It was no coincidence that just as Li Hai discovered that solving problems could improve his Talent Qi and was preparing to come clean to his father, the Sikong Clan in Yangpu City was discussing the same matter. Their elder, Sikong Tu, was speaking with the clan head, Sikong Ran.
"Clan Head, the clan school has finished thoroughly investigating the test Young Master Xun reported a few days ago—that solving problems in the Chicken-Rabbit Cage Divine Ability can speed up Talent Qi growth."
Sikong Tu looked like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, but he was actually well past seventy. He didn't look his age because he took good care of himself and, on top of that, because of the wonders of the healers' divine abilities.
Three days earlier, his grandson, Sikong Xun, had accidentally discovered that the Chicken-Rabbit Cage Divine Ability could continuously accelerate Talent Qi growth. He had reported it to the clan together with his grandfather.
As it happened, Sikong Tu was the elder in charge of the clan school, so he had been tasked with testing the ability.
Hearing that they already had the results, clan head Sikong Ran couldn't hide his delight. If this really worked, the Sikong Clan could rise to even greater heights.
So, although Elder Tu's excitement had already made the results clear, Sikong Ran still asked urgently, "Uncle, how effective is it? Does it really work? How much faster?"
Elder Sikong Tu wasn't surprised by his clan head's impatience. He would have reacted the same way in his place. This matter was simply too important to the clan.
Seeing that, he didn't bother beating around the bush. "It really works."
Hearing Elder Tu's firm answer, Sikong Ran's heart leaped. It really worked?
"Then how effective is it..."
"After repeated tests by the clan, those who haven't studied the Book of Arithmetic can achieve a three- to fourfold increase in speed, which means they reach roughly four to five times their original rate."
Four to five times?
Sikong Ran was stunned. It could speed things up by that much?
That difference could turn an ordinary person into a genius, even a prodigy.
Wait, Elder Tu said those who hadn't studied the Book of Arithmetic?
What about those who had?
Would their speed decrease?
If so, that would be bad. Everyone in the Sikong Clan studied the Book of Arithmetic from childhood, regardless of age or gender.
Just as he was about to ask, Sikong Tu continued, "Those who have studied the Book of Arithmetic can speed up even more."
"We tested young clan members between eighteen, when they first awakened, and thirty. Most could reach around seven to eight times their original rate. The greatest increases were achieved by Sikong Xun, Sikong Sheng, and Sikong Lan. They all came close to ten times their original rate."
Of course, clan head Sikong Ran knew Sikong Xun, Sikong Sheng, and Sikong Lan well. They were among the most outstanding talents of the Sikong Clan's younger generation.
It was no exaggeration to say that the clan's future depended on these promising young people.
"Ten times? Then with guidance from the clan's elders, couldn't they increase it to twenty or thirty times?"
With their cultivation speed boosted twenty or thirtyfold, wouldn't every member of the Sikong Clan reach the Grandmaster realm? And then...
As the thought took hold, clan head Sikong fell into a daydream.
Elder Tu heard his clan head's exclamation and gave him a strange look. Had they really chosen the right person to lead the clan?
Just then, Sikong Ran abruptly came to his senses. He knew he might have jumped to the wrong conclusion, but he still had a question. Guidance could speed up cultivation; wasn't that common knowledge?
"Uncle, am I mistaken?"
Why were academies better than private schools? Wasn't it because they had many renowned masters from the various schools of thought to guide their students? With guidance from great teachers, they could absorb knowledge faster and even create new knowledge.
That was how they could improve their Talent Qi and cultivation more quickly. That much was certainly true!
"Uh, perhaps I didn't explain it clearly. These multiples are calculated against the cultivation speed of an ordinary clan member, not each person's own speed."
It wasn't based on each person's starting point?
Hearing this, clan head Sikong was taken aback.
Sikong Xun and the others had already cultivated faster than ordinary clan members—about four to five times as fast. Now they had reached ten times the ordinary rate, which meant they had only improved about twofold compared to before.
Ordinary clan members, however, had improved seven or eightfold.
This...
Elder Tu explained, "Clan Head, you know that the main way we improve our Talent Qi is through 'gaining something,' right?"
Clan head Sikong nodded.
Understanding, realizing, and gaining something.
That was the main path of progress for humanity—or, more precisely, for intelligent beings who cultivated Talent Qi.
If someone only thought without gaining anything, their Talent Qi growth would immediately slow down. Mm, it might fall to half or a third of the original rate, or even lower.
So cultivating Talent Qi wasn't just about thinking and research. You also needed results. Only then could your cultivation be considered complete, and only then could you progress faster.
In terms of scientific research, it meant that you had to keep producing results, no matter how small. You couldn't just repeat the same experiment over and over. That would be no different from rote learning.
Any student who had attended an academy or clan school would know the basics. As the head of the Sikong Clan, Sikong Ran certainly knew them.
But what did that have to do with the difference in Talent Qi growth?
Apparently sensing the clan head's confusion, Elder Tu continued, "Why have Xun and the others cultivated faster than everyone else?"
"It's not just that they react quickly or are smarter than others. More importantly, they've already developed their own systems of thought and methods of learning.
"In other words, they can absorb and break down knowledge faster, and they can 'gain something' more quickly. That's why their Talent Qi growth far surpasses that of ordinary people."
The Sikong Clan's members generally knew what Elder Tu was talking about.
For that reason, the clan often had its best students—the ones with strong personal systems of thought—share their insights and study methods with everyone else. They hoped to raise the clan's overall strength.
It was much like excellent students on Earth sharing their study methods.
Learning those methods couldn't instantly turn every ordinary clan member into a top prodigy, but it could still produce a large number of somewhat less exceptional talents.
And that was the greatest difference between clans, noble families, and ordinary commoner households.
Even if an ordinary family was lucky enough to produce a genius, that only meant they had one exceptional person.
At most, the family would prosper for one generation.
But noble families passed down their geniuses' learning methods, ideas, and teachings, accumulating them generation after generation.
Even if one generation failed to produce a top prodigy, clan members who learned those methods could still grow into talents who were merely a little less gifted by comparison.
Why couldn't they become top prodigies even after learning the methods of the greatest talents?
It was the same as practicing martial arts. Even if you mastered a particular martial art, you would still be a long way behind its founder.
That was because the founder had created it to suit their own body. No matter how well others learned it, they could never match its creator unless they went on to master the art completely and create something of their own.
As the saying went, "Those who learn from me will thrive; those who merely resemble me will perish." That was exactly the principle.
Sikong Ran turned it over in his mind, but he still didn't understand what this had to do with the fact that Sikong Xun and the others, already prodigies, had improved so little.
As the elder specifically responsible for the clan school, Elder Tu felt he needed to make this clear to the clan head.
"Clan Head, Xun and the others already have systems that suit them best, and their usual growth rate is already high. So even after finding an even more suitable path, they don't gain that much.
"But ordinary clan members are different. If they solve these kinds of Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage problems for a long time, they'll get drawn in.
"They'll be caught in a positive feedback loop of thinking, solving problems, and improving."
Clan head Sikong seemed to understand. "You mean these problems actually contain certain systems. Once the clan members get drawn in, they develop systems of their own, which is why their growth rate surges.
"But Xun and the others already have systems, so they don't get that added benefit. The only reason their cultivation speed doubled is that there are so many problems, the answers come quickly, and they're easy to verify?"
Elder Tu answered firmly, "Exactly. And because of factors like intelligence and reaction speed, ordinary clan members still fall a little short of Xun and the others. But the gap isn't large, and it's much smaller than before."
It was much smaller than before.
Previously, the gap had been between onefold and four or five times. Now it was between seven or eight times and ten times.
There was hardly any difference.
Over ten years, they would be behind by only two or three years. Before, the gap had been seven or eight years.
Thinking of that, clan head Sikong said, "So, in that case, the Chicken-Rabbit Cage Divine Ability actually narrows the gap between ordinary people and geniuses."
Elder Tu didn't disagree. He thought the same.
"Oh, right, Uncle. Is the duration of this improvement unlimited, or..."
Although clan head Sikong also thought it was unrealistic for the speed to keep increasing by that much forever, he still clung to a glimmer of hope. If it really could go on indefinitely, then his dream of having the whole clan reach the Grandmaster realm would surely come true.
After speaking, clan head Sikong watched Elder Tu with slight apprehension, afraid he'd give him a negative answer.
But sure enough, you got what you expected.
Clan head Sikong heard Elder Tu reply, "Of course the improvement is limited."
After a brief pause, Elder Tu continued, "Clan Head, you know the process: thinking, researching, arriving at a result, and then improving your Talent Qi. The more you think and the greater the result, the more you improve.
"If you reach the result without thinking, then there's basically no improvement at all.
"Once the clan members are completely familiar with these Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage problems, they'll see a question and answer it instinctively. At that point, there'll be almost no improvement."
You could treat the time, depth, and breadth of the thinking and research as one variable, and the "feedback from the result" as another. The amount of Talent Qi gained depended on multiplying the two variables.
The "feedback from the result" for Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage was now more or less fixed, so the less thinking that went into it, the less Talent Qi they would gain.
Clan head Sikong understood this principle too, but he still clung to a faint hope. Now Elder Tu had completely crushed it.
"Then, Uncle, how long do you estimate the Chicken-Rabbit Cage Divine Ability will remain useful to the clan members?"
"I discussed it with Uncle Chen and the others. Without using Human Luck to speed things up, we estimate it'll stop working after about a month. The improvement will become almost nonexistent."
"One month? That short?"
Hearing that the accelerated growth would last only a month, clan head Sikong exclaimed in surprise. It was well beyond what he'd expected.
He had thought it would last several years. Who could have imagined it would only be a month?
But then he sighed wistfully. "A month at seven or eight times the speed—that's like saving half a year. That's still something."
If Li Hai, who was dreaming sweet dreams, learned there was only a month of improvement, how would he react?
Probably not well.
Apparently realizing that the duration was short, Elder Tu continued, "Actually, if we keep developing new ways to solve the problems, we can extend it a little, though no longer than two months.
"After all, the more familiar you become with the problems, the more methods will naturally come to mind.
"Of course, if someone comes up with a method that's never been seen before, they might save—uh, several years of cultivation."
Developing new methods?
Neither clan head Sikong nor Elder Tu had much hope for that.
Coming up with a new method wasn't simple. The sages of humanity had already thought of most of the possibilities, making it harder and harder for later generations to innovate.
So they had no hope for it at all.
Just then, Elder Tu added, "Also, if someone can understand the rules of arithmetic, find a simpler, universal method of solving the problems, and develop it into a complete system, becoming a master-level cultivator would be a simple matter."
Clan head Sikong glanced at Elder Tu. He felt that his uncle was becoming more and more fanciful. Did he really have that much faith in the clan members?
The abacus and counting-rod system 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 when someone did, it was just a private exercise. It had never spread widely or won everyone's approval.
Setting that aside, clan head Sikong had another question. "Uncle, if solving problems can speed up Talent Qi growth, why has no one thought of it before? It shouldn't be difficult, should it?"
Elder Tu looked at his nephew with disdain. This fellow clearly hadn't studied hard.
"People did discover it before, but it was too difficult to put into practice, so very few used this method."
"This divine ability has several advantages.
"First, there are plenty of problems. You can choose from five hundred thousand, they're divided by difficulty, and none are repeated. There are even harder problems that can be solved in multiple ways.
"Second, you get feedback quickly. You can find out within a second whether your answer is correct, and the answers are guaranteed to be right.
"Third, you solve them in an illusion. It's easier to focus your attention in an illusion.
"...
"In short, what used to be time-consuming and troublesome, and couldn't produce the desired results, has now been solved by a single illusion divine ability. So we should thank Master Anonymous."
After listening to Elder Tu, clan head Sikong felt a little ashamed. When he had attended the clan school, the clan had indeed provided many similar problems, but only a few hundred. They were all solved in a few days, the problems took a long time to work through, and the improvement was slight. That was why he hadn't paid attention to them.
"Hey, Uncle, if Chicken and Rabbit in a Cage can speed up Talent Qi growth, could other arithmetic problems do the same?"
Elder Tu looked at his nephew with approval. At last, he'd had a clever thought.
Clan head Sikong was annoyed. If he really had no interest in cultivation, why had he needed to become the clan head, a position so hard and exhausting? And now his uncle was looking down on him, too. Was there no justice in the world?
Elder Tu had no idea what was going through his nephew's mind. He continued, "Uncle Chen and the others and I are working on that. We're planning to create an arithmetic-based illusion divine ability, too. But we may not have many problems, and our answers may be incomplete or even incorrect, so I doubt it'll be very effective."
At that, Elder Tu's face filled with confusion. "I wonder how that Anonymous did it.
"How could he come up with so many problems in such a short time, and provide accurate answers for every one? He even gave every solution to the difficult problems that could be solved in multiple ways. It's truly baffling."
"Indeed! It's hard to believe."
Clan head Sikong knew Uncle Chen well. He and Elder Tu were both elders in charge of the clan school, and spent all their time studying how to teach the clan members better.
Now they planned to work on a new arithmetic-based illusion divine ability, and as clan head, Sikong Ran would give them his full support.
He even had a hope of his own.
If their new divine ability could achieve the same results as the Chicken-Rabbit Cage, then wouldn't the Sikong Clan's members save another half a year of growth?
It was unlikely, of course.
But people had to have dreams. Who knew? Maybe one day, they'd come true.
"Very well, Uncle. Starting tomorrow, all clan members in Yangpu City will take turns undergoing a month of intensive training. After that, we'll decide whether to continue based on how things go.
"Also, we should encourage the clan members to develop new ways of solving the problems. We'll discuss the rewards in detail at tomorrow's clan meeting."