Asura

Under the Gray Man's pressure, Zhao Cheng's mind had been in a state of extreme excitement and tension. Part of Battle Blood's first-stage effect was reflected in that.

Now that the pressure of external danger had abruptly vanished, Zhao Cheng's mind was like a taut rubber band that suddenly went slack, immediately plunging to the opposite extreme.

Zhao Cheng felt as if his mind had gone hollow all at once. It wasn't the emptiness of sheer exhaustion, but as though some emotion had burned itself out completely. He had entered a state much like the so-called Sage mode.

He didn't want to think about anything or do anything.

It was a kind of mental emptiness that might have spawned the thought that life was meaningless, except he was so empty that he couldn't even be bothered to have that thought.

Zhao Cheng was more dejected than he had ever been. In terms of mental state, even someone full of negative emotions probably had more vitality than he did.

Emotions were subject to conservation, too. They followed the law of conservation; it wasn't as if you could unleash emotions without limit just by having a big enough heart.

If that were possible, this world would have become a paradise for delusional people long ago.

No matter how fierce an emotional outburst was, it had its limits. It could indeed be converted into strength to a certain extent, but there had to be a recovery period.

The strong stayed strong, and the weak stayed weak. Becoming stronger through some kind of "turning evil" stunt wasn't very realistic.

Zhao Cheng sat on the ground with hollow eyes for a full ten minutes before a little light returned to them. Then he gasped and breathed hard, as though only that could make him feel that he was still alive.

Another ten minutes passed before Zhao Cheng's thoughts finally returned to normal. His emotions recovered somewhat, enough to support the normal functioning of his Self.

As Zhao Cheng reflected on the fight and felt the searing pain of his severed arm, he could only think that he'd been incredibly brave.

Bold and fearless!

That was him.

"Battle Blood's first-stage effect definitely isn't that strong. My state earlier must have been enhanced by my epiphany, so I performed beyond my normal level. The actual effect must have reached at least the second or even third stage of Battle Blood. That's why the backlash afterward was so severe."

Zhao Cheng thought it over, arriving at a rough conclusion.

Like first-stage Wind Severing, first-stage Battle Blood was a passive effect. As long as he swung his sword, it became a Wind Severing Sword. As long as he fought, Battle Blood would surround him.

If this special effect were expressed in numbers, it would probably be: convert all emotions in the heart into fighting spirit; Will +1, Focus, Intimidation +1; immune to the influence of all negative emotions.

Will and Focus were attributes that were difficult to quantify, but they were real all the same. Why was it that when faced with danger, some people could stay calm, keep their wits about them, and calmly work out a solution, while others were helpless and terrified out of their minds?

Was it because the former were stronger fighters than the latter?

Not necessarily!

But one thing was certain: the former had far stronger Will than the latter.

When studying, some people lost focus after five minutes, while others could study for an entire hour without a break. Did that mean the latter were smarter than the former?

Not necessarily, either.

But the latter's Focus was definitely far higher than the former's.

With the same swordsmanship and the same Vitality, why were some people strong while others were weak?

Hard-to-quantify attributes like Will and Focus played a part in that, too.

However, in Zhao Cheng's view, the most powerful aspect of Battle Blood wasn't its boost to Will or Focus, but its ability to turn emotions into fighting spirit.

As for boosting Will and Focus, and even granting a certain degree of immunity to negative emotions, the 17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition could do that, too, and it wasn't bad at it.

Otherwise, even in a simulation, knowing he wouldn't really die, Zhao Cheng might not have dared to attack a monster that exerted such overwhelming pressure. He might have hesitated for ages, needing to prepare himself mentally first.

But in battle, the most important thing wasn't calmness. It was fighting spirit.

With fighting spirit, you could grow braver as the battle went on, seize victory in the midst of danger, and find a way to live in the face of death.

Calmness could only help someone fight an evenly matched opponent, but fighting spirit could let someone defeat the strong while weak!

Otherwise, how could an ordinary student like Zhao Cheng have been so bold in his first real fight, using his own arm and shoulder as a shield to block a Killing Move?

That was where the effect of fighting spirit had been fully displayed.

Without Battle Blood, Zhao Cheng might not even have been able to beat the first Grunt in the game. He would have been stuck right at the tutorial.

"Still, having too much talent isn't entirely a good thing. It makes you grow quickly, sure, but the side effects are too severe."

Zhao Cheng looked at the contents of the Panel and murmured to himself, now understanding the cause of his epiphany.

His swordsmanship talent had been stacked far too high. By comparison with his past life, a swordsmanship level cap of lv8 would make someone a once-in-a-century swordsmanship genius. Yet his current level cap was lv16. His level cap had only doubled, but his talent had increased more than tenfold.

In that state, he had extraordinary insight into anything related to swordsmanship.

That was why the inner growth he should have gained only after dozens or hundreds of battles, or even more real combat, had been compressed into an instant.

If his Will hadn't already been strong, that terrifying state just now might have left him with a lasting psychological scar, crumbling a corner of his personality.

At the same time, Zhao Cheng understood that even someone who had truly fought a hundred battles might not awaken Battle Blood.

Though the Self could be shaped after birth, the process was by no means easy. The key reason he had awakened it so "easily" was that his Self had been born with this trait. It had simply lain dormant until just now, when it finally woke.

It wasn't just him. Everyone's Self had dormant parts, and they were different for each person. But one thing was the same: very few people could awaken them.

"To sum it up, I gained a great deal from this fight."

Zhao Cheng spoke to himself, his bearing already somewhat different from before the battle.

Even though the fight was over and Battle Blood's effect wasn't active, the awakening of his Self had inevitably brought about a change to his normal state.

The seed had been planted. How far it could grow depended on Zhao Cheng's future training.

Zhao Cheng's strength would also spur the growth of his Self!

"In total, I awakened the first stage of Battle Blood, my Spirit attribute increased by 0.3, my Quietude proficiency increased by 3%, my swordsmanship proficiency increased by 20, and the evolution progress of my Void Kalpa Sword increased by 0.1%. Those are the changes to my own attributes."

Zhao Cheng did the math.

Of those, ten points of swordsmanship proficiency came from overcoming his psychological barrier, and the other ten came from actual combat.

Swordsmanship proficiency could be gained not only through practice but also through actual combat. Of course, actual combat meant a fight to the death, not sparring. Anyone who survived a hundred battles in the way of the sword would surely achieve something, even if their talent was lacking.

The trouble was, most people died along the way.

Those who survived were all ruthless warriors who had attained the Asura Path—or, one might say, Asura!