The evening had arrived, the sun had already set, and the lanterns lit up the roads.
In the dean's quarters, inside a round room at the top was Hong Li sitting in front of his desk. The light stones fixed on the walls deeply illuminated the place of its lemony luminescence.
Behind him was a huge square glass on the wall showcasing much of the institution.
In front of him stood Han Zhen Jun and Wang Fei side by side.
"Rank 2?! How could it be, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Hong Li uttered, holding onto a small thread of hope.
"Please dean, don't insult me. I watched the process from start to end and saw it with my own eyes, he assuredly have rank 2 talent." Wang Fei answered with a self-deprecating smile. How could he be wrong about that?
"With the capabilities he has shown in the arena, he should have been better than rank 2." Hong Li lowered his head and spoke in disappointment, it wasn't clear if he was talking to himself or his guests.
"Not necessarily." Han Zhen Jun added "It's true that those who showed great abilities in a certain domain when young tend to have good aptitudes once they start cultivating but it's not always the case. Look at this kid eight years ago that had amazing comprehension or the one that could speak and walk as a baby, in the end they turned out to be a rank 1 talent and it's just two among others. It's not something to be concerned about." Han Zhen Jun explained as he reminisced.
Fate was cruel as it could give the smart the talent of mortals while the slow-witted would easily rise through cultivation ranks. The weak could have all the resources needed as their birthright, while the strong would keep fighting and struggling for a piece of the cake.
It could be said heavens loved to play a joke.
"Moreover, there's something else, dean." Han Zhen Jun said, "The kid has been here for a week now but hasn't retrieved any martial arts and spends all his days in the library. The other youths from his batch all started practicing their new techniques and showed improvements while he didn't progress at all in his cultivation."
Wang Fei continued, "I told him to go pick a cultivation technique in the tower but he didn't listen to me. Till now, he's still at the beginning of the Qi Gathering Realm's first layer."
Hong Li massaged his temples for some time before speaking, "Fine, forget about this disciple's matter, just leave him alone for now and see how it unfolds."
"Yes!" Han Zhen Jun and Wang Fei paid respects to Hong Li before leaving the room.
Hong Li stood up from his chair and looked at the institution through the square glass. The palaces, pavilions, gardens and streams, among others, made a magnificent view while light escaped from some buildings coloring the landscape but Hong Li saw none of it as he was deep in thought. "I'm getting old, I thought he would make a good disciple. If he was rank 4, no just rank 3 and I could have..." A deep sigh escaped from his mouth before he left the room to cultivate.
The next day.
At dawn, when the first rays of light cleared the sky of its stars, a young man rose up.
He washed his face with a small basin of water and put on the upper part of his disciple's martial suit, then left his house.
He walked until he reached the library then bypassed it and kept going. He stopped only when he was in front of a broad high tower.
Above the entrance was a sign with "Cultivation" written and two guards in armor stood beside the doors.
From time to time, teenagers would rush towards the guards, showing their tokens excitedly before hurriedly entering the tower, while the adults were more composed as they went in at a steady pace.
"I have been reading in the library every day for a week. I reviewed the most important subjects I had in mind, and I am not lacking in any points currently. Although I have more to read, it's not necessary. It's time for me to cultivate seriously now, it has been long enough." Ye Mo walked towards the entrance and gave his token to the guards.
"You have one hour." The guard said sternly as he let Ye Mo pass the doors.
Arriving at the first floor, he was faced with countless rows of book racks. Every book was a low-tier Yellow Class cultivation technique. There were many people chatting or hurrying back and forth, overall it was too noisy for Ye Mo so after a short browse he quickly left for the second floor.
On the second floor there were still people but they were mostly grown persons, so it was much more quiet. Ye Mo stayed a bit longer, taking a look at the introduction of some techniques for his own interest before leaving for the third floor.
The third floor was smaller than the first two, and it was very silent. There were no more than two girls and one lean man inside. The sound of books being picked up or put back and pages being flipped was the only thing that could be heard. It wasn't surprising since the third floor contained all the high-tier Yellow Class cultivation techniques of the Tiger Martial Institute, only on special occasions would one be allowed inside.
"Wolf Howl cultivation technique"
"Blue Wave cultivation technique"
"Crimson Demonic Flame cultivation technique"
"Ascending Eagle cultivation technique"
Ye Mo swept his view through the manuals, sometimes reading the introduction when the name caught his interest.
After a few he shook his head, "They are good, but it's not what I need. To pick a martial art what's the most important is not to take the strongest or the most impressive but the one that suits you the best."
Ye Mo perused the books for forty minutes before closing another one. During this time he found some interesting techniques, but they didn't completely satisfy him.
"There's still some time..." Ye Mo hoped it wasn't the extent of the institute's cultivation techniques when he found a pitch-black book in a corner.
"Black Vortex cultivation technique." The title and the writing were white on black.
As its name implied, this art would create a vortex inside the dantian that would draw the qi of the surroundings towards the cultivator. The speed of the technique was incredible, almost similar to a peak-tier cultivation technique, however it puts the user's body through a lot of stress, and a very strong body was necessary to cultivate it. Even then, you had to plunge your body into a medicinal bath every month so it could recuperate enough before you could continue.
As he read, a smile slowly formed on Ye Mo's face.
"The body condition is of no problem, I cultivate a high-tier Star Rank body refining art. If I can't cultivate with this Black Vortex technique, then who in this city can? To gather the herbs and make a medicinal bath, it would cost around 50 gold coins each month, so 600 gold coins a year. I have the funds, but I planned to use the money for something else, I will have to be careful with my spending."
Ye Mo calculated as he knew he found what he searched for.
What does he need the most? Currently he delayed his cultivation, and he needed to shorten the gap with his peers who started cultivating even before entering the institute. In addition, his talent was only of rank 2 so an efficient cultivation technique with a much superior speed was imperative.
On the third floor, there was barely any art that could match the Black Vortex in terms of cultivation speed.
This way, it was the best choice for Ye Mo.
If you take for example the Blue Wave cultivation technique, its speed wasn't far from the Black Vortex, it also didn't have any condition or prerequisite like a strong body to cultivate this art so everyone could use it. Without the need for a tough body, there was no need to soak in medicinal baths so the costs to cultivate the technique were zero.
Add to that it gave the user the ability to release and bend water at his own will, and it was objectively a better technique than the Black Vortex, people that read it would easily fall in charm and pick it.
Most students at his place would ruin themselves each month trying to afford the herbs for the medicinal bath, and even if they could count on the gold rewarded from the competition, this sum would be expended after a few years, and they would soon end up scraping gold here and there like drug addicts to gather the sum and heal their bodies.
But considering Ye Mo's needs, his strong points and what he was lacking in the most, the Black Vortex cultivation technique was easily the most suited to him, and he wouldn't exchange it for the Blue Wave cultivation technique no matter what.
As for the cost of medicinal baths, Ye Mo didn't care. Gold coins were just expendable goods, as long as it benefited his cultivation, he could give millions without batting an eye.
Ye Mo went down the stairs and reached for the attendant near the entrance. Each building providing services to students would have one attendant with a specific role based on the structure.
"Good morning, elder Chen." Ye Mo greeted the attendant.
Elder Chen was a tall old man with long, snow-white hair and a beard reaching his knees.
Ye Mo knew his name because he was one of the instructors accompanying Wang Fei during the recruitment trial.
"Hoho, Ye Mo you're finally picking a cultivation technique huh. When I saw you the first time, I wouldn't have bet on you, but on the arena, you fought like another man and look where you are now. Come on, show me what you got for yourself." Elder Chen seemed like a chatty grandpa as he extended his hand towards Ye Mo.
The cultivation techniques of the tower possessed only half the contents, and the other half of the pages were blank to prevent disciples from memorizing them.
Before leaving, you had to give the manual to the old man and let him reveal the other half of the content or the manual would be useless.
"This is probably a seal they put on the books, but only the attendants know how to break them." Ye Mo thought as he handed over the manual.
"Black Vortex cultivation technique?!" Elder Chen looked surprised before he gazed at Ye Mo. "Well, I can understand why you chose it. I won't bother with the chit-chat like I did with those who picked it in the past. Let me just tell you that if you think you can use this technique just because you cultivate a measly mid-tier Yellow Class body refining technique, then get back up and take something else." Elder Chen advised but Ye Mo didn't budge.
A profound silence invaded the place as they both looked at each other for a moment.
After an instant, elder Chen finally acknowledged his decision, "I see you made your choice."
Elder Chen passed his hand on the cover of the book which shined brightly for a second before it was returned to Ye Mo, "May your choice be guided by wisdom."
"Thank you elder Chen." Ye Mo saluted the old man and left the tower, the Black Vortex cultivation technique in hand, in the direction of the battle skill tower.