Chapter 85: Existence

Adam stared at the panel.

In the span of just a few minutes, it had undergone massive changes, changes that would normally take most martial artists years, sometimes an entire lifetime, to achieve.

His gaze went to the first line that mattered.

Rank: Profound Apprentice.

Adam let the words sink in.

He wasn’t just an apprentice.

He was a Profound Apprentice.

Normally, the prefix attached to a martial artist’s rank came from the grade of their martial spirit.

But Adam hadn’t even manifested a martial spirit yet. Which meant this prefix wasn’t describing something he already had. It was describing what he was destined to awaken.

Adam understood that immediately.

Cultivation talent dictated the upper ceiling of a martial spirit one could awaken. Cultivation F and G, his former category, were only capable of producing regular martial spirits at best. That had been the invisible wall pressing down on him ever since he awakened.

But Cultivation D and E were different.

They could give birth to profound spirits.

Adam’s lips curved upward slightly.

That was expected.

With Cultivation D equipped, anything lower than Profound would have been an error.

If the panel had labeled him otherwise, Adam would have questioned the legitimacy of the entire thing.

The feeling that followed wasn’t explosive; it was steadily grounding. A quiet elation, not the thrill of luck, but the satisfaction of confirmation.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

When I eventually manifest my martial spirit… what happens if I equip a higher-grade cultivation talent?

The implication made his chest tighten.

Would the prefix change?

Would the system even allow it?

Would the spirit evolve, or shatter?

Different scenarios flashed through his mind, each more dangerous and tempting than the last.

Adam shook his head lightly, pushing the thoughts aside for later.

There would be time to test that theory, if he lived long enough.

His attention then shifted downward.

Star Power: 16

Adam exhaled softly.

He had increased his star power by two full points in a single night. That alone was absurd.

Most martial artists celebrated one point gained after months. Some stagnated for years without seeing their star power budge at all.

Adam had done it in hours, and not through gradual refinement, but through sheer force and precision.

Then his eyes moved again.

Soul Slots: 5

That was another massive gain.

Slots weren’t just capacity, they were possibilities. Each additional slot meant more room to grow, more combinations, more room for error and experimentation. It was a boon that would reshape his entire combat style in the future.

But none of that held Adam’s gaze for long.

His eyes were drawn to the very bottom of the panel. A line that hadn’t been there before.

Existence

Adam’s expression slowly sharpened.

“Existence.”

The word carried weight far heavier than rank, star power, or slots.

Adam wasn’t an uneducated bum.

He knew exactly what Existence was.

It was one of the core subjects taught during the compulsory one month training for newly awakened martial artists.

Luckily, the Alliance had long realized that sending ignorant martial artists into the world was a fast way to lose them to monsters, or worse, to their own stupidity. So before anyone began official duties, they were taught the fundamentals: ranks, star power, talents, rifts, existence etc.

The Alliance believed that proper foundational knowledge increased survival rates, and in that regard, they weren’t wrong.

That said, not everything was shared.

There were still many things new martial artists were never told, secrets buried behind vague terminology and half-explanations.

Most of that censorship came from the martial clans, who hoarded information like dragons guarding treasure. And even the Alliance, benevolent as it liked to present itself, was guilty of the same sin in subtler ways.

After all, knowledge was power.

And no one liked giving away power for free.

But that wasn’t relevant right now.

Because Existence wasn’t one of those hidden things.

It couldn’t be.

Existence was too fundamental, and critical, to be kept secret. It directly affected a martial artist’s growth, their stability, and most importantly, their ability to manifest a martial spirit.

In order to manifest a martial spirit, one first had to gather Existence.

That was the prerequisite.

Existence was the foundation upon which a martial spirit was brought into being. Without enough of it, no matter how talented someone was, manifestation simply wouldn’t happen.

That was the exact reason Small Dick hadn’t manifested his martial spirit yet, he hadn’t accumulated enough existence.

And existence was obtained from only one source.

Life.

To take a life was to strip that being of its right to exist, and that stolen existence was then used to give form to one’s own martial spirit.

It was a brutal but simple process in concept.

However, not just any life would do.

Only beings capable of wielding essence counted, martial artists… and Adam’s personal favorites: monsters.

Adam stared at the word on his panel and clicked his tongue lightly.

It’s a shame all my previous kills won’t convert to existence.

Existence only began to accumulate after a martial artist officially stepped into the apprentice rank.

Everything before that, no matter how many monsters one slaughtered, didn’t count.

For most martial artists, existence wasn’t something displayed neatly on a panel. Instead, it was something they felt.

They kept track of it instinctively, within their minds. After all, the mind was the reservoir and hub of existence.

The soul powered life and revealed the truth of a living being, but it was the mind that defined what that being was, is, and would become.

The mind shaped one’s entire existence.

That was why Adam wasn’t particularly worried about the number reading zero.

He had a gut feeling.

A strong one.

That for him… existence wouldn’t be limited to just killing. If Adam could obtain Existence through [Equip], it would be nothing short of a monumental advantage.

Existence wasn’t just a one-time requirement for manifesting a martial spirit, it was the currency of everything that came after.

The evolution of a martial spirit through its tiers required existence. The refinement and advancement of martial techniques required existence.

Unlike essence absorption techniques, which relied on comprehension, repetition, and discipline, martial techniques demanded payment.

You didn’t simply understand them and move on. You spent existence to engrave them into your being. In simple terms, essence fueled the body.

Existence fueled progress.

That was why martial clans were so terrifying.

They monopolized information, orchestrated controlled hunts, and ensured their heirs had a constant and efficient supply of existence.

It wasn’t just talent that separated them from common martial artists, it was resources, planning, and ruthless efficiency.

So if Adam truly had more than one way to acquire existence…

Then his growth curve wouldn’t just be steep.

It would be unnatural.

Adam leaned back slightly, the corners of his lips lifting as his thoughts ran wild. The possibilities spiraled, faster spirit manifestation, accelerated evolution, techniques mastered far earlier than they should be. A future where bottlenecks simply didn’t apply to him. But just as his imagination began to run ahead of reality.

Ding.

A sharp notification sound echoed in his ears, snapping his focus back to the present.

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