The teacher continued after witnessing that his joke had landed somewhat successfully, "With that out of the way, I should talk about the very most important thing in cultivation, Heaven's will." His face was more solemn at the mention of that. "All of you are still youngsters, you're small-minded, immature, rash, impulsive, and almost every negative trait there is. To you, Heaven's will is mere empty words that old cultivators blabber on about. However, I implore you to have a bit of room in your minds that are riddled with dreams and whatnot, and give it a room to germinate."

"So," He said with a polite smile once again. "I hope you can empty your minds of all pointless chatter and listen well to what I am about to say." His body was continuously turning paused, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, his robes started to flutter on their own, and his body was steadily leaving the cold hard grounds behind.

The morning sun enveloped him in fragmented sun rays that filtered through the clouds and shrouded him in an almost mystical light. Shocking the disciples present.

With an emotionless face and a cool collected voice, he continued, "There is another very important element that distinguishes our cultivation from that of a rice seed, other than the complexity of our path. Consciousness, Soul, and the Dao. For us, conscious creatures, cultivation is the process of shedding our singular selves and becoming one with Heaven's will. It's when the wave disappears and realizes that it is the ocean. Other than the linear process which is very necessary in our paths to cultivation, there is a path that isn't as set in stone as the other. A pathless path if you will. A realization that cannot be reached simply through outward hard work, but through insights into the nature of the self and life as a whole."

He descended from his levitating and mystical posture and his face resumed his usual carefree smile, "I hope that on your path to cultivation, you will not forget and throw aside this very important factor. Do not abandon the root to chase after the branches." He scratched his head and softly chuckled, "And speaking of branches, today we will be ranking all of you. The higher the rank the higher the resources that will be allocated to your breakthrough, and some other benefits which you'll learn about later."

When Jing first learned that today there will be a lecture about cultivation he was initially indifferent to the concept. Thinking that it would be something bland and incoherent for some reason. However, for the very first time in this world, Liang Li's words managed to pull him out of his stagnated state of mind that was getting used to things to really appreciate the depth of what they were capable of.

With these new understandings, but more so reminders, he realized how absolutely miraculous the path of cultivation was. To transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. The taste of spiritual rice was still very vivid in his mind. It was like eating the rice of the gods. Each grain of rice looked so beautiful and unique in its own way, and when his teeth would bite into it a sudden explosion of taste would assault his taste buds.

Following Liang Li's words, several golden-robed disciples that Jing assumed were the teacher's assistants began randomly calling disciples to fight.

"Another fight?" Wang Fei asked with a dejected voice.

"Yeah..." Jing said with the exact same lack of excitement. "That's too many fights."

Zho Tu was sharing the same apprehensions as they were, but Shen Yun seemed more carefree. His eyes were greedily eyeing a slightly overweight female disciple one seat below them.

Jing's anxious mind couldn't help but take a turn for the better when he saw that, finding the situation entertaining. He remembered how Shen Yun was explaining to him how much he loved women who have a bit of meat to them, those were his exact words.

'A bit of meat,' He thought with amusement as he watched Shen Yun getting down the bench and scooting beside her.

Shen Yun sat next to the female disciple who had a white robe and said, "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"

Hearing the sudden voice, and more so the warm strong flesh that sat directly beside her, the female disciple's face flushed as she stuttered, "Oh... Yy...Yes... Um, who are you?"

Eyes bright and a sunshine smile, Shen Yun introduced himself, "I am Shen Yun, and I wonder what would be the name of a great beauty such as yourself?"

Jing, however, knew that there was a very sinister side to this seemingly innocent guy. From what he observed and what he learned from him, Shen Yun was very arrogant in a very twisted manner. Unlike the guy whom he had just tried to fight with, Shen Yun was more subtle with it. Just the fact that he was the undisputed number one in their dorm was something that he was sure was greatly loved by him.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

More than that, Shen Yun explicitly told him when they were in the inn, "A man's biggest desire will always be entering a woman. Most men become groveling weak cowards in the face of such a desire, but not me." He said that day with a confident smile. "My desire for it probably trumps most because I don't desire just women, and yet I would never lower myself to anyone for it. That is why you need to be creative so that the thing you desire most, would come running after you instead of the opposite."

He then went on to explain how overweight women tend to underestimate themselves a lot, and when faced with the advances from such a stud like him, they would immediately fall for it and beg him to enter them.

All Jing thought about at that moment was, 'Do you have to always use the word enter?' Either way, as a virgin, he very much enjoyed that discussion, albeit he was weirded out by it.

As Jing continued watching the female disciple get more and more red in the face as she spoke to Shen Yun, he knew that she was exactly where he wanted her to be. However, he knew that this wasn't their demonic sect where sex was rampant, this sect was both strict and traditional.

Moreover...

A male disciple suddenly climbed from the lower seats, eyes blazing as he looked at Shen Yun, capturing Jing's attention.

"You!!" The male disciple when he was but another seat away shouted. "What are you doing?" When he finally climbed he pushed Shen Yun away, prompting him to stand up with a cold look.

"Brother," Exclaimed the female disciple and Shen Yun immediately softened his gaze. "Fellow disciple," He said. "Please calm yourself down, I was just amicably discussing Teacher Li's lesson with her to exchange notes."

The brother coldly harrumped, "I knew where you were sitting before," He yelled. "You went over all of these disciples to come to talk to my sister? Begone, or else."

Shen Yun mischievously grinned, seemingly enjoying the affair even better with the addition of the brother. He gave a slight bow to the female disciple and said, "Farewell maiden Zhu Xie, and good luck with your fight, I will be cheering you on."

Zhu Xie shyly smiled and returned a nod, and her brother became even more furious.

When Shen Yun finally sat down beside them, the other two boys were terribly excited by all of it as they awaited his explanation. Witnessing that Shen Yun's smile became even more and he said, "It looks like I'll be playing a game of the fox stealing the hen in the next few days."

Jing naturally understood the reason he spoke in such a manner. Although Shen Yun appeared very mature, his ego knew no bounds, and he liked to dominate everything in his wake, especially men. That was exactly why he preferred sex with them even more, it added another pleasurable layer for him.

Those were the exact words used to describe it to Jing, and when he heard he became even more suspicious as to why he was being very generous with the details. In the end, he concluded that it had something to do with the fact that he was aiming for him too in the beginning and now he moved on from it.

Shen Yun's next words proved exactly that, "That guy sure thinks he's something." He said with a cold smirk as his eyes were glued to the male disciple who pushed him and belittled him in front of the others. "I'll see what happens when his dear sister is all mine."

Jing felt a chill hearing that, and he increased Shen Yun's danger several times in his mind. But he was glad they were allies. "Shen Yun," He said. "You need to forget about that now, you know what the sect says about premarital relations? You'll either be forced to marry if you're a good disciple, or be immediately thrown out, if not crippled."

All of these details were things that Xu Yun had explained to them around the campfire. Traditional sects had very strict rules and codes to uphold. Even wine was frowned upon below a certain age, much less sex between new disciples. There was a reason the female disciples lived very far from the males and their clothes were uniformly varied as well.

Shen Yun waved his hands dismissively, "I know what I am doing."

"I sure hope so," Jing sincerely said.

As they were busy talking, Jing caught something that made him pause. The disciple whom he had just argued with before the teacher came was gently approaching one of the teacher's assistant disciples at the side of the arena and began saying something to him.

At first, he wasn't too worried, but when he saw the disciple's finger pointing at him, and then the teacher's assistant began calling in his direction, his face paled.

"You!" He yelled from below, "Get down, it's your turn."

With a gulp and a palm that was generous with its sweat, Jing stood up with an anxiously beating heart.

"Good luck," Wang Fei and Zho Tu encouraged from the side.

The amphitheater had four descending stairs in every direction, and Jing moved right, to the one closest to him.

Along the way, his heart was filled with complicated emotions. The fact that he would lose was set in stone, that much he knew very well. If Xie Jing's memories were any indication, the people of this world fought a lot and so they were very versed in those arts. Compared to most of them, he was weak, unskilled, afraid, and easy to beat.

Step after step, he continued descending as the disciples near him whispered amongst themselves. Their quiet murmurs were echoing his same worries.

"Oh! This is gonna be interesting, these two were about to fight before Teacher Li stopped them. I wonder who will win?"

Unlike them, he knew who would win. He was just trying to process the humiliation that would come from it before it did. A preemptive preparation if you will.

When his and the instigator's gazes met, he became even more furious. He understood that no amount of will, anger, or a desire to win would have any effect on the outcome of the battle. He knew that very well, and that made him even more angry at himself too.