New Disciples and Cultivation Levels

The new disciples were lead into the Sect by fellow Outer Sect disciples. Despite some of them trying to hide their astonishment, the 100 disciples couldn't help but gasp the interior of the Sky Sword Sect. The heightened sense of energy immediately enveloped their bodies in which some lucky individuals immediately broke into the next level of the opening realm. The buildings radiated an aura of majesty. They swiftly moved towards the mission hall where the outer sect elder assigned to oversee the new disciples stayed in. Those that had broken through were left alone until they had finished their cultivation and brought into the mission hall.

Upon reaching the mission hall, the Outer Sect Elder appeared in front of the new disciples astonishing them. They had just been accepted into the sect and the act of vanishing and appearing became apparent to them. Some wondered what realm was needed to achieve that.

The Outer Sect Elder looked at the young disciples, reminding him of the last batch of disciples that came 2 years ago.

"Hello, my newly assigned disciples" said the Outer Sect Elder in a excited tone.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Elder Shang, and I am the Elder that will look after your arrangement for the first 3 months".

"After 3 months, you will be left on your own, as that should give you enough time to explore the Outer Sect without needing to ask me questions".

Elder Shang then eyed his two assistants to give out the guidebook for new disciples.

"My lovely two assistants will provide you these guidebooks".

"Please ensure to read them carefully, especially places you're not supposed to be in, lest you find yourself without a head".

The disciples quickly shivered after hearing that Elder Shang said. Who wanted to enter the Sect only to die by their own carelessness?

They were then handed the sect guidebook for new disciples. It noted down the outer sect layout including areas of forbidden places, rules and regulations and cultivation instructions for the opening and foundation realms. They were also provided part 1 of the Sky Sword Sect Cultivation Mantra called the Sheathe Sword Mantra for them to cultivate. The mantra only covered the cultivation realms up to foundation realm. If they wanted to obtain part 2, they needed to be in the peak of foundation realm before they were provided the part 2 version. This was to ensure disciples focused on their current realms before thinking what laid ahead.

Zheng Wei who the 5 Sect elders took note of looked carefully at the guidebook provided. The first thing he looked at was the cultivation realms and the mantra provided by the sect. As someone that lived in a small village, this guidebook was priceless in his eyes.

It stated, those in the opening realms are not entirely cultivators until they obtain a mantra for them to study on. A mantra was a series of elemental and weaponry philosophies that allowed the individual to begin forming their cultivation path. In this case the mantra provided by the sect was sword related. The beginning entries of the Mantra covered a general outlook for the sword such as attack and defence. The deeper they understood, the further they progressed allowing them to further examine specific details such as 'stab' and 'slash. The further they comprehended the Mantra, the further they developed their philosophy and approach, the stronger they would be come. Eventually they would develop unique skills tailored to themselves.

The guidebook further explained.

The opening realm is the stage where you allow the energy of the world to cover your body internally and externally. The more energy meant the higher level you were in the opening realm. This allowed the individual to display higher amounts of strength and endurance. The idea behind the opening realm was for individuals to obtain the energy of the world and form their foundation. Despite being the lowest in the cultivation world, the opening realm was considered the second most important.

The more energy the individual absorbed the easier it was for the individual to create their foundation in their body. It was best when the individual was in the opening realm and was exposed to different type of energies before they created their foundation. If an individual who was exposed to more fire related elements in the opening realm, then formed their foundation, the foundation they created would be fire related, hence giving them a greater edge in that element, however, not everyone could obtain fire related energies even if the individual was surrounded by fire energy. Each individual was different hence it was appropriate for the cultivator to be exposed to as much energy before they build their foundation. This allowed them to understand their bodies strengths and weaknesses and utilize it to their advantage.

Whilst Zheng Wei was engrossed in reading the guidebook, there were others who took note of the mission hall and surrounding facilities. It is noted in the guidebook, the Outer Sect contained different areas of elements such as fire, water, wind, earth etc to allow disciples to explore their affinity to the elements.

Elder Shang silently examined the new disciples who were engrossed in the guidebook until a young man raised his hand to calmly ask a question.

"Elder Shang, can I ask you a question related to foundation realm".

"Foundation realm you say?" Piqued Elder Shang Curiosity

"What question would you like to ask?"

"Before I participated in the sect trial, we were told to place our hands onto a White Aura Stone, which determined our cultivation level"

"The Aura Stone lit up 1 dot on the second row"

"According to what I was told, I was in the foundation realm however the guidebook says otherwise".

Elder Shang looked at the young man and became quite interested in him. A thirst of knowledge is always a good sign. Without asking questions, how would you know?

"Good question. Before I reply, what's your name and age?".

"My name is Zhao Chang, age 18" replied Zhao hastily.

"You are right to question the discrepancy so let me clarify it for you".

"The White Stone Aura only displays the saturation of the energy (Qi) that your body has absorbed. "What the White Stone Aura told you was that the energy levels contained in your body is equivalent of that of a foundation realm cultivator".

"However, that doesn't technically make you a foundation realm cultivator just yet".

"To be a real foundation realm cultivator, you need to have established a foundation in your body".

"Now technically you can start building your foundation however, you will lack any sort of elemental affinity and that will make you the weakest foundation realm cultivator".

"You have also not properly studied our sect's mantra which works alongside your cultivation".

"My advice to you will be to follow the process of that of the opening realm cultivation".

"This will allow you to explore your bodies affinity to different energy types".

"Once you have discovered it, allow that specific energy to saturate your body. In some cases, you can have more than 1 natural affinity, such as fire and wind, Water and earth etc"

"Having dual opposing elements is even rarer but not impossible such as fire and water".

"It all depends on your bodies and how you were born".

"That being said, once you have determined the energy saturation in body has reached 100% and you are comfortable with the elemental affinity your body has absorbed then you can start building your foundation"

"The foundation realm is the most important realm in your cultivation journey, as it will allow you to proceed further down the path of cultivation".

"The more studier the foundation is, the easier your cultivation path will be".

"How you design your foundation is up to you"

"Some people build their foundation imagining a platform whilst others imagine pillars. When building your foundation, please take note of its sturdiness as it will need to hold your Core later".

"I won't go into detail, but your foundation needs to be strong enough to stand the weight of later realms".

"What you need to do is compress the energy your body has gathered and begin establishing your foundation step by step. This process can vary depending on the individual, however on average, most people take 3 days".

"Don't rush this process, lest you make a mistake. You will be greatly injured if you make a mistake and there might be a possibility your cultivation path to be ruined".

"If you create your foundation hastily, it will be a like building a house on wet sand. You would probably only be able to advance a few realms in the foundation realm, and if you somehow luck in reaching the peak of the foundation realm, don't bother in advancing to the core realm".

"You will most likely die".

"Did that answer your question Zhao Chang".

Zhao Chang could only look at Elder Shang dazed before responding back

"Yes Elder Shang"

Zhao Chang then pondered what Elder Shang had said. This also included the disciples who heard what was spoken.

The cultivation world was much more sophisticated then they originally thought.