First Lesson

Science?

Hearing this unfamiliar word, the thousands upon thousands of eyes throughout Nanshan Academy grew even more bewildered.

Yet what these students who had come from all across the Chi Kingdom did not know was that this was only the beginning.

"Put simply, science is a discipline that helps us understand the world.

It is an orderly system of knowledge founded upon testable explanations and predictions concerning the forms, organization, and other aspects of objective things. It is systematized and formalized knowledge..."

Lin Tuo calmly recited and explained from the materials he had prepared.

From time to time, he picked up a piece of chalk and traced lines of writing and drawings across the entire pitch-black wall.

That was right.

For the Sandbox humans' first lesson, Lin Tuo had decided to begin with science.

Of course, taking the "national conditions" here into account, after throwing out an obscure, convoluted, highly conceptual definition at the start to establish his authority—

He abruptly shifted the topic and began with the most basic, straightforward methods of understanding the world.

He used several simple physics experiments to draw everyone's attention, then posed question after question and used mathematics as a tool to construct a foundation of "scientific understanding."

"What are all things in the world made of?"

"How do we explain the essence of the natural phenomena we observe?"

"By what laws and logic do spring, summer, autumn, and winter—the changing seasons—follow?"

More and more words appeared on the blackboard. As Lin Tuo spoke, those blank and bewildered eyes gradually began to brighten.

Setting aside the auditors who had brought their own Cushions, paper, and pens and packed the foot of the mountain—

In truth, those qualified to attend lectures at Nanshan Academy were mostly the gifted and intelligent among the entire Chi Kingdom.

Even those elderly-looking ministers standing beside the monarch were human elites who had fought their way through layer upon layer of the imperial examinations.

Moreover, Lin Tuo had deliberately taught only basic knowledge, his sole purpose being to give these people a scientific way of thinking.

Thus, before long, they realized that the strange and peculiar things "Master Lin" was teaching seemed to be pushing open a door for them.

A door... a magnificent door that the Sages and wise men of old had never noticed.

Beyond that door lay a brand-new world.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

A gentle breeze swept across South Mountain. Lin Tuo stood before the blackboard, speaking in an unhurried tone.

At times, he paused, his eyes briefly clouding over as he switched his consciousness back to his true body. He swiftly noted down the contents of the document on his computer, then switched back and continued speaking.

After absorbing Aether, Lin Tuo found that his memory had improved as well, and he had made preparations long ago.

As a result, he handled it all with effortless ease.

To the students covering the mountain, it only made Master Lin seem ever more unfathomable.

At the desks near the front of the academy, one section had also been occupied by recording officials. They did not need to attend the lesson or understand its contents; they merely wrote furiously, recording Lin Tuo's every word without pause.

For a time, only the sound of the wind and Lin Tuo's lecture remained across all of South Mountain.

An hour later.

Lin Tuo announced a break for the time it took an incense stick to burn, allowing the students to rest and answer nature's call.

Then, the lesson continued.

And so, another hour passed.

Two hours passed.

Four hours...

Six hours...

Before anyone realized it, the sky had changed from morning to evening. The students seated across the mountain slopes had also rotated through batch after batch.

Even when someone occasionally rose and left, they did their utmost to walk along the edges and avoid disturbing others.

After his life transformation, Lin Tuo's stamina had long surpassed that of ordinary people.

During breaks, he occasionally switched back to his true body to order takeout and eat, or lie down and rest for a while. Thus, after lecturing nonstop for an entire day, he was not even particularly tired.

As for the listeners below being unable to hold on, that was not much of a problem either.

"Anyway, I have so much to teach that no one could possibly digest it all at once. As long as the recording officials take shifts and keep proper records, that will be enough."

Lin Tuo understood this perfectly well.

Just as with the content he taught, the purpose of the science course had never been to make this group understand mathematics, physics, and chemistry in a short time. It was only to sow the seeds of scientific thinking. Nothing more.

"Have you heard? Up on South Mountain, Sage Lin has lectured for an entire day straight, and there are still no signs of him stopping."

"I heard several court ministers have already collapsed from exhaustion. Some even fainted in the classroom and were carried down.

Yet after waking up, they stuffed down a few bites of food and had people support them back to the academy... Tell me, have they gone mad?"

"You don't understand, do you? Setting aside how rare the chance to hear a Sage expound the Dao is—miss it, and you may regret it for the rest of your life—even His Majesty is still enduring. Which minister would dare slack off?"

In a Tao County teahouse, rosy evening clouds hung at the horizon, and the topics of people's conversations quietly shifted.

"Once it gets dark, he should stop, right? Otherwise, even if every desk were lit with lamps, I'm afraid it still wouldn't be enough..."

At the foot of the mountain, an accompanying palace official in charge of "logistics" looked at the students spread over the hills and plains, his face creased with worry.

"No matter. Once night falls, there will naturally be a Heaven and Earth Phenomenon." Beside him, the County Lord of Tao County stood straight in his official robes and said with a smile.

"A Heaven and Earth Phenomenon?" The palace official froze, somewhat puzzled.

Yet he quickly understood everything.

When the last glimmer of sunset vanished from the western sky, Lin Tuo was in the full swing of his lecture. He simply switched his consciousness back to his true body and turned on the flashlight fixed to its stand.

Then, a towering pillar of light suddenly descended from the dark night sky, illuminating all of South Mountain and more than half the county town.

The students who had rushed here from all over upon hearing the news were instantly struck speechless with shock. The people of Tao County, however, paid it no mind, smiling as they explained, their faces brimming with pride.

Time flowed on. Under the lights, the whole night was even brighter than daytime. Throughout this period, the people arriving from every corner of the Chi Kingdom did not diminish; instead, they grew more numerous.

Tiny Tao County simply could not provide enough lodging, yet these people did not get angry. They merely set up camp quietly in the open wilderness beyond the town, as though being able to hear a Sage expound the Dao had already fulfilled their every wish.

This newly injected blood just happened to replenish the students who could no longer endure and had temporarily left their seats.

Watching the faces among the audience constantly change, Lin Tuo discovered that the number of listeners was not decreasing, but actually growing. He felt somewhat moved.

In fact, through his investigations over the past few days, he had discovered that the Chi Kingdom already possessed currents of thought resembling the investigation of things to attain knowledge.

However, for one thing, they lacked any coherent system and remained exceedingly shallow. For another, they ran counter to tradition.

Take the basic introduction to science he had taught today. If an ordinary person had delivered it, let alone attracting many listeners, they would likely have been driven from the stage by traditional schools of thought.

But now, cloaked in the Divine Decree and bearing the identity of a Sage, teaching it again made both acceptance and subsequent promotion far easier.

Though inwardly reflective, his lecture did not stop, continuing at its fixed rhythm.

By the dead of night, Lin Tuo finally tossed the chalk in his hand to the ground. He clapped his hands, bathed in divine light, and looked down at the exhausted students covering the mountainside. Smiling, he said:

"What I taught today was extremely elementary. Even within the field of science, it only barely pushed open the door. As for what lies behind that door, I shall leave it to you, and to those who come after you, to explore.

"All right. That concludes the first lesson: science.

"You may all return and rest, restore your spirits, or sort through what you learned today. Tomorrow at noon, I will teach the second lesson."

"The second lesson?" The chief civil minister, who had been helped back to class, could not help stroking his beard as he cautiously asked.

"Yes. As for its specific contents, you will naturally find out then.

"Mm, I can offer one reminder in advance: the second lesson will contain more material. Please bring enough paper and pens."

Lin Tuo smiled, swept his gaze over the thousands upon thousands of students clad in long robes, and spoke lightly.