The sound of a gong reverberating down the mountain nearly threw me off the bed and disrupted my Cultivation cycle. I was close to losing control of my Qi, which could result in Qi deviation, a dangerous mistake that could damage the Soul.
I knew they said we shouldn’t Cultivate while waiting for the call, but I didn’t think it would be so harsh. I groggily got to my feet and made my way to the meeting place in the Inner Sect.
I did a nod in greeting to my neighbors as we made our way to the inauguration arena. As we came there, hundreds of Inner Disciples were already waiting, standing on the stone floor close to each other. I made my way toward the front of the crowd where I could see and hear better.
A few people grunted as I squeezed past them, but that was about it. Ten Elders sat around a table on a raised stone platform, sipping tea while they waited. Beside them was a wooden stand with a massive golden gong, decorated with various pictures I couldn’t exactly make out. A Disciple stood beside it with a hammer, patiently waiting for the next order.
The arena was quickly filling up while the Elders leisurely drank and chatted with each other. We waited for another ten minutes on so until the people stopped trickling in. There were murmurs between the Disciples, wondering what was going on.
I saw the disciple on the platform move from the corner of my eye and quickly covered my ears. Not even a second later the gong was struck for the second time, the sound and vibrations washing over us like a shockwave. The arena immediately fell into complete silence, with the sole exception of the ringing gong, of course.
The Elders stopped chatting and stood up, forming a line. One of them took a step forward and waved his hand toward the gong. The entire plaza immediately turned completely silent.
“Welcome, Disciples of the Sect.” The Elder began in a loud voice. “We have gathered here today to make an announcement. In the coming few weeks and months, an opportunity will present itself to you. An opportunity of a lifetime! For those chasing power, this is your time to rise! Once every century or so, a Beast Tide will wash over the land, bringing with it dangers and treasures alike. For those brave souls who wish to change their fate, this is it, prepare to fight with your lives on the line! For those that are afraid, prepare to experience the darkest time of your miserable lives.” His last words were said with scorn.
Clearly, cowards weren’t welcome in the Myriad Beasts Sect. The disciples began quietly murmuring to each other, still not quite sure what was going on. It was so for both the new guys, as well as those Cultivating for decades already.
The Elder took a step back, and another took his place.
“I am sure most of you are confused.” He began. “But fear not. In the next five days, we will teach you everything you need to know, everything you need to survive the upcoming battle. I, as well as the other Elders here, will hold classes for the next five days, from sunrise to sundown. Everything will be explained. We will go over all kinds of monsters that you are likely to meet in the following weeks and months, strategies to fight them, their classifications so you don’t accidentally fight something above your league, as well as various tricks in extracting the most value from the fallen creatures. Resources will abound for those brave enough to take them. But beware to not bite off more than you can chew, you only got one life, and you are solely responsible for it.”
After the short speech, he took a step back and a third Elder came forward.
“Any questions you might have, save them for later since most of them will be answered in time. Now, spread out in ten groups equally and follow an Elder. The classes will begin now. While they aren’t mandatory, if you wish to stay alive, I would suggest you stay and listen to all of them.” The Elder then pointed with his hand at the Disciples. “Now, roughly 1,000 people here, go with the first Elder.”
One of the esteemed Elders, we still didn’t know any of their names, split from the rest and walked off the stage, standing to the side. The Disciples closest to him split from the crowd and went after him.
After what could roughly be counted as 1,000 people left, the Elder on the stage spoke again. “Alright, next group, follow the second Elder and listen well. Make sure to write things down if you have to, his words might save your life in the future.”
I was in the third group and many other people from our village were in the fourth. We went after the Elder and were led to an opened grassy field away from the bustling Inner Sect, where we sat down. We were still higher up than the Outer Sect, just further away from all the houses and shops.
“Alright, listen up!” The man began.
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He appeared middle-aged with a head of short dark gray hair and a well-trimmed beard. He was also large, at least three meters tall with wide shoulders and thick arms. It was the kind of refined man women of all ages would throw themselves at. He exuded confidence and strength, but also authority and wealth. And despite wearing but a simple white robe and a dark blue sash around his waist, nobody would dare call his attire cheap.
“My name is Ma Dong, but you can all refer to me as Elder Ma.” Elder Ma Dong introduced himself loudly. I did my best to keep my expression neutral and serious at all times. I could laugh at the old ghost’s name, but other Elders were out of the question.
“I will be your teacher for the next few days. Now, let’s begin!”
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The Elder began by telling us all about the Dragons in the north and the stuff about wild beasts running away, creating the Beast Tide. It was all I have already heard from Long Dong. What I didn’t previously hear though, was what Elder Ma said next, when speaking to us about the strength of the creatures we could expect.
“While figuring out the exact combat capabilities of a beast is exceedingly hard, people always strive for more control, for more knowledge. And even though it is impossible to be sure, brilliant Cultivators came up with a way to approximate their strength, even at a glance.” Elder Ma said. He pointed at the empty air beside him, and glowing white lines appeared, floating in space. It was some kind of list.
It was something called the Class System, and it was based mainly on size instead of Realm.
Elder Ma explained how the Realm of a Cultivator had little to do with his physical strength and combat ability, while you could almost immediately recognize a fighter based on certain characteristics of the body.
Classes were created so that the danger level of a beast could be assessed quickly and a proper response could be organized. Because, while the only thing differentiating Soul Cultivators was talent, Body Cultivators had massive differences between them.
“Cultivation can be described with a single word.” Elder Ma said, looking over the quiet Disciples. “And that word is Amplify!”
He paused for a moment, letting it all sink in. “Cultivation amplifies what is already there, meaning that those that are stronger in their Mortal form, become even stronger as Cultivators. Humans are by no means at the top of the food chain, though it might look like it so to some.”
He then went on and gave us actual examples of the Class System. Note that all these comparisons had to be made between members of different species while they were in the same Realm, or there would be no point.
Class I was anything human-sized, such as wolves or apes. Anything below that belonged in Class 0, such as Giant Rats and other vermin. Those were fated to never become a real threat to us.
Class II belonged to bears, tigers, feral hogs… Basic beasts that could overpower us, but not by much.
Class III and above required the human fighter to be armed to have a small chance of victory. In this Class belonged beasts the size of a van or a small bus.
Class IV. Humans needed a group of armed fighters in the same Realm as the beast to take it down, or alternatively, spend a lot of time and money preparing traps and a strategy. Mastery of various Martial Arts was also required.
Class V. It was the clear dividing line between the capabilities of beasts and humans. A fighter in a higher Realm was required to take them on unless the Cultivator was a one-in-a-million genius fighter with incredible talent, abilities, and powerful Martial Arts.
“Class VI and above…” Elder Ma said, pointing at the words in the air. “It’s best if you leave those alone as it is nearly impossible to take them down unless you are one full Realm above. And by that I mean 10 levels difference at the minimum!”
My head was spinning. Class III was the size of a small bus, while Class IV was already more than a full bus! What kind of monsters were those?! Imagine a bear the size of a bus at Nascent Soul realm, that would be crazy!
Luckily it didn’t work that way. General knowledge was that the limit for the size of a creature increased around one Class level per Realm, meaning you will never have bus-sized Golden Core ants because their lifespans were simply too short for that. Heck, they would die before even reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.
Though, then again, nothing was for certain. Maybe as the concentration of Qi increased gradually over the centuries, there would be building-sized ants in the far future.
“I know most of you will not be anywhere strong enough to be battling even just a Class IV for years to come, so consider this as a warning. If you see something that is much bigger than you, run! Don’t try to fight some hungry beast ten times your size, it won’t end well.”
A disciple lifted his hand to ask a question. “Esteemed Elder, how high does this classification go?”
“According to some of the ancient records, the scale goes up to Class X, however, anything beyond Class VII, such as the Dragons responsible for the Beast Tide, is already way above anything you will ever see. With a wingspan of a kilometer, they can quite literally destroy anything and anyone in their path. There are even some rumors that a few of the old Dragons even reached Class VIII, if you can even imagine that. What is above that, however, I cannot tell you, for I do not know.” Elder Ma explained in a serious voice.
Our group of young Disciples remained quiet in our stunned state. A kilometer wingspan! And it’s barely a Class VII! I could hardly believe it.
And I, the mighty Gerald, stood at a solid Class I, Nascent Soul I. And since Cultivation scaled exponentially, I was basically a grain of sand compared to a mountain. How high was the mountain in this analogy? Who fucking cares! That’s not important!
“Well, if nobody else has a question, then that’s it for today.” The Elder said. Even if anyone wanted to ask anything, they didn’t react due to sheer shock, so he finished the lesson.
“Tomorrow you’ll be learning all about Essence as well as a special Essence Extraction technique. You weren’t supposed to learn it quite yet, but these are special circumstances, so your growth will have to be sped up a bit. After the classes next week, you will return back to your daily tasks, but for these few days, just focus on diligently learning and Cultivation. Now go, class dismissed!”