A Clash in the Classroom

"Supervisor Sun."

Shen Moxin stood at the lectern and nodded toward the back of the classroom.

Sun Ming sat in the last row by the window, his graying hair combed with meticulous care. He grunted in acknowledgment, then opened a thick notebook and laid out his writing tools. His movements were slow, carrying an air of scrutiny.

The classroom was deathly silent. The thirty-odd students in the elementary theory class sat ramrod straight, none daring to look back.

The bell rang for class.

Shen Moxin adjusted her glasses and turned to the blackboard. Departing from her lesson plan, she wrote "Localized Soul Power compression and penetration" on the board.

"Last class, we covered resistance distribution." Her voice was clear. "Today we'll cover its application-how to achieve greater penetration with limited Soul Power."

Sun Ming's pen stopped.

Shen Moxin continued. She drew a simple diagram on the blackboard: a line representing the flow of Soul Power, with an obstacle in front of it. "The traditional approach is to pile on more Soul Power and force your way through. But for students with limited Soul Power, that path won't work."

Several commoner students nodded discreetly.

"Is there another way?" She pointed the tip of her chalk at the front of the line. "Compress the Soul Power in the instant before release to increase its density. The total amount stays the same, but the impact force per unit of area can increase."

She began writing formulas: coefficients, thresholds, time variables. The charcoal pencil rasped across the blackboard.

Sun Ming's frown deepened.

Halfway through, a cold snort came from the back row.

Every student flinched.

Sun Ming stood, his face livid. "Teacher Shen!" His voice rang out with unquestionable authority. "The foundation of Soul Power cultivation is the accumulation of its total amount! This is a truth explicitly recorded in article 327 of the Basic Outline for Soul Master! Teaching this 'compression' and 'control'-what is that if not neglecting the root to chase the branches?"

He grew more agitated as he spoke, tapping his finger on his notebook.

"If the total amount of Soul Power doesn't rise, even the best techniques are castles in the air! You're leading the students down a crooked path!"

A deathly silence filled the classroom.

Shen Moxin waited until he had finished before turning around.

"Supervisor Sun, the Basic Outline for Soul Master was compiled two hundred years ago." Her tone was even. "One 'basic Soul Power unit' used at the time was approximately 0.7 times the current standard unit. The original wording of the passage you cited is, 'The total amount of Soul Power is the cornerstone of cultivation.' That 'total amount' refers to the amount measured by the standard of the time."

Sun Ming stared at her.

"Converted to the current standard, the numerical basis for that statement needs to be multiplied by 0.7." Shen Moxin paused. "Times change, measuring tools change, and our understanding should change too. A 'truth' from two hundred years ago may need to be reexamined in the specific context of today."

Sun Ming opened his mouth but found no reply. He looked down at his notebook, then back up at Shen Moxin, his face turning from livid to red.

"Sophistry!" he managed to force out. "Even if the standard has changed, the principle can't be wrong!"

"I didn't say the total amount was unimportant." Shen Moxin shook her head. "What I'm asking is, when the total amount can't be increased quickly for the time being, is there another way to make better use of the Soul Power we already have?"

She looked out at the students.

"Chen Shi."

A small, thin student hurriedly stood up.

"Come up here."

Chen Shi trotted up to the lectern. Shen Moxin picked up a pine board two fingers thick from beside it and handed it to him.

"Use your usual method. Strike it with seventy percent of your strength."

Chen Shi nodded, and a faint white light appeared in his palm-Soul Power at roughly level two. With a low shout, he struck with his palm.

There was a dull thud. A shallow dent less than half a finger deep appeared on the surface of the board.

Shen Moxin picked up the board and held it up for the class to see, then handed it to Sun Ming.

Sun Ming took it and snorted. "Weak Soul Power, mediocre results. That only proves the total amount is the key!"

Shen Moxin did not argue. She picked up another identical board.

"Now, use the path adjustment I taught you last class. When your Soul Power passes through the Chize acupoint, let it pause briefly, concentrate it, then push it through. Seventy percent strength again."

Chen Shi closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them and struck with his palm.

The sound was sharper.

A distinct dent appeared in the center of the board, with tiny cracks around its edges. It was nearly a finger deep.

The two boards lay side by side on the lectern, the contrast glaring.

Gasps swept through the classroom.

Sun Ming stared at the boards, his lips pressed into a straight line. He stepped forward and felt the dent, then the shallow mark.

"The boards aren't uniform," he said suddenly. "The second one may have been more brittle to begin with."

"These two boards were sawn from the same piece of pine." Shen Moxin took the remaining half of the timber out from beneath the lectern. "If you need verification, we can ask the supplies department to test the material after class."

Sun Ming said nothing.

He stared at the boards, then at Chen Shi, and finally at Shen Moxin. There was anger and bewilderment in his eyes, as well as a flicker of doubt that was extremely hard to detect.

After quite a while, he flicked his sleeves.

"Smooth words and a pleasing face." His voice was quieter, but still firm. "Empirical evidence? What can a mere wooden board prove? A Soul Master's real battles are a thousand, ten thousand times more complicated! Who has time to slowly adjust a path and calculate compression?"

He returned to his seat and put away his writing tools and notebook with heavy movements.

"I'll report this truthfully to the supervisory office." He stood up. "Teacher Shen, you'd best watch yourself."

With that, he turned and left the classroom. The door closed behind him with a moderately loud thud.

A deathly silence filled the classroom.

All the students looked at the lectern, at the two boards, at Shen Moxin.

Shen Moxin stood where she was, unmoving. Her face was expressionless; she merely reached up and adjusted her glasses. Behind the lenses, her eyes swept over every face in the class.

Surprise, doubt, and... a newly kindled light in some students' eyes.

It was very faint, but it was there.

"Class continues," she said.

Her voice was as steady as ever.

The bell rang, and the students began to leave. A few commoner students lingered until the end, wanting to say something, but ultimately none dared approach.

Shen Moxin gathered her lesson plan and the boards.

The door was pushed open gently. Li Wangye slipped inside and closed it behind him. His face was flushed red, and his eyes shone with startling brightness.

"Teacher Shen!" he whispered. "You were... incredible today!"

Shen Moxin did not look up.

"Supervisor Sun is a notoriously old-fashioned stickler. Even Director Ning has to give him some leeway." Li Wangye spoke rapidly. "You actually refuted him to his face, and you used a real test! Everyone saw Chen Shi's strike! It really worked!"

He put heavy emphasis on "really."

Shen Moxin raised her head and glanced at him.

Her gaze made Li Wangye a little nervous, and his voice dropped. "I... I just think the path you and Junior Lu are taking might really be the right one."

Shen Moxin was silent for a moment.

She walked to the window and looked outside. Beyond the old building's windows lay the academy's back mountain, its trees swaying in the wind.

"The path is right," she said softly.

Li Wangye's eyes grew brighter.

"But the thorns..." Shen Moxin paused. "There are too many."

She turned around and picked up her lesson plan and the boards.

"Go on back," she said. "Remember to record the data. Remind Chen Shi to keep testing. Don't stop."

Li Wangye nodded vigorously. "Understood!"

Shen Moxin left the classroom. The corridor was empty, and Sun Ming was long gone. Sunlight stretched her shadow out long behind her.

She went down the stairs, her footsteps echoing through the stairwell.

When she reached the first floor, she suddenly stopped.

Outside the window, Sun Ming was crossing the courtyard toward the teaching supervisory office. His back was ramrod straight, his steps quick, and his notebook was clutched tightly in his hand.

Shen Moxin watched for a few seconds, then looked away.

She continued walking.