Ian soon arrived at Chris's laboratory, who had been waiting here after receiving advance notice of Ian's upcoming visit.
"Chris, how are you these days?"
"Everything is fine, Your Majesty."
"It seems that life after marriage is quite satisfying. How is it? Have you considered marrying more wives?" Ian joked.
"I don't want to become a complete lunatic," Chris replied immediately. Are you kidding, who is his wife? That is the director of the National Mental Health Bureau, one of the top Eighth Tier spiritual Arcanists in the world - Xenice Jin.
If he dared to go one step further, he was sure that the government would soon discover that he had become a mentally broken man, and there would be absolutely no evidence to prove that this matter was related to his wife.
"Haha, it's good to have her taking care of you so that you don't get carried away by fame and fortune," Ian nodded. He also knew very well how terrifying a spiritual Arcanist like Xenice Jin was.
"That's quite the truth." Although Chris is a determined person, it does not mean that he is completely immune to the corruption of power, wealth and fame.
"That's enough small talk, let's get down to business."
"Yes," Chris nodded and introduced Ian into his office. He did not waste time and started to show his research results directly.
"As you know, my research direction is to create a perfect way for Arcanist to develop their willpower.
My first attempt used conventional means, that is, using illusions to create a realistic world, in order to torture Arcanist, so as to achieve the purpose of tempering the will.
"Unfortunately, this approach had mixed results and had many side effects, even causing irreversible and permanent damage to my subjects. Some people did make progress after going through the ordeal, but others suffered complete mental breakdowns."
Chris explained while showing relevant data.
"My second attempt was to use combat to sharpen the will. I tried this method after learning about the Haki system, but the results still varied from person to person. Some people did respond positively, but most people got nothing.
"My third attempt was a simple meditation method. By analyzing the connection between willpower and the soul, spirit, mind and memory, I created a set of meditation techniques designed to slowly nourish one's willpower.
"Unfortunately, this method is too slow to take effect. It may take thousands of years to increase willpower by one level, and the higher the level, the longer it takes."
Screen after screen of data flashed in front of Ian, and he quickly analyzed these experimental data from the initial stage to the final conclusion.
"After experiencing all these failures, I revisited the entire subject and summarized everything I learned. I wanted to figure out what the Source of willpower really is. What exactly makes a person so determined that they are willing to endure unimaginable pain to achieve their goals? Why are they able to Self constraint to a point that is beyond the reach of ordinary people?
"The answer I came up with is: consciousness. To be more precise, it is the subconscious mind - this area that most people do not understand - it dominates most of their behaviors and even determines their state of existence.
"Once you find your direction, everything falls into place. I have created a new set of meditation techniques that allow any race or species to delve into their subconscious, conduct introspection, and ultimately control it.
"The result of this is not only a simple improvement of willpower, but also a deeper understanding of the mind, Self and soul."
Ian squinted his eyes and saw a new paper that Chris had just completed. The title was - "The connection between the subconscious mind and Soul Flame".
After a cursory glance, his eyes immediately lit up. He placed the paper at the top of his reading list without hesitation before turning his attention back to other research results.
After reading all the information, Ian felt that Chris's research gave him a feeling of déjà vu. He searched in his memory and found that the latter's research on the subconscious reminded him of the novels about cultivating immortals that he had read on his native earth.
One of the core concepts in those works is "Dao Heart" - that is, the belief in pursuing the great road. A cultivator with a powerful Dao Heart must be a determined person who is willing to pay any price and go through any hardships in order to reach the top of the world.
'All methods lead to the same destination, and different paths lead to the same destination.' A famous saying from these novels came to Ian's mind. He secretly sighed in his heart, this sentence really hit the point.
He finally refocused his attention on Chris and asked:
"Using your method, to what maximum extent can your willpower be improved?"
"Unfortunately, we can only reach level 5 at most. Although I have reached level 6, I am a special case."
Ian glanced at him. If nothing else happens, Chris is likely to become the second person among the Empire to control Authority and be promoted to Legendary Arcanist.
'In most worlds, level 5 willpower is already the minimum standard for becoming Legendary Arcanist. However, for this world, this is far from enough,' Ian analyzed.
"Do you have any ideas about future development?"
"Yes, collective consciousness," Chris replied.
"Planetary Will?"
"Yes, my idea is to let Arcanist use their own will to fight against Planetary Will - which is a huge collection of all life consciousness on the planet. In this process, they must stick to their own consciousness to ensure that they are not assimilated.
"According to my idea, it is not enough to fight against Planetary Will. It would be better if there are Galactic Will or even Cosmic Will as a target. However, if they do not exist, maybe we can consider artificially creating one."
Ian looked at him with a strange look. Chris keenly captured this, "Did I guess it right? Galactic Will and Cosmic Will really exist?"
"Cosmic Will does exist, and the ultimate purpose of improving willpower is to suppress it and force it to hand over control of the underlying laws of the universe."
Chris looked at him in shock, "Is this... is this really possible?"
"Yes, I have done it, provided that your willpower reaches at least level 8 on the scale."
"I understand. If we Arcanist want to reach a height comparable to the gods, we must control [Authority]. However, the path of faith is not suitable for us, so we need to find another way."
"Exactly."
Chris sighed, "Your Majesty, I sincerely admire your foresight."
He couldn't imagine how long this man had been planning for the rise of Arcane Path. What shocked him even more was that he was willing to share such a powerful power with so many people. Such a mind and courage deserved his respect.
Ian accepted his respect and continued, "I don't know if there is a natural Galactic Will, but we can definitely create one artificially.
Your Will Tempering Method can be played in stages: first against Planetary Will, then Stellar-System Will, then Galactic Will, and finally the ultimate showdown with Cosmic Will.
"However, before promoting this method, you must have comprehensive safety measures in place to ensure that the sanity of participants is not compromised."
Although one Sixth Tier Arcanist can easily destroy a planet, it is not easy to fight Planetary Will.
Planetary Will contains the thoughts and memories of billions or more people. If Arcanist is slightly careless, their souls may be contaminated after being exposed to countless noisy sounds.
They may fall into a state similar to the "Faith Poison" of gods, which may result in a split personality similar to schizophrenia, or in severe cases the main personality may be forcibly distorted into something else.
"I will." Chris nodded. He knew Empire's code of conduct: while constantly pushing the limits, one must maintain an almost paranoid caution to prevent unexpected events.
"If you need any support, you know who to contact."
Chris knew he had a lot of work to do next, so he didn't waste time. He had to obtain most of the Empire's research information on Planetary Will before he could take the next step and try to reproduce it on a galaxy scale.
While advancing this part of the plan, he must also perfect the method of using Planetary Will to temper his willpower.
"Looks like he's busy." He murmured with a smile. He called his wife and told her that she would be back late today, but promised that she would come home. Then, he plunged into work.