Chapter 89.1: Cultivating Intent (I)

Lu Changsheng had no idea that he had entered into this state of epiphany. He clung to the underside of the ship, letting the towering waves crash over him again and again as he contemplated their boundless strength.

Two hours passed, then four, then six... Time lost all meaning to Lu Changsheng as he sank deeper and deeper into the state of epiphany.

By dawn, the storm had ceased and all that was left was a battered deck. Sailors and passengers emerged from their cabins, blinking repeatedly at the wreckage left behind.

"At last, it's over," remarked one of the sailors. "That storm nearly flipped the ship."

"The waves were monstrous," another chimed in. "We were lucky to survive."

"Do a headcount and check the supplies," the captain ordered.

The seasoned sailors moved at once with practiced calm. They were used to such fierce storms and what came next. The first task was always to count the living and tally the supplies, to learn what losses the night had left behind.

"We're missing five crates of supplies," one sailor reported.

"The headcount is off. Three people are gone," another added.

"Three? Who's missing?" the captain asked.

"Two porters and Miss Sophie's honored guest, Mr. Dao."

Silence fell over the deck. The loss of two porters was unfortunate, but not shocking. Mr. Dao was another matter entirely. He was Miss Sophie's honored guest, the man rumored to have saved her life. His disappearance sent a quiet shiver through all who heard it.

On the open sea, to vanish during a storm usually meant only one thing. The ocean had claimed another soul.

Long Sha smiled faintly when he heard the news. "Mr. Dao was unlucky," he said. "I saw him on the deck last night. When the storm hit, he probably did not manage to make it back to his cabin and was swept into the sea by the waves. What a shame."

He sounded upset, but in truth, his heart danced with delight. He had initially wanted to deal with Dao Shier himself, but Sophie's presence had made that nearly impossible. Now, he had been saved the trouble. The raging storm and waves had done the job for him.

While Long Shao rejoiced silently, Sophie wept openly.

At that moment, Yun Haitang emerged from her cabin and onto the deck. She stood in silence and stared out at the ocean.

The storm had passed, and the sea lay calm and untroubled, as though nothing terrible had happened. But the man who had leapt into its depths the night before was gone.

Even now, Yun Haitang could not understand why Dao Shier had chosen to jump into the sea.

As Yun Haitang stared out at the sea, the captain's orders rang out across the deck. "Raise the sails! We have to keep going."

The sailors moved into action at once, already setting aside the loss of life. The sea claimed lives every day, and this was nothing new to the crew.

The great ship began to move forward. Then suddenly, a dark figure shot up from the side of the ship and landed squarely on the deck.

"Who is that?"

A collective gasp rippled across the deck. Eyes widened and mouths fell open as they realized who stood before them. It was Dao Shier.

"It's Mr. Dao!"

"So he wasn't missing?"

"He was on the deck before. How did he come up from beneath the ship?"

Whispers spread in every direction. Long Sha's face darkened, but Sophie lit up with joy.

Only Yun Haitang looked at Dao Shier with a complicated expression. She had watched Dao Shier leap into the sea, and yet, here he stood, unharmed.

"Mr. Dao, are you hurt?" Sophie hurried over, her voice tight with worry.

"I’m fine," Lu Changsheng replied calmly. "I took the chance to practice my martial arts during the storm."

"Practice martial arts?"

Sophie did not understand, but as a martial artist, Yun Haitang did. Even so, the idea left her unsettled. Practicing martial arts in the midst of a storm, and in the sea no less, was absurd.

Lu Changsheng met Yun Haitang's gaze and gave her a slight nod. Then, without another word, he turned and headed to his cabin.

Lu Changsheng stood in his cabin, soaked through yet entirely unbothered. He calmly circulated blood qi through his body, letting it spread over his skin like a blazing cloak. Blood qi carried a natural warmth, and before long, the lingering dampness began to fade.

If other martial artists learned that he was using precious blood qi to dry his clothes, they would probably not know whether to laugh or cry. Only Lu Changsheng, whose blood qi reserves were vast beyond imagination, could afford such indulgence.

After he had dried off and warmed up, Lu Changsheng summoned his status panel. He wanted to see what a single night at sea had given him. Deep down, he suspected it was far more than the Perfection of the Threefold Waves. He had the unmistakable feeling that the night had left behind something greater.

[Status Panel]

Host: Lu Changsheng

Perception: 824 (Hidden Dragon in the Abyss)

[Skills]

Blood Qi Sword Crafting: Sword Crafting, 3 months and 18 days

Wave Intent: Progress 1%

Celestial Treasure-Refinement: First Layer

Threefold Waves: Third Wave (Perfection)

Ninefold Carp-Dragon Ascension: Second Stage

Divine Dragon Transformation: Third Transformation (Perfection)

Nine-Syllable Thunder Chant: Perfection (Incomplete)

The Threefold Waves and the Divine Dragon Transformation had both reached Perfection, just as he expected. What caught his attention was the Blood Qi Sword Crafting secret technique, which had already accumulated three months and eighteen days.

In reality, only a little more than two months had passed since he first began crafting his sword. But whenever he had a spare moment, Lu Changsheng kept tempering it with blood qi, quietly accelerating the process. With this level of accumulation, the moment the blood qi sword was unleashed, it would carry the force of hundreds of cauldrons.

Lu Changsheng paused briefly at the result, but it did not truly surprise him. He had been monitoring the technique's progress all along. What truly surprised him was the appearance of a new entry on the panel: Wave Intent.

Lu Changsheng thought back to the epiphany he had experienced the night before. What he had grasped then was Wave Intent. Bringing the Threefold Waves to Perfection was merely a small fragment of it.

In the sea, when Lu Changsheng's Threefold Waves reached Perfection, he slipped into that state of epiphany and began to comprehend the Intent of the waves themselves. He remained immersed in it for the entire night, relying on his extraordinary Perception to comprehend Wave Intent. Even so, he had only managed to activate it. The progress stood at a mere one percent, and getting it to Perfection was still far beyond his reach.

Lu Changsheng had seen many martial art manuals of the Divine Strength Realm, yet none of them mentioned the concept of Intent at all. He knew it was not a technique, but rather a realization hidden within martial techniques. As for what it could ultimately do, Lu Changsheng did not yet have the answer.

To find out more, he infused Wave Intent into his palm and struck the air.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The entire cabin seemed to surge like rolling waves.

Seems like my palm strike is much stronger now, even without using the Threefold Waves. It seems like even without using Threefold Waves, the power of this palm strike was greatly amplified. If I swing my saber with Wave Intent infused, each slash would also flow like a relentless tide.

With the enhancement of Wave Intent, Lu Changsheng was beginning to understand what was really happening. It no longer mattered whether he used palm techniques, saber techniques, or sword techniques. Once Wave Intent was infused, every attack followed the rhythm of Threefold Waves—continuous strikes, each heavier than the last. This rhythm would leave his opponent no breathing room, inflicting a devastating psychological impact.

Lu Changsheng pondered the concept behind his newly acquired skill.

When a martial artist cultivates, they enhance their physical strength and blood qi, but comprehending Intent seems to enhance a martial artist on the mental level as well.

Cultivating to enhance body and blood qi came easily enough to most martial artists. The mind, however, was another matter entirely. Cultivation for the sake of strengthening the mind required Perception, and many martial artists spent their entire lives without ever possessing enough of it. Even when they honed their martial technique to Perfection, they could only brush the edges of Intent, and without deliberate cultivation, that fleeting touch was as good as useless.

Only someone like Lu Changsheng, who had extraordinarily sharp Perception, could enter a state of epiphany to comprehend Intent and step onto the path of Intent cultivation. Yet even so, he was still unsure how to walk that path.

At present, he could only rely on observation. He believed that by continuing to watch the waves, by studying their rise and fall, he would gradually deepen his understanding of Wave Intent.