Quietude

If Zhao Cheng's own experiences involved concepts like space-time and dimensions, it would only be during the process of his transmigration.

Transmigration must certainly involve a process; the distance between one world and another is so vast that it transcends the limits of human cognition.

Zhao Cheng guessed that perhaps it was this process of traversing space-time that caused some strange changes within him.

Under these changes, a trait named "???" was born. This trait is strange and powerful—so powerful, in fact, that Zhao Cheng himself cannot glimpse its full scope, which is why only a portion of its effects have manifested.

As for the rest, it remains a string of question marks.

The currently known portion is already extraordinary enough. The first effect, Heaven Rewards Diligence, is simple and brutal: as long as one puts in the effort, there will be a harvest. Even if the harvest is small, it is guaranteed to exist. One must know that in reality, the cruelest thing is sometimes that no matter how much effort one exerts, there is no harvest at all. The appearance of this ability undoubtedly breaks that rule.

The other part is the Panel that Zhao Cheng sees. Clearly, the core of the Panel is not the digitized attributes, but the Source Point, Simulation Count, and Shop.

The core of these three sections is some kind of miraculous equivalent exchange. As for what specific manifestations it has, Zhao Cheng still needs to explore them himself.

"Everything displayed on the Panel changes according to my cognition. It is what I expect to exist, which is why it has materialized. As long as I wish, it can change into anything."

Zhao Cheng thought to himself, knowing that he could recklessly modify the various sections on the Panel, but such modifications would be meaningless. At most, he could change a name; he could not change his own essence.

At the same time, Zhao Cheng had no intention of changing these sections. The items before his eyes were exactly the things he most wanted to know according to his own understanding.

"The method to obtain Source Points is currently unknown, but since this section exists, there must be channels to obtain them in this world."

"Quietude is at 52% progress. That doesn't differ much from my own previous estimates, though it wasn't quite as precise."

"I am still a considerable distance away from being a Swordsman."

Zhao Cheng thought to himself as he began to study these sections in detail.

His swordsmanship level is Proficient, but swordsmanship level does not represent the height of one's cultivation realm.

A high swordsmanship level does not necessarily mean a high realm, but the progress of one's realm will definitely be extremely fast. Conversely, if one's realm is high, the swordsmanship level will certainly not be low. The two complement each other, but there is a time lag in their conversion.

Swordsmanship is a tool for elevating one's life level, not the life level itself; the two have a primary and secondary relationship.

In this world, the start of cultivation is a process of gradually purifying the spirit and the body.

As far as the way of the sword is concerned, those below the rank of Swordsman can only be considered apprentices; one could even say they haven't yet entered the gate of the sword.

As for how to purify the spirit and the body, there are many methods, but they are all related to the "sword." One can practice swordsmanship, contemplate sword theory, or even learn from nature; in short, it is all about achieving spiritual elevation.

At the beginning of the path of the sword, there were countless theories about this process. It wasn't until the modern era, when the state organized the cultivation system and initiated the era of universal cultivation, that a unified terminology was established.

At the start of cultivation, the practice of purifying the spirit is called Quietude. Once the heart and spirit are purified to a certain state, the body will also undergo changes; this is what is known as Refining the Body.

At the peak of Quietude, the spirit is difficult to measure, but it manifests in the body as the ability to concentrate 30% of one's force into a single point. Without any special striking techniques, one can condense 30% of their power into a single point and unleash it with every gesture.

This is something ordinary people cannot reach, because it is not a difference in technique, but a difference in physical structure; their innate endowments are already different.

Upon reaching the peak of Quietude, because of the strength of the spirit, the body begins an "adaptive" evolution. The first step of this evolution is the nervous system.

A more powerful nervous system brings more powerful bursts of strength, but it also requires sufficiently powerful spiritual force to control it. Otherwise, if the nervous system is too strong, it will inevitably cause a backlash.

According to some articles Zhao Cheng read online, some foreign laboratories had considered using biotechnology to replicate the nervous systems of sword masters to mass-produce "super soldiers."

The final result was that while the nervous system was easy to replicate, the spiritual power of the test subjects could not control it, almost always ending in nervous system failure. This "spirit" refers to the "subconscious."

Having condensed 30% of one's force, one stands before the threshold of a Swordsman. Taking one more step forward is Settlement, which is the so-called Swordsman level.

This step is a qualitative change in the spirit. Before this change, a powerful spiritual force at most makes a person feel energetic, with eyes brighter than the average person.

Once this step is taken, the spiritual force truly begins to transform from void to reality, beginning to "materialize." Of course, this materialization is not spirit interfering with matter, but spirit interfering with spirit, giving birth to one's own Momentum.

The towering, mountain-like aura of Zhao Cheng's instructor, Wu Nian, is a manifestation of this "materialized" spiritual force.

Historically, some ancient Taoists who practiced thunder arts could use a five-thunder sword finger to kill a tiger with a single strike, leaving the tiger's exterior unscathed. This is undoubtedly a certain application of spiritual force.

The names of the cultivation realms were not chosen randomly. Quietude implies that a person has a tranquil spirit; only when one is quiet can one be stable, otherwise stability is just empty talk.

And this "quiet" is like duckweed without roots, unable to withstand the wind and rain. Only when one is "settled," taking root, does one have the power to resist the storms.

Therefore, in ancient times, only after entering the state of Settlement could one be considered to have entered the way of the sword. This was not an intentional raising of the threshold, but a matter of fact.

Only when one is settled does one have "roots," having one's own foundation in the way of the sword, and only then is there a day to grow into a towering tree. The process is like a seed sprouting.

As for before Settlement, one is merely a seed that has not yet sprouted; no matter how large the seed is, its future is limited.

But once it takes root, it is naturally completely different.

Once the spirit is settled and takes root, giving birth to one's own Momentum, then in a short time, both physical fitness and the force one can condense will see an explosive increase.

Especially in terms of condensed force, the minimum is 50%, with the best reaching 60% or 70%. Legend even says that some experts with deep foundations, after breaking through this barrier, condensed a Rudimentary Sword Heart in a short time, standing at the peak of the Swordsman level.

As for the peak of the Swordsman level, setting aside the spiritual aspect, the most significant characteristic in terms of the body is that the flesh is completely "refined," pure and refined, capable of condensing 100% of one's force in every movement.