On the following morning, Shen Hex left his dormitory and embarked on a long-awaited campus life.
High school courses can be divided into two categories: core subjects and elective subjects.
However, these core and elective subjects are not fixed—they are relatively designated as core or elective to avoid scheduling conflicts.
For instance, Shen Hex chose martial arts as his core subject in cultivation, so his elective had to be a non-cultivation subject, such as mechanical studies, pharmacology, or biology, because the curriculum alternates between cultivation and non-cultivation courses.
If both your core and elective subjects are in cultivation, you might face a class conflict, ultimately attending only one while inevitably missing the other.
Although Shen Hex didn't make this mistake, he chose a cultivation class beyond these two subjects.
Thus, on his first day, he encountered a scheduling conflict with classes in martial arts and cultivation being concurrent, forcing him to choose between the two.
He decisively skipped the martial arts class and went to the cultivation class.
"Hello everyone, I am your cultivation class teacher—Li Baiyun!"
An elderly man dressed in a white robe, with a clear, thin face, took the stage for a self-introduction.
Shen Hex glanced around the hall and saw there were hundreds attending the lecture.
So many cultivators?
Not necessarily.
Attending a class is simply learning, while cultivation refers to practice—the attendees aren't necessarily cultivators; they might just be…
"Cultivation!"
"This is a cultivation system and also a professional path."
Li Baiyun began his lecture: "It originated from the birthplace, the Holy Mother Star of the Empire, centered around the Daoist philosophy of Unity of Heaven and Man, absorbing Primordial Spirit Power from the world, commonly known as Spiritual Qi, to cultivate until reaching the realm of immortality."
"To enter this system, one must fulfill a requirement."
"Spiritual Root!"
Li Baiyun tapped his pointer, behind him appeared a flowing diagram of the human anatomy.
"This is the necessary qualification for cultivation, hidden in the Mud Ball Palace, that is, the brain, not a conventional human organ, but a special substance between the virtual and real, akin to spirit."
"It acts as a medium, aiding individuals in absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the world, putting them on the path of cultivation."
"Therefore, it's an indispensable qualification for cultivation, a hard requirement for transitioning into a cultivator."
Li Baiyun shook his head, looking at the hundreds of attendees: "However, this Spiritual Root qualification is extremely rare, truly one in ten thousand."
Upon hearing this, a sense of gloom spread among many in the audience, some even clenched their fists.
"Nevertheless, nothing is absolute. After hundreds of thousands of years of research, the Empire has successfully developed man-made spiritual roots and items for transitioning into cultivation. As long as you can afford it, even without the Spiritual Root, you can become a cultivator."
Li Baiyun offered some consolation, but the audience showed little joy because everyone knows neither man-made spiritual roots nor cultivation items are affordable for ordinary people.
Li Baiyun shook his head: "Even if one cannot become a cultivator, I still advise everyone to attend cultivation classes, Daoist Skill Classes, Buddhist Dharma Classes, and Wizardry Classes to understand the abilities of these professions. After all, you cannot guarantee you won't face such enemies!"
"Now let's learn the first concept of cultivation—Spiritual Qi!"
"..."
Shen Hex sat in the hall, highly focused as well.
His parents had tested him long ago; he lacks a Spiritual Root for cultivation, unable to absorb Spiritual Qi through conventional methods, and transition into a cultivator.
Yet, this doesn't prevent him from attending the lecture.
As Li Baiyun mentioned, you might not become a cultivator, but your enemies might be, understanding the various methods of cultivators isn't harmful and could be useful in times of need.
Additionally, as a transmigrator, he possesses the ability of Zhuang Zhou's Dream of the Butterfly, possibly transmigrating to a person with Spiritual Root qualification, thereby generating a cultivation system professional path, then transmitting it back through Ten Thousand Dao Fruit, breaking the limitation of Spiritual Roots for his original self.
If all else fails, he could still consider man-made spiritual roots and cultivation items; the path hasn't been completely blocked.
Finally, he also has the Yuan-Devouring Skill, a cultivation technique with a special nature, capable of cultivating even without a Spiritual Root, which may ultimately lead to the transition into a cultivator.
In conclusion, Shen Hex has ample reasons to attend cultivation classes; were he not restricted by Spiritual Roots, he would consider making cultivation his core subject.
The cultivation system is immensely powerful, even a Qi Refiner, which is the common path of cultivation, can outshine ordinary martial professions.
Being the first cultivation class of the freshman year, its content wasn't deep, comprising basic aspects, some of which could be found online, yet Shen Hex listened with keen interest.
Thus, as the class concluded, Shen Hex got up and left the classroom, had lunch in the cafeteria, and headed to another classroom.
The afternoon is reserved for elective courses, including a mechanical science class he opted for.
Technology is the primary driving force of production!
Compared to mechanics, human effort is greatly inferior, conventionally at least.
Shen Hex possesses the ability to traverse various worlds, harboring ambitions to establish accomplishments across countless worlds, thus he cannot detach from various technologies, especially those mechanics that don't require cultivation restrictions, learned by any ordinary person and utilized as potent forces for developing influences.
So, he selected mechanical studies as his elective.
"Mechanical Science!"
"Upon hearing these three words, students' first impression is likely steel, mechanical constructs composed of various metals, spaceships, battleships, even mechas?"
"This is a rather superficial understanding; in reality, the essence of mechanics is the application of all elements in the world, steel is merely one; if effective in serving a purpose, wood, stone, sand are all mechanical materials."
The elderly mechanical science lecturer smiled slightly: "I understand many choose mechanical science for its promising career prospects; even within the army, you can serve as a technician in a factory tightening screws, rather than risking life on the frontline."
"But I must inform you, the future for us mechanical professionals isn't merely factories and screws alike; we can stand shoulder to shoulder with cultivation and combat professions, matching them in longevity or combat prowess."
"Among the Empire's Ultimate Professionals, several represent the ultimate beings of mechanics; they are the Empire's towering pillars, each possesses the might to slay gods and vanquish demons."
"Hence, students must not lose heart, nor underestimate mechanical professions; our future is immensely vast, our prospects exceedingly bright..."
At five-ten, filled with motivational words, Shen Hex walked out of the classroom, heading towards the cafeteria while initiating a video call on his personal terminal with Zhong Qin.
"How's it going?"
Zhong Qin's avatar vividly bounced out: "Feeling good on the first day of classes, right?"
Shen Hex smiled: "It's all right."
"I knew you'd say that."
Zhong Qin shook her head, then shifted the topic: "Have you considered joining the Xingyi Society?"
Shen Hex chuckled: "I can join, but there are a few conditions."
"Conditions?"
"A few conditions?"
Zhong Qin looked at him suspiciously: "What might they be?"
"I'll tell you in person, meet me at the cafeteria."
"..."