170: Holy Land Alliance and the "Cloud Learning" Competition

The diverse "reverse research" of the various Holy Lands, each showing off their unique Divine Abilities, had achieved only sporadic, coincidental "results," exposing a fatal flaw—scattered power and fighting in isolation.

The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's Sign Interpretation and the Myriad Grass Valley's "Warning Grass" data could not be integrated, and the "Dao Rhyme Records" of the Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion were difficult to compare with the observations of other Holy Lands.

Everyone was fumbling in the dark, occasionally touching something, but unable to piece together the complete picture, let alone compare it with the systematic, data-driven "visitor network" intelligence of the Logic Federation.

This sense of helplessness and urgency prompted the leaders of several of the most influential Holy Lands to sit down together once again.

"Fighting alone is ultimately a poor strategy." The Master of Heavenly Secrets Pavilion looked around at everyone, his tone heavy. "The Logic Federation succeeds because of its national strength and systematic scientific investment. If we continue to be this scattered, I fear we won't even be able to drink the soup."

"The Pavilion Master is absolutely right." The Master of Wan Cao Gu nodded in agreement. "Although my valley's 'Warning Grass' has slight reactions, without other corroborating evidence, it is difficult to determine its true meaning. If we could combine the deductions of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and the listening of the Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion, perhaps we could glimpse more of the truth."

Savage Bone of the Fierce Beast Star Domain, though not very interested in research, grunted: "Even fighting requires coordination, so naturally, we must join forces for research! Our Star Domain might not be good at other things, but putting in effort and doing some 'field exploration' is no problem!"

His so-called field exploration meant sending people to wander closer to the borders of the Cloud Court to sense the changes in rules with their Physical Body...

The representative of the Mind Realm also said softly: "The resonance of the mind might be able to capture subtle nuances that logic and deduction cannot reach. I am willing to share my insights with everyone."

After some discussion, a loose "Cloud Court Phenomenon Research Joint Association" (privately referred to as the "Cloud Study Research Alliance") was quietly established.

The Alliance aimed to promote information sharing, resource complementarity, and methodological exchange among the various Holy Lands, collectively responding to the pressure of the "intelligence advantage" brought by the Logic Federation.

The first measure after the establishment of the Alliance was to build a shared "Cloud Study Observation Database."

Each Holy Land would enter all information that might be related to the Cloud Court—regardless of how absurd it seemed—such as observed Dao Rhyme fluctuations, Warning Grass status, Dao Rhyme records, and even the vague insights of Disciples, for Alliance members to cross-reference and analyze.

The second measure was to hold regular "Cloud Study Seminars." Each meeting was hosted by one Holy Land to exchange recent "research results," discuss abnormal phenomena, and even... debate which research method was closer to the "Truth of the Dao."

These seminars often started with serious academic discussions and eventually devolved into heated arguments between factions about which was superior: "science" or "metaphysics," making the scene quite lively.

Long Qianyuan once snuck invisibly above a seminar, listening to a group of white-haired Holy Land Leaders arguing until they were red in the face over a chicken-and-egg question like "Does the Dao Rhyme fluctuation affect the Warning Grass, or does the Warning Grass predict the Dao Rhyme fluctuation?" and he nearly choked with laughter.

"These old pedants are getting more and more interesting." He went back to share what he had seen with Nie Li. "I think they formed this 'Cloud Study Alliance' not to do research, but to find a place to argue."

Nie Li said indifferently: "A hundred schools of thought contending can also enlighten wisdom. It is better than working behind closed doors or attacking each other."

The establishment of the Alliance did indeed improve the research efficiency (or rather, the efficiency of arguing) of the Holy Lands to a certain extent.

Through data sharing, they successfully "verified" several previously doubtful observation results. Although they still could not understand the underlying causes, it at least enhanced their mutual "confidence."

However, wherever there are people, there is Jianghu, and wherever there is an Alliance, there is... involution.

Soon, a silent competition began within the "Cloud Study Research Alliance"—competing to see whose "research results" were more hardcore and whose "understanding" of the Cloud Court was more profound.

The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, relying on its deep foundation of deduction and the preliminary "verification" of the Sign Interpretation, implicitly considered itself the leader.

The Myriad Grass Everlasting Spring Valley, relying on its "biological monitoring network" spread across various floating islands, grasped a large amount of first-hand environmental change data and had significant say.

Although the Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion's methods were esoteric, the legend of that "Koi-Attracting Immortal Sound" gave them a layer of mysterious halo, and they had many followers.

Although the Fierce Beast Star Domain didn't have any decent research results, Savage Bone declared: "Whoever's research needs bodyguards... uh, needs protection, our Star Domain will cover it!" It still occupied a place by virtue of its strength.

In order to gain more say and resource allocation in the Alliance, the various Holy Lands increased their investment in "Cloud Study" research.

The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion set up the "Cloud Phenomenon Research Institute," the Myriad Grass Valley established the "Dao Rhyme Ecological Observation Center," and the Thousand Illusions Sound and Rhythm Mansion started the "Heavenly Dao Sound and Rhythm Laboratory"... The names were more resounding than the last, and the research projects all sounded high-end.

This trend even affected the Disciples. In the past, Disciples compared cultivation, combat power, and Alchemy or artifact crafting levels.

Now, whoever could offer a "unique insight" into the cloud court dao rhyme, or who could cultivate a particularly sensitive "Warning Grass," could gain higher prestige and resource rewards within the Sect.

For a time, "Cloud Study" became the most popular "prominent study" in the Holy Lands.

Scientists from the Logic Federation also vaguely perceived the movements of the Holy Land Alliance and their research System based on "metaphysics" through the "visitor network." Dr. Li and others found this both amusing and alarming.

"Although their methods lack a rigorous logical foundation, it is undeniable that in some aspects, especially in the capture of 'holistic' and 'intuitive' information, they may have their unique merits." Dr. Li reminded in an internal meeting, "We cannot completely ignore it. Perhaps, in our 'scientific' models, we also need to appropriately introduce some... um, 'fuzzy logic' and 'holism' considerations?"

Consequently, the research direction of the Logic Federation, beyond pure "scientific rationality," quietly incorporated a trace of thinking on the "metaphysical holistic view."

They began to try to use more complex Systems theory and Chaos theory to understand the flow of Dao Rhyme, and even referred to the Holy Land's Sign Interpretation to establish some probability-based "Cloud Court behavior prediction models."

Although the accuracy of the models was still pitifully low, it at least represented an expansion of ideas.

Cloud Court, Star Gazing Hall.

Yun Feng took in the arguments of the Holy Land Alliance, the models of the Logic Federation, and the Golden Koi still diligently "learning."

In front of him, a constantly changing "chart" naturally condensed from Chaos Qi appeared at some point.

On the chart, logical lines representing science, points of light representing cultivation insights, rule networks representing artifact spirits, and strange ripples representing the unique "translation" signals of the Golden Koi were intertwined.

"Ten thousand streams rush, all heading to the sea." He tapped the chart lightly with his fingertips, and all the lines and light points brightened slightly, then returned to their original state.

"It's just that this sea can accommodate a hundred rivers, and it can also distinguish between clear and turbid."

His gaze fell back to the Pond.

That Golden Koi seemed to have sensed the arguments of the Holy Land Alliance and the new models of the Logic Federation.

It stopped interacting with the "interaction crystal" and instead spat out a bubble towards the Void Realm (in the direction of the Holy Land Alliance seminar and the Eye of Logic).

Inside one bubble, the comical images of several Holy Land Leaders glaring at each other during their argument were vaguely reflected; inside the other bubble was a simplified, mocking stream of Logic Federation prediction model code.

The two bubbles floated up, then collided in the air, bursting simultaneously with a "pop," turning into starlight carrying a hint of mockery, and dissipated.

The Golden Koi flicked its tail, as if it had completed a prank, and contentedly sank to the bottom of the water to continue its "learning."

Outside the Cloud Court, the grand and bizarre competition surrounding "Understanding the Cloud Court" was still going on fiercely in its own way.

The boundary between science and metaphysics was further blurred, cooperation and competition coexisted, and the center of everything—the Cloud Court itself—remained aloof, like an eternal puzzle, waiting for the pair of eyes that could truly understand it.