Chapter 70: Martial Will
Next Day;
Ken opened his eyes. He felt a breach in the formation. Next to him were Elaine and Julia, both naked and sitting in a cross-legged position.
Alice was on another ground, in a similar position. On the other hand, the rock creatures were constantly banging on the defense of the Formation.
Seeing this, Ken immediately closed his eyes. The defense on the formation was still active, but now, it couldn't hold their auras.
That meant the leader of these creatures could easily spot them.
On the other hand, he had to continue his cultivation. Half of his body was covered in ice.
He was halfway to completing the Second Stage of the Nine Continents Frozen Body Technique.
Once done, his Ice Veins would be ready.
His body was constantly pulsating with cold blood, and the veins were frozen to the point of destabilizing his bodily function.
This technique was by no means an easy technique to practice.
He had to rely on his sheer willpower to complete the process of freezing his veins because his body would need to constantly make the blood flow
If his blood gets frozen, it would put his body in a comatose state. So, he had to carefully keep his blood active while it was flowing with Ice Qi.
In other words, he had to rely on his Spiritual Sense to run his blood.
This entire process depended on his Spiritual Sense, but there was another problem.
Each passing second would lead to incredible damage to his soul. After all, the spiritual sense was a form of energy.
It was coming out of his soul, and thus, it could easily be harmed through direct and long contact with the Ice Qi.
But the problem was that he couldn't simply do this step in any other way.
So, he gritted his teeth and continued refining his Ice Veins.
The Ice Qi kept flowing through his normal blood vessels, slowly tempering them.
To keep his blood flow normal, he had to increase his output of his spiritual sense.
The more he did that, the more pressure his soul bore.
It was getting to the point where it felt like his soul was being pressed inside the freezer.
The cold entering his soul was affecting his entire body.
Causing him to falter his progress even more.
'No, I can't go on like this. Even if I succeed, I will severely injure my soul. Having my soul injured while fighting a monster stronger than me is a suicide.'
'I need to find another way to support my soul. System! There must be something in the system that can help me.'
'No, wait! There is something that can help me.'
As he thought about it, a realization struck him, and he quickly asked.
'System, do you have the method to awaken the Martial Will?'
Will was the manifestation of a person's Willpower and resonance.
Willpower was a source of energy, while the resonance was the power shaping that energy.
Martial Will was a type of Willpower that martial artists could awaken. But to awaken such power, one would need proper guidance or incredible luck.
In other words, this was one thing that didn't require talent.
He didn't know why.
He had only heard about Martial Will. It was from the genius that came out of their sect.
It was said that after awakening his Martial Will, he was capable of fighting geniuses from the Middle Tier Sect with ease and even contending against the geniuses of the High Tier Sect.
Unfortunately, he didn't know how he could awaken this power. It wasn't left behind in the sect.
Now he could only rely on his system.
Just as he expected, the system didn't disappoint him.
[Martial Will Awakening Method- 25 Destiny Eggs]
'Buy it and use it!'
Without thinking for a moment, he bought the method, and a new piece of information entered his mind.
Martial Will was the manifestation of one's obsession conjured by their Willpower.
That meant even in the face of adversity, those with Martial Will wouldn't back down.
That was the truth of awakening Martial Will.
Everyone had a desire or obsession, but not all could awaken their Martial Will. Because they didn't have the mental capacity to accept their failure.
Martial Will wasn't about winning every battle. It was about accepting one's faults and working on them.
But there were different sorts of Martial Will, and these Martial Wills would have different powers based on their obsessions.
For example, there was Martial Will related to a sword called Sword Will. Upon comprehending it, one would gain two main advantages.
Every sword attack would get twice or three times stronger. And, they would be able to comprehend swordsmanship faster than others.
But this also meant their attacks or even their power were connected to the sword. If they ever abandon their sword, their Martial Will could crumble.
Martial Will wasn't easy to awaken since it required one to accept their obsession as their future path.
It was simple to choose, but one wrong mistake and it could lead to a wrong future.
That's why the method of awakening Martial Will was so strict.
If one didn't have a perfect path, this could pretty much lead to a stop in their cultivation.
This was more heartbreaking for a cultivator than anything else.
Thinking about it, Ken decided to carefully choose his Martial Will.
Since he had received the method, he needed to find his future path.
Normally, it should've been easy to find this. He had a system that could control Destiny.
That would normally mean his future path would be about controlling Destiny.
But Ken didn't want him to be just related to Destiny.
He knew having a golden finger or a cheat was a good thing.
But most of the time, he considered himself the protagonist.
In the memories of Grant, he had seen how most, if not all, protagonists surpass the limits set by their cheat or golden finger.
So, he also didn't want his future path to be set on the highest point of Destiny. If there was something above that, he wanted to achieve it.
He wanted to go beyond Martial Peak.
At this moment, several thoughts came to his mind.
Whether it was the thoughts and unwillingness of Ken Tenshi for his talent, the expectation and unwavering determination of Ken Xin, or the creativity and knowledge of Ken Grant.
These things kept popping up in his mind.
His Martial Path wasn't going to be limited.
A thought clicked in. A new idea sprouted, and this strengthened his belief.
His path wasn't about Destiny. It wasn't about swordsmanship. It wasn't about Ice or Dragon Transformation.
It was about encompassing all and improving further.
His Martial Will shouldn't be Invisible Sword Will or Guardian Martial Will. It shouldn't be Dragon Will or Destiny Will.
It should be Human Will.
A Will to evolve, a Will to surpass, a Will to go beyond.
Whether it was a cultivator or a normal human, everyone wanted to improve.
Their improvement, their paths could be different, but their endpoint would always be an evolution.
This was the Human Will.
It shouldn't be born strong. It should grow strong.
It shouldn't be born all knowledgeable. It should learn.
It shouldn't be born talented. It should work hard.
Blood, Sweat, and Willpower!
These things made Human Will strong.
At this moment, a grin appeared on his face.
His Willpower emerged as a tidal wave in his consciousness. His obsession with going beyond sprouted into a seed.
The tidal wave submerged the seed and infused it with so much energy that the seed slowly sprouted.
This was the manifestation of his Martial Will.
Now, it needed a resonance. It needed a path, forging his Martial Will with the struggle of evolution.
Without much hesitation, he released his Martial Will, merging it with his Spiritual Sense.
The cold that was spreading in his spiritual sense began to affect and merge with his Martial Will.
When that happened, an incredible thing occurred.
The cold affecting his soul got absorbed into the seed in his consciousness.
That seed was the manifestation of his Martial Will, but it was a virtual item.
Only when it merged with his spiritual sense was it able to interact with his soul.
Absorbing the cold from the soul and spiritual sense was much harder than he had originally expected.
It was like his body had returned to the state before he started his cultivation and was put in a freezer.
This kind of cold wasn't something normal people could bear.
But he wasn't normal. With three different souls and memories affecting him, his Willpower was extremely powerful.
Now, he could simply rely on his Willpower to suppress the damage done by the cold.
Since the damage was borne by his Martial Will, his soul was safe.
And, as long as his Willpower didn't waver, his Martial Will wouldn't collapse.
Only this path was filled with pain and suffering!