Chapter 1406: Difficulty

Rui had many uncertainties. If the Martial Mind was simply the part of the mind that was untapped, then why did Master Reina say that it didn't exist? Why did she say that he needed to create it?

That didn't make sense. Which meant his understanding was lacking.

Of course, he recognized that she was enjoying his frustration. He had grown accustomed to it over the past eighteen months.

"Alright, stop glaring at me like that. I'll explain." She laughed, before her demeanor grew more serious. "You have a deep understanding of the brain and mind, yet let us visit it once more. The brain and mind are not synonymous, though they are deeply intertwined. The brain is a vessel for the mind, while the mind is like water that fills the vessel. Now, what if I told you that there was an adjacent compartment of the vessel that was not filled with any water? What if I told you that this compartment of the vessel was empty?"

Realization dawned on him. "Then you could fill that compartment with water. This way, you could have more water. You could have more mind."

"That's right." She nodded. "The evolution process of the Squire breakthrough process has created that compartment, or at least made it bigger than it was. Right now it is empty and thus useless. So how does one fill it? How did the Martial Seniors centuries ago fill it?"

Rui's eyes swam around as he was lost in his thoughts. "...With the power of thought."

She grinned. "That's right. The Martial Seniors created the water to fill the compartment with the power of thought. They created thought that was so deep, complex, and sophisticated that they managed to fill the compartment to the brim. Yet, that alone was not enough to fully tap into its power. A final push was needed. A push to break the barriers between the side compartment and main vessel."

Rui's eyes widened. "The fight that pushed them past their limits, allowing them to discover their Martial Mind. This part is identical to the breakthrough to the Senior Realm!"

"Correct." She nodded. "The difference is that the Martial Heart is more convenient, it is already created, just waiting to be harnessed. The Martial Mind does not exist until one fills that empty side compartment with water. Only then does it completely exist. That is why breaking through to the Master Realm is much harder than breaking through to the Senior Realm. That is why there is a distinction between the Lower and the Upper Realms. It is harder, yet the rewards are worth the effort."

Rui's mind furiously processed what he had just heard. "Wait a minute. If the vessel is the brain, and the water is the mind, then what is the Martial Heart in this analogy?"

"..." She simply stared at him, before scratching her head. "I have never been good at analogies. However, the Martial Heart is needed because thought is a very costly action. It requires a lot of energy. Much of the energy of the human body is consumed by the brain because of how costly cognitive processes are. I suppose the vessel-water analogy isn't a good one because there is no place for the Martial Heart."

"It's fine." Rui had a better analogy. An analogy that was far more accurate and relevant.

The untapped latent potential of the brain could be treated as a computer without an operating system. In order to use the computer, one needed to install an operating system. In order to switch on the computer, one needed a power source.

'The operating system is the Martial Mind. The power source is the Martial Heart. The computer is the latent and untapped part of the brain that evolved after the Squire evolution breakthrough process.' Rui mused as his mind furiously processed all the information at hand. 'In other words, Martial Seniors need to create operating system software, the Martial Mind, and then install it into the computer, the untapped part of the cerebrum, and then need a power source, the Martial Heart, and then need to switch on the computer, the trigger.'

The Martial Seniors before the first Martial Master did not know that they were inadvertently creating the Martial Mind when they began extensively employing the power of thought to better apply their power in combat. The first Martial Master had inadvertently created his Martial Mind after decades of refining systems and frameworks of thought, strategy, tactics, analytics, and many other cognitive processes that could help in combat.

"So that's the big reveal." She huffed, leaning back. "If you want to become a Martial Master, then think, young man. Think. You need to think more. Think deeper. Only the power of thought can elevate you to a higher Realm of power."

She paused for a moment. "Well, the truth is more nuanced. Thought is not the only kind of cognition or mental process. But 'power of cognition' doesn't sound as profound as the 'power of thought', does it?"

Rui caught on to something there. "Meaning that one can create a Martial Mind out of subconscious processes?"

"Of course. It all depends on how conscious versus subconscious your Martial Art inherently is." She explained. "Some Martial Art are quite subconscious in nature, in that case, they ought to create a Martial Mind that reflects that."

Rui thought Frinjschia had a Martial Art that relied entirely on thoughtless muscle memory. It appeared that she too would be able to create a Martial Mind.

"To answer your original question that led to this discussion...the reason you're going to have the hardest time reaching the Master Realm is that the difficulty of creating the Martial Mind is directly proportional to the power of the Martial Mind. And the power of the Martial Mind is proportional to the power of the mind." She smirked mischievously. "Do you get my drift?"

Rui heaved a sigh, understanding what she was conveying. "I'm going to have a much harder time because my mind is too powerful."

"The Martial Mind gives me a powerful and vast awareness, especially when it comes to other minds. That's why I can clearly see it. Your mind is like a swimming pool if the average Martial Senior is like a bathtub. Good luck trying to fill that up!" She laughed. "...Still, if you do fill it up, then I can't begin to fathom how powerful you will become."