Chapter 34: The Power is Born

“Is it really so strange?” Something seemed to be slowly circling around George’s soul. It felt vague, but also as if it had substance. This was a brand-new experience George had never had before.

“Wait! I feel like I’ve seen a description of this feeling somewhere.” George seemed to grasp something. “If my idea is correct, this feeling should only appear after mastering the basics of Primordial Qi Great Grappling.”

George first slowly stepped out of his previous Visualization state. After moving his muscles and bones to loosen them up, he sat down again. Then, he entered the Visualization state once more. Unlike before, George did not visualize the Great One’s divine image this time. Instead, he visualized a strange rune. According to the ancient book, this was a unique variant of the character “Qi,” or rather, a variant of the Dao pattern at the beginning of the Great Dao.

Slowly, George found himself entering a state that seemed like his soul leaving his body. No, it wasn’t his soul leaving his body, but rather his soul inside his Spirit Platform. He could observe the surroundings from a full 360-degree view. Previously, because George had never experienced his soul leaving his body, he had mistaken the situation at first. It was only after realizing that the height of his viewpoint hadn’t changed that he understood the correct situation.

Inside his own Spirit Platform, besides his Soul, George saw two small saplings. Using George’s ordinary level of natural science knowledge, he had no help identifying the trees. George could be certain that these two saplings were the Essence Spirits mentioned in the ancient scroll. They were rooted in the Spirit Platform, using it as soil, and were watered by the Spiritual Qi generated from the essence of their bloodline and will. Finally, under the shining Spirit Light where the Soul and human nature merged, they grew strong and healthy. Just like photosynthesis, the leaves on the trees absorbed information streams from the void, while releasing George’s deep-seated negative emotions. These negative emotions constantly moved away from George until they disappeared into the void.

George finally understood the real reason for his weakness yesterday. Simply climbing the Tower Reaching the Sky could not have caused his body and soul to become that weak. It seemed that at that time, as a reward for George stepping onto the second floor, these two Essence Spirits, which George had cultivated himself, had already passed the initial stage and started to take root and sprout. The price paid for this was completely disproportionate. Was the rest paid by the System? If so, where did the System’s energy come from? The old mystery was still unsolved, and a new mystery had already appeared.

“Really, I didn’t expect these two Essence Spirits to have such benefits.” The previous books did not give a specific introduction. However, George had truly felt this ability to constantly scatter and wear away negative emotions. “Perhaps this is common knowledge in the school where the ancient scroll belongs. Because of this reason, there was no need for a specific record.”

To be honest, in George’s eyes, the ability of the Essence Spirits to constantly wear away his inner negative emotions was the true priceless treasure.

The ruling methods on the Basto Continent were varied. Taking the feudal system represented by the Duchy of Nohan as an example, its cornerstone was the Knight class. In a sense, George himself was also a member of this class.

Generally, a Knight was a profession that interpreted itself through combat and protection. To outsiders, the honorable and magnificent posture was filled with countless blood and tears unknown to others. The power that protected others from war and plunder was even exchanged for countless scars and pains.

The funds required just to become a Knight were enough to bankrupt a family that was originally considered wealthy. Persisting through those strict training regimes required a spirit that never gave up or retreated. Neither of these could be accomplished by ordinary people—but this was not actually the key issue.

Knights needed a sublimation on the Soul level. It was not enough to simply put on armor, pick up a sharp sword or a Spear, and mount a warhorse to become a true Knight. Nor was it enough to complete all training and possess one’s own banner and followers to be called a Knight. If there was no change in the Soul, then one was merely a powerful warrior.

The Knight’s Spirit here was not just empty talk. It was the very foundation of a person’s existence as a Knight and the code of conduct. At the same time, strictly abiding by the oaths one had sworn to follow allowed ordinary Humans to master and possess supernatural powers such as “Word Spirit” and “Knight Technique.”

The change in the Soul was a very mysterious process, yet it was so vivid and direct, placed right before all young people intending to become Knights. It became the means for them to transcend their physical limits and also the barrier hindering them from becoming extraordinary. However, there was a relative broad road in this aspect. The most representative example was “Knight Inheritance.”

This was because the so-called “Knight Inheritance” provided the heir with relatively correct guidance through bloodline or experience. It helped them clarify their own hearts and Souls, and guided this spiritual power to the best path of manifestation beyond thoughts and the Soul. It was not only spiritual but also built upon energy and matter.

This was a thorny path of trial. Only those whose bodies, wills, and awakenings all met the standards could walk this glorious path that inherited all the honors of their predecessors.

However, no inheritance could apply to everyone. Not to mention the differences in the Spirit, the differences in bloodlines alone could make many inheritances ineffective. Moreover, “Knight Inheritance” conducted through family bloodlines often possessed quite special abilities and characteristics. If a Knight family had no one become a Knight for three generations, the previous bloodline inheritance would be almost void. Even one generation of a break would have some impact. This was what was meant by “three generations build a family, three generations destroy a family.”

Furthermore, the various conflicts on the Continent often caused Knights who possessed inheritances to die in battle before they could pass down their ancestral secret arts to their family’s children and nephews. This was the reason why the inheritance of most Knight families was interrupted. Once a Knight family’s inheritance was broken, it would be very hard for new Knights to appear. This was because the bloodlines of Knight families possessing inheritances had become solidified and specialized, making it very difficult for them to accept other inheritances and become Knights.

If those Knight families whose inheritances were cut off did not want to decline, they could only try their best to train their children to become qualified Squires, hoping that one generation would produce an outstanding descendant to rebuild the family’s honor and glory.

George was lucky. Although his family’s inheritance had been broken a few times, it was ultimately preserved. However, George was also unlucky. The foundation of this emerging family, which had never produced a true strong person, was exceptionally thin. In order to become a powerful party, George had to rely on the System to integrate different systems pieced together. George, who carried many secrets, had accumulated quite a lot of negative emotions in his heart. This was the biggest hidden danger for George’s future promotion.

Since the path of a Knight ultimately relied on the mind and will as the guide, besides the common Virtuous Knights, there were also Vice Knights. However, George had no interest in playing the villain. And simply becoming a Knight who maintained virtue was not what George wanted either. So, George walked the path of self-restraint, keeping his inner desires under control of reason. Through constant analysis of himself and deepening his grasp of his true self, he made his desires eventually submit while conquering his own body and mind.

And just by solving the hidden danger of negative emotions, the Essence Spirits did not know how much time they would save for George. Just on this point alone, it was worth the ticket price, not to mention that it was the fundamental practice of Primordial Qi Great Grappling.

George had just paid attention to the Essence Spirits when a System prompt appeared: “Please choose a reinforcement direction for the Essence Spirit.”

After understanding the System’s introduction regarding the reinforcement of the Essence Spirits, George understood: The power of Primordial Qi Great Grappling was rooted on the Essence Spirits, and reinforcing the Essence Spirits was actually reinforcing the power of Primordial Qi Great Grappling. The System offered a total of five reinforcement directions, and George chose two of them: First, King’s Evil Whip: This would allow the power of Primordial Qi Great Grappling to increase by two Ranks, meaning Power +4. Second, Xuan Tan Transport: This would greatly increase the intensity of Primordial Qi Great Grappling when countering Magic and Magic Items.

After making the decision, George began the daily practice of this power. Inside the Spirit Platform, he constantly visualized the “Qi” rune, guiding the Essence Spirits to grow normally. After about two hours, he reached the maximum limit for practicing this power for the day. With experience, George switched to visualizing the Great One’s divine image and began his daily practice.

When George finished his lessons and stepped out of the carriage, it was already almost midnight. In a blink of an eye, four or five hours had passed. George sighed, “Time really does not last long. It seems I need to speed up. If I can make my Divine Soul complete sooner, I can completely replace sleep with Visualization. Otherwise, if I have more methods to practice in the future, I will be even busier.”

Speaking of which, with Primordial Qi Great Grappling, the site discovered earlier today could be fully utilized. Tomorrow, he would go check how effective this newly practiced power really was. He hoped it would not disappoint him. Having had the experience of the “Wild Wolf Image” last time, although George was full of confidence in Primordial Qi Great Grappling, he still had some doubts subconsciously if it was not tested in reality.

Taking advantage of the fact that he was not yet tired, George prepared to take a walk outside. After all, he had just sat in meditation for so long; it was better to get his blood and Qi circulating. Perhaps because there were enough hands, many more people were resting in the camp today. It seemed that the routine rotation could now begin.

Suddenly, George found that Cortez with the yellow beard was practicing swordplay by the campfire. This might be a habit he had formed over the years. As Val the Knight had said, this person’s improvement in strength had not slackened. Many Knights who fell into becoming Adventurers, unable to see hope, eventually turned to indulging themselves. Judging from the descriptions in the Tavern and his current performance, this person could still be considered self-disciplined. It seemed necessary to invest some effort in training him.