The next day, Verus got up and dragged himself to his first theology class. He wasn’t looking forward to this. He was tired from lack of sleep, in a bad mood from failing another channeling attunement test, and he’d heard Lightbringers preach enough to have a good idea of what to expect. Although, it was sometimes uplifting, rarely could it be considered useful.

Once in the lecture hall, Verus immediately noticed that the lecturer was already standing at the podium, so he sheepishly took a seat. Thankfully, the class hadn’t started yet. The lecturer was simply early. He was a tall man with a neatly trimmed graying beard. As expected, he wore the white and gold robes of a Lightbringer and had a shaved head to display his modesty. However, despite his stiff and straight posture, there was a genuine seeming smile on his face as he studied his students. That was as unusual for a Lightbringer as for any other advanced cultivator.

“Welcome to my lessons, young cultivators. I hope you come ready to learn. You may address me as Gerath,” the lecturer explained in cheerful tone. “As you can doubtlessly see, I’m both an Elder of this sect and a Lightbringer of the Archonite, but using my titles is unnecessary. It can be difficult to decide which one to use anyway and using both just sounds ridiculous. Don’t you agree?”

There was a shocked silence from the students as they stared in confusion at the Lightbringer before them. Verus was one of them. This wasn’t how any Lighbringers had acted before. They’d all been rather stiff, if not uncompassionate. This Gerath was practically friendly.

“I see you all want to jump right into it. Very Good! As you all know, this class will be on the vast and valuable subject of theology. We will of course be studying passages from our holy book The Path of Illumination. The text has much to say about the moral and spiritual duties of cultivators, but we will also be dissecting the meaning of those words and how they can aid your cultivation and your quest for enlightenment. While the hoarding of ki within your core is necessary to ascend to higher Realms, enlightenment is perhaps the greater barrier. Ascending always requires a cultivator to come to some new understanding about the endless heavens, and many a would-be ascendant has faced stagnation along their way due to an inability to gain such insight. It cannot be forced, and no number of shards or resources will aid you. For how does a man benefit if he gains all the ki under the heavens but loses his soul? He does not.”

Verus frowned thoughtfully. This class had just started, and it was already going very differently than he’d expected. He hadn’t thought it would so practical, and he’d never really considered some of the things Gerath had brought up.

“Unlike ki shards or rare medicines, The Path of Illumination is available to every man and woman within the empire. And what better place to look for enlightenment than the holy book of the Archon? He ascended all the way to godhood, to the highest Realms imaginable, and his words and the records about him contain unimaginable wisdom."

That was true, Verus supposed. He’d read through all of The Path of Illumination - although he’d skimmed through a lot of it - and he’d heard Lightbringers preach from it countless times, but he’d never really considered it a cultivation resource before.

Gerath smiled as he saw the thoughtful look on many of his students faces. “I’d like to start our first lesson with a short passage that I think all young cultivators need reminded of. And the eternal soul lies at the center of all things. All else is but a trick of shadows cast by the mind, which is itself a lie. Only what the soul does is true and beautiful.

“What do you think this means?” Gerath asked as he looked up to study the seated disciples.

No one replied. They hadn’t been expecting to have to answer questions. Cultivation theory had just been one long lecture.

Gerath sighed. “Very well, I’ll simply tell you the most common interpretation. A cultivator’s core is usually thought of as the origin of their power, but that isn’t true. Cultivators of the Origin Realm have no core and can still gather and circulate ki, but many overlook this fact. So, what do cultivators use to control ki, if it isn’t their core? The answer is their soul. The soul is almost impossible to detect but every animal and spirit has one. Many scholars have dedicated themselves to studying the nature of souls, but they are still incredibly mysterious, as befitting something created directly by the hand of God. What we do know is that although souls can change and be damaged, they are ultimately indestructible and interact with the world almost solely through ki. They have no physical presence, but they do possess a unique ability to use ki to create essence. A soul is absolutely necessary to craft essence, and that’s not all they do. Memories and attunements seem to be recorded within a soul, as shown by observations of spirits, although the exact relationship between soul and body is not well understood.”

Verus listened with interest as the elder talked. He already knew most of what he’d said, but he was going into more depth than anyone else who he’d heard talk about such things before.

“As you all know, a cultivator’s core is located in the middle of their chest, around their soul, and it is formed during the Origin Realm. When the core is complete, the cultivator ascends to the Foundation Realm. Upon death, the essence that forms a core is destroyed, but the soul itself simply fades from the world as it is pulled back into the heavens. There, it is believed that the nature of the endless heavens purifies the soul of worldly concerns, until it eventually returns to the physical plane and reincarnates within a new body with new attunements and no memories of its past life.

As intriguing as the lecture was, it ended without any talk of attunements, which disappointed Verus. He could use all the help he could get, and some new insight into the nature of his own problems have been nice. Thus, upon the ending of the lecture, he felt dissatisfied as he got up from his seat with a sigh and began following the other disciples as they left the lecture hall.

He was looking down and thinking about channeling as he walked outside, so Verus didn’t immediately notice when someone stepped in front of him and cut him off. Startled, he barely managed to stop himself from walking into the person. As he jerked his head up, he saw a young man from his class. He was dressed in dark blue robes covered in some kind of black script that was impossible to read and looked incredibly expensive. It seemed to shift when gazed at directly.

Verus’s first thought was that he’d annoyed some arrogant noble and was about to get insulted and berated, but then he noticed the boy’s expression. The young man was staring intently at Verus’s chest without saying anything. Unsure of what was going on, Verus could only stare back. The weird disciple had his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and his skin was a very pale white. He was so thin he looked more than a little unhealthy, which was quite unusual for a cultivator, but his most striking feature was his forehead. There was a dark purple gem embedded in it. With its thin oval shape, it greatly resembled a partially closed third eye.

The creepy disciple didn’t look up, but he began to speak in an intrigued tone. “There is a scar upon your soul. The merciless tides have not worn it to nothing. Fascinating. It must have terrible purpose to have resisted the will of the heavens so. Such pain. It is difficult to even imagine and truly dreadful to behold.” The pale disciple then chuckled darkly. “Of course, all truths are horrible to those that do not blind themselves. At least this is novel.”

A shiver went down Verus’s spine. He had no idea what the disciple’s words were supposed to mean or what was up with this person. He was rather creepy and rude. Still, there was no point antagonizing someone who obviously came from a powerful family. “Greetings. My name is Verus. May I know who I am addressing?”

The pale disciple blinked and looked up at Verus’s face as if surprised that he could talk. Their gazes met, and Verus saw nothing but confusion and uncertainty in the boy’s eyes. It was almost like he’d needed reminded that Verus had a body as well as a soul.

A moment later, the pale disciple gave him a dark yet amused smile. “Other people call me Inanis Praestigiae, but that matters little, another lie among endless others. We drown regardless. How will you react to the truth, I wonder? When enlightenment comes, will you break or flee? I look forward to seeing such choices being made.”

That said, the creepy youth turned and calmly began walking away, as if his actions had been the most natural thing in the world. Verus couldn’t help but notice that many of the nearby disciples had been staring at the scene the pale youth had made and that everyone was now giving him a wide berth. Whoever Inanis was, he wasn’t popular. Verus could guess why.

Someone detached from the crowd and walked over to Verus. It was Fang, the disciple from the dueling ground, and he had a curious expression on his face.

“How do you know Inanis? I thought you were a simple temple ward,” he asked while looking Verus over as if reevaluating him.

“I’m afraid I don’t know him and have no idea who he is. He just came over and started talking to me, although it was more like rambling at me,” Verus replied. He didn’t feel like sharing what the conversation had been about. It may have been nonsense, but it had still felt personal and raw.

“Really? I think you’re the first person he has talked to here. I heard he ignores everyone who tries to speak to him, like they’re dirt and beneath his notice. Even Highcloud got snubbed, and he’s considered the most powerful of all the disciples. What did he say to you?”

“I don’t know. He was hard to understand. Who exactly is he?”

“Inanis’s father is one of the most powerful grand elders on this world and he made his name during the original conquest of it. His bloodline is incredibly powerful, probably too powerful. Supposedly, it grants special sight that can perceive ki and souls, but lower Realm cultivators aren’t supposed to see such things. They say it has driven most of his offspring raving mad, and Inanis seems proof enough of that.”

“I suppose there are some downsides to being from powerful families,” Verus mused.

Fang laughed. “Oh, trust me, there are plenty. You see a lot as a servant. Anyway, I should get going, although I think I’ll be keeping an eye on you from now on. You might be more than you appear.”

After saying farewell to Fang, Verus skipped physical training and headed back to the residential hall. He needed to work on his channeling techniques. He still hadn’t managed to get a feel for poison ki yet and find out if he was attuned to it.

Once back in his room. Verus briefly skimmed though his book on channeling for a few moments to refresh the technique in his mind, before sitting down on his meditation mat and trying to get it right. As always, the nature of poison ki eluded him so he couldn’t get a hold on it and thus couldn’t perform the technique. Dream had been much easier. Ugh, it was so frustrating. He could perform the technique but not grasp the ki, and no amount of practice or knowledge could help him with that. Like enlightenment, understanding a type of ki could only happen naturally. It would come to him or it wouldn’t, and it couldn’t be forced. Once again, the only insight he gained was about why so few people searched for rare attunements.

Hours passed and Verus made no progress. As he grew increasingly more frustrated, his ability to focus degraded, until he eventually called it quits and went to bed. There was no point in missing sleep. Maybe tomorrow he would gain some new insight.