I can gain insights into martial arts.

Chen Mochuan stood on the empty street, and from the deep alley not far away, a chilling noise came again.

Soon, just like earlier that evening, the figure of the ferocious rat darted out of the alleyway once again.

Upon revealing itself, the ferocious rat immediately turned around and locked its single prey with cruel and hungry eyes.

The drool dripping from the corner of the ferocious rat's mouth, its excited and short breaths, and the faint, fishy stench emanating from its body...

Everything before him created a scene with a strong sense of déjà vu, making Chen Mochuan feel as if he had traveled through time and space, reliving the life-or-death moment not long ago.

However, there was one thing that was completely different from before: what he was facing now was no longer the broken-legged rat, but a complete and ferocious rat with all four limbs intact and in full condition!

Looking at the ferocious rat in front of him, Chen Mochuan knew he was no match for it, but his strong desire to explore and improve himself drove him to try how long he could last against the ferocious rat at its peak.

So he took a deep breath, charged at his opponent, and launched an attack!

……

As the ferocious rat's sharp claws pierced through his chest, and he felt his heart being directly pierced, Chen Mochuan experienced extreme pain, while the scene before his eyes began to distort and shatter.

The moment consciousness returned, the golden light screen flickered, and a notification message appeared:

You activated "Soul Devouring," initiating a mental combat exercise, but you gained nothing from it.

When Chen Mochuan opened his eyes again, he found himself still lying on the comfortable bed, but his body, which he had cleaned himself before, was now covered in sweat, and his bandaged wounds were throbbing with pain from the sweat.

He was breathing heavily. Although the extreme pain in reality had disappeared, everything he experienced in the depths of his consciousness was incredibly real, and the fear of facing death still lingered in his heart.

This intense sense of realism is something that the virtual world of Tianwu Battle Network simply cannot match; it's as if he really walked through the gates of hell!

Clutching his chest, which still seemed to ache slightly, Chen Mochuan was still shaken.

In that battle just now, he only lasted less than half a minute against the ferocious rat at its peak!

Although the intact ferocious rat's strength had increased, it was still within his control and did not pose an overwhelming threat to him.

However, the ferocious rat, with its intact limbs and legs, was incredibly fast, and his rhythm simply couldn't keep up with its swift speed.

During the battle, his limited counterattacks only caused minor damage to the ferocious rat, which instead thoroughly aroused its ferocity, with each move aimed at vital points, putting him in an even more dangerous situation.

Under such suffocating pressure, Chen Mochuan didn't even have a chance to unleash his "Tiger Roar".

The battle was rapidly veering in a direction completely different from reality.

Soon, under the relentless onslaught of the ferocious rat, he made a fatal mistake in his defense due to a minor defensive error, and was subsequently killed by a single blow to the chest.

"What a crushing defeat..."

After a long while, Chen Mochuan finally suppressed the feeling of palpitation, tried his best to calm his turbulent emotions, and then began to review the entire battle.

"No... just daydreaming won't get me the answer; I need to fight it again!"

After reviewing the situation for a while, Chen Mochuan realized that given the absolute speed disadvantage, he couldn't think of a more effective strategy. He understood that he could only learn from practice.

Half a minute later, Chen Mochuan's consciousness returned to reality.

His breathing remained heavy and labored. This time, he did perform slightly better, but only for five or six seconds longer, and the outcome was still a crushing defeat.

The course of the battle was largely the same as before, the biggest difference being the location of the fatal wound; this time, a large hole was torn open in his abdomen.

Moreover, upon returning to reality this time, he felt not only lingering palpitations, but also a heavy sense of exhaustion originating from the depths of his spirit.

He realized that each time he activated his mental martial arts, it would consume a lot of his mental energy.

Adding to his exhaustion from a day of exams and a night of battling a legless rat, Chen Mochuan felt completely drained after experiencing two incredibly realistic death scenarios. His temples throbbed, and his head throbbed with pain.

The golden light screen also issued a reminder at this time:

[WARNING: You are extremely fatigued and mentally exhausted. Please rest immediately!!!]

"No, it seems that activating Mind Training will come at a considerable price. I'll have to stop here for now and get some rest. We'll talk about it again tomorrow..."

But his head was in so much pain that he couldn't fall asleep right away, and his tired yet active thoughts began to jump and diverge uncontrollably.

"After the legless ferocious rat died, this special sphere of spiritual light appeared on its corpse, but it wasn't seen on the several ferocious rats that the special operations team wiped out half a month ago, not even on the powerful ferocious rat king..."

"Could it be... that only the ferocious beasts I personally slay can develop this kind of spirituality?"

"Sigh, 'Soul Eater' is really something. Instead of providing a user manual, I have to figure it out myself... I'll just have to find a chance to verify this later..."

"The toxins carried by the ferocious rat tonight not only failed to harm me, but were also transformed by 'Spirit Devouring,' which in turn nourished my qi and blood, giving me a slight boost..."

"So, can I deliberately ingest some toxins or poisons to quickly replenish my qi and blood?"

"But both toxins and poisons are strictly controlled substances; I, an ordinary student, can't possibly obtain them..."

"No, how could I have such an extreme idea... This isn't the right way. Even if I'm not afraid of the ferocious rat's venom, it doesn't mean I'm truly immune to all poisons..."

"Besides, the increase in qi and blood from converting toxins by 'Soul Devouring' isn't actually that much. My progress in normal cultivation is already quite fast, so there's no need to take such an unknown risk..."

And so, his thoughts, like a wild horse running free, wandered through these chaotic thoughts, until Chen Mochuan's consciousness gradually blurred and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

……

The next morning, Chen Mochuan woke up at nearly nine o'clock.

He was so exhausted yesterday that he slept very soundly, and the alarm clock couldn't wake him up even after ringing several times.

Today is Wednesday, a school day, but Chen Mochuan, who is already more than an hour late, is not flustered at all.

Because of his agreement with Liang Wenbin, he couldn't go to school with his injuries; otherwise, the story of the broken-legged rat would be impossible to hide, and the police's plan to keep the matter secret would completely fail.

Therefore, last night Liang Wenbin obtained the homeroom teacher Han Zhen's number from Chen Mochuan and contacted him directly, briefly informing him of Chen Mochuan's injury and requesting leave for him this week under the pretext of cooperating with the police investigation.