Chapter 671: Atmosphere

This news invigorated Li Qi.

This was truly interesting.

Someone from Zhen Dao Sect was about to Ascend.

That meant someone had reached Seventh Grade within five hundred years.

How to put it...

It wasn't fast, but for a Dao Orthodoxy that started from scratch, this was an exceptionally good achievement. Although they had references, many areas still required them to explore on their own.

Over five hundred years, for Cultivators around Ninth Grade, that's about five generations. Did they really discover the method of longevity in five generations?

This was truly commendable.

After learning this news, Li Qi's motivation to travel increased significantly. He was somewhat curious how Zhen Dao Sect had achieved it.

Along the way, he arrived at the city below Zhen Dao Sect's mountain gate.

This city was entirely established around Zhen Dao Sect.

Li Qi only needed to scan the entire city from above to perceive its operation; it was a city existing solely to supply Zhen Dao Sect.

The city was built around Zhen Dao Sect's mountain gate, with large amounts of materials and labor stockpiled there, most of which were to be sent up the mountain.

Five hundred years was enough for Zhen Dao Sect to develop into a behemoth. For Mortals, five hundred years was enough to change the world, from a feudal era to a modern industrial society.

However, Zhen Dao Sect did not develop into an industrial society. After Li Qi paid the entrance head tax, he looked around.

He heard debates.

Numerous debates filled the air, even among peddlers and in tea houses and taverns.

Their debates were quite interesting, for example, discussing whether the sun was closer to the earth in the morning or at night.

Discussing whether honoring the Mountain God was about offerings or sincerity?

Discussing whether the world was finite or infinite?

Discussing what the center of the world was: the land we stood on or the celestial bodies we saw in the sky?

The topics of these questions were so interesting that Li Qi occasionally stopped to listen, as he was curious how these Mortals, who didn't even possess Divine Abilities and only knew basic cultivation methods, and were even inferior to Li Qi during his Boat Towmen period, could discuss the essence of the world, the center of the Universe, or the position of the sun. It was truly fascinating.

However, after standing and listening for a while, he nodded slightly, smiled, shook his head, and then left.

Most of these discussions lacked real evidence, with arguments almost entirely based on conjecture, and conclusions completely arbitrary. The topics would often veer off course, leading to arguments and even physical altercations.

For example, in the discussion about whether the Universe was infinite, the side supporting infinity argued by shouting towards the horizon without an echo, using this to prove the Universe was infinite because sound could never reach its boundary and thus couldn't bounce back, thereby receiving much applause.

To be honest, this line of reasoning was interesting, but far too crude.

Nevertheless, Li Qi still found it very interesting.

Because these were peddlers who hadn't read much. Discussing these things brought them no benefit, and frankly, many of their ideas were the best arguments their limited minds could conceive.

They were genuinely thinking, even if their thinking was laughably crude.

While the conclusions were amusing, the atmosphere of such thinking was worthy of respect and should not be ridiculed. With sufficient knowledge as a foundation, such thinking would surely spark brilliance.

Thought is fire, knowledge is fuel.

With the support of fuel, the fire can burn brightly, illuminating the dark world and pointing the way forward.

This made Li Qi somewhat anticipate the atmosphere within Zhen Dao Sect.

If Mortals were like this, what about Cultivators?

Thus, Li Qi swiftly bypassed the residential areas and headed towards the gathering place of young Cultivators.

Yes, the gathering place for young Cultivators, which could even be called a 'school'.

Based on his scan of the surrounding shallow thoughts and map-like information, Li Qi confirmed that Zhen Dao Sect had always been cultivating young people. If they passed the assessment, they could join Zhen Dao Sect and become a formal Disciple.

There were many, many such gathering places.

Li Qi speculated that it was precisely because of the existence of these schools that these students brought the trend of critical thinking to the outside of Zhen Dao Sect, which is why this city was filled with such a strong atmosphere of debate.

Filled with anticipation, Li Qi arrived at the school representing young Cultivators.

He did not register but instead blended into the natural surroundings and entered silently.

There were many young people here, mostly children around ten years old, junior high and high school age. Most had some cultivation, and their backgrounds varied: children of Great Cultivators, children from wealthy families, and even 'mud-legs' who had just climbed out of mountain villages relying solely on their talent.

But they all shared one characteristic: they were all young and spirited.

Li Qi found that the threshold for entering these schools was quite high. Those who could come here were all Geniuses of the younger generation, as this place was considered the youth training ground for a major Sect.

The intellectual debate outside among Mortals also originated from here. Because of this, the atmosphere of debate here was even more intense. After entering, Li Qi found many students constantly debating something in addition to their cultivation.

However...

Li Qi noticed something.

As Cultivators, the content of their debates was almost identical to that of the Mortals outside, merely adding some cultivation-related content and practical evidence.

Upon closer thought, this was quite reasonable.

If this was the origin of the critical thinking trend, then the people outside naturally learned from here, and the topics were certainly directly copied from here. After all, this place was not far from the outside, and it was normal for peddlers to imitate them.

However, while such topics were fine for peddlers to discuss, these Cultivators, these students, were also only discussing such things?

If they discussed how to organize their cultivation, how to specifically arrange their cultivation time for optimal effect, or how to statistically summarize the efficiency of different spell applications, they would be ridiculed as only talking about mundane matters and mocked by their friends.

Therefore, what they enjoyed discussing were things like the truth of the Universe.

This wasn't critical thinking; it was empty talk.

The truth of the Universe could be discussed; on the contrary, people should explore truth more. But the prerequisite was that it had to be combined with practice.

Critical thinking not combined with practice had no meaning.

If mathematical formulas were not combined with engineering, they would just be useless words on paper.

If philosophical ideas did not guide social production and the construction of morality, then philosophy would merely be a spark in one's own mind, unseen by anyone.

This made Li Qi shake his head. What kind of people would such an atmosphere cultivate? Would they all be useless?

However, one point that somewhat put Li Qi at ease was that these students, at least, had decent cultivation. Although they liked empty talk, they didn't do nothing but talk.

“Perhaps they are all students, so they have no opportunity for practice?” Li Qi thought, finding it quite possible.

Thinking this, he simply found a student who appeared more reclusive and sat down beside him.

This was a young man. While others were engaged in philosophical discussions, talking about the mysteries of the Universe, he was quietly pondering the most basic cultivation method routes.

But basic cultivation method routes were not simple; they were even more difficult than the cosmic mysteries just discussed.

The more fundamental, the more solid it was. Especially since the early cultivation methods of Zhen Dao Sect were actually given by Li Qi—the cultivation guide Li Qi had originally given to Ju Ye. These fundamentals were personally formulated by a Daoist Great Power.

It's easy to prune the branches and flowers of a grown tree, but have you ever seen someone prune the roots?

Of course, one could forcibly prune them, but that would only cause the tree to grow crooked, and in the future, if it deviated from the grand Dao foundation laid by the Daoist Great Power, how far it could go would depend entirely on itself.

So, in essence, what he was doing was the same as his classmates who engaged in empty talk.

But his motivation was clearly different.

Thus, Li Qi watched curiously, wondering how he intended to modify it.

After watching for a while, the young man became disheartened and chose to give up.

It couldn't be modified.

This foundation was too perfect; any slight alteration would lead to a worse outcome. It seemed this set was already the optimal solution at present.

“Student, what are you researching? Why aren’t you discussing Dao with the others?” Li Qi suddenly appeared and asked the young man.

The young man was startled, put away his paper and pen, looked sharply at Li Qi with a puzzled expression, and asked, “What I do is none of your business? Go away, don't bother me.”

Li Qi, being shooed away by the young man, smiled: “Just curious. Everyone else is very social, so why are you alone, student?”

Actually, he already knew why he was alone.

Just by his reaction to being greeted, it was clear why he was solitary.

“What others discuss is not applicable to cultivation; what's the use? I worked hard to get in here for cultivation, not to talk about useless things with them. Alright, move aside, I'm leaving.” The other party carefully put away his paper and pen, shrinking his head, and left.

This made Li Qi chuckle, but he also got the young man's name from his shallow thoughts.

Chang You.

Li Qi had a very strange feeling.

Chang You had a... an 'outside' feeling. He didn't seem to have grown up in Zhen Dao Sect, but rather like those wild, unconcerned with pursuing the Dao and only wanting to cultivate and Ascend, Immortal Heaven natives.

However, such a person, in this city of Zhen Dao Sect, seemed so down-to-earth.

Yes, down-to-earth.

Zhen Dao Sect's five hundred years of development had already cultivated this trend of empty talk. The powerful Sect gave them the confidence for such talk. Zhen Dao Sect... was already too strong.

If pursuing the Dao was like opening one's eyes to look at the sky, then the young students of Zhen Dao Sect had raised their heads too high, constantly discussing the origin of the Universe, so high that they couldn't clearly see the path beneath their feet.

However, the people of the Immortal Heaven Mortal World were too focused on practicality, so focused that they could only see one or two steps beneath their feet, crawling like mice, yet always unable to look up and see the profound vastness of the sky.

Having finished observing the students, Li Qi paid attention to this young man, then began to ascend the mountain.

After all, he had originally come to witness Zhen Dao Sect's Ascension ceremony.

Thus, Li Qi blended into the natural surroundings and ascended the mountain silently.

Upon reaching the top of Zhen Dao Sect's mountain gate, Li Qi immediately felt that they were actually divided into several Dao Orthodoxys, with different mountain gates.

Interesting. That set of ideas in the world is bound to cause the division of Dao Orthodoxys, and then Dao disputes?

Thinking this, Li Qi entered the mountain gate.

He spent five days visiting all the mountain gates.

It was indeed a Dao dispute, but a very primitive one. They hadn't reached the point where their interpretations of the world were completely different, leading to an unending struggle.

Interesting.

Li Qi observed all of this, then ascended to the very top of the mountain.

At the peak of Zhen Dao Sect's mountain gate, where all spiritual essence gathered, a Zhen Dao Sect Old Ancestor was in seclusion.

The one who was about to Ascend was this person.

Of course, though called an Old Ancestor, he was actually only at the peak of Eighth Grade, just a step away from Seventh Grade. Everything was ready; with just a gentle push, he could step into Seventh Grade, and everything would be natural.

At this stage, in the world, one would certainly have already had a Breakthrough. After all, if you Breakthrough, you Breakthrough; no one would interfere with you. In fact, your friends and family would even come to congratulate you and hold a banquet to celebrate.

In Shaman God Mountain, a Breakthrough to Seventh Grade would result in receiving gifts.

In the human Dao area, if you Breakthrough to Seventh Grade, the imperial court would issue you a plaque, because at Seventh Grade, you could finally join the ranks of the long-lived and serve the imperial court in many long-term plans.

They would not prevent others from advancing.

However, the Immortal Heaven, as a First Grade world, was completely different.

To advance to Seventh Grade, they needed to undergo Heavenly Tribulation.

Li Qi came today to see what this Heavenly Tribulation was all about.

It was said that this Heavenly Tribulation had three stages: Lightning Tribulation, Mortal World Tribulation, and Innate Tribulation. Only one in ten would successfully Undergo Tribulation.

Seventh Grade Cultivators were very valuable talents, yet ninety percent had to be eliminated before Ascension...

This was truly strange.

Speaking of which, Li Qi specifically went to observe this Zhen Dao Sect Old Ancestor.

He had a slight hope, expecting the other party to be Ju Ye.

After all, if Ju Ye was good at preserving her health and had slightly better natural qualities, perhaps with the aid of some unorthodox methods, it wouldn't be impossible for her to live for five hundred years.

This might evoke a feeling of meeting an old acquaintance.

However, when Li Qi went to see, unfortunately, it was not her.

Perhaps Ju Ye was already dead.

He also wondered what ultimately happened to Ju Ye and Senior Sister.

Perhaps, like what most people experienced, they were buried in history, and no one would remember what happened to them.

After all, only a few people would be remembered in history.

Li Qi sighed, then sat down.

He sat and waited for the Heavenly Tribulation.

However, as he waited, Li Qi suddenly looked up at the sky.

A message spell descended from the sky.

It was the True World of Innate.

Hm, he was seen.

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