After the empirical studies ended each day, all members of the Empirical Department gathered together to discuss and exchange experiences in cultivation, which lasted at least an hour. This was a unique rule of this world. After all, in this realm, those who could participate in research were all cultivators, for whom cultivation was as essential as eating and drinking. Additionally, at this stage, the person in charge of the empirical project would also come out to provide guidance to these subordinates—this was also part of the compensation.
Chen Feng's subordinates, who were also in the Qi Cultivation Stage, huddled in small groups, excitedly discussing their new understanding of the brain or soul, debating the details of practice such as "Refining the Spirit into the Brain," or how the structure of neurons could aid in the construction of superpowers like Divine Skills. Chen Feng sat not far away on an experimental platform, reading a book by himself; if someone came to ask him a question, he would explain it a bit.
However, most of the time, no one would go to Chen Feng with questions. The disparity in levels was significant, and Chen Feng's experience was of little help to them.
It was like a university mathematics professor might not necessarily be good at teaching elementary school Olympiad math.
Li Zhengguo, on the other hand, had enough expertise to discuss matters with Chen Feng. He was a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Perfection stage and currently working hard to accumulate for establishing a higher quality Golden Core. Although he was just an Outer Disciple, he had spent many years in various Empirical Departments at the Divine Capital Station, and his experimental techniques were very practiced.
But today, he didn't seek Chen Feng's teaching as usual. Half of the reason was that he had recently conceived a new Divine Skill and was now building out the details, with no aspects in need of discussion yet. The other half was the somewhat strange "exchange" outside the window that had caught his attention.
Those two youths who were said to be advanced disciples of Wanfa Sect were practicing swordsmanship. Compared to the thirty-year-old Li Zhengguo, they seemed excessively young, especially the girl, who still had an air of childishness about her, appearing just like a child.
But the swordsmanship in the hands of these two "children" was anything but childish.
In his eyes, these two were not practicing; they were fencing with the intention of killing each other.
Their Sword Momentum was dense, swift, and intricate, with tens of collisions occurring every second. If at any time one of them faltered in their movements, the other would claim the other's life in an instant!
But in the eyes of Chen Youjia and Wang Qi, it was merely an exchange of swordplay moves for practice.
This was due to the enormous differences in the fighting styles of the two Sects. The Fist Technique of Tianling Ridge relied on the cultivators' bodies being several times stronger and their mana being several times more abundant than those of the same rank, with ergonomics as the foundation and pushing the human body's characteristics to their extremes. The "error tolerance" of this style of fighting was very high; even if outmaneuvered, at worst, one would be put at a disadvantage, but would not face the dire situation of making consecutive mistakes like in Wanfa Sect.
Wanfa Sect's Martial Arts, on the other hand, were the products of a different system. Apart from a few basic techniques, these Arithmeticians hardly cared whether their moves could actually be performed by a human body; they were only concerned about whether the trajectory of the fist or sword was elegant and whether the underlying theory between their movements was complex. This was also why Wanfa Sect adopted such dangerous fighting techniques—they were confident that they would never miscalculate in the heat of the moment. As long as they did not miscalculate, then Wanfa Sect's techniques could overwhelm all enemies.
At that moment, Chen Youjia also felt a little alarmed.
Wang Qi's progress in swordsmanship was equally terrifying. Swordsmanship should have been the domain of Topology, Geometry, and the "Heavenly Transformation Formula" Function. But Wang Qi, through Set Theory, had deconstructed all theories of these mathematical fields and reconstructed them in another form in his mind. He also had a special understanding of all the details of swordsmanship. Sword Moves, in his eyes, were no longer a holistic organism, but a stack of numerous intricate actions.
He could create the most suitable moves on the fly, in any situation.
After each sparring match, the details and moves from the fight would be shattered in his mind, then each element would be calculated, rearranged, and shattered again. This process would repeat continuously. The experience he gained from a single duel was something others could not learn even from a hundred bloodied battles. And the next fight would become an opportunity for him to test new moves.
Since deductions made from pure Mathematics don't always transition smoothly into practice, Wang Qi's sword moves were not always exquisitely crafted, and some, though aesthetically pleasing, were merely for show and not very practical in actual combat. Despite this, Chen Youjia still marveled at the bizarre moves that Wang Qi kept producing.
This swordplay had already taken on the "Spiritual" essence of Mathematics.
Fortunately, Chen Youjia was also of a similar ilk. Her swordplay, inherited from Chen Jingyun, might not have any particularly powerful moves, but its origin in the ultra-minimalist techniques of Number Theory was the same as her father's. As her swordplay was similar to Wang Qi's style, she could naturally dominate him with her rich experience.
"But it won't last too long... He probably needs only nine more months, or maybe just half a year, and he will reach my current level," thought Chen Youjia to herself, feeling secretly apprehensive and also realizing she needed to intensify her training in this area.
Then, as if by some tacit understanding, the two sheathed their swords at the same time. Li Zhengguo, watching this, muttered to himself, "Do they know each other well? How are they so in sync?"
"It's not about being in sync, but rather their estimation of each other's swordsmanship," Chen Feng spoke up, timely walking over to Li Zhengguo, "In the eyes of Wanfa Sect disciples, the strength of others is just a problem to solve. These two have skirmished for so many days, gathering sufficient 'conditions', and have estimated each other's strengths and possible advancements in the next duel. Then during the spar, this estimation is revised based on new conditions that are added. This is a domain that we at Tianling Ridge cannot learn, so stop watching them and focus on your research."
"Sorry!" Li Zhengguo quickly lowered his head. Chen Feng then left the room and came to Wang Qi's side. Wang Qi was sitting on the ground, looking undignified, with his Treasure-Level long sword casually stuck in the ground beside him. Chen Feng smiled and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Wang Qi, rotating his wrists, replied, "Good, it's much more enjoyable than sparring with you."
Chen Youjia said indifferently, "Feels like I'm doing mental arithmetic exercises."
Complicated, foundational, but still a necessary basic skill.
Wang Qi immediately retorted with a few words. Watching these two, Chen Feng felt a sense of "Ah, finally on the right track."
Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded. The knock was apparently urgent; it sounded almost like battering on the door.
An apprentice responsible for running errands opened the door. Huangfu Lian rushed in, exclaiming, "Wang Qi, Wang Qi, you have to see this!"
Wang Qi took the paper handed over by Huangfu Lian and before he could ask what it was about, he was already frozen in place.
"On the New Progress of the Mathematical Theory Foundation," author, Pang Jialai.