Chapter 457: What is Body Cultivation?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 457: What is Body Cultivation?
With the written exam concluded, the next step was an interview that doubled as a practical assessment.
The interview panel consisted of mentors who required teaching assistants for their courses. Consequently, the number of mentors one might face was quite flexible, ranging from a few to several dozen.
The pressure of facing a Transcendent mentor directly was immense, let alone encountering over a dozen at once.
Naturally, the purpose of the interview was to find students suitable to become teaching assistants.
In principle, the interview followed a system of mutual selection between the teaching assistant and the mentor. In practice, however, this was rarely the case. If a perfect match happened too easily, there was usually some sort of backroom deal involved—unless the student was so exceptional that mentors fought over them, which then turned into a "war" between the mentors themselves.
Well, talented people are sought after wherever they go. If someone only sought the position for the perks without having the ability, they would naturally hit a wall everywhere they turned.
After the written exam, I headed over to Sister Bai’s place.
Of course, I didn't just go to see her because I missed her; I also wanted to learn more about Body Arts and Body Cultivation.
In truth, the curriculum for the first three years at the Witch Academy included lectures on Body Arts, but it was clearly a niche subject that wouldn't be taught in the first year.
Furthermore... Sister Bai had explicitly stated that Body Arts and Body Cultivation were not the same thing.
Body Cultivation was a complete Transcendent system, much like being a caster, while Body Arts were akin to a caster's spells—a specific branch within that system.
By the next day, the results of the written exam were released. I didn't get a perfect score, which wasn't surprising; it accurately reflected my current level.
Based on my estimation, the points were likely deducted from the open-ended expansion questions at the end. Unless one's answers were airtight and offered highly constructive suggestions, a perfect score was generally off the table for those types of questions.
After all, my current accumulation of knowledge was still too shallow. I couldn't yet provide flawless answers for such questions. Whenever a topic touched upon something I hadn't encountered or that couldn't be deduced from my existing knowledge framework, I was completely lost. Fortunately, this exam hadn't included any truly outrageous expansion questions.
* * *
Currently, in the Body Cultivation Room.
The Body Cultivation Room was different from the commercial Body Training Halls I had encountered before. This was primarily a teaching facility, so its nature was somewhat different.
I had originally imagined the Body Cultivation Room would be a grand spectacle of muscular women passionately practicing Body Arts. However, upon arrival, I realized the facility hadn't been designed that way at all.
Compared to the athletic style of the Body Training Halls, this place felt more like... a place for quiet meditation. There weren't many open areas; instead, most were enclosed, isolated, independent spaces where one wouldn't be disturbed.
Sister Bai led me into an empty Body Cultivation Room. Walking down the hallway, I could see the rooms were packed closely together. I could also sense the spatial expansion within each room; the interior space was definitely much larger than it appeared from the outside.
It seemed the Witch Academy was quite fond of using spatial Transcendent methods. Setting aside the skill and cost involved, this method was incredibly convenient.
"Xiao Han, take this card. With this, you can use any Body Cultivation Room here whenever you like."
"Eh?" I took the card; it was Sister Bai's instructor-level permission card. "But Sister Bai, if you give this to me, won't you..."
"This card is redundant for a Transcendent Witch. It's just for the sake of procedure. My presence here is more useful than any card. Don't worry, Xiao Han, just take it," Bai Yu explained, her tone making it clear she wanted me to use it without hesitation.
"Mm, then I won't stand on ceremony~" I tucked the permission card away. Before entering the room, I glanced at the other tightly shut Body Cultivation Rooms.
Judging by the usage rate along this corridor, there weren't many people here.
Entering the room, the space was just as vast as I had expected.
"Just keep what I gave you." Sister Bai walked briskly to the center of the room, which resembled a massive, enclosed indoor combat arena.
"Xiao Han, didn't you ask me yesterday what Body Cultivation actually is?"
"Yes." I nodded repeatedly. I had sought out Sister Bai right after the written exam because I wanted a deeper understanding of Body Arts and Body Cultivation. With Sister Bai around, I could save myself a trip to the library.
"Actually, before I graduated—even before I left the Main World—I was also curious about what Body Cultivation really was. Was it simply practicing Body Arts? Physical exercise? Internal organ cultivation? Tempering the fascia? Five Senses cultivation?"
"In truth, it's all of those, yet none of them are entirely accurate." Bai Yu sighed slightly. "If that were all Body Cultivation was, then the concept would be far too narrow. I have traveled beyond the Main World and seen the Myriad Races of the Void. Humans, Witches, Elves, and Demons are truly just a small part of the races in the Void. Some races are born with bodies as massive as mountains; their starting physical stats might be our endgame, or even a level we could never reach in a lifetime."
"Yet, Body Cultivation is a unified system of cultivation and advancement recognized by all the Myriad Races of the Void. Given that different races have different physical structures, if we stuck to our stereotypical image of Body Cultivation, the so-called 'Body Cultivation' should have been a complete joke."
"But the reality is entirely different. Xiao Han, do you think physical strength is important in Body Cultivation?"
"Um... it should be quite important, right?"
"Half right. The sense of power is merely the external manifestation of the early stages of Body Cultivation. It is the most superficial level of a lifeform's recognition and utilization of its own body. Even Body Arts are merely tools to help a person recognize Body Cultivation and utilize their physical form."
At this point, Sister Bai’s tone suddenly shifted. "But Body Arts must never be something to be worshipped, nor should they be an anchor for one's will or faith. Practicing Body Arts should never be deified into a belief. It should be a tool for a specific stage, not the ultimate will that drives one's path of Body Cultivation."
"Huh? What does that mean?" I asked curiously. I didn't know why Sister Bai was suddenly giving me this warning; I hadn't even started practicing any Body Arts yet.
"Oh... sorry. I was just speaking from experience based on things I've seen outside the Main World." Realizing she had jumped ahead, Bai Yu quickly explained, "I've met practitioners outside the Main World—more than one, actually—who deified the Body Arts they practiced. They believed the techniques and movements used to develop physical strength contained the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, possessing the power and revelation to explain all things. This gave them a shortcut in the early stages, but once they reached a certain realm, they ceased to make any progress in Body Cultivation. You could say they cut off their own path."
"Uh... there are people like that?"
"Quite a few, actually. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the concept of 'Realms' within the Body Cultivation system. Because the worlds those people come from are remote, many things are discovered through trial and error. This leads to countless interpretations of the Body Cultivation Realms. These interpretations are then followed as absolute paths. Some of these explanations are right, some are wrong, and some are barely functional."
"Actually, there's nothing wrong with using such imaginative exploration to interpret the concept of Transcendent essence. The Transcendent responds to whatever cognitive system and interpretation you use to define it. However, Body Cultivation itself is a path of exploring the Transcendent; it cannot afford that kind of absolute freedom. If you treat everything as a matter of course, you'll only end up in ruin."
"Remember, Body Arts are merely tools for specific stages on the path of Body Cultivation. They provide the momentum for a lifeform to explore forward and the strength to cut through obstacles."
"I understand. Just like how one shouldn't be blinded by power on the path of exploring the Transcendent," I said quickly.
"Roughly... yes, that's the gist of it." Sister Bai nodded.
"Then what exactly is Body Cultivation? Since the strength gap between races is absolute, how was this system recognized by so many different races?" I pressed the question. Even though Sister Bai had explained a lot, I still didn't have a simple, easy-to-understand answer to the most fundamental question. I only had a relatively vague concept and framework.
"Then let me ask you in return: what exactly is the Transcendent path of a caster? What serves as the framework and foundation of that system?"
"Uh... Mental Power?" I ventured.
After all, Mental Power was absolutely vital for a caster. That was why the Witch Academy focused so heavily on teaching Meditation Methods to refine Mental Power from the very beginning. It wasn't just about making sure students had enough Mental Power to wield mana.
"To be precise, it is Mental Perception. Mental Power and... Mental Perception form the most important cornerstone for a caster. Any spell—be it Divine Arts, magic, or whatever—is built upon this foundation. Perception is observation. What can be observed can be interfered with; what can be interfered with can be mastered; and what can be mastered can be wielded."
"Perception is the sole means of exploring the Transcendent. No matter what it is, a lifeform's first instinct toward the outside world is perception. Body Cultivation is the same. What is the perception of Body Cultivation? The most direct form is the Five Senses. The external perception of the Myriad Races of the Void cannot escape these five senses. That is to say, innate perception will not exceed these five; it can only be fewer, and generally never more."
"The most primal form of Body Cultivation is also called Somatosensory Perception Cultivation. Regardless of the race or how many innate senses they possess, the preparatory stage of Body Cultivation always begins with cultivating all five senses."
"We Witches, humans, and many other races—or rather, a large portion of the races in the Void—are born with the Five Senses. The emergence and spread of the Body Cultivation system facilitated natural selection. Thus, looking at the Void as a whole, most races are dominated by those with a full set of five senses."
"You could say that by now, races lacking the five senses are mostly excluded from Body Cultivation. they focus more on other Transcendent systems and have no need to endure the natural selection imposed by the Body Cultivation system."
"So, back to the question: what is Body Cultivation? If a caster uses Mental Power outside the physical body as their perception, then Body Cultivation is the extreme development of one's own Five Senses Perception to rival a 'bug-like' system like Mental Power. It uses the Five Senses to observe, interfere with, master, and wield the Transcendent! That is the essence of Body Cultivation. It isn't just physical strength, or even internal energy; those are merely tools mastered at certain stages, byproducts of Body Cultivation."
Sister Bai explained the nature of Body Cultivation in simple terms.
It was truly a great inspiration to me. This was knowledge I had never encountered before, and the concepts were entirely new.
They were profound and quite unfriendly to anyone starting on the path of Body Cultivation. But that was the nature of the Transcendent. Even if one were to explain the path of a caster in detail, it wouldn't be any simpler than Sister Bai's explanation of Body Cultivation.
However, no matter how complex the explanation, it all had to return to the most fundamental point: "What exactly do I need to do?"
Previously, Sister Bai had me use the Body Tempering Ring and the accompanying Ritual War Dance to improve my physical stats. This was essentially about making the body strong, because only with a strong foundation would everything else become easier.
To practice sensory cultivation, one cannot succeed without an understanding and mastery of the physical body.
Therefore, to embark on the path of Body Cultivation, one must use Body Arts. One relies on the physical actions of Body Arts to train the body, master the limbs, perceive the self, activate the mind, and understand the essence. Through physical behavior, one indirectly allows their instincts to understand the function of every part of the body, achieving exquisite control and mastery.
Because of this, some people can enter the ranks of Body Cultivation through sheer, mindless practice. It's not that their mind remembers, but that their body does. However, such a path is destined to be short-lived.
The advantages of my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation were apparent from the start. My understanding and recognition of the essence of life, my experience of every function of the body, and the numerous opportunities and coincidences I had encountered—external factors like the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art and the Unity of Knowledge and Action—had all converged to make this happen.
They had forged this unrepeatable instance of Self-Awakened Body Cultivation.
I was already a treasure trove with its gates wide open. Even my crude utilization was the limit that others could only hope to reach.
But now, in Sister Bai's words, the fact that I was using my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation so crudely was a complete waste of heaven's gifts.
To this... I felt quite embarrassed. But I really didn't have much energy to spare for Body Cultivation...
And... and I'm still a freshman!
I had never felt the "I'm just a freshman" excuse was so useful before.
"So... now that I've stepped onto the path of Body Cultivation, what should I do? Should I also practice a specific Body Art?"
"You definitely need to practice Body Arts. They cover many aspects: offensive, defensive, speed-oriented, and so on. They play a significant role in improving your strength at this stage. You might not always need to use power, but you can't afford not to have it, do you understand? You are living in a complex society. Even in an academy where competitive pressure isn't overwhelming, you still need to give sufficient weight to your own strength."
"I understand, I understand~ So... does Sister Bai have any recommendations?" I asked curiously. Since I had her here, I didn't want to waste time taking the long way around.
"I do have a few recommendations, but there's no rush. I should tell you about other forms of Body Cultivation first. The journey of Body Cultivation isn't just the monotonous practice of Body Arts. There's much more, such as daily Five Senses training, tempering the body with potions and medicinal baths, nourishing the internal organs and circulatory system, and theoretical lectures on the structural diagrams of body organs."
"So... so much?"
"Of course. A complete Body Cultivation system is no less complex than a caster's meditation, spell practice, mastery of spell techniques, runology, ritual deconstruction, spell composition, and all those other categories."
"Besides, Body Cultivation is a niche subject at the Witch Academy, so there's a lot to learn. Popular caster paths have many students, which allows for mutual improvement, a complete framework, standardized procedures, and efficient system divisions, making them seem simpler. But a powerful caster will dabble in all of those areas as well. So, theoretically, there is no inherent superiority or inferiority between Body Cultivation and Magic Cultivation."
"When you put it that way... I guess so. But I feel like I'm running out of time even more now..."
"Just plan your time rationally. Rationality doesn't mean utilizing every single second; it means knowing what to prioritize and what to let go. Xiao Han, don't make life too exhausting for yourself, okay?"
"...Okay."