In response to Clan Leader Jiang's question, Jiang Yan merely shook his head.
"The lecturers at the Dao Academy only covered the basics. They said we'd be assigned a path when it came time to choose a cultivation method."
"Fair enough. Knowing beforehand is no use and might even hold up your cultivation. Still, if you have a preference of your own, it can help when the assignments are made."
Clearly, Clan Leader Jiang did not entirely approve of how the Dao Academy handled things.
Seeing his reaction, Jiang Yan's curiosity was piqued.
"Please enlighten me, Fourth Grandpa."
Rather than answer, Clan Leader Jiang asked another question.
"Yan, have you studied the Dao Realm's history of High Antiquity?"
Jiang Yan nodded. It was a required course at the Dao Academy, so naturally he had.
During the Dao Realm's High Antiquity, Spiritual Qi had been abundant, with countless exotic flowers, rare herbs, treasures, and unusual creatures.
Mortals lived for eight hundred years, and there were even beings born extraordinary who counted eight thousand years as spring and eight thousand years as autumn. Such was their great span of years.
Back then, there were no "Daoists," nor was cultivation divided into ten grades.
Cultivators were called Qi refiners, and there were only four realms: refining essence into Qi, refining Qi into spirit, refining spirit back into the void, and refining the void to unite with the Dao.
Cultivation had been easy indeed in those days. Qi refiners knew nothing of magical combat and needed only to sit in meditation.
But among the worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, while the Dao Realm's Qi refiners were peaceable and disliked fighting, there were naturally also those of a fierce disposition who enjoyed invading other realms.
A plane known as the "Prison Realm" suddenly launched an attack.
At first, the Qi refiners were caught completely off guard and beaten without any power to fight back. At one point, the invaders even breached their realm.
Fortunately, the Qi refiners merely disliked fighting; they were not afraid to fight. They soon rallied, organized their forces, and drove the invaders out.
But the Dao Realm's environment, once brimming with Spiritual Qi, had been utterly ruined. In their fury, several "Immortals" joined forces and stormed into the Prison Realm.
The ensuing war not only blasted the Prison Realm apart but even engulfed several nearby planes.
Although they had withstood the Prison Realm, Spiritual Qi gradually dwindled in the shattered Dao Realm, and its former glory never returned.
From then on, mortals lived no more than a hundred years, and cultivation grew increasingly difficult.
Even among the Qi refiners themselves, endless battles broke out over resources they would once have scorned. Many highly accomplished cultivators chose to depart for distant realms because of these changes.
This continued until more than ninety thousand years ago, which also marked the beginning of the Recent Antiquity era.
"Qi" emerged from nowhere, broke through his realms to become an Immortal in a short span of time, then joined forces with several fellow cultivators to unify the entire Dao Realm with an iron hand.
After unification, "Qi" founded the Immortal Dynasty and became its first Immortal Sovereign. He also subdivided the original four cultivation realms.
Refining essence into Qi became the lower three grades, refining Qi into spirit became the middle three grades, and refining spirit back into the void became the upper three grades.
Each grade was further divided into a lower and upper realm. To make it easier for mortals to enter the Dao, he also established a separate tenth-grade Foundation Establishment realm.
With these divisions, the road of cultivation became clear once more, and "Qi" began steadily building up the Dao Realm's strength.
Once every preparation was complete, he abandoned the Qi refiners' old practice of neither contending nor competing and launched a great expedition, plundering the resources of the surrounding realms to enrich the Dao Realm.
At the time, the Dao Realm had only the Nine Provinces. But whenever the Immortal Dynasty conquered a large plane, it would extract its essence and use immense Law Power to create a new province.
It was now the year 681 of the ninth epoch of the Immortal Dynasty calendar. As of this year, the Dao Realm had swallowed ten large planes through this method and contained nineteen provinces.
Besides these, there were the provincial, commandery, and prefectural Dao Academies, as well as cultivation lineages and cultivator organizations.
Any with sufficient strength would send out their own forces to explore and expand, conquering countless small and medium-sized planes.
After reviewing the splendor of the Dao Realm's Recent Antiquity in his mind, Jiang Yan nodded.
"Good, since you know that. Today, cultivation follows the Six Paths of the Immortal Way, but in the Qi-refining era of High Antiquity, there were only three kinds."
As Clan Leader Jiang spoke, he stroked the feathers of the Azure-Feathered Eagle beneath him.
"In High Antiquity, there were only three categories: the orthodox tradition, the unorthodox path, and the heterodox path. After Immortal Qi divided the cultivation realms, he also divided the paths of cultivation."
"Of these, the classic-reading and divination Dao and the Qi-feeding and method-practicing Dao belong to the orthodox tradition of the Qi refiners.
Those who cultivate the classic-reading and divination Dao mostly put their faith in the Heavenly Dao and generally go on to work at the Heavenly Dao Bureau.
Those who cultivate the Qi-feeding and method-practicing Dao have the greatest potential for the Immortal Dao and are also skilled in magical combat. Relatively speaking, this path is the best choice.
The witchcraft and Gu ritual path and the netherworld-penetrating and beast-commanding Dao belong to the side paths. The former excels in curses and refining Gu, while the latter excels in nurturing Dao soldiers. If you encounter opponents from either of these paths in the future, you must guard against them carefully.
The sinew-shifting and bone-transmuting Dao and the furnace-refining and cauldron-commanding Dao both belong to the left-hand ways, though the furnace-refining and cauldron-commanding Dao has always claimed to be orthodox."
"When you choose a cultivation method, your level of ability cannot be changed, but they will try to assign you to a path you prefer."
"For instance, your ability might be sufficient to cultivate either the witchcraft and Gu ritual path or the Nether-Passing Beast Command Dao."
If you prefer the latter, you will naturally be assigned accordingly. If you have no opinion of your own, you'll be assigned at random."
After the clan leader's lengthy explanation, Jiang Yan nodded thoughtfully. It was not difficult to understand, and naturally he had followed it.
If he followed his own wishes, he would most want to pursue the Qi-feeding and method-practicing Dao. Unfortunately, that might not be possible. After some thought, Jiang Yan asked again:
"Fourth Grandpa, if I wanted to cultivate a method that could cover my expenses and support my journey along the Immortal Way, which path should I cultivate?"
"Hahaha, Yan, aren't you getting caught up in outward forms? These six paths are merely divisions of the Dao Path. Supplementary pursuits such as pills, formations, artifacts, and talismans have their own methods in every path.
Besides, even if you're assigned to one path, it won't prevent you from cultivating the techniques of other paths later. In fact, everyone does just that, lest their methods be guessed too easily."
"So that's how it is. Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Fourth Grandpa."
Clan Leader Jiang merely smiled and nodded, then chatted with Jiang Yan about cultivation tips from his youth, experiences from his travels, and the like.
A Spirit Beast at the Eighth-Rank Fangshi Realm was no ordinary creature, especially one that was a bird skilled at traveling. The journey had taken Jiang Yan more than a day, but the Azure-Feathered Eagle made it in just an hour and a half.
"Kree-"
The Azure-Feathered Eagle gave a soft cry and followed a minor official's directions from the Spirit Beast Bureau, landing at a designated spot.
It was a vast open space, with spirit beasts of every kind taking off and landing from time to time.
Occasionally, a few small spirit boats could also be seen docking, whereupon quite a few people immediately gathered to help load and unload them.
Rules under the Immortal Dynasty were fairly strict. Whether in provinces, commanderies, prefectures, or counties, certain areas prohibited riding spirit beasts.
The town had restrictions too, but Clan Leader Jiang held a nominal post at Morninglight Town's Dao Academy and therefore enjoyed some privileges.
"Come, let's go to the Dao Academy."
Accustomed to the bustle around him, Clan Leader Jiang casually beckoned and put away the Azure-Feathered Eagle.
Though this Azure-Feathered Eagle's bloodline was quite exceptional, it did not possess a Divine Ability like Jinbao's that allowed it to change size at will, so he had to keep a Spirit Beast Pouch ready.
Some of those nearby could not afford Spirit Beast Pouches and had to fork out Talisman Money to buy their spirit beasts a "temporary parking spot."
That was an uncomfortable arrangement indeed. Such enormous bodies were squeezed into tiny spaces, not daring to move at all-a rather heartrending sight.
Clan Leader Jiang knew the way to the Dao Academy well, and since it was not far from the Spirit Beast Bureau, the two arrived shortly.
The Yearly Examination had just ended. There were not many disciples coming and going in the Dao Academy to choose cultivation methods. Presumably, many disciples had yet to finish their examinations.
It was not even impossible for a disciple to suffer a crushing defeat in the Yearly Examination through a single careless mistake.
No one greeted Jiang Yan. He had few acquaintances at the county Dao Academy.
Those with poor results did not dare approach him even if they knew him, while there were only a handful with excellent results, and he happened not to encounter any of them.
Before choosing a cultivation method, he first had to have his Yearly Examination assignment verified.
"Jiang Yan, your Yearly Examination assignment was to investigate the Livestock-Transformation Technique, correct?"
Behind the counter, a scrawny little old man asked slowly, leafing through a register a full palm's breadth thick.
"That's right. Sorry for the trouble, fellow Daoist. Please help us look it up."
Having served as clan leader for so many years, Clan Leader Jiang was naturally well versed in dealing with people. He stepped half a pace forward and gave his sleeve a slight flick, and a Spirit Stone appeared beneath the little old man's hand.
"Oh, no trouble, no trouble at all. It's only my duty. Jiang Yan, was it? One of the Dao Academy's top students. I remember you!"
Having received a benefit, the little old man beamed and pulled out another, thin register. It contained all the disciples taking this year's Yearly Examination.
"Jiang Yan's assignment... here it is! Investigation of the Livestock-Transformation Technique. The monster behind it was slain, the monsters' gathering place destroyed, and a total of nineteen people rescued."
"Mm, your annual examination assessment is first-class excellent. You'll certainly have no problem applying to the Prefecture Academy. Here is your token for choosing a cultivation method. I wish you every success."
Receiving a benefit certainly made a difference. Not only did the verification go faster, but the little old man even offered Jiang Yan his good wishes.
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