Chapter 117: Martial Dao and Dead-end Road
Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Martial Dao and Dead-end Road
Before long, the more observant students noticed that the over forty Cultivation Techniques listed on the silver-gray fabric weren’t arranged randomly. Instead, they were faintly divided into four sections, with a single character marked above each: "Heaven," "Earth," "Profound," and "Yellow." Murmurs began to rise from the crowd.
Qin Zhenyue clearly heard these voices. He did not stop them; only when the chatter slightly subsided did he speak in a deep voice.
"All right. I know your minds must be full of questions right now, and that’s perfectly normal. Choosing your High Martial Realm foundation-building Cultivation Technique is arguably the most important decision in your Martial Dao career."
He emphasized his tone, adding, "Because after making this choice, you will not be able to change your Main Cultivation Technique again on your entire cultivation path in the High Martial Realm."
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
The crowd immediately erupted in an uproar, with expressions of disbelief appearing on many students’ faces. A Cultivation Technique accompanied a Martial Artist throughout their life, and upgrading to a stronger one as their realm advanced was, in their eyes, the natural order of things.
Qin Zhenyue pressed his hands down in the air to suppress the noise. His voice was completely uncompromising.
"That’s right. Cultivation Techniques of the High Martial Realm are fundamentally different from the Basic Techniques of the True Martial Realm.
"A truly superior High Martial Technique intrinsically contains a complete path and conceptual legacy that pushes all the way from the Yellow Tier up to the Celestial Tier.
"It is not merely a set of Techniques, but rather the embryonic form of a ’Dao’."
His gaze swept over the shocked students.
"As for Cultivation Techniques beyond the Celestial Tier..." He shook his head, his tone tinged with a sense of emotion and distance. "I don’t mean to discourage you. Above the Celestial Tier is already a realm of legends for the human race today. Those who can reach it can be counted on one hand, and the Cultivation Techniques they practice are even more unfathomable. That is no longer within the scope of our discussion today.
"All right, back to the main topic," he said, pointing at the fabric on the wall behind him. "You have also seen that these Cultivation Techniques are roughly divided into four columns, marked with ’Heaven,’ ’Earth,’ ’Profound,’ and ’Yellow.’
"This does not mean that these Cultivation Techniques are currently at the Celestial Tier or Yellow Tier. Instead, it indicates the theoretical upper limit of potential that the Cultivation Technique can deduce and reach."
"Upper limit?!"
"If we can only practice one... then I’m definitely choosing one that can reach the Celestial Tier!"
"Yeah! Is there even a need to think about it?"
The crowd erupted in an uproar once again. A fiery light gleamed in the eyes of many new students as they stared fixedly at the names of the few Cultivation Techniques under the "Heaven" column.
Fang Chen, however, frowned slightly in deep thought.
"Since the academy listed these Cultivation Techniques with different upper limits together for us to choose, there must be a deeper meaning," he thought. "It’s definitely not a simple matter of superiority or inferiority. Is it the difficulty of cultivation? Compatibility requirements? Or... are the Cultivation Techniques themselves incomplete?"
At this moment, a bolder senior student sitting in the front row finally gathered the courage to stand up and ask respectfully, "Teacher Qin, I am dull-witted. Since you said that a High Martial Realm Main Cultivation Technique is nearly impossible to change, then these... these Cultivation Techniques with upper limits only reaching the Profound Tier or Yellow Tier, what is the point of choosing them? Wouldn’t that be... destroying one’s own future?"
His words voiced the confusion in many people’s hearts.
"Yeah, isn’t that a Dead-end Road?" someone chimed in softly.
"Hmph! A Dead-end Road?" Hearing this, Qin Zhenyue let out a cryptic, cold snort, his gaze sharpening. "Do you think this roster of Cultivation Techniques fell from the sky, or grew out of the ground?"
He surveyed the entire hall, his voice carrying the heavy weight of history.
"Every single Cultivation Technique here, regardless of what its upper limit is marked as, was created by the ancestors of our human race who dedicated their lives during the long and arduous exploration of the Martial Dao!
"Many of them are paths that our forebears painstakingly forged bit by bit during the last, or even the previous Spiritual Qi Revival tide, blazing a trail and figuring things out through trial and error in the midst of ignorant chaos!"
"Spiritual Qi Revival... there were multiple times?"
"The last time? The time before that?"
The massive amount of information in these words involved secrets far beyond the understanding of ordinary students, instantly sparking even more intense murmurs and speculation.
"Enough!" Qin Zhenyue interrupted the increasingly derailed discussion. "The cycle of the Spiritual Qi tides is immensely long, and the reasons behind it are not something we can explore today, so we will leave it at that for now."
He brought the topic back on track. "I will now briefly analyze the pros and cons of these Cultivation Techniques with different upper limits for you, so that when you make your choice later, you won’t be led astray by blind passion."
He turned around and pointed to the column marked with "Heaven" on the fabric, his finger slowly sliding over the names of three Cultivation Techniques within it.
"Look here, there were originally eight Cultivation Techniques in this ’Heaven’ column, which seems like a lot." Qin Zhenyue’s voice carried a hint of solemnity. "But I am telling you now—this Dui Metal - White Tiger Roar Celestial Technique, this Xiaojin: Red Crow Melting Gold Skill.
"And this Thunder Shocking·Purple Sky Evil Breaking Righteous Method...
"In theory, they can indeed reach the Celestial Tier directly, but the several core Spiritual Talents absolutely necessary to cultivate them have basically gone extinct in today’s world!"
"Extinct?!"
"Isn’t that just an empty promise?"
"So we can’t even practice them if we pick them?"
A wave of astonished murmurs instantly rose from the crowd.
Qin Zhenyue nodded heavily. "That’s right! This is what you call a true Dead-end Road! An avenue to the heavens is useless if there is no bridge to cross and no ladder to climb! That is why they have been crossed out and are no longer regular options.
"After crossing these out, there are actually only five Cultivation Techniques left to choose from in the ’Heaven’ category."
His words chilled the hearts of many students who had been eyeing the "Heaven" column, and made them realize even more profoundly that choosing a Cultivation Technique was not as simple as just looking at its upper limit.
"What I want to tell you next," Qin Zhenyue said, his gaze sweeping over the audience and his tone turning extremely serious, "is that the relationship between High Martial Realm cultivation and Spiritual Talents will be far closer and more cruel than you currently imagine!
"An Ordinary Martial Artist focuses primarily on cultivation and doesn’t use many resources; at most, eating well and having a strong body counts as their resources.
"During the True Martial Realm, you took Realm-Breaking Pills, used Qi Blood Needles, and utilized Spirit Crystals to cultivate. You should have already felt that with the assistance of resources, cultivation speed can be accelerated several times over. It can be said that in the True Martial Realm, personal effort and external resources are roughly a fifty-fifty split.
"But once you reach the High Martial Realm," he paused, enunciating every word, "it will be—cultivation is secondary, Spiritual Talents are primary!"
Looking at the confused or shocked faces below the stage, Qin Zhenyue continued explaining. "The High Martial Realm was originally a collective term for the four tiers of Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. But now, the ’High Martial Realm’ specifically refers to the transitional stage of those who have just broken through the True Martial Realm and have not yet completed Qi Collection. And the true first Great Realm is the Yellow Tier!
"After you select your High Martial Technique and begin cultivating, the Dantian in your body will gradually expand and undergo a metamorphosis to form a vaster Qi Sea. And the first, and most crucial, step into the Yellow Tier is Qi Collection!
"You need to fill your nascent Qi Sea with two types of Primordial Spiritual Qi, along with a Stabilizing Essence Spirit Guide used to bring Harmony to and stabilize these two types of Spiritual Qi."
Seeing some students looking bewildered, he explained it in a more accessible way.
"Many of you have unlocked your Spirit Core Panel. You can think of it as a kind of Progress bar. In the Yellow Tier, your task is to use two strands of Spiritual Qi and one Spirit Guide to push this Progress bar to 100%. Only then can you attempt to break through to the Profound Tier."