"Ahem, but to be clear, even if we use Immortal Techniques, we still follow the path everyone else takes. The Immortal Dao has long been lost; only remnants remain of its greatness." The Elder reaffirmed.

'Dao?'

Cain continued to listen to the Elder's words. Even Zoe stopped practicing.

"In light of Harnessing, people use two paths.

"The path of External Harnessing is by putting the souls of Spirits, Mythical Creatures, and Demons inside an external object and harnessing its power.

"The path of Internal Harnessing is far more brilliant. By gathering Spiritual Qi in the Dantian, techniques allow you to use this Spiritual Qi to process your own body, allowing it to act as a cage or home for Mystical souls! Through trapping or contracting such creatures, you will be able to harness their abilities and turn their powers into your own!"

'Taking power from supernatural creatures? Through force or cooperation? What a strange way to gain power! Wouldn't it be better to just use Spiritual Qi like how the old man described Immortal Techniques? Those sound far more efficient and superior!'

Going on, the Elder went into in-depth knowledge.

"Both paths have their ways to grow. External Harnessing is made into 8 Tiers, better known as Grades, starting from a Low-Grade object to a Divine Treasure of the 8th Tier. As for creating such a weapon, instead of a technique, you need a schematic to follow.

"Most schematics start at the 2nd or 3rd Tier. Only Mortals use Low-grade weapons, we Cultivators don't need such weak steel!"

The elder stroked his beard while grinning from ear to ear. Seeing as Cain and Zoe were mystified, he continued.

"Internal Harnessing is far more complicated. It is divided into 5 stages, with each stage having 5 Tiers: First Step, Early, Mid, Late, and Peak. The stages go as follows: Harnessing, Founding, Growth, Enlightenment, and Fusion. In the Harnessing stage, you can only harness Spiritual Qi and use it to empower objects and such; this Stage is also a necessity for External Harnessers to use the weapons they create.

"The founding stage is where you start to harness Spirits and Creatures, by either making pacts or sealing them forcefully to take their power. This act is dangerous but rewarding."

"What about the other stages? What happens in the Growth stage?" Cain asked.

Smirking, the Elder enlightened him, "Well, if you join my Immortal Sect, I'll let you have access to the first three floors of our Library Pavilion. How about it?"

'Scheming old man....'

Cain asked a few more questions, "What does your Immortal Sect cultivate besides Immortal Techniques?"

The Elder groomed his beard, "Everything, my dear lad. We have an entire mountain range of inheritances, along with our own; our disciples can take any path they wish. This makes us not only one of the 5 Great Sects but makes us a Knowledge Powerhouse when dealing with others! If not for the fact many Disciples die or don't have enough talent, we could contend with the Beast Tamer Sect, the greatest sect in the Spirit Lands!"

'Beast Tamer Sect?'

Cain was left deep in thought; after a few moments, he set his mind in stone.

"Alright, I'll join."

"Haha! Great!" The Elder turned to Zoe, "Little Lass, how about you?"

Zoe grumbled, "Fine."

"Excellent! My Immortal Sect has two new members! This is great! Quickly, come with me to the recruitment hall; we'll find you some masters, or I can be your master if you want!"

Both Cain and Zoe responded at the same time, "Anyone but you!"

...

Entering a large hall, Cain and Zoe were brought before another Elder.

"Dai Tian, what brings you here? Who are these two children?"

The Elder that saved Cain and Zoe responded, "Old Peng, I have good news! I found these two talents on my way out yesterday! We must quickly add them to the sect registry!"

Old Peng didn't ask; this Elder Dai had always been eccentric and crazy.

The paperwork was quickly approved. 

"Done, now leave my Registration Hall, I have to get back to my nap!"

Exiting the hall, Cain and Zoe turned towards Dai Tian.

"Ah, well...this is where our partnership ends my dear friends! I've held up my end; you both have access to the 3rd Floor of the Library Pavilion, and I've given you both tokens to enter the 500-mile mountain range. Since you didn't want me to be your master, you are only outer Disciples. Well, goodbye now!"

"Wait, didn't you say you would find us masters? Hey, wait!" Cain called out, but the Elder had long stepped on his flying leaf.

"What's that? I can't hear you lad; anyways, let us meet again haha!"

The Elder disappeared into the clouds.

"Damn it. We've been had."

"What do we do now?" Zoe asked.

"I'm going to the Library; you do whatever you want." Cain walked off, leaving Zoe behind.

She could only mutter under her breath, "Asshole...."

...

Luckily, Cain met a few outer disciples while wandering around the Sect; he was given the basic directions for many places throughout the grounds.

The Immortal Sect was situated on a massive mountain with 12 peaks; the 8 Grand Elders, second to the Sect leader, held 8 of these main peaks. The other 4 were given to outstanding elders.

'Seems that crazy old man had some standing within the sect. But he seems to only have one apprentice....'

The sect was pretty empty. With the recent attack of the Demonic sect suddenly happening, many disciples returned to their peaks to train while numerous outer disciples were sent to help in the defense effort of the 5 Great Sects.

The Sect worked in 6 ranks: Outer Disciple, Inner Disciple, Core Disciple, Deacon, Elder, Grand Elder, and Sect Leader. 

Outer Disciples were disciples of the sect who didn't have a master and thus didn't belong to any mountain peak where the Elders and their Inner Disciples took in Disciples. Of course, there were also Core Disciples, those directly under the tutelage of the Sect leader or 8 Grand Elders.

Lastly, Deacons were similar to elders but were the equivalent of outer disciples compared to inner disciples.

They filled in space within the Halls and Pavilions while having some authority on the Peaks, but it wasn't anything substantial, many of them were inferior to Inner Disciples. 

'Since I'm an outer disciple, I'll have more freedom than others, and since I just joined, I'm exempt from joining the fight with the Demonic Sect due to my low level. All that's left for me to do is go to the library and learn the basics, then I should practice a technique and head to the 500-mile mountain range.'

With a plan in mind, Cain headed towards the Library Pavilion.

...

A middle-aged man sat at a desk outside a majestic tower with 5 floors.

It was a quiet day, so when he heard the footsteps of a youth approaching, he groaned and slowly sat up. "Hmmm? No uniform?"

Cain walked up and handed over a badge with 3 marks.

"3rd Level Access? Who are you, kid?"

Cain spoke with a cold attitude, "Does it matter?"

"No..." The elder quickly opened the Pavilion doors. "You can only go to the 3rd floor; once you go to the fourth, I'll know, and you'll be expelled from the sect with your cultivation destroyed."

"I understand."

Cain stepped inside and entered a world of books and scrolls. The lighting was very low, with luminescent orbs hovering in the air.

'They don't use candles, smart.'

Taking a book off a shelf, Cain read the cover.

"Differentiating Spirits, Mythical Creatures, and Demons...."

He flipped to the first page and began to read.

"There are three categories for the Mystical creatures that live in the 7 Provinces. Firstly there are Spirits, beings made of pure spiritual energy that hold power over one energy like wind or earth, but they can also be complex concepts like Sword Spirits or the Longevity Spirits the Immortal Sect cultivates heavily.

"Spirits are thought to be the children of heaven and the Dao; they are embodiments of their energy and can become extinct if their energy dries up. An example of this would be the Sword Spirit. Found in battlefields or the remains of swordsmen, these spirits didn't exist before the emergence of the Sword Dao."

'Interesting. So spirits are embodiments of concepts in a sense. Like a Spirit of Earth is the concept of Earth itself, allowing it to control the ground and such?'

Cain's face beamed, he loved learning new things. He continued to read.

"As everyone knows, all Mystical beings have 9 Tiers; not only do these Tiers hold significance in how high one can cultivate, but there are limits and requirements for some spirits. For Longevity Spirits, they are born at the 5th Tier and can only grow to the 8th Tier. This means that these Spirits can only affect up to Late Stage Enlightenment Cultivators.

"Unfortunately and rarely, if the Cultivator were to reach the Legendary Fusion stage, the Longevity Spirit they harnessed can no longer help them in granting a long life."

Finishing the chapter on spirits, Cain could only exclaim, "So mystical beings translate to power? This would mean low-tier spirits cannot help someone reach the Growth stage; in turn, they are also unable to make a high-level Object like in External Harnessing. There are limits? How do these creatures grow? Do they evolve?"

Flipping to the next chapter, Cain read the lines with greed.

"Mythical Creatures. Many people know about Dragons and Phoenixes, but these beasts lean towards the extreme. In truth, Mythical Creatures are any animals with supernatural powers.

"These creatures gain consciousness around the 5th Tier, unlike spirits which rarely awaken consciousness, mythical creatures tend to keep to themselves and behave like one would expect animals to.

"These creatures are mostly contracted by sects, but low-tier ones are killed, and their souls are used for Internal Harnessing while their bodies are used for low-tier objects of the External Path. Overall, Mythical creatures are the majority, and with the rise of the Beast Tamer Sect, they have benefited greatly."

Cain then flipped to the last category, and immediately, the letters seemed to take on a dark and devilish tone. It was as if the author himself knew of Demons deeply.

'Interesting!'