Tang Fan really hadn't known any of this before.
"So that's how it is. I thought you could meditate instead of sleeping."
"How could we? Meditation is exhausting. How could it replace sleep?"
"In our traditional martial arts and immortal cultivation stories, cultivation really can replace sleep.
"There's also a saying: when Qi is full, one has no desire for food; when the spirit is full, one has no desire for sleep."
Tang Fan explained his own understanding. "Qi is energy, similar to your Soul Power, and spirit means spiritual power. The Douluo Continent has a concept of spiritual power too.
"If you obtain energy through cultivation, you don't need to worry about eating. If cultivation fills your spirit, you don't need to worry about sleeping either."
"Aren't the people here all ordinary? How did cultivation methods like that get passed down? Could they all have been dreamed up?"
"I'm not sure. I don't think they were all dreamed up. Maybe those methods really were useful in ancient times.
"Even modern people can cultivate their character and condition their bodies and minds by studying them diligently."
"Could you find some for me, then?"
"Well... complete ones are really hard to find. I do have a copy of the Tao Te Ching at home, though. I'll show it to you when we get back."
Tang Fan didn't know whether Bibi Dong could understand the Tao Te Ching. Most likely she couldn't, but with a translation, she could probably grasp the gist of it.
Tang Fan had most likely underestimated how difficult the Tao Te Ching was to understand. Even Chinese people couldn't necessarily make sense of it with a translation, much less Bibi Dong, a native of the Douluo Continent.
Bibi Dong herself was looking forward to seeing the Tao Te Ching Tang Fan had mentioned, and people on the Douluo Continent were looking forward to it too.
If the Tao Te Ching really is a profound cultivation method, it would be wonderful if Dong'er could learn it and bring it back.
As Qian Xunji entertained the pleasant thought, people from the other factions hoped the sky screen would reveal the contents of the Tao Te Ching directly, giving them a chance to learn it too.
Tang Fan had merely mentioned it in passing, yet it had stirred anticipation among all the factions on the Douluo Continent.
By the time Bibi Dong and Tang Fan left the dumpling restaurant, it was completely dark outside.
But shops lined the area, their lights dazzling, making it even prettier than in the daytime.
"How beautiful! I didn't expect this place to be so beautiful at night too. There are so many lights!"
"All of these are needed for normal lighting. When we get the chance, I'll take you to see a light show. That's what you call beautiful.
"By the way, the Douluo Continent in your era should have Soul Guidance Lamps too, right?"
"We do, but they're nowhere near this bright, and there aren't nearly as many. Having a single lamp lit in a room at night is already good, and it's pitch-black outside too.
"The Pope's Hall and the Worship Hall do have luminous stones, so they're brightly lit at night as well, but luminous stones are even more precious than Soul Guidance Lamps. There's no way to use them on a large scale."
"Those details you mentioned aren't in the book. They're pretty novel to me too."
As they chatted, Tang Fan brought Bibi Dong to the outside of a high school. It was on their way home, and they could see the school buildings from outside.
"This is a high school. High school is also the three hardest years for students. I went through that period myself.
"Other people say they miss high school, but I don't. Who'd miss those bitter days unless they'd been kicked in the head by a donkey?"
"Was it really that hard?"
"We went to school a little after six in the morning and got out a little after ten at night. We couldn't rest after school either. We had to finish our homework and wash up. Forget getting to bed before midnight. At the very most, we could only sleep a little over five hours a day.
"Every day was like that, and we only got two days off a month. Ask yourself if you could stand it."
Bibi Dong shook her head like a rattle drum. She wasn't a diligent person to begin with, and just listening to Tang Fan made her scalp prickle.
"Why make it so hard?"
"There was no choice. There were too many people. To have a better life, we gave it our all for three years in high school. If we got into a good university, it might change our lives forever."
Tang Fan thought for a moment and made an analogy for Bibi Dong.
"You can think of our college entrance exam as your Martial Soul Awakening."
"Martial Soul Awakening?"
"Yes. You can compare a high or low exam score to a high or low level of Innate Soul Power.
"Over there, someone with Innate Full Soul Power is a genius among geniuses. Over here, people who get a perfect score on the college entrance exam are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.
"The difference is that Innate Soul Power is something you're born with, but you can raise your college entrance exam score by studying hard.
"And even if you fail once, you still have a chance to try again."
"It's different. Even if you don't get into the university you mentioned, you should still be able to live well here, right?
"On the Douluo Continent, if you don't awaken any Innate Soul Power, you can only spend your whole life as a commoner who gets bullied, with no way to turn your life around."
"The times are different, after all. In fact, our country has already realized that competition in education has spiraled out of control, and it's working on the problem.
"Your body is the capital behind everything, after all, but many students now use up that capital in high school."
"Your country even takes care of that?"
"There are no small matters in education. The state oversees the entire education system, or it'd be easy for people to corrupt our children.
"Even so, there are still many people abroad trying every trick they can to corrupt our children."
"Why?"
"Those who are not of our kind must harbor different intentions. We've developed so well that they're afraid and jealous, afraid we'll settle accounts with them.
"Every debt from a hundred years ago is recorded clearly in our history books.
"So they try every trick they can to corrupt our education, hoping our descendants will forget history, become their vassals, and continue to be exploited and drained of their blood.
"But they're doomed to fail. They've nearly rotted into hollow shells themselves, and it's only a matter of time before the beacon collapses."
Bibi Dong grew curious too. "What exactly are foreign countries like?"
"Imagine a modern shell containing the corrupt nobles of the Douluo Continent and its numb commoners."
Tang Fan found some pictures of wealthy neighborhoods abroad on his phone. After looking at them, Bibi Dong nodded.
"Mm, they really are like the hypocritical nobles of the two empires. They're just as extravagant and wasteful."
"Now look at these. Prepare yourself first."
"It's fine. I can handle it."
Tang Fan pulled up some pictures of homeless people abroad. Many of the pictures were censored.
Even censored, they could still make people feel physically sick.
Bibi Dong's face was full of disbelief.
"It's even worse than on the Douluo Continent. Are they very backward over there?"
"No. By the usual definition, they're developed countries, while ours is a backward developing country."
"What?! Did I hear you wrong?"
"You heard me right. The developed parts abroad really are developed; they just don't treat people much like human beings. People abroad are merely expendable.
"But they're good at publicity and packaging. They use them to disguise themselves as beacons of civilization.
"They've fooled quite a few people who aren't too bright into going abroad, only to be eaten up, flesh and bones."
"The more I hear, the more they sound like those disgusting imperial nobles."