Chapter 318: Applicable limits

Yes, Li Qi raised 50% more troops than others who used this method.

Everyone performed the same operations, so how could he produce 50% more food?

Where did this come from? Did it appear out of thin air?

This test didn't prohibit the use of one's Divine Ability, did it? It was supposed to rely entirely on wisdom.

Relying entirely on wisdom can create something out of nothing?

Is that possible?

Even though they saw the root of his high score, the secret remained elusive to the crowd.

With the same operations, he simply had more than others.

Why?

They didn't know; even the senior students couldn't find the reason.

However, there were always people with sharp insights.

After about a few minutes, a senior student suddenly looked up and said, "Wait, I understand!"

"Look at his food spoilage during transportation!"

Spoilage, a very common term.

Minting currency has fire loss, forging items requires redundancy, and even walking wears down bones. As long as there's an exchange of goods, spoilage is inevitable.

Even breathing radiates heat, gradually depleting the body's energy, which is why people must constantly eat to replenish these losses.

The same applies to food.

When people transport food, there's spoilage.

A little spilled on the road, some eaten by people, moldy, wet from rain, infested with insects, lost due to accidents—even within this cave, where the biggest source of spoilage, corruption, is basically eliminated, there will always be situations causing additional food spoilage.

This is considered normal consumption and is usually calculated as such; it's impossible to completely eliminate it.

But this person named Li Qi greatly reduced this spoilage. If others lost ten catties out of a hundred catties of grain on the road, he only lost three catties!

How on earth did he manage that?

After discovering this situation, everyone began to study how Li Qi achieved it.

So, how did Li Qi do it?

It's actually quite simple.

Essentially, it's the optimal solution.

Saying "optimal solution" is easy, but in reality, those who use conventional planning methods don't know what an optimal solution is, or rather, they find it difficult to achieve one.

A wide road is comfortable for people and grain carts, and food won't spill, but it takes three days to travel, so the laborers will naturally need to eat for three days.

A small path is faster, taking only half a day, but the road is steep and prone to overturned carts, leading to some losses.

How to choose? What is the optimal solution?

Many times, you simply can't calculate the optimal solution; you can only try your best to get close to it.

But Li Qi is different.

He can achieve the optimal solution.

The Shaman Dao method of constructing a small Universe within the human body, his multi-objective function problem graph, and the Bushi Technique (Divination Technique) he recently received from Imperial Academy’s Chancellor.

These three combined are the result.

The Shaman Dao 'Roundness' method, this is the method Great Shaman Mi Xin taught him. (See Chapter 299)

All wear and tear are due to a lack of roundness, so Shaman Dao pursues 'roundness' to make the internal circulation of the human body's small Universe reach a state without internal consumption and wear.

This line of thought... it's not just a line of thought; Shaman Dao has a complete set of practical methods for reducing spoilage!

Select some usable methods, then add them as variables to the multi-objective function problem graph to obtain a minimum spoilage template under ideal conditions, thus getting this inference.

Finally, referring to the real environment, use this inference and the spoilage in reality as variables, substitute them into the Bushi Technique (Divination Technique) taught by Imperial Academy’s Chancellor for deduction.

Then, all that's missing is one last thing.

That is, reliable data from reality.

How can Li Qi confirm the data in reality within an hour?

After all, no matter how good a formula is, it needs to be fed correct data to yield the correct result.

For example, the formula for the area of a square: length times width equals area.

This is an impeccable formula; applying this formula can calculate the area of all squares in the entire Universe. This is a manifestation of Dao, and this formula is absolutely correct. Without reaching a certain level of height, one is simply not qualified to question the authenticity of this formula.

But to truly apply this formula, if you want to use it to calculate the area of a square, the first thing you need to know is to measure the two data points: length and width.

Therefore, in practical application, calculation errors leading to an inability to approach the optimal solution are often not due to the formula, but because the data was measured incorrectly from the start.

However, reality doesn't care about that; if you calculate it wrong, it's wrong, and you won't get the optimal solution.

But Li Qi has True Knowledge Dao Resonance.

True Knowledge Dao Resonance can even penetrate the world's influence and directly measure the essence.

Now he doesn't need the essence; he just needs to use True Knowledge Dao Resonance, this extremely precise measuring tool, to measure these variables!

Thus, with data, a formula, and a method, the winning equation is complete!

Correct theory, correct measurement data, correct calculation formula, the result is the correct optimal solution!

The optimal solution that others couldn't calculate even if their brains exploded was thus reproduced in Li Qi's hands.

The result was that he did nothing extra; he simply, like everyone else, ordinarily arranged routes, planned personnel, and broke down tasks, but he could raise 50% more soldiers than others!

This is the power of coordination.

Reduce internal consumption, increase efficiency!

Calculations? Li Qi is very good at that.

Therefore, due to various reasons and the abilities he possessed, he completed the coordination task that others deemed impossible.

After Li Qi completed all this coordination, he sat there, lost in thought.

He vaguely sensed something.

Just now, he completed many tasks, and then continued to complete the entire coordination work.

To be honest, he himself hadn't expected all this to be so complex, yet he solved it so smoothly.

Logistics transportation for a hundred thousand people...

How to put it.

Controlling one person is simple, and arranging a flawless itinerary for one person is also simple.

However, when accumulated to the order of one hundred thousand people, this simple task becomes almost impossible to complete.

All impossibilities are composed of one 'possibility' after another.

Just as every impossible grand goal is composed of countless small events.

What is the difference in between?

Li Qi solved the problem of 'coordinating military supplies and logistics,' but he gained a new problem.

He wasn't immersed in the joy of easily solving the problem and getting a high score; instead, he fell into troubled contemplation.

He was enveloped by immense confusion, so much so that he even cared less about the strangeness felt by True Knowledge Dao Resonance.

When solving this logistics problem, he followed Great Shaman Mi Xin's method, breaking down the logistics problem into the problem of each transporter, then, through massive calculations, used the Bushi Technique (Divination Technique) to calculate the optimal solution for each person, thereby deriving the optimal solution for the group.

This proved the correctness of Great Shaman Mi Xin's words.

A huge problem is composed of countless small problems.

Great Shaman Mi Xin told him that to solve a huge problem, one must solve small problems little by little.

Destroying a cluster of worlds requires destroying them one world at a time.

Destroying a world, in turn, requires crushing its land, oceans, and sky little by little.

Grand things are always composed of tiny things.

So, the question arises.

For example, a drop of water is composed of countless water molecules.

Then, in other words, to completely destroy and annihilate a drop of water, one should destroy all water molecules, breaking the water down into water molecules.

In terms of this world, it means becoming the basic components of this world's matter, breaking down water as a substance into water vapor that can no longer be called water.

So, from what point does water cease to be water?

A single water molecule or water vapor is certainly not water.

Two water molecules, or two small wisps of water vapor, are certainly not water either.

Then, slowly increasing: ten water molecules, a hundred, a thousand, a million...

At what quantity does it become water?

The essence of this question is, at what point do countless small problems become a big problem?

Li Qi fell into confusion.

He couldn't distinguish the boundary between macro and micro, nor could he understand the boundary between 'possible small problems' and 'impossible big problems'.

How many small problems does it take to become a big problem?

How many small problems must be solved for a big problem to disappear?

Li Qi fell into deep thought.

This question seems unimportant, but Li Qi found that it is actually very important.

To illustrate with well-known theories, microscopic objects follow quantum mechanics, ordinary objects follow classical mechanics to a certain extent, and macroscopic objects follow relativity.

So, where are the boundaries between these things?

If you are given a particle, how should you determine whether it will obey the Laws of quantum mechanics or classical physics? What about a pile of particles?

Why do a pile of particles, when stacked, have completely different properties? The Dao they follow is also different.

They are clearly the same thing, all composed of water molecules, but at different sizes, the Dao they follow is different.

When they are water molecules, they follow the microscopic Dao.

When many gather, they follow the macroscopic Dao.

So, when does such a change occur?

The essence of big problems and small problems is precisely this; there must be some profound meaning hidden behind it!

Solving a grand big problem requires one kind of Dao.

Solving the small problems under the grand big problem requires another kind.

So, how do you decide which to use? When does this transition begin?

Li Qi seemed to feel that he had touched something.

There is a clear boundary between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds—the strange phenomena of the quantum world do not affect the macroscopic world, and this boundary protects the physics Dao that people have grown accustomed to.

We never have to worry that those fluctuations in the micro-world will cause us to collapse, nor does the quantum world have to worry about macroscopic objects affecting its wave-particle duality.

This boundary, Li Qi felt so clearly for the first time!

He had to think; he had touched this boundary. As long as he could understand this, he would understand the essence of this world more deeply, and at the same time, he would thoroughly grasp the difference between 'big' and 'small'.

This would make him even more rounded and adaptable.

However, he just couldn't figure it out.

At what point does a pile of water molecules become 'a drop of water'?

This not only requires thought—thinking alone won't yield conclusions—he needs to experiment, to try it himself, to explore this truth, to witness and reproduce the emergence of this rule with his own eyes!

Perhaps, this is the key to his turning the virtual into reality.

Previous examples used particles, but this world has no particles; all things are composed of ethereal Qi.

Ethereal Qi, when gathered, becomes matter.

There is naturally a boundary in between.

Only when the quantity of Qi crosses this boundary can it become matter, transforming into different things, forming all things in the Universe according to different proportions and structures.

Li Qi suddenly stood up. He couldn't stay in this classroom for another second. Even if there was something here attracting True Knowledge Dao Resonance, he decided to deal with it later.

Right now, he needed to grasp this boundary, lest the flash of inspiration that had just appeared vanish!

Li Qi got up and directly broke through this cave!

This class, he might as well not attend!

Li Qi forcibly extricated himself from the cave.

Then, he saw Youqi General standing right beside him.

Li Qi immediately bowed: "Teacher, I suddenly had an insight and wish to leave temporarily."

Youqi General nodded: "You scored top-tier, not bad. Are you interested in the Military School of Thought's methods?"

"Yes." Li Qi immediately affirmed: "I am very interested in the Military School of Thought's methods, and I may come back to study them later."

He was genuinely very interested.

He was also curious about one thing.

A person, just one person.

So, when does a group of people become an army?

What boundary was crossed that caused individuals to become a collective?

Li Qi vaguely felt that the existence of military Qi and army souls was closely related to this boundary, and the Military School of Thought must have some understanding of this aspect!

This made him even more eager.

"Good, then you may go." The teacher nodded in assent.

Upon hearing this, Li Qi performed the Junior's bow first, then took off running!

However, as soon as Li Qi came out, he saw some auditors chasing after him: "Wait! Fellow student! Could you please tell us—"

"Fellow student, I want to ask...!"

But before they could catch up, Li Qi had already quickened his pace, ignoring the people still calling him from behind, and swiftly rushed home.

Helping fellow students with after-class tutoring could wait until he had free time later.

Only those auditors were left looking at each other, passing around their notes.

Along with the notes, Li Qi's name was also being circulated.

Auditors not connected to the upper echelons heard of Li Qi's talent.

Senior students spread tales of Li Qi and Nanshan Academy's grievances.

Teachers, meanwhile, knew he was the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain.

Unbeknownst to him, Li Qi's name had already spread among various groups in the Imperial Academy for various reasons.

But he didn't care about any of that. He quickly ran home, then locked the door and wrote the eight characters: "Emergency period, no unauthorized entry."

He was going into seclusion!

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