Flipping open his fan, Li Shen walked into the courtyard where Mu Fan, Fei Yin, and Fang Chen were lying around chests heaving while groaning in pain.
For the past few days, they’ve been in Li Shen’s brutal training sessions.
He was those types of instructors that put emphasis on learning the basics.
But what basics?!!
They were well past the stage where basics should be a factor in their training.
They can break a massive boulder with one strike of their fists!
They can split, no, utterly destroy a river with one slash of their weapon!
And with one step they could jump or move dozens of meters in an instant!
The feats they were capable of were beyond what a normal mortal human can fathom. But here he was making them do basic training.
And if you’re wondering how basic training could make cultivators of their level lay on the ground exhausted while groaning from the immense pain coming from their bodies, then looked to that accursed pole!
Li Shen walked over to them while casually fanning himself.
“You might not appreciate my training now but you will.
“While studying the cultivation system and reading past scholars' words on how to move through them, I realize that most cultivators on their path of cultivation get so adsorbed in the what’s next mentality. Where they would listen to those scholars or what’s the norm to pass through a Cultivation Realm and only do the bare minimum of that so they can quickly move on to the next Realm to become powerful experts.”
“And what’s wrong with that? The cultivation world is a dog-eat-dog world! If that isn’t the mentality of a cultivator then they’ll fall behind everyone and be the one that’s eaten.”
Mu Fan was the one that retorted.
Li Shen looked at him and simply said.
“Are you comparing your situation to a vagabond cultivator in the outside world?”
“Huh?”
Mu Fan was confused.
Li Shen sighed.
“What I’m saying is that you are all in a fortunate situation where you’re life isn’t on the line every second of the day. What is the purpose of an Academy or Sect? It’s to provide an environment where disciples can cultivate without the constant pressure to survive in the outside world.
“Cultivating with the mentality to strive to become stronger as fast as possible isn’t inherently bad. What is, is having it when in situations that it's unnecessary.”
Mu Fan had on a puzzled expression, but Fei Yin with a look of realization said.
“So you’re saying that because of our privilege situation we don’t have to keep that mentality in our everyday life, and instead take our time to cultivate?”
Li Shen smiled at that.
“Exactly!”
Fei Yin was always perceptive. Out of all of them, he was probably the one most suited to become a cultivation scholar with a deep understanding of cultivation.
“Going back to the basics is beneficial since it allows you to practice the minute control of your current power. That’s why I insist on not using your cultivations during sessions, a cultivator should know the full capabilities of their power and how to utilize it in the most efficient ways possible. That means consciously trying to control it, not just doing daily activities unconsciously like holding a cup and not shattering it.”
Mu Fan let out a groan while Fang Chen and Fei Yin had on weary smiles. That just means more pain for them, feeding Li Shen’s sadistic tendencies.
Li Shen continued to say.
“Look, all I’m asking is to take the time to get familiar with your cultivation realms before moving on. Like truly understand it. If you have this mindset you’ll be amazed at the things you find that you never knew you could accomplish while in that realm.
“A large part of Qi Cultivation is unexplored. You might think the cultivators of the past have figured it all out but trust me, Qi Cultivation is always expanding and I’m afraid you all might miss the beauty of it by rushing through the realms like your life depended on it. It will in the future, but as you are now you should know when to push forward and when to slow down.”
Fang Chen sat up and said.
“Faction Leader, are you referring to the Ming Clan being able to open meridians while in the Blood Purifying Realm? Before that, it was unheard of, but now more and more disciples are popping up with extraordinary talents in the Sea Expansion Realm. The Inner Disciple Rankings are filled with them like a new era is beginning.”
Li Shen slammed his fan shut on his palm, and with a slightly discontent face he said.
“Yes, that is an example as they’ve discovered that while refining the blood in the Blood Purifying Realm, they can include the meridian channels as well. The reason why we go through the previous realms instead of just opening meridians right away was to strengthen our bodies to handle the process, but the Ming Clan method was to “soften” or rather infuse Qi into the meridians early on to make it familiar with Qi. By the time they reached Bone Reconstruction Realm they had already opened dozens of meridians.”
Li Shen paused as he saw Jun walking over to them, though he continue soon after.
“Their method is ingenious really, but I’m sure there wasn’t a shortage of people who have thought of it before them. But those people were so focused on the method that works that they thought why bother deviating when the consequence might be disastrous? Who would waste their opportunity to cultivate by going on an unexplored path? However, thinking about the number of their members who had to die to discover that path of cultivation…”
Li Shen shook his head.
Fang Chen and the others too had solemn looks on their faces, they hadn’t thought of it that way, the Ming Clan sacrificing their younger members to create it.
That method was built on top of a pile of corpses.
Li Shen turned to Jun who was patiently waiting off to the side to hear him say.
“Master, the preparations are finish.”
“Alright! Then it’s time to head out.”
However, Li Shen suddenly looked around confused.
“Where’s Yang Su?”
In the Conclave Section of the Academy, there was a courtyard.
At the back of this courtyard was a tree with dense leaves that overlooked the training grounds surrounded by an eight-meter wall.
In the dense foliage of the tree was a figure in white robes, that had red streaks embroidered on its sleeves and tail ends.
The figure’s head was covered by a mesh veil that extended from his hat all around.
While sitting on a tree branch, he would look through the foliage to the training grounds as if he was waiting for something.
Soon after, a beautiful young girl entered the training grounds and the figure perked up.
“Ling Xia…”
The figure whispered as he watched the girl practice her Sword Arts.
Behind the veil, his eyes were glued to her.
This went on for several minutes to an hour before Ling Xia decided to pause her sword training and enter the building.
The figure let out a sigh at this before he turned away from the courtyard. He planned to silently slip away but he paused as Ling Xia once again returned outside.
Seeing this, the figure was surprised as he could be heard saying.
“Huh? She never does more than an hour-long training, what is she doing?”
The figure stayed where he was and watched Ling Xia's actions.
She approached the wall and look directly where he was hiding.
“...??”
“You’ve been watching me for the past few days and I would like you to stop.”
The figure almost slipped out of the tree, she had actually noticed him!
***
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