The tale Li Shi told was not something that wasmon knowledge to the mass, hence all the students were listening with great interest. Although Amon was also listening, he didn''t truly put the tale in his mind until the mention of the first demon.


    Li Shi continued her tale, "After the second son sessfully learned this demonic cultivation art, he gained great power. But at the same time, his anger and envy towards his brother intensified. Giving in to his emotion, heshed out at his brother. His brother who was not aware of his murderous intention was taken by surprise. The father, who was there when it happened, put himself in harm''s way. So, instead of the brother, the second son killed the father."


    "Consumed by grief and guilt, the second son fled the scene, while the first son swore revenge. Despite killing their leader, the second son still gathered a bunch of followers. These were the ones who were more attuned to his demonic cultivation. Hence, they followed him and studied his cultivation way."


    "As for the first son, he marshaled those who were loyal to his father and started a manhunt on his brother. The two groups ended up in a fierce war with one another."


    "The deity beast, in the meantime, was absent when the incident happened. It often sometimes went off for decades, only returningter to itsir after it was done adventuring. The time of the leader''s demise was one such moment. When it came back, it was not to the loving worship of its subjects. But instead, it came back to the war-tornnd and saw its beloved humans tearing each other apart with hatred and loathing."


    "The sight broke the deity beast''s heart. It was furious. Yet, it couldn''t bring itself to decimate these pets it hade to love. In the end, it just left and let the humans deal with their own matter."


    "That is how our first conflict with the demon race happened. In the end, the humans who practiced the divine cultivation pushed the demon race back and locked them up in a prison world created by our divine ancestors. There were some who escaped capture and had since been hiding in the dark. It is our duty to eradicate such demons if we should encounter one. This is the end of our lecture. Do you have any questions?"


    Several students lifted their hands, but Amon was the first to ask a question because he just started asking without bothering to lift his hand or waiting for permission, "Since a demon was born out of a human because of a modified cultivation, does that mean there is a different way to cultivate other than the divine path?"


    "That is correct," Li Shi answered. "The way the demon race cultivate is inherently different from our divine cultivation. They even had their own different cultivation levels."


    "In that case, if amon cultivator unintentionally practices the demon cultivation, won''t he turn into a demon then?" Amon asked again. The other students who had lifted their hands were especially annoyed by this. They felt like the ones who were cut in a queue and the person doing it wasn''t even feel guilty about it.


    "Not all are attuned to the demonic cultivation art, but some cultivators are still possible to turn into a demon if they practice such art. That is why most of the books or records pertaining to the demonic cultivation have been destroyed," Li Shi answered. "This is to prevent themon people from getting ess to such a dangerous cultivation path."


    ''In this case, it will be difficult to find one to nurture my ck core,'' Amon thought with disappointment.


    Amon asked no more questions. All he was interested in was where to find cultivation art for his ck core, but he couldn''t ask openly about where to find one. From Li Shi''s answers, it was unlikely that she knew anyway.


    *


    After the ss was finished, Xin Wuming came to Amon.


    "Have you found out about what I asked?" Amon asked him.


    "Yes, big brother. I have been asking around. Here are what I have found," Xin Wuming said as he unfurled a paper that showed the copy of the map of the academy. There were scribblings all over the map. He then started exining.


    "The academy has students from nsing from all over the kingdom. I can''t record all of them. But the most prominent ns formed five factions inside this academy. Each faction is an alliance of several ns or sects. These factions seemed to have been passed down since the early years of this academy. The students from the ns that are in the faction normally join the same faction following their seniors, thus making it a continuous tradition."


    "These factions were always vying for supremacy within the royal academy. The tutors in this academy seemed to ignore this hidden power struggle. Small fights used to ur between the members, while big fights are usually done behind closed doors. As long as no one died or was severely wounded, the tutors turned a blind eye. Sometimes, they also fight publicly by using the arena."


    "The names of five factions are given by their founders. They haven''t been changed since. They are Nobles, Virtuous, Bloodless, Astute, and Heroic. The faction''s hierarchy always changes as old students leave and new students enter. For now, most agree that the nobles and Virtuous are the most dominant factions. Their member counts are the highest. Most avoid causing trouble with these two."


    "Tell me about each of these factions," Amon said.


    Xin Wuming nodded. "The Nobles are headed by the Gao n, which is one of the major ns in the capital. This faction as its name suggests, only ept n that has some blood ties to the royal family. However, they are mostly distant rtives from the past. None of the actual members of the royal family enroll in this academy. Many ns join this faction, but the most notable ones aside from Gao n are the Yan n, Wu n, and Gui n."


    Yan and Wu. Amon could predict already that he might not be having a harmonious rtionship with this faction.


    "The next dominant faction, the Virtuous, is headed by the Xian n," Xin Wuming continued. "Xian n is another major n in the capital. It is a directpetitor to the Gao n. This is why the rtionship between the Nobles faction and Virtuous faction is never good. Notable members of this faction are the Liang n and the Ice Cloud Sect."


    "The Bloodless is led by the An n. This n is said to be the descendant of an ancient kingdom before our current kingdom, Echos. Notable members of this faction include the Unity Sister Sect, which is a sect that epts only woman cultivators, and the Xie n. Although not as prominent, Big brother''s Lin n is also within this faction. Do you wish to join this faction?" Xin Wuming asked.


    "I don''t intend to join any faction," Amon replied. "Continue."


    "The fourth faction, Astute, is co-headed by two ns, Ming and Zong. Both are the ruling ns of two of thergest trade cities in the Echos kingdom. Ming n holds the Eternal Peace City in the North, while the Zong n is the ruler of Fuyang City in the South. Both are wealthy ns who have had healthy cooperation in trade. That''s why the first students of the two ns had decided to create a faction together. Notable members in this faction are the Jing n and also the White Cloud Sect from our city."


    "Last but not least, is the Heroic faction. This n is founded and still led by the Yong n. It is a n in a military city near the border. Its n master is a great general of this kingdom. Its notable members are the Gan n and Nan n. The Lei n and Wei n from our city traditionally join this faction."


    "There are other small-scale alliances and also plenty of other ns or students who don''t wish to join the power struggle. They tend to keep to themselves and avoid provoking these five factions."


    Xin Wuming then showed the map in his hand. "Aside from the main section where the tutors and academy staff used to frequent, the three other sections in this academy are given free rein to the students. Hence, the five factions carved up territories on them. There is an unspoken rule that members of opposite factions aren''t allowed to enter the territory of the other factions unless they have been given permission. Failure to do so will have the trespassers badly beaten or apprehended. Compensations will be required before these trespassers are released. These are the territories of each faction."


    In Xin Wuming''s map, he had drawn some lines and written the faction names to indicate the territory owners. Each of the three sections, freshman, junior, and senior, all had the territories of the five factions within. The Nobles had thergest territory in the senior section while the Virtuous had thergest in the junior section. The freshman had all five equally divided.


    The territories inside the freshman section were much smallerpared to the junior and senior sections. Probably because the factions had fewer members among the freshman students. many students in this section were not yet willing to join any faction. Thus, the factions couldn''t be too imperious and held toorge a territory. Many areas were unimed territory.


    "The dormitories and living ces are not part of anyone''s territory, as well as the marked pathways. If any faction prevents entry to this ce, they will invite problems from the academy staff instead. So, they leave these ces alone. Most of the marked territory are gardens and parks that have good aether distribution, which might be the result of the excess energy from the ley line underneath. This makes the ce an ideal cultivation spot after the pagoda. Other territories have spirit herbs and spirit trees that the academy had nted for students'' free use. These resources are the basis of the factions'' scuffle for territory."


    Amonmitted all this information to his memory. When Xin Wuming said that he had no more things to add, Amon said, "Follow me, let''s go take a walk."