Various signs indicated that although his talent was not very high, it certainly wasn't as low as Yiye's level.
Was it related to the Talent Tree? The leaves of the Talent Tree only bore spirit runes, but how could they help him in his cultivation?
Apart from the Talent Tree, Lu Ye could find no other explanation.
He faintly felt that if that was indeed the case, the Talent Tree might not be as simple as it appeared on the surface.
"Miss Yu, I have some matters I would like to consult you about." Lu Ye decided to change the subject, to make himself less sorrowful.
"Please speak, Big Brother Lu." Yu Xiaodie looked at him formally.
Lu Ye slightly contemplated his wording before speaking, "It's like this, my first orifice is fully saturated and I want to open the second orifice, but I can't seem to find its exact location. How should I resolve this?"
This problem had troubled him for several days now. Normally, once the first orifice was fully saturated, he would be able to open the second orifice, but Lu Ye's repeated attempts had failed to locate the exact position of the second orifice, resulting in a considerable waste of spirit force.
Yu Xiaodie's knowledge was undoubtedly greater than his, and since Lu Ye could only consult with her, he naturally sought her advice.
"For us novice cultivators, this is indeed a difficult problem. It has nothing to do with our cultivation aptitude. The main issue is that our spirit force isn't strong enough, making it hard to precisely locate the orifices. To resolve this, you can either explore on your own slowly or find a more experienced person to help. When I was opening my second orifice, it was a cultivator from Evil Moon Valley who helped guide my spirit force into the second orifice, but to do something like that, one needs to be at least in the Cloud River Realm."
On hearing this, Lu Ye immediately gave a wry smile, "Then I might as well figure it out on my own."
He had no one else to turn to for help.
"Big Brother Lu, although the Root Spiritual Orifice of cultivators are largely similar, because of the different cultivation techniques, the position of the second orifice also differs, so if Big Brother Lu doesn't have an appropriate technique, it's very risky to rashly open the second orifice as it might lead to severe problems."
"Speaking of techniques, I do have one."
The Golden Cicada Carefree Method probably wasn't a very good technique, but Lu Ye had no other options.
"Right, you just mentioned something about the Cloud River Realm... Is that a cultivator's realm?" He recalled his third older martial brother mentioning something about the True Lake Realm and Divine Sea Realm earlier in the tent, realms he had never heard of before.
Spending a year on the mine vein, he rarely communicated with others and had few friends. All the information about cultivation he received was hearsay and fragmented.
"Yes," Yu Xiaodie nodded, "The realms for cultivators are divided into four major realms: Spirit Stream Realm, Cloud River Realm, True Lake Realm, and Divine Sea Realm, each of these major realms is further divided into nine smaller levels."
The division into stream, river, lake, and sea was quite interesting and straightforward.
"Do we count as Spirit Stream Realm?" Lu Ye asked.
Yu Xiaodie laughed and shook her head, "Not yet, we have only opened our spiritual orifices. Only when we open enough spiritual orifices and allow our spirit force to traverse these orifices, forming a circulatory cycle inside our bodies like a flowing stream, can we be considered to be in the Spirit Stream Realm. Only then can we be truly called cultivators."
Lu Ye was surprised, "We aren't cultivators yet? Then what are we considered?"
"Reserve cultivators?" Yu Xiaodie cocked her head, looking somewhat adorable.
"Alright," Lu Ye accepted the title, having thought that opening his spiritual orifice meant he had become a cultivator. Now, it seemed, he was still naive due to his youth.
Yu Xiaodie probably realized that Lu Ye was completely unfamiliar with the common knowledge of the cultivation world, so she deliberately spoke more about it, "The Nine Provinces continent is full of sects and clans. Not to mention others, just in Bingzhou alone, there are at least a thousand big and small sects and families. The strength between the sects varies, and it rests on the realm of the cultivators within them. The higher the cultivators' realms, the stronger the sect. Furthermore, sects are also graded."
"Oh? How are they graded?" Lu Ye became interested, noticing that Yu Xiaodie was feeding him knowledge of the cultivation world, and he would not miss this opportunity.
"Each major realm of a cultivator is divided into nine levels. The sects are also divided into nine grades, with Ninth Grade being the lowest and First Grade the highest! I'm not very clear about the specifics, but First Grade to Third Grade sects definitely have cultivators in the Divine Sea Realm. It seems there is also a requirement for the number of such powerful cultivators. For the Fourth Grade to Sixth Grade, there must be a sufficient number of True Lake Realm cultivators. For the Seventh to Ninth Grades, having some Cloud River Realm cultivators is enough."
"What if there are only Spirit Stream Realm cultivators?" Lu Ye shamelessly asked.
Yu Xiaodie smiled and said, "Spirit Stream Realm doesn't qualify to start a sect."
Lu Ye blushed slightly, feeling truly ignorant.
Yu Xiaodie continued, "In Bingzhou, there's a saying, 'One Palace, Two Halls, Three Gates, Four Sects,' which refers to the ten top First Grade sects of Bingzhou. 'One Palace' refers to the Jade Cloud Palace, 'Two Halls' refers to Senluo Hall and Yuanhong Hall, 'Three Gates' are the Righteousness Sect, Qingyu Sect, and Luo Sheng Gate, and 'Four Sects' are the Infinite Sect, Red Moon Sect, Beixuan Sword Sect, and Tianyuan Sect. The Haotian Alliance and Ten Thousand Demons Ridge each hold half of them, and each sect has many Divine Sea Realm cultivators."
Lu Ye recalled what his third senior brother had told him, that Qingyu Sect was ranked among the top five in overall strength in Bingzhou. At that time, he felt that the ranking was not low, but he hadn't realized how significant it was.
Considering there are thousands of sects in Bingzhou, to stand out among so many and be ranked among the top ten First Grade sects, it is evident Qingyu Sect is truly remarkable.
"This time attacking Evil Moon Valley, one of the Vice Alliance Hierarchs who came is from the Righteousness Sect," she said.
"Is the Vice Alliance Hierarch's surname Pang?" Lu Ye casually asked.
"I'm not sure about that. How did you hear about it, Big Brother Lu?" she asked.
"I overheard it before," Lu Ye didn't elaborate, "From this, Evil Moon Valley seems quite formidable. This time, not only is Righteousness Sect involved in the attack but also Qingyu Sect, with two of the top ten First Grade sects participating."
Yu Xiaodie laughed, "You can't say that. Although Evil Moon Valley is strong, it still has a considerable gap compared to a First Grade sect. I guess it's around Fifth to Sixth Grade at most. Although two First Grade powers have come, not everyone among them is a high-level cultivator."
"That makes sense," Lu Ye agreed with the explanation.
Yu Xiaodie said, "Apart from the two First Grade sects, there are a few others. Now that the inspection is almost complete, those who have jade tablets will have the opportunity to join those sects. Big Brother Lu, you must not miss this chance."
The checking of aptitude and talent was just a precursor, but truly, the opportunity lay in obtaining the chance to study and train in the sects that had come.
This didn't mean that these sects lacked disciples. For First Grade powers like the Righteousness Sect and Qingyu Sect, there would never be a shortage of disciples.
However, this method of recruitment had become the established custom. For people like Lu Ye and Yu Xiaodie who had been rescued, although the world was vast, they had nowhere else to go. The Haotian Alliance needed to settle them, and taking in some of those with cultivation aptitude was simply convenient, as it wouldn't cost anything and might even find a few good talents.
Lu Ye laughed, "With my Yiye's talent, I'm afraid no sect would see me as worthy."
"Always think on the bright side," Yu Xiaodie reassured. "Having opened your spiritual orifice is an advantage, and with nearly ten sects, Big Brother Lu, you're bound to find one to belong to."
"Then I'll take your blessing," Lu Ye responded.