âYouâre seeing it wrongly; we only have four cultivation techniques on the second floor: the Earth Divine Cultivation Technique, the Fire Divine Cultivation Technique, the Frost Divine Cultivation Technique, and the Tempest Divine Cultivation Technique!â said Chen Tianyuan to clarify.
âThere are only four? But what are the hundreds of books thenâŠ?â Wang Ke was in shock.
âEach divine cultivation technique has millions of words. Itâs not possible to keep them in a single book, so each was split across a hundred books respectively!â Chen Tianyuan continued enlightening Wang Ke.
âA hundred books for a single cultivation technique? That many? Itâs going to take me months to read them!â Wang Ke felt surprised.
Is this cultivation or a book-reading convention?
âYour teacher, I, cultivates with the Tempest Divine Cultivation Technique. I studied it for a year before I began my cultivation,â Chen Tianyuan said.
Wang Ke: ââŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ..!â
âThe people from the mortal realm cultivate with techniques of lower grades, which are quite superficial and not very detailed. The higher grade a cultivation technique is, the more things there are to take note of. Otherwise, one wrong step would bring you to a dead-end in your cultivation life!â Chen Tianyuan said.
âAll the high-end stuff is this complicated?â Wang Ke mumbled doubtfully.
âWhat do you think?â Chen Tianyuan smiled in reply.
Wang Ke thought about it with a frown, but eventually came to an understanding.
Thatâs right!Cultivation is just like technology. The higher-end the technology is, the more complicated its user manual.How can you expect the manuals for âbuilding a nuclear power plantâ and âcrafting a torchlightâ to be the same?The higher grade something is, the more knowledge is involved!
âThereâs nothing to fear about the word count of the cultivation techniques. My only fear is that you wonât have the patience to learn it! The higher the word count, the more powerful it is!â
âYes, I apologize for my bad manners!â Wang Ke replied with a bitter smile.
âItâs all right. I made a mistake by studying a year before cultivating the âTempest Divine Cultivation Technique.â You donât have to wait; you can cultivate as you read it! Since the cultivation techniques are extremely detailed, as long as you follow the instructions, nothing will go wrong!â Chen Tianyuan smiled.
âThatâs awesome!â Wang Ke heaved a sigh of relief.
Thereâs no way I would study a few years before cultivating!Thatâs insane!I shall cultivate as I go about reading it.
The higher the word count, the higher the cultivation techniqueâs grade?But thereâs no need for those four cultivation techniques! I have the âIndestructible Solar Divine Cultivation Techniqueâ that my ancestors left for me. The word count is twenty times higher than each of those techniques. Wouldnât that be even better?
âThe four divine cultivation techniques are at the top when considering the rest of the sects in the Ten-thousand Great Mountains. You can choose whichever you like, but you can only choose one. Itâs not that you canât learn them well together, but the differing attributes of those techniques will clash and conflict!â Chen Tianyuan explained.
âI can only pick one?â Wang Ke asked curiously.
âYes, but thatâs a technique used for cultivation! Cultivation builds your internal foundation, while skills hone your external prowess. Cultivation techniques develop the attribute of your life essence, and the skills are the methods for using your life essence. For example, I can only choose one cultivation technique, but I can learn many sword skills and spells. A fire-based cultivation technique gives your life essence the same element. And so, the sword Qi that you generate will have fire Qi. If you ever use a water-element cultivation technique, your sword Qi will contain frost Qi! I cultivate using the âTempest Divine Cultivation Technique. So, I have wind-element enhancements!â Chen Tianyuan explained.
âYes, I understand now. Thank you, revered teacher, for your guidance!â Wang Ke responded respectfully.
âYou can copy down your choice of divine cultivation technique. Then you can head down to the first floor and pick your favorite sword skills and spells. Feel free to ask the elders if you need to clarify anything. If they canât answer your question, you can come and ask me! A month from now, I will teach you a sword skill!â said Chen Tianyuan.
âYes, revered teacher!â Wang Ke replied with a bow.
âThank you for your help, Teaching Elders!â Chen Tianyuan showed his gratitude toward the elders.
âItâs our job!â The two elders replied with courtesy.
Then, Chen Tianyuan gave a few more pointers to Wang Ke and took his leave.
After receiving some guidance from the Teaching Elders, Wang Ke copied the first two pages of the âFire Divine Cultivation Technique.â
A Teaching Elder explained, âJunior apprentice-brother Wang, you are quite fortunate to become our Sect Lordâs direct disciple. An ordinary disciple would not have the opportunity to look through an entire cultivation technique without enough contributions. The most they can do is to read a few books about it. Then, they can only finish them through contributions made from slaying demons.â
âWhat are you talking about! Didnât junior apprentice-brother Wang make a huge contribution by saving the Heavenly Wolf Sect this time around? Our Sect Lord would never act biased toward his own! You must be forgetting things!â
âOh yeah, youâre right, hahaha. Our Sect Lord is upright and just. Of course, he allowed Wang Ke to copy those books because of the young manâs contribution.â
âŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ.
âŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ.
âŠâŠ
The two Teaching Elders bantered and nagged, while Wang Ke stayed, not daring to interject.
Wang Ke wasnât planning on starting with the cultivation techniques right there; he didnât want others to know that he was going for the âIndestructible Solar Divine Cultivation Technique.â
He had spent a day copying the cultivation techniques in the Cultivation Technique Library, using that as a cover-up. Then, he returned to the Sword-study Peak. He secluded himself after giving some instructions to his subordinates.
The âFire Divine Cultivation Techniqueâ is nothing!Itâs just fire!How can that be compared to the sun! âSolarâ refers to the sun! What other flame in the entire universe is stronger than the sun?Of course, I must cultivate with my ancestral cultivation technique!
After inspecting his core cradle again, the Indestructible Solar Divine Cultivation Technique came into view.
Too many words?Itâs okay. I can read as I cultivate. All cultivation techniques progress from easy to difficult. Iâm at the Innate Stage. Whatâs the hurry?
Wang Ke then began to read it.
âIf you want to cultivate using this techniqueâŠ!â
TL: This is a reference to a short online parody of a Chinese Classic, in which âif you want to cultivate using this techniqueâ is followed by âyou must first castrate yourself.â
Wang Ke was stunned. Why does this conditional statement sound so annoying?
Fortunately, what came after was acceptable.
âIf you want to cultivate with this technique, you must earn virtue merits! If you play with fire, you will eventually immolate yourself!â Wang Ke was appalled.
This is the summary?Does this count as a word of caution?Or is it something else?Why do they sound so weird?
Forget it. Skip this line and read the next part. The next part is still understandable.I shall begin cultivating!