Neo's eyes widened abruptly.
The moment he opened them, a wave of sharp aura surged forth, bursting out in a cone-shaped blast that echoed like the sound of swords clashing.
Neo rose silently from the ground, his face frozen in a calm, stoic expression, and his eyes alight with a magical realisation.
He walked over to where his spear lay and gently picked it up. Silence reigned for several minutes as Neo slowly held the spear.
He neither spoke nor moved, not even blinking. He simply held the weapon and stared at it with intense seriousness.
Then, suddenly...
Neo swung his spear in a wide arc.
He gazed at the blade of the spear as he swung it, frowning when the expected phenomenon failed to occur.
Something wasn't right... That feeling...
It wasn't there yet!
Again, Neo swung his spear in another arc. He continued to swing the spear repeatedly, his frown deepening with each attempt.
After the umpteenth swing, Neo stopped and closed his eyes.
He let his mind recall the Heavenly Sutra he had heard during his state of assimilation and tried to emulate the mental awareness he had experienced at that moment.
It was quite difficult at first, and lines marred Neo's face, but as time passed, he slowly returned to the state he had been in during assimilation, fully melding into it.
Then...
A wide smile suddenly bloomed on his face.
He opened his eyes once again and stared at his spear.
This time, a faint grey aura appeared around the blade of the spear!
The moment the grey aura emerged, the sound of blades slicing through the air resounded.
Neo was elated.
He had comprehended a concept!
A concept!
He had finally comprehended the concept of sharpness!
Among the six Metal concepts, Neo had mastered the first and most basic one!
This was not to say that it wasn't powerful. In fact, even a basic concept possessed power comparable to the Infusion Stage of Ascension.
The Infusion Stage was the second stage of the Ascension Stages, following the Formation Stage. It was a stage where spirituals truly began to perform superhuman feats and abilities.
For Neo, a mere mortal, to have already mastered a power at this stage was an astonishing feat in itself!
Neo looked at the magical tree with joy.
He could never have believed that taking just one bite from the first fruit on this tree would allow him to enter a state of assimilation and comprehend a concept.
Concepts were exceedingly rare!
They were abilities obtained through enlightenment and an understanding of the secrets of the heavens, granting one the power to wield a specific comprehended characteristic as their own.
Neo had just comprehended the concept of sharpness, enabling him to amplify or enhance his attacks, weapons, or even his body!
He could make his weapons far sharper, or even his fingers. Heck, even his 'ding dong' could become a mighty spear that pierces the heavens!
It was an extremely useful and versatile ability.
To test the power of the concept, Neo picked up his spear and lightly stabbed the cave floor, refraining from applying the concept to it.
He wanted to see the difference when he finally infused the concept into the blade. But...
Puchi!
The spear pierced through the hard, rocky floor as if it were tofu, sinking in until it reached the shaft.
Neo smiled wryly.
The blade of his spear was so sharp that even without the concept of sharpness, it was still frighteningly powerful.
And he hadn't even truly unsealed it yet!
One needed to possess a form of energy to unseal any Spirit Weapon; otherwise, the weapon would remain in its most basic state.
Yet, the basic state of his spear was already comparable to the unsealed state of some of his schoolmates' weapons.
As expected of his father's first weapon.
The only reason Neo hadn't been able to fully take advantage of its sharpness was due to his terrible spearmanship.
His thrusts lacked the proper form that would maximise its potential. Any good fighter knew that form was crucial in wielding a weapon effectively.
Neo could only hope to rectify this soon.
He gazed around the cave, searching for a hard surface to test his concept on.
After a few moments, his gaze settled on the only suitable material he could find.
"Forgive me, dear tree. It will only hurt for a moment."
Neo gripped his spear tightly, aligned it with the ho— cough!—then lightly thrust at the tree. He didn't want to poke a complete hole through the trunk if it proved weaker than expected, so he applied only light force. However...
Kong!
The spear struck the trunk and came to a complete stop.
"A virgin!"
Neo smiled eagerly and gradually increased the force behind his thrust, but even at full strength, the spear blade couldn't pierce even a millimetre!
Neo was shocked, but then nodded in understanding. As expected of such a mythical tree, even his full-powered attack couldn't dent it.
"Now, with the concept..."
The blade of Neo's spear began to glow grey once more. He took a deep breath and thrust at the tree again, just as before.
This time, however...
Puchi!
Neo's spear managed to penetrate the tree by three inches!
A full three inches!
Neo almost screamed in excitement!
The improvement was incredible. Neo couldn't wait to test this on that demonic rabbit.
He had conveniently forgotten his earlier vow...
He wasn't ready to forgive that hateful rabbit just yet.
Now that he had confirmed just how powerful the fruits of the tree were, he stashed the remaining piece of the first grey fruit in his satchel, planning to eat it when he had grown stronger.
He kept feeling a sense of danger every time he tried to take another bite and assumed it was because he was currently too weak.
Stowing away the fruit, he turned to gaze at the tree once more.
It was time to claim the second treasure!