Aside from this short interlude, the day continued as it should. Muni received and answered questions about cultivation for one hour. Then he spoke about Metacs for one hour.
After two hours of lectures, he let them go to the market. Loki didn’t go this time around. He continued to sleep in class.
After class, he went back to his accommodations and slept again. So, for Loki, the second day of initiation was spent doing nothing. But the third day was not like this.
On the morning of the third day, he was not sleepy at all. He was clear-headed enough to ask Muni a question about cultivation during the morning question-and-answer session.
He raised his hand to Muni to indicate that he had a question. When he was called, he said, "How do we advance to rank 2?"
Muni didn’t like that he was already asking about rank 2, so he scoffed. But he still did his duty and answered the question.
He said, "In order to advance to rank 2, you must have a Core Metac which you can activate with an energy saturation of 100% per second. So both your skill level and energy density must reach the limit of rank 1."
"Once these two requirements are met, you will have to advance your Core Metac to rank 2. This will elevate your existence and bring you to rank 2, too."
"Of course, your Dao heart must be at rank 2 so that your willpower will not be eroded by the Core Metac and lose control. So there are actually three requirements to advance to rank 2."
His reply was enlightening, but it also gave Loki more questions. So Loki raised his hand again to signify that he had more questions.
This made Muni groan inwardly, but he still said, "What is it?"
Loki took the opportunity to say, "What is skill level, and how do I advance the Core Metac? Also, why does Metac erode willpower?"
This time, Muni groaned outwardly before saying, "You’re biting more than you can chew. Wait until you get your Core Metac before you start asking me those first two questions."
"As for the third question, the reason Metac erodes will is that Metacs are fragments of the world and require willpower to control. Without enough willpower, a cultivator will turn into a mad demon that will attack anyone it encounters."
"Some say that by using Metacs, we are stealing the power of heaven and that we need to constantly prepare for the Wrath of Heaven. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that Metacs are in no way docile."
"I also know that there are occasional bouts of inner demon tribulations, and if you fail these tribulations, the inner demon will take over your body. So a strong willpower is very important for using Metacs. We will talk more about how to refine the Dao heart and increase willpower after you have acquired your Core Metacs."
He spoke the last sentence with a glare at Loki. This made Loki understand that Muni had run out of patience with him. So he didn’t ask more questions.
The day resumed its normal course of actions after that. A guest speaker from the Enslavement Pathway came to speak to them about the Enslavement Pathway, and they brought enslaved beasts to show everyone.
The following day was the fourth day of the initiation program. The guest speaker, wrapped in a dark cloak, came to speak to them about the Death Pathway. The wraiths also made their appearance.
Next was the fifth day of initiation. The guest speaker was a cultivator from the Forging Pathway. This showed them flying swords and other flying weapons. They also spoke about how the forging Branch needed a lot of money to start out.
The following two days were spent with guest speakers from the pathway of mind hunting and the Money Pathway, teaching them about their respective pathways. By the end of the seventh day, everyone in class had learned the pros, the cons, and the requirements of the five pathways and were ready to pick their Core Metacs.
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After many days of lessons and lectures, Loki had learned that the pathway of forging required the least talent, but it also required a lot of money in order to forge tools. But the advantage of this pathway was that one could use it to forge tools to sell to other pathways, which was a way to earn money.
He also learned that just because it required the least talent didn’t mean that it was the easiest pathway to excel in. This was because forging required hardwork and skill.
The art of controlling weapons also required an intelligent mind, so that controlling weapons would be efficient. So the pathway of forging is by no means easy. It just had less reliance on talent.
As for the pathway of mind hunters, Loki learned that it was the cheapest pathway to start with. After all, the main resources that they need are their mind. Everyone has a mind, so it can even be said that the main requirement is free.
However, the pathway of mind hunting was said to have a great requirement for Dao heart in order to excel in. Of course, the power of the mind is also important, but the Dao heart is still the most important requirement for excellence in this pathway.
Loki found it to his taste that the two pathways that he had picked canceled each other out in terms of cost. He liked that one pathway was cheap while the other was expensive. That way, he wouldn’t have to spend extra money to master both pathways.
When he learned that the powerful mind granted by the pathway of mind hunters would make it easier for him to control weapons, his mind was made up about his choice.
Concerning the other three pathways, even though he wasn’t interested in them, he still paid a lot of attention to their lessons during class.
After all, it was a good idea to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his peers. So he was able to learn that the pathway of money was the one that required the most talent.