Chapter 29
Du Ming'an can guess what the children are thinking even if he doesn't observe their expressions.
He smiled bitterly.
"Those who know the legendary names are either powerful enough to enter the legendary mage's field of vision, or have a close relationship with the legendary mage, such as the children or disciples of the legendary mage...
If they are in danger, they can receive the legendary mage's help without needing to praise the legendary mage's name.
" Du Ming'an didn't say that if the legendary mage in such a situation doesn't intervene, then it must be because the legendary mage doesn't think it's worth it.
Praising the name is just a way to make the legendary mage perceive something.
But this is not the only way.
Du Ming'an looked at the slightly disappointed faces of the children and changed to a more cheerful tone.
"Praising the legendary name can make the legendary mage have a response, which comes from another rule between heaven and earth.
"When an individual's strength reaches a very high level, they will have a very strong perception of things related to themselves.
Even if someone is far away from him and talks about him, he can still know.
"For those with slightly lower strength, only when their name is mentioned and they are clearly thought of at that moment, will they perceive it.
"For those with higher strength, even if only their title is mentioned, they will know.
"For those with even higher strength, even if their name is not mentioned and various aliases are used instead, they may still know.
" The children did not exclaim this time.
But their expressions showed how shocked they were.
Du Ming'an let them digest it briefly and then said to them, "The first to have such abilities were the gods.
" There are still temples and churches in this world.
But the power of the gods in this world is not strong.
This is the credit of the seven legendary mages, as well as the countless magicians and knights who have embarked on the path of cultivation.
"Thousands of years ago, the seven legendary mages had not yet built the magic towers.
At that time, the gods were the strongest, and the church held supreme power.
"But the church could not suppress the monsters in various places, allowing the monsters to attack human territories wildly.
The habitats of elves, half-elves, orcs, dwarves, and others were all destroyed.
"The world was in chaos, and countless people were still praying for the mercy of the gods, asking the gods to perform miracles and restore peace to the world.
"But the church only sold 'peace vouchers' at a high price, and only those who could afford it could move to safer areas.
"At that time, the church monopolized the channels of cultivation.
Those with cultivation abilities either signed a lifelong contract with the church to serve it forever, or they could never awaken.
" Du Ming'an paused imperceptibly here.
He thought of the contract that Hausman almost signed with the Hall family.
That was a legacy from the era of the gods before the era of the magic towers.
So the contract was not expensive, but its effectiveness was very strong.
Even if the other party who signed it had grown to a very high level of strength, it was still difficult to break free from the constraints of the contract.
"But the church's monopoly was eventually broken.
"The seven legendary mages appeared in the world.
Some of them had strong abilities from the beginning, while others rose step by step from the bottom.
"What was the same was that they all eventually reached the peak and became the only seven legends in the world.
"They imparted knowledge of cultivation, they enabled more people with potential for cultivation to become mages, knights, giving them the ability to drive away monsters and defend their homes.
"The seven legendary mages once fought against the gods.
After the war, the seven legendary mages established the magic towers.
"Since then, the world has entered the era of the magic towers.
"The gods still exist, but their influence is not even one-tenth of what it used to be.
" This is the overall situation of the world now.
Ordinary people may not be clear, but those like Du Ming'an must know it by heart.
"We do not know the true names of the gods, only their divine names.
But when we pray, the gods may still hear our prayers.
" "This is the evidence that the gods can know things related to them through others praising their names.
"They can also selectively perceive, not really needing to listen to all prayers and praises for a lifetime.
"The Seven Legends can win in the great battle with the gods, so naturally they also have this ability of the gods.
"So..." Dumina paused again.
He smiled meaningfully.
"In fact, praising the titles of the Seven Legends may also get the assistance of the Seven Legends.
But just like praying to the gods and happen to really let the gods hear your prayers, I don't know how lucky you have to be for it to come true.
"Many magicians, lords, and knights like to use the titles of the Seven Legends, as if this way they can get the assistance of the Seven Legends.
"It's also fortunate that the Seven Legends really don't need anyone to mention them once, and they have to listen to what everyone says once.
Otherwise, they would be too busy.
" The children all laughed, and Dumina laughed along.
He waited a bit, seeing the children almost done laughing, then clapped his hands.
"Now we know how our world transitioned from the age of the gods to the age of legends.
Hmm, the age of legends can also be called the age of magic towers.
"Next, I will tell you about the two ways of cultivation.
These two ways run parallel.
In the age of the gods, all cultivators practiced 'divine arts.
' "At that time, those who practiced divine arts could be divided into several professions such as priests, holy warriors, paladins, and shield masters based on their mastery of different spells.
Among them, priests were the most important.
"And all sufficiently powerful cultivators would receive the title of 'Church Guardian.
' "Today, these titles have not changed much.
"Children, remember, paladins and knights are different.
Paladins are a type of divine arts practitioner, while knights are a collective term for practitioners who can only cultivate qi.
" If a knight can still practice magic, he will be called a magician.
His identity as a magician will replace his identity as a knight.
Dumina looked at the children's faces, who seemed to understand but not quite, and continued speaking to them: "Divine arts practitioners do not need to train their perception abilities like magicians and knights do.
"All they need to do is pray to the gods they believe in.
"The stronger their faith, the further they walk in the footsteps of the gods, the stronger their power becomes.
"So, the cultivation of divine arts practitioners is completely different from the cultivation methods of magicians and knights.
"However, in the age of legends, the gods have been defeated by the legends, and the divine arts practitioners of the gods will also refer to the cultivation methods of magicians and knights to enhance their strength.
"Now let's talk about the basics of cultivation for magicians and knights, namely perception.
" Dumina glanced at Jad slightly.
"Perception is divided into two parts.
The first part is an ability that everyone can train and improve, which is the ability to observe the world.
"As long as we develop the habit of being more attentive in our daily lives, constantly paying attention to whether the environment has changed, we can enhance our perception.
"Just like when spring comes, everything sprouts; when summer comes, the trees are lush; when autumn comes, the fields are abundant; when winter comes, the snow covers the ground.
"This is something we can all see.
We can all discover.
"It is also perception.
It makes us aware of the changes in the four seasons and the passage of time.
Just like now, do you feel it's getting darker?" It seemed that a cloud passed by outside, blocking the sunlight shining through the open door of the stone house.
The already poorly lit stone house became a bit darker.
However, the cloud cover was not thick, and the darkening of the light was not very noticeable.
The children looked at each other, quickly showing expressions of surprise.
Some of them noticed it but didn't pay attention, while others only noticed when Dumina pointed it out.
Jad looked up at Dumina, his eyes full of anticipation.
" He listened to Du Mingna introduce more perception-related knowledge, and he could understand it more quickly, which is part of general perception.
As long as one is willing to be attentive in life, this ability can be improved.
When Du Mingna saw that the children had almost finished discussing with each other, he continued: "The second part, which also determines the perception of whether one has the talent for cultivation, is the mysterious ability.
"Just like if there is an ant crawling by your feet, if you happen to look down at that spot and notice the ant, that is the first part of perception at work.
"But if you don't look down at your feet, even looking up at the sky, and you feel that there is something special by your feet, you even feel that the unusual thing is moving, you may even directly think that it is an ant... "This is the mysterious perception."
Only when you have this ability can you possibly embark on the path of cultivation.
"At the very least, when you are standing relaxed on solid ground where there should be nothing moving, and you are not looking at the ground, but in the moment when the ant crawls by, you sense something 'unusual' by your feet, then you have the foundation for cultivation." As Du Mingna continued, his tone became heavier.
This is indeed the foundation.
Normal people who can embark on the path of cultivation should be able to notice similar movements when relaxing or focusing on perceiving their surroundings.
Of course, at a higher level, the perception of cultivators will become more flexible.
Cultivators can maintain a high level of sensitivity at all times, or reduce sensitivity, only accepting corresponding special information.
If perception is too strong but cannot be controlled autonomously, a person will be sensitive to any slight movement and will have stress reactions.
Over time, this can drive a person insane.
There are also some cultivators who have been striving to improve their perception, but have not timely developed their control abilities.
They have much stronger control than beginners, but still remain in a highly sensitive state prone to stress, and may go insane at any time.
Their behavior will be different from others even when they are not insane.
Du Mingna looked at Jade again.
He saw Jade looking even more puzzled.
Because according to what Du Mingna had just said, Hausman must now have the mysterious perception, otherwise he would not have noticed the snake silently behind him.
Du Mingna smiled at Jade.
"Being able to perceive an ant, to go further, you need to perceive the 'elements' that are everywhere around us but difficult to discover.
"They usually exist in the form of particles.
In the perception of perception, they may also emit different lights.
Some perceivers with stronger perception even say that different elements not only emit different lights, but also have specific appearances.
"Being able to perceive elements..." At this point, Du Mingna suddenly stopped.
He had intended to continue by mentioning incorporating elements into the body, condensing the elements in the blood sea or spiritual sea to truly embark on the path of cultivation.
But deep down, he felt he should not say it that way.
He actually held a skeptical attitude towards this method of cultivation.
Anyway, these children have not even practiced the basic perception yet.
Even if they have talent like Jade, they cannot achieve the incorporation of elements into the body in a short time.
He still has time.
The thought quickly passed.
Du Mingna looked at the children, who were now showing confusion due to his pause, with a smile.
"Once you can perceive the elements, you will discover your affinity with the elements.
Some people can be in harmony with all elements, while others can only be in harmony with specific types of elements.
"I will teach you more once you can perceive them.
"Mysterious perception requires talent.
But if you seriously train your observational perception, you can actually judge whether there are special circumstances behind you by the faint sounds that may emanate.
"Once observational perception is trained to the extreme, it is possible to give birth to mysterious perception."
"Many people develop their observational and perceptual abilities through training, in order to gain profound perceptual abilities.
Only a very small number of people may be naturally gifted with profound perceptual abilities.
The difference in talent for profound perceptual abilities just means that it may take longer to develop through training, rather than having no chance at all to acquire profound perceptual abilities.
With perseverance, anything is possible.
This is the first lesson I am giving you in the foundational practice course.
"