Chapter 48: Attending Class
Translator: JL Editor: X
After opening his first natal palace, Ai Hui realized that his previous experiences were not as useful now. There was a drastic difference in the rotation of his current elemental energy compared to the past. Every move was composed of many minute details. If a small detail was not performed properly, it diminished the impact and power of the overall move. How to distribute the energy, how to revolve the elemental energy, when to speed up, when to slow down—all these details determined the ultimate power of a move.
Due to his wealth of practical experiences, Ai Hui was an ardent individual.
He had not spent time contemplating abstract ideas, and he did not believe himself capable of such conceptualizations. While he was able to achieve some level of success in the Suspending Golden Pagoda, he was not complacent. Teacher Dong was clear in his explanations and he himself had spent a long time in the Wilderness. Eventually, he was able to comprehend the ideas after putting in much effort.
Ai Hui possessed high self-awareness and knew that he was not talented. Most of the knowledge that he acquired was not learned conventionally.
The elemental energy methods in the Induction Ground had been progressing for a thousand years, polished by many geniuses and seniors. They would definitely be better than him. The only thing he could do was persevere, practice hard, and be diligent in learning what the teachers taught.
What was considered studious?
It was to understand every detail that the teachers taught. Why was it fast here and why was it slow there? One would only be considered well-educated after breaking the information into smaller pieces, thoroughly deciphering these segments, and properly executing based on this knowledge.
The ticking time bomb of academic dismissal was no longer a threat with the opening of his natal residence. He now had four years to learn at his own pace without rushing through. As long as he was diligent and steadfast in his studies for these four years, he could probably become registered as a documented elementalist.
While the outcome was uncertain, this was a goal he was working hard to achieve.
Having seen so much life and death, Ai Hui had a clear understanding of the different facets of life.
He saw the frailty which prevented people from having ambitious thoughts and unrealistic plans.
While the teacher explained the basics in the training class, Ai Hui paid very close attention. Only a quarter of the class was present, with the rest of the seats empty. Most of those in attendance were from the Old Territory. As this was a really basic class, there was little content that the students from the Avalon of Five Elements had not already learned.
Central Pine Academy allowed students to have the freedom of choice in their lessons. Since the background of every student varied, the guidance they required differed as well. Students similar to the genius Duanmu Huanghun were way ahead of the other normal students. Typical classes had no meaning for them. Central Pine Academy considered this scenario and appointed the most outstanding teacher to guide those exceptional students. Outside the classroom, outstanding students also had the guidance of the Society of Excellence.
Ai Hui never thought of himself as a genius, but he also never felt that Duanmu Huanghun was a genius—that disdainful, childish, rude youth!
Ai Hui greedily absorbed whatever the teacher was teaching. The teacher’s surname was Wang. He taught the fundamentals, such as what to take note of during training after the opening of the natal residence, what new moves could be learned, and which teacher to consult to learn those moves.
Every aspect of the Avalon of Five Elements was closely tied to elemental energy. More than once, Ai Hui heard from the teacher that in order to establish a more comprehensive five elements elemental energy, the system must be perfected to attain the level of the Cultivation Era from hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The teacher’s high regard for the Cultivation World caught Ai Hui by surprise, but he gradually understood why. The Avalon of Five Elements was established from the ruins of the Cultivation World. From a certain point of view, they originated from the same source. However, the Avalon of Five Elements only had one thousand five hundred years of history. It was not even considered an infant when compared to the long history and glory of the Cultivation World.
When the teacher lectured about the proliferation of elemental energy training system in the Old Territory, Ai Hui could very well relate to the topic.
Before entering the Wilderness, he had always lived in the Old Territory. Compared to the Avalon of Five Elements, the Old Territory was a completely different world. It was once the center of the Cultivation World, but now had regressed to the level of a rural area. Life in the Old Territory was very slow and quiet. Under the protection of the Avalon of Five Elements, there were no dire beasts or barbarian tribes.
The Old Territory was not a place where training was often discussed. The concentration of elemental energy was very low; it did not have dire beasts, and it also lacked the materials for training. Furthermore, it lacked the guidance of teachers and the environment for training was very weak, though this situation had improved in recent years. Many elementalist who originated from the Old Territory would return to their hometowns when they reached a certain age and set up training halls to guide the locals in elemental energy training.
The teacher could not stop blabbering during his lecture and occasionally criticized some of the policies of the Avalon of Five Elements.
Ai Hui realized that the teachers in the Induction Ground had their personal preferences. For example, Teacher Dong liked to talk about the history of the Avalon of the Five Elements and Teacher Wang, who was in front of him, loved to speak about the future. This probably had to do with the influence of the Induction Ground. Regardless of whether it was an influential family or the Thirteen Divisions, it was difficult to sway the Induction Ground.
Not only did Ai Hui not think these lectures were boring, he actually listened with avid interest. No matter if it was the past or the future, they were all things that he had no prior knowledge of, so he listened to expand his horizons.
“Suppose that each of you just opened your natal residence. I would not recommend immediately starting the training of new moves. Why? Because these techniques can easily limit our understanding towards elemental energy. Much of our understanding toward elemental energy was superficial. Some disagreed, arguing that the five residences and eight palaces were perfect and complete. Certainly, when compared to the old elemental energy system, the current five residences and eight palaces system is far more mature and complete. It is widely known that, to date, the development of elemental energy had only been in progress for a thousand years. Look at the previous Cultivation Era. The Cultivation System was so boundless and vast, yet so detailed. Comparatively, the five residences and eight palaces methodology was meager and crude. Therefore, everyone should be familiarized with their own elemental energy. Understanding this would be like understanding a partner.“
However, the students were evidently uninterested in this viewpoint.
The academic atmosphere in the Induction Ground was very liberal, especially for the teachers who faced even fewer restrictions. As long as the teachers completed their work, the school would not intervene in their personal affairs.
The lively and progressive atmosphere enabled the Induction Ground to have the most numerous theories and schools of thought in the Avalon of Five Elements. It was also touted that the number of teachers in the Induction Ground was equivalent to the number of researchers and schools of thought.
The students had long become accustomed and immune to each teacher's “personal research interest.” Not every teacher’s theories were of interest to the students.
Apparently, the teachers were used to such reactions.
Those extravagant and flashy moves were the most attractive for beginners. In their eyes, flamboyance was an indication of power. The teachers were once students and also familiar with such mindsets.
“Alright, alright. I know what you students want to learn. No matter how easy a move is, to properly practice, you must take note of your personal attribute. The easier the move, the more details you must take note of.”
The teacher saw that the students had long since lost their interest, so he decided to end the class.
He felt slightly helpless. It seemed that since he was born, nobody else was interested in whatever topics he wanted to learn about.
While there were many lectures on topics like this in the Induction Ground, it still made him feel emotional.
The students could not wait to leave, eager to prepare and practice their own combat techniques.
The teacher was collecting his stuff and preparing to leave when a voice rang out.
“Teacher, could you explain further? How do we improve our comprehension of our elemental energy?”