I knew of a few stories that talked about a world's will or similar things, but I could only think of one at the moment that could do something like this. Even then, that story completely lost my interest after certain choices were made that did not make any sense to me, and that was only when the protagonist had met the messenger and did not communicate with the world's will itself. So, this was something I did not expect.
However, during my contemplation, I did remember that Mom had said something about the world's will when we first met.
With that in mind, I turned around and looked at Mom before asking, "Mom, what is the world's will?"
The reaction I got to the question was not really one I expected. I would not say that I was hoping for her to be surprised or something, but I definitely was not expecting for her expression to not change much.
What I did notice was Mom's eyes narrowing as she looked at the note in my hand for a few seconds. After that, she relaxed slightly and looked up at my face before saying, "The world's will is the consciousness of the world we are on. Not many people know or care about it as it does not affect them, but for higher-level cultivators, that is a different matter. Mainly because the lightning tribulations we go through are tests from that very same world's will. However, once we get strong enough, they are no longer tests but attacks instead."
Most of what she said was something I had either read elsewhere or could infer myself, so it was nothing new, but the last part was what I found a little weird. Even the way Mom said it sounded weird, so I asked, "Isn't that to be expected?"
This got a confused look from her as she asked, "What do you mean?"
Clearly, Mom did not understand what I was thinking, so I continued by asking her back, "How strong are you?"
Mom did not take long to answer, quickly saying, "I could destroy about half of this continent if someone does not stop me."
With that question answered, I then asked, " And I am guessing that you will only get stronger the higher you go in cultivation?"
Mom still had that confused look on her face as she said, "That is correct."
Since she still had that confused look, I asked, "Then how would you like it if there was a small creature running around on top of your body that could chop off about half of your arm without you being able to do anything?"
This provoked a different reaction from her, at least, as she scoffed and said, "I would never let such a thing get on me in the first place."
When she said that, I could not keep a slight smile from creeping onto my face as I then asked, "Did the world's will ever get a choice?"
That finally got the reaction I was hoping for out of her as her eye widened slightly for a moment before she calmed down and asked me, "Why are you asking about the world's will anyway?"
This question surprised me for a second as I only now remembered that I did not say anything about the note in my hand. With that in mind I quickly explained, "The note was from the world's will asking if I could inform it next time I create a technique based off of the ancient ones."
After I said that, a look of surprise flashed on Mom's face, which I was probably a little bit too happy about. That look only lasted for a second, though, as it quickly changed to one of slight indignation before she sighed and said, "If it is important enough for this to happen, then it would be best for us to keep this in mind for next time."
With that, this entire fiasco was over, and I could get back to attempting to cultivate this new technique. However, it would be best to do it in the shrine, so we quickly made our way over there.
I did not need to go that far into the shrine, though, so I only entered the gardens and found a secluded spot to begin practicing.
Opening the book in my arms, I reviewed its contents to ensure that I had not forgotten anything while I was distracted earlier.
When I closed the book a few minutes later, I found that I remembered everything that I needed to, so I slowly assumed the first of the training stances listed and began my practice.
It was here that I learned how truly deceptive this technique was.
I did not even intend for it to be like this, but with how slow and simple every move of the practice was, it would seem like I was just messing around. But if you were to look at how my Qi was circulating in my body, you would be able to see something terrifying.
This was because all of my Qi was flowing through my body at a terrifying speed with seemingly no particular reason behind it. However, if you were to take a step back and look at the circulation in my entire body, you would find that all of my Qi was flowing down from my head, through my meridians, and down to my feet. Once it reached the bottom of my feet, it would turn around and flow up into my core, where it would be sent back up to the meridian in my head.
None of that would even be considered, though, as the speed at which my Qi was circulating was at least ten thousand revolutions per minute, while my body was only going through each stance at a speed of one revolution per minute.
Normally, I would not do this and would instead try to match them, but I was making this change on purpose.
The reason behind it was simple when one knew the old techniques and what they were referring to.
It all came down to trying to move what the cultivators of today would call the static Qi in the body. This naming was also why 'modern' cultivators are not able to use the old techniques, as the old ones would actually refer to this as the combination of spiritual energy, or as it is called today, Qi, and the blood. This new energy was often called Chi or Blood Qi by old cultivators. This was also the energy that all the old techniques talked about using first.
All body cultivation techniques also cultivated this Chi in various ways without actually knowing about it.
This Chi was also required to be constantly flowing to prevent any issues from arising in the body.
Normally, this would not be an issue as the Chi made in the body would always depend on how much Qi was flowing in the body at any given time. This would mean that there would be a natural increase over time as long as someone cultivated at a normal pace. However, once someone deviates from this normal pace, Chi is created faster than the body can adapt, thus causing a buildup of static Chi all over the body.
This was the problem I was having now.
There were many ways to fix this problem, such as using different medicines or natural treasures, but the most effective and beneficial way was what I was doing now.
It was quite simply an attempt to get my Chi flowing through practice and stimulation, and it was working.
I could already feel that the Chi in my body was starting to flow at a slow speed, but it was like someone had removed some sort of obstruction or watergate in a stream as all the Chi in my body started to flow faster and faster. Soon, it was flowing at the same speed as my Qi, and I needed to slow down my circulation, or else it would soon cause a lot of internal damage.
This process was not nearly as fast as speeding it up, but with the slower my Qi and Chi were circulating, the longer I had until I was injured.
About an hour after I had started, I was now circulating my Chi at the speed that I was doing my practice with the stances.
Once that happened, I changed the stances I was practicing to focus on advancing my body cultivation.
This focused all the Chi in my body to start tempering it for a second time. However, unlike the first body tempering, which was more of opening a gateway into the spiritual realm and opening your body to spiritual energy, this one was an infusion of power and energy to enhance the body.
It was also a lot more targeted and thorough than before as well.
This also came with a shocking amount of pain that quickly subsided and turned into a strange, pleasurable sensation that felt weird. It was not like I was deriving some strange satisfaction from this, but it instead felt like each part of my body that was tempered became more comfortable.
It was incredibly weird, but it helped me deal with the pain, so I would tolerate it for now.
I at least made sure to follow the process properly and started by tempering my skin first, which was the opposite of how my body tempering technique worked. This did not last for long, though, as my plentiful Chi quickly tempered my skin, and I had to move on to the stance which allowed me to temper my muscles.
I also noticed that as my skin finished being tempered, a massive amount of Qi started to rush into my body.
Very quickly, my muscles finished tempering, and I had to change my stance again to temper all the tendons in my body as well. However, just like with my muscles and skin, I was soon changing my stance again to focus on my bones.
This stance lasted a little longer this time before I had to change it again and start tempering the primary organs, as I had to call them. This stage of cultivation was less obvious than the others, but all that someone needed to know was that it focused on the five organs found in traditional Chinese medicine.
At this stage, I noticed the amount of Chi flowing through my body decrease slightly. However, that did not halt the progress even slightly, as I quickly moved on to the next stance and began cultivating the next stage.
This stage focused on what I called the secondary organs for the sake of convenience. It covered all the other organs not touched in the previous stage, as well as the reproductive system. However, it did not cover the nervous system, as it was far more delicate and would be touched on later.
This stage also ended up being completed after some time, but it was the one stage that reduced my Chi to about half what it once was.
Since that was the case and I still had some unused Chi left, I moved on to the next stance and focused on going as far through the Blood-tempering stage as I could. Although I did not complete this stage in its entirety, I finished over two-thirds of it with the remaining Chi that I had left.
Since I ran out of all the free Chi that I had left, I was going to end the practice, but it was at this point that I started to think that I might be a little too overpowered.
Mainly because of what just happened when I finished cultivating my body.