Epic Of Caterpillar

Chapter 2776 - 2777: Sealed

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Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my soul.

And then, bright golden chains wrapped around it somewhere.

And something...

Suddenly felt amiss.

”What...?”

I felt like something...

Was completely gone now.

”...”

Shocked, I glanced back at Wasp.

”W-What did you do to me?!”

”I used an Innate Ability Sealing Art,” Wasp explained. ”Your father taught it to me to restrain your innate talent and abilities, so you could further polish your true self instead of relying on gifts given to you when you were born.”

He means my System?!

He knew it existed?!

Wait! Did my dad also know?!

”You canʼt just do that!” I said angrily. ”T-Thatʼs my...!”

”Young lady, weʼve known for a while that you possess some kind of Divine Artifact-type Innate Ability,” explained Wasp. ”Your father believes it is related to your motherʼs ancient heritage or something. It allows you to easily use spells and techniques, right? Without you even needing to learn them.”

”Y-Yes...” I admitted the truth without trying to argue back, realizing I was being read like a book.

”The power of that artifact doesnʼt grant you anything you donʼt already possess,” he explained. ”Therefore, from now on, you will try to attain that power without using the artifact within your soul. The spells, techniques, and powers you have shown are all extensions of your true self. Through practice, training, and cultivation, not only will you reawaken them, but they will become stronger, more flexible, and will unify and sharpen themselves into more powerful weapons, tools, and arts than you could ever have imagined.”

”...?!” I was shocked when I heard that. ”Really?”

”I am not lying to you,” he said with his expressionless face. ”Young lady, your talent is special. Look at your Aura and your Sword. Your body is rapidly evolving. You have already attained Martial Awakening without even realizing it.”

”...Martial Awakening?!” I asked.

”Itʼs the first stage that a mortal undergoes as they gather Ki inside their bodies and shape it into Power to fight with their weapons,” explained Wasp. ”Right now, youʼve attained the first stage of five.”

”I did?!” I asked. ”Wait, let me see!”

I stopped fighting and then looked at my own inner body.

Within the once empty Meridians and my Dantian...

There was now a white essence flowing freely. It had no element or specific shape.

It was literally just pure Ki, not even tainted with my chaos.

It was... great.

It felt nice!

”After we sparred for four hours, you have already reached the first stage! This is unprecedented growth,” he said. ”It took me ten years to get where you did.”

”What are the other stages?” I asked.

”Well...”

Wasp explained to me the Five Stages of Martial Awakening.

The First Stage, Martial Awakening, where the martial artist ascends from a mere mortal to a martial artist, manipulating internal energy (Ki), which is their very life force, to fight.

The Second Stage, Martial Mastery, where the martial artist masters a technique and polishes it above the rest to become someone extraordinary. Their ability to manipulate Ki becomes masterful.

The Third Stage, Martial Ascension, where the martial artist evolves their martial arts and combines it with their Ki to create special phenomena as they fight. This paves the way for them to create their own unique fighting styles.

The Fourth Stage, Martial Evolution, where the martial artist evolves their ascended mastery to the next level, developing their unique Martial Art and Style of combat, and can further manifest their Life force (Ki) through their techniques.

And lastly, the Fifth Stage, Martial Peak, where a master among masters has mastered their Martial Arts and polished them to the extent they feel like magic. From this stage, their Life force greatly improves, and they become qualified to begin Cultivating the Five Elements.

”As you can see, technically, you were merely a mortal before,” Wasp said. ”Now, youʼre finally at the beginning of your Martial Path. Once you reach Martial Peak, you will gain the qualifications to begin cultivating.”

”Wait, what? I donʼt have them yet?!” I asked angrily.

”Technically, you do, but you risk a great backlash, and youʼll cripple yourself,” he said. ”You need to use Martial Arts to further refine your ability to control internal energy to become qualified to cultivate. Your father wanted you to grow as much as possible before the exams begin, so letʼs continue.”

”Hm, okay,” I nodded. ”So, what now? Can I read anything?”

”Yes, at your stage, you should read this,” Wasp said, giving me the [Records of the Man Who Went Against the World]. ”This is a book that will teach you great insights about how to further refine your martial arts.”

”And the others?” I asked.

”Letʼs wait until you achieve the third or fourth stage of the Martial Path first,” he said.

”Okay...” I sighed.

He was surprisingly a nice teacher when he put his energy into it...

I sat down and opened the book, beginning to read it.

It wasnʼt as long as I thought, only fifty pages.

By accelerating my thought process by infusing Ki into my brain, I was able to read and memorize the entire book in under ten minutes.

Leaving the book aside, I closed my eyes and recalled the book in my mind several times.

It was a tale of a single man living in ancient East Asia, a farmer named Yeo Jin. He was poor and weak but always worked earnestly for his family.

However, one day, a series of tragedies struck his simple life. His two parents were killed after being robbed by bandits, and his sister caught a terrible illness, becoming bedridden.

Trying to find a cure and also seeking people to help him avenge his parents, Yeo Jin only faced the harshness of reality as people simply ignored him, mocked him, or harmed him.

Nobody would help him.

Nobody would advise him.

Nobody would give him anything.

Not even if he begged for a whole day. There was nobody who would ever show even a glimpse of kindness to him.

He was alone against the world.

And so, with his bare hands, he started punching trees. With his farming tools, he began to dig the dirt wherever he went.

He went to hunt larger creatures, more and more.

He fought alone, and on his own, attained Martial Awakening unknowingly.

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