48: Chapter 48 The Correct Application of Newton's Laws, and the Shadow Sect's "Cross-Server Chat"
On the plaza of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, the most bizarre scene in the history of the Cultivation World was unfolding.
The Southern Desolation Righteous Path Alliance, which not long ago had been overflowing with Killing Intent and swearing to trample the demon dens, had now completely lost their air of Senior experts, looking exactly like a group of aunties scrambling for discounted eggs at a wet market.
"Give me a copy of 'Criminal Law'! I want the hardcover edition with a jacket! Shopkeeper, do you include a Law enforcement Gavel with this?"
"Make way in front! Don't push! I want that 'Geometric Murder Arts'! I heard that after learning it, you can calculate your enemy's head directly into a triangle?"
"Sect Master Gu! Sect Master Gu, look at me! Is there any stock left for 'On How to Elegantly Scold a Heart Demon to Death'? I've been stuck at a Bottleneck for three hundred years; I need it urgently!"
Gu Canghai's wrists were twitching from counting so many Spirit Stones.
In his golden "Spirit Vision Eyes," which could see through all delusions, there were now nothing but "$$" symbols made of stacked Spirit Stones. The angle of his grin made even his own face hurt.
"We have everything! Everything! Fellow Daoists, one by one! Get in line!"
"If anyone dares to cut the line, I'll have Libationer Kong invite them to the Little Black Room to listen to 'Postpartum Care for Sows' all night long!"
The word "sow" was like a bolt of heavenly thunder.
The chaotic crowd fell silent in an instant, and every Cultivator immediately stood up straight, as well-behaved as quails waiting in line to be fed.
...
Second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
Li Mo leaned against the window, watching the group of Cultivators below who had been completely hoodwinked by him, and casually tossed the ledger aside.
Very good.
The first step of "cultural export" is complete.
"Next is the second step."
Li Mo turned around and looked at the row of brand-new bookshelves behind him.
On the nameplate at the top of the bookshelf, several gilded characters were engraved: [Comprehensive Science (Cultivation Special Edition)].
"Just lip service and Mental Seals aren't enough."
"In the end, I need to let them see what the 'iron fist' of Science looks like."
"After all, the vast majority of Cultivators in this world still believe in the philosophy that 'With enough power, even a brick can fly'."
A mischievous smile curled on Li Mo's lips as he pulled a book from the shelf.
On the cover was a drawing of an old foreign man being hit on the head by an apple—"Physics: From Introduction to the Grave."
He didn't even bother to open it, simply tearing out the title page and slowly folding it into a paper airplane.
Facing the center of the plaza, Li Mo gave a gentle puff of air and tossed the paper airplane out.
"Go, little thing."
"Let this backward Cultivation World feel Sir Newton's wrath from another dimension."
...
On the plaza.
Sect Master Wang of the Ziyang Sect had just snatched a brand-new copy of "Criminal Law" from the crowd and was stroking its hard cover as if it were the skin of a peerless beauty.
Just then, a trusted Disciple riding a Flying Sword landed unsteadily, his face pale.
"Sect Master! This is bad! That... that captured Shadow Sect branch leader 'Ghost Shadow,' he seems... he seems to be sending out a distress signal!"
"What?!"
Sect Master Wang's heart skipped a beat.
The Shadow Sect! They were the most vengeful and crazed vipers of the Southern Desolation's underworld! If their headquarters found out about the situation here and sent even more terrifying assassins... the consequences would be unimaginable!
"Don't panic."
Gu Canghai had walked over at some point, leisurely holding that cup of green Spore Tea.
He curled his lip calmly. "Mr. Li expected this long ago. It's called 'Entrapment Law Enforcement'."
Before he could finish speaking.
In the center of the plaza, that giant white cocoon made of countless legal papers, which was loudly reciting the "Convention on Civilization," suddenly began to tremble violently.
Zzzzt—!
A crack as black as ink tore through space directly above the cocoon!
An aura of despair, a hundred times colder and a thousand times more terrifying than "Ghost Shadow's," seeped from the crack, as if it wanted to dye the entire sky black.
The blood of all the Cultivators present nearly froze at this moment.
"It's Soul Transformation Perfection! No... that's not right! It's a mighty expert with one foot in the Void Refining Realm!"
"Someone from the Shadow Sect headquarters is here!"
Under everyone's gaze, a hand so pale it was bloodless slowly reached out from the crack.
Next, a figure wearing purple-gold night-traveling clothes, his face obscured by dense black mist, stepped out.
He floated in mid-air, with distorted spatial Laws beneath his feet. He looked down at the plaza, which was like a Mortal market, and a flash of extreme confusion crossed his eyes before being replaced by a wave of tyrannical Killing Intent.
This person was the Inspector of the Shadow Sect's Southern Desolation headquarters, code-named "Phantom."
"Ghost Shadow, is this what you meant by... everyone becoming demonic?"
Phantom's gaze swept over the white paper cocoon still intermittently reciting clauses, then over the breeding area in the distance where Blood Shadow (a former gold-medal assassin) was sweating profusely while delivering a sow's piglets. Finally, his gaze fell upon the group of Righteous Path Cultivators holding "Criminal Law" and "Geometry" as if they were treasures.
"A bunch of trash."
Phantom's voice was devoid of emotion, yet it stung more than a bone-scraping steel knife.
"You can't even handle a bunch of hypocrites from the Righteous Path and have fallen so low as to send a distress signal. You've completely disgraced the Shadow Sect!"
"Today, this seat shall raze this place to the ground and let the world see the consequences of provoking the Shadow Sect!"
Boom!!
Phantom raised his hand.
In an instant, all the light in the world dimmed as if absorbed by his palm.
Countless pitch-black Shadow Blades condensed behind him. The edges of each Shadow Blade were entwined with fine spatial cracks, containing terrifying power enough to slice a Nascent Soul Cultivator along with their Divine Soul into fragments.
"Die!"
With a command, a black rain of Shadow Blades tore through the air and crashed down!
Sect Master Wang and the others were completely despairing. Their Protective Aura was as fragile as a sheet of paper in the face of an attack of this level.
And at that very moment.
That light paper airplane, which looked like it would fall at any second, finally wobbled its way above Phantom's head.
"Snap."
A faint, barely audible sound.
The paper airplane suddenly unfolded, turning into a giant translucent film covering a ten-mile radius, enveloping everything within.
A cold, mechanical voice, belonging to no living creature in the world, boomed through the heavens and earth:
[Violation detected: Littering from a height.]
[Physics class is now in session.]
[Temporary rules for the current area have been set:]
[Gravitational Acceleration adjusted to one hundred times the standard value.]
[Air Resistance Coefficient increased by one thousand times.]
[All non-physical flight modes that do not comply with Aerodynamics are prohibited (including but not limited to: Sword Flight, Void Walking, and Law-based suspension).]
[Rules, in effect!]
The next second.
The expression of Phantom, who was floating in mid-air with world-dominating pressure, instantly froze.
He felt a brute force beyond comprehension seize him. It didn't come from any Spell or Divine Soul suppression, but from... the world itself rejecting him!
"What's happening? My spiritual power is flowing normally! My power of Laws is still there! Why... why can't I fly?!"
Phantom's eyes widened in terror.
He frantically activated his Escape Techniques, trying to turn into a shadow and flee, but in the face of air resistance so terrifying it felt like a solid, he was like a mosquito trapped in ten-thousand-year-old amber; even moving a finger became a luxury.
And even more terrifying was the gravity from the ground below, which had suddenly increased a hundredfold!
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Phantom let out a shrill, distorted scream.
He seemed to turn into an ordinary iron cannonball stripped of all divine abilities, falling straight down without any fanfare, perfectly following the Law of Free Fall, and crashing violently toward the ground!
It wasn't just him.
The Shadow Blades flying across the sky, originally meant to destroy everything, lost all momentum the moment the rules took effect because their flat shape seriously violated Fluid Mechanics. They fell to the ground like hail, clattering and shattering into spiritless fragments.
Boom!!!!
A world-shaking explosion!
Phantom smashed a standard star-shaped crater into the hard bluestone of the plaza.
The dust kicked up by the shockwave billowed outward.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Everyone was petrified. Their mouths hung open, eyes bulging, as they stared blankly at the half-step Void Refining expert who had been so arrogant just moments ago.
Now, he was like a flattened dead toad lying at the bottom of the crater. White foam mixed with organ fragments oozed from his mouth, and the sound of his bones snapping like roasting beans echoed from his body.
"This... just what kind of Divine Ability is this?" Sect Master Wang's voice was trembling.
From the second-floor window, Li Mo poked his head out, like a kind teacher answering questions:
"This isn't a Divine Ability; it's Science."
"According to Newton's First Law, any object remains at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. Unfortunately, the 'gravity' he just experienced was just a tiny bit too much."
"Also..."
Li Mo pointed at the crater. "Hey you, since you've fallen, stop playing dead. According to the Law of Conservation of Momentum, you just smashed my floor with such great momentum; the reaction force from the floor must have hurt quite a bit, right?"
At the bottom of the pit, Phantom struggled to lift his head. His face was covered in blood, and his eyes held nothing but pure, life-doubting confusion.
Science my ass!
Newton my ass!
I am a Cultivator! I cultivate to defy heaven and transcend Laws! Why was I crippled by something like "gravity" that only Mortal ants need to obey?!
"I... don't... accept... this..."
Phantom ground his teeth, trying to burn his essence blood to forcibly break through the blockade of this bizarre space.
"I am half-step Void Refining... I can... tear the void..."
"Oh? Such low ideological awareness and you still want to resist?"
Li Mo raised an eyebrow. "It seems one Physics lesson wasn't enough. Fine, I'll give you an extra 'optics' lesson for free."
He snapped his fingers in the air.
A brand-new copy of "Principles of Optics" flew out from the bookshelf and hovered above Phantom's head.
[Additional Rule: Light travels in a straight line. Shadows are merely dark regions formed when light is blocked by an opaque object; they possess no physical properties or offensive capabilities.]
Hum—
A beam of pure, intense light shone down from the book, illuminating the crater.
Phantom discovered with horror that his proud, life-sustaining divine abilities—"Shadow Escape Technique," "Shadow Kill Technique," "Shadow-to-Void Transformation"... all shadow-related abilities had failed at this moment.
Because under this rule, shadows were truly just shadows.
They were flat, two-dimensional physical phenomena without a shred of spiritual nature.
"My divine abilities... my Dao..."
Phantom stared deathly at the dark, no-longer-communicable shadow beneath him. His Dao Heart was crushed into powder at that moment.
"Pwah—"
He spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision went black, and he completely fainted.
"Tsk, what poor psychological resilience."
Li Mo shook his head and shouted to Gu Canghai, who was excitedly rubbing his hands below:
"Old Gu, drag this person away too."
"It just so happens our 'Abyssal Biology Research Lab' is lacking a high-level sliced specimen. A half-step Void Refining Physical Body should be... quite durable for slicing."
"You got it!"
Gu Canghai responded and led several Disciples, who were wielding gleaming scalpels manifested from "Anatomy," charging forward like wolves and tigers.
"Tie him up tight! Careful not to let him die! This is a precious S-grade experimental material!"
Watching the Inspector Phantom being dragged away like a dead dog, the tens of thousands of Righteous Path Alliance Cultivators felt a chill run from their tailbones straight to their skulls, their legs shaking like sieves.
Too barbaric.
Too unreasonable.
Regardless of whether you were Late Stage Nascent Soul or half-step Void Refining, once you arrived at the Heavenly River Sword Sect, if you were a dragon, you had to coil up, and if you were a tiger, you had to crouch.
You either faced judgment by "Criminal Law" or were sanctioned by "Newton."
"Gu... Sect Master Gu."
Sect Master Wang of the Ziyang Sect shuffled over, deathly clutching that copy of "Criminal Law" as if it were his only protective talisman.
"Um... excuse me... this book 'Physics,' is it for sale?"
Gu Canghai turned around, revealing his signature "unscrupulous merchant" smile that had bankrupted countless business rivals.
"Yes! Of course it's for sale!"
"However, 'Physics' is a high-level course of our Sect. To purchase it, you must first pass a basic level test in 'Mathematics'."
"Come, come, Brother Wang, don't be in a hurry. Here's a collector's edition of 'Five Years of Cultivation, Three Years of Simulation: Higher Math Question Bank.' Take it back and work on it. Once you finish it, not only will you be eligible to buy 'Physics,' but you'll also enjoy the special treatment of 'gravity reduction' within our Sect!"
Sect Master Wang looked at the question bank, which was thicker than a city wall brick. With tears in his eyes, his hands trembling, he accepted it with utmost solemnity.
"I'll do it... for the Great Dao... for Science... I'll do it!"
...
Nightfall.
The day that was originally fraught with peril ended in an absurd way that surpassed everyone's imagination.
The Shadow Sect not only lost their troops but also generously sponsored a high-end half-step Void Refining research material for the Heavenly River Sword Sect's laboratory.
Second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
By the moonlight, Li Mo used the spring and autumn brush to write today's summary in the dragon vein heavenly book.
[Today's Battle Report:]
[Crushed the Shadow Sect rescue team and captured one high-level experimental subject, 'Phantom'.]
[All members of the Righteous Path Alliance initially converted into faithful believers of 'Scientific Cultivation'.]
[Scripture Pavilion 'Physics Rules' coverage test successful.]
[Current Fear Value: Overflowing.]
[Current SAN Value: Dropping rapidly for everyone, with a tendency toward over-interpretation.]
After finishing, Li Mo stopped writing and gazed out the window at the deep night sky.
Although the situation seemed excellent, the faint sense of unease in his heart grew stronger instead.
Just now, at the moment Phantom tore through the void, he had smelled a very weak but incredibly pure scent of "decay" from behind that crack.
That wasn't the scent of the Abyss.
That was... the scent of the Central Province's "Heavenly Dao."
"The force behind the Shadow Sect is probably not that simple."
Li Mo muttered to himself, "They can tear through space at will and seem unaffected by the 'Eldritch Revival' of the Southern Desolation... unless they themselves are the agents of some higher rule."
Just then.
An inconspicuous transmission Jade Slip on the corner of the table lit up silently.
This was a backup measure Li Mo had quietly left on Gu Canghai when he made him "trip on flat ground" last time, specifically for eavesdropping on the Sect's highest-level intelligence.
From the other end of the Jade Slip came the deliberately lowered voices of Gu Canghai and Su Qianqian.
"Saintess Su, are you certain... that the 'Sky-Scanning Mirror' from the Central Province has already locked onto the Southern Desolation?"
"Absolutely certain. My teacher at the Jixia Academy headquarters sent a message at the risk of their life... Because the rule changes in the Southern Desolation are too violent, the Heavenly Dao's will has determined that an 'uncontrollable BUG' has appeared here."
"Then... how do those above plan to handle it?"
"According to the Heavenly Dao's custom... if a BUG appears, then it needs..."
"'Formatting'."
"In other words... a World-Extinguishing Lightning Tribulation."
Hearing this, Li Mo's finger tapped lightly on the table.
"World-Extinguishing Lightning Tribulation?"
A cold arc slowly curled on the corner of his mouth.
"Perfect. In my script outline, the preview title for Volume Three is—'If You Don't Listen, I'll Change the Script'."
"Since the Heavenly Dao wants to format my hard drive..."
Li Mo stood up, picked up the brush named "Spring and Autumn," and made a light stroke toward the endless void.
"Then I'll first plant a 'W32.Worm.Panda' virus into its System."
The light in his eyes was brighter than ever before.
"Xiao Hei, get ready to work."
"This time, the opponent isn't a mushroom, nor is it an assassin."
"It's the Heavens themselves."