Breakthrough!!!

That evening, after finishing his Meat Porridge, Chu Fei sat cross-legged on his bed. Instead of meditating right away, he pondered the contents of the note.

A faint spark of inspiration lingered in his mind.

Ever since he had read the note, that faint inspiration had been circling in his heart.

Yet after thinking for a long time, he still could not grasp what it was.

"Forget it. What matters most now is to keep going... what matters most... what matters most..."

Chu Fei's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

That was it—the most important thing!

At last, he had caught the tail of that flickering inspiration.

From what he could see now, breaking through the First Limit—and even the Second Limit afterward—required a "guiding direction"!

Thinking back to the three breakthrough methods Liu Tingyun had mentioned, they were really three different lines of thought.

The first two focused on training and the body, and were also the methods most favored by the battle teams;

The third was actually centered on mental training, yet it was rejected by the battle teams and was the most difficult path.

"The true Path of Cultivation should not be judged by difficulty, but by right and wrong.

"What you think is easy is actually wrong."

Chu Fei recalled Cao Liwen's sigh as well: perhaps it was not that they did not know right from wrong—they simply had no choice.

Big Data Cultivation had its own rules, its own golden period for cultivation.

If pursuing a supposedly correct breakthrough caused one to miss that golden cultivation period, the outcome might not necessarily be "correct" either!

For those with barely adequate cultivation aptitude, perhaps breaking through early and seizing that golden period was the correct choice.

As he pondered, it was time for lights-out.

In the darkness, Chu Fei took a deep breath, his gaze becoming ever more resolute. I won't just seize the golden period for cultivation. I'll also walk the most correct Path of Cultivation!

A drop of Wisdom Dewdrop dissipated, and Chu Fei entered meditation once more.

Within the space of his consciousness, a data model resembling an armillary sphere slowly revolved.

At its center was a three-dimensional coordinate system. Around it were chains of logic formed by functions; those logical chains formed rings upon rings, eventually constructing a three-dimensional Thought Model.

At this point, the Thought Model could not operate autonomously. When Chu Fei was not meditating, it remained static.

Only when Chu Fei meditated and actively drove the Thought Model could it enter a dynamic operating state.

Even so, a satisfied smile appeared on Chu Fei's face.

"I've prepared for over half a month. Tonight, I'll break through!

"I'll introduce the final logic: the Finite State Mechanism."

The Finite State Mechanism was the crucial step from complex calculations to large-scale integrated computation.

In fact, "finite states" were common in everyday life: waking up, running, eating, attending class, eating, taking a noon break, attending class, eating, evening self-study, sleeping.

That was a basic finite state.

In Big Data Cultivation, this relationship needed to be expressed through mathematical logic.

But for finite states to proceed in an orderly manner, executing the corresponding steps as time advanced, the concept of temporal sequence had to be introduced. (Note 1)

This was precisely where the difficulty of breaking through the First Limit lay.

Moreover, the issues involved in actual cultivation were far, far more complicated than the example above.

How to transform the already accumulated, sufficiently complex three-dimensional mental structure into finite-state calculations stumped ninety-nine percent of cultivators.

There was another problem as well: although the Finite State Mechanism was called "finite," its boundaries were difficult to define. Different finite states could also be endlessly layered and interwoven.

In the world of his consciousness, Chu Fei carried out frantic mental training, constantly trying to build new models and introduce temporal-sequence logic.

Again and again.

When the Wisdom Dewdrops ran out, he used another;

When he was hungry and his energy was depleted, he filled his belly with Meat Porridge.

By dawn, Chu Fei had used four drops of Wisdom Dewdrop, consumed five kilograms of Meat Porridge, and gone to the restroom three times, yet he still had not broken through.

"It feels like I don't have enough energy. Should I use the flesh and blood of high-grade exotic beasts? Or should I use a Supernatural Potion?"

"No, I can't use them!" Chu Fei recalled Cao Liwen's warning, Sun Xiangqing's advice, and every little thing he had learned in his daily studies.

A truly perfect breakthrough relied on no external force and needed no external force.

It was only the First Limit. In theory, the human body's own energy system was fully capable of handling it—as long as it was strengthened through training.

After all, the theoretical limit of the human body was 7.8, the Second Limit.

The reason he still could not achieve it was that his Thought Model was not perfect enough and still had flaws. (Note 2)

Since it was not perfect enough, then he would continue refining its framework!

After washing up, Chu Fei continued running, eating, attending class, and studying. During breaks, he often ran to the offices to seek advice from his teachers.

During this time, Chu Fei even discussed cultivation methods with his classmates—whether frenzied physical training was better, or frenzied mental training.

Chu Fei had no need to keep secrets, since the teachers were explaining these things too. After all, this was an "academy."

At this stage, his classmates were still at the beginner level of cultivation. For now, they did not need to "reluctantly choose a cultivation direction," and their minds were full of wild ideas.

Those flashes of brilliance spurred Chu Fei's realizations, and he had breakthroughs in understanding several times almost every day.

Before he knew it, the weekend had arrived again. Three weeks had passed since the last physical examination.

The pressure of the third examination was closing in, and the students began studying frantically and training frantically.

Because of this, Chu Fei gained a new understanding of so-called "frantic training": a choice made when there was truly no choice!

Resources were limited. For now, only four people could secure investment: Chu Fei, Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and Zhang Xuan!

That was right. Zhang Xuan had recently received investment as well, and it came from the strongest independent battle team—the Dawnbreak Team.

Flying Tiger City's four major independent battle teams were Dawnbreak, Greedy Wolf, Army Breaker, and Flying Cloud.

Chu Fei's investment came from the Greedy Wolf Team;

Li Honggang and Lu Hong were backed by the Flying Cloud Battle Team.

The Army Breaker Team had not made a move yet.

But even Li Honggang, Lu Hong, and Zhang Xuan still trained frantically. With investment resources supporting them, they had become even more frenzied.

By comparison, Zhang Xuan was the only one who seemed slightly more rational. Girls were naturally at a disadvantage in physical fitness, and reality forced Zhang Xuan to consider Chu Fei's method.

On Sunday morning, the students gathered in the classroom, waiting to be whipped.

Chu Fei, however, sat in his dormitory room. He had already meditated all night.

Geniuses had privileges. Chu Fei no longer needed to care about the weekly examinations at all.

He had felt capable of breaking through three days ago, but he had not done so.

Because it was not perfect enough!

Although Big Data Cultivation allowed one to reset and start over, cultivation belonged to oneself. One's foundation had to be solid; there could be no settling.

Besides, of the 240,000 worth of resources, less than half had been consumed. He had used rather many Wisdom Dewdrops, but they were replenished every day!

With that mindset, just as his classmates began lining up to be whipped, Chu Fei began his final charge.

"Break through, First Limit!"

Note 1: Inspired by the book Psychic Chip.

Note 2: For computer hardware with similar functions, the more advanced the technology, the lower the energy consumption.