When Gu Chun was a young boy, communication thods were not as advanced as they are now. Before starting his cultivation journey, he had never even seen a telephone.
In the county town, there were those rotary dial fixed phones, and the township governnt also had one, with designated operators on duty. However, their village still had no phone, and at that ti even the roads were not accessible, making information exchange extrely difficult.
He t his master while collecting firewood in the mountains. The master claid to have been injured while gathering herbs during his travels. His master was a sorcerer from the Alchemy Sect, nad Huang Wanyu. After Gu Chun saved him and brought him back to the village, his master accepted him as a disciple and taught him the Alchemy Cauldron Skill.
Shortly after Gu Chun broke through to Tier Two cultivation, Master Huang Wanyu passed away. When considering this part of his life, it sowhat resembles Wu Yanjun.
Unlike Wu Yanjun, Gu Chun’s master, Huang Wanyu, had not been removed from his status. In theory, he was an official disciple of the Magic Sect and could have reported to the sect to be included in the records, but his master didn’t get the chance to do so.
Huang Wanyu’s own cultivation wasn’t very high, only at Tier Three, and he didn’t have ti to tell Gu Chun much more. Fortunately, his master transmitted the complete technique to him, and Gu Chun continued to cultivate on his own, eventually breaking through to Tier Four.
Then he felt the Grotto Heaven’s summon, traveled across thousands of miles to reach Phoenix Tail Town, and was discovered by the Sect Law Hall before even entering the Grotto Heaven. The one responsible for his assessnt was Elder He Kuanzhong from the Heart Plate Sect.
Elder He personally went to Gu Chun’s hotown, inquiring about details from his childhood, and ticulously verified the process of his apprenticeship and technique study... Throughout this journey, Gu Chun stayed by Elder He’s side.
Given such a great opportunity, Gu Chun, of course, sought Elder He’s guidance on various problems, with a very respectful attitude. Later, Elder He asked him — "Would you be willing to beco my disciple?"
Gu Chun was naturally eager for it.
After a while, following his formal discipleship, Gu Chun realized that Elder He was willing to spend so much ti on him because he had spotted his potential long ago.
The reason, no more than an appreciation for his character and talent.
If you only heard the above experiences, you might think Gu Chun was just a country boy from an impoverished and backward region. But the truth is — he was an elite of that era.
Gu Chun started school much later than He Kao, not attending the first grade of elentary school until he was ten. What did he do earlier? It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; it was because their township didn’t have a formal school before that!
He was among the first batch of children in that rural area to receive a modern education, starting elentary school at ten, entering middle school at fifteen, and at twenty-one, heading to a big city thousands of miles away for university studies.
The elentary school back then was a five-year system, and so was the university.
Gu Chun broke through to Tier Four cultivation while in his junior year of university, and his trip to Phoenix Tail Town to seek the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven occurred during the sumr vacation of his third year, just in ti to et Elder He Kuanzhong, who was on duty at the Sect Law Hall.
Upon learning these facts, He Kao had to react with astonishnt, "Did you also attend university, elder?"
Gu Chun touched his chin and said, "I am the first-ever university student in ten miles around, and the only one in our production brigade."
He Kao absent-mindedly asked, "Was it a bachelor’s or a diploma course?"
Gu Chun’s face darkened slightly, "Of course, it was a bachelor’s degree!"
He Kao exclaid, "An outstanding talent!" He wasn’t being deliberately exaggerated or flattering with his words.
Nowadays, with only a bachelor’s degree, you might be considered average, but over sixty years ago, in the rural areas of the Eastern Country, which had not yet industrialized, a child from an ordinary farming family graduating with a bachelor’s degree was exceptionally rare.
The point Gu Chun wanted to convey to He Kao was that the disciples of the Magic Sect sotis switched their studies to a different Secret Technique, much like changing majors when accepted into a university.
Switching techniques was not uncommon, and the most typical scenario was, for instance, soone struggling to grasp the Lingxi Skill might be recomnded by an elder, seeing their decent aptitude, to switch to the Observing Body Skill.
However, cases like Gu Chun’s, who had already established a foundation in cultivation and even beco a high-tier sorcerer, were rare; but Elder He Kuanzhong from the Heart Plate Sect saw his worth and personally accepted him as a disciple, allowing him to join the Heart Plate Sect.
Elder He’s seamless operation was due to two reasons.
The first was that Master Huang, who taught Gu Chun the Alchemy Cauldron Skill, had passed away, and before his death, he didn’t officially report to the sect, leaving Gu Chun out of the Alchemy Sect’s disciple registry.
The second was that Elder He was also willing to take on a disciple and thus acted quickly. If Gu Chun had joined the Alchemy Sect, there would undoubtedly have been other elders eager to accept him; he was a highly sought-after talent.
Now, Ye Liangcheng’s situation also ets these two conditions.
It’s just that no one would compete with He Kao for Ye Liangcheng. Given He Kao’s age and cultivation, according to the unwritten rules of the sect, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to take Ye Liangcheng as a disciple, but he could claim to impart the teachings of the ancestor and take him as a junior brother.
So the only remaining question is whether switching techniques is suitable?
In most circumstances, if you’ve mastered one technique, there’s no need for such changes; continuing your practice is the best choice.
If switching, it’s like climbing halfway up a mountain, then retreating back to the base and choosing a different route to climb again. Of course, this analogy isn’t quite accurate, because even if you switch, your existing cultivation realm remains.
However, it’s not uncommon for Magic Sect disciples to dual-cultivate techniques, akin to minor courses in university. For instance, engineering students may minor in economic principles, art appreciation, etc., which is why Elder Gu used the university situation as an example.
Take He Kao, for example; he is a sorcerer from the Hidden Moth Sect, yet he also studied dicine identification from the Alchemy Sect, artifact identification from the Micro Realm Sect, and earth-traveling skill from the Heart Plate Sect, etc... These applied techniques are akin to minor courses.
There’s another rarer case of dual-cultivating fundantal techniques, similar to minoring in an entire field of study, possibly even earning a dual degree.
Dual-cultivating another fundantal technique usually happens after breaking through Tier Four, in order to gain a better understanding of the technique’s true essence and broaden one’s horizons, especially if one’s cultivation progress has stalled.
If you’ve broken through to Tier Six cultivation and beco a Sect Law Hall elder, you can actually master the complete inheritance of various major magic sects, and you can also practice multiple techniques, taking the strengths of all families, similar to walking horizontally on a mountainside, linking all the paths of climbing.
Gu Chun back then clearly did not belong to this situation, he was equivalent to changing majors, switching his minor to a major, starting from scratch to cultivate the Heart Plate Skill, until he broke through to Tier Six.
Ye Liangcheng can completely do the sa, right now he should continue to cultivate the Micro-Entry Skill, first seeking Tier Three perfection, then study various applied techniques to catch up. When he breaks through to Tier Four, He Kao can consider teaching him the Insect Concealnt Skill.
At that ti, with Tier Four cultivation, he can practice the Insect Concealnt Skill, and there is another benefit: Regardless of whether he succeeds or fails, he can avoid many unforeseen situations.
No matter which technique, if cultivated incorrectly, unforeseen situations might occur. Sotis, even if cultivated correctly, in the eyes of ordinary people, so strange situations might appear.
For instance, cultivated correctly like Wei Luo practicing the Celestial Secret Skill, he often gets lost.
Cultivated incorrectly, like a Tier One Stalker of the Hidden Moth Sect, needs to advance to a Tier Two Assassin within a month, otherwise there’s a worry of consciousness dissociation, emotions fading, and even forgetting to cultivate.
This is determined by the beginner’s heart thod of the Insect Concealnt Skill, forgetting to cultivate is secondary; emotions, accompanied by the fading of self-awareness, will also lead to indifference towards all people and things, which isn’t good.
Precisely due to this concern, He Kao wants to teach Gao Xue’e the Insect Concealnt Skill, but has always been letting her cultivate the Foundation Establishnt Assistance thod, and hasn’t taught her the beginner’s heart thod, trying to lay a solid foundation first.
If a high-tier sorcerer practices the Insect Concealnt Skill, this disadvantage would be minor, even if not mastered, the impact wouldn’t be significant, which is sowhat of an advantage.
Gu Chun still used a Divine Thought to explain this aspect of the problem. He Kao himself is just a Tier Three Sorcerer, so he can’t explain much more of the mystique.
He Kao sighed, "You’re using university majors as a taphor, but actually, changing majors isn’t that simple!"
Gu Chun kicked up a splash and said, "It’s rare, but not nonexistent. As the saying goes, a skilful person can comprehend multiple fields, I changed my major after entering university."
He Kao: "Oh, from which major did you change to which major?"
Gu Chun: "I initially enrolled in a physical education major, then switched to a mathematics major."
"Ah—?" He Kao was so shocked his jaw almost fell off.
No wonder he was so surprised, if you change from a materials science major to a civil engineering major, there’s no problem, switching from a literature major to a history major, the difficulty isn’t too high either.
But switching from a physical education major to a mathematics major, that’s a cosmic leap in academia!
Through Elder Gu’s explanation, He Kao realized that this was a difference in cognition, because the situation in those years was completely different from now.
During the era Elder Gu took the university exam, he’d never heard of the concept of sports bonus points. At that ti, when filling out applications, he enrolled in a key Normal University, jokingly called the eating university, supposedly due to good al subsidy benefits.
His scores were fine, he could choose any major, and his sports scores qualified him, but he chose the physical education major himself.
But after studying for a while, he found this major uncomfortable, so he applied to switch. Why uncomfortable? Because the exercise volu was large, nutrition was sowhat lacking, and he always felt unfed!
At that ti, studying at Normal University was free, the school even issued al subsidies. But given Gu Chun’s appetite, the al subsidy wasn’t enough, and with his family’s conditions, he obviously couldn’t afford extra money.
He applied to the school to switch majors, the leadership understood the situation and didn’t make it difficult, transferring him from the physical education departnt to mathematics departnt.
There was even a teacher telling Gu Chun at the ti, "Mathematics is good, it can be used for anything, even if you can’t beco a scientist, you can be an engineer..."
This should have been a sympathetic story, but sohow, He Kao always wanted to laugh when he heard it. But he dared not laugh out loud, just curiously asked, "Why did you choose the physical education major when applying?"
Gu Chun’s explanation almost made He Kao unable to hold it in.
When Gu Chun went to university, he was already considered the most knowledgeable person in his village, but his understanding of modern university education was still confused, and his understanding of magic sects was also very limited.
He even thought if he could continue studying magic techniques in university.
In a university, who knows, they might teach any skill! So many majors, which one might teach magic techniques? It must be physical education!
Gu Chun’s master had already been deceased for several years. His injuries never healed before he passed. The master suffered an accident while practicing to heal injuries, which worsened suddenly, leaving no ti to explain too many things.
When Gu Chun started university, he had Tier Two cultivation, and his physique was of course fine. But he didn’t have the good conditions He Kao did, there’s no spirit pills to aid, and during that era, he couldn’t even eat enough, even though Normal University’s treatnt was pretty good.
If he stayed in the village to cultivate, he could think of ways to collect herbs and hunt in the mountain, but where to do these at university? Studying a physical education major indeed feels nutritionally deficient, always being so hungry.
More importantly, when he got to university, he was disappointed to find out that physical education classes don’t teach magic techniques!
When he initially told Elder He about this experience, Elder He laughed until he was in stitches. He Kao, being a junior, couldn’t be so bold, so he struggled to hold back laughter.
Everyone has tis of youthful ignorance, even Elder Gu. He Kao also recalled many of his own embarrassing incidents from childhood, and at this mont felt not so ashad anymore.
**
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