Chapter 154 – Life 68, Age 25, Martial Master Peak
Yan and I arrived together at the meeting with the rest of our classmates. We were both agitated as we sat, and seeing this, JiaQi decided to break the ice.
"I've decided to leave the Academy," she said while holding her small deer. "I want to give LuLu a chance to live outside as she grows up. I'll come back for the first term as a Grandmaster, but I'll skip next term. I know I'm not going to be a Sovereign anyway."
I continued to hesitate, so YuLong announced his decision. "I'm going home too. I know my limits. I've tried to learn to make talismans, but I have no talent for it. I only know how to fight. The best I can do is join someone else's retinue. I need to talk with my father about my future before making any decisions."
LiTing was nervous as she spoke. "I am going to take the regular Grandmaster courses. I wasn't given enough funds for anything else."
I looked at Yan. He signaled for me to speak.
"We all need to stay in the Academy. I know you all have your own paths to follow, but we all need to remain in our classes."
I reached into my storage space and pulled out all the letters they sent me last time. After sorting the pile into three stacks, I slid each stack to the person who wrote them.
"These were provided to me by a powerful cultivator. They are letters from a phantom future. I don't know what they say, but they should contain hints about what will happen if you leave the Academy."
This was the story Yan and I had created. If anyone was testing the truth of our words from hiding, it would all check out. I considered using another shield for this conversation, but neither of us liked the idea. It might draw too much attention, some things were better off not shared, and personally, I didn't want to spend the credits it would take.
"Fang…" JiaQi looked at me with a worried expression.
"Please, trust me. Everyone needs to stay in the Academy, and we need to all stay in the same class. I can pay for everything. Don't worry about that. My backer will make sure there are no issues."
If Emperor Li was going to act as some cheap master in the shadows, I would use his shadow as best as I could to keep us as safe as possible.
Yan added his thoughts to back me up.
"I've read part of what Fang gave me. I agree that everyone needs to stay here. The information he provided has made me aware of dangers that our position in the Academy is protecting us from." He looked at YuLong. "Remaining here is also protecting our families."
No one was overly happy about the scant information Yan and I were willing to tell them, but they all agreed to read the letters.
When we met back up the next day, no one wanted to talk about what they had read, but they all agreed to stay in the Academy. JiaQi and LiTing weren't exactly happy about the situation, but they accepted it well enough. YuLong, however, seemed especially torn up about being unable to return home.
It wasn't something I was overly comfortable doing, but I knew I had to try and help him. After our meeting broke apart, I pulled YuLong off to the side for a private discussion.
"Hey, are you okay?"
His face twisted through a few emotions before he finally shook his head helplessly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He put on a fake smile and snorted a small laugh. "Just means I get to practice some more, right?"
He turned to leave, but I put a hand on his shoulder. He froze at my touch.
"YuLong… I'm sorry… I just… I know this situation is hard, but we'll get through it. We just have to keep walking forward."
He didn't turn around to face me. He just spoke into the empty air in front of him.
"I didn't come here for myself. I didn't come to the Academy to improve my own strength or cultivation. I came here to help my family, you know? We might be connected to an imperial clan, but we're just an unimportant branch family. I thought… I thought that I could come here, do well, and improve the lives of my brothers and sisters."
His voice started to choke up. "Now, because of who I was put in a class with, they are all destined to die, and the only way I might be able to save their lives is by never seeing them again. So, no. No, I am not okay."
"YuLong… I…"
I didn't know what to tell him to reassure him. I couldn't tell him everything. It was too dangerous, but I had to tell him something.
"YuLong, we'll get through this. If you trust what you've read, you can trust me when I tell you this. While you won't be able to see your family again for a long time, decades, possibly longer, you willsee them again. You will be able to improve their lives beyond anything you've ever dreamt possible. Your future… your family's future… will be limitless."
He didn't speak. He only silently nodded his head and pulled away from me to return to his room. I could only hope I had said enough.
Return to classes was difficult for everyone, but it was something that needed to be done. We had to set our focus on doing our best at the Academy so that we would be able to excel in the sect and be able to avoid the schemes of powerful clans.
However, our first task in forging our way forward was to take several steps backward. Everyone had used suboptimal techniques when creating their meridians, so we needed to spend several weeks dispersing them and creating new ones.
Instructor Yuan passed along a technique to make the process of meridian dispersal much easier than what I had done in the past, and she ordered us to use it as we cultivated our true techniques through the Master realm. If we noticed even a hint of a problem with a meridian, we were to use the technique to disperse and reform it.
Aside from just making the process easier, it also allowed us to capture a portion of the dispersed qi and apply it to the new meridians we were forming. By using this technique, I was able to completely disperse my old meridians and form two new ones by the end of the term.
Now that I had returned to the school timeline, the 'real' timeline, I returned to using the Writ of True Earth so that I would be able to cultivate essence again in the future.
On the last day of class, we all left together to register for another five years of classes. After paying another 14 spirit stones for everyone's tuition, I was ushered into a private room to have my affinities examined.
"Three mid five-stars… and that static has grown slightly."
She looked at me, but I didn't provide a response. Next time, I might need to purchase something to hide certain affinities.
"Your results are disappointing. With so many opportunities, it was hoped that you would advance more broadly." She spoke in a clipped, harsh tone. "While there may be mitigating circumstances, they do not change your results."
She retrieved a ledger from the storage bag and made a few notes.
"Your instructor will be informed of our decision about your future training."
That was a solid dismissal, but I had to ask something before I left.
"Will we still be punished if we raise our affinities outside the Trials now that the term has ended?"
"No. If you have the means to do so, it is allowed as you will not be allowed to enter any Trials during this term. However, you should be aware that depending upon your results, if you wish to return as a Grandmaster, you may be allowed inside them as part of your coursework at that time. The number of opportunities you are granted, if you are granted any at all, will be determined by your performance during this term. Take that into consideration if you decide to improve your affinities in other ways."
I thanked her for the advice and departed, ready to return to class.
Instructor Yuan stood before us to explain how we would spend our next five years.
"Your most important task during this term is taking Disciples under your tutelage. As you were taught as Disciples, so will you teach others. The Disciple course is four years. I will spend this first year teaching you how to teach. Then, you will spend the next four putting these lessons into practice."
She looked at Yan. "You will be responsible for a class of five Disciples of your choosing."
She looked at JiaQi, YuLong, and LiTing. "You three will each be assigned a Disciple and become their personal trainers."
She turned to me. "You get a choice. You can either be a personal trainer, or you can be assigned to teach a class of my choosing."
"Is there a reason I should pick one over the other?"
"You will find teaching a class of Disciples far more rewarding in both experience and credit with the Academy. However, it will be far more challenging. Especially for you."
Was that a threat or a dig at my potential teaching skills? Both?
After only a slight pause, I knew what I wanted. There was no reason to take the easy path here.
"I'll take the full class."
Instructor Yuan smirked at my decision but didn't comment further.
The next day, LiTing, JiaQi, and YuLong were sent to study under separate teachers while Yan and I were to be trained by Instructor Yuan personally. Once class started, it was clear she intended to maintain her approach of only explaining what we were supposed to do after first letting us fail.
"Your Disciples will all be from wealthy or powerful families. While they will have never cultivated before, they will be familiar with the basics. Think back to what you knew when you first entered the Academy. Your students will all know as much or more than you did."
This prepared speech was… questionable. My own history was one thing, and it was fair that she didn't know it, but the person beside me was Zhuge Yan…
"That's one of the reasons we take the approach that we do. Your Disciples will be young and brash. Most will think they know everything you want to teach them already, so your first task is to show them how much they have left to learn."
She motioned for me to stand and walk to the front of the room. As I did, she moved to take the seat I had vacated.
"This is the first day of class. Teach us."
I blinked. What was I supposed to do?
During the classes, I had felt that both Instructors Sun and Yuan could have done a better job in explaining certain things, but I was willing to follow their examples. At least, I was willing to follow them until I had a firmer idea of how to try and improve upon them.
So, what should I do? She said to show the students how I could help them. How was I supposed to do that? I could try and demonstrate my prowess in some way, but if the students were from cultivation families with Lords and Kings, there wasn't much I could do that would shock them.
I tried to think back to my first lessons under Master Sun. He had forced us to cultivate an awful technique under conditions that led to drawing in mountains of impurities. Was I supposed to do that? But… I came to class a month late. What happened before that?
The first lesson had to be about creating qi filters, right? So… The student would need a cultivation technique. I took a quick check around the front of the room and found a storage bag that had been placed out of sight. Inside were several manuals, including five Low-Yellow cultivation techniques.
I handed one of these low-level manuals to both Yan and Instructor Yuan.
"Cultivate this."
Instructor Yuan showed Yan what he should do. She created a false qi filter and vortex above her palm to simulate a Disciple trying to cultivate the technique. These false filters were nonfunctional and only served as a prop for the lesson.
I looked at Instructor Yuan's faulty creation and frowned. How should I correct her?
"You will pull in a significant amount of impurities with this. You need to fix it."
Instructor Yuan fumbled around, making a poor show of fixing her mistakes. What was I supposed to do here? I didn't know an easy way to explain what she was doing wrong. The only thing I could think to do was repeat the same tactic I'd used in the past. It might not be what Yuan wanted, but it was the only plan I could come up with.
After a bit of hesitation, I looked at Instructor Yuan.
"One moment, please. I need to make a slight change."
She nodded graciously.
At this point, the spirit flame in my body was the wood-based one I had used to complete the Earth Trial. Using my spatial bag as cover, I pulled an empty jade box out of my storage space, forced the wood flame out of my body, and stowed it in the box.
Returning this box to my storage space, I then retrieved a fire-based flame and absorbed it.
With this complete, I returned to Instructor Yuan's 'lesson,' and she resumed her fumbling with the filter.
Using the spirit fire, I created a ghostly apparition and overlaid the correct form on top of what she was doing.
"It should look like this."
She adjusted her qi to align it with my example.
"Here and here still need adjustments." I pointed to the problem areas.
She quickly fixed them and began 'cultivating' properly.
I backed off and waited for her judgment silently, but she just continued acting out her role for several more minutes.
When it was clear to her that I would say nothing else, she stood, gestured for me to retake my seat, and moved back in front of us.
"That was an interesting technique to clarify the problems with the qi filter. Lord Ning mentioned something like this previously and wished for you to attempt to use it in your classes. I believe it may work."
She turned to Yan. "What can he improve?"
He looked at me. "Don't talk about impurities at this point. There isn't any value in it. Just tell them what they are doing wrong without the why. Adding in talk of impurities can muddy the explanation of what they are doing wrong and how to fix it."
Instructor Yuan nodded. "I agree partially. Such details may benefit some students, but if you want to bring it up, you need to make it meaningful. Don't just say 'impurities.' If you want to talk about them, talk about them. If you don't, then don't mention them."
She kept her focus on me. "What else could you improve?"
"I'm not sure… You corrected the filter quickly and would have been cultivating well. I don't know what more could have been done."
"What did I tell you? Show the students how much they have left to learn. You didn't do this at all. You had me make a few minor alterations and were satisfied with the result."
I didn't understand. "Because it was correct. Wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was. That is the problem. Cultivating correctly so easily doesn't teach them the lessons they need. They need to cultivate poorly. The worse they do, the better. Don't start them with Low-Yellow techniques. If they already have a Peak-Earth technique, make them use it. If not, provide the ones in that bag you found. Then you can use your little trick. Even with its help, they will still fail without sufficient practice. Being able to clearly see what they are doing wrong and not be able to fix it will be far more helpful at this stage."
She looked at Yan. "What was his biggest mistake?"
He turned to me. "She said to teach 'us.' You didn't teach me."
My jaw dropped slightly at that. Yan hadn't tried to do the false cultivation even after the instructor showed him how. Why would I…
Instructor Yuan gave Yan a look of approval and then looked at me to explain.
"Try to involve the whole class. I am focused on your actions right now, but I have been making an effort to include Zhuge Yan during the process. This will be difficult, especially when there are large differences in abilities between your students. However, as you will both be teaching a full class of Disciples, it is a skill you must work to improve."
Chapter 155 – Life 68, Age 25, Martial Master 1
While the morning class about teaching was helpful, it was the afternoon class that I had been looking forward to with both anticipation and dread: Soul Cultivation.
I needed a stronger soul. I needed a way to defend my soul. The strength of my soul was the only strength that I could bring back with me, so I needed it to be as powerful as possible. However, if soul cultivation caused a shift in my personality akin to that of qi cultivation, I didn't want to risk it.
The potential pitfalls associated with cultivating my soul were very real, but I couldn't continue just ignoring the problem.
At the appointed time, all five of us arrived in the classroom together for a short lecture from Instructor Yuan.
"The soul is one of the most important aspects of what it means to be a cultivator. Outside the walls of this Academy, people have strange and misguided notions of what it means to cultivate the soul and how to go about it. Their information comes third or fourth hand from failed students, and most of the important details have been lost."
She looked at each of us to ensure we were paying attention. "The Yellow Orchid Academy has the best information on soul cultivation from the brightest minds of the Central Continent, but it's only available to a select few. You haven't been taught anything about soul cultivation until now because we first needed to ensure that you are both capable and mature enough to make the right decisions."
She took out four cultivation manuals and set them down in front of us.
"These are considered the best soul cultivation techniques in the world. They are freely available on the Central Continent, but their distribution has been intentionally limited on Nine Rivers to prevent them from causing more harm than good. Those who are blessed with the ability to evaluate such things say that they can be considered Peak-Yellow techniques. This may seem low, but no one has been able to develop anything better, and many have tried."
She picked up one of the manuals and showed it to us. Then, she set it down and arranged all four so that everyone could see them.
"Using these techniques, you will pull qi from the environment, through your acupoints, and into your soul. This will cause your souls to expand and strengthen themselves. These four techniques achieve this in slightly different ways, but the basic principles are all the same. Draw qi into your soul, use it to force your soul to grow, then expel it. With a solid qi cultivation technique and a Peak-Yellow soul cultivation technique, all of the energy you use to grow your soul will be drawn out when you are not actively cultivating so that your soul remains in a pristine state."
Wait… But that… Did that mean I had been worrying about nothing all this time? If a Peak-Yellow technique left nothing behind to affect me and only expanded my soul, it should be safe to cultivate, right? I had to ask.
"Does that mean that soul cultivation techniques don't have mental effects like qi cultivation techniques do? They won't change who you are?"
"Cultivating your soul will change who you are, but the way it does so is far more complex than the simple mental effects of qi cultivation. When cultivated with a Peak-Yellow technique, your soul will grow. You can imagine your soul as a garden. When you expand your soul, you are adding plots of land for new plants to grow."
Not having a prop prepared, Instructor Yuan tried to gesture with her hands to demonstrate.
"These new 'plots' will be completely empty with nothing growing in them. That is to say, the new areas of your soul will lack any kind of identity. Practicing a cultivation technique only expands the garden. It doesn't plant any seeds. However, depending on the technique you chose, the 'soil' of these new plots will vary, and different seeds grow better in different soil. Meaning that when your cultivation technique expands your soul, while it doesn't give the new parts of your soul an identity, your choice of technique will make your soul more receptive to certain ideas."
"But… what if you grow your soul without cultivating? I've heard that performing alchemy, for example, can grow your soul through the exertion of will."
She nodded. "Anytime you grow your soul, the new bits must be given an identity. If you grow it through alchemy, being an alchemist will become more core to your identity. If you spend a year cultivating in isolation, being a person who cultivates in isolation will become a core part of you."
That worried me. Had I been spiraling down a path without recognizing it? When I started in South Gate City, I had wanted to focus on formations, but everything kept coming back to alchemy. Was this part of the reason? Had I grown my soul so much with alchemy as my focus that it had become a core part of who I was?
Instructor Yuan didn't wait for me to solve my inner turmoil. She simply continued her lecture.
"Rapidly expanding your soul through cultivation is dangerous. If you aren't careful with the identity you feed your growing soul, you will quickly lose yourself in a way that outwardly resembles the madness imposed by qi cultivation. To combat this, the scholars of the Central Continent have developed four different paths for one to walk when cultivating their soul. These paths combine a rich, well-studied philosophical framework with a specially designed cultivation technique. These four paths have been developed over millennia and are valued for their reliable, consistent results."
She picked up one of the manuals that had been sitting in front of us.
"The first path is that of Traditionalism. The ideals of the Traditionalists are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. They care deeply about filial piety and order. A prince should be a prince. A minister should be a minister. A father should be a father. A son should be a son. By upholding the virtues of a Traditionalist, one will live in harmony with the laws of Heaven."
She moved on to the second manual.
"A path that has similar moral goals but approaches them in a very different way is Universalism. To cultivate as a Universalist is to accept that all beings are equal and worthy of the same universal love. One should have the same love for both a stranger and their child. Unlike the Traditionalists, Universalists do not value ritual. They value living by a constant moral guide. By following this moral guide, they aim to maximize the utility of all members of a society."
She lifted the third book to show us.
"Next is the path of Legalism. The Legalist believes that all humans are inherently selfish and will always care only about their own wealth and power. As such, it is impossible to expect morality from anyone. Instead, they work to create systems whereby when people work to benefit themselves, they benefit their Ruler. For example, the rules and responsibilities of ministers should be constructed so that the ministers have ways to enrich themselves, but when they do so, the ultimate result is one that further empowers their Ruler. Legalists believe there should be clear rules for advancement and clear, impersonal laws and regulations."
She moved to the final book.
"Last is the path I follow. The path of Daoism. Daoists believe that any attempts to improve the world will only make it worse. Therefore, one must strive to limit their interference with mortal affairs. Daoist Rulers might be seen as aloof as they will rarely if ever involve themselves in the activities of their domain. Mortals should handle mortal affairs. Cultivators should handle cultivator affairs. A Daoist Ruler will only be involved in situations concerning other Rulers. It is a path of separating yourself from the mundane and embracing what it means to be a cultivator."
She placed this book back down and gestured widely to all four.
"There are powerful factions on the Central Continent that center their societies around each of these paths. You may choose freely without worrying about any of them being inferior to another. Also, while these cultivation techniques are designed to work best with their intended path, you may choose to mix a technique with a different path if you so wish. Daoist flowers would grow best in Daoist soil, but if you cultivate the Legalist technique, they can still grow with enough effort. You may use these techniques to develop your own way forward. While these four paths are the best that we know of, they are not necessarily the best paths possible."
It seemed like the instructor's lecture was nearly finished, so I had to take the opportunity to ask about one of my concerns.
"What if we change our minds in the future? Is there a way to undo soul cultivation like there is for qi cultivation?"
"There is no simple pill that can return your soul to its previous state. Once your soul grows, it will never return to the way it was before. However, with time and effort, you can work to change who you are. Returning to the analogy, if you work hard enough, it is possible to cut down everything in your garden and use it as fertilizer to grow something new. But if you do that, you might find that weeds from the plants you removed will still sprout every now and again."
With everyone in thought and not asking any more questions, Instructor Yuan brought the class to a close.
"You now have access to the soul cultivation library. You will not need tokens to enter. You are free to visit and read any books you desire. I suggest spending a significant amount of time there before making any decisions."
Once the instructor left, the five of us remained in the room in deep thought. I looked at Yan to see if he had anything to add.
"Can you tell us anything more?"
He struggled a bit in trying to decide how to phrase what he wanted to say.
"From what I know, everything the instructor said is correct. The only thing I can tell you is that the most powerful clans on this continent all follow a combination of the Daoist and Legalist paths. The leaders are Daoists, and they encourage those under them to follow Legalism. Morality is not their concern. Those in charge care only about everyone following their rules and promoting the advancement of their clan."
That seemed to fit, but… "Why wouldn't they force everyone in the Academy, everyone on the continent, to follow the Legalist path? That would make everyone more compliant and more willing to follow the rules they create."
Yan struggled to find the right words to explain things within the limits of the oaths that bound him.
"They… cannot. It would be… counterproductive. To achieve one's full potential, they must follow a path of their own choosing."
Knowing I had been pushing things, I backed off and changed the topic to avoid any fatal mistakes.
"Do you have any recommendations?" I looked at the others. "Does anyone?"
YuLong spoke up. "My family views filial piety as the most important virtue and are extremely loyal to the main branch. They have never spoken much about it, but I believe they must be following the Traditionalist path. Even when the main branch degrades them, they still hold firm in their support since that is what is proper."
Yan shook his head. "We should all go to the library and read the teachings available there. We need to make our own choices without being influenced by each other. This choice will change who you are as a person. It isn't one anyone else can make for you."
I needed Yan's opinion, but I couldn't ask about certain topics openly. I looked nervously at the other three, worried about saying too much, and hoping that the letters I had given them were enough of an explanation.
I focused on Yan.
"With everything you learned from the information I gave you, is this something you think I should do? We can passively grow our souls over time. Cultivating them and permanently changing ourselves like this… Is it a good idea?"
He looked at me in understanding.
"Who you are is always changing. Cultivating your soul allows you to choose who you will become. If you don't do this, that choice will be made by chance and circumstance. It will be out of your control. As Yuan said, the path you take will be difficult to change, but it can be done. It isn't truly permanent. Even if it were, with enough growth, if you choose a path now and change it later, the portion of your soul that follows this choice will only be a small part of who you eventually become. To me, growing my soul withoutguidance is far more dangerous."
I understood what he was saying, and I could see evidence of it when I reviewed my own history. I couldn't say I was always happy with the direction my life had taken. This might be something I needed to do.
Still, it wasn't a decision that could be rushed. I would study in the library. If needed, I could check the System to see if I could learn more from it. Emperor Li's warning made me cautious of that, but it was one of only two sources of information I had access to. The information in the library was curated by the people who ran the Academy. The information from the System was potentially curated by the Earthly Dao.
Neither source could be fully trusted when it came to altering my soul. I could only hope that by combining them, I would be able to put together an acceptable path forward.
Chapter 156 – Life 68, Age 25, Martial Master 1
Over the following weeks, while I spent my mornings in classes learning how to teach Disciples, most of my time was spent in the soul cultivation library.
The Academy's technique library contained several small rooms, and its contents were carefully partitioned so that someone who was granted access to Rank 1 martial fire techniques could only view those specific techniques. If one wanted to look at a different Rank, technique type, or element, they would need to pay separately for access to each different room.
In contrast, the soul cultivation library was a large, open building with dozens of bookshelves, tables where students could study, and small private reading rooms. Every soul cultivation technique the school offered and all the related philosophical texts were available freely to anyone taking the right courses.
From what I could tell, four classes other than ours were studying soul cultivation. This led to the library being busy, but there were more than enough books to go around. There were at least a hundred different volumes for each of the four paths Instructor Yuan had introduced us to.
While my classmates and I all studied at the same table, we silently agreed not to comment on the books anyone else read. This was to prevent us from influencing the path that others would choose to walk.
As for myself, while I was in the Nine Rivers Sect, I took the Test of Soul as a Grandmaster and was able to pass with ease. This was clear evidence that my soul was far stronger than it needed to be for the moment, so I could and would take as much time as I needed before making any decision about how to proceed.
Even after copying every available text on soul cultivation into my mental library, I remained in the Academy's library to show any watchers how seriously I was taking this decision. If I had returned to my room and used my mental library to peruse these books in private, any spies would have certainly misunderstood my actions. Without knowing who may be watching or why they were doing so, I had to be careful with the narrative I crafted for them.
The four paths that the school advocated were all interesting in their own unique way. The more I read, the more I came to understand the underlying principles of these different philosophies and how they would guide a cultivator's actions.
I felt as if these different paths had some connection to the different tiers of cultivation. The Daoist ideal of separating oneself from the mortal world in the pursuit of cultivation and enlightenment seemed to mesh well with the Warrior Tier. The Legalist notions of everything benefiting those in charge fit with the Ruler Tier. The Traditionalist concepts of ritual and filial piety could easily be connected to the Bloodline Tier. I had no notion of what was above Bloodline, but the name 'Saint' had implications that could connect it to the Universalists.
If Instructor Yuan's comment about powerful forces of the Central Continent following each of the different paths was to be believed, it was unlikely that these philosophies were rigidly tied to specific levels of cultivation. Instead, I felt like the philosophers who developed these different paths were forming them around superficial understandings of what the different levels of cultivation involved.
In truth, such musings were unimportant. They were little more than a distraction I was using to avoid making a decision.
Even though I had read a large number of the treatises on soul cultivation available, I still didn't know what I should do. I couldn't just rely on the information the Academy provided me. I needed objective information.
Before I could deal with choosing a path, I needed to settle the issue of what soul cultivation technique I would use. I had the four provided by the Academy, but I was worried that they might contain hidden dangers that would poison my soul. I needed a technique I could trust.
"System, using the Academy's techniques as a baseline, how powerful of a soul cultivation technique can I purchase for one billion credits? I want one without any hidden risks or dangers to my body, mind, or soul. I want the information I am given to clearly state how the technique will affect me and give clear warnings of any dangers the technique may hold for myself or others."
Processing… Low-Pr— Processing… An external entity has discounted the price. Peak-Profound Mortal soul cultivation technique Path through the Silent Night. Cost 1 billion credits.
Note: You will repay this debt.
Maybe that message should have made me afraid, but instead, it reassured me. Fear came from the unknown. I had been afraid the Earthly Dao would take a hidden hand in whatever the System gave me. Doing so openly removed this source of fear and made it something I could plan around.
This was a technique chosen by the Earthly Dao. That meant there was a definite purpose behind its selection. However, if Emperor Li was correct, I could also be certain that it contained no hidden dangers because of the specifics of my request.
If I had to choose between a technique provided by the Earthly Dao and one provided by the Academy, I would choose the former every time. The Earthly Dao seemed to have some greater purpose for me while the ultimate purpose of the Academy was to prepare me as a feast for vultures.
"Purchase."
Purchase confirmed. 8,733,086,524 credits remaining.
I was a little worried when I didn't feel any knowledge enter my mind. When I had upgraded techniques in the past, all the relevant information had been directly shoved into my brain, and I had an innate understanding of it. This time, that didn't happen. Instead, a thin book appeared in my mental library.
Opening this new book, I found easily understandable diagrams for channeling energy through my soul to grow and strengthen it. Following these diagrams were several pages about the design and intent behind this technique. These passages were all written in poetry and contained meaning beyond what I was able to understand. The first line was:
'Light falls to the foot of my bed. I lift my head and gaze at the moon.'
I could cultivate the technique using only the diagrams, but without understanding these passages, there would be unknown risks.
Fortunately, I had asked for things to be 'clearly stated,' and poems were anything but 'clear.' At the end of the book, written in a completely different hand that looked more like it was printed by a machine, several paragraphs provided details about what this cultivation technique did and how it did it. This gave me all the information I would need so that I would not have to rely on deciphering the original text of the technique.
In short, it grew the soul while maintaining a core that was connected to a person's 'original self.' This core would remain like an egg in its shell in the center of the soul. The core could change and grow naturally, but it would not be affected by the cultivation technique or the new areas of the soul created through the use of the technique.
To use Instructor Yuan's analogy, I would build a wall around the garden of who I was. As I cultivated this technique, fields would grow outside of this wall, and they would be sowed with the ideas and philosophies I fed them, but those outer fields would have no impact on my inner secluded garden.
This was a technique for a nostalgic person who cared more about who they were in the past than who they would become in the future.
If I ever chose to cultivate a different soul technique, the wall this technique placed on my core identity would be destroyed, and I would never be able to rebuild it. However, until that time, who I was would be protected.
This protection would even extend to defending me against external influences. After cultivating this technique, if I were to be infected by a soul gu, it would be able to harm the outer layers of my soul, but it would not be able to penetrate the protected core.
As for drawbacks, while I would maintain a core 'garden,' the outer fields would still affect me. My personality would still shift to fall in line with the philosophies I studied as I cultivated. The protections around my core would make razing the outer fields to plant new ideas more difficult, but it also made it so such a transformation was much safer as it wouldn't affect my core 'self.'
I was still worried about cultivating my soul, but the Earthly Dao had handed me everything I could have wanted from such a technique. At this point, the risks were mitigated to such an extent that I felt I had to move forward with it.
I just had to decide which 'path' I wanted to follow. This cultivation technique could create new fields in my soul, but I needed to be careful what I planted in them.
Knowing that this would be the most important decision I had ever made, I committed myself to paying an appropriate cost. I wanted the best information I could get, but the wider I cast my net, the worse my results would be. I wanted to ask the System for information on the best possible paths for soul cultivation, but that was far beyond what I could afford. I had to settle for information about what was in front of me.
"System, I wish to purchase information about the four paths of soul cultivation advocated by the Academy. I want reference materials about them that are not available on this continent. If possible, I want information not available in this world. I want the best I can get for one billion credits."
Purchase confirmed. Cost 1 billion credits. 7,733,086,524 credits remaining.
Four books appeared in my mental library. There were the Analects, the Mozi, the Book of Lord Shang, and the Dao De Jing. These books were not of this world. They were completely foreign and free of influence from the powers of this world.
While I was not completely happy with any of my options, I could use these new texts to chart a temporary path forward. Only after growing and learning more could I hope to develop a path that was truly my own.
By the end of the first year of the term, I had risen to Martial Master 5 and gained a solid understanding of how Instructor Yuan felt I should teach my future students.
When I was in Eight Flower, I had purchased a comprehension boost to my teaching skills, and during this year, I had considered boosting it further to gain a better understanding of teaching techniques. However, I didn't feel that my comprehension was limiting me. Instead, the material and knowledge of teaching I was provided was what limited my improvement.
This continent didn't have anything resembling the educational framework I knew of in my first life. There were no peer-reviewed papers, and no one did clinical research on teaching methodologies. Everything was based on tradition and what a teacher personally decided would work. I wanted to purchase teaching skills from a world, or at least a continent, that had a deeper educational tradition, but such a thing was beyond my means.
If there were philosophers researching soul cultivation on the Central Continent, they might also have researchers for teaching methods. If I ever got there, I would have to see what I could discover.
All that said, Instructor Yuan did consider both Yan and me ready for the beginning of our classes, so we spent all our free time in the library studying soul cultivation.
I had spent a lot of time and energy reading about the different philosophies discussed in these books and had come to a conclusion on which path I would walk.
The Legalist path was eliminated quickly. I had no desire to study and craft laws, and I certainly didn't want to feel bound by the laws created by the people of this world. While I could see many potential advantages to advocating this path, it was a terrible fit for me.
The Traditionalist path could be eliminated for similar reasons. The focus on filial piety killed it for me before I even began to consider it as an option. There was no way I was going to cultivate a path of being pious toward the Su Clan.
My main choice was between the Daoist and Universalist paths. The first was the path of separating myself from the world. The second was a path of universal love and working to better the world around me.
Being in an eternal time loop, I had naturally begun to separate myself from the world. It was sometimes hard to think that anything mattered other than my own advancement. Walking the path of a Daoist would only amplify these feelings to a point where I would begin treating everything as a tool to use for my own benefit.
This made me realize why the Earthly Dao had been so generous in giving me a technique that I felt I had no choice but to use. It wanted me to walk the path of the Universalist. It would see it as a way to encourage me to help the world, and helping the world meant helping the Earthly Dao.
Emperor Li's words about not trusting the implications I drew from the information I received echoed through my mind, but this conclusion rang true to me. It might not be the only reason I was given that technique, but it had to be a large part of it.
Sitting at a table in the library with my classmates, we all looked at each other.
Yan was the first to speak. "Has everyone made their decisions?"
We had all agreed not to influence each other's choices, but we did want to help each other develop and learn more once those choices were made.
We all nodded.
YuLong grinned. "Daoist. I'm not willing to follow people who stole my chance at an affinity."
JiaQi smirked. "Daoist. I feel about the same way."
LiTing dipped her head. "Daoist."
Yan looked at me, but I motioned for him to go first. "Daoist. It will help me gain the strength I need."
Being the odd one out, I smiled ruefully. "Universalist. It's the correct path for me at this time."