Theo's promise

"I don't want the two of you to feel too pressured, so I think it's high time to explain how I look at cultivation," Theo said, giving his disciples some time to gather up and then calm down.

'It's a good thing they only know the bare basics,' Theo thought as he used the moment of pause to confirm every point he wanted to bring up in his lecture. 'Thanks to this, I won't need to make them unlearn the wrong stuff.'

"First thing first, the optimal cultivation path is not wrong," Theo started from a different angle than any of his listeners could predict.

He was here to explain how revolutionary his own scheme was, so why did he start by agreeing with the flow he claimed he went against?

"The optimal path takes the entirety of the first realm of cultivation and just smashes it together. According to the optimal path, you should learn how to feel the spiritual energy, learn how to wield it, and then tone your physical body..." Theo took a short pause, letting the moment build up for a bit. "All at once. Without any regard for the purpose of any of the steps within the said realm."

Theo shook his head. He stood up from his chair and paced around the room for a little, giving his words time to sink in.

"The only optimal thing about this commonly applauded technique is how wide of a net it throws. It's true that it's a technique that allows nearly everyone to become a cultivator," Theo said, once again theoretically vouching for the cultivation path that he was supposed to advise against. "But it does so at the cost of severely limiting your potential!"

Theo raised his voice. He filled his expression with powerless anger.

Theo paced around the room some more, using the notion of walking to disperse his negative emotions.

"I believe that the entire first cultivation realm is a realm of strictly body cultivation," Theo finally revealed the crux behind his entire thesis.

'There should be no need to go into any further details,' Theo decided. He purposefully slowed down his manner of speech, not only to improve his presentation but also to give himself some time to think. 'Not yet, at least.'

"The first stage of the first realm of cultivation is strictly about conditioning your flesh," Theo finally touched upon the details. "The completion of this step happens when your body instinctively reaches out for the spiritual energy in the air. Once it happens, you learn how to sense the presence of said energy."

Three out of five of Theo's disciples already reached that step. Luo and Hugo lagged behind only a tiny little bit, still yet to reach that step.

In a sense, revealing the truth behind it was counterproductive for the growth of the two disciples. Because how it allowed one a better insight into the matter, it also presented the cultivators with a simple workaround.

And it was exactly the trick that the 'optimal' path was all about.

"Your situation is slightly different from the rest. That's why, I need you to train while keeping one rule in mind." Theo raised his hand with his forefinger stretched out. "You need to train hard enough so that you won't be even able to think!"

If left unattended, the two of them would likely actively try to seek the breakthrough. But if it happened due to the efforts of one's mind, then one's perception of the spiritual energy would be forever limited. Rather than becoming a second nature, it would be nothing more but a technique that would always require a conscious effort to activate.

This was the trade-off that Theo simply couldn't accept in the so-called 'optimal' path.

'And if it's already limiting everyone so much on the first step, then how bad does it get the further steps down the road? Theo asked himself, once again taking a short break to let the meaning behind his words settle in.

"If you can as much as think about sensing the spiritual energy, then you are not training hard enough!" Theo shouted, using a raised voice for the first time to reinforce just how important that point was.

'And that's just all a first step,' he then thought.

The workers continued to move around Theo's kitchen, fixing the broken tiles and equipment or simply reflecting all sorts of broken pieces with new models. And quite visibly, they were listening to Theo's lecture too.

Theo took a deep breath.

"The chants that I presented to the three of you will be essential to your growth through the second step of cultivation." Theo turned his attention to the rest of his disciples, finally moving on from stuff only applicable to Luo and Narid. "Right now, while you continue to train, I need you to keep those chants up. In this way, your bodies will bathe in the spiritual energy the chant will attract."

Theo finally concluded his journey through the vast expanses of the room's insides and returned to his usual seat. He took some time to get as comfortable as he could before bringing his eyes back to his disciples.

"The second step in your cultivation is a transitional one. It doesn't have a specified goal, a strict requirement that you must fulfill in order to properly achieve it. And this step is all about getting your body used to the presence of spiritual energy, effectively binding it down to your blood."

This time, Theo didn't hold back the theory behind the cultivating method. For the second step, he deemed it unnecessary to keep his disciples in the dark, as opposed to the benefits of actually telling them in advance.

"Whenever I see you train, from now on, I want to see you fully focused on chanting. And chanting every word, not the whole thing," Theo added with a grin.

'I didn't see any of them cracking this secret, yet,' Theo thought, quickly proving that he didn't reveal his entire hand.

He had no wish to make things too damn easy for his students, less they would grow used to it and thus easier to tempt by various shortcuts and cheap ways to advance in the future!

"This step is called blood purification, as absorbing spiritual energy into your blood will help you repel all sorts of impurities that you have inside of you," Theo advised.

Judging by the state of his own body, that was the general level of his cultivation. Yet, as he had a system instead of cultivation levels, it was only a rough assumption.

"Last but not least, there will be a body nourishment step, a stage that I expect all of you to enter before the month's end," Theo announced. "You arrive at the doorstep of this stage when your spiritual energy will seep through your blood and into your bones, completing the bodily cultivation."

Theo took a deep breath to calm himself. Immersed in his own words, he didn't even realize the state he put his students in.

They were gazing at him wide-eyed.

'It looks like they finally started to realize it,' Theo thought as a confident smile crept up on his lips.

He then smiled.

"Didn't I promise it to you guys?" Theo then asked as he shook his shoulder. "I will make you monsters within a month's time. And by that, I meant at least third-stage cultivators. Or in other words," Theo leaned his head over his shoulder, "sect candidates for the inner sect!"