Zhang Qingyuan had done nothing else during this time but cultivate.
Ever since taking the Creation Pill, he had reached the Sixth-Rank Realm.
Three months ago, after the system upgraded his talent reward to genius level, a single Major Rejuvenation Pill had instantly given him ten years of True Qi.
With his genius-level constitution harmonizing those ten years of True Qi cultivation, he had leaped from the sixth rank to the fourth in just three short months.
With cheats enabled, who the hell still cultivated the hard way?!
Some might ask, could ten years of True Qi raise someone to the fourth rank?
Someone with a poor constitution might really fail to reach the fourth rank, like his eldest senior brother, Zhao Guangqi.
But Zhang Qingyuan already had a genius-level constitution. If he still could not reach the Fourth-Rank Realm, wouldn't that mean his damn cheats were going to waste?
Take a certain fellow surnamed Guo, whose power had soared after just a few mouthfuls of python blood.
During this time, he had also replaced his internal cultivation method with the system's reward: the Yin-Yang Limitless Skill, created by the protagonist Zhang Qingyuan in the online wuxia novel Starting with Zhang Sanfeng's Template.
Only when Zhang Qingyuan practiced it did he discover that, he had to admit, this art created by the protagonist who shared his name really had something to it.
It was damn hard to cultivate!
But its effects were remarkable!
Every layer he broke through brought an explosive increase in power.
Zhang Qingyuan also knew that biting off too much meant he could not chew it thoroughly, so he had chosen just three martial arts: one sword art, one movement art, and one palm art.
He planned to thoroughly chew through those three martial arts manuals before learning anything else.
Although genius-level talent already counted as top-tier, there was still a gap between it and protagonist-level, freak-level, or old-grandpa-level talent.
Among the seven brothers of the Tianyang Sect, even the lowest was now in the Fifth-Grade Realm. With Old Second in particular at the third rank, they had enough strength to protect themselves on their little patch of land in Yu Province.
But they were still a little short of what they needed to expand outward.
Zhang Qingyuan had drawn up several more proposals, but had not brought them out yet.
Those new proposals would have to wait until their first batch of disciples matured, or until one of the seven brothers reached the second rank.
Expanding right now would draw too much aggro.
They still needed to stockpile grain first and postpone proclaiming themselves kings.
As for his other fellow disciples, there was even less to say.
Old Eldest had taken a Minor Rejuvenation Pill but remained at the fifth rank. He was the sort whose meridians did not circulate smoothly.
Even another five years of True Qi would not let him break through.
He was the sort who studied morning and night and worked through piles of test papers, practically wishing he could memorize a few vocabulary words even while eating or taking a shit, staying up late doing reading comprehension instead of sleeping, only to get into an ordinary second-tier university after the college entrance exam.
Though slow, with steady accumulation and Zhang Qingyuan's help in the future, he ought to be able to break through to the upper three ranks before he died.
His second senior brother was in the Third Rank Realm.
There was no need to say more about his talent. Having found his direction, entering the second rank was only a matter of time.
His third senior brother remained at the fifth rank, but Zhang Qingyuan felt Bian Zhenxuan might be hiding his abilities.
Back then, his father had told him to come home and inherit the family business if he could not enter the Fifth-Grade Realm by thirty.
Old Third had entered the fifth rank right at the deadline.
And now, Old Third had taken both a Creation Pill and a Minor Rejuvenation Pill.
With his talent and intelligence, entering the fourth rank should have been as easy as reaching out and taking it.
Yet he remained at the fifth rank,
which left quite a bit to ponder.
Someone so intelligent would be several times stronger than an ordinary person after the same amount of cultivation time, even if his meridians were only at an ordinary person's level.
Yet now, he showed practically no response. Could you believe that?
Zhang Qingyuan was now certain that Old Third was most likely hiding his abilities and playing little games.
Old Fourth was in the Fourth-Rank Realm, a flashy peacock who needed no introduction.
He was not far from the third rank either. All he lacked was finding a domain suited to him.
Old Fifth hardly needed mentioning. He was in the Fifth-Grade Realm and probably about to enter the fourth rank.
Old Sixth was also in the Fifth-Grade Realm. Sun Xiaotian was a bit of a sneaky bastard, making him hard to judge.
The Tianyang Martial Dao Academy had finished its first three months of training and was about to begin the next stage: cultivating internal arts.
Honestly, they were starting internal cultivation after only three months of practicing punches and kicks.
Even if those three months of basic training were more comprehensive than two years in an ordinary sect, for ordinary students, they still ultimately fell short of two proper years of foundational cultivation.
Although the Tianyang Martial Dao Academy had taught quickly during those first three months, it had not given ordinary children time to fully absorb everything.
Gifted students like Liu Sidao and the others could remember something after one explanation, use it after practicing it once, and even infer three things from one example. In those three months of cultivation, they had indeed learned more and faster than outer disciples in sects.
But most students could not remember things after one or two explanations. What could be done about that?
Fortunately, the first-year teachers were not actually going to stop teaching. They still had at least nine months to build their foundations while cultivating internal arts.
It was a vocational school, after all: a place to quickly learn the skills they needed.
Whether they could master those skills still depended on their individual comprehension and effort. Neither could be missing.
In truth, in the current jianghu, in this martial world that valued only internal arts and True Qi, not martial techniques,
as long as students leaving the Tianyang Martial Dao Academy were not outrageously stupid, they would absolutely have enough to find a good job and make a living in the Eastern Realm.
Other sects all considered internal arts the mainstream path. So, at the same level, with both sides in the lower three ranks,
those proficient in martial techniques would definitely be stronger than those who only knew how to fire blasts.
Thus, in terms of comprehensiveness, the Tianyang Martial Dao Academy absolutely had an advantage over traditional sects.
Some might ask, with martial arts flourishing so much in this world, had no one thought of establishing a school system?
They had, brothers. They had.
But the prerequisite was whether they could truly hold nothing back like Zhang Qingyuan.
Feudal societies, whether in this world or his previous life, shared one thoroughly shitty characteristic as long as they remained feudal.
Teach the disciple, starve the master!
You had to keep something back when teaching disciples.
Who would bring out their sect's secret manuals and share them like Zhang Qingyuan?
Some might say, weren't sect ancestors supposed to protect their chosen geniuses even at the cost of their lives?
But you had to understand: the people sect ancestors nurtured selflessly, holding nothing back, were chosen geniuses!
Not outer disciples whose futures offered no prospects!
That was the essential difference between a vocational school and a traditional sect.
What was more, Zhang Qingyuan dared to do this because he held an absolute trump card!
The system's rewards, the Nine Yin Manual and the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
Leaving aside the Nine Yang Divine Skill, consider just the Nine Yin Manual.
This book came from the world of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, where it was established as Huang Chang's creation.
In the original work, the circumstances of its creation were these: Huang Chang had been summoned to the palace by the Song emperor to compile the world's Daoist scriptures.
Huang Chang himself bore a blood-deep vendetta and was already advanced in years.
To take revenge, he had used the essence of countless Daoist scriptures as his foundation to create this supreme Nine Yin Manual.
Within the world of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, this was the greatest internal cultivation method under heaven. Half the entire book's plot revolved around fighting over the Nine Yin Manual.
In a high-martial world, the Nine Yin Manual might not count as a particularly advanced internal cultivation method. At most, it was a mid-tier secret manual.
But what Zhang Qingyuan valued was not the Nine Yin Manual itself, but its opening section, the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Tempering Chapter.
In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Huang Chang had already been an old man when he created this art.
His cultivation talent was not high either. At that age, his meridians and innate bone structure were already set, dooming his cultivation to be slow.
So, to ensure he could master it, he had added the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Tempering Chapter to the manual to reshape his sinews, bones, and meridians.
He had dosed the students when school began, using a heap of Creation Pills to transform their bodies, and now the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Tempering Chapter would transform them further.
Ninety-five percent of them should have no problems with internal cultivation.
He only hoped that none of the remaining ten percent had been born with damaged meridians or dantians. Then their minimum standard would basically be secure.
The ten second-year teachers looked at the two secret manuals before them.
"Oh my, you're really splashing out."
After reading the two foundational cultivation methods, the teachers could not help exclaiming.
"Neither of these martial arts counts as a truly top-tier cultivation method, but both have very high ceilings and a solid floor."
"This Nine Yin Manual in particular is practically a newbie benefit."
Because of problems with his meridians that had never seen any effective improvement, Gu Qianshan had been unable to cultivate internal power.
After reading the Nine Yin Manual, he was wild with joy.
The Tendon-Changing and Bone-Tempering Chapter was practically tailor-made for him.
Gu Qianshan saw hope of cultivating internal arts.
With my medical skills and the support of this section of the art, I should have a very good chance of cultivating internal power!
Coming to the Tianyang Martial Dao Academy really wasn't a wasted trip!
After reading the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Tempering Chapter, Chu Yunshen also found inspiration.
Oh?
It looks like I could use the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Tempering Chapter as a basis to develop a Nine Yang Bone-Tempering Chapter...
----Setting up a side-character thread here. Since this book needs quite a few characters and the author struggles with names, you can leave a name and a character here. Thank you!