Chapter Thirty-One: The Rhythm of Offering One’s Own Flesh

The method for refining mental power is not actually taught in high school classes; teachers only instruct students to observe their bodies carefully and stimulate their blood and energy during visualization. As for merging the seven emotions and six desires, refining the heart with the five aggregates—this is an advanced technique. The five aggregates are form, sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness; essentially, everything seen and heard, thought and considered. Combined with all the vicissitudes of life—birth, aging, illness, and death—they form the human body’s complex spiritual realm. All things beyond thought and non-thought can be transformed into nourishment for mental progress, the key to unlocking human potential.

Merging emotions into the spirit is a lesson that was covered in high school and is also the main method Xiao Nan commonly uses to refine his mind. With this visualization method, one learns to ignore the seven emotions and six desires, thus calming the mind, strengthening the soul, and guiding the cultivation of blood and energy—this is the Mind-Intent Body Refining Method. As for how to refine, what method to use to operate the mind and stir the blood, that is highly personal. Everyone can perform magic, each with their own ingenuity. You might use the impact hammer method, the sharp blade cutting method, the blood-burning explosive method—anything works. As long as you can mobilize the blood and energy within the body, use mental power to influence and spread it throughout, vibrate muscles, bones, tendons, and skin, that is effective Mind-Intent Body Refining.

The homeroom teacher’s final lesson was actually imparting an advanced skill of “Mind-Intent Body Refining”—the Tidal Body Refining Method. No one knew where he learned it, but this time he held nothing back, demonstrating it in detail for the students to comprehend. Xiao Nan felt he gained greatly; this lesson was well worth attending. His mental tendrils rippled like waves, gradually vibrating throughout his body, cleansing both mind and flesh. Ceaseless, penetrating every corner.

“Excellent.”

Xiao Nan’s heart was filled with joy; it was the first time he truly benefitted from a mental refinement lesson. Amidst the intoxicating fragrance, his mind grew sharper and stronger, his physical energy roiling like a furnace. Bit by bit, strength unknowingly arose from his blood and bones, his body tingling and itching, pain mingled with exhilaration. No wonder the word “refinement” is so apt; it was clear now why the wealthy families cultivated so quickly. They lacked for nothing—plenty of fragrance, abundant blood-energy pills, elders constantly guiding and protecting them. All these advantages eventually turn into overwhelming momentum, making it hard for ordinary families to catch up.

Life has never been truly fair; background is a kind of strength, nothing to resent. If Sun Kai had been born into a wealthy family, he likely wouldn’t have had to leave the classroom in defeat, forced to switch to liberal studies, would he?

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Xiao Nan’s peripheral vision caught sight of the homeroom teacher’s face beaded with sweat. Clearly, guiding the spiritual trajectories of dozens of people at once was also an exhausting task for him. After all, as a high school homeroom teacher, his cultivation wasn’t especially high. No wonder he only conducted mental refinement lessons once a week; the intervening lessons on muscles, bones, nerves, and tendons were probably his way of recovering his spirit.

Soon, anguished cries rang out; one by one, students ran from the classroom, faces streaked with tears, crawling and stumbling, still sobbing in the hallway. Some, after leaving, even banged their heads against the wall. If not for someone pulling them back, a tragedy might have occurred. The most embarrassing was a female student who, upon exiting, tore off her uniform like a shrew, exposing her bare chest and thighs, screaming again and again, “I can’t go on, I can’t go on.” Who knew what she saw in her spiritual refinement? This was the rhythm of offering up her body.

While refining his spirit and blood, Xiao Nan also attuned himself to the wave-like rhythm emanating from the podium, with enough leisure to pay attention to his surroundings. This was absolutely necessary. In combat, when someone unleashes their mental power and blades come at you, if you can’t multitask, you’ll be caught off guard, unable to protect yourself, and fall victim to an attack. There’s knowledge everywhere.

Soon, the sound of crying faded in the classroom. Then came bursts of mad laughter, as several students started dancing and running out, tears streaming as they laughed. This was sorrow turning into joy; their emotions had shifted again. Those whose mental power was insufficient could no longer hold out—they’d either flee the classroom or, Xiao Nan suspected, laugh themselves to death.

“Sun Kai, look, Xiao Nan is still holding on. Wasn’t his mental strength about the same as yours before? You two are close; has he ever mentioned a recent surge in mental power?”

A nearby student noticed something amiss. In most classrooms, there’s an unwritten rule for seating: top students sit up front; those at the bottom naturally take the last few rows. Xiao Nan’s seat was always in the last row, by the window. His academic knowledge was solid, but it didn’t matter. This was a martial arts high school; seating was determined by mental power and blood-energy value, nothing more.

But what stood out now was that in the empty rows at the back, Xiao Nan sat alone. His face showed no signs of sorrow or joy, as if the homeroom teacher’s spiritual attack was nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Sun Kai’s eyebrows twitched violently, full of regret. “If I had persisted and spent a fortune on some pills, could I have been like Xiao Nan?” He thought this but said aloud, “Maybe he’s just forcing it. You all know his family situation. I bet he’ll be running out soon.”

“Who are you kidding? Look at Guo Xiaosan… Can mental refinement really be endured by willpower alone?”

The other student snorted, gesturing towards Guo Sanyuan in the classroom. Before class, he’d been strong-willed and skeptical, but now his eyes were bloodshot and his face twisted. It was clear he was desperately trying to calm himself. But mental strength is real and undeniable; once affected, sheer determination cannot resist it.

Everyone watched quietly. Soon, Guo Sanyuan let out a terrified yell, toppled to the ground with a thud, and scrambled out of the classroom. Clearly, the seven emotions and six desires had evolved into terror. Out in the hallway, he calmed slightly, tears streaming down his face. He stared blankly at the students inside, fists clenched, body trembling. Refining the heart with the five aggregates, and the attacks of the six desires and seven emotions, became harder to withstand as time went on. He wished to fight, but was powerless.

No one paid him any mind now; all attention was focused on Xiao Nan. There were only thirty students left in the classroom, while forty-eight stood in the hallway, crying, laughing, calm or disheartened. Of those still enduring, Xiao Nan’s composure and comfort were matched by only a dozen others. The rest struggled, barely holding on.

Sun Kai gaped, eyes wide, watching Xiao Nan’s peaceful demeanor in the classroom, as if he were enjoying something, feeling a tumult of emotions. He couldn’t even identify his feelings, only muttering, “Zhang Ziye and the others, those dozen are close to entering spiritual meditation, about to break through. Lin Hao, Xiong Bing, Wei Yunyun and their sixteen are the class’s top students, already at the meditation stage. But Xiao Nan, Xiao Nan…”

His voice grew hoarse and suddenly broke off.

No one mocked Sun Kai’s thoughts. At this moment, all those outside quietly watched those inside, as if separated by a vast chasm. Unless something unexpected happened, Martial Arts University was now completely out of reach. They would focus on liberal studies, or reluctantly join the army, or become assistants in a martial arts school, hoping for luck.

Some ordinary martial arts universities might relax their admissions for students with unique skills, offering a chance to try, but that path was only nice in theory. To practice a technique to mastery, to circulate blood and gather strength, was nearly impossible for most students. Such talent usually appeared only among those with formidable mental power.

The reason was simple: strong mental power made learning and mastering any technique much easier. Weak mental power meant slower learning; at this point, even talking about techniques was pointless without years of grinding.