There was a moment of silence in class as everyone took a moment to absorb all the information. Soul cultivators were very rare, and often had odd occupations that made them difficult to counter.
Lex thought back to the Raskal invasion. Harry, despite being weaker than many, ended up doing some of the most damage to his enemies. But he wasn’t just limited to that. As he was growing stronger, he was able to unlock more and more of his Glamor Sorcery abilities.
While at the start, his skills were limited to giving people mental clarity, these days he could even grant a few buffs to customers that would last days.
After giving his students enough time to ruminate about the new information he provided, the professor continued.
“Naturally, in the way body and spirit dual cultivators get the best of both worlds, anyone who dual cultivates the soul and spirit or soul and body also gets tremendous advantages. However, these combinations are even more difficult to achieve. Setting aside the difficulty of cultivating two paths, the real hurdle comes from the fact that unless the secondary cultivation path follows a technique that is complementary to the soul cultivation technique being used, it is nigh impossible to dual cultivate. It won’t stop your progress in one, but rather, outright end your cultivation for both paths.
“It is for this reason that anyone who manages to find two complementary techniques often ends up killed, or creates a lineage. Even in the academy, getting access to such cultivation techniques is an extremely difficult task – not to mention the difficulty of following such a path afterwards. It is for that reason that you will rarely come across someone with these two combinations.
“But, while we’re on the topic of cultivating multiple paths, I’m sure many of you are already wondering if it’s possible to cultivate all three paths.”
All the students held their breath, and Lex felt an unusual sense of anticipation fill the class. Lex furrowed his brows. The students seemed to know something he didn’t. But it didn’t matter. Lex focused his attention on the professor, for this information would help him understand his limits better. He already had an explanation for why he was able to form an array so easily, his energy sensitivity had been heightened. Now it was time to know what else he could do.
“As you all probably suspect, it is indeed possible. In fact, not only is it possible, cultivating all three paths simultaneously is the actual true form of cultivation, and is what differentiates the many races in different categories.
“The Crystal race, for example, all cultivate all three paths simultaneously. In fact, for them it is normal cultivation, as they do not have divisions in the paths the way we do. Theoretically, it is still possible for all humans to practice all three paths as well, if enough of the right kinds of cultivation techniques are spread. But that begs the question, since the King is so adamant in developing the human race, why hasn’t he done so?
“The answer is fairly simple. Humans inherently are not very suited to cultivate. Cultivating two paths already more than doubles the difficulty in raising realms, but cultivating all three, with the talent of the average human, would require hundreds of years just to break through one major realm to the next. Of course, one of the greatest benefits humans have over other races is our high reproduction rate. No matter how difficult or rare, someone capable enough to cultivate all three paths is bound to appear. I’m sure you are all familiar with one of the only two publicly known humans to cultivate all three paths, the King!”
Excitement, enthusiasm and admiration all filled the students. No one even seemed to care that none of them would ever be able to cultivate all three paths. After all, how could they compare to the King? Lex however, was waiting for the professor to continue his explanation, but when he noticed that the professor was about to continue the class by progressing to a different topic, he interrupted to ask, “Professor, if the King is one of the two publicly known people to cultivate all three paths, who’s the second? Also, what are the benefits of cultivating all three paths?”
The students looked at him oddly, and even the professor was surprised by the question, but answered anyway.
“The second person is naturally the Crown Prince, who is set to inherit the throne. As for the benefits, well, I can only speculate. Firstly, and perhaps most impressively, the survival instinct of the cultivator, amplified by the energy sensitivity and soul sensitivity, will be enhanced a hundredfold. In fact, it may even transcend the realm of survival instinct, and take another form that can sense more than just danger, due to the way the soul can sense intentions. I’d say, the cultivators’ danger sense would probably end up being even better than cultivators in a higher realm.
“The control and sensitivity towards energy will also be exceptional. In the lower levels, it might not be so apparent, but in the Nascent realm, when cultivators deal with different forms and levels of spiritual energy, the advantage will truly bear fruit. In fact, those cultivators can probably pursue some truly unique professions, by combining various compatible soul and spiritual professions. A simple example is by combining Talismans and curses. Such things already exist, but require two or more cultivators to work together to form.
“The cultivator would also be extremely resilient. Fueled by spiritual energy, preserved by a strong body, and resistant to destruction due to the souls own strength, the cultivator could probably easily survive wounds that would otherwise kill them. In fact, it would be so difficult to kill such a cultivator, I wouldn’t be surprised if they walked through an erupting volcano-” the professor suddenly froze as he seemed to recognize the student who had asked the question, and suddenly recalled some outlandish stories… could it be?
“Your name is Lex, right?” the professor asked.
“Yeah,” Lex answered, suddenly getting a bad feeling. In his mind, the professor was judging him for asking a question everyone knew the answer to, specifically, the one about who the second cultivator of all three paths was. It was because he had judged the rumor he heard about himself to be so outlandish, he never even considered people could take it seriously.
How was he supposed to know that not only did this professor take it seriously, he suddenly filled in a few blanks about how the crown prince oppressed Lex, which was the reason he dropped his name. Furthermore, the stories of Lex’s achievements, his survival during the expedition… along with his question about all three paths… could it be possible?
In the most absurd, roundabout way, the professor made a conclusion about Lex cultivating all three paths – the first true conclusion anyone had made about Lex.
Still, as a professor, he was mature enough to know not to spread rumors that he shouldn’t. He did, however, silently decide to guide Lex to the best of his abilities.
“A basic enhancement of the individual abilities of all three paths is somewhat expected,” the professor continued his class, suddenly a lot more serious. “But if that were all, this would not be considered the true form of cultivation, and the gap between us and the Crystal race would not be so huge. The higher the realm, the more evident the advantages will be, but even at a lower realm, such as the Foundation realm, the cultivator outclasses his peers.” The professor had to try very hard not to look at Lex as he said that.
“Each path has its own techniques. Spiritual techniques for the spirit path, body techniques for body cultivators and soul for soul cultivators. But, there are rumors that for the true path, as some people call it, there is another form of techniques that take advantage of all three paths. Similarly, some records of the King from his youth suggest that he used to practice a unique profession Oblivator that no one else could, though there are no details of it available to the public.
“But, while those two previous aspects would require special information or heritages, there are other benefits as well. As many people know, the Foundation realm is when cultivators commonly begin to explore specializations. Sword intent is a good example of a very commonly pursued specialization. It is said those who follow the true path have an entire field of specializations that they can realize on their own. For example, if a true cultivator pursued the sword, it would not be the sword intent they realized, but something… more.
“Finally, the last rumor, and this is strictly a rumor, and has no proof or grounds for speculation, is that true cultivators can… adopt any spiritual affinity they desire.”
This time, despite his efforts, the professor ended up looking Lex directly in the eyes. Lex gave away nothing, and wore the look of a simple, curious student. But it was already commonly accepted that Lex was exceptional, in which case, perfectly hiding his feelings fell perfectly within the realm of what he could achieve.
The class continued normally after that, and once it was concluded, the professor submitted an application to see the Dean – the King. Since he was just a normal professor, it would take months before he was granted the requested audience, if ever, but his speculations were too important to let slip, to anyone.
After class Lex checked his PT and noticed he had a letter from Cwenhild. She was inviting him once again to discuss her plan for the Minor realms. After a moments thought, he accepted the invitation.