Is It Weird for a Guy to Apply to a Witch School?

Chapter 457: What is Body Cultivation?

With the written test concluded, the next step was an interview with an attached testing component.

The interview panel was composed of the group of teachers who needed Teaching Assistants for auxiliary instruction, so the number of teachers one had to face during the interview would be very flexible, ranging from a few to dozens.

The pressure of facing Transcendent Teachers directly is immense, let alone encountering a dozen or so at once.

The purpose of the interview was naturally to find students suitable to become Teaching Assistants.

In principle, this interview adhered to the dual-choice nature of Teaching Assistant and teacher, but in reality, this couldn’t be fully achieved.

If it were, it would likely involve some other underlying transaction, unless the person was so outstanding that teachers fought over her.

But then that would become a ”war” between the teachers.

Well capable people are welcome everywhere.

If becoming a Teaching Assistant is merely for the benefits, one is bound to hit a wall.

After the written test, I headed to Big Sis Bai’s place.

Of course, going to see Big Sis Bai wasn’t just because I missed her.

It was also to learn knowledge related to Physical Arts and Body Cultivation.

In fact, the first three years of the Witch Academy curriculum and knowledge points included explanations related to Physical Arts, but clearly, this niche subject wouldn’t be taught in the first year.

Moreover… Big Sis Bai explicitly stated that Physical Arts and Body Cultivation were not the same thing.

Body Cultivation is a complete Transcendent System, much like that of a spellcaster, while Physical Arts are analogous to a spellcaster’s spells, belonging to a branch within the system.

By the next day, the results of the written test had been released.

It wasn’t a full score, which was not unexpected, as this was my current standard.

Based on my analysis, the deduction was likely from the later open-ended and extension questions.

One would generally not get a full score on these types of questions unless the answer was flawless and contained highly constructive suggestions.

After all, my current accumulation of knowledge was still too little, and I couldn’t provide a watertight answer to this type of question.

Anything that touched upon things I hadn’t encountered or couldn’t deduce with my current knowledge system left me completely clueless.

Fortunately, this written test didn’t have such outrageous extension questions.

At this moment, I was in a Physical Arts Training Hall.

The Physical Arts Training Hall was different from the commercialized Physical Arts Training Hall I had visited before.

This was primarily for teaching, so the nature was different.

I had originally expected the Physical Arts Training Hall to be a place with a fervent atmosphere where muscle-bound girls were passionately training Physical Arts, but when I arrived, I found that it wasn’t designed that way from the beginning.

Compared to the athletic style of the Physical Arts Training Hall I’d seen before, this place was more akin to a… retreat-like setting.

There weren’t many open spaces; most were separate, secluded areas where one wouldn’t be disturbed.

Big Sis Bai casually led me into one of the vacant training rooms.

Looking down the corridor, the training rooms were very close to each other, and I could feel the Spatial Extension in each one.

The space inside was definitely larger than it looked from the outside.

So, the Witch Academy really likes to use spatial-type Transcendent methods.

Aside from the technique and consumption involved, this method is genuinely convenient.

“Little Han, take this card. With this, you can use any of the training rooms here as you like.”

“Eh?”

I accepted the card.

This was Big Sis Bai’s teacher permission card.

“But Big Sis Bai, without this, won’t you…”

“This card is redundant for a Transcendent Witch. The card is merely for procedural purposes, and my presence here is more useful than this card. Little Han, just take it and don’t worry.”

Bai Yu explained, her tone completely reassuring me to use it freely.

“Mhm, then I’ll respectfully comply.”

I kept the permission card.

Before entering this training room, my gaze glanced at the other closed training rooms.

Judging by the utilization rate of the training rooms along this corridor, there weren’t many people here.

Stepping into the training room, the space was as large as I had expected.

“Just keep what I gave you safely.”

At this moment, Big Sis Bai quickly walked to the center of the training room, which resembled a huge, enclosed indoor fighting arena.

“Little Han, didn’t you ask me yesterday what Body Cultivation is?”

“Mhm.”

I nodded continuously.

I had sought out Big Sis Bai after the written test yesterday because I wanted to delve deeper into the knowledge of Physical Arts and Body Cultivation.

With Big Sis Bai here, I naturally saved myself the trouble of going to the library.

“Actually, before I graduated, even before I left the Main World, I was curious about what exactly Body Cultivation was. Was it simply practicing Physical Arts? Physical exercise? Viscera internal cultivation? Tendon and fascia tempering? Five Senses Enhancement?”

“These are all part of it, but none of them are entirely accurate.”

Saying this, Bai Yu sighed lightly.

“If these alone defined Body Cultivation, then it would be too narrow. I stepped out of the Main World and witnessed the Myriad Races of the Void. Humans, witches, elves, and demons are truly only a part of the Void races. Some races are born with bodies like mountains; their foundational physical quality might be our ultimate limit, or even an extent we can never achieve in a lifetime.”

“However, Body Cultivation is a unified Transcendent Power System of cultivation and advancement recognized by all the Myriad Races of the Void. But because the physical structure differs among races, based on our inherent impression of Body Cultivation, the so-called Body Cultivation should logically be a complete joke.”

“But the reality is entirely different. Little Han, do you think physical strength is important in Body Cultivation?”

“Mhm… I suppose it’s quite important…”

“Half right. The sensation of power is merely the external manifestation of the early stages of Body Cultivation. It is the most rudimentary level of a life form’s cognition and utilization of its body. Physical Arts also only helps one to be aware of Body Cultivation and utilize the body.”

At this point, Big Sis Bai’s tone suddenly shifted.

“But Physical Arts should absolutely not be a belief that is worshiped or anchored by a person’s will. Practicing Physical Arts should not allow it to be mythologized into a faith. It should be a temporary tool, not a path-defining will for one to embark on Body Cultivation.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

I asked curiously, wondering why Big Sis Bai was suddenly giving me this warning.

I hadn’t even started practicing any Physical Arts yet.

“Oh, I… I apologize. It was just an emotional reaction to some things I saw outside the Main World.”

Bai Yu also realized her thought process had been disjointed and quickly explained.

“I met someone, no, not just one person, outside the Main World who practiced Physical Arts. They mythologized the Physical Arts they practiced, believing that the techniques and movements for developing physical strength contained the ultimate truth of the cosmos, providing the power and revelation to explain all things. This gave them a shortcut in the early stages, but after reaching a certain realm, they made no further progress in Body Cultivation. You could say they completely blocked their own path.”

“Uh… there are people like that?”

“There are quite a few such people. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the concept of Mental Realm within the Body Cultivation system. Because the world those individuals came from was isolated, many things were independently discovered, leading to countless interpretations of the Body Cultivation Mental Realm. They took these interpretations as an unwavering path, but among these interpretations, some were correct, some were wrong, and some were barely usable.”

“In fact, this kind of unconstrained exploration is perfectly fine for interpreting the concept of the Transcendent essence, because the Transcendent world will respond with whatever Transcendent concept and cognitive system one uses to interpret it. But Body Cultivation itself is an exploratory path toward the Transcendent; it cannot tolerate such freedom. Thinking everything is self-evident will only lead to eternal damnation.”

“Remember, Physical Arts are merely a temporary means of progression on the path of Body Cultivation. They grant life the momentum to move forward and the power to cleave through obstacles.”

“I know. Like on the path of exploring the Transcendent, one cannot be blinded by power,” I quickly said.

“That… that’s essentially the meaning.”

Big Sis Bai nodded, indicating the meaning was roughly correct.

“Then what exactly is Body Cultivation? Since the power gap between races is absolute, how is this power system recognized by so many races?”

I continued to ask this question.

Even though Big Sis Bai had told me a lot, I still hadn’t arrived at a simple and clear answer to this fundamental question.

I only had a relatively vague concept and framework for it now.

“Then let me ask you: what exactly is the spellcaster’s Transcendent path? What forms the framework and foundation of this Transcendent System?”

“Uh… Mental Power?”

I said tentatively.

After all, a spellcaster’s Mental Power is absolutely crucial.

Otherwise, the Witch Academy wouldn’t have focused on teaching the Witch Meditation Method to enhance and polish Mental Power right from the start.

This is definitely not just about making the student’s Mental Power sufficient to manage Magic Power.

“More precisely, it is Mental Power Perception, Mental Power, and… Mental Power Perception. They form the most important cornerstone of the spellcaster. Any spell, whether it’s a Divine Art or a form of Magic, is based on this. And Perception is observation. If you can observe it, you can interfere. If you can interfere, you can master it. If you can master it, you can wield it.”

“Perception is the only means of exploring the Transcendent. No matter what it is, a life form’s first instinct towards the outside world is Perception. Body Cultivation is the same. What is the perception of Body Cultivation? The most direct is the Five Senses Enhancement. The external perception of the Myriad Races of the Void cannot escape these five senses. That is, the innate senses will not exceed these five. They will only have fewer, and generally not more.”

“The most fundamental Body Cultivation is also called a Somatic Perception Cultivator. Regardless of the race or the number of innate senses, the preparatory stage of Body Cultivation begins with cultivating all five senses.”

“Our races, the witches, humans, and other races—or a large portion of the Void races—are born with five senses. The emergence and spread of the Body Cultivation system facilitated a kind of natural selection. Therefore, overall in the Void, most races still possess all five senses.”

“It can be said that races with less than five senses are mostly unrelated to Body Cultivation. They primarily follow other Transcendent Systems. There is no need for them to endure the natural selection imposed by the Body Cultivation system.”

“So, returning to the previous question: what is Body Cultivation? If a spellcaster uses Mental Power outside the body as their perception, then Body Cultivation is the extreme development of one’s own Five Senses Enhancement, rivaling the bug-like perception system of Mental Power. It is the utilization of the Five Senses to observe, interfere with, master, and wield the Transcendent! This is the essence of Body Cultivation, not merely physical strength, nor even Body Cultivation Energy. These are merely the temporary methods mastered during the stages of Body Cultivation; they are byproducts of Body Cultivation.”

Big Sis Bai explained the essence of Body Cultivation to me in an accessible and in-depth manner.

This truly gave me immense inspiration.

This knowledge was entirely new to me, as were the concepts.

They were so profound and unfriendly to anyone embarking on Body Cultivation.

But the Transcendent is like this.

Even if a spellcaster’s path were to be explained in detail, it would be no simpler or easier than Big Sis Bai’s explanation of Body Cultivation.

But no matter how complex the elaboration, everything must return to the most fundamental question: ”How exactly should one do it?”

Big Sis Bai previously had me use the Primary Body Forging Alchemy Ring and the accompanying Ritual battle dance to enhance my physical quality.

The essence of this was to strengthen my physical foundation.

Only when the foundation is strong does everything else become simpler.

To practice the perception of the body, understanding and controlling the body are essential prerequisites.

Therefore, to embark on Body Cultivation, one must utilize Physical Arts.

One relies on the actual practice of Physical Arts to temper the body, control the limbs, perceive oneself, activate the mind, and understand the essence.

Through physical movements, one indirectly enables the body’s instincts to understand every function of the body, achieving precise control and mastery over it.

It is for this reason that some people can enter the ranks of Body Cultivators purely through arduous practice.

It is not that their mind remembers, but that their body remembers.

However, this path is destined not to be long-term.

My advantage of Self-awakened Body Cultivation was apparent from the start: my understanding and cognition of the essence of life, my experience of every function of the body, and the many opportunities and coincidences—the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell, the Unity of Knowledge and Action Spell, and so on—all facilitated the occurrence of this state.

They shaped this irreplicable Self-awakened Body Cultivation.

I myself am an inherently open treasure trove, and my rough utilization of it is already the limit for others.

However, in Big Sis Bai’s words, my current utilization of Self-awakened Body Cultivation is so crude that it is a complete waste of precious resources.

I felt quite embarrassed about this, but I truly haven’t had much energy to focus on Body Cultivation…

And… and I am still a newcomer!

I have never felt that my excuse of being a newcomer was so useful.

“So… what should I do after embarking on the path of Body Cultivation? Should I also practice a style of Physical Arts?”

“Physical Arts must be practiced. Physical Arts cover many aspects: offensive, defensive, speed-oriented, and so on. This will have a considerable effect on your current strength improvement. Power is something you don’t necessarily have to use, but you cannot be without it, do you understand? You are always living in a complex society, and even in an academy with low competitive pressure, the weight of power must be sufficiently maintained.”

“I understand, I understand. Then… does Big Sis Bai have any recommendations?”

I asked curiously.

After all, with Big Sis Bai here, I was too lazy to take detours.

“I do have a few recommendations, but there’s no hurry for those. Let me first tell you about the other practices of Body Cultivation. The path of Body Cultivation is definitely not just the monotonous practice of Physical Arts. There are many others, such as daily Five Senses Enhancement, body tempering with Elixirs and medicinal baths, nourishing the internal organs and circulatory system, and the theoretical explanation of organ structure diagrams, and so on.”

“That… that many?”

“Of course. A complete Body Cultivation System is no less complex than a spellcaster’s path of Meditation, spell practice, mastery of spell techniques, Runology, ritual deconstruction, spell construction, and so on.”

“Moreover, Body Cultivation is a niche subject in the Witch Academy. There are quite a lot of things to learn. Since many people study the general spellcaster path, there’s a certain degree of mutual promotion and collaboration, with a complete framework, dissection process, and efficient system division. That’s why it seems relatively simple. However, a powerful spellcaster will also delve into all these things. So, theoretically, there is no superiority or inferiority between Body Cultivation and the spellcaster path.”

“Looking at it that way… you’re right. But I feel like I have even less time now…”

“Just plan your time reasonably. What’s reasonable is not fully utilizing every minute and second, but knowing what to forgo. Little Han, please don’t make your life too exhausting, okay?”

“…Okay.”