Chapter 55: Martial Will

Ling Xiao felt a profound sense of emotion.

The goal he had spent his entire life striving for had actually been achieved in just half a month, making him feel as though he were dreaming.

It seemed that practical combat was indeed essential for increasing strength.

Previously, he had used a Gangqi Pill, but he had remained stuck at ninety-nine percent, unable to break through. However, after a day of fighting and exchanging blows with experts, he had managed to break through with surprising ease.

The entire process had taken less than two hours.

No!

It should be said that Ling Feng's father, Ling Shisan, had played a pivotal role!

If Ling Shisan had not pressured him with that terrifying aura, it would have been impossible for him to explode his full potential under such immense crisis.

It was precisely because of Ling Shisan's pressure and threats that Ling Xiao felt an intense sense of urgency to increase his strength.

Combined with other factors, everything had fallen into place naturally.

In truth, he really ought to give Ling Shisan a proper word of thanks.

Now that he had broken through to the fourth level of the Martial Vein, coupled with the nearly top-tier martial art "Bull Demon Art: Meteor Star Malice Fist" and the "Soaring Cloud Steps: Dragon Transformation," even Ling Shisan at the fifth level of the Martial Vein would find it difficult to kill him.

He now possessed the means to protect his own life.

However, he needed to update his "template" slightly. Previously, he was a third-level Martial Vein warrior without Gangqi. But since he had already exposed his strength during the Grand Competition, continuing to use that template would look too fake.

Therefore, he customized a new one: his current template was the peak of the third level of the Martial Vein, with his Gangqi having permeated more than ninety percent of his third Martial Vein.

This level of strength actually carried a title: Peak Martial Life!

In other words, within the rank of "Martial Life," one would be near the strongest. Generally, reaching the peak of the third level of the Martial Vein and having Gangqi convert into more than ninety percent of the third Martial Vein would earn one this honor.

After breaking through to the fourth level of the Martial Vein, Ling Xiao did not stop his cultivation.

Breaking through was one thing, but stabilizing the breakthrough was another.

Furthermore, there was still much to be done regarding the enhancement of his combat effectiveness.

Regardless of how many layers or levels various martial arts were divided into, they could ultimately be categorized into five stages.

The first stage is called "Minor Success," meaning one can exert thirty percent of the martial art's power.

The second stage is "Proficiency," meaning one can exert sixty percent.

The third stage is "Great Success," meaning one can exert ninety percent.

The fourth stage is "Perfection," also known as "Great Perfection," where one can perfectly exert the martial art's power.

The fifth stage is "Transcendence," also known as "Sublime Mastery." At this stage, the martial art has no flaws and is impeccable; its power can even increase by two to five times, which is terrifying.

Currently, only Ling Xiao's basic martial art, "Savage Bull Strength," had reached Transcendence. The rest were at most at the Great Success stage, far from Perfection, let alone Transcendence.

He planned to first raise "Bull Demon Art: Meteor Star Malice Fist" to the stage of Transcendence. This way, the power of this single move would at least increase several times over, making his combat power even more staggering.

However, while martial art realms from Minor Success to Perfection could be reached through hard work, Transcendence was truly mysterious and heavily dependent on one's comprehension.

To reach Transcendence, besides hard work, one also needed luck and innate talent.

Of course, this was not a problem for Ling Xiao at all.

With the Mountain and River Martial Soul, even if his comprehension were poor, he could perfectly reach Transcendence through his ability to analyze and practice.

All he needed was time.

Throughout the night, he practiced "Bull Demon Art: Meteor Star Malice Fist" repeatedly, focusing intently on raising its realm.

After all, this was currently his strongest offensive move.

Although "Bull Demon Art: Hundred Step Malice Sword" also possessed decent power, it was not suitable for sustained combat; it was better used for ambushes or as a trump card.

When dawn broke, Ling Xiao slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Although "Bull Demon Art: Meteor Star Malice Fist" had not yet reached Transcendence, it had progressed from Great Success to the realm of Perfection, resulting in a significant increase in power.

This was enough.

After some thought, he spent another two hours raising "Bull Demon Art: Hundred Step Malice Sword" to the realm of Perfection as well.

Perfection was relatively easier to achieve, as the figures within the Mountain and River Map continuously practiced, making it easy to learn.

Since this move served as his trump card, there was no harm in making it stronger.

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his head. He was a bit tired and felt he needed to rest for a while.

However, before resting, he intended to see what special changes the Mountain and River Martial Soul had undergone after his realm ascended to the fourth level of the Martial Vein.

"Analysis and practice, production and creation, plus a realm template—those were the original abilities. But after the realm increase, a new ability has emerged: Martial Dao Will!"

Ling Xiao had previously thought that analysis and practice were two separate abilities, but he now realized he was wrong. They were essentially one ability; without analysis, there could be no practice, and practicing without analysis was useless.

Production and creation were also a single ability, though its current level was too low to allow for "creation," limiting him to "production" for now.

As for the realm template, it could currently only be used to alter his superficial strength so that others could not discern his true power. However, once its level increased in the future, the effects would be unpredictable.

Finally, this newly appeared ability surprised Ling Xiao even more.

He had heard of Martial Dao Will—an indescribable artistic conception. Swordsmen had Sword Intent, and saber users had Saber Intent.

Other martial artists also possessed their own unique Martial Dao Wills.

According to the explanation in the Mountain and River Map, Martial Dao Will was actually a primitive version of a Martial Soul. When the Will could condense into a tangible form, it would become a Martial Soul.

However, in nearly ten thousand years, although some had raised their Martial Dao Will to the stage of Transcendence, very few were heard to have eventually condensed a Martial Soul.

Like martial arts, Martial Dao Will also had five stages: Minor Success, Proficiency, Great Success, Perfection, and Transcendence, eventually forming a Martial Soul.

In Ling Xiao's view, his current strength was insufficient to control the Mountain and River Martial Soul for combat, which was why the "Martial Dao Will" ability had appeared.

He estimated that the Mountain and River Martial Soul was meant to help him adapt to fighting with Martial Dao Will; once his Will reached Transcendence, he would be able to use the Mountain and River Martial Soul directly for combat.

He had originally intended to go to sleep, but seeing this new Martial Dao Will, Ling Xiao no longer felt like sleeping.

Generally speaking, Martial Dao Will offered two major advantages in combat.

One was psychological suppression, which intimidated opponents.

The other was the enhancement of martial arts.

The stronger the Martial Dao Will, the greater the enhancement.

Ling Xiao's Martial Dao Will had a unique advantage: it was not a fixed type of Will. Because it was extracted from the Mountain and River Martial Soul, which encompassed everything under heaven, his Martial Dao Will was naturally all-encompassing.

If he used a sword, it became Sword Intent!

If he used a saber, it became Saber Intent!

If he used a spear, it naturally became Spear Intent!

He could switch between them almost seamlessly without any negative impact.

This was all information he had obtained from the Mountain and River Martial Soul, so it was definitely not false.

Currently, because he had not yet obtained a top-tier martial art, Ling Xiao had not decided which weapon he would use in the future.

Generally, although a martial artist can learn multiple martial techniques, it is best to have one specialty.

However, he would leave that matter until he obtained a top-tier martial art; otherwise, deciding now would be meaningless.

Fortunately, his Martial Dao Will could be changed at will, which would not hinder his future cultivation. Therefore, raising his Martial Dao Will first would also be beneficial.