16 Propaganda

'My goodness! History is all mixed with religion!'

Raden was in the library, History Department and disappointment was written on his face.

That was a department found in the first plan, so that almost everyone could gain access to it. It was actually because it wasn't deemed as valuable, little people would ever consult those books. And Raden was one of those.

'And most of these books are actually propaganda!'

'It's impossible in only two days to discern truth from falsehood...'

He sighed.

'I should ask my teacher this aftern-'

"Kid, are you interested in history?"

It was Ping Zui.

"Yeah..."

'Oh, I messed up.'

"Have you ever considered my mental sanity?!?" He heard Jin Liang.

"Ahahah! I'll be happy to explain to you!" "One question: are you doing this for that meeting?"

"Yes, indeed I am."

"Hm..." He nodded. "Well, I shall start by explaining to you why are the nobles so powerful..."

'Woah, that might even be interesting. Unexpected from you'

"Hey, why are you watching me with surprise?"

"Nope, nothing."

**********

It was an interesting lesson overall. It was as if Ping Zui made a synopsis about one of his discourses.

'Why doesn't he do that every time?' 'He probably did that only to help me get through the meeting.'

Raden would transfer to his new house that day.

The guard invited him to follow him.

He received the attention of a pretty big crowd. Admiration, he could feel admiration and envy from their gazes.

"A Red Student?" "He skipped two ranks, and he's only a Qi Gathering cultivator!" "A genius! I heard he entered the academy only two weeks ago!" Whispers like that spread like wildfire. And Raden could hear them all.

He couldn't help but feel happy from those words.

'Ahhh, you understand the greatness of your accomplishments only when you're acknowledged by others!'

He slowed down in his walking to the Red Quarters.

But someone didn't like it. Displeasure was written on his face.

The guard: 'Why the hell is you so slow?!? What the hell are you doing?'

(Yep I've just broken a POV rule. What can you do about that? Muahahahaha!)

**********

His new house was nine times bigger than his old, it had a bedroom, a cultivation room, a pill forging room, a bathroom and an empty room.

"Why is that room empty?" He asked a guard.

"Cultivators may have more than one profession to train their soul, so this made the Academy provide two rooms!"

The first thing he checked was his bathroom. An Unranked Disciple wouldn't have access to running water, so their bathroom was...

It didn't disappoint him, small but at least with running water for the toilet. The water actually came from a nearby river that the academy directed with canals to the Disciples' houses, so it carried an unpleasant smell and wasn't potable. The fresh water would, of course, go to Peak Disciples and Teachers.

'Why did I ask the guard so many questions about the bathroom? It's difficult to be sick with Qi!' 'Ahhh, habits of my previous life...'

He went to the cultivation room. A formation was there to gather Qi from the outside, rendering it denser.

'Such beautiful things, formations. I shall learn them one day!'

He started cultivating 'Wuxia Body'.

Finally, he heard that metallic voice:

<<Congratulations! You reached Peak Stage One Body>>

He went to the alchemy room.

<<Mid Earth Grade Artifact>>

'Beautiful! I shall start training!'

Then he realized something:

'He gave me the cauldron but not the herbs...'

**********

"Teacher do you know that elder of the library?"

"Him? Ah, such an annoying person..."

"He talked to me about politics today. Were you the one who made me be invited to the ceremony?"

"Hm? Ah, yes." Ai Bai responded nonchalantly.

"Why???"

"To raise your self-esteem!"

"..." Raden was speechless. Why would he want to do that?

'I mean...I have a pretty high self-esteem!'

"Eh, you boy will never understand. There is not a too much self-esteem."

'There is! You are the example of that!'

"However did you like my cauldron?"

"Yes, what a shame there were no herbs!" He said sarcastically.

"That's a huge shame indeed. Here they are!"

He gave Raden a big bag full of herbs.

'It would weight at least some thousand kilos!' Raden was shocked.

"Here are your herbs."

"What?"

"Bring them to your house."

"Excuse me, I must have heard wrong..."

"Nope, you haven't. With such a powerful Soul it would be difficult to."

"..."

"No worries, I'll go with you!"

"..."

...

Raden was panting. He was at the entrance of his home.

Some people were watching him, curious.

Still, he didn't notice them: he was too exhausted.

The Academy was built on a mountain which meant...

'The higher you are the higher you go!'

His legs were trembling and his muscles burning.

"Don't you feel your body cells destroyed?"

'I do!'

Raden couldn't even talk, his fast breath impeding him.

"Ahah, I see that you're cultivating your body: it's wrong to do it without physical strain!" "Your muscles wouldn't be able to absorb your Qi energy if you don't exercise"

'That's totally ascient- Forget it...I'm in a cultivation world.'

"A-and... meat-t?" He managed to say.

"Don't worry we have this!"

A pill. A pill. It was a pill. It was a pill!

"At least give me good food after this sheep!!!" He said in rage.

After all his fatigues his reward was an untasty, inodorous pill!

"Ahah! You would probably retain those microlesions for your entire life if you don't eat this!"

"Ahh" Raden couldn't argue anymore, he stuffed the pill in his mouth.

He started crunching it and felt something wrong...

And the world went black.

"Sorry, you shouldn't participate in that meeting; it's for our good."

'Wha-'

He fell unconscious.

But someone wouldn't let him. A strange energy permeated his body, to then reach his brain. There, it fought back the sedative.

**********

Two days after.

Raden woke up, his body completely devoid of energy. His Qi completely retracted in his meridians was slowly returning back to his cells.

His pathways still remained empty.

<<Congratulations! You reached Late Stage Two Body>>

"What happened?" He muttered to himself, overwhelmed.

'My teacher gave me a pill to prevent me from going to that meeting, then I'm here in my bed, with a Peak Stage Two Body...' 'My pathways could be still refilled...but I'll have to cultivate a lot!'

'Why did he do that? He could have just killed me if he didn't want me to do something...Or maybe he actually cares about me, but has some deep grudge with some nobles or something.' 'Or maybe he doesn't want me to gain too much knowledge about the world because he wants to do sheep with me.' 'But then he wouldn't have made me access the library at all!'

"Ahh..." He sighed. It seemed pretty clear.

'Should I go there, or not?' 'Would they kill me because I'm one of his students?'

Yet something was tempting in the first option.

'Knowledge!'

'I want to go there!'

'I mean the king want to keep some balance within the nobility, and he wouldn't show his deep grudge against an high-rank alchemist publically. Would he?'

'I'll gather my Qi and then I shall go there.'