Mind Studies

Seeing the innocent confusion on his son's face as he looked at him, Wu Yuntian truly did not know how to respond. Then something crossed his mind, and he suddenly sighed. "Xiangwu, you are a genius—a genius unlike any I have ever seen. But unfortunately, you were born in the wrong place. If only..."

At that, he shook his head and laughed at himself. "Why am I even telling you this?"

Yet Su Hao said, "Father, being born here is my fortune. We should just let nature take its course."

Wu Yuntian chuckled. "You don't understand. You'll understand later."

"Then what should I do next?"

"I originally thought it would take you around a year to find Blood Qi. By then, your physical condition would have improved greatly, and you would be a little older—just the right time to begin refining and transforming Blood Qi. I never expected you to be so much faster than I imagined. You are not even four years old yet..."

At this point, Wu Yuntian seemed somewhat helpless. Sure enough, people could not be compared. Once compared, the one who got hurt was always himself.

"Xiangwu, don't rush. Exercise every day for now. A year from now, I'll start teaching you how to refine Blood Qi."

"Why? Can't I do it now?"

Su Hao did not want to wait any longer, because he did not know when an accident might strike during his childhood. A tiny mishap was enough to kill an infant. His father could not stay by his side at all times, and that was extremely dangerous to Su Hao. Before he possessed a certain degree of self-defense, he had almost no sense of security.

If he died in some accident, he would fall into slumber once more, waiting millions of years, and might not even have another chance at rebirth. The only way was to gain the power to protect himself as quickly as possible, even if he had to sacrifice part of his body's potential.

Wu Yuntian said, "It's not that I refuse to teach you. Your body is simply too fragile right now; it cannot withstand power that is too great. Think of a huge boulder. You may possess the strength to lift it, but your arms may not be strong enough to bear its weight and would snap. Therefore, the prerequisite for possessing powerful Blood Qi is a powerful physique. Do you understand?"

Su Hao nodded. "I understand, Father."

But he was still unwilling to give up. "Father, teach me how to refine Blood Qi first. I only want to know how it is done. I want to learn the principles behind transforming Blood Qi."

Wu Yuntian shook his head. "No! Xiangwu, I know you are very smart, but precisely because you are too smart, I don't know whether you'll add your own ideas into it. I can't trust you to figure it out by yourself. Before you have even begun, refining Blood Qi is extremely dangerous."

"Then, Father, lead me through the beginning!"

"You're still too young!"

"I'm not that young, Father! I'm not a three-year-old child anymore!"

Wu Yuntian looked speechlessly at his son. Not a three-year-old child—so was he three and a half? Su Hao immediately promised, "Father, guide me into it. I promise I won't hurt my body. I promise that when I refine Blood Qi, Father will be beside me. Otherwise, I won't do anything reckless."

"Xiangwu, why do you insist on learning it now?" Wu Yuntian suddenly asked. He did not think his son was throwing a child's tantrum, pestering him without end for a new toy. There had to be a reason for this.

Su Hao hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly, "I'm afraid! Father, you patrol beyond the sentry post every day. I'm alone in the village, and I can't even beat Snot Tao or Little Fatty. If something happens, I won't have any ability to protect myself."

Wu Yuntian fell silent for a long time. Under Su Hao's expectant gaze, he slowly said, "All right."

Su Hao let out a breath of relief.

Then Wu Yuntian added, "Don't mention what happened today to anyone."

Su Hao nodded vigorously. "Mm! Will Father teach me today?"

"Tomorrow." Wu Yuntian let out a long breath. "Xiangwu, if there is anything you want in the future, just tell me directly. I won't stop you again."

Watching Wu Yuntian leave, Su Hao swung his fist hard. Having a good father was truly important.

The next day, Wu Yuntian began talking to Su Hao about Mind Studies.

A person's consciousness could control the movements of the body. Whether one walked or ran was decided by consciousness, but consciousness controlled far more than that. Through training, one could even control the speed of one's heartbeat, the movement of one's internal organs, the capabilities of the digestive system, and more. This ability of consciousness was called "Mind Power."

That was right—the Mind Power that brought life when it willed life, and death when it willed death. It was the power of the soul.

Wu Yuntian feared that Su Hao would misunderstand the concept of "Mind Power" and then create some mess according to his own interpretation, so he carefully explained exactly what Su Hao needed to do.

Su Hao did not need to completely comprehend the philosophy of Mind Power like a master of the mind. He merely needed to train through a specific method and successfully refine Blood Qi within his body.

After reflecting on it, Wu Yuntian deeply realized that if he did not clearly tell Su Hao exactly what was required of him, Su Hao would definitely give him all kinds of surprises—or scares. As for Su Hao researching Blood Qi until he had thoroughly figured it out, that had indeed happened because Wu Yuntian had failed to explain the specific requirements clearly.

Once everything had been confirmed, Su Hao welcomed his first attempt.

Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, Su Hao glanced at Wu Yuntian beside him. After confirming that there were no problems, he slowly closed his eyes.

He quickly entered a meditative state, casting aside all stray thoughts and focusing on a single point.

Then, according to the scenario created in the Nine Palaces Blood-Intercepting Manual, he began his Visualization.

A moment later.

"Did he succeed on his first try?"

Wu Yuntian's face remained expressionless, but stormy waves had already risen in his heart. How monstrous did one have to be to accomplish such a thing? Among their generation of Martial Artists, even the most gifted had needed more than a dozen attempts to succeed. As for himself, the less said, the better. Could it be that his son had awakened some powerful Bloodline? Su Hao's smooth success on his first attempt was due, first, to the fact that his consciousness belonged to an adult, giving him strong self-control. Second, he had already reviewed the scenario of the Nine Palaces Blood-Intercepting Manual over and over, so there would be no mistakes. Success had simply come naturally.

An hour later, his body gave negative feedback, and Su Hao woke with a start.

At that moment, Wu Yuntian handed him the vegetable-and-egg soup he had prepared beforehand.

After Su Hao finished drinking it, he immediately felt much more comfortable. He raised an arm and waved it around, but did not discover any sudden surge in strength. Looking at his father in confusion, he asked, "Father, why can I already sense my Blood Qi increasing, but I don't feel any obvious improvement in strength?"

Wu Yuntian revealed a faint smile and said calmly, "How could practicing martial arts be so simple? There is still plenty of time ahead! Persist in refining Blood Qi little by little each day, allowing your body to gradually adapt to the presence of large amounts of Blood Qi. Only after half a year will there be an obvious improvement."

"So long?" Su Hao's eyes widened. "Then should I continue refining it now?"

Wu Yuntian shook his head. "That's enough for today. Your body has already reached its limit for refining. Rest well, and continue tomorrow."

Su Hao nodded. After his father left, he immediately entered Marble Space and gave Light of the Universe an order to retrieve all his bodily data from the past hour.

After food was digested, it broke down into all kinds of nutrient substances and was absorbed by the body. After Su Hao visualized the Nine Palaces Blood-Intercepting Manual, a small portion of those nutrient substances was intercepted and transformed into Blood Qi. Although it was only a very small portion, his Blood Qi had truly increased.

Su Hao stroked his chin and muttered, "How can I speed up this process?"