Alex hadn’t used his Qi in a way just yet where he had to break past the 3-meter radius that he had with his Spiritual Sense. That had been primarily due to the lack of his Qi and not wanting to use it on other things, but also because there had never been a requirement for it.
All this time, everything he did, he did away with just his body. When he did use his Qi, such as the night before, it didn’t require him to break past the 3-meter radius.
As a result, he had never really realized that his Qi had, in fact, the same restrictions as his Spiritual Sense. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
He released a simple Iron Fist punch as well, and it too vanished around 3 meters away from him. There seemed to be no difference whether it was an Immortal or a Self-Tempering realm cultivator in this matter. Everyone had to suffer from the same restrictions.
Alex frowned as he came to that understanding. All this time, he had thought that the reason for his lacking Spiritual Sense had been primarily because of the Storm God’s Seal. However, if Qi were to react the same way as well—something that had no restriction from the Storm God—then there was something entirely different going on.
‘Maybe the Storm God isn’t the root of all of my problems,’ Alex thought.
He looked around at the sea and at the village next. It was so easy to forget that this wasn’t a place he had been sent to for no reason. This was Hell, and this was a place they thought would be the best place to contain him, to stop him from influencing the other world.
A place he could never leave.
‘What is so special about this place?’ Alex thought. ‘What is so special about this restriction?’
He had to test this immediately.
Alex let Wushu go back and went into the sea, away from the eyes of the tribespeople. Now that he was there, there were a few other things he needed to test.
He stood up tall on the seafloor and released his Spiritual Sense. There was no difference there at all. It was just as large here as it was outside—a mere 3 meters.
Next, he used his Qi. He released four spear attacks that flew away from him. Right when they passed the limit of his restriction, they vanished. The spears broke down into nothingness instantly.
Alex frowned and continued. He tried Blood Aura next. His body was teeming with Blood Aura after absorbing so much the past week or two. It was nowhere near enough to improve his Blood Aura, but it did fill him back up in cases of emergency.
Alex created a dagger out of his blood and threw it forward. The dagger left his palm with explosive force, and while it continued forward, it was significantly weaker than how it should have been.
‘That was strange,’ Alex thought. ‘It was clearly strong when it was close to me. But it got weak when it went past me.’
Something about that made Alex curious. He thought of something else at that moment and quickly brought out his sword. He had noticed his sword slashes getting weaker in the past and had attributed that to his seal.
However, with the new information showing up, there was something else he needed to check.
Alex pulled out his sword and let it fill with Sword Intent. Beyond that, it was covered in Sword Qi too. Once it was covered, he swung his sword.
A straight white slash cut through the water, going far into the distance.
Alex’s eyes widened at the sight. ‘There it is again. It’s weaker once it leaves my space even though it is strong when right next to me.’
There was a change that happened right around the 3-meter mark where every attack of his got significantly weaker or was outright destroyed. And at the moment, Alex couldn’t tell why either of those things happened at all.
Alex thought for a bit and used a spiritual attack with his sword. When he released the strike, just as it passed the 3-meter mark, his spiritual energy on the sword strike completely disappeared. There was nothing else remaining in there at all.
Alex failed to comprehend why any of that was. He tested a few more slashes, adding Sword Aura to it next. It was the same.
Next, he used his Sword Domain.
His Sword Domain, which had been many dozen meters wide previously, was now just 3 meters wide.
‘The same distance,’ Alex thought.
He tried a few of his Dao next, and the results were quite surprising. The Dao did work beyond the 3-meter radius, but it put a strain on him as he did. If he really tried, the most he could use his Dao would be around a 10-meter radius.
Doing anything beyond that would likely knock him out for good.
In the end, Alex could only frown at all the results.
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for why everything worked so differently. Why did Qi not work, and yet Dao work? Why did Blood Aura or spiritual attacks not work, and yet sword attacks work?
‘It appears random, but it can’t be random,’ Alex thought. ‘There has to be something common in what works and what doesn’t work.’
Alex found the answer in his sword slashes.
‘They get weaker when they leave my space, but they don’t vanish,’ he thought. ‘I can assume they get weaker, but what if it’s something else? What if there are two parts to the attack, and while one part gets removed, the other one stays?’
Thinking along those lines, Alex was surprised at how easy the answer was.
‘Intent,’ he thought. ‘It all has to do with Intent, doesn’t it?’
Whether it was the reason why sword attacks lasted or the reason why Qi attacks didn’t last, it all had to do with Intent in the end.