The young talents nominated by each university took turns onstage. There were core doctoral students in the Golden Core Realm and gifted cultivators at the Foundation Establishment late stage, discussing spirit root optimization, pill-grade purification, new flying sword dynamics...
Most dug deeper into existing systems. Overall, their presentations were solid but conventional, with occasional bright spots, yet lacked the originality to break new ground.
"Next, Chen Fan, an undergraduate from Handong University."
The moment the moderator read his name, a slight stir ran through the audience.
Chen Fan? They had never heard of him.
And he was an "undergraduate," too-not a doctoral student, not even a master's student, and not even at Foundation Establishment?
Many looked puzzled and whispered among themselves. In the VIP seats, Li Songyan frowned at Shen Moru. "Old Shen, has Jingfu really run out of people? Sending someone in the Qi Refining Realm up there to make up the numbers?"
Shen Moru felt a little uneasy himself. He only knew Jiang Qingyuan wanted her student to take the stage, not what he would speak about.
But he refused to concede verbally, snorting. "Young people have fresh ideas. Better than certain people gnawing on the same old relics their whole lives."
Amid the murmurs filling the hall, Chen Fan walked steadily onto the stage.
He stood tall in his blue robes, his expression composed. Facing hundreds of leading figures from various fields, he showed not the slightest stage fright.
"Good afternoon, seniors and fellow Daoists. I'm Chen Fan. Today, my presentation is titled 'Quantifying the Efficiency of Basic Sword Moves and Optimizing Cultivation Paths.'"
As his words fell, the audience first went quiet, then broke into even lower murmurs.
"Quantifying sword moves? What sort of crooked path is that?"
"The way of the sword relies on sword intent, on comprehension. Calculating it with data? That's outright blasphemy against the way of the sword!"
"Young people really will stop at nothing to make a name for themselves."
Doubts rose one after another. To traditional cultivators, the way of the sword was a path toward the Dao, mysterious beyond mystery, something that could only be grasped intuitively, never conveyed in words.
Breaking sword moves down into data was nothing short of heresy.
Chen Fan's expression did not change. He raised a hand and brought up a spiritual light projection.
The projection displayed detailed diagrams of sword-move trajectories, annotated with a series of parameters, including Spiritual Qi output power, strike angle, air resistance, and meridian wear.
"Many seniors believe the way of the sword lies entirely in the mind and cannot be quantified. I used to think so too." His voice was steady as he explained at an unhurried pace. "But I was born with a false spirit root and insufficient affinity for Spiritual Qi. A sword move others could master in one attempt took me dozens or hundreds of repetitions. After enough practice, I discovered that, for the very same 'White Rainbow Pierces the Sun,' a three-degree deviation in the strike changed Spiritual Qi expenditure by ten percent; applying force half an inch off at the wrist slowed the sword by twenty percent."
"Since these discrepancies objectively exist, why can't we find the optimal solution?"
With a tap of his fingertip, two sets of comparative data appeared on the projection:
"Traditional cultivation relies on comprehension and trial and error. Basic sword moves have an average Spiritual Qi loss rate of 42%, with an average introductory training period of three months. Practicing with optimized angles, force application points, and Spiritual Qi output rhythms can reduce the loss rate to 18% and shorten the introductory period to twenty-seven days. With the same total amount of Spiritual Qi, endurance in actual combat doubles."
"This approach can break down not only basic sword moves, but movement methods, breathing exercises, and even the rhythm of widening spirit veins. Cultivation shouldn't depend entirely on comprehension and luck. Only by turning vague experience into reproducible, standardized methods can we give more cultivators of ordinary aptitude a path forward."
Chen Fan spoke at an unhurried pace, his reasoning clear and organized. From basic sword moves to cultivation method compatibility, every point was supported by detailed cultivation data.
The murmurs in the audience gradually stopped.
Their initial disdain faded. Many frowned as they stared at the projected data, their fingers continuously forming calculations as they unconsciously worked through the deductions.
The more they calculated, the more shocked they became.
This seemingly heretical theory was actually logically consistent. Many of its details even matched their years of cultivation experience perfectly!
It was just that no one had ever thought to consolidate those scattered experiences into quantitative standards and reproduce them on a large scale.
"Absurd!"
An elderly sword cultivator in the back rows slammed the table and sprang to his feet. "The way of the sword is a pursuit of the Dao! Breaking it down into cold numbers puts the cart before the horse! If people train your way, everyone will become a machine for performing sword moves. Where will sword intent come from? Where will the Great Dao come from?"
At those words, many conservatives nodded in agreement.
Unhurried and unruffled, Chen Fan asked in return, "May I ask, senior, when you teach your students swordsmanship, do you tell them, 'Keep your strike level and your waist and stance steady'?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then how many degrees is 'level'? How much force makes 'steady'? The experience you describe is essentially vague quantification. I'm simply making those vague standards more precise." His voice was calm, but every word carried weight. "Seeking the Dao lies in the heart; practicing the sword lies in the method. Methods are tools. They do not obstruct the Dao heart. If this approach can spare millions of ordinary cultivators ten years of detours, then it has value."
The elderly sword cultivator opened his mouth, yet found himself unable to refute him.
The audience fell silent for a few seconds, then a sudden cheer rang out.
"Good! Well said!"
Li Songyan slapped his armrest, his eyes startlingly bright. He rose and nodded repeatedly at Chen Fan. "Using engineering thinking to solve cultivation problems, quantifying precisely, cutting costs and improving efficiency! Young man, your approach is right up my alley!"
He turned toward Shen Moru, looking immensely pleased. "Old Shen, he may be a talent from your Jingfu, but his thinking follows our Huaqing engineering approach through and through! I think this child and I are fated. Why not transfer to Huaqing? I'll take him as my door-prying disciple, give him the full allotment of research resources, and put him straight into a combined master's-doctoral program!"
Shen Moru's face darkened on the spot.
He had still been pondering Chen Fan's theory, inwardly marveling at the boy's unusual ideas, only for Old Li to start poaching him right in front of his face!
"Li Songyan! Have you no shame?" Shen Moru bristled and glared. "He's our Jingfu joint-training student! He's Jiang Qingyuan's student! Poaching him right in front of me-do you have no regard for Jingfu?"
"Academia has no boundaries!" Li Songyan declared with perfect confidence. "Talent belongs where it fits best! With his quantitative approach, keeping him at Jingfu studying origins all day would be wasting his talent! Come to Huaqing, and I guarantee we'll implement and promote this system within three years!"
"Bullshit! Origins are the foundation; engineering is the application. Without a firm foundation, it's all a castle in the air!"
"What you do is mysticism! What we do is scientific cultivation!"
The two old men argued until their faces flushed in front of the entire hall, even more fiercely than they had that morning.
Everyone in the audience stared, dumbfounded.
How had they started arguing again?
As the argument heated up, Huaqing's President Lin suddenly spoke mildly from the dais. "Professor Li has a point. In nurturing talent, compatibility matters most. If Chen Fan is interested in Huaqing, our doors are always open-a full scholarship, combined master's-doctoral program benefits, unrestricted use of the spiritual power engineering laboratory. Everything he could need."
The entire hall erupted.
A university president personally stepping in to poach someone? What an extraordinary reception!
Hearing this, Jingfu's President Gu chuckled softly, his tone even but edged. "That's hardly appropriate, President Lin. It has already been decided that Chen Fan will enroll at Jingfu as a graduate student in the future. He is a student Professor Jiang personally mentors. Huaqing is reaching rather too far. It's unbecoming."
"Enrollment can be transferred," President Lin said leisurely. "He hasn't signed away his life, after all. It's always good for a young person to have another choice."
"Heh. Are you suggesting that Jingfu can't hold on to its people, President Lin?"
"You're overthinking it, President Gu. It's merely fair competition."
These two pairs of old adversaries began crossing swords again, much to the audience's enjoyment. This staple of every academic summit really was entertaining.
As the scene grew increasingly lively, Jiang Qingyuan slowly rose.
Her expression impassive, Jiang Qingyuan swept her gaze over Li Songyan, then President Lin. Her voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly throughout the hall:
"Chen Fan is currently my student. His undergraduate enrollment is at Han University, and he will pursue further studies at Jingfu in the future. Cultivation methods, resources, research projects-Jingfu has them all."
"We appreciate Huaqing's kind offer."
President Lin's smile faded slightly, and he said no more. Li Songyan also closed his mouth sheepishly.
With Jiang Qingyuan having made herself so clear, continuing to compete for him would be a slap to her face. No one would be that tactless.
Still, they all deeply regretted it-how had such a promising seedling ended up in Jiang Qingyuan's hands?
With the disturbance settled, Chen Fan bowed slightly and walked steadily off the stage.
Back in the VIP seats, he had barely sat down when Jiang Qingyuan turned her head and said quietly, "A good presentation. You didn't embarrass me."
The young woman's light breath brushed his ear, carrying a faint scent of cold plum blossoms.
Warmth stirred in Chen Fan's heart, and he smiled. "As long as I didn't cause you any trouble."
"I wouldn't call it trouble." The corners of Jiang Qingyuan's lips curved almost imperceptibly. "Jingfu and Huaqing have been fighting for so long. One more round makes no difference."
Besides, she was quite happy to have an opportunity to openly annoy Huaqing.