The Nightmare Of Cultivation

To start digging his Energy Channels, Desper did what the Fifth Elder had said during the lecture.

He focused on his Origin, the black one in his chest.

He chose to start with it rather than the gray one beneath it, because the black one was much faster at absorbing Energy and could store far more.

'I'll think about what to do with the gray Origin later.'

Upon focusing on the black one, Desper controlled the Energy within it to push against its inner wall.

He was applying pressure on a specific spot: the closest one to his spine.

After a while, the wall finally began to stretch. Desper concentrated on directing the Energy to apply more pressure on that stretched point.

After about four hours, Desper opened his eyes. A smile appeared on his face.

"Now I can call myself a real cultivator," he said as he checked his Origin again.

There was a large channel, about five centimeters in diameter, connecting his Origin to the bones of his spine.

"Finally, I dug the Root Channel," Desper sighed.

It is the easiest Channel to dig, yet the most important one in the body.

This is for two reasons.

First, it is the only Channel that connects your body with your Origin because the Origin can't endure forming another Root Channel.

Second, it controls other Channels in the body, Desper murmured inwardly, recalling the lecture.

The Origin absorbs the Energy, while the Root Channel distributes it into the body.

No one can injure the Origin, but they can injure the Channels.

'If a normal Channel is fully cut, you can dig another one. But if the Root Channel is fully cut, the Energy escapes the Origin uncontrollably, and the cultivator's body explodes.'

Desper shuddered at the thought.

"Let's not think about these things," he muttered.

'After reaching the first bone in my spine, I should use the same method to form two Channels, branching from the Root Channel: one going upward and the other downward. Of course, both of them will be smaller than the Root Channel.'

'sighhh…Now I'm a bone cultivator,' Desper thought with pride.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and made him narrow his eyes.

'Something is off,' he muttered.

'Using my black Origin, I'm sure I'm faster than anyone else in cultivation, assuming everyone else has a normal gray Origin like the one under my chest, Desper thought. So, I have the highest chance to win the competition after one month, even over those who will have been cultivating for three months.'

'And here comes the strange thing.'

'Even if I cultivate hard all day for the next thirty days, I will not be able to dig Channels into half of my bones. Even if I could, that wouldn't increase my strength much. It would mostly improve my defense.'

'All other new disciples will be the same, with more defense than strength,' Desper thought while rubbing his chin.

'That would make the competition feel more like street fights between ordinary people than true battles between cultivators.'

'Another strange thing: Darek told me he was sure I wouldn't be able to win the competition, even though I killed a mid-muscle cultivator before.'

'Either Darek and Eland lied about me killing the Great Elder's son, which I highly doubt, or there is something I don't know about the competition.'

Desper became highly suspicious.

After some thinking, he decided to ask Eland once he came.

Beeeeeeb

Beeeb

The watch started to ring next to Desper.

'It is 8:30 already?' Desper was surprised.

'Time passed so quickly while cultivating.'

He exhaled a deep breath, then stood up and left the private room.

He noticed that his new clothes were drenched in sweat, so he took a bath and wore a new set. This time, he chose the sect uniform.

Desper was amazed by how well it fit.

Then, he left his dwelling as He was hungry and needed to get some food.

After passing through a few streets, Desper reached a place called the Disciples' Restaurant. Here, he could eat for free using his badge.

Desper entered and saw multiple disciples sitting inside. Of course, he didn't know any of them.

He wasn't interested in making friends at the moment, so he chose an empty table and sat there alone. He needed to return quickly because Eland told him he would come at 9. Desper ordered the fastest dish they could cook.

After a few minutes, the food arrived. It was fried fish and white rice. The waiter offered him more food, but Desper refused.

After eating, Desper had to admit that the food was delicious.

Desper finished his food as quickly as possible. Then, He returned to his place.

He found a tall man with red hair and red eyes waiting in front of his building.

"Hey, Eland. Have you been waiting for me?" Desper asked as he checked his watch. It wasn't 9 yet.

He hadn't seen Eland when he left earlier.

"I just arrived. I'm waiting until it becomes 9, like I told you," Eland replied with a smile.

Desper stared at him for a moment.

"You wanted to talk to me about something," he spoke.

"Yes. Let's talk inside. It will take some time," Eland said.

Desper nodded and led the way into his dwelling.

After entering, they sat across from each other.

"So?" Desper broke the silence.

"What are your preparations for the competition?" Eland asked, crossing his arms.

"I have no preparations. I will just cultivate hard until the competition. I'm sure I will do well," Desper replied without emotion.

"Hmm?" Eland frowned "Desper, how many new disciples do you think will be in the competition?".

Desper didn't understand the purpose of this question.

"I saw 25 disciples during the lecture, so I guess the sect receives 25 new disciples every month. With the competition every three months, there should be 75 disciples in total."

"Wrong," Eland snapped. "That is only a quarter of the real number. There are 300 disciples every three months."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Desper was surprised.

He felt like a question inside him was finally being answered.

"The disciples you saw at the lecture were only the male new disciples," Eland said. "There was another lecture for the female disciples in another hall."

Desper's eyebrows rose in surprise.

He had only seen men at the lecture, but hadn't thought much about it.

"Hmm, I didn't expect the female disciples to be three times more than the males," Desper mumbled. "But it doesn't matter. I'm still fine with large numbers."

"No, Desper. The females aren't more than the males. Their numbers are equal: 75 males and 75 females," Eland corrected.

Desper narrowed his eyes.

"Then where are the other 150 disciples?"

"They are the half-disciples who turned sixteen in the past three months," Eland answered, clenching his fist.

Desper could sense the anger in his voice.

"Half-disciples?" Desper felt he had heard the term before but couldn't remember clearly.

"You have lost your memories, so you won't remember," Eland sighed.

 Then, he added "When someone awakens their Origin before the age of sixteen, the sect doesn't force them to become disciples. Instead, they are made half-disciples. They live in the sect, and the sect doesn't require them to go on any missions. All they have to do is cultivate until they turn sixteen."

"That's fair," Desper responded. "Sending children to fight monsters is just killing them."

Now Desper understood why he hadn't seen any younger disciples during the lecture. They had already attended theirs earlier.

Suddenly, Desper's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute. You mean to say..."

"Yes, you guessed it," Eland confirmed. "When they turn sixteen, they are treated as new disciples."

"Which means you won't just be fighting those who have been cultivating for only three months, but also those who have been doing it for years," Eland said through clenched teeth.

Desper frowned and then sighed.

"Haha, I should forget about winning the competition," he scoffed.

"NO!" Eland snapped. "You should win it."

"Huh? What do you mean by 'win'?" Desper sneered. "Do I even have a chance?"

"Yes, you do," Eland replied. "The strongest half-disciple in the next competition is a mid-muscle cultivator."

In Grafa Level, after digging Channels into all your bones, you would begin digging Channels into your muscles. That stage made you a muscle cultivator.

Muscle cultivation was divided into three sublevels: low-muscle, mid-muscle, and end-muscle.

Each sublevel granted more strength, speed, and agility than the one before it.

"Huh?! A mid-muscle cultivator? What chance do you think I have against him?" Desper scoffed. "I'd be happy just digging Channels into my whole spine before the competition."

"But you killed someone as strong as him before," Eland said, trying to convince him.

"Yes, I did. But I don't remember how," Desper replied, clearly annoyed. "We can ask the Sect Leader to delay the competition until I remember."

"I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU HERE!" Eland suddenly roared. His eyes were full of anger.