178: Chapter 178 The so-called "science" is the highest level of Taoism.

The wind on the square carried a hint of awkward chill.

Ye Guyun's natal Flying Sword was still stuck in the stone slab, like a shameful tombstone, commemorating the crushing defeat of "traditional sword Dao" in the face of "air resistance."

However, the stubbornness of cultivators is often directly proportional to their cultivation level.

After a brief, dead silence, a buzzing sound of disagreement finally erupted from the crowd.

"I don't believe it! This must be a Demonic Technique!"

A burly man with muscles bulging like granite stood out. He was the chief Disciple of the Body Cultivator lineage of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, Iron Pillar Zhao. People nicknamed him the "Immovable King," and his physical training had long reached Golden Core Perfection. It was said that even Spells from the Nascent Soul Stage could bounce off him.

Iron Pillar Zhao pointed at Li Mo and roared in a muffled voice: "Senior's means are heaven-defying, and you can fix Senior Brother Ye's sword with Demonic Technique, so I, Iron Pillar, am convinced! But what does this have to do with that so-called 'science'? Those ghost symbols drawn on the test paper, like 'parabola' and 'gravitational acceleration,' are complete nonsense!"

"My master said that cultivation is about a breath of Qi, and one force can overcome ten meetings! As long as your fist is hard enough, let alone resistance, you can even shatter the Void Realm!"

Iron Pillar Zhao's words resonated with many people. "That's right! That move just now must have been some kind of high-level spatial imprisonment technique. For Senior to insist it's 'modifying parameters' is clearly trying to fool us, right?" "What physical parameters? I've never even heard of them. I only believe in the sword in my hand!"

Looking at the indignant "poor students" off the stage, Li Mo was not angry; instead, he showed a benevolent smile like someone looking at "hopeless illiterates."

"One force overcomes ten meetings?"

Li Mo shook his head and beckoned casually. This was not a Divine Ability, just a simple gravity Spell. A fragment of a blue stone slab that had been shattered by Ye Guyun's Flying Sword—commonly known as a "brick"—flew lightly into his hand.

This brick was unremarkable, even its edges were worn smooth, and it was still stained with a bit of mud.

Li Mo weighed the brick in his hand, feeling its rough texture.

"Iron Pillar Zhao, right?"

Li Mo looked at the burly man. "Since you are superstitious about defense and strength, let's make a bet."

"You just stand there and use all the defensive means you can. Protective Aura, Golden Bell Shield, Spiritual Artifact shields, whatever you want."

"And I, will not use a shred of Qi, nor will I cast any Divine Ability."

"I will just use this brick to throw at you."

Li Mo extended a finger and pointed at Iron Pillar Zhao's shiny forehead. "If this brick cannot accurately hit your glabella and break your defense... I lose."

"From now on, you can come and go as you please in the Scripture Pavilion, and I will never stop you."

The whole audience was in an uproar. "Is he crazy? No Qi?"

"That's just an ordinary brick! Senior Brother Zhao is a tough guy who can even withstand Spirit Treasure Flying Swords!"

"Did this Senior show off too much just now and is now unable to back down?"

Iron Pillar Zhao was even more amused. He patted his chest, which was like a copper wall and iron bastion, making a "thud-thud" metallic sound.

"Senior, you said it yourself! No Qi? Even if I stand still and let you throw at me all day, if you break even a layer of skin, I'll take your surname!"

"Good."

Li Mo stopped talking. He slowly closed his eyes, and the brick in his hand hung slightly.

The System interface unfolded wildly on his retina.

This was not a fight; this was a precise mathematical calculation.

【Activating entry: Great Reader · Physics Branch.】

【Loading plugin: Ballistic Calculation (Master Level).】

【Loading plugin: Fluid Mechanics Analysis (Expert Level).】

【Loading plugin: Butterfly Effect Simulator (Elementary).】

In an instant, the world in Li Mo's eyes changed. It was no longer simple colors and shapes, but a grid world composed of countless lines and data.

He saw the wind. Not the feeling of a breeze on his face, but a vector map of air flow. A southeast wind, wind speed 3.2 m/s, humidity 45%, would create a weak air vortex when passing by the stone pillar in the center of the square.

He saw gravity. Those were vertical red arrows pointing downwards, representing the irresistible embrace of Mother Earth.

He saw Iron Pillar Zhao. That seemingly impregnable defensive circle, under the analysis of data, was full of loopholes. Although Iron Pillar Zhao's "Golden Bell Shield" was thick, due to the frequency of his Qi circulation, an extremely tiny vacuum point of Qi would appear three inches above his head every 0.5 seconds. This was the alternation of wave crests and troughs, a loss gap in the conservation of energy.

"Variable capture complete."

Li Mo opened his eyes suddenly. In his pupils, two golden abacuses seemed to be moving wildly.

He raised his hand, not throwing the brick directly. Instead, he quickly gestured in the void with his fingers.

It was a gesture no one had ever seen before. He was drawing lines. A strange, curved, completely illogical arc.

He was also muttering to himself: "Initial velocity correction... considering Coriolis force... air friction coefficient 0.02... introducing disturbance variable: the air flow from that sneezing Disciple next to you..."

The Disciples off the stage were stunned. "Is Senior... drawing a talisman?"

"Doesn't look like it, why do these runes look like earthworms?"

"Is he fortune-telling?"

Iron Pillar Zhao was getting impatient. He had already turned his defense to the maximum, and he looked like a golden light bulb: "Senior, hurry up and throw! I'm about to sweat!"

"Go."

Li Mo flicked his wrist gently.

This movement had no Qi fluctuation, and it even looked soft, just like an old man in the mortal world throwing away trash.

The brick flew out of his hand.

It flew very slowly. Even a bit crooked. The angle of takeoff was even more outrageous, actually flying towards a big tree on the left side of the square.

"Hahahaha!" An uproarious laughter erupted from the crowd. "It's crooked! It's crooked to the middle of nowhere!"

"If this can hit, I'll eat that tree!"

"Is Senior senile?"

Iron Pillar Zhao was also stunned, then a contemptuous smile appeared on his face, and even his Protective Aura loosened a bit. Just this? Let alone hitting the glabella, this brick looked like it would struggle to even fly in front of him.

However.

Just as the brick flew next to the big tree.

A sudden change occurred.

A well-timed draft blew through the gaps in the leaves. This wind happened to hit one of the worn-smooth edges of the brick.

According to Li Mo's calculation, this was a variant application of the "Magnus effect."

The brick, which had been flying in a straight line, suddenly drew a strange "S" arc in the air under the lift of the airflow. Its speed surged! It was as if it had been pushed hard by an invisible hand!

"Whoosh—!"

The sound of breaking the air suddenly became sharp. The brick completed an incredible 90-degree turn in the air, using the double acceleration of wind and gravity, like a cruise missile that had grown eyes, heading straight for Iron Pillar Zhao!

"What the?!"

Iron Pillar Zhao's laughter was stuck in his throat. He didn't expect this brick to be able to turn! But he was, after all, a battle-hardened Body Cultivator, and his reaction was extremely fast. "Defend for me!" He roared, the Qi in his body surged wildly, the Golden Bell Shield's light flourished instantly, forming a golden light wall three feet thick in front of him.

"Useless." Li Mo stood in the distance and said lightly.

"Because the moment I threw it, I had already calculated the 'dead spot' of your Qi circulation."

Just at the millisecond when the brick was about to hit the Golden Bell Shield. That was the 0.5-second vacuum period of Iron Pillar Zhao's Qi fluctuation.

The brick arrived.

It didn't hit the thickest part of the light wall head-on. Instead, it entered at an extremely tricky angle—a 37.5-degree tilt, cutting exactly into that weak point of Qi.

It was like a sharp knife cutting into butter. Or like a key inserted into a lock.

"Crack."

The Golden Bell Shield, which claimed to be able to withstand a Nascent Soul blow, actually made a crisp shattering sound in front of this ordinary brick. The brick didn't even slow down, piercing directly through that seemingly invincible defense.

Then.

"Thud!"

A dull, solid, and extremely pleasant impact sound resonated throughout the entire venue.

The brick accurately, perfectly, and with all its kinetic energy... printed itself right in the center of Iron Pillar Zhao's glabella.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still.

Iron Pillar Zhao widened his eyes, his eyeballs crossed, staring intently at the mud-stained brick stuck to his forehead.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something. But the severe concussion from his brain made him only able to let out a short: "Ah."

Subsequently.

This burly man, like an iron tower, rolled his eyes and fell straight backward. With a "boom," he hit the ground, splashing up a cloud of dust.

On his forehead, a red-purple lump slowly bulged. Just as Li Mo said—the defense was broken.

The whole venue fell back into that suffocating silence. This time, it was even quieter than when Ye Guyun's sword was fixed.

Everyone opened their mouths wide, and the sound of dislocated jaws came one after another.

If fixing the Flying Sword could be explained as cultivation suppression, then this brick... completely shattered their worldview.

No Qi. No Magic Treasure. It was even crooked when thrown. But it turned, broke the Golden Bell Shield, and knocked down the strongest meat shield.

What kind of logic is this? What kind of Heavenly Dao is this?

"This... this is..." In the crowd, that Formation Master Disciple who was drooling earlier was now trembling all over, his face flushed with excitement. "This is the power of calculation! This is the power of rules!" He understood! Although he only understood a little bit! That brick used the wind, used gravity, used that momentary Qi loophole! It was "calculated" into it!

Li Mo still stood on the boulder, the pointer in his hand tapping his palm gently. He looked at the faces off the stage whose worldviews had been shattered, and spoke slowly. The voice was not loud, but it exploded like thunder in everyone's heart.

"See that?"

"This is the 'physics' you look down upon."

"In your eyes, it is heresy. But in my eyes, it is the vein of heaven and earth, the breath of all things."

Li Mo pointed at Iron Pillar Zhao lying on the ground, and then pointed at the flowing clouds in the sky.

"The so-called 'Dao' is not in those mysterious ancient books, it is right beside you."

"Why does the wind blow? Why does the water flow? Why does the apple fall? Why can a brick turn?"

"When you are still using Qi to 'brute-force crack' this world, science has already obtained the 'Administrator password' in the background of this world."

"Is Iron Pillar Zhao's Golden Bell Shield strong? Strong. But he doesn't understand wave interference, doesn't understand energy frequency, so in my eyes, he is full of holes."

"Is Ye Guyun's sword fast? Fast. But he doesn't understand resistance, doesn't understand friction, so as long as the environmental parameters are slightly modified, he can't move an inch."

Li Mo's voice became serious and sacred.

"What I teach you is not cheap tricks."

"It is to let you learn how to use the most labor-saving way to pry this world."

"This is called—physical defense breaking."

"If you don't understand physics, you can't even throw a brick accurately, so what are you cultivating for?"

At this moment, Li Mo's figure was infinitely elevated in everyone's eyes. He was no longer an old man sweeping the floor. He was a lighthouse. A lighthouse illuminating the dark sea named "truth" that they had never set foot in.

"Thump."

A sound of knees hitting the ground rang out.

It was Ye Guyun. This proud Sword Cultivator was now kneeling on both knees, the arrogance in his eyes gone, replaced by a fanaticism bordering on pilgrimage.

"Disciple is dull!" Ye Guyun's voice trembled, with a hint of crying. "Disciple has practiced sword for twenty years, and today I know that I have always been touching an elephant as a blind man! I have been sitting in a well and looking at the sky!"

"I beg Senior... no, I beg Teacher to teach me!"

"I want to learn that... that resistance coefficient! I want to learn how to make the sword turn!"

With the first one, there was a second.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Like pushing over dominoes. Three thousand Sword Cultivators, at this moment, knelt down on the square in unison.

Iron Pillar Zhao, who had just climbed up from the ground and was still covering the lump on his forehead, kowtowed directly, cracking the floor: "Teacher! I'm convinced! I'm really convinced!"

"I want to learn that 'vacuum period'! I don't want to be knocked down by a brick again!"

"As long as I can learn this, let alone writing a five-thousand-word thesis, even if you ask me to copy the test paper ten thousand times, I'll do it!"

Even Sect Master Li Xuanji was mixed in the crowd, crouching awkwardly (as Sect Master, he was embarrassed to kneel fully), holding a small notebook in his hand, his eyes fiery. "That 'Magnus effect'... seems to be able to improve the Sect's 'revolving sword formation'... write it down, must write it down!"

Looking at the sea of heads off the stage, and those countless eyes full of thirst for knowledge (and desire for power), Li Mo finally showed a satisfied smile.

It worked.

This "brainwashing"... oh no, "popular science" meeting, was a complete success.

From now on, the style of the Heavenly River Sword Sect will never return.

"Very good."

Li Mo waved his big sleeve, and the clouds in the sky seemed to disperse because of his mood, revealing the brilliant sunshine.

"Since that's the case, put away your arrogance and show your humility."

"Tianhe Tutorial Class, established immediately."

"Now, everyone stand up!"

The pointer in Li Mo's hand pointed sharply at the door of the Scripture Pavilion.

"Target: Classroom on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion."

"Task: Collect the textbook 'Three Years of Simulation, Five Years of Cultivation'."

"In the first class, we don't talk about big principles."

"Let's first solve a most basic problem—"

Li Mo paused, a demonic arc curling at the corner of his mouth:

"Discuss: If you encounter a headwind while flying on a sword, should you increase Qi output, or should you... adjust your 'aerodynamic shape'?"

"Those who answer wrong, no food tonight."

"Charge!"

Following Li Mo's order. Three thousand Sword Cultivators rushed towards the Scripture Pavilion like hungry wolves. That scene was even more spectacular than when the Demonic Path attacked the mountain back then. But this time, what they were grabbing was not Magic Treasure, but...

Knowledge.

And those copies of "5·3" that were about to change the history of the entire Cultivation World.