"According to various data, this fetal-like psychological suggestion is extremely effective. It allows a person's mental state to enter its deepest fluctuations and return to the innate state."

As the days passed, Su Jie continued working with Ma and Luo—the two “professors”—conducting experiments and studying. He changed his sleep habits and gradually found a unique world between stretching and curling up. Compared to simply using the "corpse-sprawl" method, it had an added layer of mystery.

The Great Corpse State involved treating oneself like a dead body—but still being alive.

However, the state of a fetus in the womb was even more fascinating—seemingly hovering between life and death.

Now, through various cultivation practices and intense psychological suggestion, Su Jie had made his state closely resemble that of a fetus in the womb. This gradually began to awaken some extraordinary abilities.

“Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous.”

In the room, Su Jie, Master Ma, and Zhang Manman were watching a playback video of Su Jie sleeping.

His previous sleep posture resembled an empty sack—swelling with inhalation, collapsing with exhalation.

But now, it had subtly changed. At first, he lay flat like a corpse. Then, with the rhythm of his breathing, he gradually curled into a fetal position, then slowly stretched out, growing day by day, until he reached the peak of growth—then reverted to the corpse-like state of the sprawl method.

This entire process completed in six hours, resembling the experience of life from death, and death from life—a full cycle.

“Our theory was right after all,” Master Ma said as he looked at the data. “In just these few days, your physical performance has increased by ten percent. It’s nothing short of a miracle.”

“I used to think I had hit a plateau, but in fact, all my physical and performance metrics have improved significantly,” Su Jie said, looking at the test results, unable to deny that he had advanced again.

However, he still hadn't broken through to the realm of the “Living Dead.”

But he could feel that he was getting closer and closer.

“The Great Corpse State is about treating yourself like a corpse and sensing death. The fetal simulation, on the other hand, is about going from death back to life. In Chinese culture, we value the concept of reincarnation and rebirth. You’re moving from corpse to fetus—completing a cycle. Then, as the fetus grows and again becomes a corpse, it’s equivalent to living an entire life,” said Master Luo.

“In many research institutions abroad, they’ve found that fetuses are natural geniuses. They learn and comprehend incredibly fast—only to forget everything at birth. But with certain prenatal education methods, it's possible to deeply engrave knowledge into the fetus’s subconscious, allowing them to retain instincts that benefit them for life,” he continued.

“Indeed, the most ideal time for education is during the prenatal phase. Unfortunately, research on fetal education worldwide is still in its infancy. We don’t yet know how to implant correct knowledge and concepts into a fetus’s subconscious to make sure they retain it post-birth,” Master Ma added. “When it comes to physical training, international experts currently divide it into three stages: flexibility and mobility training before losing baby teeth at age 6 or 7, explosive physical development before 17 or 18, and combined physical-mental training in adulthood. But they're missing the most important stage—prenatal.”

“My research materials show that the fetal mental state is extremely pure—its receptiveness far surpasses that of the average adult. That’s because there’s no external interference in the womb; the mind is completely undistracted,” Luo said, jotting down more insights. “That’s why many experts are exploring how adults might return to that fetal mental state, and they’ve conducted many experiments.”

“Ancient cultivation practices emphasized exactly this—returning to the innate, becoming like a baby,” Su Jie said.

“Exactly. The ancients noticed this as well and conducted systematic studies, recording their conclusions,” Master Ma nodded. “This time, Old Luo and I exchanged our findings and uncovered a lot of new knowledge. Your training in this area validates our research.”

“The alternation between the Great Corpse State and fetal simulation does feel far superior to just corpse meditation alone,” Su Jie nodded. “Each session is like a complete cycle.”

“Your biggest obstacle now is a lack of innate advantage,” Master Luo looked at him. “The ideal training path begins with fetal education, then development before the age of six or seven. But you didn’t start training until age sixteen. Those earlier two phases are missing. Compared to some of the most formidable individuals out there, you’ve got a big gap. Fortunately, you're making up for it through relentless effort.”

This made Su Jie think of Feng Hengyi. Had he started training "from the womb"?

“Well, this round of experiments has laid a more solid foundation for your comprehension of the ‘Living Dead’ realm. Next, you’ll need to intensify your external training too,” said Master Ma. “Old Luo, time to bring out the good stuff.”

“It’s not all that great,” Master Luo said modestly as he opened a secret folder on his computer. A video started playing—with a foreigner explaining how to train in “Golden Bell Cover,” “Iron Shirt,” “Thirteen Protectors External Training,” and “Hard Qi Gong,” among others.

“This foreigner?”

Su Jie instantly recognized the man in the video—it was Odell.

In the instructional video, Odell gave detailed explanations of the physiological and psychological secrets behind external training methods.

He concluded in fluent Chinese: “I’ve named this set of training techniques the ‘Thirteen Protectors External Training Golden Bell Cover Iron Shirt Dragon-Tiger Vajra Hard Qi Gong.’”

“Why such a long name?” Su Jie was stunned, then burst out laughing—it reminded him of absurd movie names like ‘Nine Heavens Ten Earths Bodhisattva Head-Shake Lightning-Fist Thunder-Palm’.

“In combat, durability is key. That’s widely accepted now. Traditional Chinese martial arts also placed heavy emphasis on this. Over centuries of experimentation, a wide variety of methods were developed—most famously the Golden Bell Cover, Iron Shirt, Thirteen Protectors External Training, and various forms of Hard Qi Gong,” said Master Luo. “Ma and I have also studied this area, but not as deeply as this foreigner. His name is Odell, nicknamed ‘The Godmaker.’ The champions he’s trained have top-tier resistance to damage.”

“Why’s it called Thirteen Protectors External Training?” Zhang Manman asked.

“The Thirteen Protectors refers to a historical figure—Li Cunxiao, a famed general from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. There’s a saying: ‘No king surpasses Xiang Yu, no general surpasses Li.’ Xiang Yu was the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. Li refers to Li Cunxiao, who was the thirteenth-ranked son and held the title of Taibao—thus the nickname ‘Thirteen Protectors.’ Legend has it he was superhumanly strong, with muscles like steel. He charged into battle, unbeatable and invincible. Eventually, he was tricked and executed by being torn apart by five horses. It’s said the horses had to pull dozens of times before they succeeded—only after his tendons were cut. He supposedly acquired a special training method from a mysterious master. That method was passed down and became known as the Thirteen Protectors External Training,” Luo explained.

“Ancient warriors couldn’t be tougher than today’s fighters, right?” Zhang Manman asked.

“Not necessarily,” Su Jie replied. “Some people in history had not just incredible strength, but a higher spiritual state than modern people. Plus, the brutality of cold weapon combat forced the human body to evolve under pressure. Honestly, if you threw a modern fighter into a battlefield of cold weapons, they’d likely die horribly. The ring doesn’t compare to chaotic blade-and-spear warfare. Those who survived multiple battles weren’t lucky—they had real skills. Especially those undefeated on the frontlines.”

Su Jie, being immersed in martial arts, had developed the habit of putting himself in others’ shoes.

Modern people tend to assume fighters today are superior—but that’s not necessarily true. There was a world champion boxer who was beaten to death by his nephew and an 18-year-old with steel pipes. Ordinary folks practicing kung fu routines who’ve never fought real fights are no match for those who train in actual combat.

But even fighters today train in simulated combat—it’s not life and death. Ancient warriors hacked and stabbed people regularly. Through countless life-or-death situations, they learned to protect themselves and strike with deadly precision. That was real combat.

Chinese martial arts today have lost those conditions and become mere performance. And there's no going back—cold weapon warfare is long gone.

“Exactly. Without experiencing the brutality of cold weapon combat, you can’t imagine its cruelty,” Master Ma agreed. “But let’s not dwell on history. Let’s get back to Odell’s external training video.”

Su Jie watched intently.

Golden Bell Cover and Iron Shirt techniques can be found in many bookstores, but the books are often vague or incomprehensible.

And frankly, just reading a book and training on your own won’t work.

Even with a good teacher, it’s hard to master this stuff—let alone through self-study.

Only someone with an already high level of understanding could dig useful insights from those books, test them through practice, and gain benefits over time.

Su Jie used to believe those stories where a protagonist finds a secret manual, goes into seclusion for a few years, and comes out a grandmaster. Now he finds them laughable.

No matter the field, progress comes from scientific methods, collective intelligence, collaboration, experimentation, detailed record-keeping, and rigorous logic. Only then can real breakthroughs be made.

Take something as simple as a jab in boxing—it’s the result of thousands of matches and endless training. It requires muscle conditioning and full-body coordination to deliver the fastest, most accurate, and most destructive strike.

A lone guy in the woods reading books and training is like a blind man feeling an elephant.

That’s why Su Jie always worked with others.

He started at Minglun Martial Arts Academy, later joined Starshine Combat Fitness Club, and eventually organized his own training ground—constantly refining through practice and collaboration.

Ma and Luo did the same. They’re both part of top global institutions, collaborating with experts and research teams.

It’s that spirit of collective research and innovation that lets humanity fly, terraform, travel through space, and transplant organs. That must never be lost.

This, too, is a small research team.

“Odell has a massive force backing him. I suspect it's the same group trying to recruit—or threaten—us,” Master Luo said. “This video was a secret. It took a lot to get my hands on it. I also obtained some external training ointment from the Typhon Training Camp. It’s designed to be used alongside this Hard Qi Gong method. I’m too old to practice it—but Su Jie, let’s see if you can master it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay