Chapter 1714: The Importance of Mindset Calibration

Zhang Xuan had undergone five Heaven-Acknowledged Master Teacher promotions and experienced numerous fortuitous encounters. His Soul Depth had continuously surged, long reaching the peak of the 9-star level. Among Master Teachers, only a few, such as Master Yang, were likely to surpass him.

Sword Saint Xing's mouth twitched involuntarily.

He had thought that his son's rapid progress might lead to an unstable Soul Depth, causing him to become arrogant. He never dreamed that his son's Soul Depth was so high that he himself fell far short!

"You... how did you cultivate your Soul Depth? Soul Depth is extremely difficult to cultivate. Even with cultivation techniques, one needs to train day and night without relaxation..."

He was full of curiosity.

Soul Depth was the most challenging aspect for Master Teachers. Master Yang had to wander the world anonymously to experience life and increase his Soul Depth. His own son, from birth until now, was only twenty years old at most, and had spent the first 19 years in a small place like Tianxuan Kingdom. How could his Soul Depth be so powerful?

"Me?"

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "I haven't cultivated it; it grew naturally..."

Sword Saint Xing swayed, his face turning red from holding back, almost spitting blood. "Naturally grew to 29.1?"

Seeing her husband's defeated expression, Sword Saint Meng burst into laughter.

Of all people, why ask their son? Wasn't he just asking for trouble?

When they met their son in the Empire Alliance, he was only at Saint 8-dan, not even Saint 9-dan. And now, he was a peak Golden Body realm expert. In just over half a month, he had progressed so rapidly, yet he still asked...

Clearly, he was asking for discomfort!

"Is there a problem?" Zhang Xuan looked over.

Actually, saying it grew naturally was somewhat inaccurate, but he truly hadn't cultivated any specific methods to increase his Soul Depth.

The reason it was so high was due to the Golden Page, Heaven-Acknowledged Master Teacher promotions, the 'Teacher' character cultivation, and Soul Depth epiphanies. Each time, it surged by 1.0 or more, naturally leading to rapid progress.

However... it involved the Library of Heaven's Path, which was inconvenient to reveal, so he could only answer this way.

Since the original owner of this body was a born Saint, his Soul Depth naturally increasing to twenty-nine shouldn't be a big problem, right?

"No problem..."

With a bitter smile, Sword Saint Xing didn't know how to respond.

Others toiled tirelessly, investing immense effort for every 0.1 increase in Soul Depth. Yet, this person, without cultivating, had his Soul Depth grow to rival Master Yang...

If this news got out, it would surely discourage all Master Teachers in the world from wanting to cultivate ever again.

"Relying solely on natural growth for Soul Depth won't allow one to reach the Ancient Sage level," Wu Chen, who had been silent, suddenly said. "One must temper and refine it oneself to make it more complete, clear, and crystalline, enabling one to go further during the Ancient Sage Heavenly Tribulation!"

"Breaking through to Ancient Sage is related to Soul Depth?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Regarding Ancient Sages, none of the Three Great Clans, not even the Master Teacher Pavilion, had any related books. One could say they knew nothing about it.

"Yes, at the Ancient Sage level, one integrates their own mind with the heavens' mind, and their own thoughts with the heavens' thoughts, becoming more attuned to nature. If one's Soul Depth is insufficient, they simply cannot bear such immense power of heaven and earth, and could easily become an imbecile or a madman. Although your Soul Depth has increased rapidly through natural growth, it lacks the process of tempering... making it harder to break through to Ancient Sage!"

Wu Chen seemed to know a lot about these matters.

It was no wonder; his strength was comparable to Master Yang's, and he had been searching for a breakthrough method, so he must have researched these topics extensively.

"So that's how it is!"

Zhang Xuan still had an Ancient Sage corpse in his Spatial Ring. Although he didn't know how far he was from that realm, he was very aware of its immense power.

Even after death, the body was incredibly heavy and exuded an an aura that made it difficult to approach, clearly demonstrating its immense power.

The Immortal Realm seemed to be only one major level below Ancient Sage, but in reality, the difference was like that between a deity and a mortal; they were incomparable.

He had thought that breaking through required greater accumulation of power, but he never expected it to be related to Soul Depth.

"Wait... Soul Depth is only a requirement for Master Teachers. Ordinary cultivators generally don't cultivate it much, so how do *they* break through to Ancient Sage?" An idea popped into Zhang Xuan's mind, and he couldn't help but ask.

Soul Depth had always been a requirement for Master Teachers from the very beginning, and ordinary cultivators rarely paid attention to it. If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that other cultivators couldn't break through to Ancient Sage at all?

"Ordinary cultivators also pay attention to the cultivation of Soul Depth," Wu Chen explained. "Just like alchemists, if their Soul Depth is insufficient, the Serenity Pills they concoct can easily be affected by their mental state, turning a great tonic into potent poison!"

Wu Chen continued, "For demonic music cultivators, how can they release enchanting music to mesmerize opponents without cultivating their Soul Depth? If they truly can't, they might pass out themselves before even attacking others. Formation masters cannot set up illusion formations without cultivating their Soul Depth; otherwise, they might get trapped and be unable to escape..."

Zhang Xuan fell silent.

He had encountered such a situation when taking the 1-star Alchemist examination. The alchemist at the time had not reached the 'Heart Like Still Water' state, and the Serenity Pills he concocted were not only useless but could even kill those who consumed them.

He deeply understood this with demonic music cultivators; with insufficient Soul Depth, they probably wouldn't be able to control cranes in flight, but would instead shake them to death.

It seemed other professions were also like this; it's just that their Soul Depth requirements weren't detailed as explicitly as those for Master Teachers!

"Before Master Kong, Soul Depth was divided into many levels," Wu Chen continued, seeing his silence. "Like the 'Heart Like Still Water' we know, followed by 'Mind Clear as Day,' 'Unperturbed,' 'Ancient Well Without Ripples,' 'Heart Firm as Iron,' 'Naturally Attuned,' 'Pure Heart of a Child'..."

"Master Kong later felt that this grading system was too complex and could easily lead to mental confusion and an unstable Soul Depth, so he simplified it. He unified it using numerical scales, which is what the Master Teacher Pavilion currently uses: a promotion every three points! A 1-star Master Teacher needs a Soul Depth of 3.0, a 2-star needs 6.0... and so on. A 9-star Master Teacher needs at least 27.0! If one's Soul Depth doesn't meet the requirement, they won't be issued a rank emblem, and this requirement is even stricter than that for strength."

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

The Master Teacher Pavilion had simplified the Soul Depth scale, while other professions hadn't. Therefore, while they cultivated Soul Depth, they didn't have detailed standards for it. However, this didn't mean they didn't cultivate it at all.

The detailed scale made it clearer, which is why Master Teachers had a much higher probability of breaking through than those in other professions. This led to the Master Teacher Pavilion's dominance, making it impossible for other professions to catch up.

"I've been to Qufu once before," Sword Saint Xing suddenly spoke. "If I recall correctly, there's a place ahead dedicated to cultivating Soul Depth, called 'Jingxin' [Soul Realm]. It contains cultivation techniques for Soul Depth, insights left by countless experts, and even formations for tempering one's Soul Depth. Since you haven't cultivated it before, perhaps your first time there would have a significant effect!"