Chapter 1023: Emotions

“Nine hundred ninety-eight.”

“Nine hundred ninety-nine.”

“One thousand!”

On the dock in the early morning, Li Qi, twelve years old, was helping to move goods.

This was a part-time job he found, and how should he put it… it evoked a sense of nostalgia in Li Qi.

This wasn’t just about earning money by helping; it was also a way to temper his Qi and strengthen his muscles and bones.

Compared to finding equipment to train with, manual labor was clearly much more cost-effective.

Normally, a twelve-year-old boy shouldn't train like this, as it would hinder his development and prevent him from growing tall later. However, looking at Li Qi, it wouldn't be a problem to say he was eighteen; he already looked very tall and strong.

However, it was clear that Li Qi did not adhere to this Law; he used a cultivation method, though not a particularly cutting-edge one.

There was no other way; he couldn't remember the cutting-edge ones, nor could he use them. This completely exceeded his current ability. Li Qi, including his thinking organs, was truly just a Mortal. The complexity of those top-tier Martial Dao cultivation methods was beyond Li Qi's current mind to fully comprehend, so he could only give up.

This was a restriction imposed by the Heart Demon he had offset and exchanged with, and it would probably only be resolved after a victor was decided.

However, in return, the Heart Demon should also have lost all its abilities, only able to watch Li Qi struggle in the Reincarnation Tribulation. If he succeeded in the struggle, Li Qi would win; otherwise, Li Qi would lose.

It was just that Li Qi still didn't understand the 'goal' of the Reincarnation Tribulation.

According to the setup of something like the Reincarnation Tribulation, there would be a 'Life Gate', which was the goal. Completing this goal would allow one to escape.

And if one failed to complete it, one would naturally pay a price, suffering damage, being continuously worn down, and eventually dying.

However, that was for those of the Fourth and Fifth Ranks; for those of the Second Rank, their health bars were too long, so it would drag on for a very long time.

Li Qi was not in a hurry; he was very patient, but…

He had a faint feeling.

Did he really have a lot of time?

If he had a lot of time, then would the Heart Demon bother to pull such a stunt with him? Did he go to all that trouble just for this?

Could it be that he only had this one life?

A sense of alarm rose in Li Qi's heart. No matter how much time he had, he had to treat every life as his last, searching for the 'Life Gate' to break through the Reincarnation Tribulation.

“Li Qi!” At this moment, Xing Xue called out to Li Qi from outside.

Xing Xue now looked much more energetic, mainly because Li Qi was truly very capable, constantly subsidizing the household with various means.

Li Qi did not reveal his savings, because he only wanted to be a sensible child, not a monster. Moreover, all his money was used to buy Spirit Medicine that could temper his body.

Martial Artist cultivation places the utmost importance on resources. The surging Qi and blood flowing within you are all Heaven And Earth Treasure. Without enough food and medicine, forcibly practicing martial arts will only deplete your body, ultimately leading to your death from overexertion.

Three parts practice, seven parts eat—this is the reality of Martial Dao cultivation methods. And both eating and practicing must be sustained without the slightest slack.

Therefore, most of the money Li Qi earned was used by him to acquire various Materials and Spirit Medicine online, sometimes even going out to purchase them personally under the guise of travel.

As for Xing Xue, he would only take out a few thousand yuan every few months to improve their lives, but this was enough to surprise and touch Xing Xue.

Little Li Qi had just started school. On the surface, he was actually working for others to earn money. This money must have made him work very hard, right?

Li Qi got up from the ground and ran towards Xing Xue: “Mom, what’s wrong?”

“At school, the teacher recently told me that you don’t have many friends. Don’t work too hard,” Xing Xue said, wiping sweat from her son’s forehead with some concern.

“It’s nothing, that’s not the reason. Everyone at school is too childish, there’s nothing good to do,” Li Qi said, shaking his head with a smile. “I can’t play with them.”

This was the truth; Li Qi really had no interest in wasting time with those children.

Every day, he had to practice martial arts, exercise his body, temper his Qi and blood, and also find time to earn money, purchase various Spirit Medicine, and prepare for his Breakthrough to the Ninth Rank. He truly had no mood for playing house with children.

Among these, earning money couldn't solely rely on finance; he still had to find opportunities to do some manual labor, otherwise, it would seem as if his money just fell from the sky.

However, such a life would appear too difficult to outsiders, especially for a child.

Li Qi was only a child of one hundred eighty centimeters, without friends in his daily life, working as a helper every day. Moreover, Li Qi's grades were also excellent, so one could imagine how much hardship he had endured.

Though these things could never truly trouble Li Qi.

To outsiders, the lives of Li Qi and his mother were like this.

Without a father, both mother and child worked as helpers, but the child was promising, worked efficiently, had excellent grades, and was polite. The mother was also a kind person, so the surrounding neighbors all had a good impression of them and would often help them out.

Generally, it was a peaceful life. Li Qi estimated that such days would last until he was around fourteen years old. At fourteen, he could temper his five organs and achieve a Breakthrough to the Ninth Rank.

Wiping off his sweat, he collected his wages, handed the money to his mother, and ate the breakfast she had brought. Mother and son chatted and laughed as they prepared to go home.

After returning home, Li Qi naturally went to school, while Xing Xue began preparing to open her shop.

Yes, opening a shop. Over the years, Xing Xue had opened a tailor stall downstairs from their home. Business was decent, and the lives of the mother and son were much better than before.

Generally, after Li Qi finished school, he would still work part-time in the afternoon and wouldn't return home until evening. At that time, Xing Xue would always have dinner ready, waiting for him.

The lives of the mother and son were so ordinary, and Li Qi actually quite enjoyed it.

However, today there was a slight change.

Li Qi frowned slightly, seeing a few hooligans crouching at his family's tailor stall.

“Oh, you’re back?” The hooligans stood up, holding sticks in their hands.

Xing Xue immediately stood in front of Li Qi, looked at the hooligans, and politely asked, “Gentlemen, what is this?”

“Oh, so it’s you, is it? Didn’t we tell you a few days ago, you’re not allowed to set up a stall here without permission,” the hooligans said impatiently.

“Didn’t I pay the stall fee? Is there some misunderstanding?” Xing Xue asked, somewhat puzzled but still maintaining a stiff smile.

“Where did you pay your stall fee? Look carefully, you paid to the Quan San Association before. Now this street isn’t under their control anymore. Remember, from now on, pay the stall fee to our Two Dragons. Make up for it,” the hooligans said idly, rummaging through the fabrics on the stall.

“This… I just paid two days ago, and I don’t have any cash now—” Xing Xue’s face was full of difficulty.

For such matters, according to Li Qi's personality, it wasn't a big deal. Just pay it. That money was nothing. Li Qi was actually richer than expected, so it would be best if he could just get rid of them easily.

As a Second Rank expert, Li Qi could remain calm even when facing madmen who would destroy the world and slaughter billions. A few small hooligans couldn't stir anything in him. He could easily analyze the situation and know what was most in line with his needs.

Li Qi’s current need was to pass the days before the Ninth Rank peacefully, and he shouldn’t stir up trouble. These stall fees were a lot for Xing Xue, but nothing for Li Qi.

However, for some unknown reason, a sudden surge of unprovoked anger flared within him.

A burst of rage attempted to break through Li Qi’s ‘rationality’.

This made Li Qi frown slightly.

“Hey! What’s with that expression, you bastard? Very unhappy?” The hooligan seemed to have noticed Li Qi’s frown and immediately jumped up. Two or three of them, holding sticks, overturned the stall and then pressed a stick against Li Qi’s forehead.

Li Qi gripped the stick with a backhand, directly seizing it, then swung it back, striking the other person’s hand.

Before he could even let out a wail, Li Qi had already rushed to the next person.

His Qi burst forth, and he punched the person in the liver.

With just one punch, the person had already fainted.

Another hooligan finally reacted, but Li Qi's speed was like teleportation. He rushed forward and delivered another liver-bursting punch.

In less than half a second, all three were lying on the ground. Only one was wailing; the other two had fainted.

Xing Xue was so scared she couldn't speak.

“Mom, please ask the school for a leave of absence for me.” Li Qi put down his bag.

Xing Xue was about to try and persuade Li Qi, wanting to hold him back and not let him go, but Li Qi immediately turned to her and said, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Li Qi had always been very opinionated, and Xing Xue knew she couldn't talk him out of it, so she didn't say anything, just held Li Qi, not letting him leave.

Li Qi smiled, pulled his hand free, and said, “Don’t worry, Mom, I know what I’m doing. Just wait at home, and remember to lock the doors and windows.”

With that, Li Qi put down his belongings and walked over to the hooligan who was still awake.

He had only had his hand smashed by Li Qi, so he could still move.

“Let’s go, lead the way.”

Saying this, he lifted the other person and walked out.

At least in front of Xing Xue, he still needed to be a bit calmer.

His capacity was enough to contain many emotions; not showing joy or anger on his face should be a basic skill. However, he now found that in this state, emotions could so easily influence him, as if he truly were a Mortal.

The contagiousness of this emotion was too strong, as if something was urging Li Qi, forcing him to 'get angry, get angry quickly, it's time, you must get angry'.

Li Qi knew there must be something fishy about this, so he decided to follow the emotion to see what was going on. Was the Heart Demon urging him to 'act'?

This made doubts immediately arise in Li Qi's heart.

If this was the Heart Demon forcing Li Qi to get angry, it was too clumsy, too easy to detect, so much so that Li Qi felt the Heart Demon wouldn't do such a thing.

But on the other hand, the anger in his heart was real, and Li Qi currently did not have the ability to ‘isolate thoughts’.

Like Shen Shuibi, when she was in the Fourth Rank, she could meticulously examine every thought, every idea, then delete the ones she didn't want and keep the ones she deemed acceptable.

But Li Qi couldn't do that now, though he wouldn't be completely blinded by anger either.

He didn't care about organizations like the Quan San Association or the Two Dragons.

From what he could tell, there were no such things as superhumans in this world; world records basically stayed around ten seconds for a hundred meters.

To be honest, Li Qi could run one hundred meters in just five seconds now.

He was a standard, absolute superhuman, at least Captain America level. Dealing with these hooligans, he could easily knock them all out with two big slaps. Although this would disrupt his peaceful life, it didn't really matter.

Li Qi mainly wanted to figure out the source of his anger.

Walking all the way outside, the hooligan gradually calmed down from his fear.

This was just a middle school student, even if he was a bit big, and his family had no power. What was there to be afraid of?

He immediately became tough again: “You brat, do you know who is behind our Two Dragons?!”

“No, then I’ll trouble you to tell me, who is it?” Li Qi asked very politely.

This made the hooligan speechless.

Why did this middle school student look genuinely interested? Wasn't he afraid of anything?

“I’m telling you! If you mess with us, you and your mom won’t have a good end!”

“Oh, what kind of bad end?”

“I’ll find my brothers to hack you and your mom to death!”

“Alright, then where are your brothers?”

Li Qi held the other person’s injured hand, squeezing it continuously, occasionally asking the person to lead the way.

The other person tried to break free, but the pain in his hand was unbearable. Eventually, he probably felt that the situation was stronger than him, so he stopped talking and actually started leading the way.

As long as he led them to the main base, with dozens of brothers, armed with knives and sticks, couldn't they beat a middle school student to death?

After walking for a while like this, they arrived at a nightclub.

The nightclub was not open during the day; one could only enter through the back door.

Once inside, it was as dark and cramped as it was at night. The dance floor was empty, but there were still some people inside, some doing odd jobs in the wine cellar, while others were in the back and upstairs offices.

Even these dynamic social groups need paperwork. Those who only know how to fight and kill cannot establish themselves in the Jianghu. Greasing palms, keeping accounts, calculating costs—these all require skill and knowledge.

Therefore, these small-time hooligans can only ever be enforcers.

They can only be the lowest rung of gangsters, unable to climb higher. Without an education, you can't even be a gangster.

Upon entering, the hooligan began to wail!

“Brothers! Someone’s here to kick down the door!”

He shouted, and then saw more than a dozen people suddenly rush out from upstairs and downstairs, some holding knives, some holding sticks.

“Who?! Are the Quan San Association people here?!” Several burly men, looking like enforcers, also rushed out.

These burly men were much more imposing than the small-time hooligans; they were likely characters like 'Red Poles,' not just ordinary cannon fodder.

Li Qi released his hand: “No, it’s just me.”

“You damn idiot, Chicken Head, you got beaten up by one person like this and even brought him back!?” the burly men cursed.

But the next second, the burly man was already flying.

Li Qi wasn't here to reason.

The unknown anger in his heart, whose origin was unclear, was gradually becoming hot and boiling, and it had to be unleashed.

He could feel that emotions were manipulating him, and the source of these emotions was very strange.

However… there was no harm in trying. (End of chapter)