179: Chapter 179, Lesson 1: Was Emperor Newton also at the Mahayana stage?
The first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, originally a spacious hall, had now been transformed into a lecture hall capable of accommodating three thousand people.
There were no meditation cushions, no incense; in their place were rows of neat, long tables and chairs made of hard ironwood. This made the Cultivators, accustomed to sitting cross-legged, feel extremely uncomfortable, twisting around on the hard benches as if they had hemorrhoids.
But no one dared to complain.
Because right in the center of the podium, Old Ancestor Li Mo, wearing a grey robe and holding that "Legendary Item: Physics Brick," was scanning the audience with a gaze like he was inspecting pork.
"Quiet."
The pointer in Li Mo's hand tapped lightly against the blackboard—a massive slab of basalt polished to a pitch black.
"Thud."
The dull sound was like a morning bell or evening drum, instantly suppressing all whispers.
"Before we start class, let's establish some rules."
Li Mo turned around, picked up a piece of white chalk (actually made from some kind of chalky soil), and wrote two vigorous characters on the blackboard: **【 Axiom 】**
"Here, don't talk to me about 'sincerity leads to spiritual response,' and don't talk about 'mysterious and abstruse things.'"
"In my class, there is only 'Axiom.' An axiom is… even if the Heavenly Dao collapses, it is still correct. Even if all immortals die, one plus one will always equal two."
The Disciples below looked at each other; although they didn't understand, they felt it was profound, and that feeling only intensified. Sect Master Li Xuanji sat in the very center of the front row, straightening his back like an elementary school student, even preparing two spare brushes in his hand, terrified of missing a single word.
"Today is the first lesson of the Tianhe Tutorial Class."
Li Mo did not rush to lecture, but solemnly took out a yellowed thread-bound book from his bosom, as if holding some rare treasure.
The cover of this book was slightly worn, with curled edges, exuding an air of the vicissitudes of time. But as long as the Cultivators present scanned it with their Divine Sense, they could feel the suffocating power of rules flowing between the pages.
It was not a fluctuation of spiritual power.
It was pure, rational, cold… the light of wisdom.
Li Mo gently placed the book on the podium, stroked the cover, and spoke solemnly:
"I know many of you are still muttering to yourselves. You think that brick yesterday was just a coincidence, and that so-called 'science' is nothing but the petty tricks of Mortals."
"That is your ignorance."
"Because you have no idea what kind of towering existence the founder of this discipline really is."
Below, Ye Guyun couldn't help but raise his hand (a rule Li Mo had just set: raise your hand before speaking) and asked: "Teacher, is this 'Scientific Daoist Lineage' also a Legacy left by some ancient Immortal Emperor?"
"Immortal Emperor?"
Li Mo sneered, as if he had heard a joke.
"In front of 'Him,' the so-called Immortal Emperors are just barbarians who only know how to play with energy."
Li Mo abruptly opened the first page of the yellow book and pointed to a portrait on it.
In the portrait was a Western old man with wavy hair, deep eyes, holding a bright red fruit.
"Remember this."
Li Mo's voice boomed in everyone's ears.
"This person is the 'Celestial Venerable of Classical Mechanics,' also revered by later generations as—**Great Emperor Newton**."
"Hiss—!"
A uniform sound of gasping echoed throughout the hall.
Although the name sounded a bit strange (like some kind of Yao Beast?), the suffix "Great Emperor," along with the "seeing-through-everything" look in his eyes in the portrait, truly made people not dare to act rashly.
Li Mo began to talk nonsense (fabricating the background) with a straight face:
"A long, long time ago, when Chaos first opened. Great Emperor Newton was meditating under an apple tree called the 'Tree of Truth.'"
"That day, a 'Fruit of the Great Dao' (apple) fell from the tree and smashed onto the Great Emperor's head."
"If it were an ordinary Cultivator, they would have assumed it was an enemy attack, or simply eaten the fruit. But Great Emperor Newton did not."
"In that instant, he had an Epiphany."
Li Mo drew a circle on the blackboard (representing the Earth), drew an apple, and then connected them with a line.
"What he realized was not some method for immortality, nor was it some killing technique."
"What he realized was the most fundamental logic in this Universe—**Universal Gravitation**."
Li Mo turned around and wrote a formula on the blackboard that would make all future science students weep:
"This is the supreme true scripture left by the Great Emperor."
"Don't understand? That's fine."
Li Mo looked at the mosquito-coil eyes in the audience and explained:
"Simply put, Great Emperor Newton tells us: everything in this world, whether it is a grain of dust or a star, has an invisible 'line' between them."
"These lines pull and attract each other."
"The reason you can stand on the ground instead of floating into outer space is not because you don't want to fly, but because the land (planet) beneath your feet has set up a 'super-large-scale gravity Formation' that covers the entire world. The name of this Formation is 'Universal Gravitation'."
Boom!
This explanation was like a sudden enlightenment, instantly opening the Ren and Du meridians for many people.
"A Formation! It's a Formation!"
That Formation Master Disciple trembled with excitement, "I knew it! Why do we always fall back down when we jump! We've been living in a huge natural Formation all along! And the Formation core of this Formation… is the center of the Earth?!"
"Exactly." Li Mo gave him an appreciative look, "A child worth teaching."
"And so-called 'flying on a sword' is essentially resisting this Formation. You consume Spiritual Qi to generate lift to counteract the pull of gravity."
"But!" Li Mo changed the subject, his tone becoming severe.
"Your method of resistance is too stupid!"
"You are like a group of brutes who only know how to use brute force, trying to carry a mountain on your shoulders. The utilization rate of Spiritual Qi is ridiculously low! You get out of breath after flying a little higher, and your Spiritual Qi is exhausted after flying a little faster."
"Why is that?"
"Because you don't understand—**Action and Reaction**."
Li Mo tapped the blackboard again and wrote a second line of large characters:
**【 Newton's Third Law: Action and Reaction 】**
"This is the third mantra left by Great Emperor Newton."
"It means: when you punch someone, your hand will also hurt. When you push a wall, the wall is also pushing you."
"Similarly, when you want to fly forward, you must… exert force backward."
Below, Chu Linger's eyes suddenly lit up.
As a former Imperial Dynasty princess and now a permanent resident of the Scripture Pavilion, her Comprehension Ability was extremely high. She looked at the words on the blackboard, and the idle books Li Mo had let her read flashed through her mind—like "A Guide to Making Rocket-Style Sky-Piercing Monkeys."
"Teacher."
Chu Linger stood up, her voice crisp but with a hint of uncertainty.
"You mean… we used to rely on Spiritual Qi to 'support' ourselves to fly while riding a sword, which is passive."
"If we want to go faster, we have to… actively 'spray' backward?"
"Bingo."
Li Mo snapped his fingers.
"As expected of the class representative, full marks for understanding."
"Come, Chu Linger, step out. Demonstrate it for this bunch of blockheads."
Chu Linger walked nervously to the open space next to the podium.
She was wearing a crisp cyan outfit today, her long hair tied up high, looking heroic.
"Fly a circle according to your old way," Li Mo ordered.
Chu Linger nodded, circulated her Spiritual Qi, and floated up lightly like a white cloud, gracefully circling the classroom before landing silently.
"Good!" Applause erupted from the audience. This was the standard "Flowing Cloud Body Movement," elegant and aesthetically pleasing, fitting the Cultivators' aesthetic.
"Flashy and useless."
Li Mo gave a four-character evaluation.
"The speed is too slow, the start is too sluggish. If you were fleeing for your life, you would have been hacked to death by demonic Cultivators eight times over."
"Now, try 'Great Emperor Newton's' method."
Li Mo walked behind Chu Linger and instructed in a low voice:
"Don't think about 'floating.' Imagine yourself as a… balloon. A balloon filled with air, then suddenly releasing the knot."
"Compress your Spiritual Qi to your Yongquan acupoint on the soles of your feet."
"Don't release it gently; it needs to be an explosive spray."
"Direction: 45 degrees backward and downward."
"Target: The ceiling."
Chu Linger took a deep breath.
Although it sounded a bit unrefined (like farting?), for the sake of pursuing the truth, she went all out.
She closed her eyes and mobilized the liquid Spiritual Qi of her Foundation Establishment Stage, frantically compressing it to her feet.
According to the formula: [Force = Mass * Acceleration]. To get maximum acceleration, while mass remains constant, one must create maximum thrust.
"Give me… spray!"
Chu Linger shouted in her heart.
The next second.
Boom—!!!
A roar comparable to thunder exploded in the classroom.
There was no elegant cloud mist.
Everyone only saw two dazzling blue lights erupt from the soles of Chu Linger's feet—that was plasma flame generated by the violent friction between the highly compressed Spiritual Qi stream and the air!
Immediately after.
Chu Linger vanished instantly.
"Whoosh—Bang!"
By the time everyone reacted, they only saw a human-shaped hole in the ceiling.
Debris fell down with a clatter.
And in the high sky outside the classroom, Chu Linger's terrified and excited scream came:
"Ahhhhh! Can't stop! Too fast! Teacher! Where is the brake?!"
The whole hall was silent.
Everyone looked up at the big hole in the ceiling, their throats dry.
Just now… what happened?
Was that a body movement?
That was teleportation, right?!
She disappeared in the blink of an eye? Not even a Residual Shadow was seen?
"This is—**Propellant Propulsion**."
Li Mo patted the dust off his body and explained calmly.
"Also known as 'jet-powered cultivation'."
"Traditional sword riding is 'traction.' But Great Emperor Newton's method is 'propulsion'."
"Using the reaction force generated by spraying matter (Spiritual Qi stream) backward to gain forward acceleration."
"As long as you spray your Spiritual Qi fast enough, you can fly fast enough. Theoretically, as long as your Physical Body can handle it, you can fly at the speed of light."
Li Mo turned around and looked at Ye Guyun, who was completely petrified.
"Student Ye, your so-called 'instantaneous thousand miles' is like an old lady crossing the road in front of this kind of propulsion."
Ye Guyun's hands trembled, and the speed at which he took notes was so fast it was smoking.
"Reaction force… spraying… so that's it! So this is the Profound Truth of Sword Evasion! I used to just wrap Sword Qi around my whole body, that was too wasteful! I should spray Sword Qi out from my butt… oh no, from the soles of my feet!"
"Teacher!"
Just then, a bearded Disciple from the Artifact Refining Hall raised his hand, his expression fanatic.
"If we follow this theory, can we do without the sword tip when refining Flying Swords?"
"Can we install a few of these… 'spraying Formations' at the tail of the Flying Sword?"
"Even, we can make the Flying Sword hollow, fill it with flammable and explosive fire-type Spirit Stones, and once ignited, spray fire backward…"
Li Mo's eyes lit up.
Good guy, this kid has a future, thinking of "solid fuel rockets" without a teacher?
"A very constructive suggestion."
Li Mo nodded in encouragement.
"You can study it after class. We can name this Magic Treasure—**'tianhe no. 1' Cruise Flying Sword**."
"But pay attention to heat dissipation; don't roast your own butt before blowing up the enemy."
The whole room burst into laughter.
But this time, there was no mockery in the laughter, only an infinite longing for this brand-new power system.
Just then, through the human-shaped hole, a disheveled Chu Linger finally flew back.
Although her hairstyle was messy and her clothes had several holes, her eyes were frighteningly bright.
"Teacher!"
Chu Linger landed on the podium, her small face flushed with excitement.
"That was amazing! In that instant just now, I felt like I had broken free from… that gravity Formation! I saw the clouds beneath my feet!"
"And, the Spiritual Qi consumption was only one-third of the usual!"
"Very good."
Li Mo nodded with satisfaction.
"This is the charm of science. It doesn't create Spiritual Qi, but it can make one portion of Spiritual Qi exert ten times the effect."
He glanced at the formula on the blackboard, then at the three thousand pairs of eyes burning with thirst for knowledge below.
The time was ripe.
"Since everyone has seen the power of 'mechanics'."
"Then, today's homework."
Li Mo waved his hand.
"Everyone stand up."
Clatter!
Three thousand people stood up in unison, their movements uniform, more standard than the most elite Dao soldiers.
"Recite and write down: **《 Newton's Three Laws (Cultivation Magic Modified Version) 》**."
"First Law (Inertia): Without external interference, this seat will forever maintain a state of meditation or Ascension."
"Second Law (Acceleration): The pain of hitting someone equals your weight multiplied by your punching speed."
"Third Law (Action): If you curse the Heavenly Dao once, the Heavenly Dao will curse you back with the same intensity (Lightning Tribulation)."
"Start reciting!"
"First Law…"
The sound of reading aloud rang out in the Scripture Pavilion of the Heavenly River Sword Sect.
This sound pierced through the clouds, pierced through the Formation, and even faintly reached that Upper Realm coordinate that was observing in secret.
…
**Upper Realm, an unknowable place.**
Inside a magnificent hall composed of countless optical cables and data streams.
A few "Auditors" wearing white coats and halos on their heads were surrounding a screen, frowning.
What was displayed on the screen was exactly the scene of the Heavenly River Sword Sect.
To be precise, it was the scene of Chu Linger's "rocket launch" just now.
"Abnormal data fluctuation."
An Auditor pushed the data glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Plane No. 9527, an unknown high-energy reaction has appeared. It looks like… propulsion technology from the technological side?"
"But this plane is clearly labeled 'Low-level Xuanhuan.' How can there be the spectrum of a jet engine?"
Another Auditor zoomed in on the screen, looking at the formula on the blackboard.
"Wait…"
The Auditor's hand shook.
"This formula… why does it look familiar?"
"Isn't this the core code of the 'physical Universe'? How did it get to the cultivation plane?"
"Could it be… a cross-talk?"
A high-level Auditor (the halo on his head was colorful) was silent for a moment, his face grave.
"Something's wrong."
"That old man giving the lecture… the book in his hand."
"Zoom in on that book."
The screen zoomed in, focusing on the yellow book on Li Mo's podium.
Although the cover was blurry, a few large characters could be vaguely identified:
**《 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy 》**
The high-level Auditor gasped.
"This is… **The Gospel of 'Old Ones · Newton'?!**"
"Quick! Sound the alarm!"
"This is not a simple violation! This is… **cultural invasion!**"
"That plane is trying to ascend by 'parsing the underlying code'! If we don't stop them, the art style of that plane will collapse into 'Cyber Cultivation'!"
"Dispatch the 'Cleanup Squad'! Immediately! Right now!"
…
Inside the Scripture Pavilion.
Li Mo, who was listening to the Disciples' recitation, suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo!"
He rubbed his nose and looked at the clear sky outside the window.
"Who is talking about me?"
"Forget it, never mind."
He looked at the formula on the blackboard that hadn't been erased yet, and a mischievous smile curled on his lips.
"Since the first lesson went so well, then tomorrow… should we talk about 'Electromagnetic Induction and Industrial Mass Production of Lightning Techniques'?"
"Great Emperor Faraday should also want to manifest his holiness in this world, right?"