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This Duke Zhi Ting was not yet forty years old this year, but he appeared even younger. Wide-bodied and plump, with a pale beardless face, about five feet seven inches tall, he weighed around 300 pounds and was supported out by four beautiful maids, looking exactly like a plump, gleaming white ball.
Upon seeing the stunningly beautiful Suo Ningbing, the Duke's eyes suddenly brightened.
"Suo Ningbing, pays respects to His Grace," Suo Ningbing said with a bow.
"Rise, rise..." the Duke's smile seemed almost about to spill over from the chubby cheeks, he hurriedly quickened his pace, trying to lift Suo Ningbing up, his narrow eyes appearing as if they were shooting out light.
"They say there are two most beautiful women in the Royal City, one is Zhi Ning, and the other is you," Duke Zhi Ting said with a beguiled smile, "In my eyes, Zhi Ning is far inferior to you. Where can you find such mature charm as yours?"
"Your Grace jokes," Suo Ningbing replied.
With the support of four maids, Duke Zhi Ting sat down on the huge golden throne like a mountain of flesh and said, "Speak, what business do you have with me?"
Suo Ningbing said, "My younger brother Suo Lun is having difficulties passing the graduation examination of the Royal City Academy this year, yet he must inherit the title and the position of the City Lord of Tianshui City, so I implore Your Grace for assistance."
Duke Zhi Ting laughed and said, "Why don't you seek help from Zhi Wei? He is the governor of the Southeast Province after all."
Suo Ningbing replied, "It's more effective to seek your help than his."
"Good judgment, good judgment," Duke Zhi Ting clapped his hands, then dropped all smiles and said, "However, Miss Suo, your matter is quite troublesome. You know that many in the royal family are coveting Tianshui City."
This debauchee Duke was quite blunt in speaking, considering he himself was a member of the royal family.
Suo Ningbing produced three deeds and said, "I'm willing to offer these three deeds and request Your Grace's help."
Immediately, a maid took the three deeds and handed them to Duke Zhi Ting. He opened them up, and his eyes lit up instantaneously, completely forgetting his lustful gaze at Suo Ningbing. To him, nothing could compare to the allure of Gold Coins.
The value of these three properties totaled tens of thousands of Gold Coins. Duke Zhi Ting had received countless bribes, but rarely one so generous.
For reference, a large city with a population of several hundred thousand only collects less than twenty thousand Gold Coins in taxes per year, and an ordinary family could hardly save up ten Gold Coins in a lifetime.
At once, he slowly closed his eyes, weighing whether the task was doable or not.
He, Zhi Ting, was so beloved and trusted by the King Quo Bian because he had absolutely no political ambitions, barely touched any royal power, and was extremely devoted to King Quo Bian.
Back when King Quo Bian and several princes were fighting over the Crown Prince's position, the struggle was extremely fierce, even describable as rivers of blood.
Almost every adult prince got involved, and brotherly affection was long thrown aside.
Zhi Ting, just a child of a few years old at the time, not only luckily avoided the succession battle but also won all of his oldest brother King Quo Bian's brotherly love.
Because King Quo Bian was so ruthless in the succession battle, it seemed he wanted to compensate all his guilt onto his youngest brother Zhi Ting.
And Zhi Ting also behaved very well, cooing and acting cute in front of Quo Bian from a young age. Such a young brother seemed more like a son.
So, would meddling with the position of the City Lord of Tianshui City be considered intervening in politics? Would that displease King Quo Bian?
Indeed, in the royal family, someone did want to take over the Territory of Tianshui City, and that was the future Crown Prince Zhi Li. As for King Quo Bian, he had never took a stance.
If he took on this job, he would offend the future Crown Prince. But if he didn't, those tens of thousands of Gold Coins were too tempting.
After much deliberation, the scales in Duke Zhi Ting's mind gradually tipped towards the Gold Coins.
After all, in his eyes, there was only the King, and no one else mattered. As for Zhi Li, let's wait until you become the King, then I'll come and flatter you.
Instantly, Duke Zhi Ting opened his eyes and declared, "Alright, I will take on this matter."
Suo Ningbing was inwardly delighted, for although Duke Zhi Ting was greedy for money, his reputation for keeping his word was indeed exceptional; generally, whatever he took on, he saw through to completion.
"Thank you, Your Grace," Suo Ningbing was well aware that by taking on this task, Duke Zhi Ting was essentially opposing Zhi Li.
"It's nothing. I only have eyes for His Majesty the King; I don't care about anyone else," Zhi Ting said with a smile.
"Then I shall take my leave," Suo Ningbing said as she bowed, truly unable to bear Duke Zhi Ting's gaze any longer.
...
Early this morning, Lanling began learning the second step of Martial Enlightenment with Ye Jingyu, which was the activation of Dragon Force.
Ordinarily, it's only when the body reaches a certain unbearable limit that the heart erupts with Bloodline Power.
But in combat, one needs to be able to employ Dragon Force at any moment. Waiting until the body reaches its limit to activate Dragon Force would be too late.
Therefore, the purpose of the second step of Martial Enlightenment, Dragon Force activation, is to stimulate the Bloodline Dragon Force at any time with the mind, without requiring the body to reach its limit.
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How does one accomplish this? It is through a form of mental deception, tricking the brain and nerves into thinking they have reached the limit of pain, even though the body has not. Then, repeat this hundreds, thousands of times. Eventually, the nerves and brain develop a memory point, becoming a conditioned reflex. As soon as the mind touches this memory point, the Bloodline Dragon Force is immediately activated.
The principle is very simple, and scientific.
For example, when a sharp, hard object strikes your knee, it hurts very, very much. So, you repeat this pain over and over again. Eventually, even without another strike, just thinking about it can make the pain seem vividly present.
Ye Jingyu said, "There is also a mantra for this, but it's quite long, easily three to four hundred words. I'll recite it once and you memorize it."
Then, Ye Jingyu began to recite the "Suffering Mantra."
The content of the mantra was still very straightforward, talking about oneself becoming a slave, shackled at the hands and feet, building a pyramid mausoleum in the great desert. The sun blazed down, the body weak, hands and feet flesh blurred, carrying heavy stones, climbing up steep and sharp cliffs, while also enduring terrible whipping.
In essence, it depicted the extreme limit of physical pain.
After several repetitions, Lanling had completely memorized the entire mantra, and detailed images had already begun to form in his mind.
Ye Jingyu said, "Now what you need to do is to recite the mantra over and over, letting your spirit fully immerse into the world of the mantra, experiencing the pain within."
Lanling asked, "How long does this second step to activate dragon force usually take to complete?"
Ye Jingyu replied, "Over a month, and it has nothing to do with talent. Because the brain and nerves need thousands of repeated stimulations to form a conditioned reflex point."
After speaking, Ye Jingyu applied a special potion under Lanling's nostrils.
Suddenly, a strange scent rushed into his nose and, in an instant, Lanling felt his consciousness become dazed, the effect was almost like that of LSD on Earth.
Then, Ye Jingyu kept reciting the mantra in his ear, over and over.
Lanling also recited it repeatedly, continuously envisioning the images from the "Suffering Mantra," placing himself in the shoes of that suffering slave. Even though he possessed Yao Xing, he still wanted to try ordinary people's training.
Lanling had now fully devoted himself, and, due to the potion, had also become completely disoriented, letting go of his rational defenses.
However, since there was still sober consciousness in his mind, it was impossible to fully immerse himself as if in a dream.
Once, twice, three times...
Who knows how many times passed, a good two hours or more. The only result was failure; Lanling could not fully immerse himself in the world of the "Suffering Mantra," Yao Xing also never appeared, let alone any activation of dragon force.
Ye Jingyu said, "Don't be frustrated; this in itself is very difficult. Even those with high spiritual talent need a month's time. Moreover, the younger the age, the easier it is to complete. The older one is, the more lucid and strong-willed they are, making it even harder to deceive oneself."
Indeed, that was the reason. Therefore, the younger one was for the three steps of enlightenment, the better, usually around ten years old. By this time, Lanling was already nearly twenty.
Lanling could clearly feel how difficult this was, having to believe out of the blue that he was the slave from the "Suffering Mantra," experiencing the life-threatening pain as if it were his own. How was that possible? And it had to be as real as in a dream.
Next, Lanling continued to try, to attempt.
Another hour or more passed, not only without success, but his spirit became clearer and clearer, feeling more and more ridiculous, making success even less likely.
Lanling even felt that continuing in this way would be nothing but a waste of time.
Thus, he closed his eyes, entered the Spiritual Illusion of the "Inverted Moon Mantra," and called out in his heart, "Yao Xing."
Suddenly, within the depths of the illusion, a faint light brightened, that was Yao Xing.
"What is it, Master?"
Lanling said, "I need to activate dragon force."
"Yes." Yao Xing contracted for a moment, and a surge of power erupted before saying, "Master, my power is nearly depleted. You must hurry to slay enemies, so I can devour enough energy."
Having said that, the light of Yao Xing disappeared.
Lanling opened his eyes and said to Ye Jingyu, "I... have already completed the dragon force activation."
Once again, Ye Jingyu widened her eyes in shock and said, "This, this is impossible. Dragon force activation has nothing to do with talent; it is just countless repetitions of stimulation. No amount of talent will help."
After speaking, Ye Jingyu grabbed Lanling's hand and said, "Try activating dragon force once, I will be able to feel it."
Lanling ordered Yao Xing internally to release energy. Almost simultaneously, Yao Xing lit up, unleashing strands of energy radiance.
In an instant, Ye Jingyu felt this energy. Then, she was completely stunned, looking at Lanling with disbelief, "You, you really are a monster."
The second step of dragon force activation, no matter what, would take a month to complete, and yet Lanling had taken only one day.
Ye Jingyu was utterly incapable of describing what she felt inside.