Chapter 320: Demon dragon

Within these military souls and military Qi, there seems to be some kind of spiritual existence.

To be honest, the amount of military Qi Li Qi had seen was not many, but it was not few either; he had once fought alongside the White Rhinoceros Army against seventh-rankers.

But the military Qi at that time, though solid, was just a phantom.

However, now, the military Qi of these legions in front of him seemed alive, and this strange lizard didn't look like a Dragon at all, nor did it resemble those Western Dragons.

If he had to describe it… it was probably a four-legged snake?

But as the four-legged snake unexpectedly looked back, it was extremely agile, as if it possessed a special kind of divine expression.

Li Qi immediately realized something, and his True Knowledge Dao Resonance instantly went into full activation, wanting to capture this trace of divine expression!

His speed was extremely swift, and in an instant, he captured this trace of divine expression.

However, after his True Knowledge Dao Resonance captured this trace of divine expression, Li Qi suddenly realized something—

He didn't capture it.

Something voluntarily delivered itself to him.

After he grasped this trace of divine expression, he seemed to hear a voice echoing in his ear.

The voice said:

"Save… me."

Then, this divine expression completely vanished.

Li Qi's spirit was shaken!

He felt it.

He felt an existence within a certain boundary.

It was as if this will was precisely within the membrane between the illusory and the real!

This was a very strange feeling.

The boundary between dead and living things lay here; if it became illusory, it was dead and would no longer possess agile thought.

If it completely transformed into a real object, it was alive, a complete resurrection, possessing all consciousness and spiritual wisdom.

And now, this groan was between the illusory and the real, between life and death.

Its existence seemed to be within the 'boundary' that Li Qi had been pursuing recently.

Li Qi didn't know if it was a coincidence or something else, but this thing… was hard to describe.

"Stop, re-form the ranks!" Li Qi wanted to try again, ordering these soldiers to continue exerting their power.

However, this time, the military Qi was just ordinary military Qi, and he could no longer find that will that existed between life and death.

Li Qi still wanted to try again.

But he knew that military Qi, once aroused, would wane and then be exhausted; repeatedly rousing military Qi for no reason would make the soldiers' morale no longer high.

It was currently the time for marching, and doing such a thing was not good.

So Li Qi merely secretly remembered what happened in this Grotto-Heaven, then continued to give orders and began the march.

The march officially began.

Unfortunately, Li Qi only had one hour, and then he would be dismissed from class, with the remaining time to leave the Grotto-Heaven and let them act on their own.

This was another layer of testing.

A general not with the army, yet still able to command them as if they were his own arms, this was what defined a strong army that could be entrusted with confidence.

To achieve this, it required sufficiently excellent training methods and comprehensive leadership charisma.

Fortunately, whether for Li Lieqi or Li Qi, this was not a problem.

Li Qi achieved this by establishing military laws, clear rewards and punishments, and demonstrating his credibility and personal strength.

Li Lieqi, on the other hand, achieved this through her personal charisma, which allowed them to appear for only one hour each day without the army losing control.

The class quickly ended.

Both of them emerged from the Grotto-Heaven.

Li Qi immediately prepared to run without looking back.

His day was very busy; trying to exhaustively list the commonalities of that 'boundary' was an incredibly daunting task, and Li Qi conservatively estimated that he would need to invest at least a hundred years of effort into it.

Fortunately, he was already an immortal.

Li Qi had gradually gotten used to the idea that his work cycles would be measured in centuries, and in his estimation, he might even get used to measuring them in millennia in the future.

No wonder immortals and other Cultivators couldn't get along.

The disparity in their perception of time alone was an insurmountable chasm.

It was truly fortunate that he had managed to seize those few years when he caught the rabbit and regained his mortal heart; one could only say it was swift, accurate, and decisive.

As precise as surgery!

However, just as Li Qi turned to leave, someone behind him suddenly tried to call out to him.

"Li Qi!" As Li Qi's opponent, Li Lieqi called out.

As an opponent in class, Li Lieqi had wanted to talk to Li Qi for a long time.

No other reason, it was simply because Li Qi made her extremely frustrated.

As opponents, other classmates would discuss with each other after class, conduct simulated exercises, share knowledge, and exchange insights, mostly gaining additional benefits.

But Li Qi would run off as soon as class ended, never willing to say more, guarding his techniques jealously, firmly refusing to reveal even a bit, always saying he had something to do after class.

If it were just that, Li Lieqi would at most mock him for being petty, and not even get angry.

But the problem was, while Li Qi was hiding his moves from her, he was secretly learning hers!

Every time after class, Li Qi would be able to learn her techniques, even though she hadn't said anything, only demonstrating some of her usual methods between the two armies.

There was no explanation, and she even deliberately concealed some things, but Li Qi was able to reproduce them very quickly.

This made Li Lieqi extremely frustrated, and she even felt that her slow progress was due to his behavior.

Heaven knows, Li Qi actually had no such thoughts at all.

His mind was full of exploring the boundaries; he left as soon as class ended and had no idea that everyone else would stay behind for self-study, to review and deduce, striving for further progress.

Of course, even if he knew about such extracurricular activities, he wouldn't participate.

Are you kidding? He even turned down the Shamanic Silkworm Artifact matter with Liu Canzhi, and he would still have time for this kind of thing?

As for secretly learning?

He just took a couple more glances; those techniques weren't that difficult to begin with. If he couldn't learn them after seeing them once, wouldn't he be too stupid?

But Li Lieqi clearly couldn't read minds, so over time, the misunderstanding grew larger and larger.

Fortunately, Li Lieqi was a straightforward person, usually speaking her mind directly when something was wrong, so this time, she actively tried to stop Li Qi and clarify the matter.

Li Qi did hear her, so he turned back: "Sorry, classmate, I still have things to do, let's talk next time!"

As always.

Li Qi was very busy!

Watching Li Qi turn back, drop a single sentence, and immediately run off, Li Lieqi felt a surge of blood, her face turning from white to green, then from green to red.

This… ungrateful scoundrel!

——

Regardless of how the classmate relationships were going over there, the first place Li Qi rushed to after class was the cafeteria.

He now ate only one meal a day, always in the Imperial Academy cafeteria.

After eating, he would go home, work late into the night, sleep, then work until evening to attend class, and after class, come here to eat a meal, then go back home to work.

A very regular life, like a wound-up machine.

Upon entering the cafeteria, he casually grabbed some ingredients and then quickly rushed to the Peng Hai Cauldron.

"Brother Guo, today it's also up to you!" Li Qi tossed the ingredients up.

A fat man appeared out of thin air, caught the ingredients, and laughed heartily: "Little Brother Li, alright, leave it to me. I'll also trouble you to write your thoughts for me today!"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely tell it as it is, no falsehoods." Li Qi nodded.

Recently, he had officially enrolled, and his relationship with Guo Peng Hai had grown closer.

Guo Peng Hai had been trying new dishes, which was his culinary Dao, but after trying new directions recently, anyone who ate his dishes would vomit, and only Li Qi could eat them with relish.

Therefore, Li Qi became like a lifesaver to him; he constantly tried new dishes for Li Qi, wanting to find out why the new dishes made others vomit, and what mutation had occurred in between?

Li Qi was happy to have free dinner and was also very willing to befriend this fourth-grade Spiritual Artifact, so over time, their relationship grew, and Li Qi's "Brother Guo" became more and more practiced.

Soon, Li Qi's meal was served.

To be honest, this thing looked a lot like Cthulhu roasted chicken.

But Li Qi didn't care; as long as it was edible, it was fine.

He ate it in a few bites, savoring every taste.

Hmm, it was still very delicious.

Then he took out paper and pen and began to record his post-meal thoughts.

Guo Peng Hai's illusion also appeared behind him at just the right time, rubbing his hands, waiting for his post-meal thoughts.

This was similar to Li Qi's exhaustive method; the Peng Hai Cauldron's Dao path had also encountered a problem of confusion, and Li Qi was a possible Breakthrough point for him, so he was willing to befriend this seventh-grade junior, even treating him as an equal.

However, as Li Qi was writing his post-meal thoughts today, he suddenly thought of something.

He stopped writing and turned to look at the Peng Hai Cauldron.

"Brother Guo, are you familiar with our school?"

Li Qi's question seemed to tickle the Peng Hai Cauldron's fancy; the fat man patted his belly and said proudly: "That's natural! I've been here for two or three thousand years, I know much more than you young ones!"

"What, do you have something you don't understand? Did you encounter anything strange in the school?"

Hearing the Peng Hai Cauldron's words, Li Qi nodded and said: "Hmm, it's about the Military School of Thought class classroom."

"In the Military School of Thought class classroom, I found a strange thing. In the military Qi condensed by the soldiers there, I seemed to feel a tiny bit of Life Qi, but it didn't seem like it, it felt quite strange. Brother Guo, have you heard of such a thing?" Li Qi asked the Peng Hai Cauldron.

This was something he had just thought of.

Regarding the secrets of such classrooms, the teacher wouldn't tell him, and his classmates weren't familiar with him, so… asking the Peng Hai Cauldron, who he had a good relationship with and who had some seniority in the school, was truly the most suitable option, wasn't it?

As for the Peng Hai Cauldron, after hearing Li Qi's question, he pondered while patting his belly, and soon, he asked Li Qi in return: "Condensed military Qi? I don't understand these things. Can military Qi not be alive?"

"Perhaps there are some ways to vitalize military Qi, but I've never seen or heard of it, so I can only guess at other possibilities, to see if it's a problem with the classroom." Li Qi said.

In fact, Li Qi knew that this was mostly a problem with the classroom.

The ninth-grade Grotto-Heaven, serving as the classroom, easily catalyzed tens of thousands of ninth-grade Cultivators.

This in itself was already very illogical.

In his speculation, this was definitely due to the Grotto-Heaven itself; even if it wasn't the Grotto-Heaven's reason, it must have relied on the Grotto-Heaven to accomplish such a thing.

That ethereal, ungraspable Dragon Qi might be the reason.

Li Qi felt that this would definitely help him comprehend 'boundary'.

The reason was simple: Li Qi had initially obtained clues about the boundary because his True Knowledge Dao Resonance scanned that Grotto-Heaven, and after deep thought, that flash of insight occurred. So Li Qi believed that this boundary itself was a property revealed by that Grotto-Heaven, which he coincidentally discovered.

This was because this boundary was constantly connected to that Grotto-Heaven.

Think about it carefully.

Li Qi's inspiration for 'boundary' was obtained in the Grotto-Heaven.

The boundary between the individual and the collective in the Military School of Thought.

The will within the military Qi produced by this Grotto-Heaven had the nature of the boundary between the illusory and the real, and was also within the boundary between life and death.

Various small problems like military provisions and supplies, and the boundary that formed a larger problem.

All these things came from the Grotto-Heaven itself.

So Li Qi felt that this Grotto-Heaven must have some connection with 'boundary'.

"So you're curious about this, then you've asked the right person!" The Peng Hai Cauldron realized something after hearing Li Qi's confusion.

So it was because of this!

"I've heard about this. If you're curious, come closer, and your Brother Guo will tell you in detail." The Peng Hai Cauldron patted his belly and said heroically.

Li Qi immediately leaned forward, listening carefully.

This might relate to his work for the next few centuries; if he could hear a useful clue, it might save him centuries of exhaustive effort.

The Peng Hai Cauldron cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and said to Li Qi: "The Military School of Thought practice classroom you mentioned, the Grotto-Heaven inside it, is split."

"Split?" Li Qi was curious.

"That's right, don't you have forty-nine desks over there? In fact, there are forty-nine Grotto-Heavens, originally one entity, which was the miniature heaven and earth within a demon dragon's body."

"Or according to our custom, it's called a human body small world." The Peng Hai Cauldron said mysteriously.

Li Qi was startled!

Those dozens of desks were dozens of Grotto-Heavens, and these Grotto-Heavens were artificially cut like this!? They used to be the miniature heaven and earth of a demon dragon's body?

There was such a thing?

Then, the 'save me' sounds emanating from those military souls and military Qi, were they the demon dragon crying for help?

This meant that this demon dragon, whose Physical Body was killed, whose Spirit Soul was destroyed, and whose human body small world was fragmented into forty-nine pieces, hadn't completely died yet? It still wanted to revive?

So, those soldiers were all born by borrowing the demon dragon's Dragon Qi, which is why the ninth-grade rate was so high?

Thinking this way, many mysteries were easily solved!

At the same time, Li Qi immediately realized why he could perceive the boundary through his True Knowledge Dao Resonance.

Just as mentioned before, countless small problems would become one big problem.

Then, dozens of small Grotto-Heavens would also become one large world.

It was just that there would be a boundary in between.

Breaking through this boundary, the illusory would become reality, particles would become matter, and water molecules would become water.

Li Qi couldn't help but guess, could it be that the great power who divided the demon dragon's human body small world absolutely knew this boundary, and therefore precisely cut it at this boundary!

In this way, the demon dragon would not die, but would be stuck within the boundary, maintaining a state of neither life nor death!