The First "Student": Turtle Spirit Holy Mother's Doubt

Lin Xuan (Xuanyuanzi)'s unprecedented public lecture was like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, its ripples spreading across Jin'ao Island. Discussions about the connection between "Wave-Particle Duality," the "Observer Effect," and cultivation became hot topics among the disciples. Although not without controversy, these discussions genuinely reignited many people's passion for re-examining their own practice. Lin Xuan's identity as a "Researcher" also gradually shifted from a mysterious high-level strategist to a "mentor" who could answer difficult questions and provide new ideas in the eyes of many disciples.

One day, Lin Xuan was browsing ancient texts in the "Miscellaneous Arts Zone" on the third floor of the Biyou Palace Sutra Depository, trying to find more basis for combining modern theories with the realities of the Primordial Era. This area, guided by the Sovereign of the Heavens, contained not profound Daoist techniques, but a large collection of "technical" classics on topics such as alchemy heat control, refining material ratios, array energy node distribution, and even spirit plant grafting and spirit beast taming, which suited Lin Xuan's needs perfectly.

Just as he was engrossed in a jade slip titled A Study on the Correlation Between Terrestrial Vein Spiritual Energy Tides and Array Stability, a slightly hesitant voice sounded behind him:

"Researcher... Researcher Xuanyuanzi, may I disturb you for a moment?"

Lin Xuan turned around and saw a female Daoist, dressed in a dark mystical robe, small in stature, with a gentle but slightly timid face, standing not far away. Her aura was calm and profound, possessing a cultivation level of Refining Spirit to Void, yet a lingering sorrow clouded her brow. Lin Xuan recognized her as one of the Sovereign of the Heavens' direct disciples, renowned in the Jie Sect for her defensive divine abilities—Turtle Spirit Holy Mother.

"It's Turtle Spirit Senior Sister," Lin Xuan quickly put down the jade slip and cupped his hands in greeting. Although he was a researcher, she was a direct disciple of a Saint with profound cultivation; etiquette could not be neglected.

Turtle Spirit Holy Mother quickly returned the salute, her tone carrying a hint of embarrassment. "You are too kind, Researcher. I apologize for the intrusion, but it's because... because I've encountered a difficult problem in my recent cultivation that I can't resolve. I heard that Researcher has unique insights, so I came to seek your advice." She spoke softly, a stark contrast to her formidable defensive divine abilities.

Lin Xuan's heart stirred. This was the first core disciple of the Jie Sect to proactively seek his counsel—a matter of great significance. He smiled gently, "Please speak, Senior Sister. If Xuanyuanzi can offer even a little help, I will spare no effort in speaking my mind."

Turtle Spirit Holy Mother breathed a sigh of relief, organized her thoughts, and said, "The cultivation technique I practice is the Mysterious Turtle Spirit Armor Technique personally passed down by my Master. It focuses on tempering the physical body and condensing the primordial spirit armor for unparalleled defense. However... recently, I've vaguely felt that this technique seems to have reached a bottleneck." She frowned slightly. "Although the spirit armor's defense is strong, it lacks flexibility and consumes a lot of magical power. It's adequate against continuous attacks, but against sharp, pinpoint attacks that break through defenses, or when quick movement is required, it becomes quite clumsy, leaving me unable to attend to everything. I've tried strengthening the spirit armor's thickness or increasing magical power output, but the results were minimal, only making it heavier. Does Researcher have any good solutions?"

Lin Xuan listened carefully, analyzing rapidly in his mind. Turtle Spirit Holy Mother's problem was typical: pursuing absolute defense led to a lack of flexibility, high energy consumption, and insufficient targeted defense. It was like a tank from his previous life; no matter how thick its armor, if its mobility was poor, it would easily be destroyed by agile anti-tank weapons.

He didn't answer immediately but first asked, "Senior Sister, could you demonstrate the process of condensing your spirit armor? You don't need to use full power, just a brief display of its form."

Turtle Spirit Holy Mother nodded, concentrated, and a layer of solidified, heavy, and intricately patterned turtle shell phantom appeared on her body, emitting a stable, mountain-like aura.

Lin Xuan activated his [Insight Technique] and carefully observed the energy flow and structural distribution of the spirit armor. As expected, the energy distribution was extremely uniform, and the structure prioritized overall sturdiness, lacking variation and focus.

After watching the demonstration, Lin Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "Senior Sister, in my humble opinion, the problem might not be a 'lack of defense,' but rather that the 'strategy' of defense needs adjustment."

"Strategy?" Turtle Spirit Holy Mother looked puzzled.

"Precisely," Lin Xuan casually sketched a few simple shapes in the air with his magical power. "Your current spirit armor is like a uniformly stressed 'overall shield,' covering all aspects but being mediocre in all. We could try transforming it into a 'composite armor system.'"

He pointed to the diagrams and explained, "Firstly, 'layered defense.' The spirit armor doesn't need to be monolithic; it can have several layers. The innermost layer is the 'buffer layer,' which is flexible and specialized in absorbing and dispersing impact force. The middle layer is the 'toughness layer,' possessing both strength and elasticity to resist tearing. The outermost layer is the 'hardening layer,' extremely dense, to resist sharp protrusions. This way, different types of attacks are handled by different levels of structure, leading to higher efficiency and lower consumption."

Turtle Spirit Holy Mother's eyes widened slightly; this concept was entirely new to her.

Lin Xuan continued, "Secondly, 'focused defense' and 'dynamic adjustment.' You don't need to maintain the same level of defense across your entire body at all times. Based on the opponent's attack pattern, you can predict the likely impact point and concentrate most of your defensive power there, while other areas maintain basic protection. Even better, you could cultivate a sensory technique to instantly gather defensive power at the point of impact the moment an attack lands! This way, you can achieve the best defensive effect with minimal consumption."

He finally addressed the issue of mobility, "As for the problem of clumsy movement, perhaps it can be addressed through the 'form' of the spirit armor. Can your spirit armor not have a fixed shape? When high-speed movement is needed, the spirit armor could become streamlined to reduce resistance; when stable defense is required, it can then expand into a full defensive form. This requires fine control over energy forms, but once mastered, the conversion between offense and defense will be much more fluid."

These words elevated defense from mere "toughness" to the realms of "structural mechanics," "energy allocation," and "dynamic response." Turtle Spirit Holy Mother listened, entranced, as if thunderbolts were exploding in her mind! The bottleneck she had pondered for years was being so thoroughly analyzed from such a novel perspective by him!

"Layered... focused... dynamic..." Turtle Spirit Holy Mother murmured to herself, the more she savored it, the more marvelous it seemed. She had only ever focused on increasing the "thickness" of the "shield" but had never considered the myriad variations in the "shield's" structure and usage!

She suddenly looked up, her eyes shining with excitement and a thirst for knowledge. She bowed deeply to Lin Xuan, "Hearing Researcher's words is better than a hundred years of my own arduous cultivation! Turtle Spirit is foolish; only today do I realize the vastness of the path of defense! I implore Researcher not to withhold your teachings; how can layering be achieved? How can dynamic adjustment be cultivated?"

At this moment, she showed none of the reserve of a Saint's direct disciple, appearing entirely like a student who had met a renowned teacher and was eager to learn.

Seeing her sincerity, Lin Xuan felt quite pleased and smiled, "Senior Sister, you flatter me. These are merely theoretical directions. The specific methods still require deduction and experimentation combined with your Mysterious Turtle Spirit Armor Technique. If Senior Sister does not mind, we can explore them together."

Thus, in a quiet corner of the Sutra Depository, Lin Xuan and Turtle Spirit Holy Mother—one a transmigrator wielding scientific theories, the other a direct disciple with profound foundations—began an in-depth discussion on the "science of defense." Lin Xuan provided the ideas and framework, while Turtle Spirit Holy Mother, with her deep understanding of her own techniques, verified and refined them.

Several days later, Turtle Spirit Holy Mother went into seclusion. Half a month later, when she emerged, her aura was even more condensed. Although she didn't unleash her full power, Lin Xuan could feel that her spirit armor seemed to possess a new, restrained vitality and resilience.

Turtle Spirit Holy Mother found Lin Xuan, thanked him sincerely again, and presented him with three "Mysterious Spirit Turtle Shell Shards" nurtured by her own body, containing pure essence of Gui Shui, as a token of gratitude. These were precious materials for refining top-tier defensive magical treasures.

From then on, Turtle Spirit Holy Mother became Lin Xuan's first "student" among the high-ranking members of the Jie Sect, and another powerful validator and supporter of his scientific cultivation ideology. As the news spread, more Jie Sect disciples who had been observing from the sidelines began to develop a genuine and strong interest in this Researcher Xuanyuanzi.