Choosing a Cultivation Art

Nothing happened that night.

The next day, Wu Yan joined the Mittel Clan's younger generation and lined up outside the Cultivation Pavilion.

The Mittel Clan had prospered for over a century. Wu Yan estimated that the number of Mittel clansmen had definitely reached several hundred thousand, perhaps even more.

Thus, with such an enormous population base, several lines had already formed outside the Cultivation Pavilion.

In this year alone, more than a hundred people had broken through to become Dou Practitioners.

Wu Yan had only taken a rough look, and this was merely the first day. Some people delayed by other matters might return a few days later.

Yet among so many people, Wu Yan truly was the most conspicuous.

Even within the Mittel Clan, those who could become Dou Practitioners before coming of age at sixteen were few and far between.

Most people here were newly advanced Dou Practitioners over twenty years old.

With that in mind, a twelve-year-old boy mixed in among a crowd of young adults would be strange only if he did not stand out.

Among the crowd, quite a few people expressed their goodwill toward this young genius of the clan in their own ways.

Having reached adulthood and taken a turn through this real world, they had all come to understand the cruelty of reality.

They naturally felt close to clansmen connected to them and were willing to show goodwill toward their own people, especially a genius.

On the Dou Qi Continent, the strong were revered.

The more geniuses their clan had, the greater the chance of producing powerful experts. Even ordinary people like them could ride on their coattails...

The line moved quickly. Wu Yan placed his palm on the crystal ball used to test attributes. Gentle watery blue and icy blue light intermingled, and a thin layer of frost appeared over the crystal ball.

Seeing this, the elder at the entrance could not help smiling and nodding slightly.

"Go straight in. On the deepest bookshelf, you will find the cultivation art you want."

The elder did not avoid the subject and gave him this hint in front of everyone else.

"Thank you, Elder."

After thanking him, Wu Yan followed the elder's directions and soon arrived before the bookshelf at the very back of the Cultivation Pavilion.

Ice-element Profound Tier cultivation arts filled the entire shelf, with over half ranked at High Profound Tier.

To the Mittel Clan, High Profound Tier cultivation arts were nothing particularly rare.

Yet that did not change the fact that there had only ever been one Ice Emperor.

Wu Yan also saw a record of Ice Emperor Hai Bodong's personal insights beside the Mysterious Ice Art.

But that still did not change the fact that there had only ever been one Ice Emperor.

Wu Yan hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he could not resist the temptation. He took both the cultivation art and the Ice Emperor's personal insights.

Why not give it a try? What if he could do it?

He was only twelve, after all—a proper teenager. In some matters, he ought to display a teenager's spirited vigor.

If he truly could not comprehend it, he could simply exchange it later.

"You may keep this cultivation art for one month. After one month, you must return the original copy. It must not be lost."

Under the elder's expectant gaze, Wu Yan nodded, completed the registration, and left the Scripture Pavilion with the two scrolls.

The other clansmen emerged one after another as well. There was no such thing as needing to pass a test before being allowed to take a cultivation art.

A small temple bred fierce demons, and a shallow pond bred many turtles.

The more useless an organization was, the more it loved fussing over pointless little matters.

What combat strength, what unstable foundations—if you had the ability, use your realm to suppress others too!

Then, when you lost, do not say, "Do you dare fight me at the same realm?"

Was cultivating quickly not a kind of talent as well?

Wu Yan was not too clear about other factions, but the Mittel Clan could not be bothered with such things.

Perhaps some had such tests, while some did not.

But none of that changed the fact that, in all these years since Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, the Jia Ma Empire still had not produced another Dou Emperor.

Yun Yun, who was currently at the Dou King realm, would be able to advance to Dou Emperor in the future, but it certainly would not be because she had passed such a test.

"Patriarch, he chose that cultivation art."

"Mm..."

Teng Shan gazed deeply into the distant sky. There was a hint of expectation in his heart, even though there had already been more than a hundred failures before this.

Still, Wu Yan was the most promising one of them all, as well as the most gifted clansman in decades.

Judging by the age at which he became a Dou Practitioner, even the Ice Emperor in his youth could not compare to him.

By then, Wu Yan had returned to his room and slowly opened the scroll with some apprehension.

"This cultivation art really does look... like it is not that difficult. Could anyone actually fail to understand it?"

Wu Yan was somewhat puzzled. He had expected an incomparably complex cultivation art, something like a heavenly tome that might require tremendous effort to comprehend.

But after opening it, he discovered that he seemed to be able to understand it.

"Mm, I cannot be arrogant. Perhaps this cultivation art is merely easy to begin with, easy to learn but difficult to master?"

With that thought, Wu Yan became serious again and carefully began comprehending the cultivation art.

Yet the more Wu Yan read, the more he felt that this cultivation art was simple to learn and even easier to master.

After reading it word by word, carefully, seven or eight times, Wu Yan reached a conclusion.

He seemed to be a genius.

"Still, I cannot be arrogant. Knowing is easy, doing is hard. Perhaps unexpected trouble will arise when this cultivation art is actually practiced?"

Thinking so, Wu Yan opened the personal insights regarding this cultivation art left behind by Ice Emperor Hai Bodong.

After reading them back and forth several times, Wu Yan discovered that his own insights coincided with the Ice Emperor's in many places.

Of course, there were also some subtle differences.

But a thousand people had a thousand faces. How could personal insights like these possibly be completely identical?

If they agreed in the broader direction, then his understanding was sound.

After all, the Ice Emperor had already verified it for Wu Yan beforehand.

He reviewed the cultivation art and the insights several more times, repeatedly confirming that he had memorized everything.

Only then did Wu Yan begin cultivating the art, converting his attributeless Dou Qi into the Dou Qi of the Mysterious Ice Art.

The glowing orb hanging properly in the sky slowly descended, leaving only a small half of itself behind as bright golden radiance lingered between heaven and earth.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed and entering a cultivation state, Wu Yan formed seals with his hands before his lower abdomen, his five centers facing heaven.

Threads of white aura circulated over his body. Invisible cold air slowly spread from within him, and the temperature in the room steadily dropped.

A nearly imperceptible layer of frost spread across the outer wall of a cup filled with water.

A long breath sounded, and a flash of icy blue passed through Wu Yan's amber eyes.

The conversion of his cultivation art Dou Qi was complete, so Wu Yan withdrew from his cultivation state.

He glanced at the sky and made an estimate, gaining an understanding of how long it now took him to circulate the cultivation art through one complete major cycle.

As he got off the bed, Wu Yan touched the slightly damp bedding and fell silent. A trace of embarrassment slowly appeared on his indifferent face.

In the future, I should try not to cultivate on the bed...