Study Hard

The next few days of classes were Tang History, Heaven and Earth Theory, Fortune Theory, and Arts Theory, in that order.

Tang History needs no further explanation. Heaven and Earth Theory and Fortune Theory were actually cultivation classes. Heaven and Earth Theory discussed the workings of celestial phenomena and geography, as well as how to efficiently absorb the essence of heaven and earth by adapting to environmental changes during cultivation to speed up progress.

The first class of Heaven and Earth Theory was held on the mountain outside Qisi Hall. After the teacher explained the principles, the students were to find the best spot to cultivate on their own. There was no single correct answer for the best spot; each student had different foundations and aptitudes, and would walk different immortal paths in the future, so everyone had their own corresponding optimal cultivation location.

Wei Yuan discovered that the higher he went, the faster his cultivation speed became, so he ultimately chose the mountain peak. However, he was a step too late; the spot had already been taken by Bao Yun and Xiao Yu.

Upon seeing Wei Yuan, Bao Yun rushed over, grabbed his hand, and said intimately, "Junior Brother Wei is here too! Let's cultivate together!"

Her hand was cold, smooth, and boneless. Wei Yuan felt inexplicably awkward holding it. He wanted to let go, but Bao Yun tightened her grip. Etiquette dictated that forcefully pulling away at this moment would be rude and invite criticism, so he could only endure.

Wei Yuan walked with her for a while when Bao Yun suddenly stumbled as if about to fall.

Wei Yuan rushed to help her, but as he lifted his foot, he suddenly flew into the air. Mysteriously, he fell off the mountaintop and tumbled down the slope for over ten zhang before stopping.

Bao Yun rushed over and helped Wei Yuan up, saying anxiously, "Junior Brother, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself anywhere? Oh dear, how could you be so careless!"

Wei Yuan couldn't tell if he had been careless or if something else had caused him to fall. He found it difficult to refuse Bao Yun's concern and let her help him up.

Bao Yun helped Wei Yuan to a flat spot nearby to sit. Wei Yuan was surprised to find that cultivation here was only slightly slower than at the peak, so he didn't fuss about it anymore. Bao Yun gave him a few more instructions, telling him to take good care of himself, before returning to the mountaintop.

And so, the first Heaven and Earth Theory class concluded.

Fortune Theory only began to rise in prominence in the last three hundred years, making it the youngest subject. A thousand years ago, those who could receive the blessing of fortune were extremely rare and often achieved great spiritual power. Therefore, once such individuals appeared, all sects would pour resources into nurturing them. If they were in the secular court, they would be founding heroes or ministers who revitalized the dynasty.

Those who were blessed with the great fortune of an era were known as Children of Fortune. Their appearance would even cause Immortal Sects to compete for them, triggering countless schemes, plots, and bloody conflicts.

Over generations, the number of people blessed with fortune remained relatively stable, fluctuating somewhat. However, starting four hundred years ago, the fortune of heaven and earth suddenly increased rapidly, leading to batches of people receiving fortune's blessings and frequent appearances of Children of Fortune.

In the following centuries, fortune continued to increase overall, with more and more people receiving its blessings. Many individuals who, a thousand years ago, would have been nurtured with all the sect's resources, now only received slightly more attention and resources from their sects.

In the Dao Assessment, achieving a fortune of one zhang would have guaranteed one the status of a Child of Fortune and the pride of the human race in the past. But now, in Taichu Palace alone, Wei Yuan's cohort had six individuals with a fortune of one zhang. Two of them hadn't even been included in the palace's key cultivation list due to their poor root bones. If it were a thousand years ago, these two wouldn't have been considered to have slightly inferior root bones, they could have been considered trash, but they could still have been painstakingly cultivated into prodigies with countless heavenly treasures.

With the increase in fortune, research and cultivation methods targeting fortune also began to emerge. Today, there are many well-established systems for cultivating by borrowing fortune. Furthermore, fortune no longer refers solely to personal fortune; it has been subdivided into four aspects: the great fortune of heaven and earth, temporal fortune, feng shui, and human fortune, encompassing various studies such as astrology, feng shui, and divination, becoming a crucial aspect of cultivation.

The so-called Children of Fortune are those who possess the great fortune of an era. The great fortune of heaven and earth is too vast for a human body to bear. Heaven and earth are eternal; even if one or two Children of Fortune appeared, or even the rise and fall of the entire human race, it would only be a small ripple in the vast torrent, and their complete extinction would not affect heaven and earth in the slightest.

As fortune increased, its effects were no longer as potent as before, but there was still a fundamental difference between having it and not having it. Thus, prominent families painstakingly developed methods of fortune transference, allowing them to take the fortune of others and bestow it upon their own descendants. From then on, possessing fortune was not always a good thing; on one hand, one had to seek opportunities, and on the other, one had to avoid being discovered by aristocratic families, lest their fortune be claimed by others.

As this practice became more common, people realized that being born into the right family was also a form of great fortune.

The final subject, Arts Theory, referred to the various arts used during the cultivation journey, including not only magical arts but also medicine, artifact forging, alchemy, talismans, shamanism, poisons, and more. Besides the divine abilities of Taichu Palace, there was also Tiangong Hall, renowned for artifact forging, Zaohua Temple, which specialized in alchemy, and Xuanming Hall, which was founded on medical practices. Therefore, the class focused heavily on artifact forging and alchemy, with only a general overview of shamanism and poison arts.

The Body Forging stage primarily focused on cultivation, so less important content for this stage was placed entirely within Arts Theory during curriculum planning.

Thus, seven days passed, and the curriculum was finally completed in one round. The eighth and ninth days saw a return to General History of the Human Race and Introduction to the Immortal Path.

However, the Introduction to the Immortal Path on the ninth day was not taught by Dixia Daoist, but by Feng Chutang, who continued his lesson.

Feng Chutang was still smiling, appearing exceptionally good-natured. He didn't mind when students joked with him. This class, he didn't follow Dixia Daoist's progress and teach about ancient times. Instead, he directly jumped to the dividing line between ancient and modern times, which was the establishment of the Great Tang and the implementation of the Sect Unified Examination.

"While Daoist Dixia is in seclusion, I will use this class to explain the origins of the Sect Unified Examination and why it is one of the key points dividing ancient and modern cultivation. The impact of the Great Tang's founding on immortal cultivation will be something Daoist Dixia can explain to you slowly later."

All the students sat up straight, listening intently.

Since Feng Chutang said so, the Sect Unified Examination must hold a particularly important position in history. Moreover, the students had discovered in the previous two classes that much of what Feng Chutang taught could not be found in historical records. It required piecing together countless scattered records from multiple historical texts to outline a general picture. Yet, this outlined picture was a crucial part of history. It could be said that without these links, studying history would only result in a superficial understanding.

Students from prominent families, with their extensive family backgrounds, knew from childhood why many events were not fully detailed in historical records – it was to shield the emperor and respect the elders.

But precisely because they knew the reasons, these children increasingly recognized Feng Chutang's profound knowledge and sharp insight. Therefore, even though this teacher appeared harmless, they all listened attentively, afraid of missing anything. After all, the knowledge taught in class could not be found in books, and their own elders might not be experts in history.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival! If you have any spare monthly tickets, feel free to give one or two to Zhang Sheng.