Red digested her words in silence. Even with his emotionless expression, though, Aurelia seemed able to tell that he was concerned about something.

“A cultivator still has to figure a lot of things on their own, of course.” She said. “I don’t intend to take any agency away from you, and you will still be the one to make the final decisions. I just intend to… Push you in the right direction.”

The youth shook his head. “I don’t understand what that means.”

Aurelia sighed. “How about this? I will tell you something useful for free and all you need to do is to stand there and listen. Not that hard, is it?”

This whole conversation sounded entirely too familiar to Red. Still, there was no reason to refuse her.

“You can tell me what you want.” He nodded. “But we need to keep moving. I don’t know if they might still be looking for me.”

Aurelia grunted. “And where do you intend to go now?”

“North.” Red said. “To the capital.”

…

The youth continued moving through the forest and, over the next couple of days, he got more familiar with the changes in his body.

To open your Spiritual Sea was to elevate yourself to a higher form of life. Changes would take place in your body that would set you apart from any mortal, even the ones who opened all their veins. Of course, normal cultivation didn’t concern itself with improving the physical body, but transformation for the better would still come regardless as one advanced through the realms.

Strength and speed the likes one could only dream of were now available to Red, but that wasn’t all. After breaking through, he felt his body rejuvenated with vitality the likes he never felt before, and a pace that would have left him exhausted in a matter of hours could be kept for days now.

He clenched his fist as he walked through the trees, feeling the latent power underneath his skin. He couldn’t help but wonder how much this had offset the life force he lost to the Moon back then.

“Are you listening to me?”

Aurelia’s voice brought him out of his contemplation. She materialized in front of him, glaring at him with her arms crossed.

Red nodded. “I am. You were about to tell me about Spiritual Arts, right?”

The woman grunted in dissatisfaction. “I guess you can say that in a way. Do you have an understanding of what a cultivation inheritance is?”

“Even if I say I do, I suppose you are just about to correct me.”

She smiled. “It’s good you know your place. Many people think of inheritances as simple treasures and riches a cultivator leaves behind for their future disciples, but there’s something much more valuable than any kind of material good one can obtain from their master. Do you know what it is?”

“… Knowledge.” Red said.

“That’s right.” She nodded. “Treasures are still valuable and useful for any cultivator, but compared to the knowledge from those who came before you, it simply can’t compare.”

“I assume by that you mean the Spiritual Arts and Techniques.”

“It’s not limited to just that, but yes, it’s a big part of it. You see, Red, cultivators weren’t as strong in the distant past as they are today, and that’s not because they lacked the talent or will, but rather because they lacked the knowledge. At one point in human history, no one knew how to open a Spiritual Sea or how to cast a fireball, and they had to progress blindly through cultivation. This lasted for more than a millennium before we got the comprehensive system we have today.“

“You know about what happened back then?”

Red was curious. History books were lacking in knowledge about humans before the establishment of the Crystal Sky Sect and the war against the Beast Emperors and their hordes.

“I don’t know as much as you might hope, but that’s besides the point.” She shook her head. “What I mean to say is that we stand where we stand because we benefit from the knowledge of countless generations of cultivators before us. People far more talented than us would have seen their progress halted if they were born during the early days of cultivation. No one individual can measure up against the knowledge of all of humanity on their own, and at some point or the other, they will need to rely on knowledge from those who came before them to not only advance, but to not become obsolete in their era.”

Red was starting to understand what Aurelia wanted to tell him.

“This is the reason why sects have always been so powerful.” She said. “Generation after generation of talented and powerful cultivators expand and improve on techniques and arts, creating a comprehensive and complete system of cultivation for later generations that no outsiders could figure out on their own. This is their greatest strength and advantage.”

Red raised his eyebrows. “Is this your plea for me to join a sect?”

Aurelia frowned. “What do you think?”

“… I’d guess not.”

“I don’t want to discourage you from your path, and I know that isn’t even possible in the first place. I just want you to understand what kind of uphill battle you are facing here.”

‘You want me to understand how I need your help.’

Red wasn’t stupid. It was clear that now that he opened his Spiritual Sea, Aurelia wanted to show to him all the ways in which she could still be useful to him. The woman, of course, also wasn’t stupid, and she only schemed so openly because she knew the youth needed all the help he could get for his journey.

She wasn’t wrong, but Red wasn’t willing to rely completely on her, either. This interaction was just a reminder that even after all they went through, Aurelia was still a cultivator with her own self interests in mind, and she needed the youth’s help to see things through.

“You say that, but my master was a rogue cultivator, and he seems to have fared well by himself.” Red said.

Aurelia snorted. “You know nothing about your master! Who are you to say he relied entirely on himself to figure out every facet of cultivation during his journey? Are you telling me you think he didn’t have help either?”

“Maybe he did, but everything he learned he left behind for me.”

“Everything?! You have a fountain of knowledge in front of you, but no idea how to use it!”

“Then instead of trying to teach me a lesson on independence, tell me how I can use it.”

The woman frowned and fell silent. It took her a few seconds to speak up again.

“Do you know what kinds of techniques compose a complete cultivation inheritance?” she asked.

“A Spiritual Circulation technique and Spiritual Arts, I presume.” Red said.

A circulation technique was the skill required to accumulate and build the foundation of Spiritual Energy inside your Spiritual Sea. It was how one advanced through the cultivation realms and shaped the kind of cultivator they would be. As for Spiritual Arts, these were the ways in which one applied this energy practically, and in that manner, there were countless types of techniques that one could learn.

Aurelia nodded. “That is correct, but there are distinction between Spiritual Arts. A complete inheritance has offensive, defensive, movement, and utility Spiritual Arts, and as a cultivator, it is important you don’t lack in any of these criteria if you want to survive out there.”

Red frowned. “You can’t specialize in one of them?”

“You can be better at one of these areas than the others, but to neglect one of them entirely is to invite doom upon yourself.” She said. “There are countless kinds of Spiritual Arts out there, and all of them have their advantages and disadvantages. A cultivator who focuses on movement techniques might thrive until he meets something that moves faster than he can dodge. A cultivator who only focuses on defense might thrive until he meets someone who can wear down all his shields and pin him down. You get the picture, right?”

The youth nodded. “… My cultivation manual doesn’t have those distinctions.”

Aurelia smirked. “I did tell you that. This might look like common sense, but finding a balance in all those areas in practice is harder than you might think. For as long as cultivators may live, their progress is measured in decades, and some of them feel like they have no choice but to prioritize their strengths and ignore their weaknesses if they want to achieve anything before their time runs out. In the same way, choosing and practicing techniques that complement each other to form a strong battle system is far more difficult than it might seem. One wrong choice and you might end up compromising your own strength in combat.”

“I suppose this is where sects have an advantage?”

She nodded. “That’s right. Not only do they have the techniques, but they also know how to use them, and which of them best complement each other, all through countless generations of trial and error. It’s an advantage that can’t be understated.”

“What if a disciple with a talent they are not specialized in joins the sect?” Red asked. “Will their talent go to waste?”

“It depends. It’s not uncommon for sects to engage in an exchange of talents in those cases, but sometimes they may feel it’s worth it to invest in those people.” she said. “At worst, these disciples end up underachieving their potential, but in the best-case scenario, the investment pays off, and this disciple becomes the master of a new hall in the sect and expands upon the inheritance. I suppose I don’t need to tell you how that benefits them, right?”

It sounded like a deal they would benefit from for the rest of their existence. It was no wonder that after thousands of years, sects would become so powerful with all that knowledge.

‘But even then… How did the Empire manage to catch up to them in so little time?’

The Empire was only around for some hundreds of years, while the sects were around for more than a millennium. According to Aurelia’s logic, there was no way they would be able to measure up to that power, yet here they were, having destroyed not one but several sects in their rise.

The woman lived in a time before any of that happened, though, so Red knew she wouldn’t be able to provide him with any insight on that.

“So, you are saying I should choose at least four techniques in each of those areas to focus on?” the youth asked.

“Utility can be left for last, but right now you should definitely pick at least one in offensive, defensive, and movement technique for survival.” Aurelia said. “Of course, even amidst Spiritual Arts of the same type, there are multiple functions you could fill, but for your first few you should pick something that you can rely on in a pinch. Don’t prioritize power over reliability, as even if you have a strong technique, you probably won’t be able to use it more than once in combat at your level.”

“I see.” Red nodded.

He had to admit that the woman’s advice was indeed useful. Even if the youth figured this all out on his own eventually, he was bound to make some mistakes he could not afford to make along the way. Having someone to put into words what one might think was common sense and to correct his errors was more useful than one could imagine.

“In that case,” Red took out his Storm Blessing manual from his bag. “I suppose I should choose something.”