Linglong Heart

After leaving, Du Ge didn't hurry to find food for Feng Jiu.

Whether it was the world outside the Simulation Field or the martial-arts world inside it, everything was unfamiliar to him. He needed to gather more information.

When he'd fed Feng Jiu his blood to forcefully keep him alive just now, he'd clearly sensed how nervous Feng Jiu was.

Thinking back to how Feng Jiu had said he could eliminate Du Ge in minutes, Du Ge guessed that the contestants in the Simulation Field were competing against one another, and that the so-called Civilian School and Elite School were probably opposed to each other as well.

Feng Jiu had shown disdain for the Civilian School teacher's advice to "never reveal your keyword."

But Du Ge believed teachers didn't give warnings without reason.

In a competitive environment, the advice not to reveal your keyword was absolutely sound.

Take Feng Jiu's Taotie, for instance. It was certainly a good keyword, but if someone deliberately targeted him and cut off his food, that would also cut off his growth.

Putting himself in Feng Jiu's shoes, Du Ge wouldn't reveal his keyword so easily, either.

And the best way to keep your keyword hidden was to kill him.

Soul Possession was a covert process. If the numbers on the panel were disappearing so quickly in such a short time, there was only one possibility: most of them had probably been killed by their own teammates...

So Feng Jiu certainly wasn't sincerely cooperating with him.

He'd been wolfing down those unpalatable straw mats without pause because he wanted to recover his strength before Du Ge did, then eliminate him!

Of course, Feng Jiu had woken up before him and could have pretended to be a local and tricked him.

But his injuries had probably been almost as bad as Du Ge's. He'd had to eat straw mats to heal, so he likely hadn't been in any position to eliminate him.

Besides, chewing straw mats raw was far too strange a thing to do for someone with serious injuries.

Just as Feng Jiu had said, once he'd eaten even a straw mat, his keyword was too easy to guess.

Not knowing Du Ge's keyword, Feng Jiu must have thought he'd given his own away. That was why he'd come up with the idea of using cooperation to lower Du Ge's guard and buy time...

The one thing he hadn't expected was that Du Ge would recover faster than he did.

"...Let's work together. I'll help you get ahead..."

"...Once we get out, I'll find a way to get you into the Elite Academy..."

"Bribes and promises... Hah, childish tactics!" Du Ge let out a derisive laugh. He didn't hesitate to assume the worst of Feng Jiu. He lacked key information, and knew his deductions had plenty of holes, but as long as most of the facts fit together logically, he could reach a conclusion. The world wasn't full of certainties, after all.

The sun was blazing outside, and the air was especially fresh. Du Ge greedily drew in a breath of the kind of fresh air rarely found on Earth, and marveled again at how realistic the Simulation Field was.

If he'd transmigrated without meeting Feng Jiu, he would probably have taken this for a real world and gone down plenty of wrong paths.

This world was incredibly realistic, just like something straight out of The Matrix.

From Feng Jiu's attitude, he hadn't treated this as a game, either. He'd approached it as a real world, probably because of that Alien Battlefield he'd mentioned.

Du Ge had no idea what this so-called Alien Battlefield was, though.

Whatever.

Transmigration was much more exciting than the same old days on Earth, where he could see exactly where his life was headed. He'd gotten plenty of surprises and thrills right after arriving. It was worth enjoying this world to the fullest.

Shangwu Courtyard was a long, narrow compound, with rows of identically built rooms on either side. It looked like a dormitory.

There were different levels of aptitude for martial arts in this world. Sparring partners had slightly less potential than disciples. The original owner of Du Ge's body, Feng Qi, and Feng Jiu had both been poor children taken in by the Feng Family when they were young. Their indentures belonged to the Feng Family. If they had no prospects in martial arts, they had no future, either. Their treatment was only a little better than that of ordinary servants.

There were several people in the courtyard wearing the same clothes as him. Most were injured: some had bandages wrapped around their arms, while others leaned on crutches...

No one was smiling.

When they saw Du Ge walk by, they merely raised their heads to look at him lazily, without saying much. That suited Du Ge just fine. Although Feng Jiu had explained things to him, he couldn't match any of these people to a name. The more he said, the more likely he was to make a mistake.

Ignoring the injured people, Du Ge considered how to use his keyword as he slowly made his way toward the exit of Shangwu Courtyard.

"Seventh Brother, you're up and about already?" A burly man in his thirties approached from the opposite direction, looking at Du Ge in surprise.

"It looked worse than it was. My body's fine. I just needed some rest." Du Ge clutched his chest and spoke with difficulty. "Old Nine's more badly hurt than I am. I came out to find him something to eat..."

"Don't go. I'll go instead!" The burly man looked at Du Ge sympathetically. "Old Six and I carried you back yesterday. Don't I know how badly you were hurt? You'll need at least two months to recover. Third Young Master really went too far this time."

"You can't blame Third Young Master. He's preparing for the Martial Arts Tournament. Getting a chance to enter the Qiao Family Holy Land would only benefit the Feng Family..." Du Ge said casually.

"Forget the Martial Arts Tournament! It's been years. When has the Feng Family ever..." The burly man's voice abruptly cut off. He whipped around and looked behind him.

There was no one there.

Turning back, the burly man stared at Du Ge in surprise, his eyes full of suspicion.

Du Ge had just unwittingly protected the Feng Family's interests, and his body had grown noticeably lighter. He knew the man in front of him had become suspicious.

So this really was a real world!

The NPCs were too smart!

Without the original owner's memories, no matter how well he pretended, he'd give himself away in front of the people who lived with him day in and day out...

If he was going to be exposed sooner or later, he might as well change tactics. Du Ge sighed. In that moment when his body had grown lighter, he'd understood the ultimate meaning of protecting others: focusing on just one person was too narrow-minded. Protecting a whole group was the way to go.

Feng Jiu had mentioned the top ten in the Simulation Field several times. Perhaps making the top ten came with some special reward.

Du Ge really wanted to enter the real world beyond the Simulation Field, but the rankings kept changing, and it seemed that once you left the Simulation Field, you couldn't get back in.

It would be a shame to leave such an interesting world behind.

He wanted to experience all kinds of worlds and make his life more exciting. He could treat it as a second transmigration. Besides, the Simulation Field only eliminated people. It didn't kill them.

As for the top ten, Du Ge thought he could give it a shot.

He was a serious person. Whatever he did, he gave it his all.

Du Ge looked at the burly man and said quietly, "I'll still go get food for Old Nine. And don't talk badly about Third Young Master behind his back again. It wouldn't be good if someone heard you."

The burly man's face changed slightly. He hurriedly tried to explain, "Seventh Brother, what did I say? You must have misheard me."

Du Ge looked at him with a faint smile.

The burly man tensed up. He swallowed, then put on a smile and said softly, "Seventh Brother, Fourth Brother's always treated you the best."

"Fourth Brother, don't be nervous. We're practically family!" Du Ge had naturally learned what to call him. He spoke earnestly. "But illness enters through the mouth, and trouble leaves it. Fourth Brother, some things are better kept to yourself. Saying them out loud only gives people something to hold against you. I'm only saying this for your own good..."

Having grasped the true meaning of protecting others, Du Ge began to cultivate a habit of constantly considering other people's interests. Every time he protected someone, whether naturally or by force, his body rewarded him right away. The simulator apparently couldn't tell whether he was sincere or pretending.

He liked the feeling of getting rewards instantly. It was far better than working for a month on Earth, then suffering through the wait for payday.

"Mm, I understand." Feng Si looked a little uncomfortable and changed the subject. "Seventh Brother, go to the kitchen yourself. I have other things to do..."

"Go ahead, Fourth Brother." Du Ge smiled and nodded.

Feng Si gave Du Ge one last look. He frowned as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't. He hurried away.

Du Ge continued toward the exit. After leaving Shangwu Courtyard, he didn't go to the kitchen at Chongwu Courtyard. Instead, he turned toward the Training Ground. Feng Jiu could keep eating straw mats for a while; there was no rush to bring him food.

Whoosh!

Ha!

Du Ge heard a cacophony of noise before he even reached the Training Ground, and quickened his pace.

Feng Jiu had been vague. He'd only told Du Ge this was a martial-arts world, not what levels of martial arts existed here or how they were measured. Was it a high-martial or low-martial world?

At least for now, Du Ge couldn't feel any Internal Energy flowing through him.

Perhaps he had Internal Energy but didn't know how to use it.

In any case, his body after Soul Possession felt no different from the one he'd had on Earth.

So he was eager to see what martial arts looked like in this world and whether they were anything like the descriptions in the martial-arts novels he'd read on Earth.

Du Ge wore the clothes of a sparring partner, and no one stopped him along the way. A few curious glances came his way, as if people were surprised that, after suffering such serious injuries, he was still heading to the Training Ground. Those disciples were practically obsessed with the Martial Arts Tournament. Even if he hadn't been hurt so badly, he should have found an excuse to hide away for a few months instead of coming out to get beaten up!

The moment he entered the Training Ground, Du Ge's attention was drawn to two people in the middle of a fight.

One wore the same clothes as him—a sparring partner. The other was a young man in a white martial-arts uniform. They exchanged blows back and forth.

They moved with lightning speed, darting left and right, fists and feet flashing high and low, the wind whistling around them. It was dazzling to watch, far better than MMA on Earth.

But there were no special effects, so this was probably a low-martial world.

Du Ge made his judgment, then realized to his dismay that although the sparring partner knew martial arts, he had no memories of them whatsoever. No bodily memory, either...

Suddenly.

The young man in white feinted, then drove a palm strike straight into the sparring partner's chest.

Crack!

The sparring partner screamed and flew through the air, crashing into a weapon rack with a clatter before falling to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood, struggled a few times, then stopped moving. It was impossible to tell if he was dead.

Du Ge watched the sparring partner lying motionless with his chest caved in, his expression grave.

In that moment, he suddenly understood why Feng Jiu had been so desperate to escape the Feng Family. These people really didn't treat sparring partners like human beings. With a broken chest, that man was probably as good as dead...

Cheers snapped Du Ge out of it.

He looked back at the Training Ground. The sparring partners wore expressions of grief for their fallen companion, but the Feng Family's direct disciples and servants watching from the sidelines were all cheering loudly.

Did they really not care about human life at all?

Du Ge curled his lip. What a trash family!

The young man in white drew a folding fan from his waist with a showy flourish, flicked it open, and held it in front of himself, fanning himself gracefully as he basked in everyone's praise.

A middle-aged man with a long beard flew over to the sparring partner. He looked down and checked the man's injuries, then called for two people to carry him away. Turning to the young man, he praised him. "Yunjie, your Heart-Shattering Jade Cut is becoming more and more masterful. It's impossible to defend against."

"Uncle, you flatter me. Give me three more months, and once I've mastered the Broken Jade Hand, I'll surely win a spot for the Feng Family at the Martial Arts Tournament." The Third Young Master seemed quite pleased with that last strike. He glanced down at his palm, then nodded and smiled at the middle-aged man. From start to finish, he never spared another glance at the sparring partner he'd beaten nearly to death.

Broken Jade Hand?

What a lame name for a martial art. It clearly wasn't the technique of some great family, Du Ge thought.

Du Ge matched the names in his mind one by one: Third Young Master Feng was Feng Yunjie, and the Feng Family head, Feng Shiren, had a younger brother named Feng Shiyi.

Feng Shiyi stroked his long beard and laughed heartily as he looked at Feng Yunjie. "As expected of the young tiger of our Feng Family. What ambition! Yunjie, you don't need to do anything else for the next few months. Just focus on your training. If you need anything, tell your Second Uncle. Whether the Feng Family can finally hold its head high this time depends on you."

Fortune favored the bold.

Du Ge thought for a moment, then suddenly straightened his back and called out, "Second Master Feng, Third Young Master, I have something important to report. It concerns this year's Martial Arts Tournament..."