Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
Since successfully establishing his Foundation, Chen Mobai had devoted part of his energy to the Pure Yang Volume.
After all, the cultivation techniques of the Tianhe Realm didn't have as detailed a division of stages in the Foundation Establishment realm as the Immortal Gate did.
If he wanted to break through from the early stage to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, according to the experience of the Tianhe Realm, it would take an average of about twenty years.
With no hope of a breakthrough in the Longevity Technique in the short term, and still suffering from the residual poison of the Foundation Establishment Pill in his system, Chen Mobai spent most of his time after Foundation Establishment pondering over and enhancing the Pure Yang Volume.
Under the lofty perspective of the Foundation Establishment realm, the mere Pure Yang Qi Refining section was naturally mastered with ease.
It was just that before his Three Yang constitution had been achieved, even though he had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, he had never attempted to take the step towards Foundation Establishment.
Now, after returning from Danxia City, Chen Mobai felt that both his cultivation and spiritual power were complete, and he was ready to take that step.
So, after returning to the Weapon Dancing Academy, he had Che Yucheng sign off on exchanging the Pure Yang Foundation Establishment Volume and the corresponding insights from the library.
Although Che Yucheng had signed off, he made a very tempting suggestion.
"Now that you've established your Foundation, unless there's a large-scale war, you won't be conscripted for military service, and you'll have plenty of time to cultivate. Why not try Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment?"
Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment!
The original method of Foundation Establishment, where ancient cultivators, without the aid of Foundation Establishment Pills or various supportive spiritual items, would listen to the natural rhythms, resonate with the qi of heaven and earth, bring their consciousness close to the pulse of the Dao, and forge a perfect foundation.
It was said that this method of Foundation Establishment could bring unexpected benefits.
As for what those benefits were, naturally, the Tianhe Realm's records were silent.
But the Immortal Gate had plenty of information on it.
Some had elevated an ordinary spell to near-third-order levels during their Foundation Establishment.
Others had been granted a kind of authority by heaven and earth, allowing them to enter any place with water, unparalleled in water evasion.
Even more impressive, some awakened the powerful bloodline of their ancestors, immune to fire and water, indestructible, and after reaching the Golden Elixir realm, they could even manifest three heads and six arms, with vast supernatural powers.
In short, Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment was definitely beneficial.
But whether the benefits were great or small depended on the cultivator's own luck, yet even the most common among them was a powerful tool that could be used up to the Golden Elixir level.
Other Qi Refining cultivators, if not born with a heavenly spiritual root, would generally not insist on Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment, as it was almost impossible to achieve.
But Chen Mobai was different; he had the conditions for it.
Since he had already decided to use the Dual Aspect Technique to increase his chances of reaching the Golden Elixir, he would definitely cultivate the Longevity Technique to the peak of Foundation Establishment, and now that the pill poison had been cleared by Kong Feichen's medicine, he could continue to advance.
While mainly focusing on elevating the realm of the Longevity Technique, he would also cultivate the Pure Yang Volume on the side, to see if he could encounter an opportunity to achieve Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment one day.
This was Che Yucheng's suggestion, and after hearing it, Chen Mobai felt it made a lot of sense.
After all, whether he established the Pure Yang Volume's foundation or not, it wouldn't affect his status in the Shenmu Sect.
His persona was that of a sword dao genius.
However, Chen Mobai still spent two days going through the Pure Yang Volume's Foundation Establishment section to make sure he understood it thoroughly.
***
After the start of the school term.
Forty-seven students from the Sword Control Department were led by their teacher to the school grounds.
Among these forty-seven, nineteen were new students who had just enrolled this year, and the rest were older students who had signed up to earn credits. However, since none of them had taken a Sword Control class before, they were all uniformly placed in the first year to save educational resources.
"Hello to all the new students of the Sword Control Department, I am Zuo Gong."
A square-faced, slightly short middle-aged man stood at the front of the school grounds, accompanied by three others. This man was the head of the Sword Control Department, the Golden Elixir sword cultivator, Taoist Master Zuo Gong.
He spoke to the forty-seven new students in an even tone.
"Because I'm quite busy, the courses for the first and second years will be taught by your seniors in my stead."
"The third to sixth years will be taught by my assistant, also an associate professor of the academy, Wu Shizheng."
"If they can't answer your questions, you can come directly to my office."
After listening, Chen Mobai was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected that this was how classes were conducted in the Sword Control Department.
In the Puppetry Department, it was Che Yucheng who taught all grades from one to ten.
However, the entire Puppetry Department, all ten grades combined, probably only had about a hundred people, and after the seventh grade, it was mostly self-study.
So Che Yucheng could easily manage on his own.
But the Sword Control Department was different; it was one of the top three major departments of the Weapon Dancing Academy. After all, influenced by childhood TV dramas, the protagonists were always sword-wielding immortals, which was very cool.
Everyone wanted to be cool, so even if they didn't sign up for the Sword Control Department at first, many would choose to come here for two years of advanced studies after they wanted to accumulate credits and had finished the simple elective courses.
If they truly had a talent for swordsmanship, they would continue to study in depth, or even skip grades.
Because there were so many such people, Taoist Master Zuo Gong couldn't manage everyone from start to finish like Che Yucheng did, so he came up with this method.
Moreover, higher-grade students could also take the opportunity to teach, to review what they knew, to truly understand the knowledge they had only grasped before, and to make it their own.
Coincidentally, the person designated by Taoist Master Zuo Gong to teach the first year this year was Zhai Jianbai, who was in the same cohort as Chen Mobai.
The number one in sword practice of the 5012 cohort!
"I will observe the first class."
After saying this, Taoist Master Zuo Gong walked to the concrete steps at the edge of the school grounds and sat down.
"Little Zhai, don't be nervous, just follow the lesson plan."
The deputy head of the Sword Control Department and Taoist Master Zuo Gong's assistant, Wu Shizheng, patted Zhai Jianbai's shoulder with a smile, then, after his gaze lingered on Chen Mobai in the crowd for a while, he sat down next to Zuo Gong with a bottle of water and a smile.
Zhai Jianbai had a horse-like face and a cold temperament due to years of sword practice.
He was very confident in himself and didn't have the nervousness that Wu Shizheng mentioned.
"New students, I need to know each of your foundations in swordsmanship. Go get a standard practice flying sword and show me your most proud sword technique in front of me for my evaluation."
Zhai Jianbai smoothly carried out the class as planned.
One by one, the students eager to perform took their turns in front of Zhai Jianbai, showcasing the sword techniques they had painstakingly practiced.
When it was Chen Mobai's turn, he held the standard flying sword in his hand, his expression very hesitant.
"What's the matter? Don't know any sword techniques? Then perform a sword dance routine from elementary school."
Zhai Jianbai thought Chen Mobai had focused solely on Foundation Establishment before and hadn't practiced swordsmanship, so he made what he thought was a very good suggestion.
"That's not it, but do I really have to perform my most proud sword technique?"
Chen Mobai shook his head and confirmed again.
Zhai Jianbai frowned. What's with this guy? With such a hesitant nature, how did he even establish his foundation?
"Hurry up, there are still many students waiting behind."
"Alright then, could you step back a bit?"
Chen Mobai's words made Zhai Jianbai show a displeased expression, but thinking that this guy had already established his foundation and might actually be able to slash out quite powerful sword qi, he still stepped back two steps.
But Chen Mobai still looked at him, not performing his sword technique.
"What now?"
"Not far enough!"
"That's enough, no matter how strong your sword qi is, it definitely can't hurt me."
Zhai Jianbai finally lost his patience, his tone started to rise, waving his hand to signal Chen Mobai not to waste any more time, knowing you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but there's a limit to showing off.
"Alright then, I'll just control my strength a bit."
Chen Mobai has always been a good student, and when he heard the teacher say so, he could only nod in agreement.
He held the standard flying sword in his hand, and under the indifferent expressions of the students behind and the teacher in front, he slashed out a dazzling deep purple sword light.
"Why did you come over here? Aren't you going to support your disciple?"
Taoist Master Zuo Gong, seeing Wu Shizheng sitting next to him, asked with a hint of meaning.
"Although Little Zhai is only Qi Refining, he has already mastered the sword qi like a rainbow, and can be regarded as a Foundation Establishment sword cultivator."
"That Chen Mobai, although he has established his foundation, may not necessarily be a match for Little Zhai in terms of real combat ability."
"Moreover, the first class is just to let the students know the division of sword cultivator realms and to measure their swordsmanship talents on the spot. With Little Zhai's realm of sword qi like a rainbow, he's more than capable of holding the fort."
Wu Shizheng had just finished speaking and was about to unscrew the bottle cap for a drink when a deep purple sword light caught his eye, causing him to choke and stand up abruptly.
My disciple has mastered the Sword Rainbow Division!
Wait, didn't he just grasp the sword qi like a rainbow after failing Foundation Establishment during the holiday?
Wu Shizheng took a closer look and realized that the one who slashed out the deep purple sword light with the practice flying sword was not his disciple Zhai Jianbai, but that Chen Mobai.
What's going on?
What's this guy here for?
To learn in the first grade?
Is it necessary?
Your level is more than enough to be directly admitted to Taoist Master Zuo Gong's seventh-grade class; I can't teach you.
While Wu Shizheng was in a state of disarray, Taoist Master Zuo Gong, who had been sitting, suddenly brightened up and disappeared from his spot.
The head of the Sword Control Department extended a finger and touched the purple fire sword light that Chen Mobai had slashed out with the standard flying sword of the school grounds.
With a sizzle!
Chen Mobai only felt a numbness in his wrist, and the sword light he had slashed out was no longer under control, turning into a wisp of purple flame caught between Taoist Master Zuo Gong's fingers.
Like a little snake of flame, it twisted and struggled, but couldn't break free.
"Not bad, it's sword light."
After confirming that what Chen Mobai had slashed out was indeed the sword light that only the fourth realm of sword cultivators possessed, Taoist Master Zuo Gong frowned, showing displeasure as he criticized Chen Mobai.
"You've already mastered sword light, is there any need to waste time here in the first year? Are you here to show off?"
"Director, you've misunderstood, it was I who wanted to see each student's foundation in swordsmanship, and after repeated urging, Chen Mobai slashed out this sword light."
Zhai Jianbai immediately explained, as he was completely stunned when Chen Mobai slashed out the purple fire sword light.
In that instant, he finally understood the gap between mortals and geniuses!
Compared to the real "genius" in front of him, his so-called swordsmanship genius was simply like a mortal.
Although Zhai Jianbai had a cold personality, he greatly admired the strong.
After personally feeling the power of the purple fire sword light, he immediately regarded Chen Mobai as a role model he should aspire to.
So, after hearing Taoist Master Zuo Gong's words, he immediately spoke up to explain for him.
"You tell me, why are you taking classes here in the first year? With your Foundation Establishment realm, just showing up for the end-of-year exam is enough, and you won't miss out on the three credits."
As soon as Taoist Master Zuo Gong spoke, the other forty-seven new students learned that this senior was actually a true Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Many younger brothers and sisters immediately looked at him with shining eyes, some with admiration, and some who felt that they could also establish their foundation by the fifth grade, with a calm face, but their eyes couldn't hide their envy.
"It's like this, Teacher Zuo, although I've achieved the realm of Sword Rainbow Division, in reality, my foundation in swordsmanship is like a castle in the air, not grounded, so I have to attend classes to supplement my basics."
Chen Mobai knew that sword cultivators were notoriously temperamental, and Taoist Master Zuo often clashed with the principal and Che Yucheng, so he immediately explained his situation.
"Huh? 'Achieved'? Could it be that you, young man, achieved the realm of Sword Rainbow Division through Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment?"
Taoist Master Zuo Gong looked surprised and came up with an answer. There was a precedent for this, like Ancestor Yuanyang, who understood the realm of Sword Rainbow Division during Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment.
However, the reason Ancestor Yuanyang had this opportunity was that he had already mastered the sword qi like a rainbow before Foundation Establishment, and then took advantage of the opportunity of Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment to grasp the Sword Rainbow Division in one fell swoop.
Chen Mobai hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
After all, the Great Dao Tree had directly bestowed the realm of Sword Rainbow Division, and it was better not to say if it could be avoided.
He had prepared a similar excuse, and since Taoist Master Zuo Gong had brought it up, he simply admitted it.
"Yes, I achieved Sword Rainbow Division through Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment!"
After listening, Taoist Master Zuo Gong said with a very sour tone.
"Why didn't heaven have eyes when I was establishing my foundation!"
The opportunities of Dao-Listening Foundation Establishment were varied and strange. Although it was very strange for a cultivator who had not practiced sword cultivation techniques to directly achieve the realm of Sword Rainbow Division, no one in the audience paid attention to this small detail.
"Don't delay too long below the seventh grade; it's best to move up to my class within this year."
Knowing Chen Mobai's difficulties, Taoist Master Zuo Gong didn't bother anymore.
After leaving this remark, he ended his observation for the day.
He had been quite satisfied with his disciple Zhai Jianbai, thinking that if he succeeded in Foundation Establishment in the future, he might let him watch the "Immortal Gate Sword Technique" video treasured by the Weapon Dancing Academy.
But now, after seeing Chen Mobai, he knew that this opportunity definitely wouldn't include Zhai Jianbai.
How could such a good seedling be taken by that puppet maker?