It was said that the power of the Contract Metac relied heavily on the size of one's energy well. They were also taught that the pathway of forging required money and intelligence to excel in.
As for the pathway of enslavement, it didn't require much money to start with because cultivators of this rank can enslave just about anyone they want. So they don't need money to acquire servants who will fight for them.
But the pathway of enslavement also required a strong Dao heart, a strong mind, a strong soul, a high intelligence for efficient control of slaves, and some money to feed and maintain one's slaves. So this pathway had the most requirements and was the most difficult to excel in.
Lastly, there was the pathway of death. This pathway didn't require much money to start. It also only required a powerful mind and a powerful soul. This made it the second-cheapest pathway after the pathway of mind hunters.
At the end of the seventh day, they were all asked to write which pathway they wanted in a list. Finally, on the eighth day of the initiation program, it was time to pick their Core Metac from the sect and officially choose a pathway to ascend with.
On this day, everyone was brimming with excitement. The usually pompous Slav was also excited.
Slav always thought that he was better than everyone else. He always thought that he had the potential to achieve great things, but was being forced to roll around in the mud with a bunch of fools, plebs, and slaves.
But now that he was about to receive his Core Metac, he felt as if he was about to transform from a caterpillar into a butterfly. He has the Danger Sense Metac and can use it as his Core Metac, but he hasn't done so because he always feels danger whenever he decides to do so.
He knows that the pathway of luck exists and that the Core Metac of that pathway is Danger Sense. So he is sure that if he chooses to use Danger Sense as his Core Metac, he won't become lost.
Unfortunately, he can't go ahead with this plan because, apparently, using the Danger Sense Metac as his Core Metac will bring misfortune to him. He found it ironic, but he could only wait for a Core Metac from the sect.
Using something else as his Core Metac means that he won't be able to use the pathway of luck. But he won't lose the ability to use the Danger Sense Metac. This is a price he is willing to pay for his safety.
Everyone was excited to receive their Core Metac, but Loki was sure that no one was more excited than he was. His eyes were shining with unbridled anticipation as Muni wheeled a large table into the class.
There were several crystal spheres on the large table. Each crystal sphere contained one Core Metac. A causal estimation showed that there were about 100 such crystal spheres.
After he brought in the Core Metacs, Muni began calling the names of each person. The people who were called came forward and were given the Core Metac that they requested yesterday.
Muni called everyone until it was Loki's turn. Then Loki received the Telekinesis Metac.
Muni called out 98 people in total. This was because 2 people out of the 100 didn't want to use the Core Metacs from the sect.
These two people were Craig and the man with the Beautiful Woman Metac.
Craig wanted to follow the pathway of the sword, while the other man, Lenard, had made up his mind to embark on the pathway of dual cultivation.
Craig made up his mind to use the Sword Heart Metac as his Core Metac because the pathway of the sword is said to be the most deadly pathway due to its terrifying offensive potential.
Many people tried to dissuade Craig, but Loki wasn't one of them. In fact, Loki had encouraged Craig to take the pathway of the sword. He was one of the few who did so, but he did so because he had something to gain from it.
As for the man with the Beautiful Woman Metac, he picked this because he learned that there was a Metac in the pathway of dual cultivation that could be used to increase one's talent by siphoning the potential of others through sex.
The allure of more power and talent made him stick with his Innate Metac despite the fact that using the Beautiful Woman Metac would turn him into a woman.
Even though he had made up his mind about this, Lenard still had a bitter look on his face when he saw that other people didn't have to change their sex for power.
When Muni saw Leonard's constipated expression, he said sternly to him, "You can't eat your cake and have it. You either choose power above all else, or you accept mediocrity."
Lenard saw that Muni was angry, so he hurriedly bowed his head and said, "You're right, instructor. I was foolish."
But Muni wasn't done berating him just yet. Muni snorted in displeasure and said, "I wish I had the same opportunity when I started out. I would have picked it in a heartbeat. You don't know just how good you have it because you don't know the full importance of talent yet."
"Let me tell you, your potential will have an effect not only on the amount of energy you have within you and how long you can use a Metac, and how fast your cultivation will be, and how quickly you will regenerate your internal energy, but it will also affect just how powerful you will be at the same level compared to your peers."
He finished his tirade by saying, "Why do you think I gave up everything I had just to increase my potential by a measly five points? If you don't know, you will surely know if you're lucky to advance to rank 2."