Will of Mind

Will of Mind or State of Mind is an aspect of cultivation every cultivators place great importance in. Take apothecaries for example. If they weren’t in the right state of mind, the Tranquil Heart Pill they forged would be warped, thus transforming from a calming pill into lethal poison!”.

“The same goes for other occupations. If demonic tunists fail to cultivate their state of mind, how could they possibly conceptualize their intent through music to beguile their opponents? If formation masters neglect their state of mind, how would they be able to set up highly complex formations?”

A Master Teacher must cultivate in both True Qi and Will of Mind. It is the high cultivation in Will of Mind that allows Master Teachers to guide their students in cultivation and find flaws and imperfections in their martial path.

There were indeed no occupations in the world that demanded nothing of one’s state of mind. It was just that none of them were as demanding as the master teacher occupation.

Will of Mind or State of Mind is very important to cultivators as it's not only represent their understanding of the world and them self from their enlightenment but also how to control their power and effectively use their knowledge. For Example the crux to reaching Ancient Sage is to align one’s heart and will together with the world, thus granting one greater control over the environment. If one’s state of mind isn’t sufficient to harness the strength of the world, one will be at risk of turning into an idiot or descending into lunacy. It’s great that you are able to raise your Soul Depth quickly through natural means, but without undergoing any tempering, it will be nigh impossible for you to reach Ancient Sage.

The typical method to temper one’s state of mind in the Master Teacher Continent was using Illusory Formations to put one’s consciousness through various turmoil. Through overcoming those ordeals, one’s state of mind would gradually grow steadier and more resilient.

However, this ‘typical method’ was both passive and indirect. It relied heavily on luck and circumstances. Even if one augmented the process with heart tempering cultivation techniques and artifacts, the rate of growth still would not be too remarkable. Fortunately, this problem can be resolved with heart tempering cultivation technique that allowed state of mind to be cultivated directly, just like his zhenqi and soul.

## Soul Depth

When applying for a Master Teacher's badge, one must pass several tests and examinations, however, the **cultivation level**, **soul depth**, and **sub-occupation ranks** are things that will determine his Master Teacher rank. One needs a soul depth of 3 or higher to reach the standards of a 1-star Master Teacher. To every rank you promote, you need more 3 points in soul depth to reach the Master Teacher standards.

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Having a Soul Depth of 30 is one of the necessary conditions in order to breakthrough to Ancient Sage Realm.

Before Kong shi’s era, the cultivation of Soul Depth was categorized under Will of Mind, and it was divided into many different levels. This is also where Heart of Tranquil Water, Lucid Mind, Unperturbed Spirit, Impervious Will, Impregnable Heart, Uninhibited Psyche, Incorruptible Soul, and the like come from...” Wu Chen continued on.

“However, Kong shi felt that such categorization is overly complex and hard to accurately gauge. Thus, he simplified the entire model through quantifying it with numbers, which gave rise to the Soul Depth that we are familiar with. The model has been adopted by the Master Teacher Pavilion, with every 3.0 points indicating a new tier. 1-star master teachers require a Soul Depth of 3.0, 2-star master teachers require a Soul Depth of 6.0, and so on. Going by this, 9-star master teachers require a Soul Depth of 27.0. The requirement on Soul Depth is much harsher than cultivation; those who haven’t reached the required Soul Depth cannot be promoted, even under exceptional circumstances!”

Kong shi had simplified the ‘Will of Mind’ model into the ‘Soul Depth’ model, and the Master Teacher Pavilion had adopted the latter as one of its promotion criteria. On the other hand, the other occupations still persisted in using the ‘Will of Mind’ model, which worked fine as well since they did not require such a fine distinction.

Of course, just because the other occupations did not adopt the ‘Soul Depth’ model did not mean that they would not temper their state of mind.

While both models worked fine, there were still some advantages to quantifying ‘state of mind’ in the form of ‘Soul Depth’. It would allow master teachers to constantly track their progress in cultivating their states of mind, thus encouraging them to adopt practices beneficial to advancing their Soul Depth. It was due to this that the Master Teacher Pavilion had become the leading expert in this field, and the other occupations struggled to catch up.

2. Dantian
3. True Essence (Zhenqi)
4. Body Tempering (Pigu)
5. Cauldron Strength (Dingli)
6. Acupoint Opening (Pixue)
7. Profound Connection (Tongxuan)
8. Grandmaster (Zongshi)
 Transcendent Mortal 9-dans | 1. Prolonged Longevity
2. Origin Energy
3. Yin-Yang
4. Clarifying Turbidity
5. Consonant Spirit
6. Cosmos Bridge
7. Perfect Harmonization
8. Ethereal Treading
 Saint 9-dans | 1. Void Pursuit
2. Spiritual Perception
3. Embryonic Soul
4. Primordial Spirit
5. Leaving Aperture
6. Grand Dominion
7. Phantasmal Space
8. Dimension Sundering
 Great Sage 4-dans | 1. Introspective Convalescence
2. Aureate Body
3. Intuitive Impulse
 Ancient Sage 4-dans | 1. Bloodline Continuance
2. Great Philosopher
3. Blood Reincarnation
 Immortal 3-dans | 1. Pseudo Immortal
2. True Immortal
3. High Immortal
 God 4-dans | 1. God
2. Celestial God
3. God King
 Terms