Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 69

Ling Xiao’s expression became serious when he heard this. “What special training?”

Fu Yao took out a soul crystal and tossed it to Ying Feng. “This is a level 3. Try it.”

Ying Feng channeled his mental power into it, but the soul crystal showed no reaction.

“Is there an emotional value limit?” This was Ying Feng’s best guess.

“No, it’s trust value.”

“What’s the difference between trust value and emotional value?”

“Emotional value is only limited between the Qizhu and the Qizi. Trust value can be with anyone. As long as someone’s trust value in you reaches 100%, you can use this Shared Five Senses Soul Crystal on them.”

“Shared Five Senses?”

“You can see what they see, hear what they hear, and feel what they feel. Likewise, you can convey everything you perceive to them. On the battlefield, this is a very convenient means of communication, especially when the other party cannot speak.”

“So how can trust value reach 100%?” Ying Feng asked again.

“It’s simple: as long as they are willing to entrust their life to you.”

Ying Feng frowned. “That simple?”

“For some, it’s difficult. But for an outstanding general, personal charisma sometimes even surpasses personal ability. My subordinates trust me 100%. If you want to achieve the same,” he turned to Ling Xiao, “start with those closest to you.”

It was then that Nie Yun understood Fu Yao’s intentions. He wasn’t setting a regular student’s expectations for Ying Feng; he intended to train him by the standards of a general from the very beginning.

Ying Feng straightened up. “How do I do it?”

……

In front of Ling Xiao and his team was a blank arena. However, Ling Xiao recognized that its structure was identical to that of the venue for their first exam, meaning it could simulate various terrains.

Fu Yao handed them two earpieces, one for each, and said to Ling Xiao, “Remember this: no matter the situation, trust your commander unconditionally. Even if their orders place you in danger, trust them with your life. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

Fu Yao activated the training platform on the control board. “Go in.”

Ling Xiao entered the arena, while Ying Feng remained outside.

“There’s not much to explain. Just direct him to move forward.”

Ying Feng glanced over. Ling Xiao was standing at the entrance. In front of him was a straight path.

“Move forward.”

Ling Xiao followed the path beneath his feet, proceeding straight until Ying Feng gave the next instruction.

“Turn left.”

Ling Xiao stopped. The straight road ahead ended. To the right was a path, but to the left was a void.

“Are you sure it’s left?”

“Yes.

“You’re not opposite me and mistaking right for left, are you?”

“I mean your left.”

Ling Xiao frowned, looking to his left. “There’s no road on my left.”

“The right side is empty. If you turn right, you’ll fall.”

After contemplating, Ling Xiao cautiously tested a step to the left and found solid ground. The reality differed from what he saw. What Ying Feng saw was the truth. But walking on an unseen path would evoke fear in anyone.

“Turn right now.”

Ling Xiao hesitated momentarily before proceeding, confirming a path was on the right before stepping into thin air.

Fu Yao shook his head. “Too slow. If enemies were chasing, you’d be dead many times over.”

Ling Xiao faintly heard Fu Yao’s voice through his earpiece, but it was unclear. “What did the commander say?”

“He said you’re too slow. Move faster.”

Ling Xiao steeled his heart, thinking that since Fu Yao had also said to trust Ying Feng, he might as well trust him this time. After all, even if he fell in the simulated training ground, he wouldn’t die.

He quickened his pace, with Ying Feng’s directions coming in intermittently.

“Turn left, then right.”

“Jump after three steps.”

“At ten o’clock, there’s a platform about a meter high and two meters away. Jump onto it.”

With every instruction, Ling Xiao struggled more. He was essentially walking blind, taking gambles with every move.

“Now, jump! There’s a wall above you. Climb over.”

Ling Xiao looked up. Indeed, there was a wall, but it was a wall of fire.

“Are you sure I can climb this?”

“Yes.”

“What if I don’t climb and just move forward?”

“You’ll hit a wall of fire.”

Ling Xiao: …

He hypnotized himself, thinking, ‘This is a stone wall, this is a stone wall.’ Leaping up to grasp the crevice in the stone, an immediate burning pain emanated from his palm.

Fu Yao began to explain, “When people see fire, even if they know it’s fake, their subconscious will still induce a feeling of pain. The same goes for other environments. Deciding whether to trust one’s own subjective feelings or another individual outside of oneself is a very difficult choice.”

Ling Xiao gritted his teeth and endured, constantly reminding himself that it was just an illusion. In a few swift movements, he scaled the wall. When he landed, it felt as if his hands had been scorched, and he could even smell the charred scent from his nose.

But the trial wasn’t over.

“Lie down and crawl forward.”

The ground in front of Ling Xiao was covered with sharp knives. Crawling over them would surely result in severe injury, with his insides spilling out. Yet, he knew if he didn’t proceed, invisible blades awaited him from above. Why was he always chosen for such brutal training?

Bracing himself, Ling Xiao crawled over the path, laden with sharp blades. This time, he simply kept his eyes shut, just like during the school rule challenge. Regardless of what Ying Feng said, he executed with his eyes closed, his speed much faster than before. Outside, Fu Yao nodded in approval.

“Run!” Ying Feng’s voice suddenly amplified.

“Run!”

Ling Xiao ran as fast as he could. Even if he could see, there was no time to test the authenticity of the commands. Ying Feng told him to turn, and he turned; told him to jump, and he jumped. Without looking back, he kept running until he reached the edge of a cliff.

“Jump off!” Ying Feng’s command came decisively.

Looking down, Ling Xiao felt dizzy. It was damned lava again! He had narrowly escaped it once in the game store, and now he was supposed to willingly jump into it? It seemed he was fated to have encounters with lava.

Ling Xiao looked back, but there was nothing behind him. Ying Feng’s tone suggested urgency. “Hurry up!”

Trust him with your life, no matter the circumstance.

Fu Yao’s command echoed in his mind. Ling Xiao thought to himself, if he’s going to get burned, so be it. He closed his eyes and jumped straight into the rolling lava.

Splash—

The sound of splashing water. Opening his eyes cautiously, Ling Xiao found himself no longer in the hellish environment but surrounded by cool, clear lake water. The scenery was stunningly beautiful.

Looking up, on the high cliff edge, a SS-level beast, the Golden Lion, paced agitatedly, frustrated that its prey had just barely escaped.

“You did well, but you took too long.” The beautiful surroundings vanished, and Ling Xiao stood unharmed in his original spot—not even a droplet on his clothes.

“In your heart, there’s still hesitation. 100% trust means following orders without any doubt. It’s not achieved overnight. My soldiers and I achieved it through life-threatening battles. Fortunately, you have plenty of time.”

At this moment, Shuang Feng came out from the neighboring training room. Perhaps aiming to impress, his time was slightly faster than Ling Xiao’s.

“You can freely use these two training rooms in the future. Strive to meet the standards I’ve set.”

“Yes, sir!”

“That’s it for today. You can practice freely now.”

After Fu Yao left, Ling Xiao eagerly stepped forward. “Again.”

“Hold on.” Ying Feng held his shoulder.

“What’s up?”

“It’s my turn.”

Ling Xiao was puzzled. “Isn’t the training to measure my trust in you?”

“For you to trust me 100%, I also need to trust you the same way. I will only trust you with my life if you do the same for me. I believe that’s how Major General Fu Yao did it.”

Fu Yao, who had pretended to leave but lingered nearby, smiled upon hearing this. He had intentionally concealed the true training method, allowing them to find the answer after facing challenges. These two were indeed the ones he had his eyes on.

“He’s right,” Yu Ji said to his Qizi. “Trust is mutual. Let’s swap places too.”

Moved by Ying Feng’s words, warmth welled up inside Ling Xiao. He nodded deeply. “Okay!”

The two switched places, with Ying Feng now in the darkness and Ling Xiao in a position to see everything.

“I’m ready.”

“Move forward!”

……

The four of them trained all morning, and each had made significant progress compared to when they first started. Even though Shuang Feng always looked like he hadn’t woken up, when he got serious, his strength wasn’t to be underestimated. However, Yu Ji wasn’t weak either, but there was still a gap compared to Ying Feng. Hence, Ling Xiao became even more curious about how Yu Ji had defeated Shuang Feng and became the Qizhu.

Ling Xiao, someone who couldn’t hide his thoughts, finally took the opportunity to ask Yu Ji about his long-standing doubt when they were alone.

“Well,” Yu Ji pondered for a moment. “It’s because…”

Suddenly, he attacked Ling Xiao. Caught off guard, Ling Xiao felt numb all over and couldn’t move for about two seconds.

“I only used 20% of my strength just now. If I use my full strength, I could probably immobilize you for ten seconds.”

Ling Xiao was taken aback. Being immobilized for ten seconds during combat would determine the outcome. If Yu Ji was his enemy, that would have been enough time for him to die countless times. He then remembered that Yu Ji had used this technique during the third test.

“Every creature has its pressure points. These points are not fixed; they shift with the flow of vital energy within the organism. Because of my interest in creatures, I spent a lot of time observing and studying them. Over time, I became sensitive to these points. Humans are also creatures, so I extended this immobilizing technique to humans and found it to be equally effective.”

“I see. So you used this method to defeat Shuang Feng during the coming-of-age ceremony.”

“Yes,” Yu Ji said with a downcast gaze. “Actually, it was quite unfair to him. In terms of pure strength, I was no match for him. I feel like I took a shortcut.”

“Why think so? It’s also a result of your efforts. He shouldn’t blame you and forsake your previous feelings.”

Yu Ji was silent for a while before saying, “Actually, we didn’t have feelings for each other before.”

“What?”

“It’s embarrassing, but our coming-of-age ceremony was a huge misunderstanding from start to finish.”

Ling Xiao felt that his coming-of-age ceremony was the most chaotic, but he couldn’t believe that there could be another more chaotic than theirs.

“Shuang Feng and I weren’t lovers before.”

“Huh?”

“We were love rivals.”

Ling Xiao: =口=

“It’s not that serious. We just happened to fall in love with the same person. Unfortunately, that person didn’t love either of us.”

Who was this irresistible person?

“On the day she held her coming-of-age ceremony with someone else. Both of us were upset, and we did something stupid. We hid in the dormitory and drank alcohol.”

Ling Xiao was puzzled. “You were still fledglings. Where did you get the alcohol?”

“It’s no secret. There’s a shop in the fledgling area that sells everything. We bought it there.”

Ling Xiao: ‘That bastard!’

“The shopkeeper said the alcohol would make one forget their worries and even make dreams come true. We foolishly believed him. Later, we found out it contained hallucinogens. That night, we both hallucinated and saw the person we loved.”

“…But in reality, it was each other?”

“Yes. Our coming-of-age ceremony was a total mess. I didn’t want to accept the relationship for days.”

Ling Xiao finally believed that there were people with more tragic experiences than them. No wonder their star rating was rated even lower than theirs.

“Was Shuang Feng’s severe mental trauma caused by this?”

“Yes. When he woke up, he disappeared. Others couldn’t find him, but I didn’t want to. I endured for a week, almost getting killed by the school doctor and the instructor. I refused to listen.”

“A week!”

Yu Ji suddenly asked, “Is it really hard for a Qizi to endure without its Qizhu during the chaotic period?”

Ling Xiao turned pale at the memory. Yu Ji understood immediately.

He sighed. “Regrettably, back then, I wouldn’t listen to anyone. In the end, it was my own unbearable feeling of a missing soul that made me compromise. At that time, many people thought he had already died, and when I found him, he was indeed on the verge of reincarnation.”

Ling Xiao restrained himself for a while and said, “Even though it may not be appropriate for me to say this, you really went too far.”

“You saying that actually makes me feel a bit better. At that time, I felt that my pain was the greatest pain and never realized that my Qizi was bearing several times more pain than I was. Especially considering that Shuang Feng was inherently stronger than me, yet he was forced to become my Qizi, and the way I treated him…”

“I deeply regret it now. Shuang Feng’s mental trauma and his excessive sleepiness are lifelong. In fact, he used to be as vibrant as you. It’s all my fault that he became like this.”

“It’s not you; it’s Zhen He. He bears the vast majority of the blame!” Ling Xiao said indignantly.

Yu Ji was puzzled. “Zhen He? Who is that?”

“The one who sold you the alcohol. I used to think he only sold things like information and discs. I never thought he’d sell such dangerous things to fledglings. He’s purely driven by profit!”

“Perhaps he does share part of the blame, but our deliberate wrongdoing is an undeniable fact. No one else can be blamed for the consequences. At first, Shuang Feng wasn’t willing to forgive me.”

“How did he agree to come back with you then?”

“…We made an agreement.”

“What kind of agreement?” Ling Xiao inquired.

A blush appeared on Yu Ji’s face inexplicably. “Ah, let’s hurry back. If Shuang Feng wakes up from his nap and can’t find me, he’ll throw a fit.”

“No, wait! What was the agreement? Don’t leave me hanging like this. Hey…”

Ling Xiao persisted in following Yu Ji, continuously asking him about it, but Yu Ji refused to answer. By the time they got back to their dorm, Ling Xiao still hadn’t gotten the “truth.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>