Chapter 319: The spirituality of military spirit

Li Qi was going into seclusion.

No matter if it was the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact or the strangeness of that Cave Heaven, he temporarily didn't want to bother with them.

With a flash of inspiration, Li Qi now only wanted to seize this glimmer of insight and push his understanding of the Dao further!

Li Qi began his seclusion.

However, it wasn't a death seclusion; he merely cut down on the time he spent studying other things, paused his research on the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact, and focused all his energy on two matters.

First, he continued to attend one Military School of Thought class normally every day, temporarily giving up all other courses. He would make them up later, as they weren't difficult anyway.

Second, he would return to research and ponder how to explore the existence of this boundary.

Li Qi conceived several practical explorations and verifications, and he also began to comprehend the Dao himself, pondering the reasons behind it, trying to summarize a currently usable rule.

So-called Dao Comprehension is, in essence, summarizing usable and suitable rules based on existing discoveries.

Li Qi didn't expect to discover absolute truth and directly achieve a complete and correct understanding of the infinitely developing objective world, such as discovering the formula for a square.

But he hoped that this time, he could at least achieve an approximately correct understanding of specific things, to a certain extent and level. Only then could the Dao be used by him.

Having arranged his goals for the foreseeable future in this manner, Li Qi began to act.

First, he used a lot of Qi to experiment, gradually solidifying these Qi bit by bit, observing the moment when the Qi gradually turned into matter, and finding the boundary in between.

This was hard labor. For different types of Qi, this boundary seemed to be different and extremely difficult to detect. Often, he would stack these Qi, and as he stacked them, they would suddenly turn into matter.

How it changed, and when it changed, he couldn't perceive at all. Even when he mobilized the True Knowledge Dao Resonance to observe the reaction at that instant, he couldn't find it.

In the instant of turning from ethereal to solid, there was no trace. It just suddenly transformed from Qi into matter, gaining a physical existence and being able to affect other matter.

He couldn't grasp the specific time either. Li Qi's perception could be accurate to the millisecond, but only to the millisecond. There was no trace of the change in between; there were no pre-reactions or subsequent changes.

Moreover, this thing had no commonality.

Water Qi, Mountain Qi, Fire Qi—Li Qi tried over a hundred different types of Qi, and each took a different amount of time. Even with the same Qi, this boundary seemed to be variable. Two tests under the same conditions resulted in different timings for their condensation into matter.

This boundary was right there, right in that instant, but Li Qi just couldn't touch it or observe the specific process.

This made him increasingly frustrated and inexplicably pained, but he could only continue to try.

If he couldn't find the commonality of these Qi turning into matter, he naturally couldn't analyze any patterns, let alone find the 'Dao' behind it.

Li Qi also thought about looking for the answer to this matter in others' ancient texts. Since he couldn't figure it out himself, he might as well copy the homework. Perhaps it was in the ancient texts?

As a result, he flipped through a large number of ancient texts and searched countless materials, but couldn't find any related records.

This 'boundary,' the boundary between the ethereal and the real, seemed to have been erased from the ancient texts.

Li Qi even thought about Shen Shuibi's spellcraft. She was a Fifth-Rank, so perhaps she knew more, and her spellcraft might have applications in this area.

Upon thinking this, he indeed found a clue, because Li Qi discovered that Shen Shuibi often condensed a physical crescent moon from Taiyin Qi, hanging it by her side to cast spells.

However, he repeatedly reviewed it several times but couldn't find the key point of this physical crescent moon, how it was condensed, or what the underlying mechanism was.

Finally, he even prepared to ask the rabbit directly to see if she could enlighten him.

But for some reason, the terminal temporarily couldn't connect to the rabbit. He only heard her message, telling Li Qi to contact her again after some time, as she was busy.

Li Qi had no choice but to wait.

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had gone by.

In this half month, Li Qi felt like his hair was turning white.

During his half-month seclusion, his daily schedule was very regular.

He would wake up in the morning, start thinking, collect data, and try to 'comprehend the Dao'.

In the evening, when the Military School of Thought class started, he would attend for one hour, then rush back immediately and continue comprehending the Dao and thinking until late at night, then sleep, and continue the next day.

This had been the routine for the past half month. Meals were casually handled, as they weren't important anyway.

It was a new day again. Li Qi scratched his head, pulled at his hair, and wished he could bang on the table.

He cursed loudly: "Damn it... How am I supposed to summarize a pattern? I've tested over six hundred times, and not a single result was the same!"

No commonality, no pattern!

Could it be that this boundary is a variable?

If it's a variable, does that mean his previous flash of inspiration was just a pile of crap?

Or are there too many variables?

Too many variables are causing this boundary to constantly change.

Then how many variables has he not eliminated yet?

Is it affected by the surrounding environment? Do the surrounding ley lines have an influence? Does his own observation even have an influence? Is it the disturbance of the True Knowledge Dao Resonance, or the suppression of the Heavenly Dao of the world?

There were too many variables to suspect.

"I'll try them one by one, reducing a bit each time. Maybe it's the combined influence of certain variables," Li Qi rubbed his temples.

He had no clue about this at all.

No clue led to a simple result.

If he wanted an answer, he would have to exhaust all possibilities.

Trying it little by little, he would eventually find it.

Li Qi continued his labor, immersing himself in this work.

Today was another day with no harvest. Besides eliminating some wrong answers, it was basically a wasted effort.

Then, he went to the Imperial Academy for school.

He only attended one class, which was the Military School of Thought class.

Mainly because it should involve things in this area, and Li Qi was also dedicating some energy to exploring the anomaly felt by the True Knowledge Dao Resonance.

Unfortunately, there had been no results so far.

Even on the way, Li Qi was pondering these questions.

He hadn't seen the other Young Masters of Shaman God Mountain for a long time, and he didn't know what they were busy with, but Li Qi wasn't planning to look for them either, as everyone had their own matters.

As he was walking, suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder.

Li Qi looked up and saw it was Liu Canzhi.

"Brother Liu, are you done? What about the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact...?" Liu Canzhi said.

"Sorry, Brother Liu, I still have no clue. Next month, definitely next month," Li Qi immediately said, then continued walking with his head down.

Liu Canzhi looked helpless; he couldn't do anything either.

Li Qi's obsessive state had lasted too long, and the difference from the previous polite, knowledgeable Young Master of Shaman God Mountain was quite significant.

Moreover, due to Li Qi's recent strike, the development progress of the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact had suffered a bit.

Li Qi's research was very useful; with his help, the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact progressed quickly. If Liu Canzhi had to do it himself, the progress would be much slower.

But there was no other way; Liu Canzhi could understand.

Li Qi might be at a crucial juncture, so much so that he simply couldn't spare the mental effort to do anything else.

He could only wait until he finished what he was currently working on.

Alas.

Meanwhile, Li Qi entered the classroom.

The classroom now had very few people.

Previously, including auditors and those trying out introductory courses, there could be dozens of people in the classroom.

But now, after round after round of elimination, plus some people feeling they weren't suited or didn't like the Military School of Thought method, they stopped coming to study, resulting in only eight people still persisting in this course.

Learning at the Imperial Academy was this relaxed; there were only requirements for the number of cultivation paths at graduation. As for how you studied in school, that was up to you, it didn't matter.

Li Qi entered the classroom.

It was still the Youqi General serving as the teacher.

In the past half month or so, they had studied for over a dozen hours in that Cave Heaven. Li Qi and the others had already undergone sufficient pre-war learning.

Pre-war arrangements, logistics, morale, training methods, supply identification, terrain, military formation, and other aspects had all been superficially learned, and half a month had passed in that Cave Heaven because of this.

As of today, all pre-war preparations were complete.

They were just waiting to head to the front lines for a confrontation.

Li Qi sat in the classroom and heard the teacher say: "What we are to learn today is the method of marching. You all have a set number of main soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, and laborers, and they have been trained. You also have the supplies and armaments you prepared for them."

"Now, organizing the troops and transporting them to the front lines for a confrontation will be your assignment for these three days."

The teacher said so.

"The method of marching is of utmost importance. For one person, traveling a hundred li in a day is easy. For ten people, traveling a hundred li in a day is incredibly difficult. For a hundred people, traveling a hundred li in a day means one or two out of ten will die. For ten thousand people, traveling a hundred li in a day without order will surely lead to ruin."

Marching, with different numbers of people, has different levels of difficulty.

Ten thousand people walking together, while ensuring no one falls behind, no chaos, no deserters, and no various problems arising—that's incredibly difficult.

Let alone marching, even a hundred or two hundred people queuing for the toilet is a big problem.

For a march of ten thousand people, that means one or two hundred people are queuing for the toilet every moment, not to mention other problems.

So, there must be order, allowing tens of thousands of people to coordinate with each other so they can travel far without falling behind or making mistakes in the middle.

"The techniques have been given to you. Now is the time for practice. See who among you can be the first to reach the border. The first to arrive will have the initiative, which offers endless benefits in war."

Li Qi and the others listened quietly.

After stating the day's requirements, the teacher, as usual, began to lecture.

He spoke about the methods to pay attention to during marches, the points to be careful about, what methods could be used to avoid certain difficulties, how to identify mountains and rivers, and how to use terrain to establish an advantage, and so on.

He spoke rapidly, and the students listening below were fully focused. A large amount of knowledge was imparted in less than ten minutes, basically force-fed into the students' minds.

Understanding wasn't important; memorizing was enough.

Later, you would slowly understand.

After lecturing, he decisively led the remaining eight students into the Cave Heaven, letting each of them lead their previous soldiers to trek towards the border.

Whoever arrived first could set up their occupation zone and seize important terrain in advance.

Li Qi temporarily pushed aside the problems in his mind and prepared to seriously study Military School of Thought tactics for an hour.

These days, he also understood these Cave Heavens better.

The people in these Cave Heavens all had an indescribable Dragon Qi scent. It was precisely because of this that this Ninth-Rank Cave Heaven could produce so many Ninth-Rank individuals.

Normally, a Ninth-Rank world would be doing well to have two or three Ninth-Rank individuals, but here, this method forcibly raised the overall quality of the populace, producing tens of thousands of Ninth-Rank individuals.

Other than that, Li Qi didn't get any valuable information.

Other things like local customs and traditions, to be honest, were unnecessary. Once the class was over, they were just done.

According to Li Qi's guess, this strange Dragon Qi should be the problematic thing that the True Knowledge Dao Resonance detected, but unfortunately, he couldn't find the source of this thing, nor could he ask.

How could he ask? He was a Young Master of Shaman God Mountain; that would be considered proprietary information.

Moreover, being related to Dragon Qi, he didn't dare to ask too much.

He himself still carried a young Dragon Soul, and although he had already handed it over, anything related to dragons...

He always had a bad feeling about it.

While these trivial matters ran through his mind, Li Qi arranged for the initial adjutant to begin deploying troops and forming up for the march.

He now knew the adjutant's name: Jiao Xing.

"Jiao Xing, relay my order: march seventy li today, to the foot of that mountain range where there's enough wood for living. Send scouts ahead to clear the path. Use the formation I've previously arranged. Before departure, ensure all miscellaneous matters, like defecating and urinating, are handled. Do not eat or drink much water before setting off, and do not leave the ranks without permission."

Li Qi waved his hand, giving the orders.

"Yes, General," Adjutant Jiao Xing immediately bowed and left.

Then, Li Qi began to organize the troops.

After all the miscellaneous tasks were completed, these armies began to line up before Li Qi.

Military discipline was maintained, and equipment was stored.

They wore their uniforms, held their halberds, and their weapons were neatly arranged.

Everything was ready.

Li Qi looked at these soldiers and suddenly thought of something.

He had thought before about how individual entities form an army.

And how does an army acquire military Qi and military souls?

Does this contain the profound mystery of large and small that has baffled him?

The nature of Qi was too profound; he didn't know when it transformed from Qi into matter.

Could he observe these armies to see how individuals transform into a unified group?

Thinking of this, he acted immediately. Li Qi stood up abruptly and shouted loudly: "Form ranks!"

The army, which he had already trained to obey orders immediately, instinctively moved, quickly forming a square formation in front of him.

Then, Li Qi suddenly beat the war drum, activating the military Qi.

He saw that the soldiers' Qi connected into one, and the phantom of a lizard appeared above the army's formation.

Li Qi suddenly frowned.

This phantom, why did it have sentience?!