Chapter Twenty: The Awakening of Thought

"Thought," or more precisely, Thought Power.

It is a special energy, refined from the life force of the human body, that can be cultivated and strengthened through training.

It is the fusion of a person’s physical body, spirit, will, and everything that comprises them.

Thus, among the masters of Thought Power, after years of immersion and the infusion of intent, it is even possible to imbue objects with this extraordinary life force, granting those objects unique abilities.

"So, that folding knife—is it a Thought Weapon?!"

The alien life force that had invaded his body rampaged within, the pain in his viscera so sharp it was as if knives were twisting inside him, causing Bai Tangjing’s fingers to unconsciously claw bloody grooves into the floorboards.

This, too, is one of the hallmarks of Thought Power.

No matter how weak someone with Thought Power may seem, they possess a deadly advantage over ordinary people.

Because attacks using Thought Power act directly upon life force itself.

When such an attack lands on an ordinary person, no matter how robust their body or indomitable their will, those seemingly unbreakable "defenses" are simply meaningless in the face of Thought Power. The unrefined, scattered life force of a regular person is struck directly.

In other words, unless one has a defense forged by Thought Power itself, every wound inflicted is real and inescapable!

Moreover, Thought Power is energy deeply stained by the individual's will. Some forms of powerful malice, unless cleansed by a specialist in dispelling Thought, will continue to ravage the victim indefinitely.

"Aaagh!"

A mouthful of blood spattered the floor.

"My stomach is hemorrhaging!"

Since he completed his training, Bai Tangjing had not suffered an injury of this severity.

What to do?

What should he do?

The pain in his viscera was unrelenting, yet Bai Tangjing’s eyes regained their icy clarity.

Eight years of ceaseless forging, day and night, had ultimately tempered a soul as resilient as steel.

Veins bulged on his forehead, but Bai Tangjing forced himself to steady his breath.

After so many times retrieving items from dimensions, though little of use had surfaced, at least there had been no accidents until now.

He did not know what condition had triggered the Thought Weapon’s attack mechanism, but in the end... this time, he had been careless.

The dragon-blooded inner force coursed slowly but resolutely through his meridians.

Bai Tangjing tried to block the Thought with his inner force.

But in the end, he found that these two energies were like parallel lines.

They did not interfere with each other.

The Thought could not touch the inner force’s nourishing, reparative effect on his body.

Nor could the inner force stop Thought’s corrosive damage to flesh.

But the inner force was still weak, healing could not keep pace with destruction.

The malice-laden Thought was like a venomous parasite, gnawing at him. With the protective lining of his stomach breached, acid was now eating into his flesh.

It even seemed to possess an intelligence, migrating to other vulnerable organs.

At times, it would maliciously target nerve-rich, pain-sensitive regions, never quite destroying them outright, but instead tugging Bai Tangjing’s focus this way and that.

He exhaled, cold sweat streaming down his face in rivulets.

His final gambit, his last hidden card, had failed.

Yet amid waves of agony, blood staining his lips, Bai Tangjing’s mouth twisted into a savage smile.

"Well, in a certain sense, this draw... is a huge success!"

The purpose of dimensional retrieval was to obtain supernatural power that could thrive independently of any environment.

And Thought Power, forged entirely from one’s own spirit, will, and flesh—what could be more suitable?

Flames blazed in his eyes, as dazzling as molten steel in a furnace!

Kneeling in a pool of blood, Bai Tangjing abandoned the attempt to use his dragon-blooded inner force.

He focused his mind on the regions ravaged by that alien life force, sensing...

Sensing something... a power sprouting from within the very depths of his body, born in the midst of utter destruction, like the first stirrings of new life!

In the world of Thought Power, there are two ways to acquire it.

The first is through diligent practice and meditation, allowing it to arise naturally.

The second is to have a master forcibly drive Thought Power into one's body, opening the vital pores by force!

"In this situation, it’s just perfect!"

Blood frothed at his lips.

It was not just his stomach now; pain like knives twisted in his spleen and kidneys as well.

Life was ebbing, blood desiccating...

The malicious Thought roamed and destroyed at will.

But behind Bai Tangjing’s tightly shut eyelids, a gentle light flickered—like a spark igniting on a pitch-black wasteland.

Then, in an instant, it blazed into a wildfire!

Its momentum was unstoppable!

It was as if the fuel of life had been instantly kindled, the roar of its combustion ringing in his ears.

The flesh and pores untouched by dragon-blooded inner force, for a moment, became like burst dams.

Invisible to ordinary eyes, the refined life force erupted in a formless blaze!

The vital pores had been opened!

Right now, the torrent of life force pouring out like a floodgate thrown open marked the first trial of mastering Thought Power.

If one could not quickly control the flow of life force, those with insufficiently robust bodies might perish from exhaustion just minutes after their vital pores opened!

Even among steady practitioners who opened their pores through their own efforts, weeks could pass without gaining control over their life force’s leakage.

Because of this danger and difficulty, the method of forcibly opening the pores remains the ultimate taboo among all schools of Thought Power!

Yet, unexpectedly—or perhaps inevitably—

Bai Tangjing’s will, tempered like steel over eight years, instantly subdued the life force surging from his body!

He guided it to circulate along his skin, forming a mantle of Thought.

Thus, he had achieved the first foundational skill of Thought Power—Shrouding.

In the world of Thought Power, a journey that might take an ordinary person a lifetime to complete was, for Bai Tangjing, accomplished within the space of a few dying minutes...

A vast wellspring of life force and will birthed a flood of Thought; and as it flooded his body, the hostile malice that had previously rampaged within him was now besieged, trapped like a fly in amber, unable to move!

His palm, wreathed in Thought, pressed to his chest.

That mass of malicious Thought lingered barely two centimeters from his heart.

With his own Thought and hand, he easily drew out the alien life force.

The previously untouchable, immovable nature of the invader had vanished entirely.

Having escaped death by a hair’s breadth, Bai Tangjing, with his vital pores open, could now see the true form of that life force.

From the perspective of Thought, it was a blood-red gecko, covered in pustules, its mouth bristling with teeth, squirming in his grasp.

"An ugly thing—just like your despicable attack."

Though he had just come within a hair’s breadth of death, there was no anger in Bai Tangjing’s voice.

Only disgust.

He had been ready for death ever since the first time he killed.

But among masters of Thought, battle is a contest of knowledge; thus, the other side employs endless treachery and cunning abilities.

For one like Bai Tangjing, who prefers to defeat his foes head-on, he could never grow to like such methods.

With a slight squeeze, the rootless Thought beast was crushed, losing its form and dissolving into a blood-red mist that retreated back into the folding knife.