Chapter 9: The Capabilities of Cultural Research Academies (1)

Instructor's Office.

Liu Wenyan, a man over sixty years old, was writing as he spoke without looking up, "Principal, you don't have to follow me around. We're in school. I'll be fine."

Sitting nearby, the principal, also a man of over sixty years old, smiled and replied, "It's not like I'm disturbing you. Why are you chasing me away?"

"You're disturbing me by merely breathing."

"..."

The principal did not know whether to laugh or cry. Liu Wenyan continued speaking, "Also, you're a fresh Infinite Strength cultivator. You're too weak. What can you even do here?"

"I—"

The principal was speechless. Was he really that weak? Yeah, maybe. A brand new Infinite Strength Realm at over sixty years old was really nothing special. However, this was Nanyuan, the smallest of the twenty-eight cities within Great Xia.

He wasn't even the mayor. He was only the principal of a secondary school. There was no need for him to be too strong. A real expert would either be at the capital or the Allheaven Battlefield. In Nanyuan, he could actually be considered strong.

"Hey, you think I enjoy doing this?" complained the old principal. "I'm only here because you're too important, you old bag of bones. Over the past twenty years, a total of 320 students from Nanyuan had managed to enter the various cultural research academies. On average, there were about sixteen of them per year. Half of them were taught by you. Isn't it obvious that you would stick out like a sore thumb for those fellows from the Myriad Race Cult?"

"You’re exaggerating." Liu Wenyan laughed. "This is a small city. There is a limit to the number of students we can send to the academies. The number of students we have are nothing compared to the other cities in Great Xia. Why would the Myriad Race Cult waste their time on me?"

"You never know. In any case, you're more important than me. I'm a weak Infinite Strength cultivator. They won't even spare me a glance."

The principal might be speaking with a joking tone, but that was the truth. An Infinite Strength cultivator wasn't weak, but it still wasn’t strong enough to be of much use at a place like the Allheaven Battlefield.

The Myriad Race Cult would still have to sacrifice a few members to kill an Infinite Strength cultivator behind the front line. It was simply not worth it, especially when the target was an old man over sixty years old.

Suddenly, the principal's ears moved as he smiled and said, "Su Yu is here. This kid is much better than his father."

"Don't belittle Su Long. What did he do? He only rejected your offer to become a guard at the school. Do you have to hold a grudge over that?"

Liu Wenyan also smiled. He finally looked up and said, "Su Long still has his passion. I've long noticed that he was unwilling to live out the rest of his life as a retiree. He had been trying to join the Martial Dragon Guards and was only forced to give up after being rejected."

The principal snorted and said, "It's clear he stood no chance of joining them. A ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator below thirty might still be able to join, but him? At his age? Maybe he would stand a better chance if he was a ninth-stage Infinite Strength cultivator instead."

"Even so, he's much better than you. If he can survive the Allheaven Battlefield, he'll probably return as an Infinite Strength cultivator in a few years." Liu Wenyan continued, "Su Yu is decent as well. He might not be a super genius, but he will still be able to join the ranks of the regular researchers contributing to the survival of humanity after entering the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Both of them are much better than you and me..."

The principal nodded with a sigh, "If I hadn't harmed my foundation at the Allheaven Battlefield back then, I wouldn't have retired from the army and become a principal here. This is such a boring job."

"Rejoice that you were able to return alive. Very few soldiers at the Allheaven Battlefield could keep their foundations unharmed. At a dangerous place like that, they will have to forcefully rise beyond the seventh-stage Great Strength Realm or they would be too weak to even serve as cannon fodder."

Liu Wenyan couldn't help but to sigh. A majority of the soldiers at the Allheaven Battlefield would have no hope of reaching the Skysoar Realm. There was nothing they could do about it.

That was a hellish place with desperate battles occurring at all times. New soldiers would die in only a few days unless they forcefully break through in their cultivation. Cultivation foundation would be the last thing on their minds when their lives were on the line. The more talented individuals would be recruited into the various war academies, leaving the less talented ones to struggle for survival in the army.

While the two were speaking, Su Yu stepped into the office. A bright smile instantly appeared on Liu Wenyan's face. Su Yu was a student he was very satisfied with. This young man was a hardworking and patient student. He might not be a super genius, but humanity needed more than geniuses to prosper. Good seedlings willing to advance one step at a time like this were also important to have.

"Instructor, principal," greeted Su Yu after entering the office.

"Su Yu, you're here."

Liu Wenyan smiled, looking much friendlier when he was facing Su Yu. A wide smile was plastered on his face as he said, "You father has left for the Allheaven Battlefield. Are you having any trouble living alone?"

"No. I'm doing fine." Su Yu shifted his tone and asked in a worried tone, "Instructor, I heard that the Myriad Race Cult will be here at Nanyuan--"

"Don’t worry." Liu Wenyan did not seem to care. "We don't know if they'll be here for sure. Even if they're really here, what can they do? To make a move against me, they'll have to prepare to suffer a large number of casualties. It’s not worth it."

Liu Wenyan stood up and looked outside the window. He still had the same smile on his face as he said, "When encountering major events, stay calm. Su Yu, what I like most about you is your ability to stay calm and unruffled when encountering trouble. That is your advantage over others. Do not let a small issue like this disturb your state of mind."

The principal smiled and walked out, leaving the two to their conversation.

...

The moment the principal left, Liu Wenyan stopped smiling. He gestured at Su Yu to sit down. Curious, Su Yu did as told without asking anything.

"Su Yu, I heard you registered for the war academies?"

"Yes."

"You want to join a war academy, right?"

Su Yu blanked out slightly. He quickly explained, "No, I was only applying just in case--"

"Stop lying to me. I'm not stupid. You're trying to enter the Allheaven Battlefield because your father has gone there, right?"

Su Yu sank into silence.

Liu Wenyan smiled and said, "Foolish. Even after joining a war academy, how long will it take for you to reach a sufficient level of cultivation to protect your father?"

Su Yu sank into silence. He had thought of that before. However, he had been avoiding the question. In any case, with the book in his mind, things were no longer so certain.

"Can you name some super experts of our human race?"

"Great Xia King, Great Zhou King, Great Ming King..."

Liu Wenyan nodded and said, "How about those that have only emerged after the start of the Anping Calendar?"

Before Su Yu could answer, Liu Wenyan said with a smile, "The most well-known among them are probably the prefects of the various prefectures and the commanders of the various armies. But do you know that thirty percent of these people came from the cultural research academies?"

Su Yu was stunned. Thirty percent of them came from cultural research academies? Weren't the cultural research academies in charge of…

Liu Wenyan seemed to know what he was thinking. "Do you think that everyone from the cultural research academies are like me? Someone that only knows some languages with incredibly weak combat strength? You're wrong!"

Liu Wenyan's face turned solemn, "I've never told you this before because you're not yet at the point where you need to know all that. In truth, there are a lot of combat experts in the cultural research academies as well. In fact, some of their top experts are even stronger than those from the war academies.

"As the researchers of the myriad races, how can we be weak? If we're really that weak, how are we supposed to comprehend the more complicated cultivation methods of those races?"

Liu Wenyan had a burning gaze. "I'm merely a useless failure of a student from a cultural research academy. Do you think that I'm really as weak as I look?"

"Huh?" Su Yu opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. That was quite a shameless statement. After all, the instructor was only a seventh-stage Great Strength cultivator. That was simply too weak.

"Do you want to say that I'm only a seventh-stage Great Strength cultivator and I'm simply too weak?"

Su Yu blinked, feeling like he had been seen through by his instructor.

"Yes, I can somewhat see what you're thinking."

Su Yu was instantly stunned.

"Shocked?" Liu Wenyan smiled. "You're too weak. Before me, you're completely defenseless. Take note to hide your thoughts better in the future. I'm telling you all this because I don't want you to only think about your short-term gains and give up on the cultural research academies."

Liu Wenyan's expression turned stern as he said, "I intended for you to learn all that after joining a cultural research academy. But now, I need to let you know in advance so that you don’t make the wrong choice.

"There are countless paths one can take in cultivation. Different races would walk different paths. But it all comes down to the acts of absorbing source qi, refining one's body, and strengthening one's self."

"To strengthen one's self, there are two paths. Physical and willpower, also known as mental power. Willpower is a vague concept. It is very hard to grow strong walking that path. Thus, most people will grow their physical body first and only start cultivating their willpower upon reaching a certain level of strength.”

"That isn't the case for us." A smile bloomed on Liu Wenyan's face. "People like us have gained an open mind and powerful willpower through our study of the many different languages. Thus, we walk a different path. First, we strengthen our willpower. Then, we strengthen our physical body. With a formidable willpower, physical strengthening would be a simple task.”

"That's not to say this is an easy path to take." Liu Wenyan's face turned strict again. "When your willpower is strong enough, you'll be able to strengthen your body and allow it to absorb more source qi without being harmed. However, this path requires time and a much larger amount of resources. Some cultural researchers are capable of advancing from the Great Strength Realm to the Skysoar Realm or even a higher realm within a single day upon reaching the stage where their willpower glows as bright as the sun."

"All paths lead to the same destination. The final goal of both cultural research academies and war academies is the same: to strengthen the individual and the human race! The body is easy to train, but willpower is extremely difficult to cultivate. The path of willpower cultivation is much harder to walk. That's why this information is not widespread among the public. We want to prevent the masses from overestimating themselves and walk the wrong path."

Looking at the surprised Su Yu, Liu Wenyan smiled and asked, "Surprised? It's not surprising at all. You're someone who has studied the myriad races as well. Although you still don't know much about them, you should still know a little. For example, the nightmare race whose language you know, is a race of illusory people that can hardly be seen with one's naked eyes.

"It is said that they have the ability to easily invade your dreams, but that's not the case. They are merely creating an illusory world with their willpower before drawing your mind in. That is why they are such a powerful race. Strictly speaking, the cultivation of cultural researchers is similar to theirs."

Su Yu was totally stunned. He softly asked, "Instructor, are you saying that...it is possible to gain strength through the path of cultural research?"

"It's more than possible. It would be a faster path." Liu Wenyan explained, "First, forge your willpower. Then, forge your body. Some geniuses in the cultural research academies are able to achieve willpower materialization after only three to five years in the academy and strengthen their bodies to reach the Skysoar Realm within a single day. Their subsequent progress in cultivation will also be much faster than physical cultivators.

"How about those from the war academies? How long will they take to reach the Skysoar Realm? Even a genius there will need many years of bitter training to reach that level. Of course, our path of cultivation is much harder than theirs. Therefore, there are less of us around. Only thirty percent of our super experts are from cultural research academies. From this, you can see how difficult it is to walk this path."

Still trying to absorb all the information thrown his way, Su Yu asked, "So willpower can be cultivated?"

"Yes."

"It's not something everyone can do?"

"Correct. There are requirements for willpower cultivation. In fact, the requirements are higher than what you need for physical cultivation. Willpower is basically the same as mental power. It is something that can't be discerned or measured early on. In fact, the number of myriad race languages mastered can be used as a sort measuring stick for one's potential in willpower cultivation.

"For a lot of people, the reason they couldn't master too many languages is because of their weak willpower, not because they are not hardworking enough. You're able to master eighteen different languages. Why can't more of your peers do so?

"Were they simply lazy? No. Some of them have actually worked hard, maybe even harder than you. But they just can't seem to master those languages. If they push themselves, they will find themselves suffering from an intense headache. That's all because of their weak willpower. They have no choice but to focus on their physical body first before working on their willpower."

Su Yu heaved a long breath and said, "In that case, does my talent lie in willpower cultivation instead of physical body?"

"You can say so. That's why the myriad races are so wary of cultural researchers. That's also why the Myriad Race Cult will generally target our cultural researchers instead of physical cultivators. Before reaching a level where you can strengthen your body with your willpower, you're still very weak. This is the time when you're the most vulnerable."