Still Learning To Live As A Cultivator

The Middle Realm and The People Living There

Low, Middle and High Realms

The world in which Leon awoke is called Xulaphrey and is considered a Middle Realm.  This means that it is a land with abundant spiritual energy, which is required by all things in small doses, but much more in certain herbs, plants and spiritual beasts. Cultivators gather this energy into themselves in order to seek longevity with the ultimate aim of immortality.

Low realms, which includes the Earth, where Leon lived his first life, are weak in spiritual energy.  Whether Cultivators exist there depends on the realm, but they must have enormous potential and ability or they will amount to nothing.  Leon does not know whether any Cultivators ever existed on Earth.  Low realms are extremely numerous.

The Higher realm may or may not be the only one in existence, but Jin Li only knows about the one he descended from.  He is not entirely sure how he came to the middle realm, but it is possible for people to be sucked into spatial tears and transported elsewhere.  This is very uncommon.  Jin Li would have died had it not been for his cultivation which was a little damaged in transit.  No matter what happened to him, he considers this somewhat an act of fate for he would not have his Dao Companion had he not come to Xulaphrey.

Ascending Mountain Institute

Xulaphrey is made up of two continents, simply named the West and the East.  The Ascending Mountain Institute is located in the Sky Reaching Mountains to the North East of the Eastern Continent.  The Sky Reaching Mountains is a vast range, therefore although the Institute is fairly large, it only owns a small portion of the range.

The Ascending Mountain Institute is made up of five schools, which are then separated into Outer and Inner schools. 

The Inner schools accept those with the most talent and potential.  They usually gain the better resources, have better living accommodations and access to more interesting tasks.

The Outer Schools accept all the others that can become Cultivators.  Often their resources are basic, the boring or unpleasant tasks are assigned them and their standards of living are adequate but not great, living many to a room (with the exception of alchemists, who really need their individual space or others could be caught up in their explosions).  Those without the will to learn often drop out.

Should be noted, towards both schools, talent does not always beget hard work.  Those who do not strive forward in the inner school often are transferred out to the outer school.  Likewise, those who are recognised as exceptional in the outer school are transferred to the inner school.

The Institute does not base acceptance on background, be it class, wealth or connections, but it also doesn't turn away those with the money to gain perhaps otherwise considered unfair entry.  However, once in, all students are treated and are expected to treat other students equally.  In order to help enforce this, all first years are banned from certain activities where prejudice might affect them, such as in the Standings.  Most students stop using class distinction as an excuse to bully others by the second year of school.  This is not always guaranteed.

Five Schools

There are five schools within the Ascending Mountain Institute where students can focus and hone their arts.  These are:

The Martial Arts School
This is the most popular school at present, with the Beast Taming School and Mage School in close succession.  There is a particular undercurrent between the Martial Arts School and Beast Taming School, both looking down on each other and both unaccepting of the others strengths.  Neither look down on the Mage school.

Both the inner and outer school look much like the other and there is less of a gap between the two in terms of appearance and comfort.  The outer school holds more students in a smaller area, thus there are usually four to a room.  The central arena is smaller as well and holds less spectator seating.  Otherwise the food is abundant and the students respectful of each other in the most part.  There is usually a competitive spirit to be found amongst students.