“You’re 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!” said Chen Tianyuan to clarify.

“There are only four? But what are the hundreds of books then…?”      Wang Ke was in shock.

“Each divine cultivation technique has millions of words. It’s not possible to keep them in a single book, so each was split across a hundred books respectively!” Chen Tianyuan continued enlightening Wang Ke.

“A hundred books for a single cultivation technique? That many? It’s going to take me months to read them!” Wang Ke felt surprised.

Is this cultivation or a book-reading convention?

“Your teacher, I, cultivates with the Tempest Divine Cultivation Technique. I studied it for a year before I began my cultivation,” Chen Tianyuan said.

Wang Ke: “..........................!”

“The 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!” Chen Tianyuan said.

“All the high-end stuff is this complicated?” Wang Ke mumbled doubtfully.

“What do you think?” Chen Tianyuan smiled in reply.

Wang Ke thought about it with a frown, but eventually came to an understanding.

That’s 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 ‘building a nuclear power plant’ and ‘crafting a torchlight’ to be the same?The higher grade something is, the more knowledge is involved!

“There’s nothing to fear about the word count of the cultivation techniques. My only fear is that you won’t have the patience to learn it! The higher the word count, the more powerful it is!”

“Yes, I apologize for my bad manners!” Wang Ke replied with a bitter smile.

“It’s all right. I made a mistake by studying a year before cultivating the ‘Tempest Divine Cultivation Technique.’ You don’t 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!” Chen Tianyuan smiled.

“That’s awesome!” Wang Ke heaved a sigh of relief.

There’s no way I would study a few years before cultivating!That’s insane!I shall cultivate as I go about reading it.

The higher the word count, the higher the cultivation technique’s grade?But there’s no need for those four cultivation techniques! I have the ‘Indestructible Solar Divine Cultivation Technique’ that my ancestors left for me. The word count is twenty times higher than each of those techniques. Wouldn’t that be even better?

“The 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. It’s not that you can’t learn them well together, but the differing attributes of those techniques will clash and conflict!” Chen Tianyuan explained.

“I can only pick one?”     Wang Ke asked curiously.

“Yes, but that’s 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 ‘Tempest Divine Cultivation Technique. So, I have wind-element enhancements!” Chen Tianyuan explained.

“Yes, I understand now. Thank you, revered teacher, for your guidance!” Wang Ke responded respectfully.

“You 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 can’t answer your question, you can come and ask me! A month from now, I will teach you a sword skill!” said Chen Tianyuan.

“Yes, revered teacher!” Wang Ke replied with a bow.

“Thank you for your help, Teaching Elders!” Chen Tianyuan showed his gratitude toward the elders.

“It’s our job!” 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 “Fire Divine Cultivation Technique.”

A Teaching Elder explained, “Junior apprentice-brother Wang, you are quite fortunate to become our Sect Lord’s 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.”

“What are you talking about! Didn’t 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!”      

“Oh yeah, you’re right, hahaha. Our Sect Lord is upright and just. Of course, he allowed Wang Ke to copy those books because of the young man’s contribution.” 

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......

The two Teaching Elders bantered and nagged, while Wang Ke stayed, not daring to interject.

Wang Ke wasn’t planning on starting with the cultivation techniques right there; he didn’t want others to know that he was going for the “Indestructible Solar Divine Cultivation Technique.”

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 “Fire Divine Cultivation Technique” is nothing!It’s just fire!How can that be compared to the sun! ‘Solar’ 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?It’s okay. I can read as I cultivate. All cultivation techniques progress from easy to difficult. I’m at the Innate Stage. What’s the hurry?

Wang Ke then began to read it.

“If you want to cultivate using this technique…!”

TL: This is a reference to a short online parody of a Chinese Classic, in which “if you want to cultivate using this technique” is followed by “you must first castrate yourself.”      

Wang Ke was stunned. Why does this conditional statement sound so annoying?

Fortunately, what came after was acceptable.

‘If you want to cultivate with this technique, you must earn virtue merits! If you play with fire, you will eventually immolate yourself!’ 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!