Today is my first day of work as a teacher. The seven great sects seem to have stopped sending scouts through the immortal door. They’ve identified the required cultivation level to enter and are likely waiting for their sect members to arrive before entering all at once. The formations the demon has set up prevent anyone weaker than a quasi-immortal from surviving. A hoard of youngsters is about to flood this lower realm. Once again, I regret accepting this choker. If I had known Bloodmoon was only going to work as a teacher, I wouldn’t have enslaved myself to hamper his freedom. Now, I’ll have to fight against the seven great sects if I want to survive.

For now, I have to diligently do my job as a teacher. It’s been a very long time since I’ve taken a break from cultivating. I’ll treat this time as a valuable experience of returning to mortality. Every immortal has to live for a period of time as a mortal if they wish to continue down the path of cultivation. Only by losing the strength one holds can one appreciate the strength they had. It’s a form of willpower training.

Yesterday, there was a potential-measuring ceremony held at the school. Surprisingly, there are eight children with potentials comparable to the prodigies in the immortal realm. I was expecting one or two since this realm already proved itself by forming the immortal door, but for there to be eight prodigies in one generation, it’s too lucky. Perhaps this lower realm is experiencing a golden age of cultivation. Speaking of the eight prodigies, they’re entering the room right now. It seems like some of them have already formed their own factions. I don’t understand the power dynamics of all the families behind these students, but they shouldn’t affect me. All teachers should be partial. In school, backgrounds don’t matter when it comes to teaching.

“Good morning, Teacher.”

This shouldn’t be affecting me as much as it is. I’m feeling a sense of pride, standing here for these students to greet? The humanoid beast did something to my immortal heart, weakened it with her vile words. I’ve been feeling more emotional than usual recently. I’ll treat it as part of the experience of returning to mortality. “Good morning, students. As long as you remain in the body training class, I’ll be your teacher. You may address me as Teacher Lin. Who among you has already trained their body with a martial technique? Raise your hands.”

As expected, the eight prodigies raised their hands. There were a few other students that raised theirs as well, but they only did so after the eight. Of the prodigies, half of them were boys while the other half were girls. Other than them, I recognized another child in the class: the humanoid beast’s daughter, the one that wanted to eat me when I was locked in the cage. Surprisingly, she didn’t raise her hand. Did her mother not gift her a body-strengthening technique?

“You may choose to continue cultivating the martial technique you’ve learned. For the rest of you, I shall be teaching you the Shadow Devil Foundation Building Technique.” It’s a very solid technique, perfect for beginners. It provides an all-around increase in strength. The only downside is it doesn’t specialize in anything. “I shall demonstrate it three times. Observe my movements very carefully. Once I am done, you shall perform the technique, and I will go around the room, correcting your mistakes.”

While I perform the routine, which is similar to a slow dance, I’ll explain the basics of cultivation to these students. They’ve heard rumors, perhaps received some guidance, but they’re all relatively new when it comes to treading the path of immortality. “Cultivating is similar to constructing a fortress. The most important factor of a fortress is its foundation. A fortress will easily crumble if it is built upon sand. The ground must be sturdy for a fortress to stand. In cultivation, your body is the ground. The most important aspect is your body. Train your body well, construct a firm foundation, and your future attainments shall be immeasurable.”

After demonstrating the Shadow Devil Foundation Building Technique three times, I stopped and straightened my robes. The children stared at me as if they were waiting for permission to begin. I nodded, and they moved in unison. Well, almost all of them moved in unison. There was one person who had their hand raised. The humanoid beast’s child. I nodded at her. “Yes? What is it?”

She was standing with her legs shoulder-width apart, her left hand balled up into a fist on her waist with her knees slightly bent. She lowered her right hand and also placed it on her side, curling it up into a fist. “What do I do with my tail?”

I’m not sure. Why wasn’t this foundation technique designed with the sect leader’s daughter in mind? “Leave it in the position most comfortable for it.” There should be a separate class for students who aren’t completely human. I’ll bring this up to the devil the next time I see her.

“Okay.”

After that minor hiccup, there weren’t any other problems. The students didn’t have any issues with the moves. Compared to the foundation building techniques in the immortal realm, this one is relatively simple to learn. It only has six major movements targeting different parts of the body. The more complex ones in the immortal realm have hundreds of movements, but they’re only a tiny bit better in terms of strengthening. The creator of this technique must’ve been a genius.

“All of you have learned the basics of the Shadow Devil Foundation Building Technique. You shall perform this technique every second of every day until you can feel the qi in the air. Even while you are eating, you can hold the first movement’s position. If you need to sleep, sleep in the sixth movement’s position. Any questions?”

Once again, there was only one raised hand. It belonged to the humanoid beast’s child again. Did she teach her daughter nothing? “What is it?”

“What does qi feel like? How do we know when we can feel it?”

“Excellent question. Everyone feels qi differently; you will instinctively know it’s qi once you feel it. Some people experience it as water flowing through their body. Some experience it as fire burning in their chest. Others say it courses through them like lightning, leaving their limbs tingling.” The humanoid beast is raising her hand again. Was my answer not clear enough?

“Teacher Lin, I feel something in my tummy. Is that qi?”

Could she have come into contact with qi after one repetition of the technique? “Do you think it’s qi?”

The humanoid beast’s forehead scrunched up. She stayed still as she thought, and after a while, she shook her head. “No. I think I’m just hungry.”