Chapter 489: Chapter 22 Two Years of Development
Before the Yan Family explored its options with Datong, there were conditions in place for founding a True Martial Branch at Datong College.
However, the Yan Family was later severely damaged by a powerful martial artist, and hence everyone ignored this possibility, assuming the academy wouldn’t let any other forces get involved.
The announcement from Datong confirmed such speculation.
True Martial Path, Heavenly Martial Dao, and two newly emerged paths couldn’t gain entry into Datong College.
But the reason turned out to be the complete opposite of what they had guessed.
[Datong allows martial artists who breakthrough the Great Grandmaster rank and enter a new realm to establish an academy and impart their own cultivation methods. The following are the conditions for founding an academy:
1. At least one martial artist who has surpassed the Great Grandmaster rank
2. A perfected cultivation path that has been approved
3. At least one Great Grandmaster familiar with the method and capable of teaching, and at least five Grandmasters
…
10. After the construction of the academy, it must be approved by Datong’s educational department. Below is the minimum standard template for academy construction]
There were many conditions, but nobody anticipated that Datong would actually lift the restrictions on academy founding, allowing the powerful to form their own academies.
This was undoubtedly unexpected by anyone.
Even though there were many restrictions, the recruitment threshold was openly relaxed, allowing the selection of outstanding talents to join one’s own power.
“I’m not seeing things, am I? As long as the academy is successfully established, Datong will provide a large annual educational subsidy, a plethora of resources. What is the government thinking, operating at a loss?”
“How could that be? Haven’t you studied the academy model? Though there is sentimentality involved, the students have a high degree of freedom. Datong is leveraging various martial artists to help train their own talent. I’m certain that most of the pupils will become part of Datong’s talent pool.”
“Datong is playing a smart game here. With such an approach, will anyone even establish an academy?”
Many people felt that few martial artists would pay any attention to this announcement. Despite the subsidy, it just seemed like an arduous thankless endeavor. According to Datong’s standards, founding an academy would need a massive amount of resources.
The crucial point is that these nurtured individuals may not necessarily share the same vision.
Who would bother with such a venture!
However—
In Mo Yang’s location,
“Act immediately according to Datong’s standards, ensure we meet the requirements for establishing an academy.”
Yan Family,
“Don’t worry about the expenditure of resources. As long as we can establish the academy, it’s worth it.”
The other two martial artists who had broken through the Great Grandmaster rank instructed their forces to establish acadacies as well.
These actions couldn’t stay hidden from the public.
“What are they doing? Operating at a loss, just to please the Datong officials?”
Even the insiders of these forces were perplexed.
“Ancestor, this doesn’t seem beneficial to us at all!”
Yan Tian didn’t respond.
Only a handful of breakthrough martial artists could understand the importance of this matter.
“Firstly, it’s about gaining acknowledgment from Datong’s officials, so we don’t need to be discreet in our actions. We can openly recruit geniuses for our academies. More importantly, there’s no better way than an academy to spread our teachings!”
There are many ways to transmit one’s legacy.
Sects and families can pass down their legacy, but such transmissions are highly restrictive. Fundamentally, both sects and families focus on training a select few. Academies are different—they allow one’s path to truly spread, reaching all martial artists.
At their level, the importance of passing down one’s teachings is very clear.
They even felt that this kind of transmission was extremely important and had to be done, as it was related to their martial paths.
“The others must have felt the same way, so we need to act fast. It’s a pity that Datong College isn’t willing to accept it.”
Yan Tian felt regret in his heart; with the nation as its backer, Datong College was undoubtedly the best choice.
“However, establishing our own academy isn’t bad either. We must speed up because more and more people will breakthrough in the future, and it may not be so easy to establish academies…”
Regardless of how outsiders viewed it, the four academies were established.
At the same time, Datong released another message.
[Details regarding the addition of new branches to Datong College]
The announcement also explained why Datong College didn’t add any new branches within its main campus.
Simply put, the four new paths, despite their changes, were still rooted in Qi Blood Martial Arts, hence no new branches were added.
If new paths emerged like the Body Cultivation or Spiritual Martial Arts, then Datong College would consider adding them.
Although just an ordinary announcement, it gave many people a new direction to think about.
“Neither the Qi Blood Martial Arts, Body Cultivation, nor Spiritual Martial Arts suit me. Perhaps I can create a path that is the most suitable for myself?”
Regardless of whether they succeed or not, the Cultivation World’s enthusiasm grew greater than ever, especially within the Spirit World.
Countless individuals holding onto the goal of forging a new path attempted their luck in the Spirit World, hoping to establish a brand new way.
However, some set their sights high, while others understood their own limits quite clearly.
Believing they couldn’t break through the Great Grandmaster realm or create a new path, they therefore began investing in paths like Tian Wu and the other four.
“These four paths are different than Body Cultivation. There’s no need to give up my Qi Blood Cultivation to gamble on my suitability for Body Cultivation, which suits me well!”
“Out of the four paths, surely there ought to be one that fits me?”
“My lifespan is dwindling, and if I don’t breakthrough, I’ll die. Better to find a path and see if I can breakthrough—that could mean a lifespan of hundreds of years.”
These people either lacked confidence in themselves or were nearing the end of their lifespans and found it hard to breakthrough.
They aspired to breakthrough following the paths established by their predecessors.
And the founders of these four paths welcomed them.
Although the majority of practitioners wouldn’t breakthrough even knowing the methods, there was always the presence of some lucky ones.
The Cultivation World was thriving.
Time passed in such endeavors, two years flew by, ushering in the year New Calendar 17.
During these two years, three new paths emerged, and academies were founded.
Qi Blood Martial Arts saw seven branch paths manifest.
Martial artists now had more options.
Also, martial artists achieved breakthroughs through these seven branches, entering new realms and greatly extending their lifespans.
Everyone had their share of gains, but Wang Sheng was the biggest winner. The more powerful individuals, the more he benefited!
“Now, including Datong officials and other powers, there are five individuals beyond Great Grandmaster, and fifteen others, in addition to Zhu Xiao, making a total of twenty-one, plus nearly double the number of Great Grandmasters. These two years, the gains have been tremendous!”
“Realm—
Refining Qi into God. Reflection: 97%
Cultivation Technique—
Inner Core Skill (Refining Qi into God): Breakthrough +6 (28%)
Ba Duan Jin: Breakthrough +6 (17%)—Blood Qi Furnace: 35%, “Gestating Seed: 60%”
Five Elements Fist: Breakthrough +5 (6%)—Divine Guarding Five Qi: 18%
Yijin Scripture: Breakthrough +5 (21%)—Golden Body: 48%”
Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter: Breakthrough +4 (56%)—Spiritual Illusion: 45%”
In two years, absorbing a vast amount of Pure Spiritual Power and elixir, the Power of Great Medicine significantly increased.
The Spiritual Body was now fully manifested and gradually undergoing transformation.
“The next step is the final realm of Refining Qi into God!”
“Primordial Spirit!”
“With one year at most, and sufficient gains, half a year should suffice!”