The Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak, apparently, was the latest addition to Crimson Snow Sect's internal factions. There were no senior disciples here, just one Elder who lived in a recently furnished mansion.
There wasn't even a guest hall for them to sit in. The lecture was to be held in an expansive slope reshaped into a titanic staircase, each step wider than a dozen meters. Once the four hundred-something disciples of the outer court occupied all the steps, it looked like an inverted gallery.
Elder Kong Ye, a man who didn't look a day older than thirty, was standing at the topmost point of this slope, observing the stratified outer court beneath his feet.
"In today's cultivation world, Mystic Arts are valued the most by the mass population. They provide a direct, clear-cut path to Celestialdom. They are associated with almost every cosmic law known to mankind.
"What's more, they inherently carry mechanisms of self defense, offense, escape, and a massive array of secondary skills a cultivator must be in contact with throughout their life."
"Cultivation itself is an arduous process of self-refinement. Individual paths may vary in many aspects when you compare them, but at the end of the journey, the destination remains the same.
"Think of cultivation as a journey on a boat. When you kick it off the bank, the speed accumulates. The small canal becomes wider with each turn, the calm water becomes more turbulent the further you go, the stream turns into a river and the river falls into the ocean. This is the influx of power when you progress as a cultivator.
"You, the boatman, are bound to make mistakes at first, veer off the path, and lose control. But as you move further into the wider stream every day, you gain experience, you learn the rules, you become strong enough to ferry yourself into the vast ocean that awaits ahead; that is, of course, if your mistakes do not drown you halfway.
"All of us cultivate to attain immortality and for a chance to reach the end of the road, where lies the gateway to the celestial realm, what one may call the heavenly court.
"So what is it that makes a cultivator worthy of becoming a celestial? Worthy to find that vast sea ahead?
"A high achievement in the Martial Path? An untouchable attainment in Monasticism? A never-before-seen Mystic Art? Incredible comprehension? A grand dao?
"The answer is...none of them.
"To be worthy of reaching the peak, every step must be steady. So what if you are a peerless swordsman? Once your sword falters, you're a dead swordsman.
So what if your cultivation base is higher than all living beings? It is limited, it will exhaust itself faster than you think, if the tiniest flaw exists in that vast ocean of qi. Even the weakest Celestial can kill you.
"This is where the essence of our lessons comes in. To attain the steadiness you need, to find the tricks to become a good boatman- in other words a good cultivator, to perfect your craft, the most important thing is the practical, boring, and repetitive process of cultivation. This is the first principle of the Mystic Arts path.
"How do we cultivate Mystic Arts? Many of you know the answer. We absorb qi, cycle it through our body according to the formula, let it nourish our physique and soul till it imprints itself on our cultivation base.
"Then we do it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
The cycle continues.
"At your age, it is natural to feel that this is boring, repetitive, and uninspiring. It is also natural that this thought may lead to a lapse in concentration, leading to a failure to complete a cycle. Many times, the qi can also slip out of your commands when you do not put your heart and soul into exerting mental control.
"Thus, they damage your cultivation base, your meridians slowly, steadily, repeatedly. Some damage, your body can repair, while some leave a real mark.
"But gradual damage accumulates into a great flaw one day and suddenly you find yourself failing to live up to what is expected of a cultivator of your level, simply because that flaw in your base keeps expanding and threatening your abilities.
"Sounds scary? Hahaha! What if I told you that every Elder in this sect has this exact same flaw? In fact, most of them have suffered such heavy invisible damages that they'll never make a breakthrough again."
Elder Kong Ye stopped right at this point and let the warning sink in. Inevitably, the countenances of most disciples had turned gloomy after his explanation.
He had expected this exact result. The iron had been heated, it was time to strike.
"Now, to start off today, I can sense that most of you have already reached at least the first layer of a Mystic Art, with five of you already past the third layer. You must have been cultivating for a long time under the direction of your families!"
Kong Ye's casual remark would have garnered some shock and awe if made under different circumstances. How incredible did one's perception have to be to be able to discern the exact cultivation level of every member of a group so massive? An ordinary mortal wouldn't even be able to tell the faces apart!
But his words carried an implication far more significant, turning many gloomy countenances worse.
The longer one cultivated without being aware of such esoteric knowledge of invisible flaws during cultivation, the worse their situation would be, right?
"Those five disciples who have crossed the third layer of a Mystic Art, stand up!"
Everyone looked on with scorching gazes as five disciples stood up from various parts of the gallery, each of them displaying a unique disposition.
"Disciple Lu Wei greets the elder."
"Disciple Chen Yao greets the Elder."
"Disciple Shi Ruoxi greets the Elder."
"Disciple Xiang Wei greets the Elder. "
"Disciple Xuanyuan Zhou greets the Elder."
A great mystery was finally resolved. Han Xuhan finally knew what Xuanyuan Zhou's cultivation base was. She couldn't just lie under the scrutiny of this Elder, could she?
Nodding in response to the greeting, Elder Kong Ye shouted again.
"I've heard there are 26 disciples this year with no cultivation at all in the path of Mystic Arts. All of you, stand up!"
This call was for Han Xuhan and his equals. It gave him a great boost in confidence upon seeing the other twenty-five faces across the crowd. But one face in that group made him freeze.
Why the hell did Mu Ran stand up? He was sure that this guy-no-girl had a substantial cultivation base!
"Now all who have cultivated a Mystic Art to the first layer, stand up! Separate from the others and form a group!"
"All who have cultivated till the second layer, do the same!"
Four distinct groups were formed in quick succession. The smallest group was of the five experts above the third layer. The largest group was those who had reached the first layer.
As the commotion of regrouping receded, Kong Ye's voice resonated through the crowd once more.
"Now, I will need your opinion on something, my disciples. Tell me, which group should receive the most of my attention from today forth?"