Chapter 341: 350 Willpower

Willpower.

Seeing these two words, the uproar subsided slightly, and a few soft sighs of disappointment came from the floor.

Qin Yongcheng looked at these two words, and the originally slightly bright gaze in his eyes dimmed.

Are these two words fresh?

Not fresh, not fresh at all.

In the Training Camp, he had heard them countless times; from childhood to adulthood, he had heard them countless times.

Can't keep up with your studies? Use willpower. Exhausted from martial arts training? Use willpower. Can't calm your mind for internal energy? Use willpower. About to lose a battle because of a bad move? Use willpower...

Willpower means to hold on a little longer, to push through a bit more, especially in a predicament where there are no other methods and no one can help you; you can only use willpower to force your way through that move.

Perhaps his willpower was astonishing, as most of his adversity was actually reversed by relying on this move. Being able to stand out from a small town to be selected by the Land Inspection Division, and then making it to the Training Camp, was proof of that.

He even relied on this move to rank among the best in the lower and middle grades. Back then, he was mentioned in the same breath as Ouyang Zhou and Qu Huan. Even though he put in much more effort, he ultimately stood at the same height, leveling the gap in their starting points.

It's just that... when it came to testing Inspiration and cultivating Mysterious Technique to improve aptitude, no one mentioned willpower anymore.

Some things are destined by nature; it's not something you can achieve just by forcing it. Just like the Arithmetic he was very good at, even a genius like Qu Huan simply couldn't learn it.

In terms of Inspiration, Heaven did not give him a path.

Yet, this is the most important path in this world today.

Without this path, the persistence on other paths didn't have much meaning.

He often thought, since that is the case, wouldn't it be better if he had no talent in other areas either? At least his youth would be carefree and happy, without worries, better than practicing hard day after day.

And now, they mention willpower again? Qin Yongcheng didn't feel his blood boil; he only felt a bit nauseated.

Tang Zhao's voice was very calm, completely lacking the excitement and encouragement of other teachers when mentioning these two words. He said, "So-called willpower is a type of material between emotion and thought. It is harder than thought and more stable than emotion, making it the most suitable substitute for Inspiration to support Art Tools. It also has many applications outside of Art Tools; those with world-shaping talents have already developed..."

At this moment, Ouyang Zhou suddenly raised his hand, and after receiving permission, he asked impatiently, "What do you mean by material? And what is stable and hard? Is the willpower you speak of different from the willpower we understand?"

Tang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "It seems I didn't express myself clearly. Let me say one thing first: as far as we Talisman Sword Masters understand, willpower is not a subjective term describing how firm your resolve is. It is an objectively existing material, produced by people, which can be extracted, utilized, and fused. If you cannot understand this, it doesn't matter; after all, different professions are like mountains apart, and you don't need to understand it. I will only speak of what you need to do."

"First, generate powerful willpower. All of you can do this; is there anyone sitting in this classroom who is a coward?"

"Then, fuse your own willpower onto the Art Tool you have chosen. I will help you and teach you the methods, taking it step by step. After a period of time, once the willpower and the Art Tool are properly fused, you will all obtain your own exclusive Art Tool. This Art Tool will belong entirely to you; it will not betray you when you are mentally exhausted or your willpower is scattered, and it will obey you like an extension of your own arm until this willpower dissipates."

The crowd listened, spellbound and dazzled, feeling as if their worldview had been overturned, and were at a loss for a moment.

Even Wen Caifei, who had been staring only at Tang Zhao, was a bit stunned. Before he could raise his hand, he stammered, "Can such a thing be done... to jump over the shackles of Inspiration and use Art Tools directly as one wishes? Can everyone do it? Regardless of high or low talent?"

Tang Zhao smiled slightly and said, "Of course. Are Art Tools really such inconvenient objects?"

He had said this sentence when he gave a speech at the Talisman Conference back then. At that time, it was just a thought; he had just proposed using willpower to replace Inspiration to master Art Tools and had absolutely no confidence, so his tone was merely probing. But after nearly a year of exploration and research, he had taken a step forward in practice, and at least he could say this sentence definitively in front of these young people.

Of course, he only had a set of theories and methods now, and had only experimented on himself; it hadn't been promoted to others yet. Mainly because there weren't enough test subjects.

There was also the intention here of letting the students try it along with him.

This experiment had nothing to do with the body and was entirely beneficial to the students with no harm, which could be considered a win-win.

If he could help these students complete their own willpower Art Tools, his research could be considered a preliminary success.

It was one step closer to a wish in his heart: "Let Art Tools enter every household."

Now that he said this, it was somewhat boastful, but who is to say that in two months, he wouldn't be able to say this sentence with dignity and confidence?

At that time, he could also say a line he heard from Chen Zong, which he always felt was very cool:

"This is just a small step for my personal research, but a giant leap for humanity."

After he finished speaking, the classroom was completely silent.

All gazes converged here. In those gazes were excitement, shock, doubt, and longing. Most of all, there was astonishment and disbelief, because he had indeed used a calm tone to say words that shook the worldviews of these young people.

And young people of this age love and worship such shock the most.

One... two... three...

The number of people paying attention to his lecture was higher than before.

Those teenagers in the corners who had been uninterested, or even slumped on their desks fast asleep, had all raised their heads at some point, staring at him together as if staring at a beam of light in the darkness.

Tang Zhao continued, "Choosing an Art Tool, cultivating rapport, and learning techniques. This is our two-month course. Those willing to keep up, follow my course. If you don't want to, that's fine too; this is just an additional class. I allow you to rest during my class and make up for the sleep you lack in regular classes. But you cannot snore and disturb others. Come to think of it, everyone has a foundation in internal energy; if you practice internal energy well, you won't snore, right? Then we won't have any worries."

He glanced around; no one in the classroom was sleeping anymore.

The opening of this course had been successful up to this point.

"For today's indoor class, we won't rush to go outside to practice. Let's talk about some pure Art Tool usage techniques. They are not only used for One Yuan Heavy Art Tools, but will also be useful when you start your careers later."

Having said that, he directly took out a standard wooden sword Heavy Art Tool and began to explain the techniques for erupting internal power within an Art Tool.

When it comes to using Art Tools, no one in the world compares to Talisman Sword Masters. Although Martial Artists also use Art Tools, firstly, it is not so easy for them to obtain good Art Tools, and secondly, they are somewhat arrogant, believing that Art Tools are external objects and that they themselves are the most reliable. But a Talisman Sword Master's entire ability to protect themselves lies in crafting and using Art Tools, so how could they not study it with all their might? Basically, every Talisman Sword Master has their own insights, and every sect has systematic techniques. Tang Zhao is a leader among Talisman Sword Masters, so naturally, he is also proficient in this.

For the remaining half of the hour, Tang Zhao imparted the techniques he had learned one by one. His eloquence was getting better and better, and while narrating, he could also interject small bits of humor to make it engaging. Although he might not be as experienced as a veteran teacher of many years, he excelled in having a large reserve of knowledge, and the lesson flowed smoothly until the end, leaving all the students wanting more.

"Ring-ring—"

The bell had rung. Tang Zhao put away the Art Tools and other teaching aids and said, "Alright, that's all for today. The next class is an outdoor class. Five days from now, in the morning. I'll wait for you at No. 2 Training Ground."

A wave of sighs came from below, and someone muttered, "Five more days? Why is it so long until the next class?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "By the way, I will also be leading your Foundation of Profound Arts tomorrow. In the morning at No. 1 Training Ground." Seeing the surprise on everyone's faces, he felt a little proud, knowing he had gained the students' approval.

"My office is in the teaching building next door. I am there every afternoon at the Shen hour. If anyone has doubts and wants to chat with me, you are always welcome. I am willing to chat with you more, whether as an Instructor or as a peer." As he spoke, he placed an Owl Doll on the podium.

"If anyone is afraid of running into others, you can make an appointment. Write a note and put it in the Owl Doll's mouth, write your name and the agreed time, and then I will know. At that time, I will clear everyone else out and talk to you privately, and we can speak freely. Or for other opinions and suggestions, you can also write a note directly. Anonymity is fine too."

Tang Zhao's own symbol was light, which was not easy to make into a doll, so he borrowed Senior Sister Xue's symbol. Anyway, the owls were displayed at the White Jade Flourishing Shop, and there were still dolls left over from the Sword Casting Conference Recreation Fair for sale.

The owl was fluffy and had two big eyes, which was very cute. Many of the boys and girls present were staring at the doll with glowing eyes.

Putting down the owl, Tang Zhao gave an order: "Class dismissed." He turned and walked out the door.

At this moment, he was quite satisfied. Although he had never worried about not being able to subdue these boys and girls, among whom even Loose Practitioners were rare, not relying on force to suppress them and controlling the progress of the class without showing off in front of many people somewhat proved that he had teaching ability.

Although he would not be a teacher for long, since he was doing it now, he had to do it to the best of his ability. If he could have a positive influence on as many young people as possible during his short teaching career, that would also be something to be proud of.

"Instructor—"

A young voice came from behind.

Tang Zhao turned his head and saw a youth with a large forehead jogging over.

It was Qin Yongcheng.

As expected.

Tang Zhao was not surprised to see him and smiled, "Student Qin, what is it?"

Qin Yongcheng arrived before him, hesitated slightly, and said first, "That... the other day on the road, for being rude to you..."

Tang Zhao waved his hand and said, "Don't mention that. I was just about to ask you all to keep it a secret for me."

Qin Yongcheng let out an "Ah?", and Tang Zhao lowered his voice, "An Instructor and a student nearly fighting outside over a trivial matter, no matter how you look at it, the Instructor is in the wrong, right? You must not tell anyone else. Later, whatever you want to eat, I'll get some for you; consider it hush money."

Qin Yongcheng said "Oh, oh," his nervousness easing somewhat; he hadn't even eaten after class and had run here to find Tang Zhao, certainly not for the previous trivial matter, so he gritted his teeth and asked, "Instructor, you said that people with low Inspiration can also use Heavy Art Tools, is that true?"

Tang Zhao said, "Of course." His goal was for everyone to be able to use Heavy Art Tools, it was just that it couldn't be done yet.

Qin Yongcheng said, "If people with low Inspiration can use Art Tools, then... can people with low Inspiration become a Sword Guest?"