Mortal Realm, Capital Planet of the Hoborg Empire, Main Continent, Cloudmount City, Divine Fate Mansion.
Thankfully, this boring but mandatory period was almost over. He then proceeded to check on the Holo-Net about the place he would go next. After a few minutes of browsing he raised his head up and his smile became radiant. On his Holo-Bracelet, one could see written in bold letters: “Immortal Pillar Academy”.
A few weeks passed by quickly with Guang Yang training relentlessly, until his results satisfied his teacher enough for him to be able to leave the property and enroll into the Immortal Pillar Academy. The latter being a Peak power in the Mortal Realm that was so widespread, that every Grade 2 and 3 planets in the Immortal Pillar Zone which were open to the public had one.
Of course, depending on the grade of the planet, the classes offered would differ since, they were dependent on one's cultivation base. They could go from simple Mana harnessing, to crafts like blacksmithing or Alchemy. As they were a teaching focused power, the numerous cultivators who graduated from the Academy kept adding their own insights and discovery to the main Immortal Pillar Bibliotheca linked to all the others, which ended up creating an immense reserve of knowledge that may only be surpassed by the learning institutions in higher Realms.
As greed was the hallmark of cultivators, one may think that all that precious knowledge would have incited greedy and murderous thoughts from some cultivators and even from other strong powers. And it did. A few times even. Until they were all exterminated by a bunch of strong graduates and the powers they were associated with, all wanting to repay the favors granted to them by the Academy. Many of them started as Rank 1 Cultivators with no prospects and in the end succeeded in ranking up once or twice. After all, the 'money' needed to enroll in the school may have been on the high side, but the school quickly set up some measures to avoid some cultivators not being able to join due to the lack of money.
They simply used a contribution's system with points that one needed to reimburse once they could. They could become a teacher's assistant, crafts mana items, hand over materials, or even become a teacher themselves for a subject they were proficient with. In addition, the price was adapted to the cultivator's capability. It meant that the price scaled depending on one's cultivation base and the class they wished to attend. The knowledge was so sought after that even cultivators from other peak powers came to the different academies to teach, just so they could have access to those.
Although the higher ups could let those people peruse their 'books' for simple mana stones, as the idiom said, 'something easily acquired will not be appreciated'. So, it was better to let those people earn the right to get what they were looking for. Also, it alleviated the need for qualified teacher. After all, not everyone wished to be a permanent teacher at the academies, and with the number of students, they definitely needed a lot of professors. One should note that every classes have different schedule. One could be once a week, once a month or even once a year. Thankfully, the knowledge corresponding to the classes one enrolled in were available for free at the Bibliotheca of their academy.
The upside was that it taught the students self reliance and independence. Two qualities that were essential for a Cultivator, since no one could cultivate or comprehend Laws for them. It was a hard but mostly fair environment. At least, as fair as it could be in the Mortal Realm where some people were only slightly stronger than Mortal without cultivation, while others could destroy entire cities with a slight punch.
Of course, Guang Yang was not anticipating his enrollment for the knowledge he would acquire there. After all, he had a wealth of it close to him in the form of his teacher. On the contrary, what he wanted was getting to know the people there, making some friends and having fun. As was mentioned several times, the boy was not even two years old, so he definitely craved interactions with his peers. As for his teacher, she knew that he needed to experience the 'Red dust of the Mortal world' for his mental development and to avoid getting stuck at a future bottleneck. A cultivator staying constantly in seclusion would not advance far. Or at least, not as far as he/she could.
Having made her decision, she contacted the headmaster of this planet, which she knew already as he was one of her 'clients'. Indeed, he bought many things for his school from her after knowing that she was the one behind all the new Items at the Auction House 'Misty Castle'. Thus, she let him know that her student wanted to join his institute, and that beside the normal classes, he would choose other optional ones when he arrived there. Also, she did not want him to have any special treatment, since his goal was not the resources there. The Headmaster was obviously elated at the prospect of the mysterious Lady's student coming to his academy. He thought that if he played his cards right, he might get closer to her and get even more benefits for the school. Thus, he notified her of the procedures for enrollment, which were quite simple, all in all, and reiterated his pleasure at welcoming a genius such as her disciple into their fold.
Although, he never met the child, he knew that for her to have chosen him, he had to be very talented. However, he still kept his calm, since he met many genius children before. Indeed, to become a Headmaster of a school on a Grade 3 Planet, one had to be a teacher for a time at one of the best academies in the strongest Empires. However, if he knew the boy's true potential, he would probably not be as calm as he was.
Back at the estate, Bai Yue gave some instructions to Nung who was put in charge of taking care of the paperwork for the enrollment, taking Guang Yang over to the school, as well as protecting him from the shadows. After all, despite trusting the Academy's integrity as a power, she was aware that accidents were prone to happen when you were the least expecting it, and black sheep could also be found even in the most pristine flock. One had to remember, that the boy was only at the Early Level 3 in his cultivation, and any Rank 2 or higher could kill him easily. She could avenge him, sure. But he would still be dead. That's why she decided not to take any risks, while still giving him his freedom. It was a delicate balance, but with the puppet's cultivation base, it was pretty easy. Note that she also notified the Headmaster, so that he would not be surprised IF he felt Nung, one day in the academy.
The reasons why she did not want to accompany him there were two-fold. The first being that she did not want to make him stand out too much, since she became a well-known celebrity in the Empire as soon as she started selling her Items at the Auctions and her picture circulated around in the powerful families circle. So, if she was to go there, they might task their children to make friends with the boy just to get into her good books, and as he never had any friends his age, he might fall for their tricks. Although, he would probably meet that kind of people in the future anyway as his strength increased, she hoped that he would have more normal relationships, and from there, being capable of distinguishing the difference between both true and fake people. She knew she might be overprotecting him usually, so she was trying her best to stomp out her impulses of keeping him around her all the time.
That led to the second reason. She wished for him to be more independent. After all, she knew that he relied a lot on her and his parents, which at his age was not a really bad thing. However, he was maturing very quickly and she knew that bad habits were hard to get rid of. So, she decided on letting Nung bring him instead of her. That took her a few weeks to resign herself to that decision, which was why it took a bit more time for her to let him go than she initially planned. But she still did it in the end.
When she saw the back of the normal looking flying car going through the gate of the mansion, she felt a bit wistful. “I can't treat him like a pet and keep him around all the time. If I want him to be my equal, I need to let him live instead of smothering him. I knew that already, but why is it so hard?” After staring at the empty gate for a full hour, she turned her head to her side and saw Guang Hua having the same wistful look on her face, while Hei Qiang was silently holding her hand, trying to transmit comfort through his touch.
When the man noticed her stare, he looked at her with a tranquil smile and nodded slightly. He then started talking, which broke his wife day-dreaming. “The two of you shouldn't worry. Don't forget that he may be young but he is not weak. He will also be protected by brother Nung, so he won't be in any danger. Also, you need to let him breath a little, or he might come to resent you in the future, despite his love for the two of you. After all, no one likes to be chained down.” Bai Yue nodded and said. “That's the reason why I let him go to the academy. I don't want him to have any regret in the future.” To which Guang Hua added. “Although I know you're both right, I still feel like I lost something. My heart feels pain.”
Hei Qiang then took her in his embrace and shared his wisdom. “Parents and teachers are there to guide their children and help them back up when they fall down. They do not own them. Remember what happened to Illia when her parents wanted to decide everything about her. Now she wants nothing to do with them. I'd rather let my son make mistakes on his own and let him learn from them, than him hating me for forcing him to do something he did not want to. It's a delicate balance but one I intend to maintain as well as I can.”
When he finished, he felt two stupefied gazes on him and turned to their origins, which were the two women. His wife then asked him, with an amused curiosity in her voice. “When did you become a sage full of wisdom, my dear husband?” Her question made him roll his eyes and answered while keeping his poker face which hid a bit of his embarrassment. “When I knew you became pregnant, I started to read books and watched videos on how to be a good parents... Since it was our first child, you know...” The last sentence was said in a lower tone, as he felt a bit flustered from being discovered.
When they heard his reason, the two ladies started to chuckle, which prompted him to add. “Oh come on! It's not that funny, is it?” To which Guang Hua replied, while calming herself down from her laughter. “It's not the fact that you did that, which was funny. It was your expression when you explained yourself that triggered us. The contrast between the former and the latter was too funny.” He rolled his eyes a second time and said. “Whatever.”
Following the playful situation, the three walked back towards the main building, the two women feeling better after the bout of laughter, their mind and heart appeased. That was clearly Hei Qiang's goal, which he reached, although not in the manner he was first expecting.
Back to the Nung and Guang Yang. The two were speeding through the air, following the road crossing through the Noble Quarter in the direction of the Crescent Plaza. As it was early in the morning, the boy could see numerous people in flying cars seemingly going to work. There also were a few carriages pulled by Mana Beasts, the latter being a lot weaker than the Companion Beasts of Illia and Marc. Carriages like that were mostly used by Nobles since it was a lot less efficient than having a flying car with a small mana gathering formation installed inside, which rendered obsolete the need for fuel. The former needing to be fed, procured cultivation resources, pampered, etc. All in all, it was mostly a proof of status than a mean of efficient transportation.
As for what kind of people were considered Nobles? There were two kinds. The first being those with official positions in the Empire. Their influence depending on their personal power or their family's. The latter being more risky, since it depended on external power, and one would never be completely safe from an assassination. Others would also find you more persuasive if you could 'convince' them by being able to pummel your opinion on their faces with your fist.
Which led us to the second kind of Nobles: The powerful cultivators. With their exceptional power, most established organizations respected them. After all, if you did not like the current Emperor and you were more powerful than all the cultivators protecting him, then you could just get rid of him casually. Like with Bai Yue and the previous Emperor. That's why, 'Officials' tried to befriend those cultivators and automatically granted them the Noble's status. A self-preservation of a kind.
While he kept thinking about what his teacher taught him about the class system, Guang Yang noticed their arrival to the Plaza. Many people were walking around the place, some entering or exiting the many fancy shops dotting the peaceful scenery. Thanks to intelligent planning, the road dedicated to transportation were separated from those for pedestrians. It could also be said that due to the sheer size of everything of a Grade 3 Planet and almost everything on it, the city's architects had room to plan for huge infrastructures which blended well with the surrounding's nature. Unlike Ungraded Planets (Earth) where the mana was so lacking that any overuse of technology could cripple it. That and the ancient technology, which was destructive and lacked efficiency.
As their vehicle's AI controlled it to turn right towards the west of the Plaza, the boy was wondering about something, and after a few seconds of pondering, he decided to ask the man beside him. “Uncle Nung, teacher taught me that anything can cultivate.” “That's true.” “So, if anything can cultivate, does that mean that planets can cultivate too and increase their Grades?”
That question raised the puppet's right eyebrow, wondering how the boy's mind work to ask that kind of question out of nowhere. “They can. But it takes much more time than a similar rank cultivator to raise its Grade. Its lifespan also increases with the increase in Grade.” That puzzled Guang Yang, who asked. “A planet has a lifespan?”
That elicited a smile from the man. “It does. Everything has a lifespan. Rock, trees, planets... I wouldn't even be surprised that the Wanderer's Realms themselves have one... Although we would probably not live long enough to see it...” He finished in a mumble. “But how does that work? I thought that after becoming a strong enough, we'd acquire an unlimited lifespan?”
To which he replied. “Yes and no. It depends on your definition of unlimited. To explain better, you need to know that what we call lifespan is actually the amount of Lifeforce that our body can contain. Think of it as a bottle that keeps getting bigger as our cultivation base improves. However, Lifeforce is needed for pretty much everything you do, like moving, thinking, fighting, healing, etc. Have you ever wondered how we could re-acquire it?”
The boy answered. “Food, mana and rest?” The man nodded. “Exactly. However, there is a limit. Otherwise even a Mortal without cultivation could have unlimited Lifespan. The problem is the decreasing efficiency of 'recharging' your Lifeforce that becomes worse and worse as you use it. That's why warriors who gets hurt often, tend to live shorter lives, since they used up their Lifeforce acquiring efficiency faster than others. So, what are the benefits of increasing your cultivation Level and rank? There are two. The first increases the amount of Lifeforce you possess while the second increase the efficiency of its recharge. The reason why some cultivator are said to possess an 'unlimited Lifespan' is simply because their Lifeforce capacity is so enormous and their Efficiency so high, that even if the latter is not perfect, the loss would still be negligible. Unless one was hurt enough that is.”
“Of course, what I'm telling you is relative to the Three Realms and not anything beyond. After all, not even Lady Bai knows what's beyond the Divine Layer. But who knows, maybe one day we'll find out...” Nung finished talking, lost in his day dream. When he heard the boy's voice though, he immediately focused on his question. “But, uncle Nung, you still did not explain to me HOW the planet cultivate. After all, aren't we using their mana for ourselves? How can they cultivate like that?”
“No idea. The only thing cultivators know is that they seem to absorb a different kind of energy than us cultivators and that by having the latter breakthrough on the planet, it would help them Grade up. What people noticed though, was that, if the said cultivators had an inferior Rank than the Grade of the Planet, it would not help at all. If they had a similar Rank, then it would need a lot of them and it was up to luck it if worked. However, if they were of a higher Rank the chance for a Grade up increased by a lot. Of course, not many high Rank Cultivators would take the risk of breaking through on an inferior planet, since they may need the extra mana that the planet possess to help them Level up or Rank up. It could be the difference between succeeding or failing.”
“Anyway, I think we've arrived to the academy.” As the boy was trying to assimilate the lengthy explanation, the last sentence jolted him from his thoughts and he focused his mind on the huge gate in front of them. The excitement started to build up inside him when he saw the huge letters radiating a tranquil but also fearsome power over the gate: Immortal Pillar Academy. He thought, elated. “I can't wait to start my classes!”