Wuhou Qimen

"Qimen Dunjia sounds mysterious, but to put it simply, it's a technique for studying the laws that govern how everything in the world works, and putting that knowledge to use."

Zhuge Gong watched the eagerness in his son's eyes and nodded in satisfaction before beginning his explanation.

"Basically, it's like all that stuff you tinker with in your spare time... uh, physics?"

Zhuge Gong thought for a moment, then came up with an example after recalling the strange books in his son's study.

"Mm..."

Zhuge Qing nodded. He often kept books like Relativity and The Universe in a Nutshell in his room.

The purpose, of course, was to cultivate the image of someone who loved studying. That way, skipping grades in a few years would seem reasonable.

He had far too many things to study to waste time slowly working his way through elementary and middle school.

"Say it's a physics problem. If you know where a little ball is and what forces are acting on it, then you can calculate where it'll roll next, right?"

"Qimen Dunjia calculates similar things. The difference is, what we calculate is more complicated. It involves time, space, and all kinds of influences that can't be seen or touched."

"To make the calculations easier, our predecessors came up with a system and created things like the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, Nine Palaces, and Eight Trigrams. These are the tools and symbols we use for our deductions."

So that was how it worked.

Recalling what he'd already learned about Qimen Dunjia, Zhuge Qing nodded thoughtfully.

At its core, Qimen Dunjia in this world could be understood as an extremely complex algorithmic model.

First, you "set up a formation" based on a specific time, place, and the thing you wanted to analyze, much like setting the initial parameters.

Then you plugged symbols like the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches into the Qimen Dunjia model and ran the calculations. The result was an "output" showing the likely course or state of the thing in question.

Interesting.

"Mm, you catch on quickly."

Zhuge Gong gave his son an approving glance.

"Most ordinary Qimen schools usually make the opponent—or whatever matter they're trying to analyze—the Central Palace. That's the little ball in our example."

"Simply put, 'the enemy is the subject, and I'm the observer.' We analyze that little ball to find a way to break through or solve the problem."

"Is that to simplify the calculations?" Zhuge Qing asked, nodding again.

It was much like the concept of a "point mass" in physics. To simplify a calculation, you considered only the key variables that had a significant effect on the central target, temporarily ignoring factors that were secondary or had a negligible impact.

For example, when studying the motion of a car or some other object, you usually ignored its shape and treated it as a single point.

The benefit was obvious: the calculations were greatly reduced, making it easier to reach an answer.

"Exactly!"

Zhuge Gong nodded, his smile growing wider.

He cleared his throat and spoke with considerable pride.

"But our Wuhou Lineage's Qimen is different!"

"We don't use the opponent as the Central Palace. Instead, the practitioner chooses an area as the Central Palace according to what's needed!"

"Within that area, we factor in everything in the world—every stir of wind or movement of grass, every possible influence!"

"The benefit, naturally, is greater accuracy and a more complete analysis!

"Especially when facing multiple enemies. While other people are still analyzing them one by one, we can put them all inside the same area and calculate everything at once. The difference is immediately clear!"

"But in return..."

"The amount of calculation isn't as simple as one plus one equals two. It grows exponentially!

"There's far too much to consider, which puts an enormous strain on the practitioner's mind!"

"That's why our technique has a much higher barrier to entry than other schools. You need exceptionally deep mastery of Quiet Meditation to handle that kind of computational workload!"

Zhuge Gong abruptly changed the subject. This was also why he was so astonished by his son.

Who would believe an eight-year-old had already mastered the basics?

Zhuge Qing understood.

Ordinary Qimen was like a precision strike aimed at a specific target, with a relatively manageable amount of calculation.

Wuhou Qimen, on the other hand, was more like marking off an entire battlefield and scanning and analyzing the whole area without discrimination. It provided more information and greater control, but demanded more processing power from the "processor."

"Listen closely. The key to setting up a Qimen Formation lies in its four plates: the Heaven Plate, Earth Plate, Human Plate, and Spirit Plate."

Zhuge Gong's smile faded, and his expression turned serious as he began teaching him the fundamentals.

"The Heaven Plate has the Nine Stars, which represent the influence of the sun, moon, and stars on the land beneath us. You can think of them as the broad laws of nature—the power of the Heavenly Dao."

"The Earth Plate contains the Nine Palaces and the Three Wonders and Six Rituals. It's the foundation that bears everything, representing the land beneath our feet as well as the basic structure of time and space."

"The Human Plate is made up of the Eight Gates. It symbolizes the eight directions and also represents relationships between people, their actions, their choices, and so on. It embodies 'harmony among people.'"

"Finally, there's the Spirit Plate. It deals with a more abstruse level, representing changes that defy convention and are hard to predict—or perhaps... some kind of interference from a higher dimension?"

Zhuge Gong's tone grew more solemn as he spoke.

"Uh... so the Heaven Plate is the right time, the Earth Plate is the right place, and the Human Plate is harmony among people. And the Spirit Plate is... everything else?"

Zhuge Qing looked a little strange. That was certainly a blunt way to classify things.

The old sages had a knack for this. If they couldn't explain something, they just bundled it all under "spirits," huh?

"Ahem!"

Zhuge Gong choked slightly on his son's blunt summary, then couldn't help laughing.

"You little rascal... That's crude, but not wrong. You can understand it that way!"

To grasp the core so quickly and understand things at that level was proof of his son's exceptional insight.

"All right, that's enough theory for now. Next, I'll teach you the specific methods for laying out the plates."

Zhuge Gong then explained in detail how to arrange the four plates, how to use the date and time to determine the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and how to place the Nine Stars, Eight Gates, Eight Spirits, and Three Wonders and Six Rituals into the Nine-Palace Grid according to specific rules.

It was an extremely complicated and precise process, and not a single step could be done incorrectly.

Zhuge Gong explained carefully, and Zhuge Qing listened attentively.

His bright eyes showed nothing but focus and thought.

"That's more or less how it works. Try it yourself first. Don't rush. Take your time. It's common to make mistakes when laying out the plates. Just keep practicing..."

Zhuge Gong was about to offer a few words of encouragement when he noticed that Zhuge Qing had already closed his eyes. His fingers traced delicate strokes through the air in front of him, as if he were simulating something.

A moment later.

Zhuge Qing opened his eyes and spread his palm. It was as though an invisible formation was slowly turning in the middle of it.

The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, Nine Palaces, Eight Gates, Qimen symbols, stars, and spirits... Though it was still only a rudimentary form, and even somewhat blurry, its structure was already that of a complete Qi Men Formation!

"Uh..."

The rest of Zhuge Gong's words caught in his throat.

He stared wide-eyed at the faintly formed Qi Men Formation in his son's palm, his mouth hanging open for a long moment.

This... this...

He'd only just taught it for the first time!

And he'd already... laid out the formation?!

Even though it was only the most basic formation setup, the complexity and mental effort involved were far beyond what a beginner—especially an eight-year-old child—could master after hearing a single explanation!

It had taken Zhuge Gong a whole week to lay out his first formation, and even then his own father had praised him as exceptionally gifted!

So what did that make his son? A monster?