The Mech Touch

Chapter 6438 Cultivation Methods Available to the Public

The creation of RC merits was a significant step.

It was one way in which the Red Collective intended to close the gap with the Red Two.

A lot of planning went into the creation of RC merits, and more importantly, the exchange where it could be redeemed for all kinds of rewards.

There was an important reason why the Evolution Witch mentioned RC merits in her speech. "Every red human will have an opportunity to earn RC merits by contributing to the Red Collective. Both civilians and soldiers can earn a varying amount of RC merits by fulfilling material orders, offering territories and facilities to the local branches of the Red Collective, exposing any crimes or abuses perpetrated by cultivators, teaching a curated cultivation methods to a classroom, volunteering to fight on the frontlines as cultivators and more. Even the poorest third-raters can still earn respectable amounts of RC merits as long as they are willing to go above and beyond to promote their own evolution." The RC's Merit Exchange was similar to the ones maintained by the RA and the RF. There were still differences. The RC oriented itself a lot better towards the bottom segments of human civilization. It should be a little easier for third-raters and second-raters to earn meager amounts of RC merits without bankrupting themselves. The reason for that soon became known as the Evolution Witch continued her explanation.

A projection appeared over her head.

It depicted a large floating space station that possessed a peculiar appearance. Its exterior consisted of aquamarine-covered plating and its overall shape looked like a tapered pentagonal rod.

A less charitable way to describe the space station was that it looked like a giant mace that a phase lord could use to smack his enemies around!

Even so, this was no weapon. The appearance of the space station possessed special and mysterious qualities that. Ves could not define. There was something fishy about this structure! "This is the Repository. It is the prototypical library that shall hold all of the cultivation methods of red humanity. Its archives will not only store the texts and scriptures that can teach red humans how to evolve to greater versions of themselves, but it will also accommodate researchers who are tasked with decrypting the mysteries of legacy cultivation methods. To most of you, the Repository is the destination where you will go in order to exchange for a cultivation method outside of a sect."

Most people were not familiar with the concept and meaning of a sect, but the

Evolution Witch clearly intended to address this subject later. "Cultivation methods are more than instruction manuals that describe multi-step plans to improve yourself. They contain profound and life-changing secrets that can unlock the hidden potential of human qualities. Since cultivation can be dangerous when you attempt to manipulate forces that you cannot understand or harness, the Red Collective imposes many restrictions to every method. The Repository currently recognizes four different categories of cultivation methods."

A different projection appeared over her head. They displayed fairly simple and basic examples of people benefiting from their cultivation practice.

There were humans who grew stronger and could lift four times the weight of objects than before.

There were humans who aced their university exams where they previously struggled to earn passing grades.

There were also humans who piloted their mechs much more effectively than before because their accuracy, reaction speeds and other relevant parameters had improved!

That last part interested a lot of mech pilots as well as norms with dreams of controlling their own Carmine mechs!

It showed that even mech pilots could still benefit from cultivation, though to what extent, few could tell. "The most accessible cultivation methods that the Red Collective shall make available to the public starting from today are free curated cultivation methods. These are fully modern cultivation methods of low complexity that any human can easily get started with, including children from the age of 12. Every free method is curated by our best cultivation scientists in order to guarantee their safety and reliability. They are the best methods to become accustomed to cultivation practice as mistakes will never lead to severe consequences. Their ceilings are low, but they can be used to build good foundations. Once you transition to more advanced cultivation methods, you should be able to transform your existing foundation and avoid losing your progress."

With the existing heritage and scientific capabilities of red humanity, it was not difficult to derive these free cultivation methods.

Ves had actually provided his input on a few of them, but the cultivation scientists hailing from the major powers did not really need the help.

He was far from the only person who was proficient with the science of cultivation.

The projection above the Evolution Witch's head changed to demonstrate more powerful and dramatic displays of cultivation.

They showed the Ur-Titans injecting phasewater into their veins before painfully trying to grow the sizes of their true bodies.

They also showed the Apocalypse Wardens trying to cultivate the furnaces in their bodies by cultivating next to roaring flames!

They also showed other familiar sights such as singers eliminating the resistance of thousands of captive orvan prisoners of war and planters accelerating the growth and maturation of special herbs.

These were powers and abilities that could never be attained by practicing low-level cultivation methods! "Once a practitioner has built a solid foundation and is ready to embark on true cultivation, he or she may choose to practice premium curated cultivation methods. These are more advanced scriptures that are carefully drafted and curated to produce strong results over time. Their ceilings are much higher, but the dangers are also greater. In order to reduce the occurrence of cultivation deviations, the Repository or designated agents offers lessons in order to understand and properly practice these methods. More complicated methods cannot be learned through studying the texts alone. Do note that the more powerful premium curated cultivation methods also require the use of cultivation resources in order to get started or accelerate your progress. This usually consists of elixirs synthesized from special reagents. Talent and other uncontrollable factors can also determine your compatibility with specific cultivation methods."

The greater the power, the greater the requirements. This remained an unbroken rule.

People needed to decide for themselves whether they were able to meet the requirements to practice a premium cultivation method that imposed heavy demands on comprehension, talent, finances and access to high-level resources.

None of this was fair, but society was unfair to begin with. So long as people had a chance to practice the most powerful premium cultivation methods one way or another, they should not have too many complaints. "Access to premium curated cultivation methods is not free." The Evolution Witch emphasized. "They are the products of multiple hard-working experts. They also promise greater power, so we do not permit any human to practice them freely. Each premium curated cultivation method can only be accessed by exchanging the required sum of RC merits and passing a background check. In order to prevent unauthorized distribution of these premium methods, each of them are composed so that human individuals can only get started on them if they begin their first practice with the help of visualization artifacts that are exclusively displayed inside the secure chambers of the branches of the Red Collective."

The projection above her head changed to display a small collection of these so-called visualizations.

They ranged from mythical dragons to unusually looking robots.

Each visualization image depicted far more than a piece of artwork. Their creators instilled great meanings into them, causing them to turn into artifacts that could impart very special feelings and emotions into their viewers! "These visualization artifacts are the key that allow a practitioner to unlock a premium cultivation method. Without a key, a copy of the texts alone cannot allow a human to get started. If the Red Collective has discovered that a human has been able to bypass this security measure and succeeded in practicing a premium cultivation method without exchanging it from the Repository, then the Enforcement Department will take steps to remedy the situation."

That spooked a lot of people, especially those that sought to take advantage of the apparent loopholes.

While Ves did not think it was impossible for him to circumvent the need for visualization artifacts in order to practice a premium cultivation method obtained through irregular means, there was no reason for him to risk any penalties when it should be easy for him to earn a lot of RC merits.

The Evolution Witch's expression turned a little less pleasant. "Both free and premium cultivation methods are fully curated. The same cannot be said for uncurated cultivation methods. These are either legacy cultivation methods that are recovered from old or ancient sources. They may also encompass modern cultivation methods created by individuals who have not submitted them for certification to the Red Collective. They may promise great power, but their safety can never be guaranteed. The Red Collective heavily discourages and prohibits the practice of uncurated cultivation methods. Only by submitting them for certification can they be practiced, but only with the guidance and assistance from the Repository or a sanctioned sect. Independent practice of advanced cultivation methods is not allowed."

These were heavy restrictions!

The Red Collective clearly did not want lone individuals to play around with dangerous forces without any supervision. There were too many ways that could go wrong if people were left to their own devices!

The RC clearly wanted to turn cultivation into a group activity. By forcing people to practice their methods in groups or classrooms, they could all keep tabs on each other, thereby making it easier to spot cultivators who threatened to go astray. The group environment should also foster greater cooperation. Study groups could emerge where people exchanged their best practices and helped each other understand the more complicated scriptures. "Finally, sect certified cultivation methods are advanced scriptures that are permitted to be practiced by members of sanctioned sects. It is not necessary to exchange RC merits for them, as sects will impose their own requirements to practice them. The Red Collective permits the establishment or registration of organizations that are able to provide structured teaching and supervision of cultivation of sect-exclusive methods. There are advantages and disadvantages to practicing sect certified cultivation methods as opposed to premium curated cultivation methods. Do note that every sect certified cultivation method must be paired with visualization artifacts in order control their spread. Know that the Red Collective does not directly control these sects. It only supervises them. Their rules and cultures may be drastically different depending on their origins and purpose."

This was not enough information to give people a comprehensive understanding of sects, but it was better to explore this subject later.

All in all, many listeners had become fascinated by all of the possible ways they could get started with cultivation.

It was clear that most ordinary civilians would settle with free curated cultivation methods. Perhaps they might work hard to carn RC merits to gain access to premium curated cultivation methods, but it would probably be difficult to get the good stuff. People hailing from the major players should all prefer to practice sect certified cultivation methods. They did not have to deal directly with the Red Collective, and they may be able to gain easier access to strong cultivation methods without paying a huge price.

As for uncurated cultivation methods... they would always tempt people into practicing them. The Red Collective would always seek to crack them down, but it was impossible to get rid of this phenomenon entirely.

The only hope was to make free and premium curated cultivation methods accessible enough to reduce the temptation of dubious and unreliable alternatives. That was the most correct way to address this problem.

Even so, there would always be people who were skeptical about the RC and sought to 'break the system'.