Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Chapter 139: The Ability to Play a Pig to Eat the Tiger

Translator: Ash Editor: Geoffrey_

Countless translucent and diamond-shaped crystals flew to his front from all sides; each crystal bore the details of one course along with an evaluation of the seniors.

“Although the <A Brief Analysis of Mental Cultivation Methods> is tedious to learn, it is a prerequisite to many courses. Furthermore, it is rather easy and has a passing rate of 92%. It is advisable for everyone to take this course.”

“<Theory of Soul Shattering Marksmanship> is very good. After learning this basic theory course, you can learn the true <Soul Shattering Marksmanship>, which is an overbearing marksmanship created after repeated revisions by countless experts in the army. Once you are successful in learning it, you will be invincible against those on the same level!”

“There is nothing to say of <A Preliminary Study of Thousand Hands Divine Needles>. It is a very ordinary exercise; however, there will be many junior sisters from the Cultural Department learning together with you. Understand junior brothers—senior brothers can only help you up till here!”

Li Yao had a hearty laugh as he continued browsing.

He first selected more than twenty refining theory courses recommended by Yuan Manqiu, including <Introduction to Refining>, <History of Refining>, <Identification of Ancient Magical Equipment>, <A Study of Glyphs>, so on and so forth.

Although there were many courses, they did not pose too much pressure on him.

After all, Li Yao was not an ignorant novice. When the old man was still alive, he had already taught him sufficient basic knowledge, not to mention Ding Yin’s notes had given him a comprehensive understanding of refining techniques.

In addition, the <Identification of Ancient Magical Equipment> goes without saying—it was simply free credits.

Supposedly, after one month of study, he could definitely amass all the credits.

However, if he so wished to steamroll those “feathers of a phoenix and horns of the unicorns” from the Hidden Dragon Hall, the Refining Department’s basic theory courses were simply far from enough.

Li Yao gazed at the vast world and used more than half an hour to choose about 30 courses.

“The credits of these courses are very high, and moreover, their application is very broad. They are all somehow related to core problems of the road of cultivation.”

“For instance, this <9 Heavenly Tribulations> explains the source of ‘heavenly tribulation’ and how to guard against it.”

“Even if it is not for credits, I should seriously learn it. Who knows? One day, I might become a Nascent Soul Stage old monster. Even figures more mightier than Nascent Soul Stage cultivators might encounter heavenly tribulations.”

“Hey, this <Low-Grade Soul Converging Technique> actually has a 5-star importance. It could go neck and neck with many specialized course, and fellow students’ evaluation of this course is also very high. Maybe I should learn <Soul Converging Technique> first!”

With a move of Li Yao’s thought, a diamond-shaped crystal which bore <Soul Converging Technique> suddenly flared up before it broke into countless fragments, giving off the misconception that there were thousands upon thousands of crystal butterflies dancing around him as the fragments weaved a completely new world.

It was a scene of a typical medieval cultivation world where mountains and rivers could be seen far away while there were pavilions, buildings, and halls nearby.

A middle-aged cultivator who had a well-trained figure emotionlessly stood in front of Li Yao.

This middle-aged man was purely constructed from the fragments of telepathic thoughts; he simply didn’t exist in real life. He was only here to teach the quintessence of the <Soul Converging Technique> pertaining to a couple dozen Grand Desolate War Institution professors’ knowledge from over the past century.”

The middle-aged cultivator talked very fast; from time to time, his speech was also mixed in with the transmission of telepathic thoughts. A peerless tide of thoughts surged forth into Li Yao’s brain.

What gave Li Yao a profound impression was the three big trees that were burning at the center of the forest.

The first tree had the branches burning bit by bit.

The second tree, however, had the entire top of the tree burning.

The third tree instead burned from the top of the tree to the trunk, and even the roots underground were also burning. Very soon, the whole tree had been burned into coke.

The middle-aged man faintly said, “These three trees represent ordinary people, low-level cultivators, and high-level cultivators.”

“The vitality of ordinary people is tremendously feeble, so the consumption of their vitality per second is also very small. Their vitality flows like a mere trickle which would remain calm forever.”

We cultivators, on the other hand, could stimulate the hidden potential of our bodies to the extreme and break past the limits one after another, and even blast a way towards a completely new path of evolution. Every second and every minute, the vitality we consume is more than hundred times than that of ordinary people.”

“Like the second and third tree, which are burning from inside out, although they can emit inexhaustible light and heat in an instant, they could easily burn away themselves completely.”

“The higher the state and the deeper the cultivation level, the fiercer you will burn and the faster you will consume your vitality.”

“In the ancient cultivation world, many peerless experts whose cultivation had reached the limit could completely burn themselves, and subsequently after various kinds of visions, they would completely vanish. The ancient cultivators called it ‘Breaking the Space’.”

“But we modern cultivators know that it was nothing but burning our vitality away, burning ourselves alive to death.”

“If you want to avoid burning away your vitality, you can not maintain your strongest state all the time. Instead, you have to alternate between tension and relaxation; you have to remain calm at normal times and be prompt when taking action.”

“So, even if it is Nascent Soul Stage old monster, he would not remain in the Nascent Soul Stage at every moment and every second. If he did so, he will very easily completely burn through his entire life. It would simply be an act of suicide.”

“They would often restrain their vigor and would look no different than Building Foundation Stage or Refinement Stage cultivators.”

“Some skilled, peerless experts can even accomplish a state where not even a trickle of their life force leaks out, suppressing their strength to 0.01%. A true Nascent Soul Stage old monster will look like a feeble, ordinary person. Even if telepathic thoughts of other experts scan through them, they will not find an ounce of difference.”

“Under this kind of state, their life force passes very slowly, and theoretically, they could live for 300-500 years, and perhaps even longer!”

“And if they need to, they can transform in the blink of an eye in accordance to the different combat scenarios. They could jump to different levels one by one, from the Refinement Stage, Foundation Building Stage, Golden Core stage to even the strongest Nascent Soul Stage!”

“In their strongest state, their attack force is 100,000 times stronger than their weakest state. It would be as if they were not the same person—as if an ant has evolved into a ferocious dragon in the blink of an eye!”

“Soul converging techniques teach you how to suppress your strength—the ability to transform!”

“Soul converging techniques, breathing exercises, and utilization exercises are also known as the three basic techniques of the cultivation world. Once you have learned a soul converging technique, not only can you warm and nourish your ife flame, it can also prevent others to see your actual situation, allowing you to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing and play pig to eat the tiger. It is truly a marvelous and essential skill for you to walk in the cultivation world!”

Having finished the introduction, the middle-aged cultivator waved his hand before numerous streams of light submerged into Li Yao’s brain, which was the basic theoretical stuff regarding soul converging techniques.

Just like the breathing exercises, soul converging techniques was just a general designation for techniques. Various sects had their own soul converging techniques. The Grand Desolate War Institution likewise had a total of a couple hundred different soul converging techniques, with each of them having different features and practicing methods. The students could freely choose as they wish.

Among this basic theory course, Li Yao got to clearly understand the origin, creators, features, advantages, and disadvantages of over a hundred soul converging techniques.

As a couple 100,000 thoughts submerged into his brain in the blink of an eye, Li Yao felt as if his brain was going to explode; he felt dizzy as he constantly complained.

When he withdrew himself from the knowledge of soul converging techniques, he felt everything was revolving and faintly felt nausea.

“Awful, I truly can not bear so many thoughts submerging into my brain all of a sudden.”

“This is just the concepts of soul converging techniques forced into my brain, I still do not completely understand them. I guess it would take at least 3-5 days before I could master it, and only then will I have the hope to pass the exam.”

“No, if it will be 3-5 days just for learning one course, I can only earn 20-30 credits in one month at most. How am I going to compete with those specially recruited students? Not to mention the first in Newcomer Ranking, it would be impossible for me to make it to the top 100!”

Li Yao was quite anxious.

The Low-Rank Soul Converging Techniques could not be described as difficult among the basic theory courses, but the telepathic thoughts it had were truly too many and even included the origin, development history, and evolution of the sect. Some courses even included many cultivation experiences of seniors which would very likely to appear in the exam.

Even if it was a cultivator who had tremendous computational speed, to completely understand one, they would—just like him—need to spend 3-5 days.

It was simply impossible to learn a couple dozen courses in one month’s time.

“The learning efficiency is truly low. I wonder if there are any cultivation facility which could promote the learning efficiency!”

Li Yao was somewhat distressed.

At this moment, a diamond-shaped crystal congealed over the top of his head; at the center of which had “Super Perception Cabin”.

After it split open, Li Yao suddenly discovered that the institute surprisingly had a cultivation equipment called “Super Perception Cabin” which could promote the learning efficiency by 300%.

Practicing a second inside of the Super Perception Cabin was equivalent to practicing 3-4 seconds outside; it was like the time was being stretched—it was incredibly mysterious!

“Is there such an overbearing cultivation equipment? Then wouldn’t one month be equivalent to three months?”

Li Yao, who was completely immersed in his happiness, completely ignored the restrictions and drawbacks of the “Super Perception Cabin” and excitedly checked the location of the equipment.

The Super Perception Cabin was a very common cultivation equipment. All the major departments had it installed. The Refining Department also used to have it; however, it was destroyed in the explosion.

But as all the departments had made a commitment that the students of Refining Department are welcomed anytime to use their training facilities, they would act fairly to everyone.

“Let’s check out the Combat Department first!”

Li Yao discovered that the Combat Department had over a hundred Super Perception Cabin installed. It was a large-scale facility, and the distance was also not far away. He immediately decided to first go to the Combat Department to try his luck.

He could not wait to withdraw from the Wasteland Battle Network. Looking at the Black Wing Sword like a cheerful dog running around him, Li Yao’s complexion changed. He raised a finger.

“If I have to ride you, let’s talk first—the highest speed can not be more than the 1/3rd of the speed of sound. You are not allowed to suddenly stop and change directions, you are not allowed to abruptly go up and down, you are not allowed to do a 360 degrees barrel roll, and you are also not allowed to suddenly brake! Start gently and brake softly, fly as slow as possible, ok?”

The Black Wing Sword’s tip repeatedly moved up and down as though a dog was cheerfully wagging its tail, saying: “Okay, okay, okay!”

“That’s more like it.”

Li Yao linked the mini-crystal processor with the static type crystal processor before he awkwardly climbed onto the Black Wing Sword.

When thunderous roaring sounds came from the back of Black Wing Sword, he had an ominous premonition. Just as he was about to jump down, he had already started flying.

“Damn you, Little Black, I am not going to believe you ever again!”

Li Yao’s roars were however completely torn apart by the fierce winds.

....

Despite the fact that it was already late at night, a dozen floating mountains of the combat department were brightly lit, as though it was daytime.

“The major departments and the ordinary departments are really different. Each profession has a dozen floating mountain, and even the smallest mountain is 3-5 times bigger than the floating mountain that our Refining Department once had!”

“However, it’s alright. Someday, the Refining Department will have 10, 20, 50 floating mountains. I will build a sky city in the sky of the Grand Desolate War Institution, and then it will be worthy of the title ‘Holy Land of Refiners’!”

On the flying sword landing platform of a floating mountain, Li Yao stroked his messy hair and walked inside with his head held high.