The School of Miscellaneous

"And who are you, young lady?" Li Qi asked, looking at the girl in purple.

Her skin was clear and radiant, her eyes bright and clear; she wore no makeup, no pearls or hairpins.

She was dressed very simply.

However, her demeanor seems very...

How to describe it...

It's very 'serious'.

However, no matter what, she is indeed a girl. Although she looks serious and mature, she is actually only seventeen or eighteen years old, very young, just like a high school student.

It exudes a childlike aura.

If they were outside, Li Qi might think that a cultivator was pretending to be young and had deliberately given himself that face.

However, this is the Imperial Academy, so it's quite normal for someone of this age.

This is a gathering place for Human Path geniuses, which is naturally incomparable to the outside world.

Li Qi did not answer, but simply sized up the other person.

The serious-looking girl didn't reply, but instead stared at Li Qi.

However, at this moment, Liu Shenzhi quickly stepped between the two and introduced them to each other.

He smiled and pulled the two apart, saying warmly and kindly:

"Oh, I forgot to introduce her to Brother Li. This is also one of our classmates, named Yu Zao. I just happened to run into her and chatted with her for a bit. She is also a cultivator of the Human Path, a genius among the various schools of the Human Path. She is knowledgeable, has a great memory, and is very experienced. Even in the Imperial Academy, she is considered the youngest, only seventeen years old this year! But she is already at the eighth rank. She reached the ninth rank when she was nine years old. She is a well-known talented woman."

Then, he pointed at Li Qi:

"Yu Zao, let me introduce you. This is our new classmate, Li Qi. By the way, you just said that Li Qi is Shaman. What did you mean by that?"

"The Inner Gods, his control over the mountains and rivers, and his influence on the surrounding environment give him an aura of independence from the world. He must be Shaman ... However, there's also a hint of Daoist Five Elements Technique magic. Strange." The girl named Yu Zao stared at Li Qi, her beautiful eyes scanning Li Qi.

For some reason, Li Qi felt a chill run down his spine, as if something was seeping into his body.

Are those eyes Divine Ability? Or something else entirely?

Li Qi gently waved his hand, enveloping himself in a layer of earth energy.

The earth is solid and can isolate us from exploration.

He felt better after doing that.

However, the Yu Zao seemed not to understand what it meant to stop. Her pupils suddenly turned from black to gold, flashing with mysterious runes. They actually pierced through Li Qi's earth energy and illuminated Li Qi completely!

"The human body is a microcosm, forming its own structure, with internal and external cycles... Hmm, indeed Shaman." After reading this, the little girl was satisfied and her normal black pupils returned.

Li Qi frowned.

Even Liu Shenzhi looked troubled, patting Li Qi on the shoulder but saying nothing.

At this point, he didn't know what to say. It wouldn't be appropriate to appease Li Qi, as it would feel like one of them was playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.

However, it's impossible to support Yu Zao directly; doing so right away would be somewhat 'rude'.

Li Qi shook his head, then gave a polite smile and said, "Fish live among the algae, relying on the reeds; fish live among the algae, their tails resting on the reeds. It's a really good name."

Where are the fish? In the waterweeds, their long tails sway gently. Where are the fish? In the waterweeds, clinging to the cattails, so peaceful.

This is a line from an ancient poem, describing an atmosphere of joy and peace, and it is likely the origin of the other person's name.

Li Qi sang an ancient poem, thus changing the subject.

The other party is a child, but he is not a child, so there is no need to get angry over this, but we still need to be a little cautious, after all, the identity of Shaman is quite sensitive.

"So you've been to school too, that's right. So that's the origin of the story. Do Shaman also read books? But maybe I'm mistaken, since this is the first time I've ever seen a live Shaman. Hmm... I have something to do today, I'll come back to talk to you another time."

After the girl named Yu Zao finished speaking, she raised her neck to Liu Shenzhi and said, "Master Liu, I will pick up the things I ordered when school starts. Don't say that they are not finished. I came here today to see Teacher Bai. If you need anything later, you can find me over there."

After speaking, Miss Yu Zao didn't even say goodbye to Li Qi before turning around and leaving.

However, the way they left was quite interesting. They didn't walk around or use ordinary escape techniques; instead, they simply vanished into thin air.

True Knowledge Dao Charm wouldn't react at all!

Li Qi was stunned, and even his displeasure disappeared.

However, Liu Shenzhi saw Li Qi's astonished expression and assumed he was unwell, so he put his arm around Li Qi's shoulder and sighed, "Alright, she's seventeen, and she only becomes intelligent at six. What can you expect? According to our age, she's only eleven. Don't take it to heart, she's just a child. You can't hit her, don't upset yourself."

Li Qi nodded. "I don't mean to be angry, I'm just a little curious about how this person grew up. By the way, what does it mean to only become intelligent at six years old? Don't normal people become intelligent at one year old?"

Enlightenment is the gradual awakening from a state of confusion and ignorance, slowly becoming conscious, and beginning to remember things.

Humans usually begin this process around the age of one, but the other person is six?

"Hey, how else could it grow up? Oh, you probably don't know, so let me tell you. Yu Zao has no parents; it's an experiment of the Miscellaneous School, and it's still being tested." Liu Shenzhi released Li Qi's hand, walked forward, and said this.

"An experiment by the miscellaneous school?" Li Qi asked with some surprise as he walked, "What does that mean?"

"Well, it's not exactly a secret, but you'd better not bring it up in front of him." Liu Shenzhi thought for a moment, probably carefully choosing his words and removing anything that couldn't be said, before explaining to Li Qi, "You know the Miscellaneous School, right? The one that's known for 'returning to the source of all schools of thought and embracing all.'"

"I know," Li Qi nodded.

He has a basic understanding of all aspects of Human Path and all kinds of arts.

The Eclectic School is characterized by its inclusiveness, absorbing the characteristics of other branches of Human Path, including other Dao Path, and integrating their ideas and Cultivation Method into a unified whole.

However, don't mistake this eclectic approach for a Frankenstein's monster.

The reason why the eclectic school can be listed as a separate school is that it has its own unique Dao Path and doctrines. Collecting the characteristics of various schools is just a means to an end, so it can also be called a school.

The eclectic school's principle is 'practicality.' It doesn't matter where your methods and ideas come from. As long as they are useful to my current situation, I will learn them directly. If you don't let me learn, I will steal or even cheat, as long as I achieve my goal.

This is the characteristic of the polymath, and it is also the reason why he can be called a school of thought independent of others.

He has his own main trunk, and then he gathers branches from other Dao Path and grafts them onto himself. The main and secondary branches are clearly distinguished, and he is not a haphazardly piled-up monster.

Liu Shenzhi continued:

"These eclectic types, as you know, are typical ruthless and unscrupulous. One faction of them has envisioned a future."

"Look at things now, whether it's talent, intelligence, personality, or physical body, although they can be adjusted to some extent, ultimately it all comes down to luck."

"Therefore, the eclectic school thought of something: if we could create newborns out of thin air within Law Treasure without relying on a mother's body for gestation, and then freely adjust and control their gender, talents, and even special physiques according to the required talents! Then we could use this method to replace normal reproduction, establish a special official position to manage this matter, and 'produce babies' based on the population information collected by the terminal, directly producing the people we need."

"The Old Ancestor of the School of Miscellaneous believed that as long as this was done, everyone could perform their duties. As long as the overall talent, quality, and quantity of the population were controlled on a macro level, the overall development of Human Path could be completely controlled, Human Path great prosperity of humanity. Yu Zao was the test subject of this plan, a 'person' whose talent and body were entirely controlled and created by the Miscellaneous School."

"However, since she is the first generation, there are still many things she is not mature in. That's why she only awakened her mind at the age of six. And you can also see that she is too young and naive to know what flaws she may have."

"But, if you take all that out of the picture, she is a truly flawless genius. She has a photographic memory, entered the rank of 'Grade 1' in three years of cultivation, and reached the eighth rank in six years. Because her body was manufactured, it is perfectly compatible with the Cultivation Method. She also has corresponding solutions for bottleneck periods. It is completely customized."

"I don't know if it's good or bad, but there's only one, so whatever."

Liu Shenzhi spoke eloquently.

Li Qi, on the other hand, was completely stunned by what he heard.

Artificial wombs, socialized childcare, and regulation of infant births based on social needs.

They're going to be so creative with this, and they've even started experimenting with it. Are they planning to expand it to the wider society?

Was this experiment conducted on my own initiative, or did it actually receive approval from higher-ups?

Forget it, just listen to this kind of thing and move on. The Old Ancestor of the School of Miscellaneous... just hearing his name tells you he's a big shot. He's the founder of one of the Hundred Schools of Human Path. I can't even imagine what level he's at.

It seems that there are all sorts of schools of thought within Human Path, but this eclectic approach is just too complicated.

Forget it... just listen and forget it. I can't interfere in other people's affairs.

It was just that girl named Yu Zao.

I don't know what to say.

Afterwards, Li Qi followed Liu Shenzhi to visit other places.

He also visited Liu Shenzhi's Second Academy of Refiners, but only Liu Shenzhi was there; the other alchemists had all gone on holiday.

Li Qi also saw Liu Shenzhi's current research on water refining methods.

It's completely different from being refined by fire.

Using water hammers and water blades to refine Law Treasure, the water hammers pulsate, sometimes fierce, but when the fierceness reaches its limit, it all transforms into gentle force. The fierce waves turn into a boundless ocean, unfathomable, and then roll in again!

When Li Qi saw Liu Shenzhi's demonstration, he saw waves surging and water ripples falling, rain gathering densely, yin and yang transforming, the change between hardness and softness, softness and strength, and the combination of hardness and softness.

The materials were transformed little by little in the water into the desired form, which was quite miraculous.

By the time the tour was over, it was already evening.

Liu Shenzhi waved goodbye to Li Qi and left alone.

Li Qi thanked him several times, and then went home alone.

Li Qi found it quite pleasant to get along with him because the other party was very sensible.

Throughout the entire process, Liu Shenzhi showed no curiosity about Li Qi's identity whatsoever. Even when he heard Yu Zao call Li Qi "Shaman," he didn't ask any questions.

Li Qi felt that the other party must have guessed something, because Liu Shenzhi was obviously a smart person.

The Imperial Academy is full of intelligent people; there shouldn't be many fools there, right?

However, it is precisely because they are intelligent that they do not need to say anything.

Moreover... Liu Shenzhi is far too well-informed. Despite being a Reason Way, he knows the backgrounds of so many students at the Imperial Academy like the back of his hand. It's quite frightening.

However, we can't say anything for now. What if these are common knowledge in the Imperial Academy? Right? After all, he only gave a general overview and didn't get to the heart of the matter, so it's not really of much use.

But it's also quite scary.

Once you know the base of the problem, you can target its weaknesses and vulnerabilities, such as the Plague Lord.

If one didn't know the background of the Plague Lord, killing him would be as difficult as climbing to the heavens. But now that Li Qi knows the background of the Plague Lord, he knows that if he wants to target him, he must target him and sever the special connection in that virus.

This significantly reduces the scope for finding weaknesses.

This is especially important for people like Li Qi.

After all, to be honest, everyone has top-tier techniques, and the differences in power and wonder are not that great. No one can achieve absolute dominance. Therefore, making targeted arrangements based on weaknesses and characteristics is basically the key to victory.

A reversal of fortune, a crushing defeat, is something that only happens when the strong beat the weak.

If everyone is at a similar level, and your weaknesses are exploited, you've already lost 90% of the battle. For the remaining 10%, you can only rely on quick thinking and resourcefulness.

After bidding Liu Shenzhi, Li Qi Li Qi left the Imperial Academy, carrying with him some new understanding of martial arts and his comprehension of the Academy, and returned to his residence in the Tang Kingdom.

On the way, he also ran into the old man who had given him a red envelope before.

The old man was walking his grandson. Li Qi exchanged a few pleasantries, then returned to his room and began taking notes.

He had never heard of many things at the Imperial Academy before, and this experience broadened his horizons.

It seems that spending only a few days at Wushen Mountain was a huge mistake. As a power that could rival the Tang Kingdom, Wushen Mountain must have scenery that is no less impressive than that of the Tang Kingdom.

Moreover, it is a wondrous sight that cannot be seen anywhere else but on Wushen Mountain.

The thought of this made Li Qi feel like ants were crawling all over his body.

He developed countless curiosities about the world, wanting to explore it more and faster, to witness more landscapes he had never seen before and could never have imagined.

Curiosity filled Li Qi's heart, growing stronger with each beat.

Li Qi spent half the night recording everything he had seen and heard that day.

At midnight, he put away his paper and pen and rested for the night.

Shen Shuibi needs to undergo treatment for seven days, and this is only the first day.

There was still nearly a month until the start of the Imperial Academy, and six days until Shen Shuibi recovered. There was still plenty of time to be alone.

However, when Li Qi woke up the next day, he saw a news item on his terminal.

The delegation from Wushen Mountain has arrived in Chang'an, and three young masters will be entering the Imperial Academy for further studies!