Chapter 214: Power

It was not up to five minutes before a man stepped into the room, he was a short man, with graying hair and a matching mustache that fell all the way down to his chest.

His eyes were closed and he held a burly wooden cane in his hands, one which supported him while he walked. He did not particularly exude any sort of aura as he moved into the class, so the students still murmured and chattered, most did not even notice when he walked in.

"That’s Mr Okinoze." Violet whispered to Jacob, who just stared at the man expressionlessly. "Rumors say he was legendary, but he gave his life to be a tutor at this school."

Jacob already knew all of this, he could tell from looking at the man, but something else was apparent. This man was also suppressing his aura.

The man moved slowly, when he reached the middle of the podium, just in front of the black board; he paused.

He turned to face the classroom, slowly scanning. Most of the students were still chatting away. And then he did something no one expected.

To get the classroom to keep calm, he employed a secret technique, one that had a 90% chance of success at almost every point.

He lightly tapped his cane on the ground and his Qi exploded forward, so every student in the class could feel how tremendous it was. The tap was light, but somehow it resounded throughout the entire room, causing everyone to immediately shut their mouths.

The class fell dead silent as a light smile crept onto the old man’s lips. His aura was terrifying, enough so that most people swallowed their spit, some had beads of sweat running down their foreheads.

"Good morning students." The man said in an almost scratchy, but calm voice. "My name is Mr. Okinoze... and that is all you need to know for now."

The entire class agreed silently by nodding their heads. Jacob just watched. Even Violet felt the man’s aura sweep through her and tightened herself as though a wave of cold breeze passed her.

"Before we discuss how to become powerful, I want to ask you something. What exactly is power?" The man asked casually, placing his cane on the small table in front of him lightly and gazing back at the entire class.

"Power is strength," a muscular boy near the front answered immediately. "The stronger your body and cultivation, the more powerful you become."

"Power is spiritual energy," a girl replied. "The more spiritual energy you possess, the more techniques you can use and the stronger those techniques become."

"No. Power is your cultivation realm," another student said confidently. "A cultivator in a higher realm can crush someone below them regardless of how talented they are."

"Power is having a powerful cultivation technique," someone from the back added. "Give two cultivators the same amount of spiritual energy, and the one with the superior technique will naturally win."

"Power is experience," a quiet student said. "Someone who has survived hundreds of battles will know how to fight far better than someone who has only cultivated in seclusion."

"Power is influence," another student answered. "What good is strength if you have no authority, no resources, and no one willing to stand beside you?"

Jacob and Violet had remained silent the entire time, listening to everyone’s replies, they noticed the man’s lips curve into a slow smile as he clapped once.

"Interesting answers. Yet every one of you is fundamentally wrong." Said Mr. Okinoze. "Strength is power. Spiritual energy is power. Cultivation is power. Techniques, experience, influence... all of these can become power. But none of them, individually, define it."

He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before deciding to continue, the class remained silent enough for him to keep going. "Power is the ability to impose your will upon the world."

The words landed like a heavy boulder on the ground, split into a million pieces, The ability to impose your will on the world.

"A cultivator with ten times your spiritual energy can still lose to you. A cultivator with a superior realm can still die by your hands. And a genius can still become nothing more than a corpse if he does not understand the foundation upon which his strength is built." The man continued while the rest of the class listened.

Mr. Okinoze slowly walked away from the podium, his hands resting behind his back.

"Every cultivator begins with the same desire," he said. "To become stronger. Yet most never stop to ask themselves what strength actually means."

He turned towards the blackboard and raised a single finger. "Your body can be stronger than steel. Your Qi can be deeper than the Ocean. And your techniques can be powerful eboufh to even destroy a mountain."

He lowered his hand. "And yet, you can still lose."

A few students exchanged confused glances, murmuring again, but one question stood above the rest. "Why?" It was Jacob asking, his face still expressionless as he rested his chin on his palm.

The man smiled and picked up a piece of chalk, inscribing three words in bold letters on the black board.

Body. Qi. Soul.

"These are the three foundations upon which every cultivator builds their path." He said, tapping the first word. "The body is your vessel. It determines how much punishment you can endure, how much force you can exert, and how much Qi your physical form can withstand."

His finger moved toward the second word. "Qi is your weapon. It allows you to strengthen your body, utilize techniques, manipulate the elements, and perform feats that ordinary humans could never imagine."

"The soul is your will." He said as he finally pointed at the last word inscribed on the blackboard

The room fell into dead silence, but the man continued. "Your body may become exhausted. Your Qi may become depleted. Your techniques may fail you."

He tapped his chest lightly. "But as long as your will remains unbroken, you can continue to fight."