Killing time as Reymond guided Clifford around the academy, they discussed the fight that had occurred during the second trial. Since the fourth prince hadn't revealed his identity to Clifford, Reymond refrained from doing so himself. At the time, he guessed that Clifford didn't care much about Igen's identity as long as the guy didn't bother him. In the end, Reymond understood a little more about Clifford's mentality.
Passing by the library, Reymond allowed Clifford some time to select his techniques. With diamond status, Clifford was allowed seven for free. If he wanted more, he would need to spend contribution points, of which he had none at the moment. While his diamond status allowed him access to the first five floors, his cultivation limited him to the first.
Each floor had techniques specified for a certain cultivation stage. For example, the first floor was set for the foundation building and contained a couple of advanced manuals about cultivation in general; nothing else was there. The manuals and techniques had five grades: basic, intermediate, advanced, expert, and supreme.
The difference between grades lay in their details, so picking supreme techniques wasn't always the right thing to do. Especially when someone's comprehension was low, having the technique would be a waste of time.
Although Clifford already knew this, it was his first time seeing anything above intermediate. Even though he had diamond status, it didn't allow him to pick the expert and supreme grades freely, as the expert grade counted as two, while the supreme counted as three.
Planning for the future and following the elder's advice, Clifford chose two techniques for dantian strengthening: one supreme technique and one expert technique. Then he used his remaining points for two manuals covering information about Qi and cultivation.
Throwing the manuals into one of his spatial rings, Reymond guided Clifford to his residence on the right side of the academy. After showing him how to manage his residence, Reymond left Clifford alone. Surprisingly, the so-called residence turned out to be a spacious cave carved into the hill next to the academy. However, unlike normal caves, this one was not deep, and its walls were clean compared to natural caves. Letters and symbols were carved into the walls, and a fine bed was placed on the side.
Formations were laid at the exit, gathering Qi from the environment and trapping it inside, making its Qi concentration high. Leaning on the bed, Clifford opened the Expert Technique book and started reading. Surprisingly, his comprehension was fine, and he didn't have issues understanding the process. He felt this was due to the number of cultivators he had devoured, making him greedy for more. However, once he opened the Supreme Technique book, he felt confused, as the majority of the instructions were too complicated for him. This made him sure that his comprehension was not yet at the point where he could learn and execute that technique.
The light started going off, announcing the night's arrival, which surprised Clifford since he hadn't realized he had been absorbed in the technique for a couple of hours. Using his Qi, Clifford was able to make the letters return to their original brightness, illuminating the cave once again.
It took Clifford an hour to process and understand all the information in the basic books he had. He came to understand what potential meant and what determined it. For example, one factor affecting potential was the meridian set a cultivator had. For the first time, he realized that not all cultivators had the same body construct regarding the meridians and the dantian.
Some cultivators had meridians that didn't come close enough to the dantian, making it harder and sometimes impossible to connect them. Additionally, some meridians were naturally better, giving their possessors an advantage. Once Clifford finished reading, he felt thankful for the devil's core and all he had gone through. Otherwise, he guessed he wouldn't have made it this far.
Thanks to the high Qi concentration, Clifford was able to recharge his dantian completely in under half an hour. Once done with his meditation, Clifford lowered the lights and went to sleep, allowing his body to heal completely from the battle he had against Igen.
Time passed quickly, and Clifford found himself awake at dawn. Since his status allowed him to skip attending lectures, he did so. He found no reason to attend these lectures since he was going to have a personal teacher, besides the fact that his time was precious. Remembering Reymond's words, Clifford headed to the mission hall to earn some contribution points so he could get a couple more techniques to strengthen his dantian.
Arriving at the mission hall, Clifford thought his cultivation limit would stand in his way once again. However, contrary to his thoughts, the missions were restricted according to strength, not cultivation, which gave him some relief. The missions were separated into two categories: those issued directly by the academy and those requested by cultivators, nobles, or outsiders in general.
The second category rewarded more contribution points since it benefited the academy as a whole, as the issuer had to pay with spirit stones, resources, or gold. The missions, regardless of category, were split into several types. The first type was bounties and investigations, the second was gathering materials such as medicinal herbs, the third was capturing beasts alive, the fourth was services such as protecting people, and the fifth was outer world missions. Surprisingly, the outer world missions required no less than twenty thousand strength points, indicating significant danger.
"Hmm, I could probably eat the bounty target and leave their head behind, or I could do some service missions and eat the employer's enemies while I'm at it." Clifford found himself torn about what to pick since he could handle all the tasks well except for gathering materials, which he guessed would be boring.
"Protection it is." Making up his mind, Clifford decided to choose a service mission with a high-strength requirement since it meant he could face more enemies along the way.