Chapter 20 How to Improve

Xu Jingming's mental will had grown by leaps and bounds over the past month or so.

The 'pain training method' in the will-honing training method was extremely effective. Xu Jingming extrapolated from this and created 'cold resistance training' and 'heat endurance training.' Even ordinary people had ways to hone their will through training in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. It was very safe to carry out such training methods in the virtual world.

Of course, Xu Jingming's cold resistance and heat endurance training were extremely cold and hot, enough to threaten the body, constantly approaching the limit of death.

In such harsh environments that approached the limit of death, he still had to focus on practicing his spearmanship!

Only by making his mental will more condensed and more focused could he avoid being disturbed.

Therefore, with the three training methods running in parallel, Xu Jingming practiced his spearmanship effectively. His mental will also grew rapidly. Now, his perception of his body was much clearer, and he could almost sense every cell.

"Master, you wanted to see me?" Xu Jingming looked at his master, Liu Hai, with enthusiasm.

"Jingming, how's your cultivation? Have you broken through to the fifth realm?" Liu Hai asked.

Xu Jingming shook his head. "Not yet! I've been stuck at the bottleneck for more than a month."

Liu Hai nodded slightly.

He, too, had been stuck at the bottleneck for more than a month.

"Come over now," Liu Hai said, inviting Xu Jingming to enter his martial arts practice ground.

"Alright." With a light tap, Xu Jingming headed to his master's personal space practice ground.

…

Inside the practice ground.

Xu Jingming appeared out of thin air, smiling as he looked at Liu Hai. "Master, have you made a breakthrough in your cultivation?"

Last time, his master had guided him on how his body should be like water, activating at the thought.

Was he going to guide him again this time?

"I wish I could break through," Liu Hai said with a smile, shaking his head. He pointed to a stone bench beside him. "Sit."

Xu Jingming sat down.

"Let's have a chat." Liu Hai looked at his disciple. "Jingming, your thinking is different from mine. I'm relatively more traditional. Your growth speed is rapid… Now, you're already no less impressive than me, and you might even be stronger than me."

Xu Jingming quickly said, "Master, I'm only at the fourth realm limit right now."

"It's different; your mental state is different." Liu Hai looked at his disciple with a smile. "You're in high spirits and full of fighting spirit. Clearly, you've found your path and are single-mindedly striving forward. As for me… I'm trapped in confusion and bewilderment. Our mental states are completely different. It's only a matter of time before you surpass me."

Liu Hai had been the national team's head coach for so many years and had taught too many disciples.

Just by looking at their mental state, he could deduce a general idea! Those who were trapped in confusion often looked sad or frowned; there was always a faint worry between their brows. It was like a dull knife, its edge gone.

Those who were high-spirited and had sharp eyes were full of confidence! That kind of confidence could infect others.

That was how the two of them were at that moment. Liu Hai was in a state of confusion, while Xu Jingming's mental state could already infect others. As soon as they met, Liu Hai understood the difference between them.

"Master, don't praise me; the more you praise me, the more anxious I get," Xu Jingming immediately said.

Liu Hai smiled. "Let's not talk about that. I want to ask, how did you manage to sense your entire body's cells? What experience do you have?"

"I haven't broken through yet, so I'll just share some simple thoughts," Xu Jingming said without hiding anything. "I believe Master has also received a legacy, so you should know the importance of heart refinement."

Liu Hai nodded.

"At this time, one can only improve one's mental awareness and strengthen it. Only when one's mental awareness is strong enough can one sense the entire body's cells," Xu Jingming said. "How does one strengthen one's mental awareness? Master must know some training methods and meditation techniques."

Liu Hai nodded. "In the legacy I received, there are also some heart refinement methods."

"I think the way to improve in a short period is to temper one's mental will," Xu Jingming said.

"Temper one's mental will?" Liu Hai nodded slightly. "The legacy I received also recorded eighteen methods of tempering one's mental will, but I feel that most of them are not suitable for me. I've only tried practicing six of them…"

"Tempering one's mental will is also divided into realms, right?" Xu Jingming said.

"That's right."

Liu Hai nodded. "Some people try their best to grit their teeth and persevere. Some can treat all external torture as an illusion. The most monstrous are those who, under such tempering, find their spirits becoming more ardent and their mental will becoming more condensed and strengthened."

"Three realms. Naturally, the higher the realm, the better the effect of tempering one's will," Xu Jingming nodded. "Master, you can try to find a method of tempering your will that suits you best."

"I've tried all kinds of methods, but they're all in the first realm—trying to persevere and endure," Liu Hai said with a shake of his head. He looked at his disciple in surprise. "Jingming, you should be in a higher realm, which is why your mental awareness has improved so rapidly?"

Xu Jingming nodded, not hiding anything in front of his master.

"This is talent," Liu Hai said with a smile.

"Perhaps it's because I got used to practicing my spearmanship in pain during those eight or nine years after my leg was broken," Xu Jingming said. "I repeatedly told myself not to be disturbed by the pain, and after a long time, it became an instinct."

The injury to his leg seemed to have healed, but it would ache slightly whenever the weather changed or when it was humid. It would also ache when it was cold, windy, or chilly.

It would also ache when the intensity of his exercise exceeded a certain limit.

However, he couldn't stop exercising. When exercising, he had to maintain an appropriate level that wouldn't worsen his injury. But on the arena… sometimes, he would slightly exceed the limit. Only during the World Martial Arts Tournament would he disregard the aggravation of his injury and use his ultimate moves at critical moments!

This was also the reason why he had to retire at the age of 26. There was no way around it; his injury would worsen significantly every time he fought in a World Tournament.

"Eight or nine years of getting used to practicing your spearmanship in pain?" Liu Hai said thoughtfully. "You didn't have the idea of tempering your mental will back then; you were just focused on practicing your spearmanship. After eight or nine years, the pain gradually couldn't disturb you anymore, and you naturally reached that realm. But now that we're training with the goal of tempering our mental will, it's difficult to do as you did."

"We try to plant flowers intentionally, but they don't bloom; we plant willows unintentionally, and they thrive," Liu Hai said with emotion. "The mind is very complicated."

"It's very complicated," Xu Jingming nodded.

Among Xuan's five heart refinement methods, there were also the methods of reading to clarify the mind and practice, and these two methods were even more important. As Xuan had said, he had practiced for over ten thousand years and later relied on this to break through to the tenth realm.

Clearly, improving one's mind wasn't just about tempering one's will.

"Of course, this might be your talent," Liu Hai said with a smile. "Everyone has different genes, different acquired environments, and different psychological mindsets. Naturally, this talent is also difficult to replicate."

Liu Hai looked at his disciple. "After the virtual world opened, we master and disciple haven't had a good match. Let's have one today."

Xu Jingming's spirit was roused, and he said with a smile, "I was crushed by you last time, Master."

"I was already in the third realm when the virtual world opened. Of course, I could crush you," Liu Hai said. "But now, we're both at the fourth realm limit! The outcome is hard to predict."

Xu Jingming stood up. "Master, you have to be careful."

"Don't worry." Liu Hai also stood up.

Although he knew that his disciple was strong, as the 'master' who had taught his disciple for so many years, his pride still wanted him to defeat his disciple.

"I'll let you know why the master is the master," Liu Hai said. "Let's equip our armor!"

"Alright," Xu Jingming replied solemnly.

Soon.

Master and disciple were both wearing light armor, standing opposite each other from afar. Liu Hai was burly and tall, with a large shield in one hand and a large saber in the other. Xu Jingming, on the other hand, was wearing dark-red armor and holding a black spear.

Even though he was facing his master, as long as he was fighting, Xu Jingming had the desire to defeat his opponent! What's more… the person in front of him was his master, the master he had never defeated in all these years.

From the time he entered the national team until now, he had never won any sparring matches!

Xu Jingming really wanted to win! But he was also well aware of his master's combat prowess.

The desire to fight and the strength of his master—all of this made Xu Jingming's mental awareness even more condensed, making his desire to win this battle even stronger.

"Very good." Liu Hai could feel the trembling of his heart.

This rapidly growing disciple gave him a strong sense of threat.

Moreover, as a master, he instinctively wanted to win! This instinct and sense of pride made his mental awareness even more condensed.

"You make the first move," Liu Hai said.