The rows and rows of fire qi cultivation manuals spread out in front of Sofie.
There were easily more than a thousand different manuals present and Sofie was amazed on there being so many different methods for cultivating something like fire qi.
Walking around the fire section for cultivation manuals, Sofie picked up a random one and scrolled through it.
The cultivation manual was called "Fire God Emperor Manual". Quiet a domineering and overbearing name.
Looking through it, Sofie found out it was mostly a diary about someone calling himself the fire god emperor. The only things mentioned about cultivation was vague and few in number, she really had no clue how this diary could be called a cultivation manual…
Maybe it was a test to see if the new disciples looked through the manual before choosing it, instead of just picking the cultivation manual with the most awesome and domineering name?
Thinking this, Sofie quickly returned the "cultivation" manual to its former place and walked further into the fire section of the martial hall pagoda.
…
The rows of cultivation manuals slowly changed the further into the section for fire qi cultivation manuals she went.
Now, the two rows of manuals and books on the side had changed and there was more space to walk and more cultivation manuals, it almost looked like a brand-new library, just for fire qi cultivation manuals.
Sofie also found out that other new disciples were in here, she even saw a new disciple around here waving around a fire qi cultivation manual called "Fire Sage of Destruction". For some reason, she felt it was similar to the "Fire God Emperor Manual" …
Putting it to the back of her mind, Sofie went around the fire qi library looking for a good cultivation manual.
…
Time passed and Sofie presumed around 15 minutes of the 50 minutes they got to choose the cultivation manual was left, but she still hadn't decided what to choose yet.
The potential cultivation manuals she found were, Fire Qi Harmonization, Void Flame Manual, Fire Lord Qi, The Rotation of Fire Qi, How to Cultivate Fire Qi 101.
Out of the five cultivation manuals the second had some parts missing but had a clear path for the way up to core realm. The last sounded a little suspicious, but it was easy to understand. Sadly, it only went up to the tenth stage of the meridian opening realm.
With that, Sofie decided on one of the other three, as she did not want to only reach the opening meridian realm and practicing a cultivation manual with missing parts could prove deadly according to what her big sister had told her.
From what her big sister told her, at least when you have a full cultivation manual, you can evolve and change it. Meaning a cultivation manual for the meridian opening realm could be changed and evolved into one for the core realm.
Sadly, this process could take a really long time, therefore it was not recommended to use any cultivation manual below the core realm.
Sofie, at first did not understand what the core realm was, but now that she learned how high the realm was, she decided to heed what her big sister told her.
Turning her attention away from the two "useless" cultivation manuals, Sofie looked at the remaining three.
The Fire Qi Harmonization manual focused on harmony between the body, soul and fire qi. It sounded simple but looked hard to practice. The cultivation manual went up to the core realm, so it was okay to practice.
The next was The Rotation of Fire Qi manual, simplicity in itself. The easiest and most simple manual of all manuals she found. The only demerit it had was the time it would take to practice. To reach peak of the first major realm would take 30 years. The 12 stage of meridian opening realm would take 80 years to reach. Finally, after 20 years at the 12 stage, you could reach the hollow core realm…
Sofie inwardly shook her head.
Could she even live for that long? It would take a whole 130 years to reach the hollow core realm…
The last cultivation manual was the manual called Fire Lord Qi. This was the most interesting out of all the cultivation manuals Sofie saw so far. The reason was that the cultivation manual would allow you to create a soul embryo after reaching the golden core realm.
What is a soul embryo? According to what was written in the manual, the soul embryo was the stage after the golden core of the core realm. The last stage before reaching the next realm of the third major realm.
This discovery made Sofie extremely excited. The only reason she had not chosen it was because it was suspicious.
The elders only knew about the golden core realm, yet here was a cultivation manual talking about levels beyond that? Definitely suspicious!
Sofie just sat there pondering over her decision, as a voice sounded out everywhere inside the first floor of the martial hall pagoda.
"New disciples, 5 minutes left until the time is out! Not trying to stress you are anything~ Good luck~" Even though Sofie had no idea who it was reminding them of the time, she felt like she could almost see elder Mei Yue secretly grinning to herself with a smug look on her face.
No, it's not the time for that! I have to choose a cultivation manual!
Throwing the image of a smugly grinning elder Mei Yue to the back of her mind for now, Sofie looked at the cultivation three cultivation manual. Quickly removing "The Rotation of Fire Qi" manual, as she really did not feel like spending 130 years to reach the hollow core realm… How could she even live for that long in the first place?
Looking over the last two cultivation manuals, Sofie hesitated for a moment before she ended up deciding on the "Fire Lord Qi" manual. Sofie was after all a quite curious child and when one of the cultivation manuals suddenly started talking about a cultivation realm above what she knew so far… How could she not pick it?
There was that… And a mention of being able to call upon fire of the world to rain down blazing meteors upon reaching a high enough cultivation realm…
Sofie felt herself having a new dream and object to archive now.
First, explore the world. Second, reunite with her big sister. Third, taste all the delicacies around world. Lastly, her new dream, to command fire at will. Creating new and beautiful balls of fire to play with whenever she was bored. Maybe she would create things other than fire?
Thinking about her new dream, Sofie grew excited, as she grabbed the Fire lord Qi manual and walked out of the fire section.
…
Soon, Sofie found herself in front of the row of scrolls and books with the word "Fire" on top of it. After entering, Sofie felt like the row of books and scrolls was more like an entrance of sorts into the fire section of the first floor of the martial hall pagoda.
"Did you find a cultivation manual?" A voice came from behind her.
Sofie turned around and looked at Yang Meng, who had showed up behind her at some point.
"Y-yes" Sofie answered shyly, as she looked at Yang Meng.
Even though she had interacted with Yang Meng from time to time, Sofie still found it hard to talk with people she didn't know well. One of the only exceptions being senior sister Ling Yue.
"What cultiva-"
"Time is up, all of you will start cultivating today and seeing that it is your first time cultivating. All of you will be allowed to stay inside the Fire Hall for the next 6 hours. Follow me!" As Yang Meng was about to ask something, Mei Yue entered the martial hall pagoda and called out.
Sofie laughed slightly to herself, as she saw the face of Yang Meng twisting into all sorts of funny expressions while looking at elder Mei Yue, who just ignored him and exited the martial hall pagoda.
Not lacking behind in the slightest. The new disciples quickly followed after her.
Sofie looked at the still pouting Yang Meng with a wondering expression.
building up a little courage, Sofie grabbed his arm and started to drag him towards the exit of the martial hall pagoda.
Yang Meng woke up the moment Sofie started dragging him and quickly freed himself before sprinting into the distance. Leaving, Sofie, elder Mei Yue and the rest of the new disciples behind surprised.
How did he even run so fast with that big body of his?
This fleeting thought passed everyone's mind, as elder Mei Yue soon started walking towards the Fire Hall once again.
…
Soon a rumour of a little dumpling sprinting through the scorching sun sect went around.
Most people thought it was sect leader trying to cook again… Many people shuddered inside thinking of the sect leaders cooking.
It was not enough to poison people? Now the food was even sentient!