Soon after. Once they had gone over the cultivation realms:
"Comrade Lin Yi."
Zhou Jianmin, seated at the head, cleared his throat and steered the conversation back to cultivation:
"Comrade Lin Yi, does that mean that as long as there is enough spiritual energy, ordinary people can begin formal cultivation?"
"I'm afraid that oversimplifies it, Director Zhou," Lin Yi replied with a wry smile, shaking his head and sighing as he explained, "Spiritual energy is certainly important, but to truly cultivate, two other important concepts are involved."
"Namely... cultivation techniques and innate aptitude."
In the Taigu period. Although the Tianling Realm's cultivation civilization flourished thanks to abundant spiritual energy, countless humans still perished because they could not bear the spiritual energy, their bodies ultimately exploding.
Thus, through the refinement of generation after generation of sages in the Tianling Realm, the two important concepts of cultivation techniques and aptitude were successively introduced, becoming two crucial links in the cultivation system.
"Let me start with cultivation techniques."
Lin Yi then shifted into a more comfortable position, slumped back lazily, and continued his introduction:
"Cultivation techniques fall into two categories: techniques not entering the realm and techniques entering the realm. The former are just minor tricks, while the latter, like realms, are divided into ten ranks, with the first rank the lowest and the tenth the highest.
"Some techniques possess Five Elements attributes similar to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, while others do not; the difference mainly lies in versatility and basic elemental counter relationships.
"Guihua Sect has accumulated three sets of first-rank and two sets of second-rank cultivation techniques in the thirty-plus years since its founding, and they are all currently in my possession."
After finishing, Lin Yi glanced at a small wooden box outside the light ring. The box contained the several cultivation techniques he had mentioned, and was also one of the gifts he had prepared for the state.
The three first-rank techniques were "Moon Shadow Step," "Dragon Shadow Fist," and "Secret Words Art," which transmits sound via divine sense; all have very low cultivation thresholds. Ordinary disciples of Guihua Sect may choose any one to learn once they step into Qi Refining.
The two second-rank techniques are called "Clear Wind Sword Art" and "Swallowing Origin Scratching Moon Style." Both are core texts of the sect, and only those whose cultivation has reached late-stage Qi Refining are qualified to access them.
Of the two techniques, "Clear Wind Sword Art" is Lin Yi's primary cultivation technique; it is precisely by relying on it that he achieved what he has today—though this achievement is not particularly impressive...
As for "Swallowing Origin Scratching Moon Style," it is a high-quality knockoff of the fourth-rank technique "Satyr Split Heaven Claw." However, Lin Yi prefers to call it by another name: "Furious Meow Meow Fist."
By the way, while I'm at it: Of Lin Yi's two personal disciples, his junior disciple Su Qing practices "Clear Wind Sword Art," while his eldest disciple and Sect Master Zhao Ping chose "Swallowing Origin Scratching Moon Style"... So unless absolutely necessary, Lin Yi rarely sends Zhao Ping out to fight others. After all, that sight is truly an eyesore.
Imagine this: your high school's stern, well-respected dean at the school anniversary ceremony, first sinking his qi to his dantian and striking a pose as if to sing "The Yangtze River Flows East" in a tenor voice, then opening with a line of gibberish—"hajimi nán bˎi lù duô de lán lián hā..." Anyone who could keep a straight face through that would practically warrant a depression diagnosis.
As for the remaining techniques not entering the realm, true to their name, they are run-of-the-mill goods not fit for the table—some not even classifiable as cultivation—mainly used for the Awakening stage. For example, "Illumination Technique," which creates a small flame at the fingertip; "Hair Growth Art," which makes bald people grow hair; and "Twist Thunder Method," which produces a tiny spark of electricity to numb someone for a moment...
It was based on the latter that Lin Yi and the others stabilized transient overvoltage into low-voltage direct current, thereby developing the Charging technique.
Apart from these little tricks, the most important of the techniques not entering the realm is only one book dedicated to Awakening: "Tide Art." It is the most widely circulated Awakening technique in the Tianling Realm. Even top major powers use it as their foundation, though major sects have higher-quality auxiliary pills and spiritual energy supply.
"Comrade Lin Yi," Zhou Jianmin asked soon after hearing Lin Yi's introduction, "so what about innate aptitude? What is that?"
Innate aptitude...
This time, Lin Yi paused for a moment, his expression growing somewhat wistful: "Innate aptitude, also called spiritual roots, is divided into seven tiers."
"According to the Tianling Realm's cultivation system, seven spiritual roots are the worst aptitude, while a single spiritual root is the best."
"Of the few survivors back then, only Wu Xiangnan, my elder brother, and I tested as having five spiritual roots; everyone else's aptitude was far from ideal..."
The more Lin Yi recalled, the more complex his expression became.
When they first learned of the situation in the Tianling Realm, although most were filled with panic and confusion, they were also somewhat excited. After all, they were Huaxia people—who among them didn't have some longing for cultivating immortality in their bones? The character "immortal" could be said to be carved into the deepest marrow of the Huaxia people's bloodline; even staying up late can be jokingly called cultivating immortality.
But not long after, a bucket of cold water was poured over them: To cultivate in this world, one first had to pass the spiritual root barrier.
Of the ten surviving transmigrators at the time, only Lin Yi and a retired soldier named Wu Xiangnan tested as having five spiritual roots; the rest all had seven or six spiritual roots.
According to the traditional notions of the Tianling Realm, seven spiritual roots are the standard aptitude of ordinary mortals and also the largest group in the entire Tianling Realm, their numbers nearly endless. Not to mention formally setting foot in the field of cultivation—even if they spent their entire lives, they would find it difficult to break through to Awakening, the transitional stage before cultivation.
Limited by the living pressures of the Tianling Realm, the average lifespan of seven-spiritual-root people was not even as long as Earth before Lin Yi transmigrated.
Six spiritual roots are called wasted spiritual roots. This kind of aptitude has about a fifty percent chance of smoothly Awakening, and a ten percent chance of completing the entire Awakening stage and advancing to Qi Refining.
Five spiritual roots, one step up, are relatively better, called miscellaneous spiritual roots. With sufficient resources, perhaps they could cultivate to late Foundation Establishment or Perfection; some powerful clans willing to invest heavily might even reach Golden Core. But for ordinary people like Lin Yi and Wu Xiangnan, mid Foundation Establishment was basically the limit.
In the end, among the transmigrators, only one professor from the same school named Xu Hua completed Awakening with six-spiritual-root aptitude and formally set foot in the field of cultivation. Professor Xu Hua, Wu Xiangnan, and Lin Yi himself—the three of them were the three founding patriarchs of Guihua Sect.
Unfortunately, Professor Xu Hua was already nearly sixty when he first transmigrated, and his health was not good either. Although Lin Yi and Wu Xiangnan looked after him, his lifespan only lasted until the fifth year after Guihua Sect was founded. Adding to his insufficient cultivation, Professor Xu had no chance at all to undergo tribulation transcending, and passed away suddenly on some night. He died at ninety-one, with a cultivation of roughly mid Qi Refining.
Twelve years ago, Wu Xiangnan attempted to break through to late Foundation Establishment but, limited by his foundation, tragically perished during tribulation transcending.
"Seventy years have passed in the blink of an eye; of the sixteen transmigrators back then, I am the only one left here to sigh at the end."
Lin Yi glanced at the two tombstones in the forbidden ground, bent down to shake off a fallen leaf from one stele, and let out a long sigh:
"Director Zhou, this is the story of our people, and also our... cultivation."
Chapter 24