Mentoring

Qin Meng stood inside a room, large, filled with wealthy and shining furniture, and the carpet on the ground was dense with intricate designs. He looked out the window, finding only dark there. The chandelier hanging by the ceiling illuminated the room. He eyed from his chair to the other side of the large wooden table, a gorgeous figure of the Vice Principal sat there, was staring him with an amused expression.

"I guess you are confused."

Qin Meng squirmed in his seat uncomfortably and nodded. He struggled to say something but failed when he looked into those enchanting green eyes. Meng Xiurong smiled and said, "There is no other reason beside I think you have a potential to become something greater in the future."

Then she rang the bell, and a woman pushed open the door of the room. Meng Xiurong eyed Qin Meng and said, "She will take you to your private quarter. Come here tomorrow in the morning. Your studies will begin from then."

"Private quarter?" asked Qin Meng. "I'm no longer living with my former companions?"

"How's that possible?" Vice Principal shook her head. "Even other top ten have their own private places. You are number one and also my student. What would others say if you live in that rubbish?"

"But..." he eyed his mentor and sighed before asking, "What about my credits that I was suppose to get after winning the competition?"

"You are still thinking about it?" Meng Xiurong lifted her head, staring at him. "You are my student; you don't need to worry about such small things. No matter what it is, Battle Techniques or resources, I will provide them for you." Then she looked at the woman behind me and said, "Alright, lead him to his place."

***

Qin Meng woke up with the chirping of birds, he yawned and stretched before climbing down of his soft bed, and went to brush and wash. As he was about to go to the canteen after getting ready, a knock was heard from the door.

He opened it and found an unfamiliar woman in servant's clothes standing behind the doors. "Yes?" he said.

"Sir, I'm here to deliver your breakfast," said the maid.

"Breakfast?" asked Qin Meng.

"Yes," said the woman with a sweet smile. "If you have your own chef, then you can inform the academy and I won't come here from the lunch."

"No, it's alright," said Qin Meng. "I would be glad to be in your care."

The maid placed the breakfast on the table in the hall and drove her trolley out of the house. She needed to go to other students as well.

Qin Meng eyed the juice and milk and fruits and salad on the table before taking a piece of salad. He eyed and sniffed before touching it with his tongue. When he found nothing awry, he did the same thing with other things on the table, only then he nodded satisfyingly and started eating.

He no longer wanted to act like a fool as he did in the competition and missed the guy who tried to kill him. 'I wonder he is still in the academy,' he thought. He would find Tan Qi to inquire about him. He was definitely in her group previously. She might know something about him.

'Should I talk about it with vice principal?' he thought. 'She must know something about him. After all he tried to kill me in the competition.' Then he frowned. 'How is no one talking about it?' He had heard not a single person talking about it. This was definitely weird. After all, someone had tried to kill him; it shouldn't be such a small matter.

He devoured the last loaf of the sandwich and stood up.

***

Qin Meng sat as in front of him his mentor said, "You are at the Gathering Stage, so you must know that by gathering the ten motifs that we form at the Motif Stage we can break through to this stage. However, do you know how to proceed after this?"

[Author Note: You can think Motif as some kind of complex symbol.]

Qin Meng shook his head.

Meng Xiurong nodded, as if expecting his answer. "Just as you have gathered the ten motifs into a single entity, now you need to break it and turn it again into ten pieces."

"Then what is the use of gathering motifs into one?" he asked, looking confused.

His Mentor smiled. "Of course there is a use behind it. After becoming a single entity, the gathered motifs lost their previous characteristics, becoming another kind of Motif, but more complex. Now you need to break it into ten parts bit by bit and let your Martial Spirit Swallow it. When your Martial Spirit swallows the entire Motif, in ten stages, you will reach a higher cultivation stage that we call Swallowing Stage."

Qin Meng nodded, understanding dawning over him. Then he said, "If swallowing the motif would let us break through another stage, then why don't we let our Martial Spirit swallow it in a single time, why swallow it over the period of time, slowly?"

Meng Xiurong nodded in approval, hearing his question. Many people won't even ask this question as they cared little about the working behind cultivation. They wanted just to progress. However, there is no progress in cultivation without understanding. Sooner or later they would realise the truth, but at that time they might have gone too far away to come back to the right track.

"Have you seen a jeweller?" Qin Meng eyed her in confusion; she proceeded without hearing his comment. "They etch the intricate designs on jewelleries so delicately, so very cautiously, as if they would break them if they use a little bit extra force.

"The same is true when you break the Motif and let your Martial Spirit swallow it. You can't rush it. It is a painful process; you will hurt your consciousness if you let your Martial Spirit devour it in a single time, turning yourself into a dolt."