Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

A...scarlet eye.

It was like a blood moon hanging high in the sky, making people tremble.

This one eye is worth more than a thousand words... Kui's thinking speed is hundreds of times faster than that of ordinary people. In a short moment, he thought about many things and then clearly understood the current situation.

His voice was calm as he asked, "Are you sure?"

“If you’re asking about the surveillance footage,” the man chuckled, stopping stirring his coffee, scooping up a spoonful, and putting it in his mouth, “I’m certainly certain.”

"Ha ha!"

Before Kui could respond, a sharp, piercing laugh suddenly rang out from the side. It was the clown, his mouth full of blood, several teeth broken, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth onto the table. The flesh was incredibly tough; even with his teeth broken, the clown couldn't bite it off. He just stared at the man, grinning, letting out a piercing laugh.

"You idiot! You moron! What do you think you're using a coffee spoon for?! Do you think it's for scooping coffee?!"

His voice was shrill, filled with unfriendly sarcasm. But what he said made him seem completely insane.

A coffee spoon is indeed only for stirring coffee, but before saying that, please take a look at your own situation. You've broken a tooth from a piece of meat, your mouth is bleeding... and your first reaction is to laugh at others?

This bizarre scene left Kui momentarily speechless. Even if he had more time, he probably wouldn't be able to figure out the relationship between the two people in front of him.

"Really?" Despite being mocked by the clown in such a nasty tone, the man didn't seem angry. He put down his coffee spoon and said, "I really didn't know that. So, just drink it directly... never mind, it doesn't matter."

He didn't seem to care much about the Joker's words and state, and brushed it off indifferently.

This strange combination actually gave Kui a strange sense of security, like entering a shooting game where you can choose your teammates. One team is dressed in professional camouflage or uniform military attire, while the other team is dressed in all sorts of bizarre costumes. Although the latter has a strange style, it obviously brings more sense of security than the former. The composure shown by the other team infected Kui.

“According to you, you came to me specifically because you have something to say, right?” Kui said. “Tell me.”

"Shall we get straight to the point...? Sure." The man finished his coffee in one gulp, then pulled out a pipe from somewhere and tapped it lightly on the table.

"What I want to talk about... is freedom."

Kui repeated, "Freedom?"

“Ah, freedom.” The man nodded firmly, his voice confident, and said, “Kui, you may know what true freedom is, or you may not know what true freedom is, but one thing I am absolutely certain of.”

He stared intently into Kui's pupils, his single eye revealing an unquestionable, absolute light, like an emperor casually tossing down his judgment from his high throne. All courage vanished, replaced by a weak, feeble plea: "Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"You must understand what true unfreedom is."

"..!"

Kui may or may not understand what freedom is, but he certainly understands what true unfreedom is, because...

He is not free.

Before Kui could speak, the man pointed his pipe in the direction of the surveillance camera.

"Look... here, here, here, here, and here, it's all surveillance. They're monitoring everything you do... Kui, should you be proud? They don't dare put you in jail. So they can only let you live in this world. You go to the most luxurious hotels, get everything you want, travel by private jet, and have the world's top chefs at your beck and call... Honestly, even that legendary tycoon Zhu Dongfeng doesn't get this kind of treatment."

—Zhu Dongfeng, the former head of Time and Space Kill, and the boss's father.

The man lowered his gaze and said softly, "But... you're no different from being in prison. The only difference is that you're no longer imprisoned by that cold wall. This prison is a little bigger, the environment is a little better, and there are a few more restrictions. But all of this doesn't change one fact."

Kui suddenly raised his head and stared straight at the man. A terrifying aura erupted from him, and the clown beside him trembled in fright, his chin hitting the table. Two more bloody teeth flew out, accompanied by a series of howls.

However, the man remained unaffected, smiling calmly as he spoke.

"You're nothing more than a prisoner with a little more freedom... a caged bird."

-

On August 2nd, outside the temporary combat base in the Black Dragon Ruins, Pies met with Kui.

As the commander-in-chief of the military, his orders were always carried out quickly and efficiently.

“Mr. Kui.” Pies sat down opposite Kui, his voice quick and forceful. “I have a bad feeling about this. Time is running out, so I’ll get straight to the point. I want you to go into the core of the Black Dragon Ruins and investigate the anomalies here. As for what kind of anomalies they are, I’m sure you’ve already learned about them on the way here.”

To be fair, sending Kui into the Black Dragon Ruins was a reasonable choice. Owl possesses extremely strong immunity; all viruses known to humankind are a joke in his presence. The Undying Worm virus would be slapped eight times in three steps inside. Historically, the Undying Worm parasitized Owl, but he lived to old age without the virus ever reaching his brain.

In terms of strength, that owl was naturally no match for Himura Tan's martial arts, who was a top-ten, if not top-five, martial artist throughout history. But even he, under the influence of the Undying Worm virus, only had eight years to live... while an ordinary owl could live to old age and die.

While immunity and radiation protection cannot be generalized, the military has reason to believe that the Kui is powerful in every way. If there is any non-mythical creature or progenitor in the world that can enter the core of the Black Dragon Ruins without incident, then the first choice is definitely not Ying Qin Guan, but the Kui.

So P.S.'s demand that Qui-On go in is reasonable. However, it's unreasonable; Qui-On isn't a soldier, the military doesn't have the authority to directly command him, nor can they say, "If you don't go, I'll kill you," as the price would be far too high.

Pies was prepared for a protracted battle. During the time that Kui had been there, he had been preparing to persuade Kui. In fact, he vaguely felt that if Kui was sensible, he should agree on his own. The Black Dragon Ruins had been there for so long, and Kui had never been asked to enter before. Now, there was really no other way. It was a critical situation, so he had come to Kui.

"can."

Just as P.P. was about to start acting as a lobbyist, Quil gave his answer unexpectedly.

"..ah?"

Even Pyth couldn't react for a moment. He subconsciously looked up at Kui, only to see a pair of unfathomable pupils.

I said, "Okay."

Chapter Fifty-Five: Entering

Humanity and the Kui have always maintained a strange balance.

Humanity has never concealed its desire to exterminate other races. But that doesn't mean it has to kill all other races... For example, at the Ice Lemon Snow Mountain Inn, Ying Qin Guan and his group encountered the remnants of the Black Dragon. Mu Nan Dong was also there at the time, and his goal was to capture the Snow Fox.

Then, although this thing looks like a monster, has monster-like abilities, and monster-like intelligence, theoretically speaking... it is an alien race.

The first generation of alien races were the result of interbreeding between humans and their progenitors, half human and half beast. These first generation alien races could mate with beasts or humans, and their offspring would resemble the parent species they mated with. In the case of the Snow Fox, because there was no human bloodline integrated into their lineage for many generations, they gradually degenerated into the appearance of beasts. But note that even if they degenerated into the appearance of beasts, they are still alien races. There is a fundamental difference between alien races and beasts. Beasts can evolve due to their adaptation to their environment and thus become ordinary creatures, but alien races will not degenerate into ordinary creatures.

In other words, there is no safety net for monsters; if they accidentally adapt to the environment, they will become ordinary creatures. Alien races, on the other hand, have a safety net; at worst, they will be like monsters and will not be removed from the ranks of extraordinary creatures.

Humans theoretically don't target this type of alien race much. The fear stems primarily from their human-like appearance. However, even after dozens or hundreds of generations of mating with humans, these aliens cannot transform into human form. Therefore, their threat level is low, and there's no need for major conflict. It's worth noting that private ownership of these aliens is strictly prohibited. Why? Because human desires are personal, and to prevent potential family drama, it's best to be cautious.

These alien races have a special name: Ancient Aliens. This isn't because they originated in ancient times, but rather because they resemble ancient alien races, lacking significant human genetic makeup and hardly resembling humans. It generally refers to groups that have long lacked human genes and have almost become magical beasts, yet their race remains alien.

This is actually a concept from the mystical tradition. In the mystical, magical beasts can degenerate, while other races cannot, which leads to this comical situation where two completely identical creatures must be distinguished.

The Kui's status is similar to that of an ancient alien race, except that no one cares about the ancient alien race, while the Kui... the price of caring for him is quite heavy.

While Kui is one of the easiest characters to kill in Martial Gods, that's only if Kui doesn't dodge or evade. Otherwise... However, even then, the difficulty of killing him wouldn't increase much; it would just come at a higher cost.

When things were stable in Que, clearly not many people were willing to bear this price. Therefore, they offered him unparalleled wealth and freedom; tasks like entering the Black Dragon Ruins were something Que couldn't have been allowed to do before. But now, Pies and the military were at their wits' end.

The Black Dragon Ruins are like a man-eating monster that devours anyone who tries to plunder its secrets.

Is the Kui family the one qualified to uncover secrets?

"Mr. Kui, are you sure you don't need this?"

Outside the Black Dragon Ruins, Kui waved his hand, refusing the radiation protection equipment offered by the military.

"unnecessary."

His voice was calm and steady, like an unshakeable mountain.

If it were someone else, they would probably add some reasons after saying "I don't need it," such as being confident in themselves or believing they don't need it. But Kui didn't. When he said he didn't need it, that meant it. He wasn't discussing it with someone; he was simply informing them that they didn't need those unnecessary burdens.

"But.."

"No, do as Kui says."

The researcher was about to say something more when he was interrupted by a military officer who handed him an earpiece for communication and briefly instructed him: "The strong radiation inside may affect the magic circuits to some extent. Please keep in touch with us as much as possible and find the source of the hatred... In addition, if Mr. Kui has the capacity, he may also enter the core of the Black Dragon Ruins to find out the unknown existence within."

Kui's main task is to find Yinhensheng, not to delve into the root of the matter, but if Kui wants to find him, so be it.

Kui remained calm and did not answer, but took the headset and put it on.

After a brief confirmation, Kui entered the Black Dragon Ruins. He had previously provided some information about the *Hate-Giving Plant*. Generally speaking, identifying this plant shouldn't be a problem, but whether *Hate-Giving Plant* still exists in the Black Dragon Ruins, and whether it can retain its original function under radiation, remains unknown. The specifics will depend on the results of Kui's expedition.

-

Kui ventured deeper and deeper, entering the core of the Black Dragon Ruins.

The place was utterly silent. The apocalypse had destroyed all life on this land and wiped out everything on the surface... Otherwise, quite a few people had entered the Black Dragon Ruins earlier. Logically, they should have been able to find Yinhensheng, and whether they could have brought him out was another matter, but at least they would have reported it. But in reality, they didn't even report it.

Kui continued deeper into the area... He didn't seem to be wandering aimlessly, nor was he deliberately heading towards the places the military had told him might lead to certain death... The military had initially considered sending a reconnaissance plane to follow Kui. But that was a redundant and foolish move. Leaving aside what Kui might be thinking, given the reconnaissance plane's speed, were they expecting Kui to walk two steps, stop two steps, and slowly make his way there?

Therefore, the military and Kui could only communicate through headsets equipped with built-in magic networks, and they did not know Kui's exact location. Moreover, even the headsets were unreliable.

After several hours of walking and searching, Kui finally found his target.

"Have you arrived? We've been waiting for you for a long time."

In a slumbering ruin, a man with long, silver-white hair stood at the entrance to the basement, watching Kui.

"You are..." Kui began softly, but before he could finish his sentence, a sound came through his earpiece; the military wanted to contact him.

The silver-haired man made no move, and the commotion at the Quillmaid naturally subsided; everything was now under his control.

These methods, of course, belong to Cain.

It was their first meeting, and Kui's expression remained largely unchanged. Such was his nature; he wore the same expression no matter who he met, and Cain was much the same. However, he was always smiling. For someone who had spent countless years behind that door, encountering living beings was truly a joyous occasion.

He smiled and said, "Our conversation is safe. We've been waiting for a long time... You certainly have the qualifications. Come in."

Chapter Fifty-Six: The Miracle of Life

Kui was also seeing Cain for the first time... He was amazed by the other's temperament. Cain was like someone who had stepped out of a shoujo manga, like a "beauty" from folk legends. He traveled the continent as a carefree bard, recording the beginning and end of every legend, leaving behind a series of distant stories that were hard to distinguish between true and false for future generations.

"Come in."

Cain uttered a few words, turned, and walked into the basement. Kui followed behind Cain, his heart filled with vigilance. The Black Dragon Emperor hadn't mentioned Cain during their first meeting, though he had mentioned him later. Cain was known for his many methods, even Kui had heard of him to some extent. Given Kui's status, he shouldn't have known Cain. But the Black Dragon Emperor had mentioned him, and the military also suspected that Cain was inside the Black Dragon Ruins, thus giving him a subtle hint.

The two entered the basement, which was a laboratory, not as futuristic as Kui had imagined. In fact, many parts were quite rudimentary. Lack of money was a perpetual problem for the Black Dragon Empire. Moreover, now it wasn't just a lack of money; even if they had money, they could only try to spend it in installments. Some things were simply unavailable. Ji Chaoge spent twenty-three hours a day troubled by the lack of money, and the remaining hour was spent thinking about how to spend that money in a reasonable and inconspicuous way.

What caught Kui's attention, however, was the man heating chocolate in a beaker... Undoubtedly, it was the Black Dragon Emperor Ji Chaoge. He had once lost a dragon in adversity, and now, his eyes held boundless divine intent, so different from when they last met.

"You... you're here too...?"

"Yes." Ji Chaoge took a sip of hot chocolate; he really couldn't stand coffee. Compared to that, he preferred sweets like hot chocolate, and cigarettes were his only other choice. "I used to think I'd never have the chance to come back to this city again... But things don't always go as planned. I just happened to seize the opportunity and inherit my mother's destiny. So I came back here. It's a place I really miss."

".."

Kui remained silent, but Ji Chaoge didn't care. She shrugged and laughed, "You're a boring guy. I should have known."

“You certainly anticipated a lot,” Kui said in a low voice, “including the military coming to me and asking me to come in here.”

"To be fair, in this matter, they didn't target you just because you're from another race, nor did they think it wouldn't matter if you died. If you were human, you probably would have been sent here long ago." Ji Chaoge gently swirled her glass, a smile on her face. "However, P.S.'s keen insight truly exceeded my expectations; he's a gift from heaven..."

As he spoke, he slightly raised his chin and pointed in a direction.

"Here, take Yinhensheng over there with you."

Kui looked in the direction Ji Chaoge pointed and saw a flowerpot on the experimental table, in which was Yinhensheng.