Seeking Truth with a Sword

Just like Military Studies, Hundred Beasts Studies also encompassed both indoor and outdoor classes.

This course aimed to acquaint students with the vast and complex variety of "demons" and Mutated Objects, as well as wild beasts possessing diluted demon bloodlines to varying degrees.

The Doctor of Hundred Beasts Studies, Zhang Liang—a square-faced, middle-aged man—said cheerfully to his students, "For example, the White-Legged Bulls rented out by Chang'an's three largest coach houses.

"These bulls are huge, docile, with white limbs, immensely strong, and exceptionally enduring. During festivals and celebrations, various organizations occasionally rent White-Legged Bulls to lead their carriage processions, adorning them with brightly colored canopies and hanging ornaments.

"A close relative of this White-Legged Bull is the Third Level demon—the Li Mu Cattle. The difference is that the latter have black stripes on their legs and dwell in the wilderness of the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains. Once these cattle form a large herd and charge, no human fortress or demon can stop them.

"Moreover, the stately horses in the Academic Palace's pastures, the exotic animals in the Royal Garden, and the thousands of canine breeds cultivated by the Zhong Family of the garrison all possess demon bloodlines.

"For the Yu Country, however, the most important demon is the Level One, Number Twenty-Five: the 'Nearby Worm.'"

With a smile, Zhang Liang unveiled a thick black cloth covering a bamboo cage in the classroom of the supervision building.

Inside the cage lay a green insect resembling a locust. It was quite large, nearly thirty centimeters long, with four antennae on its head and four on its back. On both sides of its body were dense, threadlike grooves.

Zhang Liang casually asked, "Who knows the special ability of the 'Nearby Worm'?"

Pei Jing stood up and answered, "Long-distance communication."

"Correct."

Zhang Liang nodded and continued, "As a Level One demon, the 'Nearby Worm' has no capacity for attack, and its numbers are extremely scarce.

"It is classified as Level One entirely due to its unique feature—all 'Nearby Worms' can establish a connection through some profoundly mysterious means.

"At the turn of spring and summer, the 'Nearby Worm' embeds its eight antennae into the grooves on the sides of its body, sensing the presence of other 'Nearby Worms' of the opposite sex. Both parties will then hear each other, no matter how far apart they are.

"We exploit this feature by separating the 'Nearby Worms,' with each worm corresponding to a unique sequence of antenna placement. When the antennae are positioned in a specific arrangement, it allows for long-distance communication across thousands of miles."

Eight antennae, potentially thousands of ways to arrange them... Is this like a telephone?

Li Ang was astounded, his eyebrows raised. He had known that the vast Yu Country possessed some sort of effective communication method that could reach distant borders, but he had not realized it was through Mutated Objects.

Zhang Liang went on to say, "Of course, 'Nearby Worms' are scarce and difficult to reproduce. During the Former Sui period, they were considered state treasures, with each individual being strictly guarded and protected.

"Although their numbers are somewhat larger now, only the garrison, the Academic Palace, Key Military States, and the like have the authority for their Breeding.

"Without the relevant permissions, even princes and ministers are absolutely not permitted to privately keep 'Nearby Worms.'"

Li Ang was not surprised by this regulation. From the introduction, it seemed that using this type of Alien required no special skill or threshold; one only needed to know the "phone number."

Whether to prevent insurrection by influential officials or to control remote State Mansions, the 'Nearby Worm' must be firmly held in the hands of the Royal Family and the court. Using this Alien, the speed of disseminating government decrees could be greatly increased and operational flexibility enhanced. This would allow the power of the monarchy and the court to penetrate towns and villages below the State Mansion level.

"Alright," Dr. Zhang Liang said, covering the bamboo cage with a black cloth. "Next, let's continue with the appraisal of some of the more popular basic Exotic Beasts. Turn your books to page twenty, to the chapter on 'Water Monkeys.'"

The Hundred Beasts Studies course was quite interesting, but when it came to which courses excited the students the most, it had to be the Cultivation courses.

In the talisman class, students had to learn the differences between ink, vermilion, yellow paper, white paper, Wolf Brushes, and rabbit-hair brushes.

The essence of a talisman lay in drawing specific trajectories on talisman paper, influencing nature's Spiritual Energy through the inked trajectories, causing effects to manifest spontaneously.

A Micro Flame Talisman could emit a faint glow. A Dust Removal Talisman could attract minuscule dust particles. A Boiling Water Talisman could slowly bring water in a metal pot to a boil—though this last one was difficult to achieve. With the average Qi Sensing Realm of the freshmen, perhaps only one or two out of ten such talismans they wrote would be useful, and its effect was too brief to actually boil water.

He Fanshuang, who performed best in this course, took three classes to write her first talisman that could heat water. This achievement alone had the talismanic study Instructors singing her praises. They exclaimed that her talent was just as outstanding as her brother's. The path of the talismanic Tao was arduous and obscure; being able to successfully write a talisman in the Qi Sensing Realm was already excellent.

Pei Jing's progress wasn't slow either. His Spiritual Vein Talent was much better than the others, and his Qi Sea was much vaster, capable of sustaining the consumption from repeated failures in talisman writing.

Li Ang took slightly more time but managed to produce a Dust Removal Talisman. Sweeping it across a desk, he extracted the tiny dust particles from the crevices of the wooden desk.

This feels... a bit like a programming language, Li Ang mused. It's like using the inked paths of the brush to make nature's Spiritual Energy understand my intentions. I've heard that Nanzhou and West Jing also have talismanic courses; I wonder if there are debates among Talisman Masters from different countries about which 'language' is superior.

Talismans and Magic could greatly simplify daily life.

In the basic Magic courses at the Academic Palace, Academic Palace Disciples needed to learn skills such as the Frost Electric Skill, Clear Wind Skill, Shock Sensing Skill, Loud Sound Skill, Flying Arrow Technique, and Expelling Technique, among others.

Among these, the Expelling Technique was relatively easy and more intuitive but prone to causing accidents. The Divine Thought of Qi Sensing Realm freshmen was weak and their willpower fragile, making it easy for them to exhaust all their Spiritual Energy at once. For instance, intending to lift a book ten inches off the ground, they might overexert themselves and send the book flying. This could hit another student, sparking a chain reaction throughout the classroom where books and ink flew chaotically. Yang Yu, watching from a corner, initially found it amusing until ink splattered all over him.

Compared to the intuitive nature of talismans and Magic, the Sword and Body courses progressed at a slower, or rather, more torturous pace.

In the initial Sword Dao classes, most students didn't pick up swords. Instead, they held materials like iron ingots and wood, meditating earnestly to feel their internal structure.

One had to understand the properties of an iron ingot before they could wield an Iron Sword.

Most struggled to 'communicate' with the iron ingots. Li Ang, however, fared much better. He had already tried sensing the attributes of different materials and, before long, made the iron ingot on his desk twitch momentarily.

The Sword Dao Instructor praised Li Ang repeatedly. However, as Li Ang watched the iron ingot spasm in place, he couldn't help but think it looked like a wriggling maggot.