Ethan Brooks's heart surged with a tremendous wave as he recalled the words spoken by the Void Troll before its death: “You got lucky, you little ant…” Only now did he gain a deeper understanding of that sentence.

　　After repeatedly comparing the contents of the silk scroll, Ethan Brooks realized that the method he had developed over the past three years—pushing his body to its limits to unlock its potential—was, in fact, the most primitive form of barbarian martial cultivation.

　　As for the awakening of the barbarian soul in barbarian martial cultivation, although it was a closely guarded secret among the various tribes, it ultimately came down to the ten characters written at the very beginning of the silk scroll: “Heavenly marks and earthly forms, Dao essence born of nature, all things possess spirit, visualization brings forth the method.” This was strikingly similar to the visualization secret arts of the major sects in Yunzhou.

　　However, visualization secret arts such as the Vajra Form were also closely guarded secrets of the major Yunzhou sects, and the remaining silk scroll contained no further details. Yet, Arthur Green had appended at the end of the scroll a secret boxing manual called “The Five Forms of the Great Roc.”

　　At this point, Ethan Brooks's heart pounded wildly again, secretly marveling at how many surprises this silk scroll had brought him.

　　In the scroll, Arthur Green stated that the Great Roc Secret Boxing was merely a foundational cultivation method for martial practitioners in Yunzhou, but that there was no essential difference between martial and barbarian martial arts, making it a perfect first step for Ethan Brooks to embark on the path of barbarian martial cultivation.

Chapter 007: Is It a Dream or the Sea of Soul

　　By now, night had fully fallen, and Ethan Brooks lit a homemade oil lamp.

　　A palm-sized clay bowl was filled with wild beast fat, a dried grass wick poking out slightly, and the bean-sized flame flickered in the hut, casting Ethan Brooks's thin figure in wavering shadows on the drafty wooden wall.

　　The Great Roc Secret Boxing consisted of five illustrated forms, each picture depicting a different stance.

　　Ethan Brooks carefully removed the first illustration from the silk scroll and spread it out under the lamp, seeing that it was densely covered with tiny characters.

　　Perhaps Arthur Green had worried about accurately translating the techniques into the barbarian script, so the tiny characters on the manual were written in Yunzhou script, which Ethan Brooks did not recognize. It bore some resemblance to the Western Wasteland barbarian script, but was much more complex, and many characters could only be guessed at for their general meaning.

　　At this, Ethan Brooks was at a loss again.

　　Although he could roughly guess the meaning, any slight misunderstanding of the technique could lead him astray. How was he supposed to continue cultivating the Five Forms of the Great Roc?

　　Even in the village, not even Grandpa Clark could read Yunzhou script.

　　However, of Arthur Hill drawing skills were exquisite.

　　Amidst the tiny characters of the technique, the figure depicted with outstretched wings, though its face was blurred, conveyed a sense of soaring and striking that was mysterious and hard to describe.

　　Ethan Brooks found that all five illustrations were like this, so he calmed himself, sat cross-legged on the ground, and, following the general meaning of the technique, began visualizing the figure in his mind.

　　Visualizing the boxing forms was not simply imagining the figure in one's mind, but required the mind to enter the sea of soul and imprint the forms there. The major sects of Yunzhou called this “visualizing the form,” which was remarkably similar to the awakening of the barbarian soul.

　　To visualize the boxing forms was to manifest the barbarian soul.

　　Put more simply, it was mental imprinting.

　　The sea of soul, Ethan Brooks guessed, might refer to the human subconscious.

　　But the reason the subconscious is “sub,” is that it cannot be detected by ordinary means—so how could the mind enter it?

　　All the major sects in Yunzhou had secret arts for visualizing forms, but Arthur Green had not provided detailed instructions in the remaining silk scroll, only the brief phrase: “Enter extreme stillness and silence, let the mind enter the sea of soul, and myriad forms will arise.” This left Ethan Brooks completely at a loss.

　　Extreme stillness and silence, mind entering the sea of soul…

　　Did this mean that when a person reached a state of extreme stillness and silence, the mind would naturally enter the subconscious, enter the sea of soul to imprint the forms, and thus visualize the form?

　　But how to enter a state of extreme stillness and silence?

　　Ethan Brooks scratched his head for a long time, but could not find a way.

　　After repeatedly poring over the silk scroll, he finally found a discussion between Arthur Green and a Yunzhou cultivator named Ryan Hill about entering the state of visualizing the form while practicing martial secret boxing.

　　Both believed that martial secret boxing resonated with the Dao, was a manifestation of heavenly marks and earthly forms, and that with persistent cultivation, when body and intent became one, and intent and mind became one, the sea of soul would naturally open, allowing entry into the state of visualizing the form.

　　Body and intent as one, intent and mind as one?

　　Ethan Brooks did not know exactly what it meant for body and intent to be one, but at least he had found a way to begin. He thought that Henry Clark and the others had long practiced barbarian martial arts and only later awakened their barbarian souls, which was actually a martial cultivation method as well.

　　Ethan Brooks stood up, imitated the figure in the illustration, and stretched out his arms in the motion of the roc's strike.

　　※※※

　　Trapped in this world, Ethan Brooks had long grown used to a dull and flavorless life. Even such a simple movement, repeated thousands of times, did not bore him.

　　After a bout of practice, clear morning light shone through the cracks in the wall; he hadn't expected the night to pass so quickly.

　　Ethan Brooks remembered that the village would hold a soul sacrifice that night, so he had to set aside his boxing practice for now. He carefully put away the five boxing manuals and a black python pill, kept them close, and lay down on the animal skin mat to rest with his eyes closed.

　　Perhaps he had exhausted too much energy during the night, and sleeping in his simple hut made him feel at ease, so Ethan Brooks soon fell into a deep sleep.