Death... and me

Leonardo was quite nervous as he followed Rean. That's because he could already guess what Rean wanted to talk about.

Sure enough, Rean entered the main topic straight away, telling him, "It's very good that you awakened saber intent. However, when you joined the sect, you were already at the Peak Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. After this entire year and the sect's resources, I'm sure you didn't lack the Divine Energy for the breakthrough. Could it be that you don't know what path to take?"

Leonardo nodded, replying, "Yes, Sect Master Rean. Even before joining the System Sect, I already had enough Divine Energy to go through my breakthrough. However, I simply had no clue as to what my path was. I'm afraid that I'll stay stuck in this realm until the end of my life."

Rean shook his head, saying in response, "Let's not be that pessimistic. Your path is something you have to realize, and it could happen in the next second. Of course, it could also happen when you're nearing the end of your lifespan. Were you expecting to find the key to your breakthrough when you accepted to join our System Sect?"

Leonardo didn't deny that, responding, "Yes. My life wasn't anything good, but I wasn't in a situation as bad as the other people you invited to the sect. Then again, I had the hope that this weird moving sect would hold the answer to this question. Just what is my path?"

Rean pondered over it for a bit before telling him, "Have you ever tried to think out of the box?"

"Think out of the box?" Leonardo had never heard that expression before. After all, it was something Rean learned back on Earth. "What do you mean by that?"

Rean then explained, "You have been actively looking for your path, trying new things all the time. It's gone so far to the point that you tried to awaken your saber intent and succeeded in doing so. We have thousands of disciples in the sect, but you're one of the only four who have achieved that. Of course, that's not counting Roan and me. Let me ask you, does your path really have to be a single one?"

Leonardo was taken aback to hear that. "Not a single path? Is there such a thing?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders in response. "How would I know? However, everyone has their own paths. Was there any rule stating that you must follow a single one? I've checked your scores on the several types of tests we hold in the System Sect. You can't be said to be the best at anything, but you always score high on all of them. Battle, cultivation, judgment, leadership, knowledge, side occupations... although you aren't close to the top ten in any of those, you're definitely within the top 5% of the entire sect."

Rean patted Leonardo's shoulder after that. "This is just an idea I got after analyzing you for a while. After all, I can't help but want to help one of the very few weapon intent users in our sect."

After that, Rean turned around and began to leave. However, he left Leonardo a few words behind. "Leonardo, perhaps, it would be a good idea to give up. I'm leaving now, so you don't need to follow me anymore." Rean began to walk away, leaving Leonardo to ponder over his words. Whether they could be of help or not, Rean didn't know.

Leonardo was taken aback after hearing that. Rean's words seemed to contradict themselves. First, he told him he was good at everything and that he didn't need to choose just one path. But soon after, he changed his stance and told him that it would be better to give up. Should he try various paths or not? Of course, he felt like Rean's words had a more profound meaning, and they somehow deeply reverberated in his mind. 'Give up... give up...'

Leonardo raised his hand and looked at it, thinking to himself, 'Give... up... I don't need to follow a single path, but that doesn't mean I need to follow various ones either. I can pretty much do most of the things to a good level.'

Suddenly, a burst of Divine Energy came from inside Leonardo's body. At the same time, he felt like his soul had transformed. 'Give up! That's right! Why should I even try? Who said I need to be the best at something? Is it not enough to be good at a lot of them? I don't need to try harder in every field. I can just give up and be satisfied with what I can do. To think it was this simple!'

Rean glanced at his back for a moment and smiled after seeing what had happened. However, he didn't stop walking as he had a lot of things to do. Leonardo could organize his own thoughts by himself. Sure enough, Leonardo entered the Soul Transformation Realm sometime later that day.

After parting with Leonardo, Rean arrived at the Formation Hall. But before he could say anything, a Sea Chilling Spirit came out of one of the rooms in a rage. "Fuck! How long were you going to make this grandfather wait? Come, we have a lot of things to work on regarding Circuitry Formations. I need your opinions."

Rean was then dragged into the area where Havek conducted the experiments with Circuitry Formations with Rean. "Alright, don't think you'll be able to leave this room for the next month at the very least! All the Formation Masters here have been waiting for you as well."

Rean shook his head in response, telling him, "Roan and I will have to take turns in the outside world as part of teaching weapon intents to the Yume Clan. I can at most come here once every two days. Not to mention I also have to cultivate as I want to try something on the forging side of things."

"Once every two days?" Havek didn't like to hear that. "After an entire year, you're still that busy?"

Rean nodded in response. "It can't be helped. It's part of the agreement to use the teleport formation. You'll just have to make do."

"Fine!" Havek could only accept it in the end. "Then I'll make sure to make the most of your time."