Chapter Thirty-One: The Hearts of Men Are Destiny

The blade seemed to come alive all at once.

As the long saber swept through the air, the weapon in his grip felt as if it were breathing—contracting and expanding, inhaling and exhaling, filled with a vibrant spirit. Li Qi naturally knew that a blade could not truly possess life; what held that spirit was not the steel, but his own intent and consciousness. He had poured his mind into the blade, creating the illusion of its respiration.

Undoubtedly, this was the result of his day spent contemplating the old man’s sword techniques, aided by the miraculous insight of his "Perceiving Reality" ability. His spiritual world had absorbed intangible nourishment from the master's art; after a day of quiet accumulation, that nourishment was now beginning to transform through the crucible of physical practice.

One strike! Two strikes! Three!

In this session, Li Qi felt an unprecedented fluidity. Within his mental landscape, intangible traces and imprints were being branded and solidified with remarkable speed. However, even with this divine-like assistance in his practice, surpassing his limits remained a matter of sheer willpower. After pushing past his limits four times, Li Qi’s willpower crumbled after just seven more strikes, no different from his morning session.

Only the proficiency gains displayed in his panel logs revealed how much he had improved since the morning.

Log: You have practiced one round of the Tiger-Slaying Eighteen Sabers. Blade proficiency +3.2.
Log: You have surpassed your limit once. Blade proficiency +1.4.
Log: You have surpassed your limit twice. Blade proficiency +1.6.
Log: You have surpassed your limit three times. Blade proficiency +2.6.
Log: You have surpassed your limit four times. Blade proficiency +3.2.

Over the course of a single round, Li Qi’s proficiency had jumped by 12 points—double the six points he gained that morning. Compared to the 3.5 points per round from a few days ago, this was nearly a fourfold increase.

Li Qi understood, however, that such a "double experience" windfall would not last forever. His "Perceiving Reality" ability was still limited in scope; once his sword skill reached Level 5, the effect would likely wane, and by Level 7, it would probably vanish entirely. He had originally estimated it would take three more days to reach Level 4, but now it seemed that if he remained in good form, he might bridge the remaining gap by tomorrow night.

***

After all, the acquisition of proficiency was never fixed; it fluctuated with his state of mind.

"I wonder what kind of changes will occur in my spiritual world once my sword skill reaches the 'Minor Mastery' stage," Li Qi mused, contemplating the path ahead. "According to the various texts I’ve read, reaching Minor Mastery means the spirit has solidified its foundation. The intangible traces engraved during daily practice are the roots of that foundation. Accumulate them over time, refine them, and the foundation is set. Just as a tree needs roots to live, the spiritual world needs a foundation to thrive. To align one's intent with these roots, activate them, and fuse them together—that is the threshold of Entry."

Though his combat prowess was already formidable, in the context of true cultivation, he was still like duckweed without roots.

Once he had rested sufficiently, Li Qi began to eat and drink. This time, the supplies were different: the water was energy-infused, produced by the conglomerate, containing components beneficial to the human body. As for the meal, it was a mixture of four different nutritional supplements. Guided by his intuition, he consumed a precise ratio of each. He felt this blend was the most compatible with his body's current growth requirements.

Afterward, Li Qi washed up and went to sleep, once again entering a state of deep, restorative slumber. This was a clear sign that his mind and spirit were growing stronger; while he wasn't guaranteed to hit that state every time, the probability was increasing significantly.

When Li Qi awoke the next morning and checked his stack of panel logs, he noticed something unusual. Skipping over the minor attribute gains, he focused on the key entries.

Log: You have become famous within your clan. Your reputation is spreading widely, and many now hold you in high regard. Your prestige has greatly increased. The hearts of the people are destiny; when the hearts gather, destiny is formed. Your Fate count +33. For the next period, you will receive a +1 daily bonus to your Fate growth (this bonus will decay as you are gradually forgotten and will vanish if you are completely forgotten).
Log: The hearts of the people are destiny. Influenced by the tide of fortune, your Five Fortunes progress has increased significantly, +50%.

If Li Qi remembered correctly, his Five Fortunes progress had been at fifty percent before he went to sleep.

Thinking this, he opened his Fate Disc. Sure enough, the Five Fortunes had fully loaded. Subconsciously, he reached out to activate them, but an inexplicable feeling surged from within—a guidance from destiny itself, telling him that this was not the best time. The opportunity would arrive in the next few days.

"???"

Though he was puzzled, Li Qi chose to trust himself. He could have activated them now, but he trusted his intuition. The perfect synergy he had found with the Tiger-Slaying Eighteen Sabers was proof enough of this instinct's reliability. Had he chosen a different technique back then, he would surely still be struggling, with no hope of reaching his current standing.

Since the intuition had appeared again, he was in no hurry. This guidance was essentially a knack for seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster. Many ordinary people experienced such flashes of insight when making critical life decisions, though they lacked his consistent ability to harness them.

As for the increase in Fate, did this mean he should seek to show off in public? That, however, required finesse; if mishandled, it could easily backfire.

"Still, what if I waited until the end of winter break, defeated the twelve masters of the Tiannan Weapon-Fighting rankings in a single day, and then swept through the seven schools of Tiannan? If I were invincible, wouldn't that be..."

With this thought, Li Qi spent twenty points of Fate to refine his final grey-tier Root Vessel into white. Five white and one blue—a strangely harmonious configuration. His nerve-reflex bonus officially reached 50%.

He followed his routine: practice, rest, observation at the training grounds, and then, as evening fell, he practiced his blade work once more.

Every strike and every form felt ordinary, until he executed the first strike after surpassing his limit for the fourth time.

Before he could even launch the second strike, a log refreshed. On his panel, the proficiency of the Tiger-Slaying Eighteen Sabers jumped from Level 3 (297/300) to Level 4 (0/400). A vast power surged from the depths of his origin, causing something in his spiritual world and the consciousness of his bodily cells to solidify in an instant!

Normally, when one reached 299/300, they would be stuck for a period—the so-called "bottleneck." At that stage, one would usually need to accumulate strength, a "charging" phase, to break through the barrier. If they couldn't, they would fall into a mental block, forced to search for various ways to overcome it. This was why many remained trapped at a certain level, unable to progress further.

But Li Qi’s panel was different. It exerted its power precisely here: regardless of bottlenecks, once the proficiency was full, the breakthrough was automatic. Furthermore, this proficiency had a safety net; it would not decay, nor would he ever encounter a situation where his training yielded near-zero results. It could even be said that every time he practiced, an invisible force influenced his instincts, correcting his errors and ensuring he made progress!

Back then, and right now, it was the same! Only that force, usually subtle, had never been as surging and overwhelming as it was at this very moment!

BOOM!