Chapter 748: Pointers

“I don’t expect my rank five arts to reach their perfect state. As long as I can shorten the time taken for each cycle to 4 hours and reach the first transformation, there should no longer be any obstacle in my path of cultivation!” Shang Xia muttered to himself as he sat on one of the secluded mountains somewhere within the Tongyou Institution.

Actually, Shang Xia had a chance to gather another batch of 10 fate dipper essences of the elemental alignment he required. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be the only one getting all the benefits. Ji Wenlong and Shang Bo both required an Origin Dipper for their advancement and in the end, he lacked a Gui Water and Wu Earth Element fate dipper essence earth.

From Kou Chongxue’s experience of refining fate dippers related to the 5 elements, they could verify that Shang Xia’s suggestion was pretty legit.

Even though there was still an element of luck contained within, along with Kou Chongxue’s slightly exaggerated talent for cultivation, the experts of the Tongyou Institution didn’t have to make any detours in their cultivation with a good example leading the way. In essence, the Martial Dipper Realm experts who came next would definitely follow Shang Xia’s philosophy of balancing the 5 elements.

Of course, the main reason why no one was trying out a new path was because the Tongyou Institution didn’t have the resources to let others experiment as they wished.

That was also why Kou Chongxue retrieved the Flowing Wind Formless Fate Dipper he had given Yun Jing previously. He used to trade with the Changbai Holy Land for an Origin Dipper that corresponded to 1 of the 5 elements.

After Shang Xia verified each fate dipper essence in their possession and received permission from Kou Chongxue, he traded them with other experts in the Martial Dipper Realm for appropriate ones. He didn’t hesitate to add some essence crystals to sweeten the deal for the other parties in order to get the fate dipper essences they required.

Since he was in charge of all the trades, Shang Xia managed to learn a lot more about other Origin Dippers.

The only thing Shang Xia didn’t trade away was the Imperial Star Fate Dipper that Kou Chongxue had. Even though it wasn’t of the 5 elements, it was a high-grade Origin Dipper.

“Teacher Xia, Teacher Xia...” Yells came from the side and brought him back to reality.

Grunting once, Shang Xia turned to see a bunch of young cultivators standing before him at a loss for what to do. “Oh? You guys are here. I was thinking of a problem earlier and lost myself in thought...”

With a simple sentence, he awkwardly tried to gloss over what happened.

Those youngsters glanced at each other before cupping their hands together to respond, “We’re the ones troubling Teacher Xia, please forgive us.”

Waving his hands nonchalantly, Shang Xia chuckled, “It’s fine. I was merely bored after staying in the Tongyou Paradise for so long and I came out here for a breath of fresh air.”

The Tongyou Paradise was connected to the Azure Ascension World and the heaven and earth qi contained within was abundant. It was a holy land of cultivation for many cultivators of the You Continent. Even regular students of the institution wouldn’t be allowed to enter unless they made great contributions. Here there was someone saying he was bored in the Tongyou Paradise and left for some fresh air.

The students who came to look for Shang Xia weren’t too much younger than him and they quickly lowered their heads for fear that Shang Xia would be able to tell what they were thinking through their expressions.

Shang Xia didn’t bother with them and he asked, “Is something the matter?”

This time, there were 2 missing faces within the regular group who came to look for him.

Shang Xia sighed silently. This sort of scattered teaching method wasn’t beneficial for him to establish his cultivation system in the Tongyou Institution.

With his current cultivation at the Five Elements Realm, his strength, status, and prestige in the institution were obvious. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to want to establish his own class to teach others about his cultivation method. No one would try to stop him openly.

Unfortunately, he didn’t really care about all those. If not for Kou Chongxue’s request for him to teach a little, Shang Xia wouldn’t mind not sharing the new path at all. After all, his cultivation was still pretty low in the Martial Dipper Realm and he wanted to focus on it a little more instead of teaching.

He could delegate others to go around teaching his new path of cultivation, but he had to ensure that those people had the basics down and attained some sort of achievement in his way of cultivation before going around to spread the knowledge...

His gaze landed on the 3 people leading the group after thinking about it for a moment. They were his most faithful learners after he started teaching in the institution. They were from the Fifth Class of the Inner Division back then and were none other than Mu Songfang, Shi Huai, and Wang Chenglin.

When Shang Xia imparted his Yin Yang Extremity Formation to the Fifth Class back then, they weren’t the only ones who tried to learn from him. However, the once chief of the Fifth Class, Yan Weihai, eventually parted ways with the rest.

In recent years, the Yin Yang Extremity Formation was extremely well-received among the Martial Extremity Realm and Martial Intent Realm cultivators of the institution. However, of those who earnestly tried to learn Shang Xia’s path of cultivation, they were the only ones left.

Mu Songfang, Shi Huai, and Wang Chenglin had long since graduated. They had been training themselves around the You Continent and they managed to enter the Martial Intent Realm. Mu Songfang was the strongest among them and she had completed her third divine sense transformation. Shi Huai and Wang Chenglin had completed their second divine sense transformation but even though they were at the same level now, Wang Chenglin managed to catch up to surpass Shi Huai when completing his second divine sense transformation.

With the exception of Mu Songfang, Shang Xia favored Shi Huai a little more than Wang Chenglin due to his steadfast personality. Wang Chenglin was impulsive at times when it came to his actions or his cultivation. Even though Shi Huai’s cultivation seemed a little slower, his progress was a lot more stable. His foundations were much stronger than Wang Chenglin.

Glancing at each other, their gazes eventually landed on Mu Songfang.

After a slight hesitation, Mu Songfang muttered, “We understand that Teacher Xia’s time is precious but your new cultivation system is really too profound. It’s not something we can understand in a short amount of time. Moreover, when we exchange pointers with others, they outnumber us by several times and we will never be able to spread your teachings... Teacher Xia, can you give a lecture or two in the institution? It will serve to help promote the path of cultivation to the others...”

“All of you are really considerate, however...” Shang Xia chuckled silently before his tone changed slightly. “There’s no need for such trouble at this time. You don’t have to bother about their criticisms. All you should know is that you chose your path. You didn’t choose it for their sake. If you can’t even maintain your mental state because of things like this, you should back out before you walk too far down this path of cultivation.”

Shang Xia seemed to have said it casually, but it sounded like a supreme law in their ears. It struck their souls heavily and their expressions immediately became unnatural. Mu Songfang and Shi Huai seemed a little uncomfortable, but Wang Chenglin’s expression twisted even further. Of those who came along with them, there were even some who revealed guilty and hesitant looks on their faces.

Nothing could be hidden from Shang Xia but he maintained a casual look on his face. He chuckled, “There’s no need to mention the matter any longer. Anyway, I have some time today and all of you can bring up questions you have about cultivation. I can use the chance to analyze it for everyone.”

Joy returned to their faces.

Even though Shang Xia didn’t really care about how the other disciples of the institution viewed his cultivation system, he was more than willing to personally give those who wanted to learn from him some pointers.

The treatment was something other disciples of the institution could never enjoy.

One had to know that Shang Xia was in the Martial Dipper Realm! Receiving pointers from an expert at his level was something no one else enjoyed the luxury of!

Mu Songfang was the first to speak. “Teacher, after my third divine sense transformation, my cultivation speed started to slow down and I seemed to have reached a bottleneck. Without even mentioning comprehending my martial intent, I can’t seem to find a way to enter the large completion stage...”

Shang Xia chuckled in response, “That’s because you’re walking down a narrow path. The method you chose to cultivate in the Martial Intent Realm is exclusive and special, but that doesn’t mean that you should blindly follow the inheritance laid out for you. You should take references from others to polish yourself. Of course, the key is to see if what others have is useful when applied to yourself. Go take a trip down to the Scripture Depository and look at the records left behind by seniors of the institution. Perhaps, you could...”

He might have told her to find her own way by learning from what others left behind, but he was giving her the answer directly.

At his current stage, he could see through any problems they had in their cultivation instantly. Anything he said would strike at the problem directly.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After Teaching Mu Songfang, everyone else came to clear their doubts one after another.

Everyone present was listening to his answers intently. What Shang Xia said to their peers might apply to them as well. Even if they hadn’t run into it, it might be something that plagued them in the future. There were some questions that didn’t apply to them, but Shang Xia’s answer could give them inspiration for whatever trouble they were facing...

What Shang Xia didn’t know was that there were a few people among them who truly cared and would remember everything he said by heart. In the future, the records of everything he said would be turned into a classic record left behind in the Scripture Depository for Martial Intent Realm cultivators to reference.

The whole question and answer process lasted for close to 4 hours and Shang Xia didn’t repeat his guidance word for word when he ran into the same question. Instead, he was able to see through their cultivation base and the problems they were facing and would give them personalized pointers from time to time.

When the meeting was finally over and Shang Xia left, Shi Huai muttered to himself, “Actually, this is the most ideal method of cultivation. After all, not everyone would be able to gain the opportunity to receive personal guidance from a Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor.”