Chapter 17: The Cultivation System

“The potency of the Thick Earth Pill is even stronger than I had imagined,” Zhang Shen marveled.

In the past, his cultivation technique always had bigger progress than his cultivation level. His practice of the Bright Moon cultivation technique was flawless, but his cultivation level had always needed to catch up. This was the first time his cultivation progress had crossed one-quarter, while his proficiency in techniques was just at a beginner’s level.

All the credit went to the Thick Earth Pill, which caused his cultivation level to surge upward rapidly.

“However, the experience points required to reach the Innate Stage 2nd Layer seem to be more than I had estimated.”

His cultivation had leapfrogged a minor stage, and with the additional experience points from various techniques and martial skills, his physical level had only just passed one-third.

Contrarily, the Cultivation Concealment Technique had given Zhang Shen a pleasant surprise. He had initially estimated that he could only have a basic grasp of the mid-grade Innate martial skill within two months. Unexpectedly, he had achieved minor success.

“Could it be that I’m naturally predisposed to this type of low-profile technique?” Zhang Shen pondered, shaking his head, “How is this low-profile? It’s all about being cautious. Anyway, two months have passed, just as the new year’s intensive training class is about to start. It’s high time I changed my mindset after such a long period of cultivation.”

Reinvigorated, Zhang Shen was all set. However, something unexpected happened.

Typically, in these training classes designed to nurture the younger generation of the family, the three families were each responsible for their own descendants.

But as soon as the news broke that Zhang Shen was slated to be an instructor in the intensive training class, the Lin and Ye families quickly dispatched delegates to negotiate, aiming to get their talented younger generation enrolled in Zhang Shen’s class.

The heads and elders of both families were not oblivious. They naturally wanted to establish a connection with Zhang Shen as early as possible.

Zhang Tianlong reluctantly accepted a considerable amount of benefits, eventually allowing the disciples from the Lin and Ye families to join Zhang Shen’s class.

This encroached upon the slots initially designated for the Zhang family’s members. Yet Zhang Tianlong found himself with no other option but to make this trade.

Since their arrival in Hongyuan City, the three families had worked together in unison. For over a century, they had struggled to establish the city’s foundations. Throughout these hundred years, the families had aligned their interests and actions, continually intermarrying. It was no longer a situation that could simply be declined.

Take, for example, Zhang Shen’s mother, Lin Yanqing, who was the daughter of Lin Dongcheng, the patriarch of the Lin family. Such intermarriages were commonplace among the three families.

When Zhang Shen received this news, he was quite speechless.

Wasn’t this supposed to be an intensive training class? It had nearly become a class for the elite descendants of Hongyuan City. Although these high-ranking offspring were unquestionably the cream of the crop.

“Regardless, all these people are somehow related to me. There’s no point fretting over this,” he decided. “Twenty people… the pressure is quite high.”

Zhang Shen fetched the advanced knowledge textbook of the Zhang family. This kind of textbook was a result of years of accumulation and summaries from various families, serving as fundamental knowledge in the realm of advanced cultivation.

Interestingly, several pitfalls were deliberately embedded within this textbook.

The verses and the knowledge itself weren’t wrong, but one abridged phrase could have a thousand interpretations, and in context, only one explanation was accurate.

But the textbook deliberately omitted this explanation, and if you were unlucky enough to miss the correct interpretation among the thousand possibilities, it was entirely normal to fall into a deviation and suffer from cultivation madness. There were several such ambiguously presented pitfalls in this book.

“This type of low-cost method for preventing information leakage is quite commendable,” Zhang Shen nodded in approval.

“However, it’s only effective against ordinary individuals and martial artists with lower cultivation levels. By the later phases of the Acquired Stage, it essentially becomes useless. Of course, martial artists who reached the late Acquired Stage or above wouldn’t covet this advanced Acquired basic knowledge. If they’ve reached the late Acquired stage, it indicates that they must have acquired a high-grade technique, and correctly deciphered the knowledge within.”

As for whether there were traps in other techniques and martial arts? Zhang Shen suspected there were, but the higher the technique’s level, the deeper these traps were buried.

He shook his head, casting aside the sensation. If one harbors fears, should they continue practicing at all? No, they just need to exercise more caution.

Given Zhang Shen’s special circumstances, he selected a teaching venue near the three families. A lakeside locale nestled by a stony mountain, there stood a spacious building.

This property, belonging to the Ye family, was used for grain storage. Now that Zhang Shen required it, it was cleared out and furnished with tables, chairs, and a chalkboard, quickly transforming it into an intensive training class.

“The environment is perfect. It’s suitable for me to reside here for some time,” Zhang Shen was quite pleased with the scenery. Hongyuan City, flanked by mountains on two sides and walls on the remaining two, was not to be mistaken for small. It covered an extensive area.

It had ample space to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people. Further enhanced by the presence of mountains and water, it boasted attractive landscapes.

Therefore, for Zhang Shen, frequently returning home after conducting intensive classes here would be quite inconvenient and time-consuming. He would prefer to go home sporadically.

The same applied to the twenty students. They would essentially return home once during a month-long holiday.

These were no longer children. With Zhang Shen being the exception, the youngest was already eighteen, thus there was no concern over their self-care abilities.

Additionally, a contingent of thirty black-armored soldiers was tasked with protecting the area. These soldiers made up of talents from various tribes and villages under Hongyuan City’s jurisdiction, represented the city’s military might. Many from the three families held positions of power within this black-armored army.

“However, claiming they’re protecting us, in the end, who’s protecting who remains uncertain,” Zhang Shen mused, shaking his head. The black-armored soldiers, with the strength of an Acquired 1st and 2nd Layers, served mainly as night watchmen.

This place, located within Hongyuan City, primarily utilized these soldiers as escorts. After all, the students in the intensive class were already at the Acquired 3rd and 4th Layers.

Hongyuan City’s cultivation system began enlightenment before the age of five. Post-five, they commenced practicing the Ten Styles of Blood Strengthening, refining their bodies to the peak of an ordinary person, thereby generating internal energy.

This process took roughly three to five years, with those from less affluent families requiring more time. Once they entered the Acquired Stage, they needed to attend the school co-run by the three families, where they underwent five years of foundational martial arts education.

Post-graduation, they began to engage with family and city affairs. After two to three years, if their performance demonstrated potential in martial arts, they could join the intensive classes run by each of the three families for a year of advanced knowledge instruction.

They could participate twice at most, after which they could learn more profound techniques and martial techniques passed down by their families.

“The three families each run intensive classes because their foundational techniques differ. The basic knowledge in the early Acquired Stage doesn’t vary much, but as one progresses, the distinctiveness of each technique becomes apparent, and the knowledge to be acquired differs accordingly. I have always practiced the Zhang family’s techniques. Even though the techniques and martial arts differ when guiding the Zhang family’s members, they share a common lineage. In reality, I’m not adept at guiding the Lin and Ye families, as I haven’t mastered their techniques,” Zhang Shen said, eyeing the materials delivered by the Lin and Ye families through the black-armored soldiers.

“So, to enable me to adequately instruct their younger generations, they’ve brought their techniques along with detailed explanations and high-level foundational textbooks?”