Qian Renxue (57)

He paused, as if recalling that distant moment. "I said, 'I am willing.' Then, I didn't 'obtain the power of the ocean.' Instead... in that instant, the existence known as 'Tang San' resonated with the concept of the 'ocean' and overlapped with it. I was no longer someone who used the ocean's power. I was the manifestation of the Ocean Will in the mortal world."

Tang Wulin's eyes lit up. "Exactly! Not control, but identification and resonance! What happened after that? After becoming the Sea God, how did your method of cultivation change?"

"It changed from accumulating Soul Power to understanding laws," Tang San replied. "I no longer needed to absorb Spiritual Energy to raise my cultivation. Instead, I needed to deepen my understanding of the ocean, of water, and of life through comprehension. The more I understood, the deeper my resonance with the ocean became, and the stronger the power I could mobilize. But this power... rather than calling it 'my power,' it would be better to say it was 'the ocean's power that I, as the Sea God, was permitted to use.'"

"What if I gave up the Sea God Seat?" Tang Wulin pressed. "Would those understandings disappear? Would your resonance with the ocean be severed?"

This time, Tang San thought for even longer before slowly shaking his head. "The understanding would not disappear. That is part of 'knowing.' But the resonance... would weaken. When I was no longer the Sea God, the ocean would no longer be my 'responsibility' and 'authority.' My connection with it would retreat from 'one body' to 'intimacy.' I would still understand it, and might even still be able to mobilize part of its power, but it would no longer respond as easily as my own limbs. I would need to request it,