Chapter 49: Accepting a Disciple
The teacher was stunned, but he quickly regained his senses. He almost couldn"t believe what he just heard "What did you just say?"
Ai Hui repeated his question "I think master"s thinking is very interesting, so I want to understand more of it. Can I?"
When the teacher heard what he said, he almost cried.
Heaven truly has compa.s.sion. Finally someone was interested by my theories.
His theories were put forth for many years, but no one was interested in them. In addition, because he did not have a test subject, his theories lacked solid evidence and in effect, failed to be convincing. No one trusted theories that never had any solid evidence, no, that"s a euphemism. In most people"s eyes, those theories were only his imagination.
Even worse for him, since he did not have an experimental subject, he had no way to continue his research. He was no longer young and his elemental energy had long risen above the beginner stage, so he had no way to prove his theories through his own body.
At the Induction Ground, the only way for a new theory to become accepted by everyone was to be evidenced as correct. What kind of evidence? There had to be a successful precedent!
Hypothetically, if a student cultivated in accordance to his directions and ended up having some special results or became a first-rate expert, then that would have been sufficient proof for the legitimacy of the theory.
In addition if many students cultivated according to the theories and succeeded, then that would have been enough for the new theory to become famous throughout the Induction Ground.
The teacher frequently imagined his theories taking the Induction Ground by storm and himself becoming a worthy figure, but reality was cruel. No one was interested in his theories and he did not have a single experiment subject.
Until today!
Finally there was someone who was interested in his theories.
"No problem, no problem!" He hurriedly said. His face scrunched up into what seemed like a flower "Student, ask me about anything you want to understand. Master has ample time."
"Can master introduce your theories in detail?" Ai Hui was very polite.
Even though many students had not a shred of interest in the teacher"s theories, Ai Hui felt they were very logical. Ai Hui had a lot of battle experience, so he was very clear on those extravagant abilities which might not be useful in battle. The most dangerous abilities were ones that did not attract attention, had no glaring light or loud sound, but were extremely terrifying and deadly.
In addition, just like how he was very interested in Five Way Heaven"s history, he was also interested in the theories of each school, because he understood how little his knowledge base was. No matter how wildly the teachers thought, in terms of study and elemental energy research, they were many times more knowledgeable than him.
"No problem!"
The teacher became invigorated and organized his thoughts a little as he slowly began speaking "First, we need to begin by talking about what elemental energy is, even though we still know very little about it. Elemental energy isn"t as volatile as spirit energy. It is more stable. It is composed of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, this we all know. We cultivate elemental energy by absorbing it from nature then refining it. In this aspect, it isn"t very different from the sword cultivation world"s spirit energy. However, in terms of practicality, they have immense differences. This is why our ancestors were not able to quickly learn how to use elemental energy when spirit energy dispersed."
Ai Hui listened very closely. He had read many sword manuals and understood spirit energy a lot more than the average person. However, if it were him speaking, he would not have been able to list the differences between spirit and elemental energy.
"The first difference, spirit energy had no attributes, but elemental energy has five attributes. The sword cultivators from history absorbed spirit energy between heaven and earth into their bodies, then through different abilities and methods, gave them attributes like fire, water, lightning, etc. However, elemental energy is different. Natural elemental energy already has attributes. Our absorbance of elemental energy only includes the element that we need."
"The second difference, spirit energy and matter have no way to convert between each other. Spirit energy is spirit energy. It could exist within spirit stones, but it has no way to convert to physical matter. In contrast, elemental energy and physical matter can freely convert between each other. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, each type of elemental energy has its corresponding matter. This is why we are able to use certain materials."
Ai Hui was entranced by the speech. What the teacher said wasn"t complicated, but it was still profound. Maybe other people couldn"t understand, but Ai Hui was able to feel the profundity. He was able to think of all the sword manuals he had previously read and use them to a.s.sess what the teacher said.
"These two differences make one thing obvious, the fact that elemental energy is complicated. This is my theory, the beginning of it. The other complicated thing is what? It"s humans!"
The teacher gave an answer Ai Hui would have never thought of.
Ai Hui widened his eyes, face full of surprise. He never thought of the human body in that perspective. In terms of elemental energy, it was like exploring a whole new subject. He looked at the results of cultivation and attributed them completely to elemental energy or the cultivation method.
The teacher was extremely satisfied with the expression on Ai Hui"s face then continued "The human body is structurally the same, but in details, it can be completely different. Does this world have two people that are exactly the same? Nope! Even twins have completely different physiques and talents. Don"t forget, people"s bodies are composed of the five elements, but are everyone"s five element composition the same? Completely different."
"How are complex elemental energy and complex cultivators supposed to completely a.s.similate? This is the core of my theory!"
Ai Hui subconsciously blurted out "How can you find it?"
The teacher laughed. He knew the student in front of him had been moved. He didn"t answer and instead responded with question "Hypothetically if you had a new partner, how would you become close with him?"
Ai Hui pondered then said "First I would see if the partner was suitable for me, then I would need time to practice cooperation."
When he was in the Savage Territories, he came in contact with many elementalists. He worked well with some, and extremely poorly with others. He could be considered to have experience.
The teacher was very surprised. He didn"t think Ai Hui would be able to answer. This question was a little out of scope for a student so young. He didn"t think that not only would the student answer, he was also able to answer correctly and appropriately.
The teacher could not help but rea.n.a.lyze the student in front of his eyes. He was able to see that Ai Hui did not have great talent, but composed himself with incomparable seriousness. His pondering, stable persevering, focused listening and processing, and personal perspective moved the teacher.
Ai Hui noticed that the teacher had been a.n.a.lyzing him, so he asked "Did I answer incorrectly?"
The teacher didn"t answer and instead asked "What"s your name?"
"Student Ai Hui." Ai Hui hurriedly saluted.
"Do you want to be my disciple?" The teacher suddenly solemnly asked.
Ai Hui did not think he would receive such a response, and couldn"t help but freeze.