Blind Spot
Chapter 704 - 647 questions 3

Chapter 704: 647 questions 3

What is life vitality?

Essentially, life vitality can be interpreted in various ways. Even in the language of the Black Sea, it encompasses the meaning of the chance for survival.

That is to say, if understood as the chance for survival, perhaps eternal vitality could then be clarified.

To grant you an opportunity for eternal survival—if you can seize it, you naturally achieve the highest accomplishment.

If you cannot grasp it, you will utterly perish.

Cruel yet realistic.

Li Chengyi felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart, but upon careful contemplation, indeed such was more fitting for the difficulty of achieving eternal vitality.

"Gong Shanzhu, what does ’renewed upon a hundred reviews’ mean?" The teaching master suddenly voiced a question.

Clearly among the group of children, he had immediately noticed Li Chengyi, who was lost in thought.

Li Chengyi’s expression turned serious as he stood up.

"This phrase means that with a hundred reviews, one can always gain something new." Isn’t this just what is meant by ’reviewing what is old to understand what is new’?

He mused silently; it seemed that the principles of different worlds are the same, with only the manner of expression and discoverer varying, that’s all.

"Correct. Although you’ve understood, do not let your mind wander while studying," the teacher nodded in satisfaction.

Although Gong Shanzhu was from a collateral branch of the main family, with inherently weaker blood, if he could follow the proper path in scholastics, his future as an advising minister could not be entirely ruled out.

You should know, even strong individuals need assistants to help, to collect resources and intelligence, even for daily arrangements of clothing, food, shelter, and travel.

The Gong Shan Family was a large family among the powers within millions of miles nearby, ranking in the middle. The family rose to prominence when Gong Shanrong cultivated their ancestral martial art, the Raging Sun Merging Stars Art, to the ultimate twelfth level and repelled the Ebony King lurking in the sea domain, annihilating many small evil clans nearby, ultimately relocating the family, elevating the group from a small clan of a hundred or so individuals to the status of a mid-level family.

If not for the scarcity of experts among their members, Gong Shanrong’s achievements alone might even have been enough to propel the family into the upper-middle echelon.

This is also the reason the Gong Shan Family constantly hires teachers to instruct them in martial arts and the histories.

Li Chengyi sat down, keeping his back straight.

The background of the family he had been drawn into this time was not bad—although from a collateral branch, at least he began with a full set of various cultivations. He didn’t need to search everywhere like last time.

"A-Zhu, how come you look so impressive all of a sudden?" The chubby kid sitting behind him quietly poked his back.

The fat boy’s name was Gong Shanheng; he was also a cousin from the same collateral branch. Due to his love for food, he was quite heavy, already weighing three times more than an average child.

His father managed a small treasury for the family, hence they were well-treated, and the conditions for learning martial arts were not bad.

The most powerful art of the Gong Shan Family was naturally the Raging Sun Merging Stars Art, which could be classified as a peerless martial art.

In the Jianghu Martial World, martial arts are ranked below divine arts, with peerless being the highest. Divine arts are usually top-tier martial arts created by those with divine and demonic bloodlines. Peerless martial arts, although weaker than divine arts, still produce exceptionally brilliant individuals who rely on them to defeat a few divine art masters.

The little fatty Gong Shanheng had recently started his training in one of the five Gold Jade martial arts controlled by the Gong Shan Family—the Heavenly King Fire Punishment Palm.

Aside from the peerless martial arts, these were the strongest five martial arts; the rest were not really graded.

That’s because it is actually quite challenging to categorize martial arts. Furthermore, many arts have their highest realms described in mystical terms, and whether anyone has truly mastered them or not is unknown.

Aside from the Gold Jade martial arts, the rest are generally arbitrarily divided into first-rate, second-rate, third-rate, and common juggling stances.

"Not bad," Li Chengyi replied indifferently to the little kid, disinterested.

"What do you mean, ’not bad’?" The persistent chubby kid pressed, "We’re about to be assigned to a school division to start our martial training. Have you thought about which martial teacher you’ll choose?"

"No, I’m planning to go home," Li Chengyi replied calmly.

"Home? Your dad will teach you himself?" The chubby kid was taken aback.

"Yes. As long as I can pass the regular assessments, that’s enough." Passing the assessments was the condition to receive resources and money.

It was a family rule.

Li Chengyi’s current identity was quite decent; his parents were alive and well, and as the eldest son with a younger brother and sister still playing with mud in their open-crotch trousers.

The family income was also respectable, providing abundant food and clothing. His father, Gong Shanqinyang, was a son of the Family Head, but due to insufficient blood lineage, he was classified as part of the collateral branch.

His mother came from a somewhat less powerful family than the Gong Shan Family, with a deep lineage and heritage, and her martial arts were not weak, perfectly capable of enlightening the basics for Li Chengyi.

He had been completely replaced from the root, re-born once more by his parents; aside from his appearance and the body’s similarities, the rest of him truly had the native blood of this place.

Besides his consciousness, he carried nothing from his original body, his was completely just a body of a regular family’s offspring.

"Ah... it truly envies those of the main branch, who at the start of their martial practice can already have a hundred meridians connected, with innate True Yuan wrapping around their bodies." The chubby kid started grumbling again.

"If we want to get to that level, we’d have to practice hard for over fifteen years and that’s just a possibility. And they start off at that point... This world, why wasn’t I born in the main branch..." the chubby kid complained with sighs.

Li Chengyi remained silent.

This was the reason why this world placed so much importance on the main branch. The starting point there was the endpoint for many people.

And for ordinary people, even this endpoint for those of the collateral branch was an unattainable dream.

This was the disparity.

"You should be thankful that you are not an ordinary person, otherwise, even if you were given divine and demonic arts, you wouldn’t be able to learn them," a handsome, languid young man on the side interjected with a laugh.

"For ordinary people, it’s slightly better. Having no hope from the beginning, they live happily instead," the chubby kid sighed.

Li Chengyi was surprised at the boy’s precocity; being able to express such a philosophy at this age was indeed rare.

As for the handsome youngster, his name was Gong Shanlejiu, a newcomer who had joined not long ago. He only had his mother with him; his father was said to have sacrificed himself for the family, with no one knowing his name, and his mother was currently ill in bed, making his background somewhat mysterious.

Li Chengyi gave him a glance, noting an invisible force around him that faintly impeded his delicate probing.

Although he extended only a minute tentacle of his consciousness to avoid detection, the fact that it was blocked by this barely perceptible consciousness power was quite remarkable.

Seemingly getting along with the chubby kid, Gong Shanlejiu casually chatted with him.

When class was over thirty minutes later, the two had already agreed to have lunch together in the canteen.

"Gong Shanzhu, would you like to come along?" The chubby boy couldn’t forget Li Chengyi. He reached out and called to him.

"You go ahead." Li Chengyi was still pondering the issue of dimensional anchor points, waved his hand casually, and walked towards home, carrying his book bag.

The Gong Shan Family now had more than 500 members, all living together, under the protection of the family head, Gong Shanrong.

In a world ravaged by evil demons and rampant exotic beasts, living alone without the protection of a powerful individual meant only one end: being torn to shreds and devoured, with not even a corpse left behind.

Not to mention the frequent invasions by various spirits and otherworldly monsters, the descent of divine demons causing calamity among people, and a myriad of disasters that were as common as rain, emerging endlessly.

Every few years, a terrifying organization would even spring up with the goal of destroying the world to achieve its ambition.

Li Chengyi didn’t go with anyone. He carried his bag alone and walked straight along the tall gray walls of the alley.

About fifteen minutes later, he turned left into a side path, walked for a few more minutes, exited the alley, and walked through a somewhat desolate courtyard and woods. Before long, he arrived in front of a large mansion with three courtyards and three entries.

The mansion was quiet and cold. At the gate, only an old man with white hair slowly swept the ground with a broom.

"The eldest young master has returned." The old man stopped his work, took a closer look at Li Chengyi, and called out.

The door opened.

In the first courtyard inside, a handsome and frail man stood silently.

The man had a cold demeanor, with a touch of melancholy between his brows. He occasionally coughed twice, clearly unwell.

Next to him at the stone table, a similarly cold and elegant woman sat.

The woman was beautiful, like a lone winter plum in full bloom, silently playing the zither in her hands.

Li Chengyi entered, and bowed slightly to the two of them.

"Father, mother, I’m back."

"Go have your meal first; Aunt Yuan has prepared it already." The man was Gong Shanqinyang, the father of this body.

The woman was his mother, Gong Shanlin.

His younger brother and sister had already eaten and gone to bed early. So it was only Li Chengyi and his parents who went to the second courtyard’s dining room for a meal.

The food was simple.

Tomato and egg, stir-fried baby cabbage, and shrimp skin and seaweed soup.

The oil used was sparse, but the rice was extraordinary. Each grain was as large as a pearl, glistening, and some even had iridescent colors.

This was Gold Jade Rice, grown with the blood of exotic beasts from the sea, and it was the fundamental resource that truly supported the cultivation and martial arts practice of the great clans and families.

Otherwise, the simple meals alone would never be enough.

"You can have ten grains today," Gong Shanqinyang said softly. He looked at the seated Li Chengyi with a satisfied expression on his face.

Although the third son of the family was young, he could still be compared with the children from other branches of the family. By comparison, it was clear that the eldest son, Gong Shanzhu, had extraordinary talent by nature.

What’s important in human relations is to remain calm, and Gong Shanqinyang saw in his eldest son qualities that were just like his own and his wife’s, without a doubt.

"Yes," Li Chengyi nodded.

The body he currently inhabited was indeed that of a fragile seven-year-old child, so naturally, he had to act cautiously when necessary.

From the contents of the books he had read before, it was clear that the upper limit of martial strength in this place was not low. When it came to combat, entire star domains could be destroyed; even saving worlds was handled in an abnormal manner, with a single act to save the masses being recorded. But upon deeper thought, you realize what it meant to instantly revive countless injured or dead beings.

Therefore, until he understood the limits of martial power in this world, Li Chengyi did not plan to be rash.

Moreover, the flow of time in this place seemed extremely fast.

The flow of time for Eternal Vitality was calculated by Black Sea standards and did not account for small worlds within a blind spot.

Thus, Li Chengyi could completely determine the ratio of the flow of time between this world and the Black Sea based on the generation rate of his main body’s Life Vitality Imprint.

Although his main body was not here, he could still sense its changing state through their connection.

He had been in this place for several years, yet the Life Vitality Imprint on his main body had increased by less than one-tenth.

Clearly, the flow of time here was extremely fast.

Snapping back to reality, Li Chengyi looked at the ten Gold Jade Rice grains in his bowl, adding up to just a shallow spoonful.

He picked up the spoon, brought it to his mouth, and chewed and swallowed it.

"You’ve reached the age to practice martial arts. Have you decided what you want to learn?" Gong Shanqinyang asked after a cough.

"I’ll just learn at home, following what father teaches," Li Chengyi said.

He did not lack ordinary martial arts, and only supreme martial arts and Divine Demon techniques held any value for reference.

So he could casually learn anything, as it was all just a cover.

"That’s fine; you can choose any of my or your mother’s martial arts," Gong Shanqinyang said. "They are all top-tier martial arts; being able to defend yourself is enough. After all, you are to take over my position in the future." He oversaw one of the family’s major commerce associations, with incalculable resources and funds passing through his hands, so taking over was not a bad option.

"Yes," Li Chengyi nodded.

Mother Gong Shanlin, watching her son show no excitement, bit her lower lip lightly.

"There’s no need to set the child’s path so early."

"It’s better to decide early for the purpose of arranging marriage. The children of great clans and families enjoy privileges, but they must also make some sacrifices for the family," Gong Shanqinyang sighed.

Clearly, the family planned to use the children’s marriages in exchange for interests with other great clan families.

"Does it have to be this way?" Gong Shanlin asked helplessly.

"It depends on the talent. Now, we have already contacted three potential parties," Gong Shanqinyang shook his head.

"The Han Zong Family?"

"Yes, the Fu Family has been getting stronger recently, and the clan head has to consider the overall interests," said Gong Shanqinyang.