"Junior Brothers, this is Senior Brother Liu Lizhi. He will be in charge of your legacy selection and arrangements during this period," announced Brother Lu, after which he turned and dashed off.
"Farewell, Senior Brother Lu!" Zhang Jing and Deng An chorused.
Then, they turned towards Senior Brother Liu and greeted:
"Zhang Jing (Deng An) greets Senior Brother Liu."
"You boys are being too formal. By the way, did Junior Brother Lu Yuan go... crazy when controlling the Spirit Boat earlier?" asked Senior Brother Liu, his face displaying a hint of bewilderment.
"Do you mean how fast Senior Brother Lu drove the Spirit Boat?" queried Zhang Jing cautiously.
"I knew it!" Senior Brother Liu's face turned serious momentarily, but he quickly returned to his dejected state. "I had a feeling this might happen."
"Nevermind, I'll deal with him after we've finished here," he said after sighing and extending his palms. A white jade key appeared in each hand.
The keys floated towards Zhang Jing and Deng An.
"These are the keys for the middle-grade legacy, Junior Brothers. I'll lead you into the legacy secret stash. When you're done choosing, you can use these keys to unlock it."
"Let me remind you that the Legacy Pavilion contains 3827 parts of the middle-grade legacies. These include the arrays, pills, symbolic devices, medical divinations, beast puppetry, devils, monsters, ghosts... Everything you could wish for is within. However, if you're aiming for the core legacies of the Dragon Lake Dao Institute and the path of immortality, you must select a cultivation method that blends well with your constitution."
"Otherwise, you'll spend your entire life in the Outer Academy, wasting time, and turn into dust after a hundred and twenty years."
By the end of his speech, Senior Brother Liu's tone had turned uncharacteristically solemn.
"May I ask what constitutes a high degree of blending, Senior Brother?" Deng An managed to ask the question before Zhang Jing, who was just about to open his mouth.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Jing couldn't help but glance at Deng An out of the corner of his eye, feeling a little puzzled.
Coming from a cultivator family and even having some in his lineage, why didn't Deng An know about the concept of compatibility in cultivation? Was it not something that all cultivators knew?
"Good question," Liu Lizhi exclaimed, his gaze falling on Zhang Jing and Deng An. "The so-called compatibility level is something you should already understand if you have gotten the basic grasp of the Visualization Method."
He paused for a moment before adding:
"At the start of cultivation, mortals use their inborn wisdom to visualize the Heaven and Earth spirits, leveraging their powers for personal gain and eventually transcending their mortal bounds. Yet, since every individual's wisdom varies, cultivation methods also differ, leading to entirely different outcomes."
"Higher compatibility equals more effortless progress, and vice versa."
Zhang Jing seemed to have an epiphany, but another query lurked in his mind.
"Then, Senior Brother, may I ask, how can we ascertain the level of our compatibility with a particular cultivation method?" He hesitated before saying," We can't possibly rely solely on our feelings, can we?"
"Haha, you joke, Junior Brother. If it was solely based on feelings, then what's the use of our Legacy Pavilion?"
Senior Brother Liu burst into laughter before further explaining:
"When you venture into the Legacy Secret Chamber, if you can get within 10 feet of a certain cultivation method's jade pillar, that means you have sufficient compatibility to cultivate that dharma door."
"On this basis, every foot you advance symbolizes a higher degree of compatibility. If you get within five feet, you have matched well with the cultivation method, and your cultivation will naturally go smoothly. If you get within three feet, you have an exceptionally high compatibility, a one in ten thousand chance!"
"Do you both understand now?"
Zhang Jing and Deng An nod in unison.
"Very well, follow me to the Legacy Secret Chamber."
"Senior Brother, may I leave my luggage here? Carrying it into the Secret Chamber seems inappropriate," Zhang Jing asked, pointing to his suitcase, an awkward expression etched on his face.
"Give me your luggage."
Senior Brother Liu took Zhang Jing's luggage, involuntarily reaching towards his waist for his storage bag...
...
"This is it."
Standing before a bronze door, Senior Brother Liu spoke solemnly, "Get in quickly. Remember, the middle-grade cultivation method legacies are located from the seventh to the nineteenth row on the left, as you enter. Deng, you may enter first while Zhang waits outside."
"Understood."
"Alright, Senior Brother."
Boom...
The bronze door slowly opened.
Deng An quickly stepped inside.
Outside the bronze door.
Seeing that everything was in order, Senior Brother Liu suddenly remembered something and asked Zhang Jing:
"Do you have any elder relatives who are cultivators?"
"No, both my parents are ordinary people," Zhang Jing replied honestly.
"Really?" A surprised expression flickered across Senior Brother Liu's face. "You are indeed extraordinarily gifted, Junior Brother, earning a Grade-B evaluation despite relying solely on your inherent talents."
"Tsk tsk, there are quite a lot of talents in this round, the upcoming month will be interesting."
Senior Brother Liu said with interest.
"Senior Brother, what do you mean?" Zhang Jing widened his eyes.
Senior Brother Liu did not give a specific answer and simply reminded:
"Hehe, Junior Brother Zhang, the specifics are unclear even to me at this moment, but the only certainty is that it's related to Dao Achievements. Just practice diligently after you get the Cultivation Method today and strive to officially channel the Qi into your body before the end of the 30-day assessment period and enter the Qi Refinement Realm."
"The higher your Cultivation, the more Dao Achievements you can earn."
"This is an entrance benefit that the Dao Institute offers to young fellas like you. There's only this one chance, seize it! You should know that under normal circumstances, it's extremely difficult to acquire Dao Achievements."
"Dao Achievements?" Zhang Jing looked slightly confused.
"Yes, Dao Achievements! Junior Brother, you will need Dao Achievements in the future in the Outer Academy to exchange for cultivation resources, legacies, and more."
"For instance, the teaching sessions in your Temporary Institute and your Junior Brother Lu Yuan who just brought you here, they work so hard for the sake of 'earning Dao Achievements'."
So that's how it is!
After Senior Brother Liu's explanation, Zhang Jing immediately understood the importance of Dao Achievements.
It's essentially the 'money' unique to the Dao Institute!
While they were talking,
Deng An's figure suddenly appeared.
"Brother Deng, you made your selection so quickly?" Zhang Jing was surprised.
In his understanding, this selection of the Cultivation Method requires the determination of compatibility, which shouldn't be this fast.
"I was lucky and chose correctly from the beginning."
Deng An couldn't help revealing a hint of excitement on his face. Obviously, he was very satisfied with the Cultivation Method he chose and the degree of compatibility.
"Junior Brother Deng, which Cultivation Method did you choose? The Legacy Pavilion needs to record it. Of course, the compatibility with the dharma door is your secret, so you don't have to mention it."
Senior Brother Liu asked seriously.
"Reporting to Senior Brother, I chose the middle-grade cultivation method 'Upper Yuan Feather Metamorphosis Secret Art'."
"This one? I see. Now, Junior Brother Zhang Jing, you may enter." Senior Brother Liu gestured to Zhang Jing.
Upon hearing this,
Zhang Jing held onto the Legacy Jade Key tightly, took a deep breath, and strode in.
The moment he entered,
Zhang Jing's vision was occupied by countless gleaming white jade pillars over person-high.
The jade pillars were neatly lined up on both sides, extending beyond his sight.
Just a glance and he quickly averted his gaze, moving forward while murmuring, "Left side, the seventh to the nineteenth row."
Examining the information of the dharma door legacies marked on the jade pillars, Zhang Jing started trying each one by one.
"Triple Origin Fire Sun Swallowing Method", ten feet away, not good!
"Yanming White Bone View", ten feet away, not good!
"Xun Wind Void Gathering Technique", ten feet away, not good!
...
...
Zhang Jing didn't know how long he had been selecting for, he only felt his eyes were tired from the choices until he finally selected two suitable cultivation method legacies.
One was the "Triple Light Dark Reveal", he could approach up to eight and a half feet, which was already enough for cultivation.
The other was the "Mysterious Origin Five Grain Taoist Deity Method", Zhang Jing was particularly satisfied with this, he could approach up to five and a half feet, barely touching the border of the top grade compatibility.
According to what Senior Brother Liu said just now, this kind of compatibility was considered very rare.
But Zhang Jing didn't stop there.
Although he had the "Gather Spirit Light", which could significantly boost the speed of his cultivation, it was still based on normal cultivation speed.
What if among all these Cultivation Methods, there are ones that could achieve top grade compatibility with him?
The combination of the two, wouldn't it be even more absurd?
Try again!
Try all the Cultivation Methods one by one!
Eventually.
The second white jade pillar in the eighteenth row.
"Five Viscera Elicitation Water Elemental Annotation", compatibility of three and a half feet, the top of the top!
Really?!
Zhang Jing quickly took out the Legacy Jade Key from his breast.