The key to training

"Lord Hakurei was softhearted and couldn't withstand my pestering, so he gave me a chance!" Wuxin explained with a smile.

"Perhaps!"

Yuzuriha frowned and said nothing more.

She knew the Grand Elder's temperament very well. He was certainly not a softhearted man.

Then she changed the subject and said earnestly to Wuxin, "Since you know me and the Grand Elder, and even want to join Sanctuary of your own accord, I imagine you must know quite a bit about Cosmo."

"First, tell me your understanding of Cosmo!"

"All right!"

Wuxin nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "As I understand it, Cosmo is an omnipresent power."

"It exists naturally within everything."

"In other words, every one of us possesses the power of Cosmo."

"It's just that most people can't sense its existence, so naturally, they can't go on to use it."

"As long as we can break through this barrier in our perception, we can transcend the limitations of the five senses, enter the realm of the sixth sense, and gain an initial grasp of the power of Cosmo."

"I didn't expect you to actually know so much!" A flicker of surprise crossed Yuzuriha's eyes.

Among the Apprentice Saints who had just joined Sanctuary, most had only a vague understanding of Cosmo, or had never even heard of it.

Those like Wuxin, who understood Cosmo accurately, were few and far between.

She continued, "As you know, Cosmo exists naturally within everything."

"As long as they break through this barrier in perception, anyone can master the power of Cosmo."

"But have you ever wondered why only humans and certain special beings can master this power?"

"Well..."

Wuxin sank into thought.

He knew very well that Yuzuriha was not simply asking at random. This question surely concerned the key to breaking through that perceptual barrier and mastering Cosmo.

Why exactly was that?

Was there some fundamental difference between humans and those special beings and everything else in the world?

As he thought more deeply, Wuxin seemed to find an answer.

He raised his head, looked at the girl before him, and said uncertainly, "Whether they're humans or other special beings who have mastered Cosmo, they're all true living beings, with true souls capable of independent thought."

"Everything else is just soulless, inanimate matter, purely material existences."

"Could the key to mastering the power of Cosmo lie in the soul?"

"It seems your comprehension is quite good!"

Yuzuriha nodded, climbed onto a nearby boulder, and sat down before continuing, "Cosmo exists naturally within everything, but we can master it precisely because we have independent souls and self-awareness."

"Other inanimate things, even if they possess the power of Cosmo, are nothing more than matter. They can't use the power of Cosmo at all."

"Like this rock beneath me. Without a soul, it'll never be anything more than a rock!"

As she spoke, the girl patted the boulder beneath her to illustrate her point.

"I forgot to tell you, mental power has another name. It's called the sixth sense, 'manas'!" Yuzuriha blinked and added.

"Mental power is the so-called sixth sense? Doesn't that mean we're born with a sixth sense?" Wuxin was stunned.

"Exactly!"

Yuzuriha nodded and continued, "Mental power is the key to using Cosmo, and the key that opens the door to the supernatural realm!"

"But ordinary people's souls and wills are too weak, and their mental power too feeble, leaving their innate sixth sense in a latent state."

"Heroes from the age of myth were exceptionally gifted. Their souls and wills were especially powerful, and their sixth sense was manifest, so they could sense Cosmo from birth and even use it directly."

"If we want to achieve that, we can only train our soul's consciousness little by little, making it continually stronger."

"Until, at some point, it breaks through a critical threshold and allows our soul's consciousness to ascend."

"When that happens, our originally weak, latent sixth sense will transform into a more powerful, manifest state, possessing all sorts of incredible abilities, thus qualifying us to enter the supernatural realm!"

"So that's it! The purpose of basic training is to transform our originally latent sixth sense into a manifest state!" Wuxin finally understood everything.

Yuzuriha turned to look at the stone tower not far away and continued, "Just like that tower. As long as you persevere and slowly stack the stones up one by one, one day, you too can build a brand-new stone tower on level ground!"

"Unfortunately, this process is far too long and arduous. Not everyone can persevere."

"So, although Sanctuary takes in so many Apprentice Saints every year, only a handful can truly achieve an ascension of their own will."

"Now, are you mentally prepared to fail?"

As she spoke, the teasing mockery in her eyes grew more pronounced.

"Of course!"

Wuxin did not back down. He stepped forward and said firmly, "I know breaking through this stage is difficult, that barely one in ten thousand can do it, but no matter how hard it is, I'll persevere!"

"Please teach me exactly how to train my soul and will, Lady Yuzuriha!"

Although the hope was slim, if he tried hard, there would still be a sliver of hope.

But if he gave up out of fear of the difficulties, there would be no hope at all.

That was the difference between having something and having nothing. He understood it clearly.

Seeing this, Yuzuriha stopped teasing him and said seriously, "Training an individual's soul and will is both simple and difficult."

"It's like training the body. You simply need to keep exercising!"

"But the soul is rather special. Our understanding of it is still very limited, and we haven't mastered a direct method of training the soul and will."

"Through our predecessors' continual exploration, we gradually discovered that repeatedly depleting an individual's mental power, letting it recover and be consumed again and again, produces a training effect."

"Based on this, we developed a rigorous physical training regimen, using harsh physical exercise to temper the trainee's mental will at the same time."

"In essence, it's no different from the methods ordinary people in the secular world use to train their bodies."

"It's just that the amount of training we do in Sanctuary is much greater, far beyond the limits of what ordinary people can endure."

"Only through this training beyond one's limits can we squeeze out the body's potential, temper the will, and continually break through ourselves and grow."

"At the same time, this is also the main reason Apprentice Saints in Sanctuary die during training."

"Not everyone has the talent to keep breaking through their limits and growing!"

With that, she jumped straight down from the boulder.

"Now, I'll teach you this set of basic training movements!"

After giving Wuxin a meaningful glance, Yuzuriha began demonstrating on her own.

The basic training movements were not complicated. Wuxin memorized them after watching just once.

He also discovered that this set of basic training movements depleted stamina very quickly and had a tremendous training effect.

"How much of this training do we need to do every day?" he asked further.

"Have you already forgotten what I just said?"

Yuzuriha gave him a somewhat displeased look and said seriously, "Only training beyond your limits can squeeze out the body's potential and temper your will."

"So there's no fixed amount for these basic training movements? We have to keep doing them without stopping, until we can't endure any more?" Wuxin's voice began to tremble slightly.

This was practically training oneself to death, leaving no leeway whatsoever!

Chapter 7: The key to training

"Next, it's time to test whether you possess that sort of extraordinary talent!" A hint of amusement appeared on Yuzuriha's face.

Although the training method was simple, it still demanded talent.

Those with great talent could achieve in one day's training what took others several days. Even their endurance and recovery were greater than others', allowing them to withstand this overloaded training and grow stronger the more they trained.

But without enough talent, this kind of overloaded training was simply courting death.

"I'll find out by trying!"

Wuxin said nothing more. He immediately walked to a nearby clearing and began exercising according to the basic training method Yuzuriha had taught him.

To be honest, he had no confidence either.

Talent was far too elusive. He himself was not sure whether he possessed the talent to master Cosmo.

But having come this far, he could not possibly back down, no matter what.

He could not bear to be an ordinary person in a world that could be called mythical, living out his entire life in mediocrity.

By the time he smoothly completed the first set of basic movements, a fine layer of sweat had already appeared on Wuxin's forehead, and his breathing had grown rapid.

I haven't reached my limit yet!

After resting for two minutes, he began his second round of training.

Yuzuriha did not hurry away. She stood nearby watching curiously, also eager to see just how far Wuxin could go.

One set, two sets, three sets...

By the fifteenth set, Wuxin truly could not take any more. He could not even complete the full set of basic movements and collapsed straight onto the ground, gasping for breath.

"Hah... hah..."

He gulped down fresh air, like a stranded little fish struggling desperately.

Yet in this state of extreme exhaustion, he faintly sensed something unusual within his body.

His body seemed to have undergone some unknown change. Every cell in his body had become active, conveying a feeling of intense hunger and desperately urging him to eat.

But this hunger differed from ordinary physical hunger. It was not something eating could satisfy at all.

At the same time, he noticed that the hunger was fading as he took great gulps of air, as though the air contained something unknown that filled the hunger in his cells.

Could there be some secret hidden in the air too?

A guess formed in his mind, and he put his question to Yuzuriha beside him.

"I never expected your perception to be so keen! It seems you really do possess extraordinary talent!" Yuzuriha's expression grew much more serious, with none of her earlier disdain remaining.