Li Yu looked at the character Su Wen had assigned to defense. An imposing five-clawed true dragon stretched across its armor from back to chest, glittering gold, and its helmet was shaped like a divine phoenix. This clearly was no ordinary appearance.
"I was young and foolish. They tricked me into spending money." Su Wen followed Li Yu's gaze and spoke without a flicker of embarrassment, then quickly changed the subject. "Pick any opponent and attack first. See how you measure up."
Li Yu nodded and, following Su Wen's instructions, swiped through the empty air to the right of the platform.
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A list soon appeared, displaying five avatars from top to bottom, each with a score and rank.
These five were the targets Li Yu could currently choose to attack. All opponents' usernames were hidden to prevent people from farming virtual coins in the Arena.
All five of Li Yu's opponents had zero points and were ranked black iron.
Su Wen explained that black iron represented cultivation below Foundation Establishment, covering scores from zero to one hundred. A win earned three points, while a loss deducted one. As long as someone kept fighting, they would eventually escape black iron and enter bronze.
After hearing this, Li Yu confidently selected the first opponent with zero points.
He had barely entered and had not even seen what his opponent looked like when a blade's radiance plowed through the heavens and split the earth, cleaving him in two.
On the starry platform, Li Yu shuddered all over, still trapped in the terror of that slash, unable to collect himself for a long time.
Seeing something was wrong, Su Wen immediately pressed a finger to Li Yu's forehead, helping stabilize this strand of his spiritual consciousness.
Only after a long while did Li Yu wrench himself free of that heaven-plowing slash, breathing deeply in and out.
"That must have been an Illumination expert. Truly unimaginably powerful!"
The strongest opponent Li Yu had faced was Ying Feiyun, but he was certain that even ten Ying Feiyuns would have been cleaved in half by that slash.
Ying Feiyun was at the qi refinement twelfth layer, equivalent to the peak of whirling illumination in the Galaxy Alliance's system, only one step below illumination.
"No, no..." After hearing Li Yu's description, however, Su Wen shook his head repeatedly, saying there was no way that opponent was in Qi Refinement.
Then Su Wen went online to look up information about the Arena's black iron rank. Soon, a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face. He had already reached Foundation Establishment when he unlocked the Arena and had never experienced such a low rank, so his information had been mistaken.
"Little Li, after opening an Arena account, some cultivators forget to log in because they enter seclusion or for other reasons. The Metaverse deducts a certain number of points each year until they reach zero."
In other words, a zero-point opponent could also be an abandoned account that had fallen all the way down from a higher rank. Judging by that slash, Su Wen thought the opponent had probably already reached Foundation Establishment.
That made Li Yu feel a little better.
There was no shame in being killed instantly by a Foundation Establishment cultivator's slash.
He took a deep breath and chose the second opponent to attack.
This time, it was a local.
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It was a child who looked about ten. Although the child had equipment, Li Yu used his wealth of combat experience to cut the child down with Yi Light Condensing Edge.
After he came out, his score had reached three points.
He also had a virtual coin representing his victory.
Now that he had a virtual coin, Li Yu could finally open the Arena's shop.
He saw all sorts of innate divine abilities, innate Dao physiques, and five-element spirit roots.
An innate Dao physique like Su Wen's great Luo immortal vein cost ten thousand virtual coins. Five-element spirit roots, meanwhile, varied in price according to their grade.
For instance, the highest-grade five-element immortal spirit root also cost ten thousand virtual coins, but its components could be bought separately. A single immortal water spirit root, for example, cost only two thousand virtual coins.
Below immortal spirit roots were heavenly spirit roots, with the price slashed in half to one thousand virtual coins.
Below heavenly spirit roots were superior spirit roots, their price halved again.
Then came medium-grade spirit roots and low-grade spirit roots, each another halving of the price.
Seeing Li Yu's bewilderment, Su Wen began fulfilling his duties as a teacher, explaining the Galaxy Alliance's basic knowledge of spirit roots on the spot.
The Galaxy Alliance assigned numerical values to spirit roots on a scale from zero to one hundred. Twenty to forty meant a low-grade spirit root, forty to sixty medium-grade, sixty to eighty superior, and eighty to ninety-nine heavenly. The highest grade, an immortal spirit root, had a full value of one hundred.
The value represented the efficiency of refining spiritual energy of the corresponding element. With a spirit root valued at twenty, refining one portion of spiritual energy would convert only twenty percent into one's own true essence. An immortal spirit root meant one hundred percent efficiency in refining spiritual energy, and also bestowed a talent for mastery of the corresponding element.
For example, Su Wen possessed a variant wind immortal spirit root. When he cast wind spells or divine abilities, they were fifty percent more powerful than those of someone with an ordinary wind spirit root. Studying wind-related cultivation methods and formations also yielded twice the results for half the effort, as though aided by the gods.
Li Yu used the Arena's built-in function to test his spirit roots.
Water 38, wood 30, earth 22, metal 5, fire 5.
"Not bad. Three low-grade spirit roots. Combined, they count as middling aptitude." Su Wen looked at Li Yu's test results and nodded.
"You can combine them?" Li Yu looked astonished.
"My wind spirit root was formed by combining water, wood, and earth spirit roots." Su Wen pointed at himself. "These things aren't important. As long as you have money, you can have the Heavenly Hospital implant or replace spirit roots and Dao physiques whenever you want. Comprehension is the key. Someone without a functioning brain can't even form a golden core."
When Su Wen was in high school, his parents had taken him to a hospital for spirit-root fusion and enhancement surgery, giving him a wind spirit root. But to him, that had merely been flowers added to brocade. Before he even graduated from high school, he had already received an admission letter from the Great Evolution Academy.
He had relied on his brain.
After hearing this, Li Yu hesitated repeatedly, but still asked Su Wen whether there were methods of fusing and enhancing spirit roots other than surgery.
His Taiyi technique was balanced and harmonious, allowing him to cultivate with any spirit root. Thus, improving any one of his spirit roots would also improve his efficiency in refining spiritual energy into true essence.
"Fight more in the Arena. Once you've saved enough virtual coins, buy an immortal spirit root and equip it. Through its subtle influence, your actual spirit roots will also improve and transform." Su Wen said the same applied to physiques and innate abilities.
This was precisely why the Galaxy Alliance did not place much importance on aptitude.
There was also an ancient method: cultivating techniques related to spirit roots.
For example, there was a Sweet Rain Art with thirteen layers. Each completed layer increased one's water spirit root by one to three points. Completing all thirteen layers would generally grant an immortal water spirit root.
"No one cultivates these ancient spirit-
root techniques anymore. Eight thousand years ago, the Heavenly Hospital successfully developed artificial spirit-root technology. Implanted roots work just as well as those you cultivate yourself. Even people whose families are strapped for money choose to fight their way through the Metaverse Arena. The time needed for its gradual improvements is even shorter than cultivating the ancient methods." After saying this, Su Wen remembered Li Yu's background and added, "Of course, if you cultivate an ancient method alongside it, your spirit roots will transform faster. But I still wouldn't recommend wasting time on this."
Li Yu committed everything Su Wen said to memory, planning to search the Galaxy Platform for related information after class.
Next, he continued selecting Arena opponents.
He thought he would first get a superior spirit root to equip, which would require five hundred virtual coins.
The next three opponents were also elementary school students. Relying on his strength as an adult, Li Yu defeated them one by one. Only the last opponent, who had a piece of defensive equipment, held him in a prolonged stalemate.
After wearing down his fifth opponent of the day and coming out, Li Yu discovered that he could no longer attack.
Su Wen said, "See the upper-right corner? There's a flag icon there. The number of flags tells you how many attacks you can make. If you don't fight, you can store up to five flags each day. You've used all your flags today. They also regenerate over time, one per hour."
Hearing this, Li Yu nodded repeatedly and set an alarm for five hours later, planning to return to the Arena and push his score up once his flags recovered.
Then Su Wen explained the Arena's various other functions to Li Yu.
This was also a platform where cultivators could simulate their own futures.
Su Wen, for instance, often used it to simulate his chances and possibilities of reaching Aperture Emergence by cultivating other techniques.
"What's Aperture Emergence?" Like an inquisitive child, Li Yu immediately asked about anything he did not understand.
Su Wen waved his sleeve, taking Li Yu out of the Arena and back into the classroom.
With a snap of his fingers, the electronic screen behind him once again displayed the first-year textbook material for today: the classification of cultivation realms.
The practitioners of the Galaxy Alliance all called themselves "cultivators of truth."
There were sixteen cultivation realms, from lowest to highest: Qi Refinement, Whirling Illumination, Illumination, Foundation Establishment, Integration, Purple Mansion, Golden Core, Heart Movement, Spirit Quiescence, Nascent Soul Formation, Aperture Emergence, Divided Spirit, Primordial Spirit, Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Mahayana.
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Li Yu picked out the key terms: Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul Formation, and Primordial Spirit.
Essentially, two realms had been inserted between each of Mountain Sea's cultivation realms, reducing the difficulty of breaking through the major realms.
Then Su Wen began explaining the relevant taboos of each realm. "...Although Illumination is a transitional realm before Foundation Establishment, it can affect your entire future cultivation, making it extremely important. Illumination refers to developing, directing, and modifying the physical body. It is also the only realm that can potentially improve comprehension. Take me, for example. From a very young age, I was determined to enter the Great Evolution Academy, so ninety-nine percent of my body's energy went to my brain, while the other organs received only the vital essence needed for basic survival. At the instant of Illumination, not only did I unlock all my brain's potential, I also directed it toward Thousand Mechanisms Evolution, specially tuning and adapting my brain to comprehend this Heaven-Tier Cultivation Method more efficiently."
Once Su Wen finished speaking, Li Yu immediately raised his hand to ask about the parts he had not understood.
For example, if he wanted to develop and modify his body during Illumination to be optimally suited to Taiyi True Explanation, what exactly should he do?
"That's why Whirling Illumination requires your mind to reside in the crimson palace. The heartblood you condense in this realm disperses during Illumination, merging into every part of your body. And because you condense this heartblood using Taiyi true essence, Illumination will naturally modify your body to suit Taiyi True Explanation."
For this very reason, cultivators would naturally succeed in Foundation Establishment after Illumination: their bodies had already been conditioned by the essence blood condensed through their cultivation technique. If they could still fail, they could only blame their own bad luck.
After hearing Su Wen's explanation, Li Yu understood at last.
No wonder they only needed to sit in meditation for a hundred days after Illumination to establish their foundations with ease. The two realms the Galaxy Alliance had added between each major realm laid the groundwork in sequence, each link locking into the next.
"Teacher, what if I suddenly regret my choice during Illumination? Can I still change it?" Another thought occurred to Li Yu, and he asked.
Su Wen nodded, saying they had the right to change their minds anytime before Foundation Establishment.
After Foundation Establishment, however, there was essentially no way to alter their foundations without some heaven-defying spiritual treasure.
Then Su Wen began explaining the other realms.
"...Nascent Soul Formation is a watershed. Only then do you count as the talent the Galaxy Alliance truly needs. Below Nascent Soul Formation, everyone is a beast of burden." At this point, Su Wen casually mentioned his own realm. "I formed my nascent soul thirteen years ago, and now I'm nearing Aperture Emergence. As long as I succeed, the next realm, Divided Spirit, will be as easy as turning my hand over. Once I achieve Divided Spirit, my plan to have each incarnation cultivate one Thousand Mechanisms Evolution formation can truly be realized. By then, attaining Primordial Spirit should be no problem either."
"Teacher Su, I never imagined you were a nascent soul powerhouse. It's truly the fortune of three lifetimes to hear your lessons." Hearing this, Li Yu was filled with reverence.
In the Five Lotus Sect, this would be equivalent to the sect master personally teaching Li Yu. He would not have dared dream of such a thing.
Those ninety-nine star coins had been well spent.
"Oh, not at all. I've only just crossed the threshold of cultivation and entered the hall, that's all. Though there really aren't many people my age who are stronger than me." Su Wen looked very modest, but the latter half of his remark exposed his inner pride.
Next, Su Wen began explaining the realms beyond Nascent Soul Formation.
Time slipped by unnoticed, and soon the end-of-class bell rang. But Li Yu kept raising his hand with questions, so Su Wen did not dismiss him, patiently answering them one by one.
"Teacher Su, you've dragged this class out a little too far. It's almost dark." Meng Wanzhu, making her rounds, saw the two still in the classroom and stood in the doorway, coughing softly twice.
Li Yu immediately stood to explain that he had asked too many questions, and Teacher Su had simply been enthusiastic about answering them.
After hearing this, Meng Wanzhu looked somewhat surprised.
As his counselor, she naturally knew that Li Yu had attended one lesson and then stayed away for two whole months. She had assumed he had faced reality and given up on graduating early.
Now, however, it seemed to have been a misunderstanding. At least in all her years overseeing adult education classes, Li Yu was the first to voluntarily keep a teacher so late.
"Even so, school is already over, and I need to go into seclusion in the Purple Origin Palace. If you still have ques-
tions, go back and organize them, then have Teacher Su answer them during class tomorrow." As his counselor, Meng Wanzhu also had her own responsibilities.
Li Yu could only reluctantly leave class.
Watching his spiritual consciousness disperse and his expression fade away, Meng Wanzhu and Su Wen both had the same thought: This child loves learning!
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