I really wanted to take Cascading Porpoise. There seemed no point in practicing a Cultivation technique like Transcend the Heavenly Footpath that was so unforgiving. I wondered what the downside was of practicing a technique that would have to be replaced at a higher level, and how difficult it would be to find a new technique.

It was bad enough that in the future I would have to abandon years of practice, but what happened if I reached that milestone and couldn't find a new cultivation technique that would mesh well with the foundation I had built?

"Third Elder. How difficult would it be to append or transition to a supplementary technique when Cascading Porpoise has reached the limit and is no longer able to progress or increase my Realm?" I asked, hoping he could shed some light on my worries. There didn't seem to be a real downside as far as I could tell for selecting this technique, and if it was easy enough to transition to another technique, it seemed logical to choose it.

The Third Elder's smile of delight suggested that might not be the case, and that he was pleased I'd considered this point. He was even more pleased that I had had the temerity to ask the question. Sometimes when something looks too good to be true, that's because it is, I thought.

"You have found the crux of the issue with Cascading Porpoise," he revealed. "It is true that a supplementary technique can break the bottleneck and the limits this technique imposes, but the means to do so are harsh.

"You need to sacrifice an entire Realm, the stored Qi sacrificed towards rebuilding meridian channels with the cultivation addendum in order to bridge the gap. And there are no shortcuts. You can't begin using the supplementary technique until you reach late-stage Profound Immortal Realm.

"Few would be willing to sacrifice their cultivation an entire realm once they have reached that height, for most that are the work of centuries. Additionally, the path to restoring the lost Realm and then breaking forward to the Immortal Venerable Realm becomes exponentially harder the second time around. Your body, your soul ocean will fight you as you cultivate, treating the new technique as an invading virus that needs to be defeated.

"This method is slow and steady but can add over five hundred years of rigorous cultivation to regain what is lost."

Five hundred extra years? That doesn't include the extra time that is needed once a breakthrough to the Immortal Venerable Realm is reached.

"So, Cascading Porpoise Tribulation is the safe and steady method, but the penalties for that safety are not enough to offset the time and caution someone must spend practicing Heavenly Footpath?" I mused aloud. "The requirement to heal meridian channels if cultivation deviation occurs might have an unforeseen benefit, I would think after a time or two, when mistakes or inattention cause cultivation backlash, a person would become more focused. Less likely to need to spend time healing channels because they have trained themselves to be methodical and orderly."

Third Elder's smile grew wider as he listened to my suppositions, he was pleased that I approached my decision logically and didn't base my choice on an arbitrary ranking between the two techniques without asking for some clarification.

"Most new students that I find techniques for, almost invariable select the option that I have suggested is the 'best' method without any further thought or discussion. The truth is subjective, selection of your Cultivation manual is one of the first tests the Sects proffer.

"If you are so careless as to base your decision on the opinions of others without even engaging in honest debate and discussion, then that says much about the kind of Cultivator you will develop into," Third Elder informed me almost gleefully.

"Tarrah will provide you with the relevant written material between the two techniques so that you can make a more informed decision. Information that has been collected and collated into data charts, including information about averages; time to conquer each Realm, Qi deviations, supplementary techniques that work well, and in tandem with Cascading Porpoise, and the average cost of resources for each realm.

"You will have until lunch with the material she will provide, make use of your time. Before you leave for lunch, I will expect you to make a choice and inform me of your decision."

The material Tarrah handed me didn't seem extensive, but what there was of it was dense. Data and graphs showing efficiency versus resources and speed of increase. Healing Qi deviation from meridian injury versus losing a Realm. The numbers were extensive and averaged against a control group that practiced the most common Heavenly and Celestial techniques.

I briefly wondered how they got the information. The number of people included as part of the research and the data-mined was extensive. Much more than I thought possible considering the tens of thousands of cultivation techniques that existed. Perhaps my Platinum Spirit Roots and water and air affinities weren't as rare as I'd been led to believe.

The other surprise the data proved was the effectiveness of the Transcend the Heavenly Footpath technique. Both techniques required about the same amount of time to reach the Immortal Venerable Realm, Cascading Porpoise requiring an average of an additional two centuries extra time spent cultivating. When comparing the numerous years, a cultivator would need to spend to ascend the realms, a century or two was more a rounding error than a serious consideration.

But when comparing the Qi pools and Soul oceans? The disparity became obvious.

I would have thought Cascading Porpoise would have the edge, the need to re-master a realm allowing a cultivator to increase the depth of Qi pools and Soul Oceans as the foundation was augmented by a new technique. But that wasn't the case. The efficiency when cultivating a Realm, a second time, was exponentially inferior. It was if the body's response to the new technique as a virus, built anti-bodies that shored up the crystal matrix and refused to allow integration. Additionally, the meridian channels had already expanded to meet the requirements of a higher Realm and remembered that that Realm had been already been reached and refused to reward the effort of doing the same work again.

With this discrepancy, users of Heavenly Footpath managed to maintain control of their resources and expand the available Qi and Soul Ocean pools by almost ten percent. For those Users that had dual affinities, those numbers doubled.

Cascading Porpoise seemed the safer choice, but in reality, if I chose this method, I would be limiting my advancement, including any martial or Dharmic techniques I practiced. The more condensed my Qi, the deeper my Soul Ocean, the more resources I had to call upon when battling or casting spells.

Both techniques would allow me to practice martial arts and Dharmic techniques for water, air, and lightning, so any restriction that might exist would be the same whichever cultivation technique I practiced. I would not be learning a martial technique that relied heavily on the fire aspect, no matter which method I choose.

With my research concluded and my decision made, Third Elder needed no input from me. When the time was up and Tarrah was signaling that we needed to head out, a jade slip containing Transcend the Heavenly Footpath was pressed into my hands by the Elder.

"You will make mistakes, everyone does, so when they happen heal completely before diving back into cultivation. You will find that by healing the schisms in your meridians as they occur, they become stronger, more pliant. Remember to focus, try to eliminate all extraneous thoughts and emotions, and you will be fine," Elder Cix promised before returning to his desk.

I knew how to access the information contained within the jade token. It was one of the first things school children were taught. Even non-cultivators with the barest amount of Qi energy, the energy that they absorbed normally from food, drink, and breathing was sufficient to activate these tokens.

I refrained for the moment. I wasn't sure what absorbing a Celestial cultivation technique would entail, and there was a chance the token was embedded with safety protocols that kept the information out of the hands of people that may take real damage if they attempted to absorb and cycle the technique by accident.

"Each Sect member is assigned a room, courtyard, and a meditation chamber," Tarrah said returning to her spiel and explaining Sect life. It was as if the time spent in the library had never happened.

"For the first month, you will be expected to dine in the general dining hall. It gives you a chance to get to know other Sect members before getting lost to Cultivation and entering seclusion before you are ready.

"After that month, you are allowed to dine in your room, but you will need to pay for meals to be delivered. Payment for all goods or services is done using contribution points. This is done by the Sect as a means to level the playing field somewhat between members of all financial backgrounds. Those new novices that come from rich or powerful families will have to earn their contribution points the same as everyone else," she explained.

"There is no way to buy or trade contribution points?" I asked, doubting that the rich and powerful hadn't found a way to rig the system in their favor somehow.

"Herbs, cores, spirit stones, and beast materials may be traded for points. But those are strictly regulated. A Sect member can only exchange a limited amount of these items. The amount based on the mission that was completed. Usually, ten percent above mission requirements are allowed to be exchanged for additional contribution points.

"Exchange between members require equivalency. Someone can't gift you with points or buy them from you without supplying something of worth. These exchanges can only be concluded in the Mission Hall and have to be witnessed by a ranking member of staff that works there.

"This keeps people from being exploited, robbed, or extorted for their points," she finished. "People have tried to circumvent this restriction but have failed. And the penalties can be Draconian. Sect members that break this rule may find themselves barred from accepting Missions and any accumulated contribution points they have saved confiscated."

I could still think of ways around the measures she had detailed, and if I could so too could those that had been a part of the Sect for hundreds even thousands of years. I was certain her explanation included information that was widely known. There had to be a more esoteric method of monitoring contribution points, a way that made it practically impossible to circumvent those restrictions.

"As a new Sect member, you will earn one contribution point per day for the first three months. Ninety points may seem like a lot but wait until you understand how expensive resources can be. A tier one restorative pill sells for twenty points. Having meals delivered to your room will cost you five points.

"The costs will add up until you are forced to either begin taking Missions or stifle your cultivation because of lack of resources. No one has gone longer than a month without doing some type of mission. Even something as basic as joining a gardening or cleaning detail.

"The Sect wants you to succeed. But they help those that strive for that success. Never think that things will be handed to you. You will have to work and fight for every chance to receive rare resources.