Chapter 129: A Leap in Strength

Le Kai smiled slightly and said, "I will." Secretly, he chuckled to himself. He would give them a chance to be reincarnated. The story of the farmer and the serpent was no mere fable; leaving villains alive to harm his loved ones was not an act of kindness, but an act of complicity in evil.

However, Li Yan had been kind-hearted and pure to an extreme since childhood. She always believed that every life was worthy of respect. Although well-read, she held extremely radical views on this matter, and Le Kai did not wish to cause a rift between them.

The fruit the two were eating was actually a rare spiritual medicine that took a hundred years to bear fruit. When used to refine pills, it had special effects in slowing aging and promoting beauty and weight loss. Eating it directly also had some effect, though not as potent as the pills. Only a pill-obsessed disciple like Le Kai could be so extravagant.

After they had eaten one, Le Kai reached to pick another, but Li Yan stopped him. With her intelligence, she naturally understood that these fruits were incredibly precious. Tasting one was enough; to eat more would be a waste of nature's bounty.

Faced with such an understanding and beautiful girl, Le Kai was quite content. It would take at least two days for the others to return, and Le Kai did not want to stay idle. Although he hadn't achieved a breakthrough in the recent battle, he had gained much insight that needed to be properly digested. Meanwhile, Li Yan spent her time browsing the vast library of Xianxian, absorbing knowledge she had previously been unaware of.

The most valuable lesson gained from the fight with Sang Qing was: do not be arrogant. When facing an enemy, no matter how weak, one should never be dismissive—strike when it is time to strike. It was precisely because Sang Qing had been so confident and arrogant that he waited for Le Kai to be fully prepared before attacking, ultimately resulting in a counter-attack that led to his total ruin.

The pressure of a one-star martial artist was something Le Kai had felt firsthand. It was absolutely different from a martial artist of his own level. It was no wonder that after Li Xiuxiang's breakthrough, not only had his temperament changed, but his disposition had as well—he looked at Le Kai as if he were an ant. In reality, as power increases, this feeling easily arises.

Would a human respect an ant? The answer is no. When one’s strength is so great that others seem like mere ants, who would care? No matter how strong an ant is or how much it brandishes its claws, it appears ridiculous before a human, because no matter what it does, a single finger can crush it if the human so chooses.

A star-level martial artist is like an ant transforming into a human—a qualitative leap. Once past this threshold, one is reborn, and their perspective is entirely different.

In terms of raw power, no matter how monstrously talented Le Kai was, he could never compare to Li Xiuxiang; the opponent was ten times stronger than he was currently, a gap that could not be bridged in the short term. Therefore, Le Kai abandoned this path and turned toward developing his mental power. The people of the Zhanlang Empire excelled in physical cultivation and valued physical strength, largely because their natural mental power was weak; even with cultivation methods, their ultimate achievements were limited. Le Kai, however, was different. He not only possessed his mother's excellent genes, but because his mother had sealed her own mental power within his body before she died, his mental potential was limitless.

Before the battle with Sang Qing, his mental power was already comparable to a peak one-star martial artist, and now, it had taken another great stride forward. Purely in terms of mental power, he was now on par with Li Xiuxiang.

Le Kai had already reached the first stage of the "Phantom God Technique," known as "Peering into Truth," and was currently in the second stage, "Spirit Absorption." According to the records of the "Phantom God Technique," the power of this stage was mind-boggling. Le Kai was currently at the "introductory" level. Within his eyes, a mental focal point had been constructed. Now, by following the secret method to concentrate his mental power into his eyes to create a strange transformation, the stronger the vortex, the greater the suction, and the greater the power. At the introductory stage, he could not freely absorb the mental power of others, but absorbing the free-floating energy of nature was entirely feasible.

The world was filled with various forces, though they were difficult for the naked eye to discern. Among them, not only was there spiritual energy, but mental power existed as well. Every blade of grass and every tree possessed a spirit, but most people could neither sense it nor harness the mental power of the heavens and earth. They could only rely on long-term meditation to increase their own, which was why their growth was so slow.

However, the Fairy Empire had always been dedicated to the study of the mental arts. Every sect used the cultivation of mental power as its foundation, naturally creating countless methods to absorb the power of the heavens and earth to enhance one's own. The "Phantom God Technique" was one such miraculous practice.

Le Kai sat cross-legged on the "Flame Stone," executing the secret method of the "Phantom God Technique." His mind instantly became clear and empty. Everything in front of him seemed to vanish, and what appeared before him was a world of brilliant, multicolored light—a kaleidoscopic realm of red, green, golden yellow, and even thin wisps of white. Though the white was sparse, it acted like threads, connecting the other colors.

"Could this be the essential world described in the Phantom God Technique? Is this five-colored radiance the various types of power, and is this white light mental power? It is truly wondrous. Though virtual, it is real." Le Kai channeled the technique, and the vortex in his eyes fluctuated, instantly generating a suction. The white, thread-like mental power in his consciousness was pulled as if by a massive force, drawn toward the vortex and into the infinite depths.

The feeling was like taking a bite of something delicious, but the portion was too small to taste properly; it only whetted his appetite. Le Kai experienced a joy in cultivation different from the "Unity Heart Method," and he became tireless, continuously absorbing the stray mental power in the surroundings.

The "Flame Stone" was truly a treasure for recovering mental power; massive amounts of white threads surged from it, seeming endless.

The mental focal point at the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows clearly grew significantly, exceeding his dantian several times over. Furthermore, the more mental power he absorbed, the brighter that point became.

"My mental power now should be on par with a two-star martial artist. As long as my physical strength catches up, I will be able to unleash corresponding power." Le Kai felt the volume of his mental focal point and sighed with emotion. However, having strong mental power was also very helpful for refining "Yin" energy. When the absorbed spiritual energy was purified through the ancestral aperture, it was many times faster than before. This refined spiritual energy formed a pale red Yin energy, stored in the focal point of the dantian. If he absorbed enough Yin energy, the focal point would gradually grow, and after the yin-yang interaction with the mental focal point, it might be possible to nurture a true "core"—the so-called Golden Core mentioned by the pill-obsessed master.

However, this process was still a bit premature for Le Kai. To form a core, the focal point needed to be at least the size of a pigeon egg; currently, it was only the size of a grain of rice, which was far too small.

Looking at the current situation, it seemed the mental focal point in the ancestral aperture might reach the critical point first.

"Le Kai! Le Kai, wake up! Something happened!"

As soon as Le Kai finished his practice, he heard Li Yan shouting, her voice tinged with panic.

Was there an invasion? Le Kai was startled and leaped to his feet.

"Le Kai, look, they are all being hurt by King Kong! You have to stop King Kong; it’s gone mad!"

Li Yan looked at the miserable scene on the screen, her face pale with anxiety. With her kind nature, seeing a group of people being ruthlessly smashed left and right by King Kong with a giant club naturally worried her to death.

Le Kai said speechlessly, "Yan'er, aren't you overreacting? I told you, this is devilish training, and King Kong is the devil. Without going through hellish trials, how can they improve?"

On the screen, King Kong was roaring and waving its giant club, dealing with the attacks of the ten people in a brutal fashion.

However, after watching for a moment, Le Kai shook his head and said, "I didn't expect King Kong to have a merciful heart. This is a real eye-opener." He tapped the virtual screen and said coldly, "King Kong, have you not eaten, or has your injury not healed? Why is your strength so soft? Since they have the guts to challenge authority, beat them hard! It’s not like we don't have medicine."

When Le Kai said this, Li Yan was stunned, and the people fighting over there had their expressions change drastically. With a shout, they scrambled to run away.

Le Kai said angrily, "King Kong, if you dare to accept Lanbo's pills as bribes to go easy on them again, don't ever expect to get another pill from me! You better think about it!"

King Kong raised its wrist in grievance and muttered a few words to the side—likely a confession—but it had deliberately delayed for a moment. Only when Le Kai glared at it did it turn and chase after the group.

Facing King Kong's performance, Le Kai was torn between laughter and tears. To be bribed by Lanbo’s pills and go easy on them—this way of thinking and acting was no different from a human.

Li Yan watched the rapidly fleeing group, feeling her face burn. She felt as if she had ruined Cousin Lanbo's plans!

As for Lanbo's behavior, Le Kai was also quite speechless. This kid was truly worthy of being a future politician; he could even bribe King Kong to cooperate with their act. What kind of methods were these?

But now, their miserable days had arrived. After being scolded by Le Kai, King Kong clearly wanted to vent its anger on them. With its roars from behind and the heavy thud of its giant feet shaking the earth, the pressure was immense.

Within three hours, the group had reached their absolute limits, each of them exhausted and their internal energy depleted. If not for the fact that Lanbo had embezzled many stamina-restoring pills in the past, they would have long since been unable to move. Little did they know that King Kong hadn't even used its full strength. King Kong's speed and endurance were things even Le Kai bowed before; without using the "Unity Footwork," even he couldn't outrun King Kong, let alone these people.

Following Le Kai's instructions, King Kong maintained a constant speed, doing its best to squeeze the group and apply immense pressure to force a breakthrough. So far, although they hadn't truly broken through their realms, their understanding and application of their own strength had improved significantly. The one who had progressed the fastest was, of course, Lanbo, who had lacked experience before.