Chapter 114: Chapter 114

This session of Force-Sensing sparring lasted for nearly half an hour. By comparing it with the Knight state he achieved through his Secret Pattern Programs, Ron quickly discerned the differences.

When it came to the effects on “body refinement,” the Knight state obtained through Secret Pattern Programs was certainly more suited for body strengthening. But if the goal was combat, the Whole-Body Force state that Monte demonstrated was far more appropriate.

At the same time, during this brief training session, Ron also discovered a misconception he had fallen into in the past, which was believing that Knights maintained one hundred percent Whole-Body Force at all times.

But in reality, the Whole-Body Force plan that Monte demonstrated was far more combat-oriented, with almost no moments of complete Whole-Body Force. Ron didn’t believe for a second that Monte was incapable of achieving it, yet he still provided such a plan. This alone was sufficient to prove that Knights didn’t need to maintain one hundred percent Whole-Body Force at every moment.

Come to think of it, it made perfect sense. During combat, if even a feint employed one hundred percent Whole-Body Force, wouldn’t it simply become a committed strike?

Furthermore, if all strength were concentrated in the hands or the sword, fatal vulnerabilities might appear elsewhere. Therefore, retaining reserve force was a matter that demanded considerable experience and skill.

Beyond these shifts in understanding, Ron also detected a subtle characteristic in the way Monte’s force flowed during this brief training session, one that he had never noticed in Jason.

Ron suspected that Monte possessed some technique that allowed changes in force, which were fundamentally changes in bone, muscle, and tissue, to become more coordinated and rapid, as if a second brain were assisting in completing this transformation process.

This also meant that as long as Monte wished, he could maintain a state of one hundred percent Whole-Body Force at any time.

…

“That’s enough for today. Go home and carefully reflect on the training process just now. Come early tomorrow!”

Monte offered a few simple instructions before dismissing Ron.

Walking home, the setting sun stretched Ron’s shadow long. As he walked, he continued to ponder the training he had just undergone. In truth, purely from the perspective of rapidly advancing to Knight, the training Monte had just given him was no longer particularly significant.

Even subsequent training sessions might prove similar, falling far short of directly entering the Knight state through his Secret Pattern Programs.

But Monte’s training held tremendous significance for his understanding of Knight combat. Without Monte, he might have needed to gradually figure out these experiences and techniques through prolonged combat in the future.

Now, with Monte as a shortcut, he could even attempt to convert those techniques into Secret Pattern Programs. Doing so would, on one hand, allow him to accumulate more Secret Pattern Programs, preparing for his future remote-controlled “Gundam” plan.

On the other hand, the very process of converting them into Secret Pattern Programs would also be a process of understanding and familiarizing himself with the essence of those combat experiences and techniques.

Acquiring experience and technique through continuous training and acquiring experience and technique through research were not mutually exclusive. The two complemented each other. However, the former was absolutely indispensable, while the latter depended on individual circumstances.

…

Soon, Ron returned home.

He no longer needed to search through “Ron’s” memories to skillfully start a fire. Having come from a great nation of gastronomy, the flatbread he made was also far more refined than what the original “Ron” could have produced.

As the fire in the hearth gradually came to life, a chill crept over Ron, one that came from his mind.

An ancient sage from his homeland once wrote, “A lone stranger in a foreign land, on every festive day I miss my family doubly.” Although it wasn’t any particular festival right now, and he had already been here for over a month, whenever he was alone, he still couldn’t help but yearn for his homeland, missing the family and friends he had left behind.

He knew he might never be able to return, but this homesickness was impossible to suppress. Previously, he had always used training to numb himself, but now he was about to enter a new stage.

At this point, the training itself was no longer the main source of meaning. What mattered more was his own reflection, research, and comprehension. With more thoughts crowding his mind, homesickness came rushing in to assail him.

“Sigh…”

Ron didn’t view his homesickness as a barrier. Although, for someone desperate for a breakthrough like him, this superfluous emotion could indeed be considered a hindrance, he still had no intention of discarding it or deliberately avoiding it.

Lying in the small hut where the only sound was the crackling of firewood in the hearth, he carefully savored that emotion. Prolonged immersion in a body that didn’t belong to him inevitably gave rise to doubts about his own origins.

Before today, he had wondered more than once whether he might actually be a native of this world, merely having memories related to Earth implanted by some powerful entity.

The more such thoughts accumulated, combined with his complete immersion in another person’s body, the more Ron succumbed to self-doubt.

But at the same time, the truths carried within those Earth memories were indeed genuine and unwavering, and ones he deeply believed in. For instance, “I think, therefore I am.”

Even if he truly were a native of this world, the past experiences and emotional journeys shaped by those Earth memories were undeniably real. Together, these had forged his soul.

Or, more precisely, his mind!

From the standpoint of “I think, therefore I am,” he was a genuine Earthling.

It was just that completely inhabiting “Ron’s” body had delivered a tremendous shock to him, and homesickness was the very remedy he used to anchor his self-identity and dispel the phantom of being in the wrong body!

…

After a moment of sentiment, Ron allowed his body to rest while his consciousness returned to his true Light Orb. This process should have allowed him to dispel the slight perceptual phantom brought on by fully inhabiting “Ron’s” body, but right now, this orb was inconsistent with the body he cognitively recognized. So, homesickness was still the more effective cure.

With a thought, a list constructed from Pollution Secret Patterns appeared before him:

/*

*【Name】: Vessel Ron

*【Transcendent Level】: Level 3 (The degree to which the body has adapted to Transcendent Factors; also the limit of physical enhancement, and the Breathing Technique level)

*【Breathing Technique Synchronization Progress】: 76%

*【Life Energy】: 300/300 (The limit is related to the Transcendent Level, currently recorded as Level 3)

*【Physical Enhancement】: Level 2 (Apprentice Level) 30%

*【Bloodline Development】: 1%

*【Whole-Body Force Progress】: 85% (Can enter the Knight state via the Transcendent Body Refinement Technique to achieve 100% Combined Force, but cannot sustain it)

*【Mental Combined Force Progress】: 58% (Focus level is relatively high, but still unable to unify distracting thoughts; can only temporarily discard them)

*【Pollution Secret Pattern Capacity Limit】: 3,000,000 (Will increase as one delves deeper on the path of transcendence)

*【Total Pollution Secret Patterns】: Over 2,700,000 (Can be purified via the Radiant Maxims)

*【New Pollution Secret Patterns】: 1,000 (Increases by at least 1k daily; more when outside the territory)

*【Pollution Secret Pattern Ratio】: 90%

*【Secret Pattern Programs】: Transcendent Body Refinement Technique (integrated from the Comprehensive Body Refinement Technique and the Twelve Sword Stances), Fire Concealment Method

*【Programs Pending Integration】: Ice Breathing Technique

*/

Looking at his Whole-Body Force progress, which had now climbed to 85%, Ron couldn’t help but feel a surge of accomplishment ripple through his heart. This was all the fruit of his tireless day-and-night efforts!

“Just 15% more, and I can advance!”

Ron silently encouraged himself. In truth, with his current 85% Whole-Body Force progress, he could already attempt advancement.

Although neither Instructor Morris nor Captain Monte had mentioned the impact of Whole-Body Force progress on one’s post-advancement state, the fact that the territory consistently emphasized Sword Stance training, and that the Sword Stance state was directly linked to Whole-Body Force progress, suggested that the percentage at which one advanced would indeed affect subsequent development.

It was simply a matter of personal choice: whether to invest time now in completing one hundred percent Whole-Body Force progress, or to spend time later compensating for deficiencies from this stage.

And in his heart, Ron had already made his decision.