Chapter 6: Spirit Vein

Pu Liuxuan nodded slowly. "Correct. But do you know why, once students from all over the world turn eighteen, they can never enter the Academic Palace again?"

"This disciple does not know."

Li Ang honestly shook his head, waiting for his teacher to reveal the answer.

The solemn expression on Pu Liuxuan's face slowly faded as he spoke softly, "Because what the Academic Palace Professors teach the students isn't just the classics of Confucianism, poetry, and songs, or how to construct roads, improve agriculture, and other such principles of heaven and earth."

"The Academic Palace also teaches the Way.

The true Way.

The Way of Cultivation."

Li Ang's heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if he were standing on a cliffside plank path, fraught with unknown possibilities and dangers. "The Way... of Cultivation?"

"Exactly."

Pu Liuxuan nodded. "Flying through the sky and burrowing underground, Controlling Clouds and Driving Mist, crossing rivers and seas, and even, like in the storybooks, summoning a copper ball flying sword to take an enemy's head from a hundred miles away within a hundred breaths..."

Li Ang unconsciously asked, "Not a thousand miles?"

"COUGH, COUGH."

Pu Liuxuan choked for a moment. His face turned stern as he said seriously, "How could it be that fast? One must respect the rules of heaven and earth."

Even with a flying sword piercing through the air, you're still talking science to me, Teacher? Should we use aerodynamics to improve the flying sword's shape and increase its speed?

Li Ang continued to honestly admit his mistake and asked Pu Liuxuan to go on.

"In any case," Pu Liuxuan, interrupted by Li Ang, could no longer maintain his solemn and serious demeanor. He waved his hand casually and said, "the rule that those over eighteen cannot enter the Academic Palace is partly to dash the vain hopes of the mediocre, preventing a waste of manpower and resources during annual recruitment.

On the other hand, it's because humans are the spiritual apex of all creation, embodying the essence of heaven and earth. The vast majority possess at least a sliver of Cultivation Talent—which are Spirit Veins.

Ordinary people have five invisible and intangible Spirit Veins in their bodies. These Spirit Veins can connect with heaven and earth, nurturing the Divine Soul. Once a person passes the age of eighteen, all their Spirit Veins automatically close.

Cultivators, however, use various methods to irrigate, cultivate, and strengthen their Spirit Veins before they close.

They allow the Spirit Veins to grow strong like saplings, continuously drawing Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth, expanding the Qi Sea, forming a cycle, and thus mastering power unimaginable to ordinary people."

Pu Liuxuan said indifferently, "Although everyone has at least five Spirit Veins, having five is merely the most basic condition. Even with the best Energy-Introducing Skill and the finest Cave Heaven Blessed Land, one wouldn't achieve much in a hundred years.

Cultivators who can formally step onto the path of Cultivation usually have more than ten, or at least eight or nine. At the very minimum, they must possess seven complete Spirit Veins—and this is already a very lenient standard. According to information I've seen, over fifty percent of eligible children in Yu Country each year have seven Spirit Veins."

"Spirit Veins…"

Li Ang pondered, then immediately realized something was amiss. He often browsed the newspapers and books at the Yizhou State School but had never encountered such information.

Information that over fifty percent of Yu Country's eligible children meet the minimum Cultivation standard would be considered a state military secret. How did Pu Liuxuan...

"Curious how I know this?"

Pu Liuxuan picked up the already cold teacup from the stone table, took a sip, and said indifferently, "Fifteen years ago, I came to Yizhou City alone and became a teacher. Your father and I became close friends.

Before that, I was actually a Professor at the Academic Palace."

"Ah?"

Li Ang's mouth fell open in disbelief. The Academic Palace was the highest educational institution in Yu Country, its status even above that of the Imperial College.

Every graduate either enters one of the Six Ministries to hold an important position or joins the Military Department to expand Yu Country's borders. Alternatively, they might vanish to undertake clandestine missions unknown to ordinary people—such as sailing east to explore the Endless Sea and bring back exotic goods from various islands.

The Academic Palace itself was the highest and most influential institution in Yu Country. Simply entering it not only ensured a smooth future official career but also granted access to a powerful network, comparable to a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate.

And the exalted status of the Academic Palace Professors, who had once taught these pillars of the empire, needed no further elaboration.

"Don't overthink it."

Pu Liuxuan looked at Li Ang's utterly astonished expression. Sighing with a mix of amusement and sorrow, he gently set down his teacup and said lightly, "Thirteen years ago, I voluntarily resigned from my professorship at the Academic Palace, sealed my Cultivation, and returned to my hometown of Yizhou from Chang'an.

Last month, the Academic Palace sent a letter restoring my professorship.

And each year, every member of the Academic Palace's teaching staff receives one recommendation slot. This allows them to recommend a student to bypass the provincial examinations at the State Mansion and proceed directly to Chang'an for the Academic Palace's preliminary entrance test."

Pu Liuxuan's melancholic gaze rested on the fallen leaves on the stone table. He slowly spun his teacup, offering no explanation as to why he had resigned his professorship and sealed his Cultivation all those years ago, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

"I've known your father for many years, and I've watched you grow up. Although you show little talent for poetry and songs, you excel in flexible thinking. That might just be enough to get you through the Academic Palace's examination."

Pu Liuxuan raised his hand, preemptively cutting off Li Ang's excited gratitude. "A recommendation from an Academic Palace Professor is merely an admission ticket.

Whether you succeed will depend on your own abilities... and luck.

Wait here."

Pu Liuxuan stood up and walked back into the house, returning a moment later with a dusty scroll.

Li Ang took the arm-length Scroll Book, waving his hand to fan away the accumulated dust. "This is..."

"The Shangqing Linggan Chapter," Pu Liuxuan said casually. "It's a basic textbook of the Academic Palace, used to help students sense their own Spirit Veins. Actually, when you get to Chang'an, these things will be distributed to you. For now, you're just getting it a few months earlier than other students from poor families without influential backgrounds.

Those nobles and the descendants of great clans have been reciting this since childhood.

Just start reading it for now and see if you can make anything of it."

'Make anything of it...'

Li Ang was speechless. He unrolled the Scroll Book and scanned it briefly. Inside were abstruse texts, profound and obscure.

Phrases like, "It begins with the essence of yin and encompasses the brilliance of yang," and "On auspicious lunar days, it comes to illuminate the heart's chamber."

He couldn't understand any of it.

"Entering Cultivation relies on affinity and comprehension. Don't get bogged down by the words; instead, try to feel and experience it. If you can't even grasp this much, how will you compete against those Noble Disciples who've had over a decade of foundational training?"

Pu Liuxuan adopted a teacher's posture and launched into another lengthy admonition.

The entrance requirements for the Academic Palace don't just include Cultivation Talent. They also test classical texts, strategies, Horse Riding and Shooting, and other standard subjects. To get in, you'll have to work twice as hard.

"Alright, that's enough. You can go now."

Finally finished with his advice, Pu Liuxuan waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, and come back in seven days.

Every year, before the Academic Palace recruitment begins, Instructors and Assistant Tutors are dispatched to every State Mansion. They use a Compass to find children of suitable age with exceptionally outstanding Spiritual Vein Talent—after all, we can't let true geniuses be overlooked simply because they are illiterate or cannot afford to attend a State School.

When the time comes, have him use the Compass to measure the number of your Spirit Veins."

Li Ang, still reeling from the flood of information, nodded repeatedly. It wasn't until he had left the courtyard and stepped onto the bustling street that he fully came to his senses. He instinctively clutched the dusty "Shangqing Linggan Chapter" in his arms and silently quickened his pace towards home.

As he hurried along, he pondered, What exactly is a Spirit Vein? Can it be transplanted?