Library of Heaven’s Path

Having undergone the fifth acknowledgement of Celestial Master Teacher and stumbling across many fortuitous encounters, he had been able to raise his Soul Depth considerably swiftly. It did not take him long to reach a level comparable to 9-star pinnacle master teachers. Most likely, the only master teachers who could surpass him were Yang shi and a couple of others.

“29.1?” Hearing that number, Sword Saint Xing’s lips twitched.

He had thought that given how fast his son’s cultivation had grown, his Soul Depth would have difficulties trying to catch up. Who would have thought that his son’s Soul Depth was actually much higher than his?

“You… How did you cultivate your Soul Depth?” Sword Saint Xing asked in astonishment. “It should have been extremely difficult to raise one’s Soul Depth! Even with the assistance of a cultivation technique, it still takes tremendous effort and time in order to do so…”

It was common knowledge that the greatest limiting factor to a master teacher was their Soul Depth. In order to experience the vicissitudes of life, Yang shi concealed his identity and wandered the world for many years before he managed to raise his Soul Depth so high.

On the other hand, his son was only twenty this year, and he had spent his earlier nineteen years in a place as remote as the Tianxuan Kingdom. How could his Soul Depth be so high?

“How did I manage to do it?” Zhang Xuan frowned slightly upon hearing such a question. “I don’t really know. I have never cultivated my Soul Depth before. It simply grew naturally…”

Hearing those words, Sword Saint Xing’s face flushed completely crimson, and he nearly spurted blood. “Are you telling me that your Soul Depth grew to 29.1 naturally?”

Seeing how traumatized her husband was, Sword Saint Meng could not help but burst into laughter.

Of all people her husband could ask, he just had to ask their son. Was he not asking for a mental trauma?

The first time that they reunited with their son in the Empire Alliance, their son had only been at Saint 8-dan. However, within half a month, he was already an Aureate Body realm consummation expert… To attempt to compete with a prodigy of such a caliber, was it not obvious that he was asking for it?

“Is there a problem with my Soul Depth?” Zhang Xuan asked.

To be exact, calling it natural growth was not entirely accurate. However, it was true that he had never cultivated his Soul Depth before in order to raise it.

The golden page, acknowledgements of Celestial Master Teacher, Soul Tempering of a Mentor’s Calligraphy, sudden bouts of inspiration… each and every time that he encountered one of these, his Soul Depth would increase by 1.0 or even more. Given so, it was no wonder that his Soul Depth had risen to 29.1 so quickly.

“There’s nothing wrong at all,” Sword Saint Xing replied with a stifled look on his face.

While others ground themselves down to the bones in order to raise their Soul Depth by just 0.1, this fellow was actually able to raise his Soul Depth to a level comparable to Yang shi without even bothering to cultivate it.

If other master teachers heard that, they would surely lose all motivation to cultivate.

Having stayed quiet all this time, Wu Chen suddenly spoke up. “You won’t be able to reach Ancient Sage if you allow your Soul Depth to simply grow naturally. You need to temper it in order to make your state of mind more wholesome and resilient. Only then will you be able to advance further in your cultivation!”

“Does Soul Depth play a role in pushing for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

Strangely enough, neither the Three Premier Clans nor the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters had any books relating to Ancient Sages. As such, he knew next to nothing about the realm.

“Un. The crux to reaching Ancient Sage is to align one’s heart and will together with the world, thus granting one greater control over the environment. If one’s state of mind isn’t sufficient to harness the strength of the world, one will be at risk of turning into an idiot or descending into lunacy. It’s great that you are able to raise your Soul Depth quickly through natural means, but without undergoing any tempering, it will be nigh impossible for you to reach Ancient Sage!” Wu Chen seemed to be really familiar with this matter.

Then again, considering that he was a Sempiternal realm cultivator just like Yang shi, it was likely that he had been seeking a way to push for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage all this while. It would not be surprising for him to be well-versed in such knowledge.

“I see!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

He had an Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sage corpse in his storage ring. While he had no idea how far he was away from Ancient Sage, he could roughly fathom how powerful Ancient Sages were.

Even after the Ancient Sage’s death, the other party’s body remained so heavy that he had difficulty trying to lift it up. At the same time, the imposing aura that the other party emanated made it difficult for his Primordial Spirit to approach initially. These facts served as glimpses into how powerful Ancient Sage cultivators truly were.

Even though it was just a realm of difference between Sempiternal realm and Ancient Sage, this fine line demarcated the difference between a mortal and a deity. Naturally, the prowess of the two could not even begin to compare to one another.

Zhang Xuan thought that the difference lay in the accumulation of power, but who would have thought that Soul Depth actually played an important role as well?

“That’s not right…” A doubt swiftly arose in Zhang Xuan’s mind, and he quickly posed it to Wu Chen. “The advancement of Soul Depth is a requirement imposed only on master teachers, right? Given so, it’s unlikely for other cultivators to cultivate their Soul Depth. Since that’s the case, how can they achieve a breakthrough to Ancient Sage?”

Soul Depth was a requirement for the rank advancement of master teachers, which was the reason master teachers emphasized it so heavily. Other cultivators would not feel any need to cultivate their Soul Depth, and if so, would they not be unable to reach Ancient Sage?

“Ordinary cultivators do place great importance on cultivating their state of mind. Take apothecaries for example. If they weren’t in the right state of mind, the Tranquil Heart Pill they forged would be warped, thus transforming from a calming pill into lethal poison!” Wu Chen explained.

“The same goes for other occupations. If demonic tunists fail to cultivate their state of mind, how could they possibly conceptualize their intent through music to beguile their opponents? If formation masters neglect their state of mind, how would they be able to set up highly complex formations?”

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan fell silent.

He had faced something similar to this back when he was undergoing his 1-dan apothecary examination. Back then, there was an apothecary who had not reached Heart of Tranquil Water and thus lacked control over his emotions. He had attempted to forge Tranquil Heart Pills while his mind was not in a composed state, and the pills that he produced eventually turned out to be lethal poison that could kill the cultivators who unfortunately consumed them.

He could relate to how state of mind was important to a demonic tunist too. If he could not control his emotions, his music would only run amok. For example, during his demonic tunist examination at the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, he had needed to make the divine cranes dance along with his zither melody. However, if he had allowed his emotions to run wild, it was likely that he would have jolted them to death with his music instead.

Thinking about that, there were indeed no occupations in the world that demanded nothing of one’s state of mind. It was just that none of them were as demanding as the master teacher occupation.

“Before Kong shi’s era, the cultivation of Soul Depth was categorized under Will of Mind, and it was divided into many different levels. This is also where Heart of Tranquil Water, Lucid Mind, Unperturbed Spirit, Impervious Will, Impregnable Heart, Uninhibited Psyche, Incorruptible Soul, and the like come from…” Wu Chen continued on.

“However, Kong shi felt that such categorization is overly complex and hard to accurately gauge. Thus, he simplified the entire model through quantifying it with numbers, which gave rise to the Soul Depth that we are familiar with. The model has been adopted by the Master Teacher Pavilion, with every 3.0 points indicating a new tier. 1-star master teachers require a Soul Depth of 3.0, 2-star master teachers require a Soul Depth of 6.0, and so on. Going by this, 9-star master teachers require a Soul Depth of 27.0. The requirement on Soul Depth is much harsher than cultivation; those who haven’t reached the required Soul Depth cannot be promoted, even under exceptional circumstances!”

Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.

Kong shi had simplified the ‘Will of Mind’ model into the ‘Soul Depth’ model, and the Master Teacher Pavilion had adopted the latter as one of its promotion criteria. On the other hand, the other occupations still persisted in using the ‘Will of Mind’ model, which worked fine as well since they did not require such a fine distinction.

Of course, just because the other occupations did not adopt the ‘Soul Depth’ model did not mean that they would not temper their state of mind.

While both models worked fine, there were still some advantages to quantifying ‘state of mind’ in the form of ‘Soul Depth’. It would allow master teachers to constantly track their progress in cultivating their states of mind, thus encouraging them to adopt practices beneficial to advancing their Soul Depth. It was due to this that the Master Teacher Pavilion had become the leading expert in this field, and the other occupations struggled to catch up.

“I have been here once before, and if I recall correctly, there’s a place just ahead that allows one to temper one’s Soul Depth. It’s known as the Heart Pavilion. There are cultivation techniques in there that allow one to reinforce one’s state of mind, insights left behind by countless experts, and formations that temper one’s state of mind. Why don’t we head there to take a look? Since you have never tempered your state of mind before, you might be able to make considerable advancements through it!” Sword Saint Xing suddenly suggested.