Entry: intent
Core: the birth of will, the manifestation of intent.
Manifestation: cultivators began gathering their fighting will, focus, or a particular mental trait to guide their soul power or attacks, giving their movements a trace of individuality and forming the most basic mental pressure.
This was the starting point of conception. Its range and strength were limited, and it manifested primarily in presence, concentration, and the martial soul's own might.
Minor mastery: illusory phenomena level
Core: imagery took concrete form, and an initial shape emerged.
Manifestation: cultivators successfully condensed their vague "intent" into a distinctive and relatively stable "image."
This "image" could be a miniature projection of a natural phenomenon, the sharp aura of a weapon's edge, or an enhanced phantom of a martial soul's traits, such as the heavier pressure exerted by a dragon's head.
It began to possess a perceptible form and qualities, could interfere noticeably with an opponent's mind and perception, and enhanced the power and cohesion of the cultivator's soul skills to a certain degree.
Intermediate mastery: illusion level
Core: seemingly illusory yet seemingly real, with illusion and reality intertwined.
Manifestation: once conception reached intermediate mastery, the "illusory image" became further condensed. Its shape, texture, pressure, and even the "force" it contained-such as the scorching sensation of flames, the bone-piercing chill of ice, or the cutting sensation of a blade-became convincing enough to pass for reality, strongly affecting an enemy's senses and judgment.
It was no longer merely visual interference. It could also carry substantial mental impacts or special energy effects, such as blade light imbued with a keen edge conception gaining greater cutting power, or flames imbued with an annihilation conception becoming more penetrating and corrosive.
At this stage, conception could already merge deeply into soul skills, significantly amplifying their power.