This Inner Force has only one special effect in the game: a single resurrection. Yes, exactly one resurrection. When your health runs out and you die, you just stand right back up again, full of faith.
You must remember that a game is a game, and reality is reality. If the Arhat Demon-Subduing Skill had the exact same function in reality, then it would be one of the strongest Inner Forces in the world, perhaps even without equal. After all, this was resurrection! A person only has one life; if resurrection were possible, it would defy the heavens. Hao Qi did not yet know what other changes the skill might undergo once materialized, but even if there were only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of resurrection, it was his absolute target among the twenty martial arts slots. Without a doubt, he was going to cultivate the Arhat Demon-Subduing Skill, no matter what.
It was just that the cultivation requirements for the Arhat Demon-Subduing Skill were somewhat high after materialization. The first requirement was to have at least two Inner Forces at level ten; the second was to have at least three external martial arts at the peak level. Then came the third requirement, which was the one Hao Qi found most troublesome: once he started cultivating the Arhat Demon-Subduing Skill, he would be unable to practice any other martial arts until he brought it to level ten.
Hao Qi pulled his thoughts back from the System. He walked slowly to the window, looked out at the street below and the bright, cheerful sunshine in the sky, and sighed. He decided to stop dwelling on the overwhelming temptations within the System; it was better to keep his feet on the ground for now. He would choose the Arhat Demon-Subduing Skill as his second Inner Force. This Inner Force only required two external martial arts, each trained to at least level five. Since he happened to be planning to practice another fist technique, once that other fist technique reached level five, he would be able to equip the Arhat Demon-Subduing Skill. It would kill two birds with one stone without delaying anything.
As for his second external fist technique, naturally he could no longer pick a low-tier one like Arhat Fist. Even among low-tier fist techniques, there were variations in quality within the System. After browsing through a selection, Hao Qi chose a fist technique with a Yin Inner Force attribute... the Heaven-Ecompassing Net Palm. Although its fist technique coefficient was also twenty, its attack power reached 300, which was about fifty higher than the Arhat Fist. That wasn't the crucial point; the real reason was that this fist technique provided a bonus to lightness skills in the game, and right now what he lacked most was good combat footwork, body movement, and lightness techniques. Therefore, his second external fist technique...
Heaven-Ecompassing Net Palm! Decided!
Chapter 13: Baptism
Chapter 13: Baptism
Hao Qi ate his dinner while reading the newspaper. As he read, his gaze suddenly sharpened. He re-read a paragraph in the article over and over again several times before finally putting the paper down and falling into silent contemplation.
The newspaper reported on a major corruption case discovered within the Capital Circle of the Lanying Republic. A large number of individuals were implicated, but ranking first was Xu Wen of the Capital Circle's government internal affairs department. The article featured a black-and-white photograph of him alongside a list of his crimes. Aside from corruption, bribery, and drug smuggling, there were charges of abuse of power and massive collective murder, followed by arson to destroy the evidence. When his crimes were exposed, he had even attempted to murder witnesses in order to cover it up. However, the net of justice is wide and lets nothing slip—so the article stated—and he had been arrested, put on trial, sentenced directly to hanging without the right to appeal, and stripped of his political rights for life...
"Could the Xu Family have fallen? Because I killed one of their Inner Force Experts? No, that's unlikely. Even if the Xu Family has only one Inner Force Expert left, it's virtually impossible for them to collapse completely. Now that I am also an Inner Force Expert, I understand very well just how powerful the Inner Force Realm truly is. Forget weapons from this civilized era; even heavy sniper rifles are useless, to say nothing of missiles or high-powered armaments. Even with such things, it is basically impossible to injure an Inner Force Expert. To repeat: an Inner Force Expert isn't an idiot. Do you think they'll just charge forward and die while you have hundreds of heavy weapons aimed at them? As long as they hide in the shadows, whoever dares to threaten my family with extermination—I'll kill one today and another tomorrow, and no one will have an easy time of it. Therefore, as long as the Xu Family still has a single Inner Force Expert, a judgment like this shouldn't happen... unless..."
Having transmigrated from the Information Age, Hao Qi naturally understood that so-called laws existed simply to protect the interests of the ruling class. If the law were to turn around and target the ruling class itself, the rulers could simply purge those who enforced the law. Unless the ruling class had ceased to be the ruling class, the law would never turn against them.
As long as the Xu Family still had an Inner Force Expert to anchor their family's fortunes, they would forever remain part of the ruling class. The only possible reason for such a trial to take place was that the Xu Family had permitted it...
"Are they trying to negotiate peace with me? Hehe..."
Hao Qi already had a suspicion in mind, and he was quite certain it was close to the mark. Due to his background and his worldview from his previous life before transmigrating, he didn't quite understand the fanaticism people of this era held toward powerful clans and martial arts sects. Even so, this didn't prevent him from deducing the Xu Family's intentions. They intended to abandon this direct descendant in order to ensure the survival of the entire Xu Family. After all, he had already killed one of their Inner Force Experts; if he killed another, the Xu Family would truly face total annihilation. Forget talk of alliances between noble families or ties of friendship—once a noble family began to decline, the full weight of the other families' interests would come crashing down like beasts of prey, tearing it apart and showing absolute ruthlessness without leaving a single scrap behind...
Now, the choice fell back to Hao Qi. He picked up the newspaper once more and read it carefully. After a long while, he sighed and finally put the paper down. And once he put it down, he never picked it up again.
So be it. A life for a life, a debt repaid in coin. He truly had the capability to drive the Xu Family to a desperate end, but what was the point? After all, the person who killed his sworn brother had already been sentenced to death. As long as the execution was real—rather than a substitution trick by the Xu Family or a trap to lure him in—then their mutual grievances could end right here. After all, it was a major noble family with many men, women, and children. Asking him to make an entire family pay with their lives to avenge his brother, regardless of whether they knew or were innocent, was something he simply could not do.
So... be it.
With his mind made up, Hao Qi let go of his final lingering doubts. Once he confirmed that Xu Wen had truly died by hanging, he could begin planning his own dreams. Of course, there were still many things he needed to do before that: he needed sufficient funds, and he needed maps. While a complete world map was unlikely, he at least needed maps of the Lanying Republic and its surrounding nations. He also needed to buy many books—books on wilderness survival, foreign languages, regional civilizations, and much more...
Right, and one very important category: medical texts were practically a necessity. He had only realized this recently while healing his injuries and repairing his internal hidden wounds. His medical knowledge was insufficient; repairing and strengthening his body's organs, viscera, and nervous system had been a massive headache for him. If he intended to make progress in his strength, studying medicine was a must. And that wasn't all—while traveling the world in the future, if he fell ill, was poisoned, or suffered severe injuries, having medical knowledge could very well save his life.
"Sigh, I'm still short on money..."
Hao Qi sighed, cutting off his train of thought. After finishing dinner, he went out to find a telegraph office and sent a telegram to the Li Family in the Capital Circle, then returned to his hotel room to recuperate in peace. The very next afternoon, Li Pancheng, Xue Na, and the Li Family's Inner Force Expert all arrived at the hotel together.
Among the three who arrived, the elderly Inner Force Expert of the Li Family maintained a natural expression, looking at Hao Qi with a cheerful smile as though they were old friends who had known each other for years across the age gap, addressing him warmly as "young friend" at every turn. Li Pancheng and Xue Na, however, wore complicated expressions. In particular, Li Pancheng looked at Hao Qi with hesitation, as if he didn't quite know what to say.
"Brother Li, Big Sister, we met when we were at our lowest, and we always treated each other with genuine sincerity. I believe we will certainly remain friends in the future, right?" Hao Qi took the initiative to speak to Li Pancheng and Xue Na.
Before Li Pancheng could reply, Xue Na blurted out first, "Of course that goes without saying! You brat have really made it big now. The youngest Inner Force Expert in the history of the Lanying Republic, and you even possess strength at or above the mid-Inner Force Realm. When we first walked in, we hardly dared to recognize you! Now that it's confirmed, you're still that stubborn little radish sprout. That hasn't changed at all."
Hao Qi rubbed his nose with some embarrassment. When he had first transmigrated, his body hadn't yet fully grown, and practicing the Arhat Fist had consumed even more of his physical nourishment, causing him to have a large head and a frail body during his initial period here. Thus, he had earned the nickname "Little Radish Sprout," known only to those closest to him. Now that Xue Na had brought up this nickname, even though he still held a slight barrier in his heart regarding her, it wasn't easy for him to dwell on it further.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Hao Qi turned to ask the Li Family's Inner Force Expert, "Is the Xu Family really planning to reconcile? Is that Xu Wen the real deal? Or is it a trap waiting for me to walk into the Capital Circle? Old sir, since I owe a debt of human favor to the Li Family, I can only ask you these questions."
The Li Family's Inner Force Expert showed not the slightest sign of being bothered; instead, he chuckled and said, "To speak of human favors makes you too polite. Your elder sister is a direct daughter-in-law of our Li Family; we are all one family. Mentioning favors is treating us like outsiders... As for Xu Wen's trial, it is entirely genuine. The process of the trial, the investigation of the evidence, and the upcoming hanging have all had the Xu Family invite the eight major noble families of the Capital Circle, including our Li Family, to participate. Xu Wen has already been imprisoned, and his identity has been verified—he is indeed Xu Wen himself, not some substitute. After all, he is someone who was just a hair's breadth away from achieving a Quasi-Inner Force physical body; among the younger generation of the Xu Family, only Xu Wen reached that level."
"Is that so?" Hao Qi fell silent for a moment before smiling and saying, "Then please, elder, take a message to the Xu Family for me: I'll wait for Xu Wen's death. As long as he dies, my grievances with the Xu Family will be wiped clean."
The old man of the Li Family nodded and said, "Wise... However, while your grievances with the Xu Family are wiped clean, you still have another difficult trial ahead that you must pass."
Hao Qi instantly grew curious. He asked with a puzzled expression, "What difficult trial? Could it be that the Xu Family still intends to continue holding a grudge against me?"
"No, it's not the Xu Family," the old man of the Li Family continued. "It's the state—the Lanying Republic... Has my young friend ever heard of the Baptism?"
"Baptism?" Hao Qi was even more baffled. He asked with a frown, "Is it some kind of religious ritual?"
"No, no, no, my young friend has misunderstood." The old man of the Li Family chuckled heartily. "As martial artists, while some people do believe in religions or deities, matters among martial artists are basically never linked to religion. The so-called Baptism is, naturally, a martial artist's baptism."
"As early as thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, when humanity still survived in tribal units, Inner Force Experts already occupied the highest tier of human society. Because this world contains many massive, ferocious creatures that naturally possess internal energy circulation systems similar to Inner Force, back in ancient times before firearms and weapons existed, humanity simply could not rely on collective strength to defeat them. Only Inner Force Experts could rival them. It is precisely because of this that the Inner Force Realm holds such a high status: from the very beginning, we Inner Force Experts have been the evolutionary pioneers and protectors of humanity's survival in this natural world."
"However, Inner Force Experts are also human. Even with an elevated life tier, humans are still human, possessing the seven emotions and six desires, love and hatred. Speaking of which, I would like to ask my young friend: do you think the existence of noble families is reasonable?"
At this point, the old man of the Li Family looked at Hao Qi with a very serious and solemn expression.
Hao Qi felt a chill in his heart. Ever since he achieved the Inner Force Realm, he had developed a silent, intuitive spiritual perception. Just like when he sent the telegram to the Li Family and inexplicably felt that there was nothing wrong with it and that it wouldn't draw enemies to him, this kind of perception couldn't be precisely described in words, but it undoubtedly existed. Right now, he faintly felt that this answer was extremely crucial. It seemed to be a question concerning his path; if he answered wrongly, the current friendship between him and the Li Family might come to an end.
"Noble families... personally, I believe that noble families are an inevitability."
Although his spiritual perception told him that this answer was vital, Hao Qi still intended to answer according to his true heart. Ever since he burst forth with Inner Force five days ago and shattered the entanglements of reality, he no longer intended to compromise himself in any way. If they fit, they fit; if not, they would part ways. He feared no dangers or hardships. Ten years of sharpening a sword had not only forged the Inner Force in his body, but also the persistence within his heart.
"Take me for example. After becoming an Inner Force Expert, if I marry and have children in the future, naturally my children's starting point will be higher than that of Ordinary Persons. I cannot deliberately put on a false act of contentment with mediocrity. Once I have strength, the social status that matches it will naturally come into being. Because of this, my children will have social status, wealth, and strength from a young age. Coupled with my guidance and martial arts insights as an Inner Force Expert, my children may also become Inner Force Experts. Generation after generation, the noble family founded by my ancestors will take shape. Unless my descendants turn out to be good-for-nothings, the establishment of my family is completely logical and reasonable, without any malicious or harmful acts. This in itself is a rational inevitability."
"This process applies not only to noble families, but also to martial arts sects, nations, and any faction that gathers strength from the masses. Perhaps among them there are degenerate individuals or evil-doers, but this has nothing to do with the concept of noble families itself. Of course, if a noble family itself corrupts—take the family I just mentioned as an example, if under the management of future descendants it deviates from its original path, engaging in drug trafficking, human trafficking, forcing good women into prostitution, and so on—then such a family deserves to die. But this is just like good and evil: you can say a particular human is a bad person, but you cannot say all humans are bad people. The same principle applies to noble families."
When Hao Qi finished speaking, the old man of the Li Family slowly began to smile. Then the old man said, "Precisely this reasoning. Yet many people fail to understand it, especially the young and arrogant. They mistakenly judge good and evil directly based on social strata, which in itself is wrong. If it were ordinary people, that would be one thing, but what if this young and arrogant person happens to be an Inner Force Expert? You and I are both Inner Force Experts, so we should know that if an Inner Force Expert truly hardens their heart and intends to cause destruction and assassinations, then aside from other Inner Force Experts, no one else is safe. The resulting devastation to the nation, noble families, sects, and society would simply be too massive. What if this Inner Force Expert happens to be a youth from a humble background, facing circumstances similar to yours, and harbors a life-and-death grudge against noble families, sects, or the nation? Therefore, since ancient times—who knows when it first began—the Baptism known only to Inner Force Experts came into existence."
"Ordinary Inner Force Experts usually start out slowly as Ordinary Martial Artists, gradually rising to become Quasi-Inner Force Experts. By that time, they are generally already famous throughout the entire country. Afterward, they accumulate fame and social status, getting to know and befriending Inner Force Experts within their own country and even neighboring nations. As they slowly learn about the situation of the Inner Force Realm and gradually accumulate their breakthrough, by the time they achieve the Inner Force Realm, their personality, social status, family, friends, and enemies are already clear. A Baptism under such circumstances is essentially just a grand assembly to confirm their qualifications for the Inner Force Realm—at most, when the Inner Force Experts gather, this newcomer exchanges pointers and spars with some veteran Inner Force Experts. But if the situation resembles that of my young friend here, where you burst forth with Inner Force and immediately fell into a bitter feud with a noble family, then the situation transforms into a true Baptism."
Hao Qi's expression also grew solemn. He cupped his fists and said, "I wish to hear the details."
The old man of the Li Family nodded and said, "To put it simply, there are currently forty-two registered Inner Force Experts in our country: twenty-one from noble families, eleven from sects, and ten independent wanderers. After you sent your telegram, the state already roughly tracked your whereabouts, and I was tasked with notifying you. Starting from today, fifteen days from now, the Baptism will begin. Four individuals in total will be dispatched to seek you out for sparring: one sent by the noble families, one by the sects, one by the state, and one from among the independent wanderers. As long as my young friend can survive the sparring matches against these four—whether by escaping, blocking them, or even relying on connections—as long as you can hold your ground against all four, then your Baptism will be considered passed."
"I see."
Hao Qi felt a wave of inner emotion. This principle of the Baptism appeared simple at first glance, but it actually contained profound meaning. First of all, those with power inevitably possess status—this is true whether on Earth or in this world, or indeed in any intelligent life world where society and strata exist. Back during the Victorian era on Earth, the British Parliament even passed a decree stating that anyone who accumulated a certain amount of British Pounds should, or rather must, join the ranks of the British peerage. This was the brilliance of the British: rather than suppressing those with power, they co-opted them, thus achieving the grand enterprise of the Empire on which the sun never sets. The same approach was adopted later by the United States.
Therefore, if this Baptism were merely intended to strike down and slaughter outcasts or Inner Force Experts who opposed the ruling class, Hao Qi would consider it an absolute joke that such a custom could be passed down for thousands or tens of thousands of years without human society in this world being destroyed. What proportion of the population does the ruling class actually make up? And what about the commoners? Even though the ruling class possesses the vast majority of social wealth, the Inner Force Realm itself does not depend on wealth. While having wealth might increase the probability of becoming an Inner Force Expert, what about the sheer base total of the population? Commoners outnumber the ruling class by ten thousand, one hundred thousand, a million, or ten million times. If they really tried to suppress and exterminate them, the ruling class would long since have been torn to pieces by the Inner Force Experts emerging from the common populace.
Thus, the essence of the Baptism is not to suppress plebeian Inner Force Experts. Its purpose is threefold: first, to co-opt all those possessing Inner Force into the ruling class; second, to let Inner Force Experts who hold divergent political views or come from humble backgrounds clearly realize that they are not unique, and that the state, noble families, and sects possess sufficient strength to defeat them; and as for the third purpose—it is to execute a thorough extermination of those entirely uncommunicative, deranged Inner Force Experts.
Hao Qi knew well that the boost an Inner Force Expert provided to a nation's strength was absolutely remarkable. Just judging by what the old man of the Li Family said—that the entire Lanying Republic currently had only forty-two Inner Force Experts—one had to remember that the Lanying Republic had a population of over thirty million. A ratio of forty-two Inner Force Experts was nowhere near one in a hundred thousand; it was approaching one in a million. Of course, this didn't rule out unregistered Inner Force Experts or those who, like him, would soon leave the Lanying Republic, but this number alone amply demonstrated the immense value of an Inner Force Expert.