The Civilization Academy's Way

"Instructor, Academy Head." Entering the instructors' office and seeing both Liu Wenyan and the academy head present, Su Yu offered his greetings at once. "Ah, Su Yu is here." A smile lit up Liu Wenyan's face, far warmer than his demeanor toward the academy head had been a moment ago. Beaming, he asked, "Now that your father has left for the All-Heavens Battlefield, has anything been troubling you lately?" "No, everything is fine." After expressing his thanks, Su Yu added with a hint of concern, "Instructor, I heard rumors that people from the All-Races Sect might come to Nanyuan..." "Nothing to worry about!" Liu Wenyan waved it off with a faint smile. "Setting aside whether they'll actually come, so what if they do? If they dare make a move against me, they'd better be prepared for heavy casualties. Trading a huge flock of their lives for an old wreck like mine—it's hard to say who'd come out ahead." Liu Wenyan stood up, looked out the window, and smiled gently. "Whenever major events loom, one must keep a calm spirit and a steady heart! Su Yu, what I've appreciated most about you over the years is your ability to quiet your mind and stay composed under pressure. That is the very foundation that makes you stronger than the others. "Don't let petty disturbances unsettle your mind." After a few words, Liu Wenyan turned to the academy head. "You can step out for a bit. I have things to discuss with Su Yu." The academy head chuckled. Without insisting this time, he soon left the office. ... Once the academy head was gone, the smile vanished from Liu Wenyan's face. He pressed his hand down, gesturing for Su Yu to take a seat. Wondering what was going on, Su Yu refrained from asking questions and sat opposite Liu Wenyan. "Su Yu, I heard you registered for the War Academy entrance exams?" "Yes." "You want to go to a war academy, don't you?" Taken aback, Su Yu explained, "No, it's just keeping an extra option open..." "Don't try to fool me. Your teacher isn't that foolish. It's because your father went to the All-Heavens Battlefield, so you want to go too, right?" Su Yu fell silent. Liu Wenyan gave a dry chuckle. "Foolish boy! Even if you enter a war academy, how long will it take you to cultivate to the point where you can protect your father?" "..." Su Yu remained quiet. He had thought about this question, but he had preferred not to dwell on it. Besides, with that mysterious book appearing in his mind, nothing was certain anymore. "Do you know who the top experts of the human race are?" "The King of Great Xia, King Dazhou, King Daming..." Liu Wenyan nodded slightly and quickly asked, "Then do you know which powerhouses emerged after the start of the Anyuan Era?" Without waiting for Su Yu to speak, Liu Wenyan smiled. "The most famous and widely known are probably the prefects of each prefecture and the legion commanders of the major war legions. "Then do you know that thirty percent of them came from civilization academies!" Su Yu froze. Thirty percent came from civilization academies? Weren't civilization academies for nurturing... As if reading his mind, Liu Wenyan gave a light chuckle. "Did you think people from civilization academies were all like your teacher—knowing only a few languages of the myriad races, possessing pathetic combat strength, ready to blow over at the slightest gust of wind? "Wrong!" Liu Wenyan took on a serious tone. "Your teacher never told you before because you hadn't reached that stage yet! "In truth, many experts in civilization academies—even some of the pinnacle figures—are stronger than those from war academies! "How could we, who delve into the civilizations of the all-heavens, be so frail? If we were, how could we ever hope to comprehend deeper cultivation techniques and secret realms?" Liu Wenyan's eyes burned with intensity. "I am merely a negligible failure of a student from the Civilization Academy. But do you truly believe your teacher is so utterly weak?" "Uh?" Su Yu parted his lips, hesitating. *Teacher, could you please drop the face-saving act?* *You're only at the seventh stage of the Qianjun Realm. That really is pretty weak.* "You're thinking that I'm only at Qianjun seventh stage, so I'm far too weak?" "..." Su Yu blinked, feeling as though his thoughts were being read clear as day. "That's right. I can tell a bit of what you're thinking." Hearing this, Su Yu shuddered! "Surprised?" Liu Wenyan chuckled. "You're too weak, so you're virtually defenseless before me. Be more mindful in the future, and learn to rein in your thoughts. "Your teacher is telling you all this only because I don't want you to play to your weaknesses while abandoning your strengths, tossing aside the Civilization Academy for a war academy." Liu Wenyan straightened his posture. "Originally, I intended to wait until you entered the Civilization Academy for you to learn these things naturally. But now I have to tell you in advance so you don't go astray. "There are myriad paths in this world, and different races tread different roads. Yet when traced back to the root, they all amount to drawing in yuanqi, tempering oneself, and growing stronger! "Growing stronger involves two aspects: the physical body, and willpower—or what you might call spirit! "Willpower is ethereal and difficult to build, so ordinary people begin by strengthening the physical body, and only after growing strong do they begin to touch upon willpower! "We are different..." Liu Wenyan smiled faintly. "We have been exposed to many civilizations of the myriad races. Our horizons are broad, and our willpower is formidable. Therefore, we do the reverse: we temper our willpower first, and only then do we temper the flesh. "Once your willpower is powerful, tempering the physical body becomes far simpler. "Of course, it is immensely difficult!" Liu Wenyan's tone grew grave. "For willpower to reach the point where it can solidify the physical body and take in vast amounts of yuanqi without harming oneself—that takes time, and it requires deep accumulation. For certain Civilization Masters in civilization academies, when their willpower grows as radiant as the blazing sun, they can leap from Qianjun to Tengkong in a single day, or reach even higher heights! "Different roads leading to the same destination—the ultimate path of both civilization academies and war academies is to strengthen oneself and strengthen the entire human race! "The body is easy to train; willpower is hard to attain! "Reaching that step through a civilization academy is vastly more difficult, which is why few ever speak of it—to keep the overambitious from straying down the wrong path." Looking at the stunned Su Yu, Liu Wenyan chuckled. "Quite shocking, isn't it? Actually, there's nothing to be shocked about. You've researched the myriad races of the all-heavens. Though your scope is limited, you should still know a thing or two. Take the Nightmare race, whose tongue you've mastered. They are ethereal and illusory, their true forms nearly imperceptible. "They can invade your dreams at will. But in truth, it isn't an actual dream—their willpower simply constructs a miniature world, causing your will to sink into it. "That is the foundation of their power. Strictly speaking, the cultivation of Civilization Masters shares similarities with them." Su Yu's throat felt dry. He whispered, "Teacher, do you mean... the civilization path can also be very powerful..." "It's not just powerful—it's faster!" Liu Wenyan smiled. "Forge the will first, then temper the body. Certain geniuses of civilization academies can achieve will manifestation within three to five years, solidifying their flesh and advancing into the Tengkong Realm in a single day! Their subsequent cultivation progresses even faster than those on the physical path! "And how long does it take someone in a war academy to reach the Tengkong Realm? "Even geniuses must grind away for years on end! "Naturally, our threshold for entry is much higher, and our numbers are far smaller. Even so, thirty percent of humanity's pinnacle experts hail from civilization academies. That alone speaks volumes!" Su Yu digested the revelation, then asked, "Willpower can be cultivated?" "It can." "Ordinary people can't do it?" "Right. There's a threshold—one higher than that of the physical path. Willpower and spirit are essentially equivalent; in the early stages, they are invisible and intangible. How many languages of the myriad races you can master is, in fact, an assessment in itself..." Liu Wenyan smiled. "Much of the time, it isn't that people don't work hard. It's that they lack the mental stamina and the powerful willpower needed to absorb and digest that knowledge. You managed to master eighteen languages of the myriad races, but why couldn't others do the same? "Was it because they didn't try hard enough? Wrong. Some people work exceptionally hard—perhaps even harder than you. Yet they simply cannot learn them. Pushing themselves too hard even brings on splitting headaches, all because their foundational willpower isn't strong enough. "Because of that, their only choice is to temper the body first, strengthening themselves before they can begin to reinforce their will." Su Yu let out a long breath. "So... my talent isn't in the path of the body, but in the path of will?" "You could look at it that way." Liu Wenyan chuckled. "That is precisely why the myriad races are wary of Civilization Masters, and why the All-Races Sect assassinates them. Before your willpower is sufficient to temper your body, your strength remains quite weak, making that the easiest time to kill you." Su Yu found it hard to process. This was the first time he had ever learned that being a Civilization Master was an actual path of cultivation. "Even if you hadn't come to see me today, I would have sought you out. You want to go to the All-Heavens Battlefield to find your father. I won't stop you; in fact, I'm glad for it. That is human nature, the human heart, and the very foundation of humanity's invincibility! "Yet you must not act blindly. You must calm your mind. "Civilization academies select fewer students each year than war academies. They seem to impose no prerequisites, but the actual standard is vastly higher—subtly even harder than entering a war academy. Do you truly think it's just a gathering place for bookworms?" Liu Wenyan could no longer hide his grin. "Wrong! It is because not only can we conduct scholarship in the rear, but we can also step onto the front lines to slay the enemy. And anyone capable of stepping onto the front lines is at least in the Tengkong Realm! As for the Qianjun and Wanshi Realms, those are nothing more than simple yuanqi body-tempering stages that can be achieved in a single day!" "..." Su Yu's expression stiffened. After a long pause, he asked, "Then, Teacher... are you in the Tengkong Realm?" "No." Liu Wenyan looked utterly serene. "Then... you're even stronger?" "Not at all!" Liu Wenyan remained completely unbothered. Su Yu froze. What was that supposed to mean? "Like I said, only when will manifestation is achieved can one temper the physical body. I haven't achieved will manifestation." Liu Wenyan spoke as if everything he had just said were pure boasting! He... had never manifested his will, which meant he was genuinely just in the Qianjun Realm. Su Yu stared up at his teacher, dumbfounded. How on earth did this old man manage to stay so nonchalant? You're already in your seventies and haven't managed to manifest your will, yet you just told me it only takes three to five years? That's not how you boast! "Don't look at me like that!" Liu Wenyan said calmly, "Back then, I was merely the biggest failure among the Civilization Academy's students, hardly a genius. After graduating, I drifted along in a daze for years. It's only normal that I haven't manifested my will. If it were truly that easy, humanity's pinnacle experts wouldn't be thirty percent Civilization Academy alumni—it would be ninety percent. "In cultivation, no path comes easily. But compared to the path of the body, I believe this way is faster and offers far greater promise. "If you wish to grow strong in a short time, this is the only path for you—the path of will!" Su Yu fell into deep contemplation. Only after a good while did he ask, "Teacher, does the path of will have cultivation techniques?" "There are..." Liu Wenyan smiled and began to continue, but then cleared his throat. "None in Nanyuan, though. Once you reach the Great Xia Civilization Academy, you'll find out!" Of course, that was provided he could achieve will manifestation. He didn't say that part aloud; if he did, Su Yu would probably curse him out. "In fact, the process of learning the languages of the myriad races, as well as analyzing certain cultivation techniques and secret realms, is itself a form of will tempering—especially when dealing with originals..." This time, Liu Wenyan turned considerably more serious. "As you know, the materials we study aren't the original texts. Those originals contain traces of the myriad races' power, or even their spiritual willpower. Deciphering and translating them yields tremendous benefits. "Of course, there is danger too—mental breakdown, for instance. Every year, people in the Civilization Academy suffer mental collapse while decoding these originals. You must be careful when you handle them in the future. The more powerful the technique and the more vital the document, the stronger the willpower infused within it, and the more likely it is to cause your mind to shatter. "So determining the importance of myriad races' literature is actually quite simple: if the willpower woven into it is immense, it's definitely important! "You can go check out the unidentified cultivation manuals at the Xia Trading Company. Anything that looks simple and ordinary on the surface is trash. In reality, all those things were thoroughly sifted through long ago; what remains is safe, harmless... garbage!" Su Yu gave a wry smile. He had figured as much; otherwise, someone would have snapped them up long before. Seeing his reaction, Liu Wenyan smiled again. "So, are you still going to take the War Academy exams? "At the Civilization Academy, you can still cultivate the physical path, but once you enter a war academy, you might not even get the chance to tread the path of will. At the very least, almost all the original documents of the myriad races are kept in civilization academies. "As long as you grow powerful and step into the Tengkong Realm, you can go to the All-Heavens Battlefield whenever you wish, can't you? "What's the point of insisting on going to the All-Heavens Battlefield as a Qianjun or Wanshi cultivator, only to end up as cannon fodder? "Unless... you lack confidence in yourself. If that's the case, it makes no difference where you go, because you'll never become strong anyway!" ... Liu Wenyan's words shook Su Yu's already wavering resolve. Did he still need to test for the War Academy? It seemed... he didn't need to after all. So the Civilization Academy could make him powerful too! *The Civilization Academy... original documents of the myriad races... spiritual willpower...* Stepping out of the instructors' office, Su Yu tightened his grip on the vial in his hand. He would go back and give it a try. Forging a powerful willpower while simultaneously strengthening the physical body—wouldn't that be even better? Once he activated the Yuan Absorption Art, perhaps his body tempering could accelerate as well. *Civilization Academy...* At this moment, Su Yu made his decision. Perhaps he really ought to go to the Civilization Academy—after all, that had been his original goal. ... After Su Yu left, the academy head walked back into the room, shaking his head. "You old rascal, tricking people again!" "What do you mean by that?" Liu Wenyan bristled with indignation. "Will manifestation... You've cultivated for fifty years. Have you manifested yours?" "Soon!" Liu Wenyan replied with utter calm. "The moment I manifest, I'll be in the Tengkong Realm. When that time comes, a fledgling Wanshi Realm cultivator like you won't even be worth looking at!" "You!" The academy head didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Well, let him be. As for Su Yu, going to the Civilization Academy was indeed better; the War Academy was simply too dangerous. Still, this old fellow trotted out the exact same routine every time. Over the years, how many students had he hoodwinked like this? Whenever a student wavered, this speech reeled them in, and in the end, they all headed off to civilization academies. "The Great Xia Civilization Academy ought to give you an award. If not for you, they'd lose several students every year..." Liu Wenyan shrugged nonchalantly. "Even without an award, the Great Xia Civilization Academy sends me two hundred thousand in bonuses every year. It's plenty to get by." "..." Left completely speechless, the academy head couldn't help cursing under his breath, "You're practically a spy for the Great Xia Civilization Academy!" "Look at how you put it. I'm practically one of their staff members assigned down here anyway, so how can you call me a spy?" Liu Wenyan chuckled, leaving the academy head entirely without words. It was true: almost all instructors teaching the languages of the myriad races were dispatched directly by the Great Xia Civilization Academy. Even if they hadn't started out that way, they soon became affiliated, primarily to keep potential recruits from being poached and swarming into war academies en masse. After all, scholarly research couldn't hold a candle to the thrill of battle cultivation. Young people were hot-blooded by nature; without someone keeping watch, they would all slip away.