At the very instant he fell asleep, his spiritual sea of consciousness suddenly opened, and countless tiny rays of light emerged from every part of his body. In the blink of an eye, above his sea of consciousness, a human-shaped silhouette the size of a silkworm cocoon condensed, like a golden roc spreading its wings to soar and strike...

Ethan Brooks woke with a start. That moment just now felt like a dream, or perhaps “dream” was the only way to explain the instant when the human-shaped silhouette appeared.

The sensation was so intense, profound, and vivid that even after waking from the dream, the clarity of it—so real it felt as if he held it in his hand—was deeply etched into his mind, impossible to erase.

He could not only sense the soaring, indescribable intent of that wing-spreading strike, but also clearly feel the changes in the flow of his blood and energy, and the intertwining of his muscles.

And in that instant, the feeling of his mind extending along his arms into the infinite distance gave him an even more mysterious realization...

Ethan Brooks didn’t dwell on where these sensations came from. Instead, following the insight the human-shaped silhouette in his dream had given him, he stretched out his arms. The moment his mind extended along his arms, he felt a crystalline clarity, as if his entire soul and spirit had seeped into his muscles, bones, and flesh. Instantly, his arms brimmed with boundless strength, as if all the potential in his body had been activated at that moment.

Waves surged in the lake of Ethan Brooks’s heart, as if whipped up by a fierce wind:

Is this the “Soaring Strike Stance”?

In the next instant, Ethan Brooks was utterly certain:

This is truly the unity of body and mind!

The true first stance of the Roc Secret Fist!

As soon as Ethan Brooks relaxed his mind, the feeling of power in his arms faded as well, and then his arms felt sore and numb, as if all the energy in his body had been drained in that brief moment.

Ethan Brooks remembered that he’d felt this way before, when dragging the Black-Scaled Jiao back. At that time, too, as soon as he relaxed his mind, the rope suddenly felt hundreds of pounds heavier, and he’d nearly been pulled into the water.

The unity of body and mind, the state of utter stillness and silence—what a strange feeling!

Was the space where the human-shaped silhouette appeared that mysterious sea of consciousness?

Only now did Ethan Brooks realize that he hadn’t actually fallen asleep just now, but had inadvertently entered a state of unity between body and mind, of utter stillness and silence, and had inscribed the first stance of the Roc Secret Fist in his sea of consciousness.

A huge wave rose in Ethan Brooks’s heart, countless questions surfacing, all needing to be digested one by one. More importantly, he had to remember this feeling of unity between body and mind, of utter stillness and silence.

※※※

“What’s wrong, you didn’t sleep all night?” Edward Clark pushed the door open and came in, seeing Ethan Brooks standing in the shack like a dumb bear.

Seeing Grandpa Edward Clark come in, Ethan Brooks, who had been fretting about not having anyone to answer his questions, told Grandpa Edward Clark all about his experiences that night.

“Show me the Soaring Strike Stance again!”

Edward Clark’s cloudy, triangular old eyes, almost hidden by the wrinkles in his sockets, suddenly gleamed when he heard Ethan Brooks’s story. He quickly closed the drafty wooden door and had Ethan Brooks demonstrate the first stance of the Roc Secret Fist for him.

Ignoring his fatigue, Ethan Brooks extended his mind and then stretched out his arms.

This time, as he performed the Soaring Strike Stance, not only did his mind extend, but he could even more clearly feel the flow of energy and blood in his arms, and the stretching and relaxing of his muscles.

At the same time, his mind naturally entered that mysterious, unfathomable space.

This mysterious space was within his body—it was indeed the sea of consciousness.

There was no need for deliberate visualization; countless tiny divine lights emerged from his body’s energy and blood, gathering above the soul sea into a human-shaped silhouette.

Ethan Brooks felt his arms fill with immense power, certain that if he threw a punch, he could blast this shabby shack to pieces.

“Subtlety! True subtlety!” Edward Clark could not contain his shock, exclaiming in amazement, then muttering to himself as if caught in an indescribable frenzy, “Truly the favor of the ancestors—Edward Clark can actually witness someone reach subtlety in a single night in his lifetime…”

Seeing Grandpa Edward Clark so agitated, Ethan Brooks was at a loss for words. He didn’t think it was all that remarkable—wasn’t it just that he happened to master the first move of the Roc Secret Fist in a single night? Was that really so extraordinary?

After Grandpa Edward Clark’s excitement had subsided a little, Ethan Brooks asked:

“What is ‘subtlety’?”

Edward Clark collected himself, looking at Ethan Brooks as if he were a rare treasure, and sighed softly:

“Two years ago, when Samuel Clark brought you back to the village, I knew you were extraordinary, but I never imagined you’d defy the heavens to this extent. It’s just a pity you’re not a child of Wu Mang. Though you’re down on your luck now, in the end you’ll still have to leave Wu Mang, like an eagle returning to the vast sky…”

Ethan Brooks thought of Earth, far away across the starry sea, and felt a pang of sorrow. He said,

“A Xun doesn’t know where his homeland is. Wu Mang is A Xun’s home. Grandpa, Henry Clark—they are A Xun’s family.”

“This pond of Wu Mang is just too small for you.”

Edward Clark sighed softly, his face seeming more wrinkled than ever, as if regretting that a genius like Ethan Brooks was not a child of Wu Mang. But he also knew that truly keeping Ethan Brooks in Wu Mang would only be a waste of his talent.