"Th-this…"
King Lufei froze for a moment. But sensing that the turtle elder before him wasn't deceiving him, he thought it over and removed the straw hat from his head, placing it gently to the side.
"Good child!"
The turtle elder nodded in satisfaction, praising him.
"Grandpa, teach me!"
"How can I become faster?" King Lufei couldn't help asking.
When facing the Heavenly Dao Five Calamities, King Lufei had once experienced that terrifying state—
over a million punches in a single strike!
Invincible!
At that moment, he had been absurdly powerful.
But unfortunately…
Once he exited that state known as Sudden Enlightenment, forget a million punches—even ten thousand punches in a single strike were beyond him. He couldn't even reach a thousand.
After the battle ended, King Lufei had racked his brain, tried every possible method… yet he still couldn't reproduce that million-punch strike.
He was truly at a loss.
"Child, you're too impatient,"
the turtle elder said with a gentle smile. He suddenly raised a hand and casually pointed into the void.
A flower appeared.
"Hmm?"
King Lufei turned to look.
A white flower bud slowly bloomed, petal by petal, until it became a vivid, breathtaking blossom.
"Now look again,"
the turtle elder said, pointing once more.
King Lufei looked up—and saw golden raindrops falling softly from the sky, drifting down at a leisurely pace.
"..."
King Lufei vaguely sensed something… but still didn't quite grasp it.
"For you, only a single breath has passed,"
the turtle elder said calmly.
"But for that flower, for that raindrop—this moment is the most brilliant instant of their existence. One could even say… it is their entire lifetime."
"Grandpa, I don't understand,"
King Lufei asked honestly.
"What does this have to do with becoming faster?"
"Come,"
the turtle elder smiled.
"Try throwing your fastest punch."
"Alright!"
King Lufei didn't hesitate. He instantly activated Second Gear!
"Intent!"
In the next instant, four layers of Intent merged into one, transforming into Dao patterns that wrapped around King Lufei's right fist!
"BOOM!!!"
His punch was thrown in an instant—the sound came after the strike!
The punch broke the sound barrier!
"Good!"
The turtle elder nodded approvingly.
"Now… try this."
With a faint smile, he casually grabbed a handful of leaves and gave them a light shake.
Instantly, countless leaves floated up into the air.
"!"
Without thinking, King Lufei raised both fists and began wildly punching!
But when the leaves finally drifted to the ground…
he had only shattered a few hundred of them.
"I can't do it!"
"There are too many leaves!" King Lufei said, frustrated.
"Then let's switch,"
the turtle elder said calmly.
"You throw the leaves."
"???"
King Lufei was stunned, but still crouched down, grabbed a massive handful—at least ten thousand leaves—and flung them into the air.
Then he stared at the turtle elder, curious to see what he would do.
The turtle elder moved.
His hand rose very slowly—
so slowly it looked like slow motion.
King Lufei watched as the elder's hand gently passed the first leaf…
then the second…
then the third…
And then—
The ten-thousandth leaf.
"!!!"
When King Lufei snapped back to his senses, he was horrified to discover—
Before a single leaf had touched the ground, every one of them had already been sliced perfectly in half, clean and precise, suspended midair!
"How… how did you do that?!"
King Lufei rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he'd seen.
"Time is a very wondrous thing,"
the turtle elder said slowly.
"It is like flowing water. Whether you want it or not, it never stops moving."
"Some people lie within the current and drift downstream. Their speed grows faster and faster. They reach the end before others—but the scenery they see along the way is very, very little."
"But some people…"
"They choose to swim upstream."
"It is extremely difficult. Even exhausting every ounce of strength may only slow the flow by a tiny bit. But as long as they don't give up—so long as they continue struggling with everything they have—even if they are eventually carried to the end…"
"The scenery they experience will be far, far richer."
"I believe you have already experienced what it means to swim upstream."
...
The turtle elder spoke calmly.
"!!!"
King Lufei's eyes widened!
The elder's words struck him with sudden enlightenment.
They weren't particularly profound.
Nor were they especially complex.
They were simply… about life.
One breath for him was merely a breath.
But for a raindrop, that breath was its entire journey from birth to ground.
For a flower, that breath was its life from bud to bloom.
Then—
What about beings whose cultivation and realms far surpassed his own?
Was his entire lifetime… nothing more than a single breath to them?
King Lufei had always believed that time was fixed.
That to punch faster, he needed stronger muscles, higher limits, and greater physical power.
But the turtle elder's words opened an entirely new world for him.
What could be done within a single breath…
was not decided by time—
But by will.
Changing everything does not rely solely on brute physical strength.
Perhaps… one's will also plays a role.
And more importantly—
King Lufei had once experienced that wondrous state of a million punches in a single strike, even if it had been during Sudden Enlightenment!
"Try again,"
the turtle elder said with a gentle smile, casually waving his hand.
Once more, over ten thousand leaves floated into the air.
"!"
A sharp light flashed in King Lufei's eyes as he suddenly threw a punch!
This time—
What erupted was no longer just the power of Intent.
But—
The power of his life!
The power of his soul!
And the power of his will!
"This single breath—
is my breath!"
In the past, King Lufei had relied on brute physical force to drive his fists.
But now—
He was using his will to command his fists!
What could be accomplished within a single breath—
Was no longer determined by the state of his body.
It was determined by King Lufei's will!
"Faster!"
"Even faster!"
"Faster still!"
...
As King Lufei's will erupted, an immense spiritual pressure spread outward, sweeping across the surroundings!
Everything around him seemed to slow down.
Yet King Lufei could clearly feel—
His fists were becoming faster and faster!
One punch!
Ten punches!
A hundred punches!
A thousand punches!
Ten thousand punches!
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!"
Within a single breath—
All ten thousand leaves were shattered into powder!
One strike—ten thousand punches!
"I… actually did it!"
King Lufei stared at the shattered leaves covering the ground, still unable to believe it.
In the past, King Lufei had been obsessed with a certain Pirate King.
Everything he did was learning from and imitating that figure.
As a result, he had long formed a fixed belief—
That the limits of his body represented the limits of his potential.
But now…
Under the guidance of the turtle elder, King Lufei felt as though he had truly stepped into an entirely new world!
The world of Intent!
What determined his limits was no longer his physical body—
But his will and his heart!
"Thank you, Grandpa!
Grandpa…?"
King Lufei turned around excitedly—
But everything miraculous he had seen before had vanished.
Before him lay nothing but a desolate desert.
It was as if everything that had happened earlier had been nothing more than an illusion.
Just then—
That familiar voice sounded once more.
"You are a good child—pure and sincere."
"I have already perished for tens of millions of years. To meet you now… allows this final remnant of my obsession to finally disperse in peace."
"Child… remember your heart. Remember for whom your fists are raised."
"Do not let outsiders or the rules of the world bind you."
"Your heart is free."
"And everything about you… is free."
...
The turtle elder's voice echoed like a distant aftersound, slowly lingering—
before finally fading away.
"Grandpa!!!"
King Lufei burst into tears.
Even though they had only met once—
He could not stop himself from crying.
After a long, long time, King Lufei finally calmed down.
"Thank you, Grandpa!"
"I will never forget who my fists are raised for!"
he said solemnly.
Then—
He picked up the straw hat once more.
This time, when King Lufei placed the straw hat back on his head, he no longer felt that invisible sense of restraint.
Yes.
"My heart… is free!"
"And so—I, King Lufei, am free as well!!!"
...
King Lufei raised both arms and let out a thunderous roar!
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"
His Intent erupted at tenfold, a hundredfold—even a thousandfold from its previous scale, sweeping across a thousand li in all directions!
At this moment—
King Lufei finally grasped the true essence of Intent!
Author's Notes:
Previously, King Lufei believed that matter determines the world—that only having greater physical strength allowed one to accomplish greater feats. This was also the cultivation philosophy of the Immortal Emperor Era.
But after comprehending the true essence of Intent, King Lufei reached a state where will determines matter.
Water extinguishes fire? Intent can make fire extinguish water.
Iron is harder than wood? Intent can allow wood to cut iron.
This is will altering the material world.
When Intent continues to rise, one enters an even higher realm—the Dao—which will appear in later arcs.
As for beings like Immortal Emperors: they can already create laws, even entire worlds. Within those worlds, all rules are defined by them.
The story will only grow more exciting. After the Grand Secret Realm concludes, the Fourth Beta Test Phase will begin!
As for the turtle elder—
all that can be said is this:
He lived in an era earlier than the Primordial Era…
earlier even than the birth of the Heavenly Dao itself.