Gaining Clarity, Understanding, and Achievement

Coincidentally, just as Li Hai discovered that solving problems could increase his talent and was preparing to confess to his father, in Yangpu City, the Sikong Clan's Elder Sikong Tu was discussing this matter with Patriarch Sikong Ran.

"Patriarch, regarding Xun'er's report a few days ago about the test that problems within the 'Supernatural Power: Chicken and Rabbit in the Same Cage' can accelerate talent growth, the Clan School has thoroughly clarified it."

Sikong Tu appeared to be a middle-aged man of only forty or fifty, but he had actually passed the age of seventy. The reason he didn't look old was due to good daily maintenance and the magic of medical supernatural powers.

Three days ago, his grandson, Sikong Xun, had accidentally discovered that 'Supernatural Power: Chicken and Rabbit in the Same Cage' could continuously accelerate talent growth. He then reported it to the clan along with his grandfather.

As it happened, Sikong Tu was the elder specifically responsible for the clan's Clan School, so the detailed testing of this supernatural power was assigned to him.

Upon hearing that there were results, Patriarch Sikong Ran couldn't help but show a pleased expression. If this matter were true, their Sikong family could reach new heights.

Therefore, even though Elder Tu's excited expression already indicated the outcome, Sikong Ran still anxiously asked, "Clan Uncle, how was the effect? Is it really possible? How much did it accelerate?"

Sikong Tu was not surprised by his clan head's anxiety. If it were him, he would be the same; this matter was too important for the clan.

Seeing this, he decided not to beat around the bush and replied directly, "It's really possible."

Hearing Elder Tu's affirmative answer, Patriarch Sikong Ran's heart immediately became excited. Could it really be true?

"Then the effect..."

"According to multiple tests by the clan, if one has not studied 'Suanjing,' it can increase the speed by three to four times, meaning it reaches about four to five times the original speed."

Four to five times?

Hearing this, Sikong Ran was profoundly shocked. It could accelerate so much?

This gap could be said to transform an ordinary person into a genius, or even a prodigy.

Wait, Elder Tu said "if one has not studied 'Suanjing'"?

What if they had studied it?

It wouldn't decrease, would it?

If that were the case, it would be bad. After all, everyone in their Sikong family studied 'Suanjing' from elementary school, regardless of age or gender.

Just as he was about to inquire further, he heard Sikong Tu continue, "If one has studied 'Suanjing,' this speed will increase further."

"We took statistics from youths in the clan who had just awakened at eighteen and were under thirty. They could generally reach about seven to eight times the original speed. The highest acceleration was achieved by Sikong Xun, Sikong Sheng, and Sikong Lan, who all approached ten times."

As the Patriarch, Sikong Ran was naturally very familiar with Sikong Xun, Sikong Sheng, and Sikong Lan. These three were considered the most outstanding talents among the younger generation of the Sikong family.

To put it bluntly, the future of their Sikong family depended on these excellent young people.

"Ten times? Then, coupled with the guidance of the clan elders, wouldn't it increase to twenty to thirty times?"

A cultivation speed bonus of twenty to thirty times, wouldn't that mean everyone in the Sikong family could reach the Grandmaster realm? Then, at that time...

Lost in thought, Patriarch Sikong fell into a fantasy.

Elder Tu heard his clan head's sigh and gave him a strange look. Was this Patriarch truly the right choice?

At this moment, Sikong Ran suddenly realized. He knew he might have been thinking incorrectly, but he still had a question. Guidance could speed up cultivation, wasn't that common sense!

"Clan Uncle, did I misunderstand?"

Why are academies better than private schools? Isn't it because they have a large number of famous teachers from the Hundred Schools? With famous teachers, one can absorb knowledge faster and even create knowledge.

This way, one can improve talent and cultivation strength faster. This is indeed correct!

"Uh, perhaps I didn't explain it clearly. This multiplier is actually calculated based on the cultivation speed of ordinary clan members, not everyone's."

Not based on everyone's foundation?

Hearing this, Patriarch Sikong was somewhat taken aback.

Sikong Xun and the other two were already cultivating four to five times faster than ordinary clan members. But now, they had reached ten times the speed of ordinary clan members. In comparison to before, they had only improved by about two times.

However, ordinary clan members had improved by seven to eight times.

This...

Facing this question, Elder Tu explained, "Patriarch should know that our talent improvement mainly relies on 'gaining something,' right?"

Patriarch Sikong nodded.

To understand, to comprehend, to gain.

This was the primary way for their human race, or rather, for intelligent life forms cultivating talent, to improve.

If one only thought without gaining anything, the talent growth speed would immediately slow down. Yes, to half, a third, or even less of the original speed.

Therefore, talent cultivation is not just about thinking and researching; it also requires results. Only then is it considered a complete talent cultivation, and one can cultivate faster.

In terms of scientific research, it means you must constantly produce results, regardless of their size. It's not enough to simply repeat an experiment over and over again; that's akin to rote learning.

Students who have attended academies or clan schools generally have this common knowledge. As the Patriarch of the Sikong Clan, Sikong Ran certainly knew this.

However, what did this have to do with the difference in talent improvement speed?

As if sensing the Patriarch's confusion, Elder Tu continued to explain, "Why do Xun'er and the other two cultivate faster than others?"

"It's not just because their minds react faster or they are smarter than others. It's mainly because they have already formed their own thinking systems and learning methods.

In other words, they can absorb and decompose knowledge faster, and 'gain something' more quickly. This allows their talent growth speed to far surpass that of ordinary people."

Regarding what Elder Tu said, most members of the Sikong family basically knew this.

Based on this, the Sikong Family often had outstanding clan members who were good at studying and had their own systems share their experiences and study methods within the clan. The intention was to improve the overall strength of the Sikong Clan members.

This is the same principle as excellent students on Earth sharing their study methods.

Although learning these study methods wouldn't instantly turn every ordinary clan member into a top-tier prodigy, it was still possible to cultivate a large number of slightly less exceptional talents.

And this is the biggest difference between a clan, an aristocratic family, and ordinary commoner families.

Even if a commoner family was lucky enough to produce a genius, it would only be an accidental master.

At most, it would only prosper for one generation.

But aristocratic families, they would pass down the study methods and thoughts of their clan's geniuses, accumulating this over generations.

Even if a generation didn't produce a top-tier prodigy, as long as the clan members learned these study methods, they could still grow into talents that were slightly less exceptional but still admired by others.

As for why one couldn't become a top-tier prodigy even after learning the methods of those top-tier geniuses?

It's the same principle as learning martial arts. Even if you master a martial art to perfection, you'll still be far behind the founder.

This is because the martial art was created by the founder based on his own physical condition, making it most suitable for him. Others, no matter how well they learn it, unless they achieve complete mastery and forge their own path, will ultimately not be as good as the founder.

Isn't there a saying, "Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die"? That's the principle.

While thinking about these things, Sikong Ran still couldn't figure out why Sikong Xun and the others, who were already prodigies, weren't improving much now.

Elder Tu, who was specifically in charge of the clan school, felt he had to explain this clearly to the Patriarch.

"Patriarch, Xun'er and the others already have the most suitable systems for themselves, so their usual growth rate isn't slow. Therefore, even if they find a more suitable direction, their improvement isn't significant.

But it's different for ordinary clan members. If they spend a long time solving problems like 'chicken and rabbit in the same cage,' they'll get engrossed.

They'll get caught in that positive feedback loop of thinking-solving-improving."

At this, the Sikong Patriarch seemed to understand, "You mean to say that these problems actually contain certain systems. Once they get engrossed, it's equivalent to the clan members developing their own systems, which is why their improvement speed has skyrocketed.

And Xun'er and the others already had their own systems, so they didn't get this bonus. It's just that because there are enough problems here, and the answers are provided quickly, making verification easier, their cultivation speed has only doubled?"

Elder Tu affirmed, "Yes! That's exactly right. Moreover, due to factors like intelligence and reaction speed, ordinary clan members are still a bit behind Xun'er and the others. But the difference isn't large; it's much better than before."

It was much better than before.

Before, the gap was between onefold and four to fivefold. Now, it's between seven to eightfold and tenfold.

There's basically no difference.

In ten years, there's only a difference of two to three years. Back then, it was a gap of seven to eight years.

Thinking of this, the Sikong Patriarch spoke, "Then, according to you, this [Chicken and Rabbit in the Same Cage Divine Ability] actually narrows the gap between ordinary people and geniuses."

Elder Tu didn't deny this; he thought the same way.

"Oh, right, Clan Uncle. Is this time acceleration unlimited, or...?"

Although the Sikong Patriarch felt that it was unrealistic for the speed to keep accelerating this much, he still held onto a sliver of hope. After all, if it could truly continue like this, his dream of 'the entire clan becoming Grandmasters' would surely be realized.

After speaking, the Sikong Patriarch looked at Elder Tu with a hint of nervousness, afraid of receiving a negative answer.

However, his wish came true.

As expected, the Sikong Patriarch heard Elder Tu reply, "The time for improvement is, of course, limited."

He paused slightly, and Elder Tu continued, "Patriarch should know that this whole process of 'thinking, researching, reaching a conclusion, and then talent improvement.' The more you think, the greater the conclusion you reach, the more talent you can improve.

If you reach a conclusion without thinking, then it's basically the same as no improvement.

Once clan members become thoroughly familiar with these 'chicken and rabbit in the same cage' problems, they'll instinctively arrive at the answer as soon as they see the problem. At that point, the improvement will be almost nonexistent."

Here, the time and depth of thinking and research can be seen as one variable, and the 'result feedback' as another. The product of these two variables is the amount of talent improvement.

Now, the 'result feedback' for 'chicken and rabbit in the same cage' is basically a fixed value. Therefore, the less thinking involved, the less talent improvement.

The Sikong Patriarch understood this principle, but he still held onto a glimmer of hope. However, Elder Tu now completely shattered that hope.

"Then, Clan Uncle, how long do you estimate this [Chicken and Rabbit in the Same Cage Divine Ability] will be useful for the clan members?"

"My Uncle Chen and I made an estimate. Without any luck-based acceleration, it will become ineffective in about a month, and the improvement will be almost negligible."

"A month? That short?"

Hearing that the acceleration time was only a month, the Sikong Patriarch was astonished. This was truly beyond his expectations.

He had thought it would be several years, but who knew it would only be a month?

However, he then sighed leisurely, "A month, with seven to eight times acceleration, is equivalent to saving half a year. That's acceptable too."

With only a month of time, he wondered what Li Hai, who was dreaming, would think if he knew about this.

He figured it wouldn't be very pleasant.

Seemingly realizing that the time was a bit short, Elder Tu continued, "Actually, if they try their best to develop new problem-solving methods, this time can be extended a bit, but it won't exceed two months at most.

After all, as they become more familiar with the problems, many methods will naturally emerge.

Of course, if someone can come up with a method that has never appeared before, they might directly save... several years of cultivation."

Developing new methods?

Neither the Sikong Patriarch nor Elder Tu held much hope for this.

Developing new methods isn't that simple. The predecessors of the Human Race had already explored almost every conceivable method, making it increasingly difficult for later generations to innovate.

Therefore, they didn't hold out much hope for this.

Just then, Elder Tu said, "Also, if anyone can comprehend the rules of numerology and find a simpler, universal solution, and then form a complete system, they can immediately become a Grandmaster-level cultivator. It's a matter of course."

Patriarch Sikong glanced at Elder Tu, thinking his clan uncle was becoming more and more of a dreamer. Did he really have that much confidence in their clansmen?

The system of abacus and calculating rods had been passed down for over a thousand years, and they were still using it.

He hadn't seen anyone come up with a new system.

Even if someone did, it was just for their own amusement, never widely spread or recognized by everyone.

Putting that aside, Patriarch Sikong had another question. "Uncle, since continuously solving problems can accelerate the growth of talent, why didn't anyone think of this before? It shouldn't be that difficult, right?"

Elder Tu looked at his nephew with disdain, clearly indicating he hadn't studied properly.

"Someone did discover this before, but it was too difficult to implement, so very few people adopted this method."

"This divine ability actually has several advantages.

First, there are enough problems. Fifty thousand problems to choose from, with difficulty levels, no duplicates, and even problems with multiple solutions for higher difficulties.

Second, the answer feedback is fast. You can know if the answer is correct within one second, and the answer is definitely correct.

Third, the place to answer questions is an Illusion Realm. In the Illusion Realm, one can concentrate their attention more quickly.

In short, what used to take time and effort to achieve no effect can now be solved with an illusion divine ability. So, we must thank that anonymous master."

After hearing Elder Tu's explanation, Patriarch Sikong felt a bit ashamed. He remembered when he attended the clan school, the clan had indeed provided many similar problems, but there were only a few hundred, which were finished in a few days. Moreover, the solving speed was slow, and the improvement was not significant, which was why he hadn't noticed these things.

"Ah, Uncle, you said that since 'Chicken and Rabbit in the Same Cage' can speed up talent improvement, can other numerology problems do the same?"

Elder Tu looked at his nephew with satisfaction, finally showing some intelligence.

Patriarch Sikong felt annoyed. If he hadn't been uninterested in cultivation, would he have become this difficult and tiring patriarch? Yet, his clan uncle was still looking down on him. Was there any justice?

Elder Tu, of course, didn't know his nephew's inner turmoil. He continued, "My Uncle Chen and I are already working on a solution, preparing to create a numerology-based illusion divine ability. However, the problems we create might not be numerous, and the answers might be incomplete or even incorrect, so the effect is estimated to be minimal."

He said this with a face full of confusion. "I don't know how that 'Anonymous' managed it?

To create so many problems in such a short time, and to provide accurate answers for each one, even for those difficult problems with multiple solutions, all answers were provided. It's truly inconceivable."

"Yes! It's indeed hard to believe."

Patriarch Sikong was also very familiar with Uncle Chen. He and Elder Tu were both elders responsible for the clan school, constantly researching how to better teach the clansmen.

Now, they were going to research a new numerology-based illusion divine ability. As the Patriarch of the Sikong family, he fully supported them.

He even had a hope.

That is, if this new divine ability could achieve the same effect as 'Chicken and Rabbit in the Same Cage,' wouldn't their Sikong family clansmen save another half a year of growth time?

Although, this was highly unlikely.

But people must have dreams. What if, one day, the dream came true?

"Alright! Uncle, starting tomorrow, all our clansmen in Yangpu City will undergo a month-long special training in rotation. Whether to continue will depend on the situation.

Oh, and we also need to encourage clansmen to develop new problem-solving methods. As for rewards, we'll discuss them specifically at the clan meeting tomorrow."