Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 222: An Alphabet Acolyte’s Journey

Time passed quietly while Han Xuhan went about his business.

His routine these days was very strict. Try out different martial moves to test whether his physique was compatible with them, hone his skills in those compatible moves, and when his body couldn't continue the harsh, laborious task, switch his focus to improving his Mystic cultivation.

Cycle through the motions, take all kinds of supplements that can be purchased with spirit stones, take the bare minimum amount of rest, and don't take a step outside the house unless necessary.

He could already feel himself getting close to the peak of the second phase of the Physique Transformation realm on the martial path.

While he had already reached the third layer of the Physique Transformation realm as a Mystic cultivator long ago, it had brought negligible improvement to his body, because the Skeleton Monarch Manual didn't focus on enhancing the body at all.

So, when he broke through to the third phase as a martial cultivator, he'd become a genuine, all-around expert. He could proclaim himself to be within the top fifty disciples of his generation!

There'd be only two types of geniuses above him at that point.

In the first category are disciples whose cultivation has long crossed the third layer or the third phase of the Physique Transformation realm.

Some disciples he knew had already reached that level before becoming a disciple of the sect.

In the second category, there are disciples who not only cultivated the Martial and Mystic paths, but they also focused on studying the Monastic path.

Han Xuhan knew only two disciples of the outer court whose cultivation of the Monastic path had reached a considerable height; Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou!

"If I call myself a successful dual cultivator-no, that sounds a little misleading... Mm, if I call myself a successful dual-path cultivator, then Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou are successful triple-path cultivators.

I stand no chance against them in terms of getting random enlightenments. Best not to chase after hopeless milestones..."

Discarding the greedy ambition of pursuing the Monastic Path, he stuck to his routine.

Currently, the time he spent cultivating the Mystic Path was mainly divided between two techniques—the False Remembrance Illusion Art, and the Language of Laws.

He was cruising along at an unusually quick pace in both of them; in the former because he had already consolidated his foundational learnings of the technique and reached the precipice of a breakthrough.

In the case of the latter, he had narrowed down his focus on mastering a single subset of law letters with the help of Qian Yun.

Due to having a fair bit of familiarity with the law letters inside his foundation tower, he didn't need to spend much time trying to memorize the shapes and complex structures of these letters.

He knew exactly what he wanted out of this particular subset, and that made the process of learning their meanings and usage a lot easier.

Qian Yun's enthusiasm for teaching him had also grown exponentially once he had learned the news of his breakthrough in the path of laws.

"The typically used ranks like Physique Transformation realm and Soul Reformation realm are far too vague, generalized to the point where you cannot really rely on them to understand law cultivators.

So, like many of the great orthodox paths, we have our own denominations and cultivation ranking schemes.

I've already named and described them to you briefly during our past discussions. Do you remember?"

Facing the long tunnel connected to his spawn point in the artificial macrocosm of laws, Han Xuhan responded, "All I can recall is that there are three grades of letters of laws; Base letters, Composite letters, and Complex letters.

And oh, I know the name of the first rank of law cultivation. Alphabet Acolyte, was it?"

"Yes, an initiate Alphabet Acolyte is what we call the law cultivators who have just established their foundation. At your level, there is no need to think about composite letters and Complex letters. What you do need to bear in mind is the other classification.

These letters are divided into five dimensions of laws, which you've already been introduced to during our expedition inside the Holy Land back then."

"Yeah, yeah, the five types of laws; Force, Cause and Effect, Elemental, Sentient Contracts, and Cosmic Laws."

Han Xuhan didn't have a deep understanding of the distinctions among these five dimensions. In his foundation tower, almost all the letters were of the first two categories.

He would be happy enough to make progress in these two paths for now.

"An Alphabet Acolyte must study the base grade letters of all five dimensions," Qian Yun said, cruelly breaking his dreams.

"This is where we must discuss the minor levels of the Alphabet Acolyte stage. There are only four, unlike typical Mystic Arts, which have ten corresponding levels to the ten layers of the Physique Transformation realm."

Only four? Why are you saying it like somehow having fewer levels makes it better?

Han Xuhan was certain that each of those four levels was going to be far harder to cross compared to crossing one layer of a Mystic Art.

"In the first level, you are free to experiment with all kinds of base grade letters of laws. Take your pick from any of the five dimensions, try them out, test their practical application, and see if you like them or not.

This way, you'll slowly come to learn about your affinities as a law cultivator.

Once you've learned what you're good at, and what dimension of laws you prefer more, you have to delve deep into that dimension.

Once you've learned enough letters of that category, this artificial realm will automatically assist your promotion to the second level."

Han Xuhan felt relieved. As long as the task was centered around learning things, he didn't need to worry about his shitty meridians blocking his progress.

He could sweep his way through the first level of the Alphabet Acolyte stage easily, it seemed.

With so many letters remaining inside his foundation tower, he even had a massive head start!

"That's simple enough. So what's considered enough? Is there a benchmark or standard that I need to know about?"

At this question, Qian Yun paused for a long time, as if contemplating whether he should answer honestly or not. It gave Han Xuhan a bad feeling.

"Standards... vary across circumstances and location, truth be told," he finally responded, leaving Han Xuhan's thoughts somewhat befuddled.

"Are you saying that there are no definite, fixed, and universal standards to cross the first level?" he asked.

"That seems a lot different compared to traditional Mysticism and Martial Arts."

"You're right, it's different. The thing is, the artificial macrocosm of laws connects every law cultivator in every corner of the world. But the effect of law techniques and legacies they all have access to isn't the same.

Take, for example, our holy land. It was such a well-protected, powerful, and flourishing center for learning law-based techniques that it unified all the relevant legacies and sects under its banner.

But after its destruction, what do we have left?

I can say with certainty that there are no complete legacies of our path left on this planet. Anything half-decent is locked inside this fragmented world."

Han Xuhan remembered how desperate Qian Yun was during their expedition through the ruins of the holy land of laws.

But he didn't think there was a need to sound so dejected about the situation.

"Brother Yun, when you get out of that place, you can disseminate complete legacies everywhere and revive the path of laws on this planet. In fact, if you want to speed up the process, I have an offer for you."

Hearing his emotional response, Qian Yun couldn't help but feel tempted.

"What kind of offer, Brother Xuhan?"

"Why don't you hand over a bunch of complete manuals from the ruins to me? I can assure you, I'll do my very best to spread the techniques wherever my influence reaches!"

"...You're just looking for an opportunity to make money, aren't you?"

"What? No! Why would I charge YOU any money to give me your manuals? I'll only take a cut of the profits from sales. If you want, I can give you a share!"

"....If my physical body could come here, you'd learn the consequences of excessive greed pretty quickly, Xuhan," Qian Yun said in a dangerous tone.

"Why are you so quick to turn to violence, Brother Yun? If you don't want to accept my offer, you can just say it plainly. Since that's the case, continue the lecture I'm paying you for!"

Through the tunnel, faint echoes of someone's teeth gnashing could be heard for a good few seconds. Han Xuhan felt genuinely aggrieved.

Why do these stupid cultivators ignore such golden business opportunities?

"...As I was saying, for regions like ours where the lineage of law cultivation has dried up or been destroyed completely, the rules and requirements are pretty loose.

I reckon you could cross the first level as long as you meet the lowest possible standard for a first level Alphabet Acolyte."

"How many base grade letters are we talking about, then? In my foundation tower, I have hundreds of them."

"The exact number depends on your potential as a law cultivator. But you should learn at least a thousand base-grade letters from each dimension of laws before expecting a breakthrough."

Han Xuhan gasped. "That's five thousand letters!"

"You might think you'd be lucky to cross the first level before you master that many letters, but you'd be wrong, very, very wrong, Xuhan. Don't hope for circumstances that create a limitation on your potential."

Han Xuhan felt quite touched, but only until he heard the guy mutter, "You're already a trash. Don't lower yourself further."

Finding no avenue to vent his frustrations, he could only release a deep sigh and politely ask Qian Yun to continue.

"The second level of the Alphabet Acolyte stage is all about practical application. You have to prove to this artificial macrocosm that you can utilize each and every letter you've learned.

Whether you use them for a simple restrictive sentence, or a complicated formation, you have to show your practical expertise before this artificial macrocosm promotes you to the third level.

The third level is a mirror version of the second level. The only difference is you have to use those letters in the real world and affect real universal laws.

The feedback will slowly accumulate and promote you to the fourth and final level of the Alphabet Acolyte stage. This is where things get tough.

Four out of ten law cultivators don't make it past this level!

To cross this level, you have to construct at least one unique composite letter of laws that you have never seen or learned before. Sometimes, one might not even be enough!

This composite letter will form a unique seal on your foundation and determine your future path as a law cultivator."