Body Physique

Li entered his classroom with a few minutes to spare. Professor Fedrick greeted him and Li nodded in response, quickly finding his seat.

The other students shortly made their way while Li rested his head on his hand, looking bored as ever.

'This class is so boring…why do I need a stupid pass to go on missions…' Li cursed silently on the Academy rules.

Of course he understood the reason, not everyone was like him with a unique body and strong desire to die. Any normal person on his level wouldn't even think of going on a mission and just stay within the safety of the Academy.

*Ding* *Ding*

A bell sounded, signalling that the class had commenced.

"Welcome Students,it feels like it's been a few days since you had class."

Some of the students snickered "Sir, are you feeling alright? We saw you yesterday!" One of the more extroverted students commented bravely.

Professor Fedrick gave a chuckle "Ah true, but I hope you have been revising the content from yesterday"

The students stopped smiling and had a dark expression.

'Oh no…'

'Shit…'

'Why did I open my mouth…'

The students in the room silently cursed at themselves.

Seeing their gloomy expressions, professor Fedrick started to call names for his register.

"Samantha.."

"Here"

"Junhao…"

"H-Here!!"

"Meilian"

"Here…"

"Albert…"

"Here sir!"

…

Fedrick continued to call students names and they responded promptly "Xuan Li?"

"…"

"Xuan Li?"

"…"

The whole class held their breath from the awkward atmosphere.

Professor Fedrick looked away from his register and diverted his gaze towards Li, who was mindlessly looking out the window.

"XUAN LI!" He raised his voice, shaking the classroom itself and making the students cover their ears.

The booming voice snapped Li back to reality as he looked over at his teacher 'Shit!'

"Um…here…sir…" Li meekly answered, covering his forehead.

'He's done it now…'

'Why can't he pay attention?'

The students felt more dread, Li was the most notable person in the class, not for his talent in cultivation or smarts but for being the most troublesome student.

He was the only student who went along with everything in a nonchalant manner and would doze off frequently during class, annoying Fedrick repeatedly.

It was funny to see him be punished but it was clear they had no effect on him as he repeatedly dozed off or just didn't pay much attention.

It was getting boring to watch and sometimes Fedrick would make the whole class suffer by making them stay longer for his class.

After registration, Fedrick continued his lesson from before about the theory of cultivation.

"As I said before, from birth every single human has a different body physique…."

"Now natural talent and amazing insight would make you a prodigy as you'd come across less bottlenecks and be able to break through the realms quickly…"

A student raised their hand.

Fedrick stopped speaking and nodded to the student, signalling for them to speak.

"Sir, can't abundance of wealth fix lack of talent and insight?"

"To a point, yes. Having an abundance of herbs and pills or spirit stones will let you improve quickly like a prodigy. However, because they lack the talent to sense and control Qi during cultivation, they waste a lot of materials since they are not extracting Qi efficiently. "

"Furthermore, there will be a point where they reach a bottleneck that breaking through, using wealth will be extremely costly or impossible. It's why sects and even this Academy don't waste their resources on every single student equally or pour everything for a student with horrible talent and insight."

Li raised his hand this time, earning a gasp from his classmates.

"You say that sir but isn't everyone in the Academy a prodigy?"

"Yes, everyone who is admitted to the Academy are a genius in their own right but-"

"Yet, the classes are separated in different tiers and I know they have better treatment. The diamond class barely has any lessons and can focus on cultivating yet we are always stuck here."

The other students thought about what Li said and agreed with his point, so they looked towards their teacher for answers.

"Those at higher cultivation when entering the Academy already have these fundamental theories taught to them. They already have a solid foundation so their classes are catered towards their growth more so than here. If you dislike it, use what's taught and break through your current realm."

"Once you do, you'll be promoted to the Bronze class and have more freedom like you want Li."

Fedrick answered calmly and continued on with his lesson.

"Now, even a prodigy could stop growing and suddenly become mediocre compared to his peers, who have caught up and continued advancing."

"There are a few reasons why but for now I'll focus on the most crucial reason. It is the person's physique!"

"At the start of your cultivation journey, picking the right cultivation art is very crucial. It's very ideal if the cultivation art you practice matches your body's physique. "

"If you had an extreme yin physique yet chose to cultivate an extreme yang cultivation art, well not only are you not using your body's potential to its fullest by actively fighting against it, it could result in slow growth and may be very painful to cultivate."

"Now that's an extreme case but if a prodigy cultivated an art not related to his or her physique. Eventually, they'd get to a point where they just can't grow because the rejection between the two is too strong."

The students had different reactions to Fedrick's words, some had covered their mouths in shock, some were thinking about their cultivation art, some were checking their body but most were worried they messed up their path to cultivation.

The only one who was still relaxed was Li. He paid attention to the lesson today because it reminded him of a story his grandfather told him.

Fedrick could see their worries and said "Don't worry. This is the advantage you have starting in the wood class. You have yet to build a solid foundation and some of you haven't broken into the strong body realm so everyone here has the chance to change their cultivation art."

"Since it's been a few weeks now, we will all head towards an examination centre. You will perform various tests and the Academy will help gauge what kind of physique you have. Now, multiple people are able to have the same type of physique, so if it's the case, the Academy can give a very detailed verdict and recommend a specific cultivation art."

The students wanted to cheer from the news.

"Of course some of you may have a physique unheard of or there's just not enough records about it. But don't worry, with the Academy's resources, you'll still be able to learn a little about your physique and be given a rough direction. "

'Ascension Academy is the best!'

Most of the students thought and were excited for tomorrow.

"Now let's continue."

Fedrick continued his lesson and Li stared out the window, losing interest 'I wonder what's my physique…'