I Need Your Help

"Mr. Hooke, your problem doesn't need to be handed over to a teacher. Just give me five days, and I'll solve the answer!"

Little Ox's words, clearly audible, reached Hooke's ears, causing him to stop in his tracks.

The slightly hunched middle-aged man straightened his chest slightly, turned around, and looked at Little Ox with an expression that seemed to say, 'Are you out of your mind?':

"Newton, do you understand what this problem represents? It involves a system of equations of an unknown magnitude near the equilibrium position. Let alone you, it's a field that even your teacher has never touched!"

As he spoke, he glanced meaningfully at the Holy Book in Little Ox's hand and sneered:

"You, a mere student, dare to say such a thing. If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to hold that Holy Book anymore."

As he spoke, a sense of impending revenge surged through Hooke's heart.

That year's math finals were Cambridge versus Oxford. The final score was 4-3. Barrow came on when they were trailing 1-3 and achieved a comeback of three wins.

At that moment, Hooke saw his admired senior, Eloise Bryce, sitting in her chair, weeping uncontrollably. That was when he thought, if he could challenge Barrow, he would win everything.

Now, the opportunity was right before him. Hooke had to consider if this would be his only chance in life.

He believed that Oxford's past dominance was inseparable from Eloise Bryce's contributions.

"To recast Oxford's glory is our generation's solemn duty!"

The problem Hooke had devised this time encompassed both mathematics and physics. It was the result of three years of his deductions, and he was convinced that Barrow would be utterly stumped by it!

It was a pity that due to the Black Death, he had temporarily lost Barrow's contact information. He could only wait for London to recover its order before going to Cambridge to settle the score.

Unexpectedly, on his way to the printing press, he encountered Little Ox, a student from Trinity College. This made him both happy and annoyed.

He was happy because, as a student of a divinity school, Little Ox must have Barrow's contact information, and he wouldn't have to wait for the Black Death to end to find Barrow.

He was annoyed because...

This young man seemed a bit overconfident, daring to get involved in an academic debate of this caliber?

Was he always this bold?

Across from Hooke, Little Ox's brow furrowed even deeper, clearly showing his extreme displeasure.

However, since the other party's target was Barrow, his remaining rationality suppressed the urge to lash out. At this moment, the renowned debater, in a rare display of emotional intelligence, said:

"Mr. Hooke, since you're paying attention to Trinity College, you should know about the matter of Trinity College admitting a fee-exempt student four years ago, right?"

Hooke glanced at him with slight surprise and nodded:

"That's right, I've heard about it. It was the first time in fifteen years that Cambridge University's four major divinity schools admitted a fee-exempt student. I heard he also received First Class Honours in mathematics."

As he spoke, Hooke suddenly realized:

"Wait, are you saying that fee-exempt student was you?"

Little Ox pointed to William and his wife beside him and said calmly:

"You can ask my uncle and aunt. Oh, and ahead is Grantham; the principal of King's School there knows me too."

Upon hearing this, a hint of astonishment finally appeared on Hooke's face.

Cambridge University, as a top institution on the British Isles, besides its regular admissions, also accepted some fee-exempt students annually.

However, besides the high assessment requirements, fee-exempt students were mostly affiliated with ordinary colleges. In this era, most universities were configured with ordinary colleges plus a few divinity schools.

For example, Cambridge University, in addition to its 31 ordinary colleges, had four divinity schools managed by the church. These divinity schools were administratively independent of Cambridge University.

Don't mistake divinity schools for places solely dedicated to prayer and mass just because they have "divinity" in their name. In this era, divinity schools were equivalent to the local "Yao Class" or "Young Talent Program"!

For instance, Trinity College produced graduates like Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and even Nehru.

However, divinity schools emphasized complete devotion to service. Studying knowledge was service, and sleeping and praying were also service. But working to earn tuition fees was considered seeking personal gain.

Therefore, fee-exempt students, a type of work-study student, were extremely ostracized in divinity schools, and their assessment requirements were practically inhuman.

Before Little Ox became a fee-exempt student at Trinity College, Cambridge hadn't admitted any fee-exempt students for fifteen years. Incidentally, in 1680, due to the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism, Trinity College abolished the fee-exempt student status for a century.

Thus, Little Ox was Trinity College's last fee-exempt student of the 17th century. And due to Little Ox's extremely high historical status, Trinity College even considered abolishing the fee-exempt student quota after a century, until another genius appeared, causing Trinity College to break its rules again. This person was—

James Clerk Maxwell.

Yes, the man who proposed the greatest equations in human history.

So, sometimes, one can't help but marvel at how strange certain things are.

In conclusion.

A fee-exempt student at Trinity College, in the context of online novels, would be akin to the Supreme Hall accepting a disciple, guaranteeing a Supreme-level starting point, and perhaps at any moment, an "Archaic Heavenly Emperor" might emerge, incredibly powerful.

Hooke, as a member of the Royal Society and an 'enemy' closely monitoring Barrow's movements, naturally wouldn't overlook such news.

Upon learning that Little Ox was the legendary Archaic Heavenly Emperor—ahem, the fee-exempt student—Hooke's expression immediately became much more serious. The fee-exempt student from four years ago would be graduating this year, and their abilities would clearly not be comparable to current students.

It was precisely out of this certainty that a wicked thought of eliminating both master and disciple suddenly arose in Hooke's mind. His thoughts shifted abruptly, and he said:

"Newton, as you can see, this is an academic discussion between your master and me. But as a university professor, I am also pleased to see a junior possess the determination to challenge predecessors.

Five days, you say? No problem. I will be staying in Lincolnshire for a week. You can come find me anytime if you solve the answer. My address is the Jacob Inn southwest of Lincoln, about forty kilometers from Grantham."

As he spoke, he puffed out his chest and patted Little Ox's shoulder meaningfully:

"I hope to see you again before I leave Lincolnshire. Good luck, Isaac Newton."

After speaking, he adjusted his collar and left the scene without looking back.

Clip-clop--

Soon, the two horses began to trot, pulling the carriage slowly away.

Once the carriage had gradually disappeared from sight, William, who had remained silent the entire time, walked forward and frowned, asking, "Little Isaac, why did you get involved in something like this?"

As a graduate of Cambridge University, William naturally understood what Professor Lucas represented—it was clearly a sharp academic confrontation.

Although academic confrontations didn't involve swords and daggers, the aftermath could sometimes be as devastating as death, or even worse.

For Little Ox, an ordinary scholar, to be involved was clearly not a wise move.

But Little Ox merely shook his head at him, offering no further explanation, and then turned to look at Xu Yun:

"Fat Fish, I need your help."

Xu Yun, standing nearby, was taken aback and blinked in confusion:

"Huh?"

He had thought, hearing Little Ox's firm tone, that he could just sit back and watch the show. Now why was he being dragged into it?

Little Ox then handed Hooke's paper to him, saying, "Take a look at this."

Xu Yun took the paper and glanced at it a few times, his pupils constricting slightly.

F=k·x.

This was a formula any high school student would know, the renowned Hooke's Law.

This law was proposed by Hooke in 1678 as part of his theory of elasticity. It was currently 1665, and while Hooke hadn't fully derived this definitional form yet, he had clearly begun some preliminary research.

And this piece of paper recorded the problem of calculating the space occupied by a continuous medium that had undergone deformation.

Explaining this problem was very complicated, but in layman's terms—cough cough—to put it concisely, it involved

a second-order Taylor expansion.

Of course, for Little Ox, it was a second-order Han Li Expansion.

That is, Calculus.

However, at this time, Little Ox hadn't fully derived the overall framework of Calculus, and the definition of the strain tensor, strictly speaking, wouldn't be introduced until 1846 by William Rowan Hamilton—yes, the same Hamilton who invented quaternions.

Therefore, to solve Hooke's problem, Little Ox could only seek outside help at this point.

Looking at the problem description on the paper, Xu Yun's mind quickly came up with seventeen or eighteen solutions. However, considering the current situation, he still managed to feign difficulty, saying, "This problem seems solvable, but it will require some time to calculate. However, Mr. Newton, we're still on our way. Perhaps we can discuss it after we get back?"

Upon hearing this, Little Ox glanced at William's family and then at the sky. He nodded and said, "Alright."