Nirvana

Lu Yan'an himself was rather surprised. He hadn't expected that the first step in learning the humanities courses on solving life's predicaments would be studying the sciences.

"I've already been out of high school for so many years, and now I have to pick up a math textbook again!" he said with a sigh. In his previous life, he hadn't been bad at science and engineering subjects. He'd followed the usual path, gotten into college, and then earned his master's degree there. He never expected that so many years later, he'd have to start learning math all over again.

As he slowly read through the textbooks on his Light Brain, Lu Yan'an gradually got into the swing of things. Starting with the basics of numbers, he reviewed concepts such as integers, decimals, and fractions. He also learned about different ways of classifying numbers, such as prime numbers, rational numbers, and irrational numbers. He'd already mastered these mathematical fundamentals in his previous life, so he skimmed through them without spending much time.

It was only when he reached the unfamiliar subject of cosmic geometry that he began to slow down. Well, his pace dropped from ten pages a second to five. It was a new field, after all, and one he'd never encountered before...

Gradually, Lu Yan'an's reading speed decreased. By the time he reached the chapter on higher-dimensional geometry, he even had to stop and think for a whole day before he could continue.

The reason was obvious: Lu Yan'an's Star Level brain alone could no longer grasp knowledge beyond a certain limit. He'd reached the knowledge barrier for Star Level! After reaching the point where he couldn't study a particular subject any further, he realized the problem himself. He changed his approach, stopped trying to force his way through math, and continued with physics...

Force, motion, energy, rigid bodies, waves, gases, heat, vacuums, electricity, magnetism, light, mass-energy, space, time...

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three months had passed. Lu Yan'an had built the framework of his scientific knowledge and reached the limit of what a Star Level scholar could achieve!

At this point, he began the advanced lessons for scholars.

"Now that you've developed sufficiently powerful logical thinking, you can begin your next course of study: the humanities. We'll start by looking at individual life stories and seeing how other people solve their predicaments." The refined man resumed his teaching.

He taught Lu Yan'an step by step. As a Star Level cosmic life-form, Lu Yan'an had a highly developed brain, and his speed and efficiency in learning were astonishing. Even so, it still took him a full year to finish the scholar's course.

"You've completed the entire course. If you have any questions about it, you can come to me again." The refined man smiled warmly in the Virtual Universe. "I'm very satisfied with your progress. If you ever want to pursue the path of a true cosmic scholar, you can come find me. My name is Meng Yu." The refined man—or rather, the great scholar Meng Yu—smiled as he spoke.

"Of course, if you're satisfied with the course, please leave me a five-star review." His voice carried a hint of teasing. Then the great scholar Meng Yu logged off.

The great scholar Meng Yu's course was absolutely worth the price, and Lu Yan'an gave it a five-star review on the spot.

Lu Yan'an sat in the shade of a tree on the beach, looking around him. He felt at ease, as if his understanding of the world had been completely transformed. After finishing the course, his understanding of his own life—and even of the entire universe—had become much clearer.

"Being able to predict the future and win a thousand miles away... It's all just a form of deduction." Lu Yan'an understood. "Those top strategists have a clear grasp of everything, from the world around them to the many different factions and groups. They understand the hidden love and hate beneath people's relationships, and can deduce the final answer from all kinds of factors!" It was like a wealthy man's son making an investment: as long as his father stayed out of trouble, it was easy to conclude that the trust-fund kid was probably an "investment genius."

Of course, that was only as difficult as addition and subtraction.

But when it came to wars between nations, the difficulty was several orders of magnitude greater than that of such simple cause-and-effect deduction!

You had to take into account the entire world situation, tangled relationships, military capabilities on all sides, the commanders' styles of warfare, and a host of other factors, including the weather and food supplies. This kind of comprehensive strategic outlook could make some people into gods of war who won every battle, while others turned out to be fools who fell apart halfway through!

"I'm still a long way from becoming a top strategist, but now I have a degree of self-awareness I never had before!" Lu Yan'an thought to himself.

Self-awareness was the most important first step in understanding one's position. It was also the first step in solving life's predicaments. Only by clearly understanding your position and the resources at your disposal could you make progress and resolve the situation.

"I think I'm ready to continue the Stairs of Sinking trial!" After nearly a year and a half of studying, Lu Yan'an could clearly feel how much he had changed. His thinking methods and logical reasoning had both improved by leaps and bounds.

So he contacted Lord Shen and returned to the Stairs of Sinking.

A year and a half later, Lu Yan'an stood once again before the enormous, majestic Purple Pyramid. Compared with the naive young man he'd been a year and a half ago, he now seemed much more composed. His bearing had also changed; he was no longer so sharp and conspicuous. He was like a long sword sheathed in its scabbard: its surface plain and unadorned, while the edge concealed beneath it still inspired fear.

Lu Yan'an appeared at the foot of the Purple Pyramid and gazed up at its thousand steps. "Let's begin," he murmured.

With that, he leaped onto the first step and landed steadily.

The power of the illusion swept over him. The scene before his eyes began to shift, and his consciousness started to sink. Once again, he found himself seated at a desk in an office, staring at the computer in front of him.

"Xu Yuan's predicament..." As the memories flooded back into him, Lu Yan'an recalled how the problem had once given him a headache and left him at a loss. Now, everything was as clear as if it had been stripped down layer by layer. Feeling how different he was from before, he chuckled and began to analyze the situation.

"Xu Yuan's unemployment, his father's illness, and the bank's collapse all have the same underlying cause: money. In a relatively stable society like this, money isn't a problem for a trial-taker like me." After going through the great scholar Meng Yu's systematic training, a series of solutions immediately came to mind.

Xu Yuan's family had always been close, and his wife was a gentle, mild-mannered woman. It had just taken a series of sudden disasters to tear the family apart!

"Then let's get started!" Lu Yan'an opened a stock-trading website and used the models he'd learned in cosmic financial studies to build mathematical models for every popular stock. He began wreaking havoc on the financial markets, using a series of short sales and leverage to grow his fortune to over a hundred million in less than six months!

He understood the crux of the problem and had the ability to solve it. That was the Lu Yan'an of today. Compared with the clueless young man he'd been before, he was now a qualified strategist. He was still somewhat inexperienced on the cosmic scale, but there was no doubt that he had successfully embarked on this path!

The rest was easy to predict. With over a hundred million in funds, Xu Yuan quickly resolved the problems his family had faced. And when he caught up with the bank manager who had fled, the illusion shattered with a crash. Lu Yan'an had successfully passed the first level!

Standing on the first step, Lu Yan'an felt a jumble of emotions. This test had made him realize just how much he had changed. His ability to make good use of the resources at hand and his own considerable capabilities both showed how completely he had transformed! He shook his head, put the thought aside, and continued upward.

The scene shifted again...

The illusion of the second level came at him. This time, Lu Yan'an became a warlord in ancient times, and his mission was to annex a nearby city. He looked at the ragged remnants of his army and could only sigh.

He had no choice. He still had to do it! Following the teacher's guerrilla tactics—"When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy retreats, we advance; when the enemy camps, we harass them; when the enemy tires, we attack"—he slowly absorbed the smaller forces around him, avoiding the larger ones. He built up his own side and united his people, avoiding the strong and striking where the enemy was weak. He kept wearing them down.

In three months, he grew his force from fewer than a hundred ragged soldiers to nearly ten thousand—almost three times the size of the city's warlord's army. In a single night, he intimidated the defenders, sowed discord, and won without bloodshed. As the city fell, the illusion vanished...

"Finally, I've passed the second level! This one was much harder than the first." Lu Yan'an sat down to rest for a bit. His brain had been working nonstop for more than three months, and even with his Star Level abilities, he was starting to feel the strain.

Two hours later, he had finished resting and stepped onto the third stair...

One illusion after another.

This was also a kind of practice. Gradually, he became more adept at facing all sorts of predicaments.

Even though unexpected events still arose and caused him to fail, he was already quite used to such situations—log off at light speed! As long as I do it fast enough, the debuff for failing to break through can't get to me!

Time flowed by.

At last, Lu Yan'an broke through the 999th step. He was about to reach the final trial!