Chapter 95: Third Divine Eye

"The things you said during the day are quite interesting."

In the dream world, Nadixa sat on the swing and said to Luo De, who was reading a book.

Since leaving Xu Mi Cheng,

Luo De could no longer force his way into the dream world by sleeping; he could only rely on that leaf to have Nadixa pull him in.

"How come? The Academy doesn't have this saying?"

Hearing Nadixa's words, Luo De put down his book, looked at her, and asked.

"Being a student of Shituoduo is better; at least there are dedicated instructors teaching."

"Students like those from Diliyesi usually follow traditional large-class lectures and self-study, everyone the same; indeed, no one says education needs to be tailored to the individual."

Nadixa's described learning method sounded very familiar to Luo De.

Isn't that just the normal way university students study?

"This isn't a normal teaching method; my hometown is like that too."

Luo De showed no particular surprise: "What I said about education needing to be tailored to the individual is aimed at parents, not schools—whose school isn't like this uniform teaching? Could teachers really give each student private tutoring? How many teachers would that take, how much educational resources would be wasted!"

Having said that, he fell into nostalgia again: "Ah, thinking back to when I was in school, I had classes five days a week and rested two days."

"Students with ambition would often go to the library to study and read in their free time."

"Someone like me, who just slacks off, only needs to pass exams each semester; my free time is spent on entertainment—playing games, going out for team-building, dating, whatever—basically doing whatever I want freely."

Speaking of entertainment.

Luo De curiously asked: "By the way, with the Academy's attitude toward art, how do its students relax when they're on break?"

This seemed like a very hard question to answer; Nadixa fell silent for a long while before muttering: "Writing papers, reading books, researching projects."

"Huh?"

Luo De's expression instantly matched that of an old man on the subway; he frowned and said, "Isn't this treating people like machines?"

"Maybe it's because graduating is too hard."

Nadixa's face grew much dimmer: "Because of me, the Academy has long been stuck in a stagnant state in acquiring knowledge."

Before she could finish, Luo De cut her off: "Stop! You're starting again, aren't you?"

Nadixa didn't reply.

Looking at her, Luo De spoke in a tone of exasperation: "I think I scolded you lightly last time; what does the Academy's difficulty in graduating have to do with you?"

"Oh, are you suggesting that because you can't save the World Tree, the sages set such high graduation requirements to gain as much knowledge as possible, hoping these outstanding graduates will help themselves further in their pursuit of knowledge?"

"Pure nonsense."

Luo De scoffed: "Obviously it's those sages being greedily insatiable; what does that have to do with you?"

"But."

After being lectured by Luo De again, Nadixa wasn't angry this time, just feeling a bit low.

"You..."

Luo De sighed.

Feeling pity for his misfortune, angry at his lack of fight.

He now basically understands what this phrase really means.

Nadixa's current state truly exemplifies the explanation of those eight characters to the fullest.

"I've heard a few sayings before."

"Knowledge is the bait floating in the sea of ignorance; life has always been the purpose, wisdom the means."

"God of Wisdom, could you explain this to me?"

This was originally a passage from game flavor text; Luo De now passed it on to Nadixa unchanged.

"Knowledge is the bait floating in the sea of ignorance; life has always been the purpose, wisdom the means."

Nadixa repeated the passage once.

Then.

She repeated it again, her eyes gradually brightening as if she had some realization.

Luo De also timely added his own understanding of the passage from the side.

"The Academy has gone down the wrong path."

"They treat the pursuit of wisdom as the goal, rather than a means to improve people's livelihoods—that is, they haven't turned science and technology into productive forces."

"In pursuit of wisdom, they've become obsessed, reaching the point of going berserk."

"Why have they set up so many obstacles, making it hard for students to graduate smoothly?"

"Is it really because those students are unqualified?"

"Let me give a simple example."

"The Knowledge School's now-abolished graduation condition of mastering twenty languages."

"Although it's been abolished now, wasn't this condition at least in place a hundred years ago?"

"Indeed, the Knowledge School studies linguistics, ancient scripts, and semiotics, requiring a vast knowledge reserve; so why was this condition abolished now?"

Nadixa didn't answer.

Luo De spoke for her: "Because it's useless, right? Since most of the languages they learn are completely unusable, this condition not only makes it hard for Knowledge School students to graduate, but also deters new entrants from choosing that school, so the Academy abolished the rule."

"Then, the question arises."

"Why did the Academy originally establish this graduation requirement?"

"This time."

Nadixa did not remain silent; instead, with a complex expression, she replied: "Because I have learned more languages, I am able to reach the wisdom that the Academy has not yet obtained."

"You see, right? You think the same way."

"The Academy has fallen into a vicious circle."

"They treat the pursuit of wisdom as the goal, and to achieve this goal they can resort to any means."

"Including."

"Killing a god."

When he spoke to this point, Luo De saw Nadixa's body visibly tremble.

It wasn't from fear.

But rather, he felt alarmed by the Academy's boldness.

Although she had not yet discovered any sign that the Academy was attempting to kill a god up to now, when combined with what Luo De had previously said to her in the dream world and the sages' indifferent attitude toward her...

Nadixa suddenly felt, out of the blue, that the Academy might actually be preparing to do this!

She took a deep breath.

The still somewhat confused Nadixa's facial expression returned to normal, and she frowned as she looked at Luo De, seriously asking: "What do you think true wisdom should be like?"

When she asked this.

Nadixa did not regard herself as an omniscient and omnipotent wisdom deity; she merely saw herself as a student eager for knowledge, her attitude both proper and solemn.

This exactly fit that saying.

【Knowledge is the bait floating in the sea of ignorance.】

Faced with unknown knowledge, there is no divine status; there is only Nadixa, thirsty for knowledge.

"Cough—cough—"

In response, Luo De cleared his throat and spoke a passage containing his own understanding: "Knowledge is the means and method to improve people's livelihood, a tool that transforms science and technology into productivity; in my view, this is what wisdom is."

Same as usual.

Nadixa repeated it twice, then immediately nodded, etching these words firmly into her heart.

This isn't over yet.

Luo De, sitting opposite her, began again to list the Academy's current transgressions.

"The current Academy, besides obsessively pursuing knowledge, has also divided the knowledge that ought to belong to all Sumeru people into categories; each person can only learn the knowledge assigned to them by the Void, like farmers only able to learn farming knowledge, artisans only able to learn crafting knowledge, with hardly any other avenues to learn knowledge."

"Even to prevent the circulation of knowledge, they have banned books, forcibly fixing everyone at their current stage."

"Everyone says effort can change fate."

"But under the Academy's such control, is effort really useful?"

Luo De mercilessly pulled off the Academy's fig leaf, sharply pointing to the consequences of its forcible control of knowledge.

Then he continued on the previous topic, expressing his view: "Why does the Academy do this? Why must it divide people into ranks? Why not allow everyone to learn the knowledge they ought to have?"

"Probably because they have already treated knowledge as their private property; the wisdom they pursue has long since deviated from the original intention of the Great Merciful Tree King when he founded the Academy."

"In theory."

"This should be called the sin of blasphemy against a god."

As the four words "blasphemy against a god" fell, Nadixa couldn't help but sigh.

Is that all?

From the moment they imprisoned me, they have already been committing blasphemy.

I understand what you mean.

At this moment, Nadixa's eyes had regained clarity; she no longer agonized over whether it was her own fault that caused the Academy to become so obsessed.

Luo De is right.

The Academy is no longer what it once was.

The original intention of the Great Merciful Tree King when he founded the Academy was to let his knowledge shine and spread, through this organization, to branch out and flourish in Sumeru.

But now the Academy has forcibly seized this knowledge that ought to belong to the Sumeru people, causing it to be completely unused where it should be.

This is not my fault.

But the Academy's problem.

Wanting to change this problem.

One should not look for faults in oneself, but rather have the Academy conduct a thorough self-examination!

After figuring this out,

Nadixa suddenly felt a sense of sudden enlightenment; the gloom that had previously weighed on her head was blown away in an instant, and the paths that had once left her utterly confused now became clear.

Thank you, Luo De.

This is already who-knows-how-many times Luo De has come to enlighten me.

Speaking of this, Nadixa herself feels a bit embarrassed.

She is clearly a deity.

Yet she repeatedly needs Luo De, a mortal, to give her guidance.

And if it weren't for him, she would still be constantly denying herself, constantly seeking to catch up to the Great Merciful Tree King.

Wait a moment.

Mortal?

After finishing her thanks, Nadixa stared for a moment, tilting her head to look at Luo De again and again.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

Luo De, feeling his scalp tingle from being looked at, lowered his gaze to examine himself.

There's nothing wrong with me.

They are all normal.

"I will temporarily sever the dream world to properly digest the knowledge you taught me today."

"Hmm, that."

"When you go out, remember to check your body to see if anything extra has appeared."

Having said that, before Luo De could even ask, Nadixa directly closed the dream world, forcibly ejecting Luo De's consciousness.

"Ouch—"

Consciousness returned to reality; the forcibly ejected Luo De suddenly sat up, rubbing his temples slightly in pain.

This feeling of being forcibly severed is unpleasant; my head is buzzing.

"Right, what extra thing do I have on me?"

Recalling what Nadixa had said earlier, Luo De felt around everywhere.

Nothing on his body.

But under the pillow he felt something that made his face change involuntarily.

It was a grass-green Vision.

It was also Luo De's third Vision.

(End of chapter)