Elder Tang broke the silence by uttering, “Where’s the Golden Liberation Technique that you’ve just mentioned?”
Lu Ye quickly took out the manual from the Storage Bag and passed it to him.
After taking the book, Elder Tang went through it and nodded gently. “This is a common Yellow Rank cultivation technique. If you can cultivate it to the full, you’ll be able to unlock 27 Spiritual Points.”
Lu Ye could understand what Elder Tang meant by 27 Spiritual Points, as he had seen that when he was poring over the manual previously. If he could cultivate it fully, he would be able to unlock 27 Spiritual Points. However, he didn’t know what the old man meant by Yellow Rank, so he voiced his doubt.
Elder Tang explained, “There are 360 Spiritual Points in total, which are in sync with the Macrocosmic Orbit. There are countless cultivation techniques in Jiu Zhou, and the number of Spiritual Points that can be unlocked is different depending on the cultivation technique. Depending on the number of Spiritual Points that can be unlocked, cultivation techniques are graded into different ranks, which are Heaven, Earth, Black and Yellow. Only Heaven Rank cultivation technique can allow the cultivator to unlock 360 Spiritual Points. For Earth Rank cultivation techniques, it’s 180 Spiritual Points and 81 Spiritual Points for Black Rank cultivation techniques.” Then, he pointed at the Golden Liberation Technique in his hand. “The lowest rank is this kind of Yellow Rank cultivation technique, and they’re the most commonly seen.”
Upon hearing Elder Tang’s explanation, Lu Ye finally had a better understanding of the different ranks. [So, this Golden Liberation Technique is just a piece of trash in Jiu Zhou. It’s no wonder that Manager Yang would bring it with him.] Fortunately, he did not take it as some kind of treasure. Otherwise, he would have become a laughing stock.
“The different ranks of cultivation techniques not only determine the number of Spiritual Points a cultivator will eventually be able to unlock, but they’ll also create a huge difference between the cultivators’ powers when they’re in the same realm. Also, it’ll have a huge impact on a cultivator’s future.”
“Are you saying that a cultivator who has cultivated a higher rank cultivation technique will be more powerful and have a brighter future?” Lu Ye asked.
“That’s right.” Elder Tang nodded. “Do you understand the reason behind it?”
Elder Tang gave it a thought as though he was trying to come up with a clearer explanation, for he hadn’t told anyone about it for a long time. A moment later, he asked, “Do you know the different realms?”
“Spirit Creek, Cloud River, Real Lake and Divine Ocean Realms,” Lu Ye replied. He had heard it from Yu Xiao Tiea.
“What does Spirit Creek mean?”
Recalling what Yu Xiao Tiea had told him, Lu Ye went on to say, “To unlock enough Spiritual Points so that our own Spiritual Power will be able to flow through the points and form into a Cosmic Orbit. It’s called Spirit Creek Realm because we aim to make our Spiritual Power flow as smoothly as a creek.”
“That’s right.” Elder Tang ran his fingers through his beard. “How many Spiritual Points are considered enough, then?”
“Err…” Lu Ye was unable to answer the question.
A smiling Elder Tang pointed at the Golden Liberation Technique in his hand and uttered, “If you cultivate this technique, you’ll reach First Order Spirit Creek Realm by unlocking 9 Spiritual Points, then 18 points for the Second Order Realm and 27 points for the Third Order Realm.”
Lu Ye immediately realised that something was amiss. “Aren’t there supposed to be nine orders for Spirit Creek Realm?”
“You’ll only be able to reach Third Order Spirit Creek Realm by cultivating a Yellow Rank cultivation technique, which is why it’s the lowest rank. If you cultivate a Black Rank technique, you’ll reach Sixth Order Spirit Creek Realm. If you cultivate an Earth Rank technique, you’ll reach Ninth Order Spirit Creek Realm. As for a Heaven Rank technique…”
“Twelfth Order?” Lu Ye was shocked as he had never heard of Twelfth Order Spirit Creek Realm before,
Elder Tang shook his head with a smile. “It’s still Ninth-Order.”
A puzzled Lu Ye asked, “Why?”
Elder Tang explained, “That’s because different cultivation techniques correspond to different numbers of Spiritual Points even in the same realm. For example, by cultivating Golden Liberation Technique, you’ll only need to unlock 9 Spiritual Points to reach First Order Spirit Creek Realm. However, if you cultivate a Heaven Rank cultivation technique, you’ll need to unlock 18 points to reach the same realm. A cultivator who has cultivated an Earth Rank technique will reach Ninth Order Spirit Creek Realm by unlocking 180 points. However, for a cultivator who has cultivated a Heaven Rank technique, he’ll only reach Sixth Order Spirit Creek Realm after unlocking 180 points.”
Lu Ye could somewhat grasp the idea. “You mean, if we cultivate a high rank technique, we’ll need to unlock more Spiritual Points to reach the same realm as compared to a lower rank technique?”
“In that case, we cannot judge how powerful a cultivator is based on the realm he is in, right?”
A cultivator who had cultivated an Earth Rank technique would reach Ninth Order Spirit Creek Realm after unlocking 180 Spiritual Points. However, he wouldn’t be a match for a Seventh Order Spirit Creek Realm Master who had cultivated a Heaven Rank technique, because the latter had unlocked more than 180 points.
At that instant, Lu Ye suddenly understood what Elder Tang had told him earlier. In that case, even if two people were in the same realm, their powers were not on the same level if their cultivation techniques were of different ranks. The rank of the technique would also affect a cultivator’s future.
“Sect Master, since Heaven Rank cultivation techniques are so good, why doesn’t everyone cultivate them? What’s the point of having Earth, Black and Yellow Rank cultivation techniques? Is it very difficult to obtain a Heaven Rank technique?”
A smiling Elder Tang replied, “Although it’s difficult to find a Heaven Rank technique, even a rogue cultivator will be able to obtain one if he’s determined enough. The reason not everyone is going for Heaven Rank techniques is that every cultivator has their limitations when it comes to the number of Spiritual Points they can unlock.”
“When you’re a new cultivator, it’s extremely difficult to unlock any Spiritual Points. However, as your own number of Spiritual Points and power increase, it’ll be much easier for you to unlock the points until you reach your limit. Once the limit has been reached, it’ll be difficult for you to unlock more points. So, it’ll be pointless even if you have a better technique. It’s useless for a cultivator, whose limit is 180 Spiritual Points, to cultivate a Heaven Rank technique. Hence, you have to cultivate according to your own capabilities.”
“I see.” Lu Ye finally understood it.
“Moreover, it’s actually better to cultivate a Yellow Rank technique when you’re just starting out.”
“Because it’s easier?”
“That’s right. You’ll reach First Order Spirit Creek Realm by unlocking 9 Spiritual Points. However, if you cultivate a Heaven Rank technique, you’ll need to unlock 18 points. By allowing your Spiritual Power to pass through your points earlier and becoming a Spirit Creek Realm Master, you’ll be more efficient at cultivating. Hence, be it the rogue cultivators who are without any support or the disciples from the major Sects, they’ll start with a Yellow Rank technique. After they cultivate the technique fully, they can still change to another technique.”
In fact, Elder Tang didn’t tell him the whole story regarding changing the cultivation technique. Only those rogue cultivators who didn’t have a solid foundation and the disciples from small clans would start with a Yellow Rank technique.
Although there were no drawbacks in changing the cultivation technique, it would still be troublesome. Those with a powerful background would choose to cultivate either a Black or Earth Rank cultivation technique. That was because be it Yellow, Black or Earth Rank, a cultivator would only need to unlock 9 points to reach First Order Spirit Creek Realm. There was no difference between the three. A cultivator would only make a shift to Heaven Rank technique when necessary after he unlocked all the points and reached his limit. Those who were not capable could only attempt to achieve a breakthrough.
However, Elder Tang was concerned that Lu Ye’s talent was only one leaf, so the latter probably couldn’t unlock many Spiritual Points throughout his life. Therefore, a Yellow Rank technique was enough for him. Certainly, he did not point it out, not did he look down on Lu Ye because of that. As a Sect Master, he did not show any impatience when teaching Lu Ye, who was a disciple on paper.
“As for your worry that this might be an evil technique…” Elder Tang lifted his head and stared solemnly at him. “You have to remember that only people can be categorised as good or evil, not a cultivation technique. Whatever the technique, it’s for people to cultivate. It is the Human heart that makes something good or evil. There are sly people within Grand Sky Coalition, and there are also upright people in Thousand Demon Ridge.”
“I’ll remember it,” Lu Ye replied respectfully.