A Private Lesson

Li Qi seemed to hear a voice shouting in his ear, "Discipline in class, three seconds."

The voice sounded like a machine, devoid of any emotion, with an electronic quality; it certainly didn't sound like a human.

Then, smack, smack, smack!

Three feet of water struck Li Qi on the head in quick succession, leaving him momentarily stunned.

Even though he had blocked it, he still felt like he had been hit. Although it didn't hurt much, the feeling of being hit was definitely real.

But then, the sermons around them stopped.

Almost everyone who was engrossed in the sermon immediately snapped out of their reverie, looking around in bewilderment, wondering why the sermon had suddenly stopped.

As for those who couldn't understand, they all looked towards the source of the sound, which was Li Qi.

Li Qi also noticed.

The Imperial Academy professor giving the sermon above...

She seems a little unhappy.

"Student Li Qi, you are disrupting the class and ignoring the teachings. This is only your first day of school. What are you trying to do?" The Imperial Academy professor stared at Li Qi with displeasure.

But Li Qi didn't feel scared or angry; he was just a little confused.

Was the ruler used by this Imperial Academy scholar?

Unlike before, he had clearly blocked the ruler. He had used the mountain energy that could block external energy, combined with his divine energy to resist it, and he definitely blocked it. But even though he blocked the ruler, he was still hit on the head.

This kind of method shouldn't be something this doctor possesses. Although Li Qi didn't know the other party's background, the enhanced True Knowledge was already effective against sixth-rank individuals.

That ruler and this Imperial Academy scholar gave him a completely different feeling.

However, despite this, Li Qi was still somewhat embarrassed.

Is it... a conditioned reflex?

The embarrassment of looking around during class and having to stop the teacher to criticize him was ingrained in Li Qi's bones.

What's more, the current situation is that it's a public lecture in a super-large classroom, with millions of people listening around the four sides, and several blocks are packed with people.

It's only thanks to the fact that everyone here is a practitioner with sharp hearing and eyesight that we were able to hear clearly.

However, there was no need to hide anything here. Li Qi immediately stood up under everyone's gaze. "Reporting to the Doctor, I just feel that... what you said is contradictory and confusing, so I have some doubts."

Li Qi was being honest when he said this, but his two classmates, Mo Benglan and Li Lieqi, both looked at Li Qi with suspicion and uncertainty in their eyes.

As for the other onlookers, their reactions were varied.

Some people looked at Li Qi with suspicion, seemingly not understanding what he was talking about.

Some people were furious, cursing Li Qi for interrupting the proceedings, even though they were enjoying the exciting part.

Others, fearing the world wasn't chaotic enough, joined in the commotion with a "let's watch the show" mentality. Since they couldn't understand the explanation anyway, they figured they might as well be on the front lines and watch the excitement, so they started stirring up trouble.

Others looked on with disdain, as if they thought Li Qi was overestimating himself, daring to question a mere Imperial Academy scholar! They were just waiting to be proven wrong.

Of course, most people remained in a wait-and-see attitude, just like passersby, merely observing.

In an instant, Li Qi suddenly became the center of attention for over a million people.

After saying this, Li Qi looked calmly at the Imperial Academy professor.

The Imperial Academy scholar had been angrily questioning Li Qi about why he was disrupting the class. Li Qi thought that after being contradicted, he would probably be even angrier.

However, to Li Qi's surprise, the doctor calmed down after hearing Li Qi's argumentative question.

"So you had doubts, which is why you disrupted the class. I'll let you off this time. As for your question, where do you think there are any oversights, contradictions, or confusion? Tell me, and I'll answer them one by one."

Li Qi didn't stand on ceremony, so he bowed and said, "Then I will speak frankly."

"You say, 'Essence and Qi form things, and wandering souls are transformations.' However, if essence and Qi form things, it means that essence and Qi combine to form things, which are essence and spirit, and spirit and soul. Transformation means that the soul and spirit separate. Although you only mention 'wandering souls' and not spirit, what is the explanation?"

"You say that wandering spirits are ghosts and gods, but they differ in their gathering and scattering. Those that gather and become objects are gods; those that scatter and become transformations are ghosts. Does this not contradict what you said before?"

"You say that the sage knows all things and benefits the world, then he must analyze things, know the principles of the unseen and the visible, the dead and the living, the dead and the spirits, and know both day and night. Yet you also say that he encompasses the transformations of heaven and earth. This means that the way of the sage is the standard of heaven and earth. Isn't this a confusion?"

Li Qi asked three questions in a row.

In summary, it all boils down to one problem.

You say that heaven and earth are a furnace of chaotic molten gold, and that the sage poured out the chaos of heaven and earth to forge it into a vessel, which serves as a model for all people, a standard for heaven and earth, and a rule for all things.

Since things are already like this, why bother studying natural sciences and trying to "know everything"? Clearly, the rules governing all things follow the way of the sages, so we can simply study the sages' guidelines. Why bother trying to "know everything"? Isn't that a waste of time? What's the point of studying it? Why not just have the sages tell us directly what to do?

The sage's method defines the status of ghosts and gods, defining the two states of a person's soul after it leaves the physical body as ghosts and gods: when the soul disperses, it becomes a ghost; when the soul condenses, it becomes a god. However, this conflicts with the previous statement that "essence and energy are the substance, and wandering souls are the transformations."

When essence and energy unite, the soul and spirit condense and become a physical entity; at this time, the spirit and soul are physical entities.

When the essence and energy dissipate, the spirit dissipates. Only at this point can it be considered the divine soul as understood. Then the initial conditions for the existence of the 'spirit' are no longer present, which is a contradiction.

Li Qi asked several questions in a row, all of which were about things he felt were not right from the vast Daoist aura.

In fact, there are many, many such things.

Every sentence seems correct when taken out of context, and each chapter seems correct when viewed in isolation.

However, the information contained in the Daoist rhyme is simply too much, and many things cannot be put together logically. Some statements are correct in one context but wrong in another.

That's why Li Qi felt increasingly uneasy as he listened.

Because of these Daoist teachings, other listeners can only hear the part that they need and understand the part that they can use and comprehend, since the amount of information is too great.

But Li Qi is different. Through the effects of true knowledge, he can absorb at least 70% to 80% of the information the other person is preaching, if not all of it.

If someone's cultivation level is too low, they might be overwhelmed by this information overload.

As I've said it several times, Li Qi is different. He's already used to this kind of information flow flooding his brain. And after achieving the seventh rank, his soul and brain have become more resilient. The first Inner Gods was still his Primordial Spirit, which further enhanced his ability to receive information.

Therefore, he was able to discover various contradictions and loopholes, which led to a variety of doubts.

After asking his question, he quietly looked at the Imperial Academy scholar in front of him, hoping to get an answer.

The onlookers who had previously expressed various attitudes towards Li Qi, along with his classmates Mo Benglan and Li Lieqi, basically fell silent after Li Qi asked these questions.

Of course, a considerable number of onlookers still didn't understand what was going on, so they continued to shout the same things they had said before. But soon, someone reminded them, and they gradually quieted down and watched what was happening in the center of the field.

Everyone understood.

This disruptive behavior, interrupting everyone who was listening to the sermon, is quite something.

I just don't know how much I have, or whether I can beat the Imperial Academy Doctor.

Frankly, most people have little hope for this.

Who is a Doctor of the Imperial Academy?

It was a sixth-rank official position, and the job required specializing in the study of classical texts and the Daoist lineage; it was a purely research-oriented position.

To say they've devoted themselves to studying these subjects for a lifetime is an understatement. Some of them have been researching these things for over a thousand years, and their names are listed as authors in countless textbooks.

Now that Li Qi has spoken up to point out the mistake of a professor at the Imperial Academy, although many people don't understand, it doesn't stop them from thinking that Li Qi is about to be brutally killed and humiliated.

As for the two students, they both sat up straight, ready to listen carefully to the debate between the two.

Whether it was Li Lieqi, a martial artist and a cultivator specializing in Military School, or Mo Benglan, who specialized in the Human Path and Legalist School, they both knew the origins of their classmate.

He came from Wushen Mountain, which means he must have his own unique insights into the concept of ghosts and gods, and what he put forward was precisely the matter of ghosts and gods.

However, to everyone's surprise, the Imperial Academy scholar thought for a moment and then nodded directly, "What you said makes some sense. There are indeed some problems with this Daoist chant. Although the knowledge in it is extensive, it is also very complicated and not suitable for you to listen to. It was our mistake, and we are truly sorry."

"Then you can skip this sermon for now and go inside. Someone will speak to you there. As for what's going on outside, you know it can't be changed, so this is more suitable for them."

Li Qi was also stunned.

Huh? Sir, what do you mean?

So you yourself know that the Daoist teachings being spread outside are wrong?

But he was just stunned, but he immediately came to his senses.

Li Qi understood.

That's exactly what they were planning!

The rhyme being broadcast outside wasn't intended to be 'absolutely correct,' but rather only 'relatively correct.'

Just like Newton's classical mechanics, if it is correct to a certain extent, that's enough. Junior high school students have enough to learn and don't need to go into depth.

As for the subsequent errors, you will naturally discover them when you study more deeply, and then you will be taught new knowledge, such as quantum mechanics. Just proceed step by step.

The benefit of not needing to delve too deeply is that these sermons can contain a vast amount of such knowledge, and then be broadcast extensively through preaching, benefiting millions of people at once! Millions of people can hear the sermon and receive this benefit.

It doesn't need to be too accurate or too profound; it just needs to be understandable to these people.

However, they did not expect that Li Qi's theoretical knowledge had become so profound that he could actually detect the omissions in the sermon.

This made the Imperial Academy scholar look at Li Qi with new respect, and he directly invited him inside to listen.

This action stunned everyone listening outside.

They hadn't figured out the key point; they just suddenly realized that the Imperial Academy scholar... had admitted defeat?

Without even arguing, they simply let Li Qi in.

Everyone outside was shocked, and Mo Benglan and Li Lieqi were also stunned.

However, after realizing what was happening, Li Qi immediately agreed and then ran inside in a flash.

His idea was simple:

If someone is giving you extra tutoring, who would bother with open lectures?

And so, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Qi swiftly entered the Imperial Academy and disappeared from their sight.

The Imperial Academy Doctor coughed twice. "Ahem, let's continue the sermon. What happened before has nothing to do with you. Don't think about it."

After speaking, he went back up to the stage and continued his sermon.

But does he mean he won't overthink things?

More than a million people are watching.

In Chang'an, for an entire generation and for hundreds of years, no one had ever been invited to give private lessons during a sermon.

And now, everyone has witnessed it with their own eyes.

Meanwhile, news spread that in the central hall of the Imperial Academy, a sprightly old man was playing chess with the Prefect of Jingzhao of Chang'an.

The Prefect of Jingzhao was a third-rank official, and naturally, only third-rank officials could play chess with him on equal footing.

The Imperial Academy had only one resident official of the third rank.

The Imperial Academy Jijiu, Subordinate Third Rank.

Among the Imperial Academy Doctors, there were those who were intelligent and dignified, capable of teaching students a variety of arts and crafts, and they were selected to serve as libationers.

The reason it is called the "Sacrificial Wine Master" is because banquets must honor elders and offer wine to ancestors, hence the name "Sacrificial Wine Master". In other words, the Sacrificial Wine Master is the oldest, most prestigious, and most capable among the Imperial Academy Doctors, and he can teach students all skills.

That is indeed the case.

If I had to describe the Imperial Academy Jijiu in one word, it would be... all-around.

He is proficient in all schools of Human Path.

He has dabbled in Confucianism, Legalism, famous doctors, Mohism, agriculture, military strategy, Yin-Yang theory, and many other fields.

He also conducted in-depth research on other Dao Path, including gods, witches, spirits, demons, Buddhas, and Daoists.

You could say that he knows everything you know.

What you can't do, he probably can too.

Now, this seemingly all-around chief priest is playing chess while talking to the Prefect of Jingzhao.

The chief priest placed a piece on the board and said, "So, behind this turmoil in Chang'an, there are not only celestial demons, but also the shadow of a true dragon?"

"It's unlikely to be a celestial demon, but I can't say for sure. The demon from the Desire Realm came to Chang'an last time and happened to encounter the late emperor shattering the dragon Dragon Vein, and was seriously injured. Will he come again this time?" the Prefect of Jingzhao sighed.

As I have said before, the Central Plains experienced an unprecedented catastrophe a few years ago. The rebels almost stormed into Chang'an. The previous emperor shattered the dragon Dragon Vein and fought a desperate battle to finally turn the tide.

Less than two hundred years later, the previous emperor worked so hard to govern that he worked himself to death. Only after the current emperor ascended the throne did the Tang Kingdom enjoy its current prosperity.

And in that large-scale rebellion, the shadow of the Mara of Self-Transformation was behind it all.

However, the Mara of Self-Transformation was seriously injured that time, so he shouldn't have any further ambitions towards Chang'an in the short term.

We can't just forget about it, can we?

However, the chief priest did not seem to intend to continue on this topic, since it was not within his authority.

So, after making his move again, he said, "Let's not talk about that. I just received news that a freshman is coming to see me."

"A new student? Come to see you?" The Prefect of Jingzhao frowned in confusion.

But he immediately realized what was going on.

"A student has seen through the true nature of the teachings outside? Congratulations! This is the first time in 1200 years, isn't it? The Imperial Academy is about to produce another sage." The Prefect of Jingzhao congratulated him.

But the chief priest's expression was subtle. He said, "They are from Wushen Mountain."

Many people have commented that my bio is bad, so I'm asking for suggestions. Whoever gets suggested will have to treat me to KFC Crazy Thursday.