The trees may want calm, but the wind will never subside

The Qi Condensation stage is the first step in a cultivator's journey. Qi condensation aims to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to condense inside the body in the form of a cluster inside a cultivator's body setting up a preliminary foundation for practising cultivation.

it's divided into nine levels with every three levels being a watershed.

In the first three levels, a cultivator can sense and absorb the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth to augment one's body.

In the next three levels, the cultivator gains the ability to emit spiritual energy to clad oneself in an armour of spiritual energy massively increasing the defensive ability of a cultivator.

In the last three levels of the Qi condensation stage, the individual can release spiritual energy over a distance.

But!

One cannot arbitrarily control spiritual energy else it would only lead to Qi deviation resulting in mental derangement or even death.

To control spiritual energy a set of special techniques are required and such techniques are known as spiritual techniques.

Spiritual techniques are a set of breathing techniques, incantations and gestures used to inspire and control spiritual energy to either augment one's body or perform miraculous tasks like releasing flames from your palm.

They are classified into three grades based on cultivation required to cultivate them- mortal, earth and sky grades which are further classified into low, mid and high.

To cultivate a spiritual technique the individual has to meet its minimum requirements, if a person wants to cultivate a sky grade spiritual technique that individual must have the cultivation of at least core formation, similarly the requirements to cultivate an earth grade technique is Foundation establishment while for the mortal grade is Qi condensation.

However, there also exist techniques that do not fall within such categories such as most cultivation techniques which can't be classified due to their special nature and individual peculiarities that render such classifications meaningless.

Each spiritual technique is the core secret of a cultivator and is monopolised by the major powers. Even within a great sect like ours each spiritual technique is treated like a treasure and can only be exchanged by using merit points.

Every single spiritual technique is a masterpiece in its own right; created after relentless pondering over the laws of the world and refined throughout generations to reach its present form. Each of them contains the insights of our predecessors granting anyone who cultivates it to perfection immense strength and further consolidates and refines their cultivation.

The mastery levels of spiritual techniques are generally divided into- Initial mastery, intermediate, advanced, pinnacle and grand perfection ...but there also exists another level of mastery so rare that it can only be seen once every few hundred years called as Overhaul.

Most individuals can only achieve advanced level mastery in a spiritual technique after years of hard work. Only very few individuals can achieve something greater.

Any individual who has reached the pinnacle level mastery is a renowned genius as the technique was meant to be mastered only till this level, thus it is also called as complete mastery.

but some individuals go further, mastering the technique till they reach the level of their creators - Grand Perfection. Each such individual is a prodigy among prodigies.

A low-level mortal grade technique, when mastered till pinnacle level, is equal in strength to most mid-level mortal grade technique while grand perfection is equal to high-level mortal grade technique.

Thus, it is better to hone a single spiritual technique to its peak than to cultivate many strong spiritual techniques.

"With this, today's lecture is finished", a middle-aged man with a solemn aura spoke as he left the hall.

"Finally, the weekly lecture is finished", Fang Hao inwardly yawned as he pondered on what to do next as he stood up to leave the classroom only to be blocked by a group of disciples.

"Junior brother Fang Hao, we have been ardently searching for you for three days, where have you been?", a young man gently asked as he waved a paper fan before continuing: We have a matter to discuss with you.

Fang Hao stared at the handsome face of the gentle young man as he pondered over the information related to him: the chief of the supervisor's department and Wang Chen's cousin - Wang Ming.

He belongs to the imperial Wang clan, the same as Wang Chen. Although his attitude appears gentle he is a wolf in sheep's clothing and while he says that he has a matter to discuss his only goal is to probably coerce me to withdraw my request for the gambling stakes and unlike Wang Chen whose cultivation was unstable due to the backlash of his cultivation technique, Wang Ming has extremely stable and strong cultivation and is recognised as one of the two strongest among the preliminary disciples although he is also at the peak of the third level of Qi condensation stage.

"Didn't you hear what the chief is saying!", a hot-tempered youth shouted from beside Wang Ming before stopping as Wang Ming raised his hand to silence him

Fang Hao woke up from his reverie as he replied curtly: Greetings Senior brother, may I ask what a person as distinguished as yourself has come here to discuss.

Wang Ming replied in a gentle voice: I heard you had a scuffle with my cousin Wang Chen, I just wanted to apologise for his rude behaviour. It was a small scuffle and there is no need for such heavy gambling stakes, after all, you are both members of the same sect and we should maintain the camaraderie of the sect one should be lenient where one can…

"As expected" Fang Hao internally groaned as he watched Wang Ming Talk Sh*t about the bigger picture and camaraderie while thinking: I don't want to get involved with this troublesome individual but right now, I need those cultivation resources to catch up for the lost years as I don't know how much time has elapsed since my departure...looks like I will have to buckle up and offend this smiling fox.