In the blink of an eye, Zhang Xuan had already gained a deep understanding of the content of the book.
Detailed in the front were the experiences Kong shi had undergone before ascending to Sainthood, and the content was rather similar to the writings left on the cliff face on the Saint Ascension Platform, just that the descriptions were more vivid, seemingly putting the reader himself into the very situations depicted through the words.
It’s so complicated? A frown slowly appeared on Zhang Xuan’s face.
He had thought that the Saint Ascension Decipher would just be a simple cultivation technique that he would be able to master and raise his strength significantly just by following the instructions precisely. However, it wasn’t that simple.
A Saint that even the heavens had acknowledged couldn’t possibly only possess denser zhenqi and greater might. One’s psyche must also be strengthened beyond the limits of an average cultivator as well.
In essence, strengthening one’s psyche could be considered to be tempering one’s mind.
Only with a strong psyche would one be able to keep a broad perspective of the world, allowing one to see and advance further.
The mind and body of humans were connected in the most intricate of ways. If one could achieve a state of mind capable of harnessing a world within it, one’s dantian would naturally expand to allow the harnessing of more zhenqi as well.
As it watched the young man before it study the book in his hands seriously, Mu shi’s puppet suddenly spoke up.
“In the Chrysalis realm, otherwise known as the Embryonic Core realm and Golden Core realm, a cultivator will gather their cultivation and mold it into an Origin Core, also known as a Golden Core. Once successfully completed, it will merge together with the cultivator’s body, allowing them to surpass their limits and advance to a height beyond mortals.
“Since you have already cultivated to this realm, I believe that you should have a deep understanding of it as well.”
Zhang Xuan nodded.
In essence, the Chrysalis realm was the stage where a cultivator condensed the zhenqi in his body into a core, transforming it from a liquid into a solid, thus allowing the cultivator to store even more zhenqi within their body.
Once the Origin Core was formed, they would be able to fuse their body with it in order to advance further toward the threshold of Sainthood.
Even though Zhang Xuan hadn’t gathered sufficient Chrysalis realm cultivation technique manuals to compile a complete Heaven’s Path Divine Art, a zhenqi whirlpool had already formed in his dantian, gathering the zhenqi throughout his body toward it. With some effort, it would only be a matter of time before he managed to form an Origin Core.
“If one were to cultivate normally, one should be able to gather the zhenqi within one’s body to cultivate an Origin Core swiftly. However, the resulting Origin Core would only be that of the lowest tier, known as a Third Grade Origin Core!” Mu shi’s puppet explained.
“Third Grade Origin Core? There are differing grades to Origin Cores?” Zhang Xuan was perplexed.
He had gathered innumerable books spanning across multiple occupations in the Master Teacher Academy, but he had never read of anything like that before.
“There are, just that very few people are aware of it,” Mu shi’s puppet replied. “This grading system was proposed by a student of Kong shi, and he intended to make it public knowledge to all cultivators. However, Kong shi forbade him from doing so, and over the years, fewer and fewer people have retained the knowledge of this grading system.”
“Kong shi forbade him?” Zhang Xuan questioned in astonishment.
Wasn’t Kong shi the World’s Teacher, the man who founded the Master Teacher Pavilion and imparted his heritage to all of mankind? Why would such a person prevent the impartation of such vital knowledge?
“It’s in view of the welfare of mankind that he made such a decision!”
Mu shi’s puppet replied with a deep sigh. “With some hard work, an average cultivator will be able to form a Third Grade Origin Core with ease. However, the same cannot be said about Second Grade Origin Cores… Not only will it require the devotion of a great amount of resources for its cultivation, the guidance of a skilled teacher is also necessary. Otherwise, the slightest mistake can easily render one’s efforts futile!
“To make a comparison, the resources required to form a Second Grade Origin Core are at least tenfold of what is required to cultivate a Third Grade Origin Core, and that is a price that mankind cannot afford to pay! More importantly, not everyone has the talent to successfully cultivate a Second Grade Origin Core even with ample resources. It is highly demanding on one’s talent and psyche as well. To make things worse, there is a heavy price to pay for failure. Should an attempt to cultivate a Second Grade Origin Core fail, one’s Origin Core may fall apart, thus crippling one’s cultivation. In the worst-case scenario, one might even face instantaneous death!
“If the news regarding the grades of Origin Cores becomes known, many master teachers would surely take the risk in an attempt to raise their fighting prowess to greater heights. While some might succeed, many more would find their cultivation going berserk and possibly end up dead. On top of that, that will place a greater strain on our finite cultivation resources, this resulting in the weakening of the forces of humanity as a whole!”
“This…” Zhang Xuan fell into a moment of contemplation before eventually nodding in agreement.
The other party was right.
Cultivating a higher grade Origin Core was no easy feat, requiring one to pay a heavier price and bear a higher degree of risk.
From the very start, cultivators were limited by their inherent talent. If a person who was lacking ample capability were to attempt to cultivate an Origin Core beyond their means, it would only end in disaster.
It was just like a greedy snake attempting to devour an elephant. Despite its relatively small size, it still chose to prey on a target far larger than itself. In this case, failure was just a small issue; if things went wrong, the snake could very well find itself trampled to death instead!
This was the same for the cultivation of Origin Core.
But if a cultivator were to intentionally opt to cultivate a Third Grade Origin Core, it could create an impression that they had veered down the wrong path, and their cultivation was imperfect and inferior to others. Such subconscious thoughts could possibly lead to an opening within their mind and limit their future accomplishments.
But limited by his talent, the cultivator would be unable to cultivate the Second Grade Origin Core either way…
As the saying goes, ‘ignorance is bliss’. Sometimes, having a choice might not necessarily be beneficial.
“A higher-grade Origin Core grants a cultivator strength superior to their peers, but the price in order to do so is sufficient to groom a Saint realm 2-dan or even 3-dan expert! From mankind’s viewpoint, it is clear which is preferable of the two!”
Mu shi’s puppet continued. “It was due to his concern of humanity’s future that Kong shi decided to make such a decision. From the very beginning, the primary responsibility of master teachers has been to bolster the forces of mankind and bring it to greater heights. In view of that, it is not a big trade-off for the average strength of our cultivators to be slightly weaker.”
“Indeed.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
This secret was simply too shocking, and it could easily cause a huge uproar among the master teachers if it were to leak out. However, other than bringing huge pressure and stress upon them, there was really not much tangible benefit to it.
As compared to that, why not just remain silent and leave things as they are?
Besides, the primary role of a master teacher was to impart knowledge and pass down the heritage of the predecessors, not fighting. As such, it wasn’t really a big deal whether what they had cultivated was a Third Grade Origin Core or not.
In any case, with only the deep understanding of cultivation techniques and battle techniques that master teachers wielded, they would still be considered the most powerful occupation in the world, unmatched by any.
After understanding the story, Zhang Xuan continued his questioning. “You said earlier that normal cultivators will only cultivate a Third Grade Origin Core. Since that is the case, what will a cultivator who has cultivated the Second Grade Origin Core be like?”
“A Second Grade Origin Core… The most relatable example to highlight the prowess of a Second Grade Origin Core is the combat masters!” Mu shi’s puppet replied.
“Combat masters?”
“Un. Combat masters need not study supporting occupations, so they will be able to devote their efforts to furthering their cultivation and battle techniques. The members of the Combat Master Hall are also carefully picked, so their talents are likely on par as well. Considering that the Combat Master Hall is heavily financed by the Master Teacher Pavilion and mankind as a whole, it possesses the ample resources too. As such, it isn’t too difficult for its members to cultivate Second Grade Origin Cores!”
At this point, Mu shi’s puppet paused for a brief moment before continuing. “In truth, the reason Kong shi kept the Combat Master Hall separate from the Master Teacher Pavilion was to pass on the knowledge of the grades of Origin Cores!”
Realization dawned upon Zhang Xuan.
It was no wonder Wu Xu, despite being at Chrysalis realm pinnacle as well, was able single-handedly subdue Hu Yaoyao, Xue Zhenyang, Long Cangyue, and Dong Xin simultaneously. It was not that the four of them were weak or lacking in talent, but there was simply a disparity in the grade of their Origin Cores!
Due to that, the purity of their zhenqi and their strength were inferior to Wu Xu, so it was no wonder that they had been defeated so easily.
“But if even combat masters only have Second Grade Origin Cores, what about First Grade Origin Cores?” Zhang Xuan asked.
If even the powerful combat masters only possessed Second Grade Origin Cores, how powerful would an individual who possessed a First Grade Origin Core be?
“So far, First Grade Origin Cores are only known to exist in the legends. It has been far too long since anyone succeeded! In any case, I have never seen anyone with one before. Rumor has it that Kong shi managed to cultivate a First Grade Origin Core back then… but of course, as such details are not written in the book, I can’t say for sure either,” Mu shi’s puppet replied.
“Only known to exist in the legends?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
“Indeed. In fact, I believe that a First Grade Origin Core is the requirement to becoming a Celestial Saint! That is the reason I wanted to cultivate a First Grade Origin Core, and I spent many centuries working toward it… But in the end, my efforts only ended with a Second Grade Advanced Origin Core,” Mu shi’s puppet said with a bitter smile.
Several centuries, nearly half of his entire life, he had dedicated to this dream of his, but he had only met with failure in the end. There was no one who wouldn’t feel regret in his position.
“Second Grade Advanced?”
“Un. Each grade of Origin Core can be further subdivided into primary, advanced, and pinnacle. In order to form a Second Grade Advanced Origin Core, I had to pay a hefty price, go through innumerable near-death situations, and invest a huge portion of my time.
“Even though I was able to rival opponents beyond my cultivation realm after successfully cultivating it, my rivals whose talents were beneath mine back then had already reached Saint realm 4-dan or 5-dan. It was then that I realized that I had erred! If only I had advanced as an ordinary Saint realm cultivator… In order to cultivate my Origin Core, I squandered the golden period for a cultivator to advance their cultivation, which limited my final achievement. In the end, my footsteps terminated at Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle… Can you understand the frustrations I felt then?
“At that point, I finally realized why Kong shi chose to conceal the news… Those whose talent is insufficient, even if they were to achieve success at the end of the road, the effort and time invested into it are simply not worth it! Can a Saint realm 1-dan pinnacle cultivator possibly be able to contribute more to humanity than a Saint realm 4-dan cultivator? I think the answer is pretty clear.” Mu shi’s puppet could only sigh endlessly in regret.
Even the longest-living Saint in the world was unable to live past the age of two thousand, and he had dedicated an entire seven hundred years of his early years on cultivating his Origin Core, missing the golden years for advancing his cultivation. Eventually, his bodily functions deteriorated, and it was too late for him to start pushing his cultivation.
On the other hand, those whom he had competed with in his earlier years and outshone had all become Saint realm 4-dan and 5-dan experts… So what if his Origin Core was of a higher grade than the others? So what if he was invincible among those of his cultivation realm? Could he possibly challenge an opponent three to four realms stronger than him?
That was clearly infeasible.
Eventually, he could only conclude that this was a technique for those who possessed the greatest of talents. Anyone beneath that would only be wasting their time and potential.
“As such, I created the Mountain of Records in order to assess the fighting prowess of the students in the Master Teacher Academy. Only those who were able to defeat the Saint realm 1-dan me with a cultivation beneath Half-Saint would be qualified to learn of this news. Those are the people who possess greater talent than me. They might just be able to successfully advance their Origin Core to greater heights and possibly accomplish what I have failed at!” Mu shi said with a sharp glint in his eyes.
“The fact that you were able to defeat me with just a cultivation of Chrysalis realm primary stage shows that you are an incredibly talented person. A genius of your caliber probably doesn’t even appear once in ten thousand years… If you cultivate this Saint Ascension Decipher, you might just be able to successfully cultivate a First Grade Origin Core and possibly attempt to become a Celestial Saint!”
Seeing Mu shi’s puppet’s heated eyes, Zhang Xuan was stunned.
“Me?”
