"Teacher, before you leave, perhaps we should talk again."
Lin Ke tried to keep his tone as light as possible.
He had to strike a balance: avoid getting Ove so worked up that he scoured the place with heavenly lightning, but also avoid leaving him so unmoved that he had no desire to stay.
"What is it?" Ove asked gently. Lin Ke's questions generally offered unique insights, sometimes even giving him moments of sudden enlightenment.
"I often feel puzzled, because when I close my eyes, the world disappears, and when I open them, the world appears again." Lin Ke looked thoroughly confused. "I feel like the essence of the world is simply whether I choose to believe it exists."
The essence of the world depended on whether you believed in it?!
Ove's expression turned grave. He sprang from his seat and said, "Child, close your eyes."
Lin Ke immediately complied.
Ove took Lin Ke's hand and placed it in his palm. "Can you feel my warmth? Do you still think the world has disappeared?"
Lin Ke couldn't help nodding. "The world is still here."
Then he opened his eyes.
The stern wrinkles on Ove's face relaxed a little as he cautioned, "When you first begin learning, it's normal to have questions after encountering other knowledge. Perfectly normal... yes, nothing could be more normal. But from now on, you must remember that the foundation of the world is necessarily material."
Ove began reflecting on whether he had mentioned those idealist fools too often and influenced Lin Ke's views.
That would be a downright sin!
Such a promising young talent mustn't be led astray by his idle remarks!
"Yes, I understand, Teacher." Lin Ke nodded slowly, but the confusion on his face had yet to fade.
Seeing Lin Ke's puzzled expression, Ove felt his heart clench and grew nervous. "Little Lin Ke, do you have any other thoughts?"
Although he hadn't said so, he had already unilaterally decided to regard Lin Ke as his disciple-his first disciple.
He certainly didn't want Lin Ke's thinking contaminated by some foolish ideas he had once mentioned. The world might lose an extraordinarily gifted materialist [Scholar] that way.
"Hmm... Teacher, before I was born, I knew nothing of this world. But with my birth, this world appeared before my eyes, and with my death, this world will also perish for me. At least, that's how it is from my perspective."
Lin Ke voiced his doubts again.
This is serious trouble... Ove unconsciously tightened his grip on his staff and paced back and forth. The energy within him circulated involuntarily, and purple currents of electricity wandered across his skin.
Ove stopped, his voice gentle. "Child, I've told you about geography and history. Before you were born, this world had already..."
To make a strong enough impact, Lin Ke interrupted him outright. "It could all be a deception. Everything came into being with me and will ultimately vanish with me. Everything is false."
Historical nihilism!
Ove was horrified.
His eyes widened, and his brows involuntarily knitted together. "Then how can you prove that these things don't exist? I've told you, child: only something that can be proven true or false can be called a partial truth!"
What could be verified or falsified was science; what couldn't be proven was superstition.
Seeing Ove begin to get worked up, Lin Ke breathed a small sigh of relief. "Then, Teacher, please find something beyond the scope of my knowledge. Only that can prove this world wasn't created by my mind."
Here it comes-the killing blow!
People could never create something beyond the scope of their own knowledge.
All creation or innovation was merely the arrangement, combination, and reworking of things that already existed.
Lin Ke's meaning was clear now: Ove would have to produce something logical and effective to prove that Lin Ke hadn't created this world with his mind.
At Lin Ke's words, Ove suddenly froze without speaking.
The purple currents around him instantly withdrew into his body, and he stood motionless like a stone statue.
Meanwhile, John and Nix had long since grown drowsy. They had understood a little of the discussion at first, but everything afterward might as well have been incomprehensible scripture.
All that talk of creating and destroying worlds seemed far too remote to them. They would rather think about what to eat for dinner.
Watching Ove, Lin Ke couldn't help calling softly, "Teacher? What do you think?"
Boom!!
Boundless lightning suddenly erupted from Ove, only to be absorbed back into his body an instant later.
Lin Ke had just felt a wild, violent aura when it subsided in the blink of an eye.
"Yes! Yes! As long as we prove theorems and rules those foolish idealists have never seen, they'll realize they're wrong!"
Ove grew thoroughly excited, the white hair and beard on his head stirring without any wind.
Lin Ke was dumbfounded.
Could idealists who embraced historical nihilism actually be running rampant in this world?
"Little Lin Ke... I understand what you mean now. You... want me to stay, don't you?"
Ove looked at Lin Ke and gave him a truly heartfelt smile.
He had always known this child was remarkably wise. He had wondered how someone with Lin Ke's wisdom could fall into historical nihilism.
Although he had barely interacted with anyone for a hundred years, he was no fool.
He had finally seen through Lin Ke's intentions.
Lin Ke surely wanted to learn more from him!
You've nearly wrung all my knowledge out of me... Ove was actually a little embarrassed. That was also why he intended to leave this time.
He had nothing left to teach!
That didn't mean teaching the manservant and the rabbitfolk man. They hadn't even fully grasped the method of superimposing and merging forces from the first day.
He had nothing left to teach because, whatever the subject, he only needed to introduce it for Lin Ke to explain it in full. Sometimes the boy even said things that gave Ove himself profound insights.
So, after having a century's worth of accumulated knowledge drained dry, he had planned to make a quick getaway and spend another few hundred years secluded in his own plane, focusing on research.
But now that Lin Ke had brought it up today, Ove immediately thought of something he had always wanted to do.
Take Lin Ke as his disciple!
It was just that his social anxiety had always made it difficult to bring up. He kept feeling that, at a mere level nineteen, he wasn't qualified to teach him.
But now was the perfect opportunity!
Here in Nathang, knowledge was power!
Naturally, the best way to obtain knowledge was to take a teacher and join that school of thought.
At that thought, Ove grew a little nervous. His palms were drenched in sweat, and his aged yet pure eyes kept avoiding Lin Ke's gaze.
Lin Ke was a little nervous.
After all that groundwork, it was time to ask to become his disciple.
He didn't know whether such a powerful level-nineteen being would think him worthy. After all, he was merely the son of an insignificant viscount.
Although he was exceptionally talented, perhaps these powerful beings only cared about reaching the heavenly tier?
Being a genius and reaching the heavenly tier were only a word apart, yet the gulf between them was like an impassable chasm.
Besides, his family's title was far too low.
A duke might have endless resources at his disposal to support someone's research, while a viscount had only that paltry handful of gold coins each month.
A light sweat broke out on Lin Ke's back. Just as he was about to meet Ove's eyes, he prepared to avert his gaze.
After all, whenever he saw this old man's eyes, as pure as an infant's, he felt ashamed of himself.
But just as he was about to look away from Ove's eyes, he suddenly froze.
Ove was avoiding his gaze with a faintly sheepish air, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his staff. Even the toes inside his boots seemed to be curling tightly.
Huh? What is Teacher Ove nervous about? Is his social anxiety acting up again?
Lin Ke looked at Ove with a little concern and was about to speak when Ove said, almost shouting:
"Lin Ke, are you willing to become my disciple?!"
When Ove opened his mouth, purple lightning could even be seen flickering deep in his throat, as though he were facing not a child, but a terrifying enemy Professional.
Then Lin Ke froze.
Huh?
What was this supposed to be?
Why so fierce?
Before you continue