Gulp
Will couldn't help but swallow some saliva when he saw what the quest was. He had long been aware that the system would give out 'Quests' on special occasions from time to time, but he would never have thought that the first quest he got would be so difficult.
True Strike!
Boom!
That phrase was deeply embedded in Will's mind, for it was a technique from the Solitary Sword Sovereign cultivation manual. However, it was at a stage that was so profound Will could only understand the technique's name. He barely understood anything else.
The manual had given Will a plethora of information, and Will could barely make sense of it. It wasn't just difficult to understand, it also felt as if it wasn't in order. Techniques that were more powerful than the true strike itself were much easier to understand, yet simpler techniques like the true strike were sometimes more difficult to understand.
This information was given to Will in the form of thoughts. When one thinks one doesn't necessarily speak in their mind. A majority of the time one just thinks. It's as simple as that. There is no such thing as a language of the mind.
The languages we speak were created as a means to convey our thoughts. Now, in Will's mind, were countless of these thoughts which he was trying to understand. And the first step in trying to understand was always the hardest.
Imagine if, for example, a machine as intelligent as a human were to ask you what happiness is like. This would require you to put happiness into words and properly convey it in a logical manner. Can emotions be conveyed logically? Most would give examples of what one felt, but that would not be the answer.
Will was facing a similar struggle, except the situation was a bit different. He had the thoughts in his mind, but they were not his. Not to mention they were filled with concepts Will could not comprehend, thus all he could do was try and decipher that Information into a language he could understand.
"Sigh"
Will stood there, dumbfounded. He had no idea how to proceed from here. He looked at the corpses around him, and an odd feeling swelled up in his chest.
Man, I can't believe I have gotten this far in only a few days. This is incredible.
For the past few days, Will had constantly been fighting for his life. Now, he truly had time to take in all that has happened.
Breathe Will.
After taking in a deep breath, Will calmed himself and started compiling information in his head.
Okay. The Dao is real. Cultivation is real. Immortals exist. Come on Will. You have read countless novels. What is the next step in this sort of situation?
There is always a solution...
...
Wait. Cultivation! That's it! This entire time I've been fighting! I haven't even cultivated once! Well... At least not in a normal way!
Indeed. The system forcefully made one stronger, but Will's intuition told him that this was not true cultivation. After making a decision, Will decided to sit down where he was and started cultivating on the spot.
Although the stench of blood makes this place unpleasant, I cultivate a way that revolves on the principle of death. I must get used to the smell of blood and gory sights. This area might attract the attention of other beasts, but I have just defeated the sector Boss...whatever that is. I'm pretty sure I can handle anything that comes my way in this so-called sector. Maybe.
Will was not confident in his decision, but the young man was after all just a young man. He was eager to begin what he could only have dreamt of in the past.
Will sat down in the lotus position and began to organize his thoughts.
To cultivate one has to use Soul Force to called World Energy from the environment and convert it into either qi or mana. Since I use yuan, my case is a bit special.
According to Will's understanding, Soul Force was energy projected from one's soul. Without it, human beings would not be able to cultivate.
The first step of cultivation was to be able to sense one's Soul Force and to be able to control it; however, it was not as easy as it sounds.
The manual Will had did not teach one how to cultivate. Will assumed that it was made for beings that could already cultivate. Will sighed in resignation at his current situation.
He had no teacher, he had no knowledge of how to cultivate, only the basic theory. No one was there to guide him, thus the young man had to waddle his way through the process like a child learning how to walk.
The first problem Will encountered was Soul Force. He wasn't sure how to use it, let alone what it actually was. Will calmed himself and threw his consciousness into his own body. He could feel yuan moving around within his body, but it was not moving according to the young man's will, it was actually moving by itself.
Yuan was being deposited into his dantian bit by bit, and Will could feel that his body was absorbing World Energy automatically as well.
This means that the system is, in essence, a method that forces cultivation onto people. World Energy can only be manipulated by Soul Force, so doesn't that mean that there is foreign Soul Force within my body and around me?
This sudden realization stunned Will. Will tried to remember the feeling of yuan entering his body right after he killed a beast. At first, all he felt was a rush of energy. But after examining his memories, Will realized that there was something else. Something else entered his body at the same time.
Now that Will was using most of his mind to concentrate on his memories he could definitely sense this. Thanks to his increased intelligence and his dual mind propagation, Will was like a computer. Anything he experienced, he could go through over and over again.
"I got it!" Will exclaimed.
After a while, Will was finally able to sense the foreign Soul Force that was within his body. At first, he tried to sense this energy the moment he got more exp from a kill. This was much easier than sensing it once it became a part of him.
Then Will would trace a single part of the foreign Soul Force throughout its journey from its entry and so that over time it disappeared, or rather, it went somewhere else. That somewhere else was something hard to see, hard to define.
Still, Will persevered and repeated the process over and over again till he found it.
The source of his life...
His soul!