that scenario was another matter entirely. Even in a materialistic world, if something has lived nine lifetimes, who knows if it might have evolved into an entirely different species?

*Tick!*

Just then, Li Qi’s phone chimed. He glanced at it and saw a notification from the class group; someone had tagged everyone. Yesterday, the group had been forced to wake up early, so the day had been quiet, but now that people had regained their energy, they were stirring up trouble again.

The message came from Sun Guang, the class's notorious chatterbox and a good friend of Li Qi’s who had remained in his class since middle school. Sun Guang had started a poll: "If an angel could grant you one wish, what would you choose? One hundred million, or for your crush to love you deeply?"

In the short time since it was posted, out of forty people in the group, six had already chosen the crush.

Li Qi remained silent. Instead of voting, he typed out a message: "Obviously, command over the world's armies."

Once sent, the group went quiet for a moment before turning into a chorus of copy-pasters. Shortly after, his phone vibrated—a private message from Sun Guang.

"Ah Qi, why did you have to undermine me?"

"This was a perfect opportunity to see how many simps we have in class!"

"Damn it! Backstabbed by my own brother."

"In my past life, I was betrayed by my best friend; in this life..."

"By the way, Ah Qi, the 'Big Sister' performed in the underground weapon-fighting tournament again this afternoon. Fierce as always—she was a whirlwind of slaughter. If photography and recording weren't banned in there, I’d show you."

"The scene was like a demon-slaying deity descending from the heavens, a true god of war among men!"

"Watching her, I almost wanted to curl up in her arms right there on the spot."

"Though, you have to admit, with that fighting style and sword technique, there’s no one else in all of Yunbei City like her. Her true identity is long exposed—everyone knows who she is—yet she insists on wearing that Rakshasa mask."

"And who doesn't know that the host of this underground tournament is a major taxpayer? It’s all just playing at mystery..."

Before Li Qi could even reply, the other side had already fired off a barrage of messages.

In the early days, underground weapon-fighting was known as "Dark Dueling," characterized by its bloody, brutal, and cruel nature. Of course, that was in the past. The tournaments known today actually have official permits, merely using the "underground" label as a facade.

"Weapon-fighting" itself was, in ancient times, a method of cultivation. It focused on combat with weapons, pursuing self-transcendence on the razor's edge of life and death, using it to hone oneself in hopes of reaching a higher realm. Compared to bare-handed combat, the lethality of weapons was undoubtedly sharper and better at pushing human potential to the limit.

In the modern era, weapon-fighting—with its flashing blades and dramatic flair—had become more of a spectator sport with immense commercial value, leading to its widespread popularity and the formation of a massive industry.

Of course, purely "Dark Duels" still existed today, though they were hard for ordinary people to find. Those matches were truly to the death. If you knew how to bypass the firewall, you could pay to watch similar dark duels on foreign websites.

They were far more thrilling than standard matches, which was exactly why someone had joked yesterday that "Dark Dueling" should be covered by health insurance. It was certainly a spectacle to watch—especially in person—but the casualties were very real. Fortunately, with the world's large population, there was no shortage of people willing to fight.