The Martial Emperor's assessment was hardly flattering, but Ronan had prepared himself beforehand and could accept it.
He merely recalled in a daze that, at some point in the past, the Martial Emperor seemed to have evaluated "Format Theory" as well, and had been rather... reserved about it. What had she said?
At that moment, a strange synchronicity arose between Ronan and the Martial Emperor. Her voice reached his ears. "Remember? I once gave an assessment of 'Format Theory.'"
The dust shrouding Ronan's memories was blown away. He answered, "Yes. On Tianyun Tower, when I first met Your Majesty."
That had been during the Two-Thousandths Miss incident. To make him teach others, the Martial Emperor had saddled him with an enormous debt, then dragged him over for a stern lecture. But thinking about it now, this whole mess had begun because she had instructed Bai Xinyan to set it in motion.
Ronan subconsciously twitched his mouth, and his tone turned somewhat peculiar. "You also said the framework of 'Format Theory' could serve as Ten Thousand Enemies."
The Martial Emperor laughed. "You remember the food but not the beating."
Ronan knew what the Martial Emperor meant. At his level, a single prompt could bring up an entire chain of memories. "I remember now. You said 'Format Theory' was merely a 'laboratory product.' It revealed certain truths and shattered classical paradigms, yet failed to build a new system atop the ruins... You also said that we—meaning the founders and inheritors of 'Format Theory,' I suppose—didn't even know whether similar systems existed elsewhere in the universe."
"Tsk, you remember it that clearly? So you really do hold a grudge over a few remarks!"
So somehow I'm always the one at fault... That's too much!
Fortunately, Ronan was in a stable state of mind