Accelerated training / A qualitative change in worldly roots

His keen perception fully demonstrated that Wuxin had been born with a powerful soul and will.

At the same time, Wuxin could clearly sense the slight changes in himself after exercising, which likewise showed that this training was highly effective for him.

If it was effective, that meant there was a possibility of awakening the Sixth Sense and mastering the power of Cosmo.

She immediately explained in earnest, "As I said earlier, the purpose of overload training is to squeeze out the human body's potential and continually temper the mind, thereby stimulating the trainee's growth."

"But training is purely a form of expenditure. Without sufficient replenishment to recover, you naturally won't be able to sustain further training."

"The body's instinctive recovery alone simply cannot support training at such a high frequency."

"So this training method also requires an environment abundant in the power of Cosmo, or rather, the power of nature."

"Only by training in such an environment can your body absorb the surrounding power of nature to recover quickly after expending so much energy, then begin another round of training."

"Sanctuary and Jamir, where we are now, are places rich in this power of nature."

"No wonder. No wonder!"

Wuxin finally understood.

The Saints' training methods were very simple, little different from ordinary people's exercise, with nothing particularly sophisticated about them.

In fact, some ordinary people's training methods were even harsher, such as those used in the military.

Yet Wuxin had rarely heard of anyone in the military mastering the power of Cosmo through this sort of overload training.

He had originally thought this was merely a limitation of talent. Now it seemed the environment also imposed restrictions.

Without a good environment to support their training, even talented people would struggle to master the power of Cosmo through this method.

Looking at Wuxin on the ground, Yuzuriha said solemnly, "Since you have the talent to master Cosmo, I'll teach you a little more."

"For an Apprentice Saint like you, who has only just joined Sanctuary, training your physique is secondary. Training your mental power is what matters most."

"Training your physique can certainly make you very strong in a short time, but please don't forget that our purpose isn't to obtain a powerful body. It's to temper our souls and wills so that our latent mental power can manifest outwardly."

"No matter how strong an Apprentice Saint trains his body to become, he can never defeat someone who has awakened the Sixth Sense and mastered the power of Cosmo!"

"Thank you for the guidance. I'll remember it!" Wuxin barely managed to roll over, lying on his back as he thanked the girl.

Yuzuriha raised her hand and pointed. A basin-sized rock nearby floated into the air, then settled before her as she continued, "We of the Jamir Clan are born able to use telekinesis, a different kind of mental power that is also an outward manifestation of the power of Cosmo."

"But that's our innate talent. It doesn't mean we've truly mastered Cosmo."

"So, alongside our basic training, we also use telekinesis to move rocks and stack them one by one!"

"By expending our telekinetic power this way, we train our wills and help them grow."

As she spoke, she used telekinesis again, fetching a similarly sized rock from nearby and carefully stacking it atop the first.

She continued, "If you have even a little energy left, I'd suggest doing as I do, stacking rocks to expend your excess energy and train yourself!"

"You should know that the more you train yourself in this exhausted state, the better the results will be."

"Of course, you can't use telekinesis, so you can only stack them by hand. The results certainly won't match ours!"

"Thank you!"

Wuxin hurriedly thanked her, then braced himself on his trembling arms and slowly sat up.

He didn't waste extra energy searching for huge rocks to practice with. Instead, he picked up some thumb-sized pebbles beside him and began stacking them one at a time.

He understood perfectly well that the purpose of stacking stones was to expend his mental power, so he didn't need to deliberately choose huge rocks as Yuzuriha did.

After all, she could move rocks with telekinesis, and the larger the rocks, the greater the training effect. He couldn't do that.

Stacking large rocks and wasting extra physical strength held no meaning for him.

Chapter 8: Accelerated training

A week later, Wuxin gradually adapted to the Saints' harsh training. His mindset changed along with it, and he began to enjoy the process of continually surpassing himself and growing.

Boom!

His fist came down, shattering a basketball-sized rock with a single blow.

"Good. Very good!"

Yuzuriha applauded at the sight and nodded in praise. "Your talent really is extraordinary, and your growth far exceeds that of an average Apprentice Saint."

"Then... with training like this, how much longer will I need to build up enough to reach the threshold of the Sixth Sense?" Wuxin asked tentatively.

Over this week of training, his strength had improved greatly.

If he had to make a comparison, he could easily take down ten of his pre-training self.

"Hmm... at your current rate of growth, probably another three years!" Yuzuriha pinched her chin and thought for a moment before answering.

"Three years? That long?" Wuxin's eyes widened.

He had thought he was already growing very quickly. He hadn't expected to need another three years.

"Long? You actually think three years is long?"

Yuzuriha rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "Do you know that many Apprentice Saints are sent to Sanctuary's training camps when they're very young?"

"They need five years, ten years, or even longer to complete the most basic accumulation through training, then achieve a sublimation of their souls and wills, finally awakening the Sixth Sense and mastering the power of Cosmo."

"Someone like you, who can complete that accumulation in just three years, is already among the best of them. You absolutely have the potential to become a Gold Saint!"

"Huh?"

Wuxin froze at her words.

So a Gold Saint's rate of growth was only on par with his current pace. He really was being a little greedy by complaining that three years was too long.

But he also knew perfectly well that the Holy War was imminent. He no longer had time to grow in peace.

If he couldn't awaken the Sixth Sense quickly, he wouldn't even qualify as a rank-and-file soldier in the coming Holy War. Like an ant on the road, he could be crushed under someone's foot at any moment.

This won't do! I have to find a way to speed up my training! Wuxin secretly clenched his fists.

"I think I need a little time to think this over!"

He bowed slightly to Yuzuriha, then turned and left. He went to the cliff's edge and slowly sat down, facing the cold wind blowing up from below.

The cold wind here could physically cool him down, clearing his head and making it easier to think.

Strengthening the body is only a secondary aim of basic training. Its main purpose is to temper one's mind and will, allowing the soul and will to grow and accumulate little by little until they finally undergo sublimation and awaken the Sixth Sense.

So if I want to speed up my training, I need to focus my efforts and further intensify the training of my soul and will!

I need to adjust my training plan, reduce the amount of basic training, and increase the training of my mind and will! Wuxin soon had a plan.

Then he analyzed it further. Not only that, while the Jamir Clan's rock-stacking training can indeed temper the mind and will, it's ultimately the method best suited to them. It isn't really that suitable for me.

So I need to find, or rather develop, a new training method better suited to me that can intensify my mental training!

Wuxin then began analyzing the rock-stacking training method Yuzuriha had taught him.

As long as he could figure out its underlying principles, creating a training method of his own would be relatively easy.

Why can such a simple training method as stacking rocks temper the soul and will? Wuxin sank into thought.

Stacking rocks was simple. If he chose small stones to stack each time, as he did now, it wouldn't expend much physical strength at all.

But because the rocks were irregular, the resulting stone column would have poor balance. The slightest carelessness could cause the entire column to collapse.

So while stacking rocks, the trainee had to concentrate and pay very careful attention to how the forces acting on the rocks balanced out.

Wait, concentrate?

A flash of inspiration crossed Wuxin's mind, and understanding dawned. Concentrating increases the expenditure of mental power, and increasing that expenditure follows the same principle as the Saints' basic training!

Repeated training through expenditure and recovery achieves the purpose of exercise!

I understand now. The key to rock-stacking training is mental focus!

Once he understood this, he immediately came up with a new training method to help intensify his mental training.

He stood up, took several steps back until he was well away from the cliff's edge, and began another round of basic training.

Only when he was panting, his legs trembling even as he stood, did he stop.

"Now it's time to test the new training method I've come up with!"

He plopped down on the ground, picked up a pointed stone nearby, and began writing and drawing on the ground in earnest.

Without limiting himself to poetry or prose, he wrote whatever came to mind, using the stone as his brush and the earth as his paper to practice calligraphy on the ground.

Through this calligraphy practice, he could enter a focused state and expend as much mental power as possible with minimal physical exertion, ultimately achieving his goal of training his mental power.

Although this was only his first attempt, Wuxin could clearly feel that this training method suited him better and was far more effective than stacking rocks.

He didn't know how long he had been writing. In his focused state, Wuxin expended a great deal of mental power until he finally couldn't hold on any longer. His head drooped, and he passed out.

In fact, practicing calligraphy alone could never have made him pass out. But before this, he had already pushed his basic training to the limit and was in an utterly exhausted state.

That was precisely why exhausting his mental power had made him lose consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, Wuxin woke again. Sensing the changes in himself, he knew he had found the right method.

He promptly adjusted his training plan and began his new regimen.

Another week passed, and Wuxin's growth took another great stride forward. His rate of improvement far exceeded that of the previous week.

"It looks like I really underestimated you!"

After testing the results of Wuxin's training, Yuzuriha was astonished. She said solemnly, "If you keep training at this rate, you'll awaken the Sixth Sense and master the power of Cosmo in just three months!"

Compared with his previous rate of growth, this was at least a tenfold increase.

She had also tried Wuxin's method of training through calligraphy, but for members of the Jamir Clan like her, who were born able to use telekinesis, it held little meaning. Stacking rocks was more effective.

Yet she could never have imagined that this practice method she thought so little of could produce such astonishing results for Wuxin. It was truly unbelievable.

What astonished her even more was that Wuxin had created this training method himself.

This forced her to see the young man before her in a new light, without a trace of disdain remaining, even though he had yet to awaken the Sixth Sense and was still an ordinary person in the usual sense.

Chapter 9: A qualitative change in worldly roots

"Three months? Looks like my efforts weren't wasted!" Wuxin let out a sigh of relief.