Chapter 10
*Day One of Training*
Nothing was happening!
No matter how hard I tried to mask my presence nothing happened
Trying to turn your understanding into a physical manifestation of that concept was no doubt hard but imagine trying to understand a concept without any amount of advice at all. All I had to go on that it was possible cloak oneself in hidden intent was one stingy and likely hungry hellhound
The very idea of trying to create something through sheer will power alone defied the laws of physics!
Now I know that within a cultivation the laws of physics are a hell are about as straight forward as a circle but still there had to be some form of principle towards how it works.
And don't even get me started on the Chi situation I was still struggling to find it half the time let alone control it! Every time I try it's like it squirms out of my grasp only to return to the same flow and be caught again like one of those useless boxes.
*Week 1 of Training*
Sigh this is getting me nowhere
All I'm doing is working myself in circles and accomplishing nothing, less than nothing all it does is make me tired
Okay let's start at the basics then
From now on I'm going to do nothing but the basics until I can do them without any effort.
That means that I need to find my chi and never lose sight of it, I need to always know how much I have and where it's flowing as well as figure out the level of quality of Chi I have. This when you think about it is the very core of cultivation, REPETITION, doing the same crap over and over until it becomes muscle memory and you do it on nothing but base instinct and subconscious thought, maybe that's why all cultivation novels are the same kekeke. but seriously I need to learn how to track my Chi before I can even attempt to manipulate it.
For intent I'm going to do nothing but try to understand the very idea of hidden intent, its very essence, the core of the idea. And how do figure that out? By doing nothing but sitting on one of the branches of my tree and contemplate.
If I can understand the core idea behind something I should be able to build upon it like the foundation of a mighty castle until I can mask my very presence
But then and only then will I begin to implement it physically, for intent you need an equal measure of willpower and understanding so continuing to brute force my way it invisibility won't get me anywhere fast or possibly at all. But what is the core Idea between hiding something?
*Week 2 of Training*
I think I've got it!
What I believe to be the to be the core idea of hidden intent!
Now don't get me wrong, my understanding of hiding something belongs to me and me alone
Therefore, every individual's intent is different and unique
Take fore example Sword Intent one of the most used intents. Intent by definition is hard to master due to it requiring a great amount of understanding in order to effectively use it, but this doesn't mean two different people may see it the same. One cultivator my see a sword as nothing but a tool used for killing while another may find the sword to be an extension of themselves and sword fighting an artform. Both cultivators can use intent, but both see the concept of the Sword differently.
This led to me finding my own meaning behind Hidden Intent
Denial
When a person hides something, they deny its existence whether it the persons feelings or a physical object.
Both can be hidden and in turn…
They are Denied
If I wish to hide myself with intent, I first need to deny my own existence
"Week 3 of training"
The effect of learning the key principle of Hidden intent was remarkable
Not only had it assisted with the hiding of myself, but it had also assisted in the task of learning Chi manipulation. By this point I had practically mastered observing my Chi and internal State was starting to figure out the process of chi control, the first thing I noticed was that I was doing it all wrong!
Before I was trying to directly control the flow of chi and move it to areas of my body, this required much more effort than necessary and was extremely inefficient. Attempting to Learn Hidden intent had taught me one extremely important thing, the use of subtlety
Instead of trying to push and pull the Chi I had to draw a path for it to follow and instead redirect the flow as if it were water and this showed promising results as for an instant my left forearm had glowed a light grey colour as I directed the Chi towards it before I promptly lost "control" of my Chi
The pursuit of Hidden intent was also beginning to show results as well as at times when I was trying to deny my existence the edges of my body would seem to shrink and shine as they shifted from visible to translucent and back to visible at fast speed.
"Week 4 of Training"
I must say I'm quite impressed with the results of my training
I went from being barely too able to see my chi and having absolutely no understanding of the concept of Intent to being able to direct Chi to parts of my body for short periods of time causing them to light up with a dull grey sheen and being able to make parts of my body disappear from sight for a few seconds.
Still, this is nowhere near enough If I want to trick a cultivator even a measly Rank 2, I needed to be able to fully disappear an extended period of time and be able to direct larger amounts of chi to my body
But for now, this is enough I will just have to continuously practice over the course of the coming months.
Phase 1 of the plan has been completed with the gaining of Chi Manipulation and Hidden Intent
Phase 2 begins.
The gathering of strength
I need the core of a Class 3