Chapter 2017: Path of A Genius

After taking care of Dao Shu and the others' matters, Zhao Hai resumed his life of cultivation. Zhao Hai was able to get a good measure of his strength after the battle. If it weren't for his good movement techniques and rich combat experience, he wouldn't have gained as good of a result. In other words, his blade skills were far inferior compared to Dao Shu and the others.

Although he discovered this weak point, Zhao Hai didn't immediately use his reward and obtained manuals from the Blade Pavilion. He knew that these manuals wouldn't be able to give him a boost in a short time. The Space might help him in his cultivation, gaining comprehension on his own was still the best method. Now that he was in the True Spirit Realm, the most important thing for Zhao Hai was regular practice.

The True Spirit Realm and the Great Realm of Cultivation was different. In the Great Realm of Cultivation, as long as Zhao Hai's mental state reaches a certain level, he would be able to confidently use it to control his spiritual qi. And with the help of the treasures in the Space, his cultivation speed would progress quickly.

But in the True Spirit Realm, Zhao Hai didn't dare act the same way. This was because cultivation manuals in the True Spirit Realm required more mental comprehension. Zhao Hai couldn't just use all kinds of treasures to help him cultivate. Only through thorough comprehension could progress be made on a cultivation manual.

Because of this, Zhao Hai still practiced the first set of manuals that he acquired from the Blade Pavilion. He wasn't anxious to go to the Blade Pavilion and find more powerful manuals.

The Yin Yang Elders have also been paying attention to Zhao Hai. The reward that Zhao Hai received was partly due to the Yin Yang Elders. They wanted to help Zhao Hai using this method. At the same time, they wanted to reward Zhao Hai for his contributions. Before this, Zhao Hai gave the Formation Hall his notes about three-dimensional formations, which allowed the sect to boost its defenses. Only a very small number of people knew that this was Zhao Hai's contribution. So the Yin Yang Elder used this roundabout way to reward Zhao Hai.

Good Formation Masters weren't easy to find in the True Spirit Realm. This was because the life and death of a sect were usually tied to their formations. If a sect had a good formation master, not only would their defenses improve, their refining and crafting would also be better. Because of this, formation masters were highly sought after in the True Spirit Realm.

If other sects knew that Zhao Hai was a talented formation master, they would do all they could to poach him. And if they couldn't, they would definitely find a way to destroy him. To protect Zhao Hai, the Yin Yang Elders as well as Elder Zhen decided to tell nobody that it was Zhao Hai who came up with three-dimensional formations. But in exchange for this secrecy, it became difficult to reward Zhao Hai.

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The Yin Yang Elders thought that this was unfair to Zhao Hai. Although Zhao Hai was their disciple, he still needed to be rewarded. So with the help of Elder Zhen, the Yin Yang Elders were able to persuade the other high-level figures of the sect to give Zhao Hai his reward.

But nobody expected Zhao Hai's performance during the battle to be so good, especially the charge he did along with his Undead. The Yin Yang Elder were once more convinced that it wasn't a waste that they had taken Zhao Hai in. Although it might seem like Zhao Hai's actions were reckless, this kind of careless attitude was also necessary for cultivators. Everyone has their own emotions. If they weren't allowed to let it out, then it would leave a knot in their hearts. As this knot grows, then it might develop into becoming a heart's demon, which is a very bad thing for cultivators.

Also, when they knew that Zhao Hai's charge wasn't a reckless action but was done with a plan in mind, the Yin Yang Elders became more optimistic about Zhao Hai. The two elders even thought that the reward that was given to Zhao Hai was a bit lacking.

But at the same time, the two elders were worried that Zhao Hai would immediately run to the Blade Pavilion to get powerful manuals upon receiving his reward. If that happens, it wouldn't bring any benefit to Zhao Hai's cultivation. In the minds of the two elders, Zhao Hai was someone with great comprehension. But if Zhao Hai learns new things all the time without reaching a deep comprehension of the manuals he learned, it wouldn't benefit him at all. The two had been paying close attention to Zhao Hai's actions. If Zhao Hai wants to get more manuals from the Blade Pavilion, then they would stop him.

Unfortunately for them, their worries were wasted on Zhao Hai. He didn't go to the Blade Pavilion to get more manuals and instead practiced the manuals he learned before. The two elders' evaluation of Zhao Hai increased once more.

Everyone liked talented disciples. Sects in the True Spirit Realm get a few geniuses every year, but not a lot of these geniuses would eventually become experts. There were also cultivators who weren't eye-catching but turned out to become stronger experts than these geniuses.

Whether they be a genius or an ordinary person, those who become powerful experts all share the same characteristics, and that was persistence, seriousness, and humility. These were the basic building blocks of success, but not a lot of geniuses have these qualities. It can't be helped, even geniuses can get burnt out.

Geniuses were too smart, they could learn everything at once. It was because of this that they didn't take the basics seriously. Why should they dwell on these basic things when they can learn more advanced manuals? It was this mindset that became the greatest obstacle for geniuses. Foundation was very important to any cultivator.

Back on Earth, there was a saying, genius was 99 percent hard work and 1 percent talent. But during crucial times, this 1 percent became more important than the 99 percent. It can be seen from this saying that genius was composed of two parts, and that was talent and diligence. If you have talent and no diligence, then you wouldn't reach far. If you have diligence but have no talent, then you would only reach the same height as your predecessors, it would be very hard for you to go beyond.

So upon discovering that Zhao Hai was a genius, the Yin Yang Elders were still worried about the other half. They were afraid that Zhao Hai would follow the footsteps of those fallen geniuses and achieve nothing.

They have always thought that their worries were not unnecessary. Zhao Hai wasn't only a cultivation genius, he could also refine artifacts, craft pills, and arrange formations. It was precisely because of this that the two elders were more worried. They were afraid that Zhao Hai would become distracted and lose everything.

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But seeing Zhao Hai's actions, the two elders were completely relieved. Zhao Hai wasn't blinded by his rich rewards. This made the elders happy.

Unlike Zhao Hao's peaceful cultivation, a storm was brewing among the inner disciples of the Tyrant Blade Sect. Upon knowing that they might be transferred to Lower Earth Mountain, the inner disciples began shoring the cards in their hands. Those who didn't care about their masters went to them for help. They didn't want to get transferred to Lower Earth Mountain. Those who have relationships with core disciples began to hug their thighs even tighter, afraid that they would be dragged to Lower Earth Mountain.

Some inner disciples even inquired elders to see if they had been selected to be transferred to Lower Earth Mountain.

But in the end, everyone found that they had hit a snag. Lower Earth Mountain's assignment has been decided by the sect and nobody can influence it. Those who tried to use a backdoor to get out of the assignment were severely warned, causing all inner disciples to behave.

The entire Tyrant Blade Sect became quiet, it was as if they were waiting for their death sentence and the day of their execution. There was a depressing atmosphere throughout the sect.

The higher-ups of the sect were unsatisfied by the reaction of the inner disciples. Originally, they didn't intend to send too many people to Lower Earth Mountain. But upon seeing the situation, the Tyrant Blade Sect decided to send more people than was planned.

Zhao Hai was unaware of the decisions made by the sect's higher-ups. Nor did he know about the situation of the inner disciples. But if he knew what the inner disciples were doing, he would certainly disdain them. In his opinion, someone who evades hardship will not go far as a cultivator. Cultivators not only need to cultivate their spiritual qi, they also need to cultivate their heart. If they don't cultivate their heart, their achievements would be limited.

Zhao Hai wasn't in the mood to care about miscellaneous things. During the battle, he used the Rolling Rocks Blade as well as the Goldentip Blade. These two techniques give priority towards offense. Zhao Hai was still lacking in defensive blade techniques. His thoughts wandered until he settled on the blade technique that the sect gave him when he became an inner disciple, the Eight Gate Goldenlock Blade. This technique was heavily focused on defense. Therefore, Zhao Hai practiced this technique in the following days.

Zhao Hai was already very skillful with regards to the Goldentip Blade. In the past battle, his comprehension of the technique has deepened much more. He could confidently claim that his mastery of the Goldentip Blade was at the same level as his mastery with the Rolling Rocks Blade.

It was also because of this that Zhao Hai thought about moving on and learning the Eight Gate Goldenlock Blade. Zhao Hai wasn't someone who bit off more than he could chew. As he practiced his blade techniques, he would conduct a review regarding his comprehension of the technique. Only once his mastery passes his qualifications would he move on. Zhao Hai knew that only through this could his fighting prowess be improved.

Ascending multiple times made Zhao Hai aware that the quantity of techniques wasn't the thing that made you stronger. Instead, it was the quality of your comprehension. How you use things and where to use them was more important than having a lot of tools to use during a fight. Learning one thing to the point of mastery was much better than learning 100 things on a surface level.