The First Sage of Military Strategists

Chapter 19 Opening the Gate of Military Strategy!

“I am a son of a concubine in the Luo family. If it weren’t for my second uncle’s help, I wouldn’t even be qualified to work as a servant in the yamen.”

"I can't miss this opportunity again. I don't want to wait another year." Luo Ying's expression was uncertain, but she finally made up her mind. "It seems I have no choice but to ask my second uncle for help. With his authority in the yamen, even Han Qing wouldn't dare to put up with me!"

...

Early in the morning.

Han Qing got up early. It was just getting light, and a light snow was falling. This was the first snow of the year, which meant that winter was just around the corner.

Han Qing faced the snowflakes and practiced a set of Nine Yang True Skill in a secluded corner of the courtyard.

After breaking through the limit, everything was different. Every punch and kick he made brought up gusts of wind and waves, snowflakes flew up, and the sound of whistling through the air could be faintly heard.

With his eyes closed and his mind completely emptied, he relied solely on his body's instinctive muscle memory to execute each movement flawlessly.

After a short while, Han Qing slowly finished his practice and exhaled a breath of fresh air.

"The current me can take on ten of the former me!"

He got up and went to the outhouse. There was no one around. He took out the jade pendant and bit a tiny wound on the tip of his index finger. Fresh blood seeped out and dripped onto the jade pendant.

In just three breaths, the jade pendant began to change. The drop of blood was absorbed by it, causing the turbid jade color to gradually become clear, and finally become crystal clear and pure white. A faint golden light appeared inside the jade pendant.

"That's really true."

Han Qing was overjoyed. This jade pendant finally matched the precious jade pendant he remembered.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his joy, and held the jade pendant close to his right eye. He could clearly see a visualization image and a large amount of scripture inside.

"The art of war is the art of stopping war!"

"This is the supreme spirit-refining method that everyone has been searching for!"

He calmly and carefully read through the text from top to bottom, and felt that he had gained a lot.

"I see, the Path of the Soul is divided into..."
The spirit temple, the hundred veins, the condensed energy, the gathering of souls, the merging of forms, the possession of a body, the demigod and the saint.

The visualization diagram and text before me only correspond to the Lingmiao Realm, which is the introductory chapter; the rest is nowhere to be found.

"The way of war is to concentrate killing intent, cultivate a killing aura, and then use the killing aura as a foundation to unleash various secret techniques, either to empower oneself or to destroy the enemy's soul. I am afflicted with a strange illness, and killing intent surges in my heart from time to time, making me most suitable for this secret technique."

"My mother also said that this method of refining the spirit might be able to cure my strange illness, so there's no reason for me not to learn it." As Han Qing spoke, he stared at the visualization diagram in accordance with the requirements of the scripture, preparing to open the gate of the martial arts path.

The visualization depicts a soldier in black armor, whose face is completely covered by the armor, revealing only a pair of scarlet eyes. His hands are on the hilt of a sword, the tip of which is stuck in the ground. His body is covered in blood, and at first glance, a murderous aura as powerful as a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing over you.

Han Qing's mind was instantly drawn in, and he was about to become completely absorbed in it when suddenly, the scene vanished, the faint golden light in the jade pendant disappeared without a trace, and the jade color became murky again, returning to its previous state.

Han Qing frowned. After a moment's thought, he wondered, "Could it be that I need to keep dripping blood to keep the jade pendant in an active state?"

He didn't try again because it was getting late and he had to go and prepare the medicine for Master Fang.

...

Gulu gulu!

The medicinal soup in the clay pot was steaming, and the whole room was filled with a faint sour and astringent smell.

After a busy period, all that's left is to wait for the medicinal soup to simmer to the right consistency.

He turned around and closed the door tightly. He then took out the jade pendant from his pocket, bit his fingertip, and dripped three drops of blood.

As blood seeped into it, the jade pendant slowly changed, and soon returned to its crystal-clear, golden-glowing state.

Han Qing held the jade pendant close to his eyes and began to contemplate the visualization image.

He slowly sketched the image of the black-armored warrior in his mind. In an instant, the black-armored warrior seemed to come alive, suddenly jumping out of the visualization and landing in the void of his mind.

At this moment, he was completely immersed in his surroundings and no longer perceived the changes in his external environment. "The next step is to cultivate my inner energy and focus my mind to activate the Spirit Temple!"

Han Qing closed his eyes tightly and could clearly feel the flow of energy gathering in his lower abdomen, eventually forming a lake of energy.

According to the scriptures, this lake of energy is an illusory thing, containing both impure and righteous thoughts.

The next moment, all thoughts rapidly grew in the Qi Lake, then soared up and flew towards the Ling Temple in the eyebrows, which was the place where Dharma thoughts were stored.

Human thoughts arise and vanish in an instant; only those stored in a temple can endure.

Han Qing couldn't see the image of his thoughts soaring upwards, but he himself felt as if his soul had left his body and was floating away, soaring upwards.

Immediately afterwards, he fell into an illusion.

“Each illusion represents a distracting thought. Refining the soul begins with refining the thoughts. When the thoughts of the Dharma grow to a certain degree, they will naturally condense into the divine soul.”

"The art of war cultivates the will to kill, so anything outside of the will to kill is nothing but delusion."

"The process of soaring upwards is also the process of breaking free from delusions."

"With each illusion you break through, you also break through a delusion. The longer you persist, the more delusions you break through, and the purer and stronger the righteous thoughts you ultimately form!"

These were all mentioned in the scriptures, and Han Qing was well aware of them.

The first illusion was extremely terrifying, with all sorts of hideous, blue-faced monsters with fangs appearing out of thin air and lunging at him.

This illusion corresponds to the fear in people's hearts. At this moment, Han Qing's killing intent surged, his eyes became blurred, and he heard people shouting incessantly in his ears: "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

His fear vanished instantly, replaced by a boiling murderous intent.

He stood up and charged at the monsters, retaliating with his fists and feet.

These ghosts and monsters may look scary, but they are actually incredibly fragile. They will vanish the moment a fist touches them.

After a few breaths, the last ghost was also scattered, and the illusion shattered.

But then came the next illusion, where one after another beautiful woman appeared, each completely naked, exuding a strange fragrance, and rushed towards Han Qing.

This illusion corresponds to lust, but Han Qing remained unmoved. He had only pure killing intent in his heart. Even if a beautiful woman rushed towards him, he had only one thought: kill!

With a single punch, he shattered the approaching beauty in mid-air; turning around, he punched another beauty to obliterate her.

Han Qing punched and kicked, and in no time, all ten beauties were dead.

Thus, empowered by his killing intent, Han Qing broke through one illusion after another, dispelling his soaring delusions one by one, until only pure righteous thought remained—the thought of killing.

This murderous intent had already reached the space between his eyebrows, where there was an illusory gate of light that normal people could not sense; only those who concentrated their spiritual power could see it.

"Behind this door lies the Spirit Temple. Breaking through this door is equivalent to stepping into the Spirit Temple realm."

"However, only when one's mental focus is pure and firm enough can one break through the door."

With a thought, Han Qing suddenly sent this wisp of Dharma thought to crash into it, easily opening the gate of light.

His consciousness then appeared in the temple, where a statue stood before him, composed of interwoven golden and silver light, its size and appearance not much different from Han Qing's.

Before the statue, a stick of incense, less than an inch long, suddenly appeared, representing the realm of the divine soul.

One pillar, one realm; nine inches of perfection!

"It's done! I have opened the gate to the Path of War and stepped into the Spirit Temple Realm!"

Han Qing was overjoyed. The scriptures said that once the first wisp of Dharma thought was condensed and the door of the temple was opened, it meant that one had entered the path.

Moreover, a new Refining Spirit Technique has been added to the panel, named Zhige.

(End of this chapter)