194: Chapter 194 The Terrifying "Huanggang" Secret Scroll

Heavenly River Sword Sect, Underachiever's Reflection Room (formerly the Utility Disciple's woodshed).

Purple Mansion Holy Son Xiao Tianjiao was curled up in a corner, still wearing the rubber-smelling Insulation Suit. His eyes were vacant, he was muttering to himself, and his fingers were constantly tracing something in the void.

"I am a wave... no, I am a particle..."

"No, as long as no one is looking at me, I am a cloud of probability..."

"What if I can't see myself either? Do I disappear?"

Since the last "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" class, this once-arrogant Central Plains Prodigy had fallen into this semi-delirious state. His Dao Heart was like tofu pudding thrown into a blender—smashed to bits.

Outside the door, Elder Zhao Wuji, the protector buried in the dirt with only his head exposed, looked at his Saint with heartache.

"Holy Son... please stop muttering. This old man is getting a headache just listening."

"If you really don't want to learn, let's break out of here! This old man will risk his old life and burn his Nascent Soul to get you out!"

"Break out?"

Xiao Tianjiao snapped his head around, a flicker of terror in his bloodshot eyes.

"We can't break out! Breaking out violates the 'Second Law of Thermodynamics'! It's an irreversible process of entropy increase! That demon will catch us and turn us into 'perpetual motion machines'!"

Zhao Wuji: "..."

It was over.

The Holy Son had completely lost his mind.

Just then, a set of steady footsteps approached.

Tap, tap, tap.

Each step felt like it was treading on Zhao Wuji's heart.

Li Mo, wearing his signature white lab coat, holding a thermos, and carrying a golden-shimmering scroll under his arm, walked over with a smile.

"Oh, Elder Zhao, how is the photosynthesis going?"

Li Mo looked down at Zhao Wuji in the dirt. "I see your face is looking a bit green. Is it a lack of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium? Should I have Fatty Pig Intestine give you some fertilizer?"

Zhao Wuji turned pale with fright and quickly shut his mouth to play dead (which was also a form of superposition).

Li Mo ignored him and pushed open the door to the reflection room.

"Student Xiao, I heard your mental state hasn't been great lately?"

Li Mo looked at Xiao Tianjiao huddled in the corner, his tone as concerned as a kind old father.

Xiao Tianjiao trembled all over and instinctively clutched his head: "Teacher! I wasn't slacking off! I was thinking! I was thinking about whether Schrödinger's cat is hungry or not!"

"Very good, thinking is a good thing."

Li Mo nodded and pulled over a stool to sit down.

"However, thinking alone isn't enough."

"Based on yesterday's entrance exam, I found your foundation is very shaky. Although you barely passed, that was just from scraping points together on the paper."

"As the face of the Zifu Holy Land, how can you allow yourself to be just a 'passing student'?"

Xiao Tianjiao swallowed hard, instinctively sensing danger.

"T-Teacher... what do you want to do?"

"I... I'm very stupid. I don't want to be a top student, I just want to be a passing student..."

"That won't do."

Li Mo adjusted his glasses, a strange reflection glinting off the lenses.

"To help you solidify your foundation and adapt to the high-intensity teaching pace of our Heavenly River Sword Sect as quickly as possible..."

"I have specially prepared a... post-class gift pack for you."

Li Mo placed the golden scroll from under his arm onto the table.

This scroll looked extremely extraordinary.

It was made entirely of some unknown golden beast hide, emitting an ancient, majestic, and suffocating pressure. On the surface of the scroll, countless fine runes vaguely flowed—those runes weren't Cultivation World spells, but rather... '?'.

Yes, question marks.

A Seal composed of countless question marks.

And in the very center of the scroll, written in bright red characters, were words that had terrified countless students in Li Mo's previous life:

[Huanggang Secret Scrolls · Internal Special Edition (High Grade Heaven Rank Magic Treasure)]

"This is..."

Xiao Tianjiao stared at the scroll, feeling a chill run from his tailbone straight to the top of his head.

Although he didn't know which ancient powerhouse "Huanggang" was, just looking at those two words gave him a strange stomachache and dizziness.

"This is a rule-based Magic Treasure."

Li Mo introduced calmly.

"It contains an independent 'Study Space'. The flow of time inside is different from the outside world; one day outside is one year inside."

"More importantly, it has the 'Causality' attribute."

"What attribute?" Xiao Tianjiao asked with a trembling voice.

"If you don't finish it, you can't come out."

Li Mo smiled.

"It gathers the essential question banks of the four subjects: Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, totaling three thousand major problems."

"Once opened, unless you finish all the questions and achieve an accuracy rate of over 90%, the spatial gate will remain closed forever."

"Of course, if you stay inside for a long time, you might get hungry. But don't worry, for every question you get right, the System will reward you with a 'bigu pill'. If you get one wrong... there will be a small 'electric shock punishment'."

"This is called—immersive learning."

After hearing this, Xiao Tianjiao completely collapsed.

This is learning?

This is freaking prison! And it's a life sentence with torture!

"No! I don't want to!"

Xiao Tianjiao shrank back frantically, "I am the Saint! I have dignity! I don't want to go to that ghostly place to do problems!"

"Protest denied."

Li Mo snapped his fingers.

"Iron Pillar Zhao, come in and give Student Xiao a hand."

Outside, the muscular Iron Pillar Zhao walked in, still holding that 'slap' used for physical wake-up calls.

"Hehe, Junior Brother Xiao, be good. Teacher is doing this for your own good. I'm not even qualified to enter this secret scroll. I heard only true geniuses are worthy of this set of problems."

As Iron Pillar Zhao spoke, he picked up Xiao Tianjiao like a little chick and pressed him down in front of the table.

Li Mo reached out and gently untied the ribbon on the scroll.

Hum—!!!

A golden light soared into the sky.

There was no Spiritual Qi fluctuation, only a thick, inescapable smell of... ink.

That was the smell of knowledge.

And the smell of nightmares.

"Happy studying."

Li Mo gave a gentle push.

Aaaaaah—!!!

Xiao Tianjiao let out a miserable scream as he was swallowed by the massive suction released from the scroll.

A flash of golden light.

Peace returned to the room.

On the table, only the unfurled [Huanggang Secret Scrolls] remained. The first question mark on it had lit up, vaguely revealing Xiao Tianjiao's terrified and desperate face.

...

[Huanggang Space · Interior]

This was a world of pure white.

No sky, no earth, no flowers, grass, or trees.

Only a desk, a chair, and a desk lamp that would never go out.

And...

Mountains of exam papers.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

Xiao Tianjiao pounded on the invisible air walls around him, but there was nothing but echoes.

Suddenly, a cold, mechanical voice rang out within the space.

[ExamineeAlready in place.]

[Subject One: Cultivation Dynamics.]

[Countdown begins. First question...]

As the voice fell, rows of massive black characters appeared out of thin air in the void before Xiao Tianjiao:

[Question: A Sword Cultivator is flying on a sword and encounters a headwind. The wind speed is v1, and the sword speed is v2. If the Sword Cultivator wants to maintain constant linear motion with minimum spiritual power consumption, what should he adjust the Flying Sword's angle of attack α to? (Ignore air viscosity coefficient, take gravitational acceleration g=10)]

Xiao Tianjiao looked at this question, his mind going blank.

Angle of attack?

What's that?

I've always relied on my intent to fly! I fly as soon as my thought moves, who cares about the angle!

"I don't know! Change the question!"

Xiao Tianjiao roared.

[Warning: Skipping questions is prohibited. If no answer is given within three breaths, Level 1 punishment will be initiated.]

[3... 2... 1...]

Zzzt—!

A purple current appeared out of nowhere and struck Xiao Tianjiao precisely on his buttocks.

"Ow!!!"

Xiao Tianjiao jumped up screaming, his hair instantly standing on end and emitting a burnt smell.

"It really shocks?! I am the Purple Mansion Holy Son! I have a body of ten thousand gold! You dare shock my butt?!"

[Incorrect answer. Analysis as follows: ...]

The mechanical voice ignored his protest entirely and began to explain the problem incessantly.

"According to the principles of fluid mechanics, the lift formula is L = 1/2 ρ v² S CL..."

The voice was like a demonic sound drilling into his ears, forcibly stuffing information into Xiao Tianjiao's brain.

He had no choice but to listen, because as soon as he covered his ears, the current would increase.

"Do you understand? No? Let's go over it again!"

...

Who knows how much time passed.

In this space without the concept of time, Xiao Tianjiao experienced hellish torture.

He was shocked countless times.

His buttocks were already numb.

His throat was already hoarse from screaming.

From initial anger and resistance, to later despair and weeping, and finally... numbness.

He found that resistance was useless.

The only way out was... to do the problems.

"Angle of attack... lift coefficient..."

Xiao Tianjiao tremblingly picked up the pen and leaned over the desk.

His gaze was no longer that of arrogant condescension, but had become a focus of struggling for survival.

"If I tilt the sword body slightly..."

"The wind resistance will become lift..."

"Yes! That's it! Isn't this just a variation of the 'Wind Riding Art'?"

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him.

He discovered that these seemingly dry and strange formulas could actually explain the confusion he had encountered in his previous Cultivation!

Why was it easier to lose control when flying with the wind?

Why did flying against the wind cost more Spiritual Qi?

It turned out there were formulas to calculate it all!

Scribble scribble scribble!

He quickly wrote down the answer.

[Correct answer.]

[Reward: One bigu pill.]

Ding.

A round pill fell onto the table.

Xiao Tianjiao, who was already so hungry his stomach was sticking to his back, grabbed the pill and swallowed it.

Although it was just the most common bigu pill, at this moment, he felt it was the most delicious food in the world.

"Next question!"

Xiao Tianjiao wiped away his tears, and a strange spark of fighting spirit actually ignited in his eyes.

[Second Question: Chemical Alchemy.]

[Question: To neutralize the fire poison of 'Blazing Sun Grass' (main component being fire-element alkaloids), how much 'Cold Ice Liquid' should be added? (Please write the chemical reaction equation)]

"I know this! Acid-base neutralization!"

Xiao Tianjiao wrote furiously.

...

Outside, in the Scripture Pavilion.

Li Mo was drinking tea when suddenly the System panel flickered.

[Detected high-frequency thought waves within the 'Huanggang Secret Scrolls'.]

[Student Xiao Tianjiao's problem-solving speed has increased by 300%.]

[Current accuracy rate: 85%.]

[Status evaluation: Delicious.]

"Heh."

Li Mo smiled.

"This is Stockholm... oh no, this is the charm of knowledge."

"No one can refuse the pleasure after solving a difficult problem. Not even a Saint."

Squeak. (Boss, how long has he been in there?)

Squeak curiously leaned over, looking at the light point flashing frantically on the scroll.

"Only half an hour has passed outside."

"Inside... about a month has probably passed."

Li Mo put down his teacup.

"That's about enough. If I keep him in any longer, the kid will go stupid."

He beckoned with his hand.

The golden light of the [Huanggang Secret Scrolls] receded.

Thud.

A figure with tattered clothes, disheveled hair, and sunken eyes was 'spat' out by the scroll, falling heavily onto the floor.

It was Xiao Tianjiao.

At this moment, where was any trace of his former Saint appearance?

He had thinned down significantly, and the Insulation Suit on him was in tatters, covered in scorch marks from the electric shocks.

His eyes were hollow yet deep, reflecting the vicissitudes of someone who had seen through the Mortal World.

"H-Holy Son?"

Zhao Wuji, buried in the dirt, sensed the aura and hurriedly called out, "Are you alright? You've suffered so much!"

Xiao Tianjiao slowly crawled up from the ground.

He didn't pay any attention to Zhao Wuji.

He didn't even look at Li Mo.

He just stared blankly at a crane flying past the window.

In his eyes, that crane was no longer just a simple bird.

It was a complex dynamic model composed of countless vector lines and mechanical formulas.

"Lift coefficient 0.8..."

"Wingspan load normal..."

"Flapping frequency 2.5 Hertz..."

"According to Bernoulli's principle, its current flight posture is a bit fuel-consuming..."

Xiao Tianjiao muttered to himself, his voice raspy yet carrying a strange calmness.

"Awake?"

Li Mo walked over and handed him a cup of water.

Xiao Tianjiao took the water and mechanically took a sip.

Then, he looked up at Li Mo.

In those eyes, there was no more hatred, no more arrogance.

There was only a kind of... convert's fanaticism.

"Teacher."

Xiao Tianjiao's voice was trembling.

"I... I still want to do problems."

"That big problem about 'Nascent Soul Spin Magnetic Moment' just now, I was kicked out before I finished calculating it..."

"Can you... let me back in?"

"I've calculated it! As long as you add an imaginary unit i, the Nascent Soul can achieve faster-than-light jumps without self-destructing!"

Dead silence.

The slap in Iron Pillar Zhao's hand froze mid-air.

Elder Zhao Wuji was even more terrified, nearly jumping out of the dirt.

He's crazy.

The Holy Son has really gone crazy.

He actually fell in love with doing problems?

Those were problems with electric torture!

Li Mo, however, patted Xiao Tianjiao's shoulder with satisfaction.

"No rush."

"Balance work and rest."

"Your theoretical level is sufficient now. Next, you need practice."

Li Mo pointed out the window.

"I heard your Zifu Holy Land's 'Purple Extreme Divine Light' is a type of high-energy particle beam?"

"Go, write a thesis."

"The title will be: 'On How to Use a Convex Lens Array to Converge Purple Extreme Divine Light into a Scalpel'."

"Once it's written, I'll release that Elder Zhao of yours."

Xiao Tianjiao's eyes lit up.

"Convex lens focusing? Right! Light is also a wave! It can be focused!"

"If it's not just focusing, but using a diffraction grating to split the light..."

"I understand! Thank you, Teacher!"

Xiao Tianjiao acted as if he had received a supreme treasure. He didn't even bother to tidy his appearance, grabbed the paper and pen from the floor, and sprawled on the table to start calculating frantically.

As he calculated, he even let out an eerie "hehehe" laugh.

"..."

Zhao Wuji watched this scene, old tears streaming down his face.

"What a sin..."

"Zifu Holy Land... is finished."

Meanwhile, Li Mo turned to look toward the mountain gate.

There, a new aura was approaching.

It was an aura that was clear, spiritual, and soft, yet carried an unignorable... aura of a top student.

"It seems the Saintess has arrived as well."

Li Mo pushed up his glasses.

"Since the Holy Son has turned into a 'Physics Maniac'."

"Then for this Saintess... should I arrange some 'Chemical Beauty' courses for her?"