118: Chapter 118 Qi Yuan's Thesis

The morning in the Imperial Capital leaked down through the pale golden refraction of the aurora sky canopy.

Qi Yuan set his third cup of coffee down next to the stack of calculation drafts.

The cup was already empty.

He hadn't even noticed.

Floating on the holographic screen was the final draft of a paper he had just finished writing. The title was in the standard size-two bold font of the Truth Sanctuary: "Hypothesis on Bidirectional Magic Anchoring Based on Stellar-Level Energy Collapse." The first author was Researcher Yun Zhi, and the corresponding author was Qi Yuan.

He had discussed it with Researcher Yun Zhi on the forum until three in the morning. Every reply from that seventh-tier researcher hit precisely on the points where his deductions had stalled. The Abelian cluster theta function, the compactification boundary of the moduli space, the second-order cohomology of the phase angle—every parameter felt as if someone had gone ahead and marked all the dead ends in the maze with red crosses for him.

Qi Yuan had reviewed thousands of papers in his lifetime, and the researchers he had scolded to tears could fill an entire classroom, yet he had never used the term "Teacher" for anyone.

Today, however, he had made an exception.

"...I'll post it in the group first and let them be envious, haha."

Qi Yuan pressed the send button.

The destination was not the Truth Sanctuary forum. It was an encrypted group chat that only ninth-tier Card Creators could enter. The group name was simple, just two words: [Ninth-Tier Discussion Group].

The core deliberative layer of the Truth Sanctuary.

There were fewer than thirty people in the entire world who could join this group.

There were no disciples or irrelevant personnel in the group. Behind every member's avatar hung a ninth-tier certification badge. Every sentence discussed here could, within a few days, turn into a blockbuster paper that would change the landscape of the Card Creation academic world or a strategic decision that could overturn the war situation in the Abyss. Only the most core ninth-tier members of the Truth Sanctuary could speak here.

Su Bai was also not in it; Su Bai was in another chat group, one with more juniors.

At this moment, Qi Yuan's paper had been sent for less than ten seconds.

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [?]

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [Old Qi, when did you learn how to use PDF formatting? The list of materials you sent me last time was still a photo of your handwriting.]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [Look at the abstract first.]

About ten-something seconds passed again.

[Phantom Sovereign] Phantom Sovereign: [@Qi Yuan Stellar-level energy collapse? Bidirectional magic anchoring? Weren't you just scolding War Emperor Wei Potian last night for being deceived? How did you come up with a new theory overnight... Wait, the first author is a seventh-tier? Interesting, are you mentoring someone?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [It's not mentoring; this person is indeed a master with real skill, and my involvement this time was also a matter of chance. I ran into a genius on the forum last night... Simply put, her name is Researcher Yun Zhi—a seventh-tier researcher at the Materials Institute. The flow-sensing membrane concept she proposed pierced right through the underlying logic of bidirectional mass-energy conversion. I just helped her complete the deduction for the energy collapse part.]

[Phantom Sovereign] Phantom Sovereign: [No wonder she's listed as the first author, but you have the nerve to post this paper when it's all someone else's theory.]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [She told me to post it!]

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [You let a seventh-tier chew up a theory and feed it to you, Old Qi, where is your shame?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [Let's put the paper aside for a moment. Look at Chapter 3—if the stellar-level collapse framework can run stably, theoretically, any form of magic output can be anchored at a fixed rate within a fixed time period. No need for equal-tier materials, no need for equivalent exchange, just use the collapse energy as a springboard!]

The group was quiet for about five seconds.

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [...Say that again. No need for equivalent exchange?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [No need... Strictly speaking, it's not that it doesn't need equivalent exchange, it's just that it's like nuclear fusion, converting energy at a higher rate.]

[Phantom Sovereign] Phantom Sovereign: [What about the rate limit?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [Theoretically, there is no limit, as long as the heat dissipation problem of the collapse core can be solved. Preliminary calculations—a dozen-fold increase in a short time is not a problem.]

Silence again.

This silence was longer than before.

Breaking the silence was someone who didn't usually speak much in the group—the ninth-tier intermediate [Master of the Ice Prison] Han Shuang, the Master of the Ice Prison. Her avatar was a block of frozen black rock.

[Master of the Ice Prison] Han Shuang, the Master of the Ice Prison: [Qi Yuan, are you sure the core framework of this paper can be put into actual combat?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [I am sure.]

[Master of the Ice Prison] Han Shuang, the Master of the Ice Prison: [How long until a finished product?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [The framework is already there, what's missing is the adaptation object. I intend to use this theory to help War Emperor Wei Potian's daughter, Wei Xiaoyu, build a system card. As for materials—I already had my assistant go to the cold storage to retrieve the Abyss Soul-Devouring Core last night. But how should I put it... It feels like although the theory is very perfect, it seems to be missing something, as if this theory is just a part of something destined. But that's just my feeling, haha.]

Lu Chen's message was returned almost instantly.

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [Wei Xiaoyu? That Wei Xiaoyu who scolded all the Card Creators away?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [Yes.]

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [Old Qi, are you sure you aren't digging a pit for your own disciple?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [I'm not stupid. The National Competition prohibits ninth-tier participants, but it doesn't prohibit disciples from participating.]

He paused. His fingers typed rapidly on the keyboard.

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [My eldest disciple, Shen Ye. A peak fifth-tier, specializing in materials science and system card encapsulation. He published three core papers in the "Card Creation Journal" last year. His level is no less than any fifth-tier Card Creator. Letting him go and help Wei Xiaoyu make a system card is legitimate, and it can also be considered repaying War Emperor Wei Potian a favor.]

[Phantom Sovereign] Phantom Sovereign: [Shen Ye? The same Shen Ye who was scolded to tears by you seven times?]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [A strict teacher produces brilliant students, haha.]

[Heavy Armored Dharma Emperor] Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: [The brilliant student has psychological trauma from being scolded by you.]

[Deconstructor of All Things] Qi Yuan: [That is tempering.]

The group was full of laughter, the atmosphere as hot as if they were holding an annual meeting.

Qi Yuan leaned back in his chair, watching the screen full of congratulations and praise, the curve of his mouth impossible to suppress no matter how hard he tried. He picked up his fourth cup of coffee and blew on the [Stellar-Level Energy Collapse] line on the screen.

The National Competition champion.

He couldn't take it.

But his disciple could.

With this theory plus Shen Ye's craftsmanship, helping the War Emperor's daughter customize a set of system cards—never mind the top eight, even the top three was stable. If they were a bit luckier, the championship wasn't out of the question.

The reason he didn't lean towards first place wasn't that Qi Yuan was cautious, but that the National Competition was indeed full of strong competitors, and he always felt that this theory seemed to be just the tip of the iceberg of the whole thing.

Relying solely on the whole theory, while it could produce decent things, was still missing something; the rest actually depended on individual performance. This was also the reason why Qi Yuan wanted to send his disciple to fight; let the disciple do the rest according to his own ideas, which could also be considered a kind of true tempering.

Thinking of this...

"Shen Ye."

Qi Yuan shouted outside the laboratory.

A young man in his early thirties poked his head in from outside the door. Under his eyes hung two dark circles even more severe than Researcher Yun Zhi's. He was still clutching a pair of smoking experimental tongs in his hand.

"Master, are you calling me?"

"Drop all the projects on hand. From today on, go all out to prepare for the National Competition. Help War Emperor Wei Potian's daughter make a system card. Use the new theory I just posted last night."

"...Wei Xiaoyu? That—"

"Yes. Any problems?"

Shen Ye was silent for a moment.

"Master, I heard that young lady scolded away over a dozen Card Creators... And last night I heard that War Emperor Wei Potian said someone was already helping Wei Xiaoyu make cards?"

"That's because their level wasn't enough, and that person's background was unknown, and War Emperor Wei Potian didn't seem too satisfied either; it still requires us to step in." Qi Yuan waved his hand. "You can rest assured, take this theory, can she still scold you?"

Shen Ye looked at the paper on the screen, his lips moved, wanting to say something. In the end, he only squeezed out two words.

"...Okay, Master."