Chapter 3: Time Capsule

"Chen Jiaoshou, cutting meat again?"

"Why are you drenched in rain again?" Chen Jiaoshou lifted his gaze from behind his Mobile Phone for a moment, his voice mild. "The Great Exam is coming up soon. It's best not to run around during this period, and don't eat outside either, to avoid getting sick. Yuanzhou has been very dangerous lately; don't wander around outside."

"Oh my! Rare!"

"..."

Professor Chen buried his head back down, too lazy to pay him any mind, and focused on his Mobile Phone, only his voice coming out: "What I told you before, about adding Uncle Shi Qian on instant messaging, did you add him?"

"Added."

"Did you talk?"

"Said a couple of things."

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask him."

"Got it."

Chen Shu walked back to his room and lay down on the bed.

His room was very tidy because there wasn't much in it to begin with, though many books were scattered on the coffee table on the balcony, and the trash can contained quite a few crumpled-up notebook pages. A desk stood by the wall; the books on the desk were neatly stacked, and there was also a computer.

Chen Shu picked up a physics textbook, flipped through it twice, and felt a bit bored.

Having come to a fantasy world, to find that one still has to study physics—would you say that's infuriating or not?

Yet, that is the reality. Although this is a fantasy world where Spirit Power and cultivation exist, the physical laws of the previous world are still applicable. The Creator did not deprive people of the power to utilize physical laws just because they can cultivate and use Spirit Power and Runes; instead, the two are combined, making the technology tree of this world even more vast and perfect.

Thus, this world simultaneously possesses the physical technology of Earth and the Spirit Power Rune technology unique to them.

For example, the small cars running on the ground outside—any that have wheels are essentially electric vehicles, only the energy is stored in the form of Spirit Power, and when used, it is converted from Spirit Power into electricity, providing very long range. But the lights overhead are different; they are pure Spirit Power lightbulbs, where Luminous Runes use Spirit Power directly to emit light, simple and durable. The Runes themselves do not break, nor do they suffer from performance degradation.

In short, one chooses the best of both.

Chen Shu held the book, unable to really get into it.

Just now, while flipping through that set of practice questions at Ning Qing's place, he had understood the vast majority of them in an instant, but he had also seen some truly tricky ones, some of which looked extremely difficult at first glance. The content related to Spells always held a much stronger attraction for him than the physics book in his hands.

The more he thought about it, the itchier he felt.

The usual Chen Shu was a relatively lazy person; when he didn't encounter a problem, he would let it be, but once he did, if he didn't think it through, he would be uncomfortable for a long time. And if he successfully solved it or figured it out, he would feel a great sense of accomplishment.

"Not reading anymore."

Chen Shu tossed the physics book aside, simply rolled over and got up, turned on the computer, opened his notebook, picked up a fountain pen, and began to solve the problems.

The sky gradually darkened, the sound of rain pattering.

He ate dinner in between.

The notebook grew a few pages thinner.

Half-thinking and half-searching, he basically solved all the problems. For one that he truly couldn't figure out and couldn't find online, he went to ask Teacher Shi Qian, taking the opportunity to build rapport as well.

Teacher Shi Qian was a former university classmate of Chen Jiaoshou, and Chen Shu had met him once when he was very young.

Both had studied history at Yujing Academy, which is one of the best higher education institutions in Yiguo, and due to this country's cultural status internationally, it is basically one of the best institutions in the world as well. Later, Chen Jiaoshou followed a professional path and returned to his hometown of Yuanzhou, now becoming a history professor at Yuanzhou Academy and one of the most famous history scholars in the country. Shi Qian remained at Yujing Academy to teach, though his teaching direction was not the History Department, but the Ancient Cultivation Department.

Chen Shu intended to get into Yujing Academy and wanted to apply for Spell Principles Study; by then, Shi Qian would very likely be his teacher.

"Comfortable!"

Chen Shu rested for a while, and when his Mobile Phone alarm went off, he hurriedly sat cross-legged on the bed.

Now was the daily cultivation time.

The levels of cultivators in this world are divided into nine stages.

This is not an artificial division, but a very natural one—

Before a cultivator embarks on the path of cultivation, they need a long preparatory process of becoming familiar with and controlling Spirit Power. Only after the preparation is complete can they attempt to open the Spirit Sea. One can only be called a formal cultivator after successfully opening the Spirit Sea.

But after the Spirit Sea is successfully opened, its volume does not grow linearly with cultivation, so cultivators will reach a bottleneck during their gradual progress and must expand the Spirit Sea again.

This is a difficult process.

Each time it is expanded, the Spirit Sea grows larger.

Furthermore, when the Spirit Sea is successfully expanded, one will hear a sound like metal, which is why the restriction on the Spirit Sea is also known as the Spirit Sea Lock.

Advancing is the process of breaking through the lock. In ancient times, it often required a massive amount of time to slowly grind it away. Only a few outstanding disciples of major sects could obtain the assistance of heavenly treasures and miraculous pills, greatly saving the time and energy spent grinding away the Spirit Sea Lock—one step ahead, every step ahead.

Each time it is expanded, it is considered an advancement of one stage.

It is said that one can break through the lock at most nine times.

In ancient times, the nine-grade official rank system was popular across dynasties, so cultivators also adopted the nine-grade system. Ninth grade was the lowest, and First Grade was the highest. Back then, whatever grade of cultivator you were, you could basically enjoy the social status of an official of that same grade in this country.

But one must never underestimate the imperial officials; in ancient times, the unified central imperial court was basically the most powerful force on this planet, and no one dared to say they were unconvinced.

In modern times, the nine-grade system was abolished and replaced by the nine-stage system, with First Tier being the lowest and Ninth Stage being the highest.

Chen Shu is currently at the peak of the Second Tier.

It is worth mentioning that this world does not have the saying "cultivation starts from childhood," though martial arts does have this saying.

There are two main reasons.

First is the physiological reason: Research shows that the Spirit Sea lies between the body and the Spirit Soul, and the Spirit Soul, like the body, needs to develop slowly over time. Only a mature Spirit Soul and body can open a mature and healthy Spirit Sea. In ancient times, people discovered the rule that being too young and rushing to open the Spirit Sea would not work; one should properly lay a solid foundation during childhood.

Second is the psychological reason: Opening the Spirit Sea is extremely painful—it is a pain that goes deep into the Spirit Soul, which is not conducive to a child's physical and mental development. Moreover, people whose minds have not yet fully developed may not necessarily be able to control and utilize the powerful strength brought by cultivation well. Pure kindness and pure evil often both originate from children.

There are also some minor reasons.

Generally, people believe that the most suitable age range for opening the Spirit Sea is between eighteen and twenty-two for males, and seventeen and twenty for females.

The vast majority of people in Yiguo lay a foundation before university and learn some cultural, mathematical, and theoretical knowledge related to cultivation, only attempting to open the Spirit Sea after entering university.

One important reason for this is that after entering a public university, one will receive a free Spirit Sea Opening Auxiliary Agent, paid for by the Government. With current technology, the Spirit Sea Opening Auxiliary Agent is much more reliable than those miraculous pills of ancient times. As long as the foundation is laid properly and one passes the test, the probability of successfully opening the Spirit Sea is higher than ninety-seven percent, saving a large amount of time spent on bitter grinding, and there are almost no subsequent side effects. Even if one experiences discomfort due to individual physical constitution at the time, there are specialized teachers in the school to escort and protect you.

At this time, one is about 20 years old.

Although Chen Shu is currently not yet at the Third Tier, he can already be said to be far ahead of his peers.

It's just that he feels a bit of heartache over the self-funded Spirit Sea Opening Potion.

Oh, wait, I'm not the one paying for it?

Then it's fine.

In terms of cultivation methods, the modern era has already become extremely advanced. Countless experts have exhausted their heart's blood to synthesize the strengths of a hundred schools, taking out all the foundational principles and non-transferable secrets of the major ancient sects and factions as references. Even any merits found in foreign cultivation methods have been incorporated, and combined with modern advanced theories, the result is this Modern Cultivation Spirit Method based on the Ancient Secret Sect Cultivation Spirit Method.

And it is still constantly updating and iterating.

Chen Shu has only come into contact with the first two tiers, and the effect is super great.

It was around midnight.

Chen Shu exited his cultivation state. At this moment, his mind was extremely exhausted, as if his Spirit Soul had also withered; there was not a hint of a comfortable feeling.

Immediately, he took out a crystal shimmering with strange colors and injected the vast majority of his Spirit Power into this crystal.

The Spirit Sea that had just been filled became empty once again.

"Uncomfortable."

Cultivation in this world is just tiring and dull. It is neither like the novels he read in his past life, where sitting in meditation is more comfortable than playing poker and one loses track of time, nor is it like a game where one can see the progress bar grow with every session of cultivation. Effort without perceived gain is the hardest to endure.

The maximum time anyone can cultivate each day is only about four hours, regardless of cultivation level. High-level Practitioners have higher efficiency, but the time remains the same.

Therefore, one must persist every day, using habit to offset the psychological resistance toward it, and using endorphins to smooth out the torment it brings; one cannot slack off for a single day.

Speaking of which, the reason why cultivators in this world are called cultivators, and why the cultivation system makes Chen Shu feel familiar, has to do with the Shengzu Emperor from five thousand years ago—

In the process of completing the creation of this civilization, while creating the written language and culture, the Shengzu Emperor also incidentally used a large number of terms familiar to Chen Shu to describe the "supernatural system" that exists in this world, making it sound just like the content Chen Shu had seen on the internet before. But when it comes to the substance, there are many places that contradict Chen Shu's understanding.

……

Monday, morning.

Bai City Seventh Talent Academy, Grade Four Class One, second to last row against the wall.

This is the best Talent Academy in all of Yuanzhou, roughly equivalent to a combination of high school and university from his past life, referred to as Talent Academy, with a four-year system. The class Chen Shu is in is the best class in the whole school. In this world, there is no such thing as nearsightedness, and even in the key class, no one is noisy; seating is arranged entirely by height.

"Modern history is the top priority!

"It's definitely on the exam!

"Especially the few people I mentioned, these few—you've all seen them on banknotes, right? Anything related to them must be, completely, firmly memorized!"

This was a history class.

Cultivators have to study history... Hmm, that doesn't sound wrong; ancient cultivators must have studied it too.

Anyway, Chen Shu had absolutely no desire to listen, and the teacher didn't bother him; as the son of a nationally renowned historian, raised in history books, his historical attainments were likely a big step higher than the teacher's.

Thus, Chen Shu propped his chin with one hand, looking down at his biology notes while his other hand grasped the hair of the girl in the front row, playing with it unconsciously.

The girl in the front row was displeased and swatted his hand away with a backhand motion.

After a while, Chen Shu grasped it again.

The girl in the front row swatted his hand away again and pulled her hair to the front.

Chen Shu didn't care; he would just pull it back.

"Slap!"

The girl in the front row used more force this time, and after swatting it away, she even turned her head to give him a very dissatisfied look.

Chen Shu grinned at her.

When he grasped it again, she couldn't be bothered to pay attention to Chen Shu.

He kept holding it like this until the end of class.

"Time for the group photo!"

The female class monitor stood up and shouted: "Everyone gather at the spectator stands near the rostrum on the Sports Field."

Chen Shu immediately stood up and patted the shoulder of the female classmate in front of him. On the female classmate's desk lay only A Book titled "Universe Hypothesis"; besides that, there were no other books, making her stand out from the other students.

"Let's go!"

Chen Shu walked in front, and Ning Qing followed behind.

Truly annoyed by him, Ning Qing thought about it more the longer she held it in, and as they exited the classroom, she suddenly gave him a hard push from behind, though it only made him stagger forward one step.

Arriving at the spectator stands next to the rostrum on the Sports Field, everyone stood in front of the tiered seats, all dressed in youthful, vibrant attire. Sitting in the very front row were the subject teachers and school leaders, who had also put on their most formal outfits; several teachers who usually dressed very casually had also rarely worn formal attire.

Chen Shu and Ning Qing stood together.

"Everyone stand still and don't move!

"Attention—

"Three, two, one!"

Chen Shu revealed a brilliant smile, while Ning Qing remained as calm as water, showing no signs of joy or anger.

"Click!"

"Let's take a few more!

"Three, two..."

Chen Shu reached out and put his arm around Ning Qing's shoulders.

"One!

"Click!

"Very good, very good!

"Everyone sit down and we'll take more!"

The students sat down one after another.

Ning Qing turned her head to look at Chen Shu, said nothing, and remained sitting next to him.

Ten minutes later, the photos were finished, and everyone dispersed, heading back to their classrooms as they still had classes to attend.

Ning Qing said to Chen Shu: "I'm going back."

"Hmm? Stay for a couple more classes!"

"You're going to pull my hair."

"There is also a segment for filling out a Time Capsule."

"......"

Ning Qing then silently followed him toward the classroom and sat back in her original seat; unsurprisingly, this person grabbed her hair again.

"Everyone, think carefully. You can write down your ideals or pursuits, you can also encourage yourselves, or write a passage to your future selves. Our school will properly store these Time Capsules for everyone by class. At the very least, at least twenty years from now, if everyone returns to your alma mater, you can take back this capsule."

There was no expression on Ning Qing's face; in her view, these were all boring segments.

But Chen Shu did not think so, and poked her from behind:

"Write it seriously."

Ning Qing ignored him.

It was not until Chen Shu poked her again that she impatiently gave a hum of acknowledgment.

The classroom quieted down for a moment, with the rustling of pens on paper.

Those sitting in this classroom were basically the group of students with the best talent in all of Yuanzhou, and everyone's future held infinite possibilities—twenty years old this year, where would they be and what would they be doing after the age of forty? Would they still remember themselves sitting in this classroom at this moment?