The study room was empty, with only six people seated inside. Very few people needed to attend elementary studies; whether in the Old Territory or in the Five Elements Heaven, children would be exposed to basic education from a very young age.

On the platform, Mr. Cooper was animatedly gesticulating, spittle flying as he recounted how the plans for the Five Elements Heaven had taken years of preparation, consumed vast manpower and resources, and how, at the time, all the cultivation sects were united as one. Today, the Five Elements Heaven was completely stable and secure, and was beginning its first attempt to infiltrate the Wildlands, thus declaring the end of the defensive era and the beginning of a great counteroffensive, and so on.

Unlike the others who were dozing off, Ethan Brooks listened with great interest. Previously, he had only been exposed to the Sword Canon, and most of what he knew about the history of the Five Elements Heaven came from overhearing the cultivators from the Wildlands chatting.

Teaching history was Mr. Cooper's greatest passion. Most of his elementary classes were spent on history, with very little time devoted to the basics of cultivation.

What did all these messy historical significances have to do with them? The other students privately called this class the "spit class" and absolutely detested such a waste of time. Unfortunately, the basic cultivation class for their group was also taught by Mr. Cooper. Moreover, Mr. Cooper was notorious for his bad temper. If anyone skipped his class and later came to ask him about cultivation, he wouldn't even spare them a glance.

After all, they were complete beginners.

Students from the Five Elements Heaven, of course, needed no explanation; those with family backgrounds went straight to advanced classes, while ordinary students all attended intermediate classes. Even students from the Old Territory had been cultivating since childhood. Although their strength was not as deep as those from the Five Elements Heaven due to environmental factors, they had no problems with theory.

Survival is always the strongest motivator for change. After a thousand years of development, the Five Elements force had long since become deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

There were very few like Ethan Brooks and his peers, who started from the very basics.

When under someone else's roof, one has no choice but to bow their head.

After talking non-stop for half the day, Mr. Cooper finally got to cultivation, and the other students perked up considerably.

Mr. Cooper's enthusiasm seemed reserved for teaching history; when it came to explaining elemental force cultivation, he was clearly uninterested. After only half an hour, he announced the end of class. Ethan Brooks was still savoring the previous content, and by the time he came to his senses, Mr. Cooper was already gone.

While the others wore bitter faces and wailed in complaint, Ethan Brooks's heart was filled with a sudden, joyful clarity.

He had spent three years in the Wildlands, was experienced and efficient, and never dragged others down in dangerous situations. Among the many laborers, he was outstanding. The cultivators trusted him, and the more enthusiastic ones would even teach him a move or two.

But the Wildlands were full of danger, and one could encounter peril at any moment. No one would patiently and systematically teach a laborer how to cultivate in such an environment.

After three years, he had learned quite a bit—practical skills, but all very fragmented.

His theoretical knowledge was patchy, but his combat experience was rich, and his accumulation far surpassed that of the other students. He was also good at thinking; otherwise, he wouldn't have managed to create a sword embryo seed. Although what he learned in the Wildlands was simple and fragmented, he spent countless hours pondering each one. Due to his weak foundation, his gains were limited, but he had also accumulated many questions and doubts.

Although Mr. Cooper's lecture was brief and he said little about specific cultivation methods, he explained a lot of theory related to elemental force.

And this was precisely what Ethan Brooks lacked most.

Chapter 10: The Yinghua Literary Society

Elemental force is not something rare.

As early as the cultivation era, people were already studying it. However, in the cultivation era, when spiritual energy was abundant, spiritual energy was used much more widely. Because spiritual energy was much more active than elemental force, it was easier to use. The abundance of spiritual energy also suppressed the generation of elemental force. So, in the cultivation era, research into elemental force was mostly done by small sects.

Only in the spiritual energy–deprived Wildlands did elemental force become mainstream.

It must be said that the cultivation world was uniquely blessed: abundant spiritual energy, vast and boundless territory, as if it were a land bestowed by the heavens. The cultivation world had always been proud of this, and for a long time, almost all cultivators believed that their world was the center of everything.

They never paid any attention to the Wildlands, with its harsh living conditions. But no one expected that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth would gradually thin out. Spiritual energy was the foundation of the cultivation system; when it dissipated, the glorious and brilliant world of cultivation collapsed overnight.

For millions of years, the Wildlands, which the cultivation world had always looked down upon, became an enemy they could not defeat.

Driven to desperation, their ancestors frantically searched for new sources of power. And their teachers were their enemies: the wild beasts and the barbarians. Elemental force was discovered and developed under such circumstances. However, with millions of years of accumulated knowledge, the cultivators quickly created their own Five Elements elemental force system.

The theory was continuously refined, the system became more complete, and the Five Elements Heaven gradually grew stronger.

Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—the power of the five elements is the foundation of all things. Stable five-elemental force forms matter, while active five-elemental force is elemental force. In the current Five Elements theory, the five types of elemental force are not fundamentally different; they are simply different forms of the same force. The five forms transform into one another, restrain one another, and form a perfect cycle. This is also why the power of the five elements rarely exists alone; they usually coexist.

This is also why natural things have such complex properties.