Promotion is a process of breaking open a locked door. In ancient times, it often required a great deal of time spent slowly grinding away at it until it opened. Only a few outstanding disciples from major sects could obtain the aid of rare treasures and miraculous elixirs, greatly reducing the time and effort needed to unlock the spiritual sea, allowing them to take the lead and stay ahead at every step.

Each breakthrough is considered a promotion by one level.

It is said that the most one can break through is nine locks.

In ancient times, the nine-rank official system was popular throughout the dynasties, so cultivators also adopted the nine-rank system: ninth rank being the lowest, first rank the highest. Back then, whatever rank you were as a cultivator, you could basically enjoy the social status of an official of the same rank in that country.

Never underestimate court officials—in ancient times, the unified central court was essentially the most powerful force on the planet, and no one dared to defy it.

In modern times, the nine-rank system was abolished and replaced with a nine-stage system: first stage is the lowest, ninth stage the highest.

Grace Brooks is currently at the peak of the second stage.

It’s worth mentioning that in this world, there’s no such thing as “starting cultivation from childhood”—though this saying does exist for martial arts.

There are two main reasons for this.

First, physiological: research shows that the spiritual sea lies between the body and the soul, and both the soul and the body need time to develop. Only a mature soul and body can open up a mature and healthy spiritual sea. People in ancient times had already figured out that trying to open the spiritual sea too early doesn’t work; it’s better to lay a solid foundation in childhood.

Second, psychological: opening the spiritual sea is extremely painful—a pain that reaches deep into the soul—and is not conducive to the physical and mental development of children. Moreover, those whose minds are not yet mature may not be able to properly control or utilize the great power that comes with being a cultivator. Pure good and pure evil often both originate from children.

There are also some other minor reasons.

Generally, people believe the best age to open the spiritual sea is between eighteen and twenty-two for males, and seventeen to twenty for females.

In Yiguo, the vast majority of people focus on building a foundation before university, learning some general knowledge, mathematics, and theoretical knowledge about cultivation. Only after entering university do they attempt to open the spiritual sea.

One important reason for this is that after entering a public university, you receive a free dose of spiritual sea opening aid, paid for by the government. With current technology, these aids are much more reliable than the miraculous elixirs of ancient times. As long as your foundation is solid and you pass the test, the probability of successfully opening the spiritual sea is over 97%, saving a huge amount of grinding time and with almost no side effects. Even if you experience discomfort due to personal constitution, there are specialized teachers at school to ensure your safety.

At this point, you’re about twenty years old.

Although Grace Brooks is not yet at the third stage, he is already far ahead of his peers.

He just feels a bit pained about the self-funded spiritual sea opening aid.

Oh, wait, it wasn’t my money?

Then it’s fine.

As for cultivation methods, modern times have seen tremendous advancements. Countless experts have poured their hearts and souls into synthesizing the strengths of all schools, bringing together the founding principles and secret techniques of ancient sects as references. Even any advantages found in foreign cultivation methods have been incorporated, and combined with modern advanced theories, this has resulted in a modern spiritual cultivation method based on ancient secret sect practices.

And it’s still being constantly updated and iterated.

Grace Brooks has only experienced the first two stages, and the results are fantastic.

Around midnight.

Grace Brooks exited his cultivation state, his mind and spirit utterly exhausted, as if his soul had withered—there was nothing comfortable about it.

He then took out a crystal shimmering with strange colors and injected most of his spiritual power into it.

His spiritual sea, which had just been replenished, was once again empty.

“Uncomfortable.”

Cultivation in this world is exhausting and monotonous. It’s nothing like the novels he read in his previous life, where meditation was more comfortable than playing cards and you lost track of time. Nor is it like a game, where every cultivation session shows a progress bar increasing—the hardest thing is putting in effort without perceivable results.

Everyone can cultivate for a maximum of about four hours a day, regardless of cultivation level. Higher-level cultivators are more efficient, but the time is still the same.

So you have to persist every day, using habit to counteract your resistance, and endorphins to smooth out the suffering—it’s not okay to slack off even for a day.

Speaking of which, the reason cultivators in this world are called cultivators, and why the cultivation system feels so familiar to Grace Brooks, goes back to the Holy Ancestor Emperor five thousand years ago—

During the creation of this civilization, as the Holy Ancestor Emperor invented writing and culture, he also happened to use many terms familiar to Grace Brooks to describe the “supernatural system” of this world, making it sound just like the things Grace Brooks had seen online before. But when it comes to the actual substance, there are many aspects that contradict Grace Brooks’s previous understanding.

……

Monday morning.

Bai City Seventh Academy for the Gifted, Grade Four, Class One, second-to-last row by the wall.