Chapter 2693: The Desire Within
Wu Zang stared at the vanishing illusion of Ning Changge, his heart filled with immense admiration!
A hero cherishing a hero—was this not exactly that feeling?
Like Wu Zang, Ning Changge was pure enough. Though his martial arts were completely废掉, leaving him with a broken body, he had condensed the Force of Will to its absolute limit!
A cripple in body, but a giant in will!
Was it truly better to only cultivate using spiritual energy? Ning Changge used his life to show the world the potential of the Force of Will!
After Ning Changge, the Shenwu Clan never had another Martial God!
Perhaps the path of the Shenwu Clan had been twisted all along.
The Eighteen Star Martial Dream had awakened. Jiangnan shattered their dream with the most cruel truth!
Wu Kuang knelt on the ground, crying silently. They wished they could tear the Bose Clan apart alive, and hated themselves even more!
Why had they only started to think and learn all of this now?
They had failed the expectations of their ancestors!
Wu Kuang slapped his own cheek fiercely, over and over. Clearly, this cruel truth would take them a while to digest!
Jiangnan said calmly, "So... how much longer are you going to wallow in despair? Now that the dream is over, it's not too late, is it?"
"At least Ning Changge's actions have truly ignited the hope and rebellious spirit in your hearts! The path may have been winding, with many detours, but the story of the Shenwu Clan isn't over yet!"
"As for how the story will unfold from here... that is for you to write yourselves. From today onward, the Eighteen Star Warriors will have no gods in their hearts!"
"The Slave Mark is gone. You... are free!"
At this moment, the looks in the eyes of the Eighteen Star Warriors toward Jiangnan all changed—complex, but filled with even more gratitude!
A demon? Hah!
If everything Jiangnan did was the act of a demon, then what was the Bose Clan?
Yakeli raised an eyebrow, his face full of sulk:
(ꐦ◔~◔ิ) "A bunch of stubborn bastards! Now do you understand our position? Doing all this thankless work!"
"Rescuing you only to earn your hatred. Tch~ it pisses me off. What are your plans next? Don't tell me you're going back to follow the Bose Clan—if so, we might as well wipe you all out!"
Wu Kuang finally calmed down a bit, shaking his head. "No, we won't. I want to tear them apart; how could I go back?"
"It's just that without the gods... damn it! Without the resources those beasts provided, I'm not sure if the Shenwu Clan can survive in the starry sky. I..."
Jiangnan said coldly, "What? Too used to being fed? Forgot that your hands and feet weren't made for kneeling and bowing, but for hunting and foraging?"
"With your limbs intact, can you starve to death? If you want something, go fight for it yourself! Even a tamed beast doesn’t forget its hunting instincts!"
Wu Kuang was stunned, then smiled bitterly. "Sorry, you're right. It's just... I'm not used to it all of a sudden."
"It's just that the clansmen are still kept in the dark. Can... can you copy this information and show it to them? They... need to wake up too!"
This would surely trigger a massive earthquake across the entire clan. Some might be too foolishly loyal to accept the truth and might even resist!
Wu Kuang and the others had awakened, but their race still had a long road ahead!
Jiangnan said casually:
(︶～︶〃) "Sure, no big deal. After this, pack up and leave. With your strength, you don't need human protection."
"I'll return your home planet to you later. Go wherever you want—I don't have the habit of cleaning up other people's messes."
"And don't worry about the Bose Clan retaliating. I'm keeping an eye on them. If you're uneasy, you can put your home planet in the Dimensional Gap; it's up to you."
Wu Kuang took a deep breath, exchanged glances with the Eighteen Star Warriors, and nodded in unison.
Then they knelt on one knee, bowing their heads to Jiangnan!
Jiangnan frowned, about to say something—
But Wu Kuang clasped his fists and said, "The grace of awakening the dream shall never be forgotten! This is the last time the Eighteen Star Warriors kneel before anyone! It is to express gratitude! You deserve this from us!"
"From now on, the Eighteen Star Warriors will kneel only to heaven, earth, and their parents—nothing more! We will never bow our heads to anyone again!"
"Once we've dealt with everything, one day we will definitely return to you, to repay the grace of awakening!"
The Eighteen Star Warriors shouted in unison:
"The grace of awakening the dream shall never be forgotten!"
Even though the dream was over, their hearts felt empty, having lost their former faith and pursuit!
Under the heaviest blow, life would still go on!
And what awaited them was a rebirth!
Jiangnan paused, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly:
(͡°⥎͡°) "Alright, alright. But remember to get stronger; otherwise, you won't be able to help me much—you'll only hold me back."
"And don't talk about repaying me in the future—I can't wait that long. Give me something practical. What's up with that Force of Will you guys use? Teach us? I'm pretty interested."
"The kind your Martial God used—do you know it?"
As soon as Jiangnan mentioned this, Wu Zang perked up immediately. Clutching his blade, he executed a carp-like flip and stood up, moving closer!
Wu Kuang was taken aback. "You mean the Psychic Cultivation Method? Even though our history was erased, the cultivation methods have been passed down continuously, and they are quite developed now."
"But I'm not sure if races other than the Eighteen Star Warriors can use it. Besides, the Psychic Method is extremely difficult to cultivate—very abstract and hard to grasp."
"Everyone's method of refining the will is different. There's no way to repay the grace of awakening. If you want it, I can explain it to you without holding back. I just don't know if you'll be able to understand and apply it..."
Jiangnan grinned, then his expression turned solemn. He raised his hand and struck his heart, pulling out a golden Heart Blade, entirely made of Force of Will!
Wu Zang casually grabbed the air, and a Slash of Certain Death appeared in his hand!
(˵°᷄～°᷅)۶¤=[=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞7 "Like this?"
Gasps of cold air sounded. The Eighteen Star Warriors' eyes were filled with disbelief!
Wu Kuang exclaimed in shock:
(#ʘ̅дʘ̅#) "Yo... your will can actually reach this intensity? So savage! Such a crude way of channeling willpower!"
What kind of unorthodox technique was this?
But even if it was unorthodox, it was stronger than what Wu Kuang and his people had!
Wu Kuang and the others, despite their formidable strength, had not reached the same height in the Dao of Willpower as their ancestors!
It was because their path had been twisted. Wrong beliefs prevented them from becoming pure, instead becoming obstacles on the path of willpower!
Jiangnan rolled his eyes:
(꒪ั～꒪ั*) "What do you mean 'crude'? Watch your mouth!"
Wu Kuang quickly shook his head. "No... I didn't mean you're bad. It's just that the way you channel the Force of Will is too savage, piling it up randomly, wasting a lot of its power."
"If you could control it finely, the burst of power would far surpass what you have now. It seems I was overthinking. Let me explain the Psychic Method to you now!"
Jiangnan and Wu Zang immediately pulled up small stools, ready to listen, and even called Yakeli over!
(ﾟꇴﾟ)ﾂ "Come, come! Pay attention in class! You're about to reach Star Devourer rank—how can you not take such an important lesson seriously?"
Though Yakeli was a bit reluctant, he put on a grumpy face and came to listen as well!
This was one of Jiangnan's greatest strengths!
He never considered himself too good to learn. No matter how high he reached or how monstrous his power became, if he didn't know something, he didn't know it.
He always humbly sought to learn, treating everyone as his teacher, turning others' strengths and advantages into his own trump cards!
This was how Jiangnan had come this far!
In short, he had no shame!
Seeing this, Wu Kuang became a bit nervous. He cleared his throat twice and said, "The Force of Will is actually a very abstract thing. It is 'the Void'—doesn't actually exist. But when it is strong enough, it can reflect into reality and influence it!"
"Once this power reaches a sufficient level, it can almost accomplish anything. It is a power that can ignore rules and even surpass them!"
Jiangnan and Wu Zang both nodded like pecking chicks!
Both of them had already deeply experienced this. Wu Zang's Slash of Certain Death could cut the intangible thread of life!
Jiangnan's Dream-Shattering Slash could even shatter a person's dreams!
Let alone the fact that it could cut through anything, sever anything!
No power in reality could achieve this, but the Force of Will could!
Ning Changge had even used the Force of Will to injure the Bose Clan members who had hidden in the fourth dimension—unbelievable!
And what Wu Kuang said about the Force of Will being almost omnipotent wasn't an exaggeration!
Wu Kuang said seriously, "To cultivate the Psychic Method, you must first understand the source of the Force of Will!"
"Only the most extreme desire from deep within the heart can manifest the Force of Will into reality, channel it, apply it, and achieve what cannot be done!"
"And the reason the Force of Will can do so many things, almost everything, stems from the content of your desire!"
"I desire that this punch shatters the blood crystal, that nothing can stop this punch. When I desire it strongly enough, the Force of Will manifests, pours into my fist, assists the attack, and breaks the blood crystal! Therefore, the blood crystal is shattered!"
"If used for defense, it's the same. I desire that my defense cannot be broken, and I firmly believe it can be done. Then it can! That is the manifestation of will!"
"Similarly, not just defense, attack, movement, and other applications—what the Force of Will helps you achieve depends on what you desperately want to do at that moment!"
Jiangnan was stunned. He remembered the first time he used Void Slash to kill the Blood Corpse Insect Ancestor!
At that moment, his heart was filled with an overwhelming desire—the desire that this slash would annihilate them completely!
So that slash, the Force of Will manifested and killed the Blood Corpse Insect Ancestor!
Ever since, every time Jiangnan used Void Slash, he tried to recall that original feeling!
(งᵒ̌ꇴᵒ̌)ง "Yes, yes, that's exactly it! Go on!"
Wu Zang also grew excited!
But Wu Kuang said, "But you must always understand one problem: desire is not delusion! Nor is it a wish!"
"You desire for a dead person to come back to life—that's impossible. You desire to become the strongest in the starry sky—the Force of Will cannot help you achieve that!"
"Your desire should be, at that moment, that second, setting aside all distractions, believing that as long as you work hard, fight, you can definitely do it, you must do it. Only then will the manifested Force of Will have meaning, the power to influence reality!"
"And the key to all of this comes from your thoughts, your faith, your will—your own heart!"
"'Psychic' and 'Mind'—that's what it means!"