Tutor Zhang stroked his long wispy beard as he spoke."But before I start our history lesson, I will refresh your memories."
"As you all know, the first step to reaching "immortality" is to perceive and manipulate the spiritual power in the air. This first stage is known as Qi Distillation. Out of one hundred thousand people, only one will succeed in this first step."
"In our sect, the cultivation of our outer disciples range from the 3rd level to the 7th level of Qi Distillation."
"Once a disciple reaches the 8th level of Qi Distillation, we examine them once more in a ranking tournament. Every year, only the top five will ascend to the status of inner disciple."
"From then on, the sect"s resources and knowledge are freely provided to you. Our inner disciples range from the 8th to 12th level of Qi Distillation."
"Past the 12th level of Qi Distillation is the Sea Establishment Realm. There are ten levels in this stage. When you enter it, your life span increases to three hundred years. In the Sea Establishment realm, your attunement to spiritual power is much greater, allowing you to experience true flight."
Tutor Zhang began to drift above the stage. He floated gently above the wooden boards, about half a metre high.
The audience gasped. They looked at him with admiration. Elder Zhang smiled.
"True flight has many advantages. You will become able to travel long distances and over a variety of terrains, such as rivers, lakes, lava flows and quicksand. There are many other useful applications, I"m sure."
"Everyone who is in the Sea Establishment Realm has a high status. Even the Cedar Sect does not have many of them."
"Past the Sea Establishment stage is known as the legendary "Island Formation" stage. No records exist in Cloud River that explains what this means or how to achieve it. Our esteemed Sect Master Musheng is of the peak of the Sea Establishment stage, on the verge of breaking through to Island Formation. If he advances once more, he will be the first person in Cloud River to have ever achieved this feat."
Tutor Zhang smiled when he saw the fervent faces of the disciples below. Their mouths were wide open and their eyes s.h.i.+ning.
Tutor Zhang coughed, "The definition of a "continent," does any one of you know what this word means?"
The audience looked at each other in silence. No one knew.
Van looked thoughtful. Hadn"t Jet talked about "continent" way back when they first met in Mount Steady?
He closed his eyes and tried to remember. Something about raising Van to the top of this continent? And beyond?
However, the meaning of the word – Van truly did not know.
Tutor Zhang had not expected anyone to know, "The definition of a "continent" has been debated by scholars for centuries. From ancient records, we understand it means land surrounded by sea."
"However, if any of you have seem a map of our Divine River Realm, you would know that our realm consists of sixty-four countries and completely surrounded by sea!"
"So, is a "continent" the same as a "realm"? And what is beyond this sea?"
"Those are the questions that we must all ask. That is your responsibility as the next generation!"
The audience were silent.
Tutor Zhang chuckled.
"You lot do not know it, but we are truly frogs in a well. Dragon City may seem to be a great city to you lot, but we are insignificant in the scheme of things. The Great East Heaven country, which we are allied with, is only one of the three Great nations of the realm. To our north lies the Great Sun Seizing country and to our west the Great Shadow Azure."
"All these great powers, and somehow we can still not understand what is beyond the sea that surrounds our realm."
Tutor Zhang sighed.
"Anyway, I"m afraid I have digressed," he said as he regained his poise, "First we will talk about the fundamentals of martial arts skills…"
"Though they seem disparate, with many different effects and usage, actually the core remains constant…"
As Van listened and watched Tutor Zhang move about the stage, he felt his mind drift. The fluid movements of the old man were putting him into a serene and empty state of mind.
Through mola.s.ses, he heard the old tutor shout something like "Swift Striking Palms" before demonstrating the move. His movements were fluid and unhurried, the spiritual power within his body… the spiritual power within his body flowed smoothly through his body at the right speed and in the right proportions…
Van suddenly remembered his two attack skills, Fists of Devouring Flames and Dark Seas Palm. His natural affinity for fire and lesser affinity for water had greatly helped him gain a basic understanding of both, but Van had hardly done any work in trying to understand the essence of the moves. He had been riding on the strength of his natural affinities the entire time…
As Van watched, mesmerised by Tutor Zhang"s flowing movements, he began to see the pathways of qi within the old tutor"s body. This was because Van was particularly sensitive to spiritual power. It was why he was able to perceive other people"s cultivation levels much better than they could perceive his.
As he watched the old man on the stage, Van felt the spiritual power within him started to move in sympathy.
The longer he stared, the more the spiritual power within himself was moved. It circulated through his body in a very similar flow and motion as inside Tutor Zhang. But it was not the same.
Van started to enter a meditative state. He did not know how long the state lasted for, only that the pa.s.sage of qi within his body became faster and faster and more fluid as it travelled.
When Tutor Zhang finished his palm skill demonstration, Van awoke. He recalled vividly how the qi had flowed through him as he mentally simulated both Fists of Devouring Flame and Dark Seas Palm while watching the old tutor"s moves.
[Did I just fall into a meditative state?] Van asked himself.
He was shocked and did not know what it meant.
Why did he feel as if he had just spent two months practising his fist skills? Wasn"t he just standing in the martial field listening to a lecture?
Tutor Zhang was old and liked to play tricks, but he was also very skilled. He was very generous and did not skimp on his explanations. All the skills and moves he showed had been trained to the Pinnacle-level and were either medium rank or high rank.
"Lastly…" Tutor Zhang"s eye focused on the youth standing near the front with a goofy smile on his face. [What an idiot.]
"You. Get your a.s.s up here!"
Van suddenly felt the people around him grow silent. They s.h.i.+fted away. He was quite obviously singled out.
"Eh…?"
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind picked him and threw him onto the stage!
Tutor Zhang looked out into the crowd once more. He saw the cold and aloof young man he had been impressed with before.
"You. Please come up!"
Get your a.s.s up here vs. please come up… it was clear who had more regard from Tutor Zhang.
Van stood up and brushed the dust off his knees. As he straightened, he locked eyes with a haughty young man walking up to the stage.
The instant their eyes met, they both showed dark expressions.
[Klaus!]
[Van!]
The pale aristocrat stood up onto the stage. His blue eyes slid of Van"s and turned to Tutor Zhang. It was as if Van was invisible.
Van clenched his fists.
Tutor Zhang saw this curious little interaction between them and cackled internally. One he had called up because he wanted to give pointers. The other one he had called up to teach a lesson for repeatedly laughing and smiling goofily during his lecture!
"Come here," Tutor Zhang gestured to the young man that had caught his eye, "What is your name?"
"Klaus Bayer, of the n.o.ble House of Bayer."
"Oh? Very good," Tutor Zhang said, it could be seen that he was not moved by Klaus" invocation of his family lineage, "Please demonstrate to the audience a particular martial skill you are familiar with. I will observe and give pointers as an example to the audience."
Klaus raised a pale brow. He turned to the empty side of the stage and took a strange stance.
"First Stance. Claw of the Sand Scorpion!"
A vicious gust of wind burst out into the air. A howling noise accompanied it. It carried razor-sharp particles of sand-like qi that savagely tore into the wooden boards of the stage. A big hole was made in the ground.
Tutor Zhang"s eyes shone, "Bravo, bravo! Excellent execution! I can tell that you both grasp the essence of the move and have practised it countless times, making it muscle memory."
Tutor Zhang was truly happy – he had found a good seed!
The old tutor beamed, "Also, you deserve to be congratulated. After all, you have achieved expert-level in Seven Stances of the Sand Scorpion while only in the 5th level of Qi Distillation!"
The audience gasped.
"Did you hear that? The five categories that describe how proficient you are, are: low, middle, high, expert and pinnacle-level. He is only in the 5th level and yet he has comprehended a skill to the expert-level!"
"That"s f.u.c.king insane…"
"…I heard the Seven Stances of the Sand Scorpion is one of the hardest skills to train in…"
"You guys don"t know the half of it. That guy up there, he called himself Klaus, right? From the Bayer House? They said he entered the sect as a servant only one month ago, in the 1st level of Qi Distillation!"
The audience"s faces showed a wide array of expressions. Some were envious, some bitter, some astonished and others showed only admiration.
"This is unbelievable…!"
"If he continues at this speed, sooner or later he will become the king of outer disciples…"
"I think so too…"
"Shh! Watch your words! Do you think the current king will be pleased with your words? Have some self-awareness!"
"Our current king, upstaged by him? Haha! This Klaus is only in the 5th level of Qi Distillation. There is still a long way to go before he nears the strength of the likes of even Mystra, Jester and Mad Horse!"
"That may be so, but his momentum looks unstoppable."
The chatter started to die down.
Tutor Zhang turned to Klaus and gave a single piece of critique, "I can tell that you have practised incredibly hard to polish the Seven Stances of the Sand Scorpion to this level. Your understanding of the essence of the move is also good, however, your affinity with both wind and sand are a bit lacking."
"The wind lacked flexibility and the sand was not as sharp as it could be. However, this is not a major problem. The best method for you is to visit desert locations and experience windy and sandy conditions. You may consider taking missions that involve hunting down demon beasts with affinities for wind or sand as well."
Klaus took Tutor Zhang"s words seriously. He looked the old tutor in the eye and performed a half-bow in thanks.
"This disciple thanks Tutor Zhang for the enlightening advice."
The old tutor was very pleased. This brat had seemed quite haughty in the beginning, but it seemed he still understood grat.i.tude and courtesy. There was good potential!
Satisfied, Tutor Zhang turned his wrinkled face to the other young man on the stage.
"You!" He barked.
Van became alert, "Yes, Tutor Zhang!"
The old tutor hmphed, "Alright, show us what you got."
For this kid, Tutor Zhang had no expectations at all. He just wanted to point out some flaws and humiliate the kid a bit. Maybe then he would take this public forum seriously!
Van walked over to the empty side of the platform with a calm expression.
Tutor Zhang"s interest was piqued.
[Oh? This young man seems quite confident!]