Free Web NovelChapter 144: Pulse Awakening
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Pulse Awakening feels special...even more so compared to the previous martial stages before it.
From the outside, in. That’s the refinement method of martial arts, its way of progression. It begins by introducing chakra to the whole body, then having it penetrate deeper and deeper into the body until it reaches the core.
But it could also be said to start from inside out. Because the very first step of practicing martial arts was to condense a chakra seed after one’s martial physique was awakened.
That chakra seed grows. It starts from a seed, then it sprouts leaves and a root network that spreads all over the body, allowing chakra to penetrate deeper and more thoroughly than just roughly infusing it through sheer control.
Eventually, this sprout grows larger, a sign that it’s coming closer and closer to its mature state. And with its growth, the amount of chakra it could hold and its flow improves greatly too.
Eventually, the sprout becomes tree branches that spread all over the body. In truth, though, these branches looked more like blood vessels and veins, ones that closely entwine with the martial artists’ existing ones. Only these ones have chakra flowing in them instead of blood.
The reason why it takes longer and longer for martial artists to break through is because of the higher demands of each realm.
The amount of chakra needed to help the chakra sprout to grow from a sprout to a tree was immense. That’s why it takes years from the Marrow Cleansing Stage for martial artists to break through to the Pulse Awakening Stage.
This isn’t just about talent anymore. It includes skill, wisdom, diligence, and an absurd amount of effort and dedication.
A lot of martial artists become entrenched in the Marrow Cleansing Stage, unable to make even the slightest bit of progress towards the Pulse Awakening Stage.
There are many variables that might cause this. The main ones, as people knew it, were limitations of talent, resources, effort, and luck. Any of these factors could become a bottleneck that might permanently stop them from making it to the Pulse Awakening Stage for their entire lives.
The Pulse Awakening Stage is a special realm of martial arts because this was supposed to be the ceiling of human potential.
The martial realm after this was called the Nine Inhuman Transformations—the name itself indicates that what came after this was beyond human already.
At the Pulse Awakening Stage, one’s chakra seed finally matures into a tree. Its branches and leaves manifest and permanently fuse with a martial artist’s body.
They become a second set of blood vessels and veins coursing all over one’s body, but instead of blood, it’s chakra that flows in them. And the core is where it’s all stored and pumped out.
Chakra now pulses on its own. It finally has a home and destination within the human body. It could circulate, accumulate, etc. Martial artists in this stage could now store chakra semi-permanently in their bodies. They could even recover chakra even through sleep and rest.
That’s what a matured chakra network does, and it’s also why Pulse Awakening Stage martial artists are a cut above the Marrow Cleansing Stage.
If Marrow Cleansing Stage experts could go from 0 to 100 real quick, then Pulse Awakening martial artists are at 50 at base and could instantly go up to 100 if they wanted to.
Ren reached the Pulse Awakening Stage today.
At the tender age of 18, he entered the ceiling of base human potential. Only he’s better because of his unique circumstances.
The bonuses of his martial physiques, Banished Arsenal and Limitless, bestowed him incredible strength and power once more.
Banished Arsenal Physique added 30% to his physical gains, while the Limitless Martial Physique doubled every aspect he gained for each breakthrough, so long as the breakthrough was a perfect one.
And it was a perfect one.
Ren didn’t force anything. He just focused on his training and refining his chakra. He allowed his chakra sprout to naturally grow to its full maturity.
Under 6× training speed, he was able to make this much progress in just a year and a half.
He arrived here a step shy of entering the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and now, he reached the Pulse Awakening Stage. This progress would’ve taken years of constant grind and effort. But here, everything was accelerated.
Now that he had reached this far, Ren’s current techniques were no longer sufficient. In addition to his breakthrough, his study of Sky Archon Arts elevated his demands by a lot.
It’s alright, though. Ren was already making new ones for his use.
But of course, the one that he really wanted was the main inheritance of this place—the Godly Sky Archon’s inheritance.
And as if to celebrate his breakthrough, upon returning after this ’night,’ he had collected enough pieces to condense another fragment. He had also collected enough fragments to form a section of the inheritance, the last one he needed.
This means he now has all four sections of the complete inheritance.
Staring at all of the four sections of the complete inheritance before him made Ren feel relieved.
It certainly hadn’t been easy. Even though he’s growing stronger at an alarming rate in this realm, the difficulty of the trial never felt easier.
Each night, he was forced to his absolute limits. Aside from the first couple of weeks, Ren never again had a clean victory over the ’night.’ He barely escapes with the skin of his teeth. He feels as if he just gets what he needs and grabs some extra within his reach before leaving.
Although this wasn’t really the case, it feels like it anyway.
It was hard and vexing, but it was worth it.
It’s all for this moment, right here.
Ren calmed himself first. His martial realm had already stabilized enough. Although he’s still getting used to the knowledge that he had access to this much chakra even without moving first, he’s already comfortable with it.
Once he recovered his composure, he returned his gaze to the sections of the inheritance before him. He then deemed that it’s finally time to merge them into a single whole.
So, he brought them close to each other.
And the sections, as if they were magnets, emitted a strong attraction when near other sections.
This didn’t happen before. It wasn’t until he got the fourth and final section that they started acting like this. It’s like they’re pleading him to make them whole.
Well, there was no reason to stop it. So, he pushed them together closer, and then, right before his eyes, they attached themselves to each other, fitting the other’s gaps perfectly as they did so.
The cracks that separated them disappeared. Ren only got the chance to see the complete whole for a few seconds before it suddenly erupted in a flash of brilliance that nearly blinded him.
Actually, it did blind him, but only temporarily.
Ren wasn’t expecting that, and he started feeling nervous. Especially because this phenomenon wasn’t written in the canon.
When his vision was restored, he hurried to search for the inheritance. But instead of seeing it, he discovered that he got transported into a new area instead.
He was standing on a sea of clouds. The sky above him was clear. He was definitely very high up because here, he almost felt like he could touch the stars themselves. They feel like they’re within his reach.
It gave him an impression that so long as he wanted to, he could pluck the stars right out of the sky to inspect them closer. Such a thing was truly bizarre.
"Mystical, eh? Makes you feel all special and stuff."
Ren almost snapped his own neck with how fast he turned around.
Wariness flodded his veins because he had been careless. To be fair, though, he didn’t sense any presence around him. In addition, he looked around before getting lost to the sensation earlier and had seen nobody near.
"Relax. I’m not here to hurt you. Not that I could, anyway. I’m just a ghost who just refuses to pass on."
The person raised his hands weakly as if surrendering.
Ren’s wariness dropped, especially after he saw who he was talking to.
The giant wings folded behind this person’s back were a dead giveaway that he’s a Sky Archon.
He definitely looked like a human, just with wings. He’s got jet black hair, bright red pupils, and sun-kissed skin.
The man was shirtless just like Ren. He was barefoot and was wearing baggy pants. There were golden bangles on his wrists. He also wore some as earrings. He’s wearing a silver necklace with a circular locket, and he gave Ren a disarming expression.
Seeing Ren relaxing his vigilance a bit, the man dropped his hands and then resumed stargazing. There was rich melancholy in his eyes and a sadness in his smile that pinched Ren’s heart for some reason. frёewebηovel.cѳm
"I’ve always loved being up here. It makes me feel like I’m one of them...one with the stars and heavenly bodies. When the world feels a little too stuffy and stressful, I fly up here to decompress."
Ren had his suspicions, but just to be sure, he asked anyway.
"Who are you?"
