"Let us begin with dantian cultivation. This form of cultivation is often referred to as only 'cultivation', due to how plentiful dantian cultivation techniques are."

Jiahao and Dai Yi sat in the middle of the unused field, listening to their master's lecture. They'd long gotten used to paying attention to Fang Hu's every word, their master could tell when they weren't.

"Dantian techniques are the most plentiful due to the nature of the dantian itself. Dai Yi, could you tell me what a dantian is?"

Dai Yi giggled at being asked a question that all three of the people here knew. It was silly to her, but Fang Hu said it was the best method of teaching larger groups. If that was what her master wanted, then she'd gladly do it, she would walk over hot coals if her master wanted, answering a question every now or then was nothing.

"Dantians are what cycles our life energy through us. There are three of them connected to each other and, umm, they are connected to our apertures, which can draw in qi from around us and insert it into our dantians."

"Correct! It would be wise to note that apertures can also expel qi, which is the basis for many techniques, also, it would be well to not use 'qi' and 'life energy' interchangeably. Your life energy is not qi, unless your cultivation technique makes it so. However, that is not the purpose of this lesson. This should still be review, but Jiahao, how does taking in more qi strengthen a cultivator?"

"Ahh... How didya' put it? Oh yeah, 'It varies from technique to technique, but the goal of all cultivation is to strengthen the cultivator's qi pathways, dantians, and apertures, this is done in stages, and if done correctly, allows one cultivator to have the strength of a thousand lesser cultivators.'"

Hearing Jiahao's answer, Fang Hu tutted and shook his head.

"What you have said is correct old friend, but did not answer the question. Mind you, it is only correct if take into consideration that 'cultivation' in this scenario only refers to dantian cultivation, and that there are always exceptions to the established rules. The question on the proverbial table is how more qi inside a cultivators dantian would strengthen the body of the cultivator, not 'how does cultivation strengthen the cultivator?'"

"Since it is clear neither of you know the answer to the question, I will take it upon myself to answer the question myself. There are variations depending on the quality and methods of the technique, but, generally speaking, dantian cultivation strengthens the body in three ways. Up first, strengthening your dantian, surprisingly, strengthens your dantian. Dantians, while essential in cultivation, are organs with their own purpose, they generate and distribute life energy. A surplus in life energy has many benefits, most notably increased lifespan. As notable as it is, that is only the first benefit, others include, more vitality, increased energy, greater recovery, and increased focus. There are a great deal more benefits of increased life energy, but the point should have gotten to you by now."

Jiahao and Dai Yi were riveted to Fang Hu's every word. There were points in time were Fang Hu's lectures could be boring, but still generally profound. This was not one of those times, in retrospect, they could see the effect that cultivating were having on them. It was amazing what they hadn't seen before. Besides, getting theoretical information such as this had to be helpful in the more practical side of cultivation. Their master was a scholar after all, they would need all the information they could get to follow in his footsteps.

Fang Hu didn't pick up on how enraptured his disciples were, caught up as he was in his lecture.

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"Up next is the qi itself. You should know that dantian cultivators can use their qi to strengthen parts of their body temporarily, most martial techniques used by dantian cultivators use this to some extent. Strengthening your dantian to hold and process more qi eventually causes some qi to slip though your dantian, this qi causes a minor version of this aspect of cultivation to happen at all times. This can be viewed as a problem or a boon, depending on your circumstances and techniques. Indeed, there are some techniques that stop this from happening altogether, for one reason or another, but most techniques try to give the cultivator some leeway in this matter, letting them decide if they want more power or more cultivation speed situationally. In more profound cultivation techniques, this is accounted for, and qi is sent throughout the body in cycles, allowing for the cultivator to use his body as a second dantian, eventually getting most of the qi spent back. This method is inferior for the purpose of cultivation, still, many cultivators use this method, then meditate to seal off their dantian."

"Of course, the last method of strengthening one's body through cultivating one's dantian pertains to the technique itself. Almost all dantian cultivation techniques cycle one's own energy to gather and purify qi, if you are cycling large amounts of qi throughout your own body, then it becomes legitimately wasteful not to do anything with it. Techniques generally purify your body, alter your body to better align with your dao, and change you physically to better yourself."

"Now that you know all about dantian cultivation, I want one of you to tell me, what do you think body cultivation is?"

After a short period of time, Jiahao put his hand up in the way Fang Hu showed him and answered.

"It's cultivation that strengthens the body?"

"Hahaha, it would be better if you didn't phrase that as a question Jiahao, but yes! Body cultivation takes qi and uses it to directly strengthen the cultivators body. The processes in which this can take place are more varied than the people on the face of Pangea, so I will not delve into that matter here. Instead, you will learn about the differences of body cultivation and cultivation. As one might expect, cultivating your body itself instead of cultivating your dantian will leave you without much in the way of qi to work with. Dantian cultivators generally rely on one reality warping technique or another to take down their enemies, while body cultivators use, gasp, their bodies to take down opponents."

Fang Hu took a moment to allow his words to sink in. Then he switched to his more serious lecturing voice to warn his disciples.

"Heed me, Jiahao, Dai Yi. Do not fall for the common misconception that body cultivators cannot use supernatural abilities to attack. Oftentimes, techniques do not need an internal or external qi source to function. Several martial arts use rhythmic movement or specialized breathing to great effect. There are several techniques that require other sources of energy to function, nothing is stopping a body cultivator form obtaining that energy and using it to great effect. Rituals, blood arts, and daos can provide a cultivator with the odd ability. Even without special training, innate abilities such as bloodlines, constitutions, and other powers can provide the upper hand in combat. Do not ever underestimate an opponent."

Fang Hu made sure that his message was understood with 'Understanding', then drove the lesson forward.

"Enough about cultivation and body cultivation, let us get to the point that made us move to this dilapidated field."

"I resent that."

"Noted."

"Let us delve into the subject of techniques and abilities."