Chapter 13. Know Your Enemy.

"First, let's address the incident that just occurred. The attack of novice Achil on novice Oberin. I'm not interested in the reasons or who is to blame. Battles within the sect outside of competitions or without the permission of a deacon or elder are prohibited. Since you may not have known this, I'll let it slide this time. But if something like this happens again, the consequences for the attacker will be very grim, I assure you. So, for your own good, I hope such incidents won't repeat."

"But enough of getting distracted by trivial matters. Let's get back to why we are here for today. To the lesson. Now I will tell you the basics of the basics, what makes us exist and..." began deacon Gerhard his first lesson.

The next few hours were utterly uninteresting for Rand. This deacon was repeating the same things that the old man Byron told him literally yesterday, and even then he was tired of it. About the power of Qi, cultivators, immortality, various paths, and powerful techniques... The main advantages of Gerhard's narration compared to Byron's story were the liveliness of his monologue and the absence of the need to react to his words. There was no need to say things like "Yes, teacher" or "Thank you for sharing your wisdom" at the right moments. Rand could be half asleep and think about his own things. He even managed to nap quite well; after all, he had cultivated for most of the day yesterday and all night and was quite tired. At his cultivation level, he couldn't yet do without sleep or fully replace it with meditation. So, such a lecture was something like a relaxation for him.

Of course, Rand still devoted some of his time to one thing. Studying his future competitors for the sect's resources. Although he had a significant advantage over them, he wouldn't look down on or underestimate them. An ancient mighty cultivator once said, "Know your enemy, know yourself, and you shall not be defeated in a thousand battles" — and Rand fully agreed with this statement. If you know the strengths and weaknesses of both yourself and your opponent, you've already almost won. If you neglect this wisdom, no matter how strong you are, you'll have a chance of losing.

And although a simple visual inspection couldn't tell everything, it often allowed him to surprisingly learn a lot.

Out of the forty-six candidates who were on the square, only thirty-nine made it into the sect. After all, the second and especially the third tests were not meant to weed out too many people. Only the most useless ones were thrown out — those who barely passed the talent test at the artifact obelisk but didn't show enough willpower and character in the second one. Those who were eliminated by the third test were always few, and sometimes even none.

To this group of thirty-nine, eleven more people joined. Presumably, they were those who bought their places or got into the sect by other means.

There were fifty people, and Rand was fifty-first in the group. But most of them didn't seem particularly remarkable to Rand at first glance. Just ordinary kids and teenagers. Only a few people managed to intrigue him.

First and foremost, he noticed another cultivator in the group. He was also at the first level of Qi Condensation. He was a short boy who looked about twelve years old. He was dressed in a robe-artifact, the exact quality of which Rand found difficult to assess at a glance, as it was made in a special way to conceal it. Only upon activating its protective mechanisms could one be sure of how good it was, but at the very least, it wasn't worse than not worse than his robe, given by the master. He was one of the eleven who came without tests. So, he was either the disciple of someone significant in the sect or a relative of someone important. But in any case, he shouldn't be underestimated.

Then he spotted a boy in the square who had the Eyes of the Blue Flame. This was a truly powerful gift, although its usefulness in cultivation wasn't as much as that of the Pure Lotus Body, but it gave its owner extraordinary attacking potential. In his hands, any techniques related to the eyes would be much stronger than usual and would also possess additional destructive properties. But even now, being still mortal, practically without Qi, and knowing no techniques, his danger shouldn't be underestimated. If needed, he could burn half of those present with his gaze, although he would pay a high price for such an act.

Next, Rand began to inspect the others. There were several people with gifts of lesser quality, for example, a boy with the Great Strength gift. He looked like a two-meter pumped-up brute with the face of a twelve-year-old boy. Initially, his gift would be quite remarkable, but unfortunately for him, although this strength bonus progressed with cultivation, it was too insignificant to play any important role in the future. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, this gift would be no better than an average technique.

Another was a girl with the Ice Body. Her skin was as white as snow, and her bluish hair let light pass through it, as if made of crystal-clear ice, and didn't resemble anything a human should have. Her gift was quite good, although it couldn't compare to Rand's or the boy with the blue eyes' gifts. It improved many characteristics of the practitioner and, unlike the Great Strength gift, would be beneficial even in the later stages of cultivation. Some would laugh that she ended up in a sect with the word "fire" in its name with such a gift. But in reality, this wasn't a problem, as the sect primarily specialized in transforming into dragon-like creatures, and those were known for their great variety: fire, metal, water, and many others. There would always be a suitable one for a certain talent or gift, even if fire ones were the majority.

Then he noticed a girl standing in the distance wearing a hood. At first, he didn't pay much attention to her, as she stood out only by her shyness. But then he noticed that the hood bulged slightly in places it shouldn't. Only thanks to his enhanced vision could he see that she had small horns protruding, and there were several scales on her neck. And this means, considering that she was here and still an ordinary mortal, that she wasn't entirely human. She had a beast lineage. But what and how strong the lineage in her was, he couldn't know, of course. But she could undoubtedly be dangerous and would be one of the potential competitors for resources.

And also... Rand hesitated whether to mention the boy who looked at most ten years old. Compared to the others he noticed, he didn't stand out with any outstanding qualities, but there was something off about him. Not only was he not paying much attention to the deacon's speech about the basics of cultivation, but what could be more important for someone who was just getting acquainted with the path of immortality? But he was also, like Rand, observing his "neighbors." But unlike Rand, he did it openly and raised his head slightly higher than necessary, as if looking at something above people's heads. If Rand hadn't had more experience in observing others, he would never have noticed such a detail. This was the same boy on whom the artifact obelisk broke. Although the elder said the boy wasn't to blame... A very strange guy, and strangeness often brings with it the unknown, which attracts danger. It's worth keeping an eye on him.

Rand didn't doubt that he could miss someone potentially dangerous among his classmates. No matter how much he trusted his observation skills, too many things were invisible to the eye, and, as he knew from his experience, even more things could be hidden. Only in the competition in seven days would he be able to see a more or less complete picture of who was worth what.

While Rand was examining his classmates, Deacon Gerhard had almost finished his hours-long lesson.

"What does mean reaching the stage of Qi Condensation? The fact that the practitioner was able to form a dantian in his body. What does this give a person? It means that now their body can store a significant amount of Qi, hundreds and thousands of times more than in an ordinary mortal body, and also that the person at this stage is capable of controlling this energy and therefore applying various miraculous techniques. But these are far from all the advantages available to a practitioner who has reached this stage. They gain longevity, almost unimaginable for mortals; living to be a hundred and fifty years old will not be a problem for them. Naturally, their body becomes significantly stronger, faster, and more agile; their hearing and vision are greatly improved, and ordinary diseases and ailments cease to bother them. And these are far from all the main advantages that they can receive. Various cultivation methods also provide additional improvements. For example, our main cultivation method at the initial levels greatly increases stamina and physical strength compared to ordinary methods, as well as additionally improving blood circulation and regeneration.

The stage of Qi Condensation consists of nine levels. If at the first level you form a dantian, which looks like a small lake of Qi, then at the subsequent levels, you will expand this lake. By about thirty percent for each level. But I'll tell you more about the changes when reaching different levels another time, when most of you have already become cultivators.

"Now we will conduct a small demonstration of what you will be able to do if you reach the first level of the Qi Condensation stage, using our Mythical Blood cultivation method. Oberin, come here," Rand, only slightly surprised, obediently followed the request.

"This young man has already reached the stage of Qi Condensation and has gained superhuman strength. Oberin, show your classmates what you are capable of, lift this small five-hundred-kilogram stone," his ring flashed with light, and a boulder of decent size appeared next to Rand. And he, without much difficulty, as asked, lifted it over his head.

"Thank you, Oberin, you can return to your place now. This was a small demonstration of what a person can do with cultivation, who was just an ordinary mortal yesterday. I hope that all of you will also strive to reach the stage of Qi Condensation as soon as possible. And I'm not just saying this because in seven days we will have a competition, with good prizes that will help you a lot in the future. Right now, this young man has very good chances to surpass all of you and take first place. So I hope that each one of you present will try to catch up with him and also compete for the best places in the standings.

"Now we will go to the Library so that you can receive your first cultivation method. Tomorrow will be your first day of practice. It's better to cultivate for the first time under the supervision of seniors, although many disregard this. But I advise you to come here so that I can watch over you and help you in case of any unexpected situation. Those who have already reached the first stage can skip tomorrow.

"Does anyone have any questions?"