Chapter Sixteen: The Initial Step on the Cultivation Path

  On the second day, Li Xiao was called up by Ni Liang and three others, and rushed to report to the school.

  The Guo Xueyuan's academic institution is a place for guidance and cultivation. Li Xiao followed the three people ahead, along the way they encountered many students, all in groups of two or three, like small collectives, rushing to the location of the academic institution.

  "Li Xiao, Li San, great! I didn't expect a dead fish like you to turn over a new leaf. How long will your good luck last?"

  As the saying goes, "enemies meet on a narrow road", Li Xiao furrowed his brow and looked in the direction of the sound.

  Only two martial artists stood behind Wang Qi, their cold gazes colliding with Li Xiao's. A smile played on the corner of Wang Qi's mouth:

  "You only have two years left to live. Once the two years are up, even if you were Yue Changsheng, I won't be able to save you. At that time, I will make sure you have nowhere to go, neither in heaven nor on earth. You'd better wait patiently."

  "Wang Qi, you ridiculous person, do you think this can disturb my mind? Honestly, the more you speak like this, the more it arouses my fighting spirit! Two years, if you can survive and leave here, then talk."

  Li Xiao's words were like a sharp needle, and with his current understanding of Wang Qi, the other party was wasting time to come and mock him. Would he do it just for the sake of showing off? It was clear that he wanted to disrupt his will, making it difficult for him to cultivate.

  "Li Xiao brothers, whose dogs are these?"

  Ni Liang smiled and obviously heard the disagreement between Li Xiao and Wang Qi.

  "What did you just say? Are you looking for trouble?"

  A martial artist beside him was enraged and about to strike, but was stopped by Wang Qi.

  It's clear that those who can enter the National Academy are extraordinary people with abilities beyond ordinary people. However, Wang Qi didn't expect that in just a few days, Li Xiao would already make friends with several people.

  "Let's go!"

  Wang Qi gave Li Xiao a cold glance and turned away.

  "Brother Li, how did you get to know them?"

  Ni Liang watched Wang Qi's departing back, his face showing disdain.

  Li Xiao did not conceal it and told his own family's feud with the Wang family.

  "It turns out that Li Xiao's brother is indeed not easy to deal with. The Wang family has a lot of influence in Luoyang City, and even as a student of the National Academy, once you return to Luoyang City, it's likely to be difficult to escape the Wang family's poisonous hands! The best solution is to bring Li Brother's father into Donglan City and live in the city, this is the right way."

  Sun Yu's face was clear and elegant, with a subtle analysis.

  Li Xiao didn't expect that he and the three of them were just passing acquaintances, yet they helped him without asking for any reason. No matter what, Li Xiao felt a warmth in his heart.

  "Thanks to several brothers, I also thought about what Chun Yu Shi said, but that Wang Qi is a ruthless and cruel person. If we leave with our father, Wang Qi's anger will surely be vented on the entire village, and countless villagers may suffer from it. So this matter still needs to be figured out."

  Li Xiao's thoughts were quite thorough, and upon hearing this, all three of them nodded in agreement.

  "Li Xiao brothers, actually if you do business with me and make money, you can afford to hire a super strong master from the Transformation Realm. At that time, even the royal family will have to be cautious and won't dare to act rashly. In this way, your village will also be protected."

  Ní Liáng is a greedy person, indeed the three sentences cannot be separated from the word "money". But this is indeed not a bad method, if it can make the Wang family hesitant to take action, then he will be able to protect himself.

  "What kind of level is the boundary between the ordinary and the transcendent?"

  Li Xiao had never heard of this realm before. Metamorphosis, transcending the mundane, seemed to have a kind of direct access to the heavenly realm's Tao rhyme.

  "Transcending the mortal realm, that is where our Wuchu country's top strongmen reside. Whether it's the mentors of our national academy or the elders of the academy, they are all at this level. Transcendent mortals have completely shed their worldly aura and possess various inconceivable divine abilities, flying through the skies and traversing the earth, tempering gold, stone, iron, and spearheads. In the eyes of ordinary people, they already possess the true methods of immortals."

  Nanmen is as arrogant as his name suggests, with a naturally proud demeanor. He has a well-proportioned build, looking slightly more robust than the average person, and a handsome face. Among the three of them, he speaks the least.

  Li Xiao only then understood that the realm of transformation was already a strong transcending the limits of ordinary people, and in the entire Wu Chu State, it was also the most top-notch existence. The royal family may also have cultivators with transformative powers, and Wang Qi's grandfather, Wang Rui, is likely to be one, but if there is a strong transformer as Li Xiao's backing, then even the royal family should not dare to act rashly.

  "Thanks for the advice from you brothers, but there are still two years left, and I'm sure there will be a way."

  If it were an ordinary person, they would have no doubt about Nai Liang's words. However, Li Xiao, who had been influenced by countless martial arts novels in his past life, understood that for a strong practitioner at the top level, getting any amount of wealth was not a problem. Only rare treasures in the world could move such a powerful person, and money alone would not be enough.

  Halfway through the journey, a ray of light fell from the sky, dazzling and unparalleled, causing the students who were in a hurry to turn their heads.

  "See you later, mentor!"

  All the disciples who saw him bowed, and even Li Xiao lowered his head.

  A man strode forward with a majestic gait and appeared before Li Xiao and others.

  "Li Xiao, you are a disciple of my brother-in-law Changsheng. From today on, there is no need to go to the academy anymore. Follow me from now on."

  Li Xiao had already known that he was accepted as a personal disciple by Yue Changsheng, but at this moment, hearing Yue Changsheng speak up, his heart still felt a thrill of joy, and he respectfully said:

  "Yes, disciple obeys."

  He nodded to his three brothers, and with a wave of his sleeve, Yue Changsheng rolled up Li Xiao, transformed into a rainbow light, and shot into the sky, galloping towards the distance!

  "Li brothers are really lucky, being personally accepted as disciples by Master Yue Changsheng, their cultivation speed is probably comparable to that of ordinary core disciples."

  "Right, we three brothers can't fall behind either, let's work hard together."

  Apart from Nanmen Ao who didn't like to speak, Ni Liang and Chun Yu Xi encouraged each other.

  At this moment, Li Xiao only felt the wind rushing past, everything around him was invisible, a seven-colored rainbow light enveloped his and Yue Changsheng's bodies, and flew through the air at an incredible speed!

  Soon, the colorful light stopped, Li Xiao shook his somewhat dizzy head and found himself appearing in front of a large hall. The main gate of the hall had three big words written on it - Secret Storage Pavilion.

  Yue Changsheng did not explain and led the way forward.

  Li Xiao was somewhat perplexed, but he didn't make a sound, closely following behind Yue Changsheng.

  "Met the mentor——"

  In the secret chamber, a disciple saw Yue Changsheng and hurriedly paid his respects. Yue Changsheng nodded slightly, while Li Xiao led him directly into the second floor of the secret chamber.

  "This Secret Chamber has five levels, and it is one of the most important places in our academy. The first level contains all sorts of divine state history and regional strange tales. Only on the second level are there cultivation talismans and seals, with a total of 365 kinds."

  Yue Changsheng suddenly spoke up, and Li Xiao only then understood that Yue Changsheng wanted him to directly cultivate the spell seal, rather than paying attention to the historical records of the first layer.

  "The third layer consists of various heart methods and cultivation attainments, which you don't need for now given your current level. As for the fourth and fifth layers, only those who have transcended the mortal realm can enter; unless you reach my level, you will never be able to set foot in them."

  Yue Changsheng's words did not reveal a hint of emotional fluctuation, but Li Xiao had completely remembered them, and should have responded accordingly.

  As soon as he entered the second floor, Yue Changsheng stopped.

  A student walked over, and with a wave of his hand, the students who were reading books were all dispersed. The entire second floor of the Secret Pavilion was left with only Li Xiao and Yue Changsheng.

  Li Xiao looked around and saw that there were bookshelves all around him, with books stacked up on them, each one spotlessly clean.

  "The books here record dense and intricate talismans, each of which has been passed down from ancient times. These talismans can communicate the power between heaven and earth, introduce it into the body of living beings, and greatly strengthen their bodies."

  Yue Changsheng casually picked up a book and flipped open one of its pages.

  Li Xiao saw that there was only one word on the page, but it couldn't even be considered a word because it was too complicated, like some kind of ancient seal script.

  "On every page of each book, there is a seal like this. Connecting all the seals together will form a complete spell that can be cast on any living being."

  Li Xiao nodded as if he understood but wasn't quite sure.

  "Master, if it's a non-human creature, will this curse seal still be effective?"

  Yue Changsheng looked at Li Xiao, seemingly unclear as to why he would ask such a question.

  "Not bad, this ancient seal has the same effect on the demon tribe and other creatures, so in the Imperial Academy, there are some students who are demons, such as Zhao Shuxuan from the Medicine Department, who is a demon."

  When Li Xiao heard Yue Changsheng's words, he was somewhat incredulous. The beauty he had seen in the medicine hall turned out to be a member of the demon tribe, no wonder her temper was a bit eccentric.

  "Besides, you are my direct disciple, no need to call me Master, just call me Shifu."

  Hearing this, Li Xiao hastily nodded:

  "Yes, Master."

  Yue Changsheng closed the book and placed it on the bookshelf.

  "You've just started practicing the Dao, and I should give you a good lecture. The first step in cultivation is to strengthen one's physique. Whether it's humans or demons, except for those with innate talents, their original bodies are not suitable for true cultivation, so they need to wash their marrow and replace their bones."

  "Renew one's mind and body?"

  Li Xiao is really the first time I've heard of it.

  "Not bad, all living beings can hardly avoid this step, the secret lies in this curse seal. With countless curse seals to hold one's own body, making the body transform and stimulate all potential in the blood vessels, this great realm is called Tongling. The Tongling realm refers to the continuous improvement of the self-potential of living beings, ultimately touching the intention of the heavenly and earthly spirit."

  After this explanation, Li Xiao finally entered the realm of cultivation. No wonder that after adding several talismans, Li Xiao's self-mutilation technique actually strengthened again, it turned out that the first step in cultivating the Tao required changing oneself with talismans from the very beginning.

  "The spiritual realm is divided into nine layers. If one breaks through the ninth layer, they can be called a cultivator of immortality, possessing true divine powers, and that would be the Transcendent Mortal Realm."