Chapter 532: The Academy
Chapter 532: The Academy
Green Grove Academy.
Located in Green Grove City, it was the most spacious and grand building in the area.
As Fang Xing entered, he noticed the pristine square and the garden with its fountain...
"It's a bit odd... This world resembles ancient Eastern civilizations, but the most powerful force is the 'Heart Shrine'..."
"Even the academy is established by the Heart Shrine. They worship the one true God—the Heart Lord! They have shrines in various regions to enlighten children's Heart Aspects, and there are priests, clerics, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and even popes as a series of rulers..."
"However, the Shrine's rule is quite weak, and they often adopt a 'tax collector' system, which is more like the Western feudal system, relinquishing most local powers..."
"For example, in the countryside, there are many gentry like the Fang family, who control the 'Village Militia' in Sanshan Town. As long as they fulfill their tax duties, they become local bullies..."
"Even Green Grove City and the surrounding vast territories belong to that Lord-rank Agrarian Controller family..."
"The history of this world is quite peculiar... I should find some history books to read one of these days."
Fang Xing smoothly checked into the academy and chose a single-person dormitory.
The next day.
Inside a classroom.
Fang Xing sat on a meditation cushion with twenty-some peers of his age, respectfully looking at a man in front of them.
The man was in his forties, wearing a green Confucian robe, exuding a scholarly aura.
"I am Master Wen, you can call me Master Wen."
After Fang Xing and the others bowed, Master Wen smiled and said, "Next, everyone, introduce yourselves, get to know each other, and then I will begin teaching you the cultivation of Heart Force..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a chubby boy stood up, "I... My name is Feng Sanjiao, and my Heart Aspect is a Black Iron Grade 'Boar'..."
"I'm Lin Linglin, and my Heart Aspect is a Black Iron Grade 'Iron Tree'..."
After Feng Sanjiao introduced himself, a small, dark-skinned girl with a short stature stood up.
Fang Xing counted and found that there were twenty-five people in the class, and twenty-two of them had Black Iron Grade Heart Aspects. Without a significant opportunity, they would remain as Soldier-rank Controllers for life.
"My name is Ning Jian, and my Heart Aspect is a Bronze Grade 'Thunder Cloud'!"
At this moment, a tall girl stood up and spoke.
Fang Xing looked at her and noticed her willow-leaf eyebrows, which gave her a gentle and serene appearance.
"Bronze Grade... Most likely to cultivate to General Rank in the future... With the right opportunity, you might even become a Lord."
Master Wen smiled inwardly, "Very good, next."
"I'm Lin Ling, and my Heart Aspect is a Bronze Grade 'Dragon Spring Sword'..."
A tall and skinny boy stood up.
Fang Xing stood up behind him and introduced himself, "Fang Xing, Bronze Grade 'Black Flame Wolf'..."
"Very good, everyone has introduced themselves. Now, let's begin the lesson."
Master Wen nodded, "Before we delve into the cultivation of Heart Force, we should first understand the origin of Heart Beasts... They originate from the inner spiritual world, so they can be a wild beast, a gust of wind, a bowl, a sword, a shadow, or even something formless..."
"Among those wild beasts, Heart Beasts occasionally emerge because they also have inner spirits and Heart Aspects... Even that great mountain and river... This realm of existence has an 'inner spirit,' and with a single thought, thousands of years may pass... Therefore, the concept of 'Heart Beast' is not entirely accurate. In this vast world, anything is possible—a flame, a gust of wind, an intangible will, fate, or even a drop of water can potentially 'take form' and become a Heart Beast!"
As Master Wen explained, Fang Xing gained a deeper understanding of this world.
"So that's how it is... The hearts of wild beasts are not as strong as humans, but when they gather in large numbers, their combined hearts can give birth to a Heart Beast..."
"Furthermore, when powerful Controllers die, their Heart Beasts may not dissipate but instead escape into the wild, becoming feral Heart Beasts... Making them even more bizarre."
"And the cultivation of Heart Force is even more intriguing, requiring meditation, essence concentration, and other stages..."
The more Fang Xing listened, the more solemn his expression became. "The cultivation of Heart Force seems to surpass even willpower?"
The soul had three layers, with willpower being the middle layer, and the deepest layer was the cultivation of the true spirit, a realm that even the peak civilizations struggled to reach!
Even those who attained the Lawmaster Realm might not be able to sense the existence of the true spirit.
Only Fang Xing, having cultivated his willpower to a certain extent and with the help of the attribute panel, had a vague insight into it.
"This world is not normal!"
"That Heart Lord, who knows what kind of divine being he is... The Heart Force he teaches seems to involve the cultivation of the true spirit? How can a mortal's Heart Aspect reach this level?"
"Even Pan Wu, the Eternal-rank existence at the fifteenth realm, only teaches willpower cultivation in the Pan Wu Great Canon, and there's no mention of true spirit cultivation secrets... Could it be that this Heart Lord is a Transcender at the sixteenth realm? Or at least, is he related to Transcenders and has obtained a portion of their inheritance?"
"Indeed... this world is of great use to me."
Fang Xing initially felt that the direction of the Myriad Realms was somewhat off, but now it seemed perfectly aligned.
As a result, he listened more intently.
'It's rare to come here, so I don't need to do anything extraordinary. I just need to do what I'm supposed to do...'
'I'm already in the top three in the class, so I just need to perform well, but I don't need to stand out...'
'According to Master Wen, it takes three to five years to complete the cultivation of a Black Iron Grade Heart Manifestation and summon a Soul Beast... For a Bronze Grade, it's much easier, and it can be done in about two to three years... Furthermore, at the final stage, if you incorporate some special items, it might even lead to a promotion in the Soul Beast's quality... Of course, this is extremely difficult, and it requires great fortune. Ordinary students shouldn't even think about it... But from his tone, it seems there is one in the Academy, but the requirements are very strict...'
'In the future, when I subdue other Heart Beasts and nurture them, the daily expenses will be a huge burden...'
'I also need to learn to identify Heart Beasts, wilderness survival skills, various advanced techniques, and secret transmissions...'
'These all require accumulation and even attracting investments...'
'At a critical moment, I can use the marriage contract of this body to bind a powerful wife clan and gain their support.'
Fang Xing silently made plans for his future cultivation.
This was the optimal path formed based on the memories of this body over the past decade.
...
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
For Fang Xing, who had kept a low profile, there were no major incidents to trouble him.
The only significant event was a letter from home, mentioning that the Heart Beast Wolf was extremely cunning, but it was eventually tamed by a passing Ruler and became their pet.
Three Mountains Town finally escaped its troubles, and ordinary people no longer had to live in fear.
One day, in the Academy:
"Students, after three years of cultivation, those of you who have excelled have reached a certain stage of Heart Power. You can now truly solidify your Heart Manifestation and summon your Soul Beast."
Master Wen, who looked no different from three years ago, spoke in a gentle tone, "Pei Ziyu, please explain the precautions for Heart Beast summoning..."
"Yes."
A fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl with a scholarly air stood up, "When summoning a Heart Beast, aside from the Soul Beast, other tamed Heart Beasts cannot be stored within the body. They must be placed in the external environment for cultivation... Internal cultivation is done using Heart Power to open a 'Heart Aspect Space'. Only the Soul Beast can reside within. External cultivation requires a Heart Beast Space Tool, and the most common and widespread one is the Heart Shrine's 'Heart Manifestation Canon'. Different 'Heart Manifestation Canons' not only have different internal spaces but also bring different effects to Heart Beast growth and have built-in search functions..."
"Hmm, Ning Jian... How many types of Heart Beasts are there now?"
Master Wen looked towards Ning Jian.
"According to the Heart Shrine's 'Heart News' from last month, we've discovered around 3.5 million types of Heart Beasts, and this number is still growing..."
Ning Jian stood up and replied, "Sit down, Fang Xing. How do we judge the strength of a Heart Beast's cultivation?"
Master Wen looked towards Fang Xing.
Every teacher tends to favor outstanding students.
In his class, there was no doubt that Fang Xing and two others were in the top tier.
Fang Xing stood up, and at this moment, he had grown into a sixteen-year-old boy. He replied, "The strength of a Heart Beast's cultivation is generally judged by the number of years of cultivation. Typically, a Warrior Rank Heart Beast's cultivation is between one to ten years... Even a newly summoned Soul Beast will have at least one year of cultivation. Moreover, one to five years is considered the lower Warrior Rank, six to ten years is the upper Warrior Rank. Five to fifty years is the lower General Rank, and one hundred years is the upper General Rank... Here, 'one year of cultivation' refers to a Black Iron Quality Heart Beast cultivated in a natural environment for one year, accumulating Heart Power.
"Regardless of the Heart Beast's quality, feeding, or special environment, they can all have different effects. For instance, a Bronze Quality Heart Beast cultivated for one year might have two years of cultivation..."
"It's important to note that a Black Iron Quality Heart Beast often cannot break through the ten-year cultivation bottleneck. After reaching this limit, no matter how much you train, you won't improve unless you find some great fortune, like consuming heavenly treasures or accumulating an immense amount of Heart Power, and then, by some coincidence, breaking through during a bloody battle..."
After answering these questions, Fang Xing couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
In this world, Heart Manifestation awakening seemed even more stringent than the awakening of spiritual roots in the cultivation world. Essentially, the quality of the Heart Manifestation determined one's upper limit.
Black Iron Quality: Upper limit of ten years of cultivation, Warrior Rank.
Bronze Quality: Upper limit of one hundred years of cultivation, General Rank.
Commander Quality: Upper limit of one thousand years of cultivation, Overlord Rank.
These are the qualities that ordinary people can come into contact with.
As for the Sovereign Quality, it's a Ten Thousand Year Sovereign Rank, and it's incredibly rare.
As for those above ten thousand years of cultivation, they are indeed various meanings of 'legendary'...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
