It was an Empire built for the sole purpose of prying into the essence of anything and everything and they have been doing that for over half a million years which is how they ended up with the largest library in the Southern Continent and became the center of knowledge.
A bulk of the foundational cultivation techniques in use around the continent either originated from the Jade Leaf Empire or had some indirect relation to it.
Their foundations were terrifying, to say the least, and it was built in part due to their insatiable curiosity and interest in all manner of subjects, and the other was because of the ten thousand leaf white jade tree located in their empire.
Much of the information regarding the tree or its rank and even its location is a well-guarded secret by the imperial family however there was some information that was known. One of that information was the numerous cultivation arts that were created by the Empire was because of that tree.
It was rumored that the tree could induce epiphanies as easily as breathing, and the tree itself had its root entrenched in the origin dao, which transformed its leaves into materialized forms of dao. It had ten thousand leaves and each leaf was a form of dao, which was why the Ten thousand leaf white jade tree also went by different names around the continent such as the 'ten thousand dao tree' or the 'wisdom jade tree.'
Dao had different classifications to it, which highlighted its strength. They were classified in ascending order into minor dao, major dao, supreme or foundational dao, and finally origin dao.
Time and space Dao fell under the foundation or supreme dao category, while Dao tied to the elements usually fell under the minor or major Dao depending on the form of variations it takes, and as for the origin dao, there has never been any cultivator known to have mastered it because mastering it meant mastering the world itself and every single facet of it, which would basically make you an immortal.
The origin Dao was also called the 'source Dao' which meant it was the source of every single Dao in existence or to come.
The fact that the Ten thousand leaf white jade tree was rumored to have its roots entrenched in the origin dao, no matter how unbelievable it was, meant the tree at the very least was at the absolute peak of saint-grade treasures, and its abilities proved that because of how powerful the Jade Leaf Empire was.
Even though it was unmentioned, Yang Qing had no doubts in his heart that the Jade Leaf Empire was as strong as any of the two holy lands. Its power had definitely reached that level, and it was a holy land in everything but name.
There was no way a place rumored to have ten purple-grade cultivation arts be a rank 1 Empire.
Yang Qing even suspected the rank was a ploy between the Order and the Empire. As for the motives for doing so, Yang Qing had no clue but he knew the Order to be a cunning fox. Who knew half the reasons, it did the things it did? like paying their workers so low despite being so rich.
Yang Qing gave up trying to understand them, the more he tried, the more likelihood he would develop more internal demons.
The Jade Leaf Empire being one of the largest grounds of accumulated knowledge founded the Jade Leaf Imperial Academy. An institute that taught and researched all sorts of subjects. The best and the brightest of the Empire, have all passed through the Academy, not only them but even renowned cultivators around the continent, some of them were students of the Jade Leaf Empire.
The Imperial Academy opens its doors not only to its citizens but also to outsiders, though its citizens are given preferential treatment when it comes to admissions. Outsiders need to pass a rigorous test that is solely based on their comprehension for them to gain admission to the Academy.
Depending on how they perform, they may be accepted as a regular student, to which they will have to pay astronomical admission fees or they could be accepted as special admission students. This was reserved for those who showed world-defying aptitude.
They were similar to the legacy disciples of the One Thousand Hall Battle Palace, except when it came to the latter the consideration was given with respect to combat aptitude whereas for the former they had a much wider scope.
To the Academy to be considered a special admissions student all you needed to do was show an abnormal level of aptitude toward any area. It could be combat, pig rearing, painting, array interpretation, and talisman drawing. It did not matter to them, as long as it was something you excelled at, and fell within their category of knowledge, and that category was extremely vast.
Those who got in through special admissions would have all their fees waivered along with being given other special considerations. However, it wasn't all free for them, as they were required to share the services with the Academy either by becoming teachers there for a certain period of time or share the findings of their research whichever it is, with the Academy. They would be compensated for their findings of course and the number was limited to only three, any findings above that number, they had no obligations to share it.
As for the regular students, in addition to the fees, they also owed the Academy a favor. Should the academy ever face danger, they were required to help. All the regular students were bound by a soul-binding agreement, so they could not escape their commitment.
Despite the stringent requirements, people still flooded to join the Jade Leaf Imperial Academy. Due to its size and the range of subjects it teaches, the Academy is divided into five branches namely: The Red Jade which specializes in cultivation arts related to combat more specifically attack techniques, the Blue Jade which is similar to the Red Jade except it specializes in defense techniques, the Yellow jade that specializes in artifact refinement despite whether its used for combat or daily life, the Brown jade that specializes in life skills that are not combat oriented such painting, calligraphy, archeology and the likes, and finally the Green Jade.
The Green Jade specialized in alchemy, herbology, medicine, and spirit beast zoology.
The elder slovenly dressed man called Ma Bo was a guest teacher in the Green Jade branch and even though guest teachers were of a lower tier than regular teachers, they still needed to have great skills for one to even be qualified to be a guest teacher at the Academy, which was why Li Shu and the rest were in shock as they heard Yang Qing introduce the old man.
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