Free Web NovelChapter 384: Chapter 371: From Now On, You Are the Pathfinder
In just a moment, Editor Chen finished reading the entire paper.
The whole thesis wasn’t too long, just a dozen or so pages.
Although it wasn’t many words, each one was a pearl of wisdom, placing immense pressure on Editor Chen as he read.
Almost every Taoist Text carried the weight of a mountain. He had to lower his concentration and adopt a vague, synesthetic reading method, skimming through it at the speed of light.
This allowed the knowledge to only skim the surface of his Sea of Consciousness, rather than settling deep inside to form memories.
This way, the paper on the Nine-Colored Holy Light wouldn’t affect his Dao Practice.
After he finished, he didn’t look at the paper again. Instead, he closed his eyes and rested quietly for several minutes.
During this time, Elder Huo and Elder Chen chatted with Gu Ming, discussing the nationwide impact of his preliminary Heart Method:
Quite a few High-star Beastmasters had shown clear aversion to it.
Fortunately, the path of the self that Gu Ming introduced in the Heart Method wasn’t direct or abrasive. It simply provided a simple "tool" to be used voluntarily. The more core steps were in the main Evolution Method paper, so it hadn’t caused any major conflicts.
"This paper of yours on the Nine-Colored Holy Light is different. It’s bound to forge a new path."
Elder Huo said gravely, "All Cultivators who do not follow this path will become your ’enemies’."
It might have sounded like an exaggeration, but Elder Huo was giving Gu Ming a solemn warning.
Once the paper was published, Gu Ming would become the academic leader of this new school of thought.
Everyone who learned his Heart Method from now on would be his student.
"This is an intangible fortune. You’ll command your own school of thought and naturally have access to powerful academic resources."
"Regardless of what others think, here at the university, Elder Chen and I can jointly sponsor you and act as your ’safe harbor’."
Elder Huo’s tone shifted. "That’s all the more reason you need to join my Array Society—without my guidance, your Brain Array Carving Technique will inevitably go astray."
As he spoke, Elder Huo once again tried to poach him.
Elder Chen, who was standing nearby, was taken aback. "Why his Array Society?
"You’d be better off attending classes in my department. You can stop going to the Cultivation Technique Class. How could their techniques possibly be as cutting-edge as the one you created?"
Gu Ming waved his hands repeatedly. "Please, Elders, don’t say any more. I’m just a beginner who’s only started learning."
’I know perfectly well I’m just coasting on future knowledge from the system thanks to a temporal mismatch.’
’I still need to shore up my actual foundations.’ He politely declined the two elders’ enthusiastic offers.
He was, however, genuinely considering the invitation to the Array Society. It just conflicted with the schedule of the Outdoor Adventure Club, so he couldn’t make a choice for the time being.
But Elder Huo wasn’t about to let Gu Ming off the hook.
After some persistent questioning, he finally learned that the Outdoor Adventure Club was the backer sponsoring Gu Ming’s university education, so he couldn’t just forcibly recruit him.
Even so, he didn’t give up. "You can always find the spare time to participate in two clubs, can’t you?
"That’s what I did back in my university days."
In truth, times were different. Nowadays, Beast Taming University students had extremely tight cultivation schedules. Some club activities were major ordeals; once you joined, you might not be back for half a month.
"Sir, if I join one and not the other, it’s easy to get kicked out."
"Heh, not all people are treated equally.
"You’re the trailblazer who wrote the paper on the Nine-Colored Holy Light. Who would dare kick you out?" Elder Huo laughed. "I’m the faculty advisor for the Array Society. I’ll make sure you’re fine."
Elder Huo thought about it and decided he would have the Array Society’s president talk to Gu Ming about the benefits, guaranteeing that he could enjoy the society’s learning atmosphere without having to participate in the activities.
’At the very least, I have to get Gu Ming on board.’
’How can I let a talent like this wander off to another company?’
At that moment, Editor Chen finally collected his thoughts and recovered.
"This paper... our journal, *Peak*, will accept it."
Next was the process of copying the original manuscript.
Gu Ming’s original manuscript was far too high-level to be given to anyone.
What the journal published wasn’t the original, but a copy of the Taoist Text.
It would be specially transcribed by a Calligraphy Pet Beast, allowing the words of each article to let readers comprehend the mysteries of Evolution as if they were reading the original.
Editor Chen released his Eight-star Level bamboo brush Pet Beast. It wasn’t an ordinary brush, but the ethereal "Cloud Smoke Brush," formed from a wisp of cloud and smoke.
The brush drifted and wrote over the original manuscript, scattering strands of smoke that steeped into the pages.
Before long, characters radiating a Seven-Colored Holy Light were molded from within the smoke.
Every stroke exquisitely replicated the Dao Charm. The characters seemed naturally formed, and to look upon them was like watching the text of the Celestial Dao itself appear.
When all the characters were arranged into a complete paper, the core copy of the Great Dao was complete.
"Is it finished already?" Gu Ming asked.
"I still have to go back and work with other Pet Beasts to mass-produce and print copies on Great Dao Gold Paper to compile the journal. This is how top-tier journals are made," Editor Chen said, shaking his head.
Having watched the entire process, Gu Ming felt his horizons had been broadened.
Editor Chen shook his hand. "The journal will be distributed nationwide in two days. Time is tight, so I’ll be heading back now."
Gu Ming agreed and watched him leave.
After the editor had left, Gu Ming asked Elder Huo a question he hadn’t dared to ask earlier. "Even Editor Chen found reading the text almost unbearably oppressive.
"When my paper is published, are all the high-level masters going to hunt me down?"
Elder Huo chuckled. "If you were a Seven or Eight-star Beastmaster, people would indeed come to your door to debate the Dao with you. If they couldn’t win the debate, they would eliminate you. Otherwise, you would become their Heart Demon.
"But you’re just a Two-star student right now. What Realm are they in?
"Killing someone so far beneath their level is something they wouldn’t stoop to. Only Evil Cultivators would do such a thing. Normal people have their pride.
"Right now, your Low-star Level is your protective talisman."
Seeing that Gu Ming was still pondering, he continued:
"The Beast Taming Realm has an unwritten rule:
"Matters of the younger generation are settled by the younger generation.
"Your battlefield is the struggle for the path of the new generation. You are the one laying the foundation and guiding the way.
"As for whether new geniuses will emerge in the future to refute your path, you don’t need to be afraid. Just practice your path and defeat them with the truth."
Speaking of this, Elder Huo looked wistful, recalling the peak of his youth when he contended with others over the Dao.
Now, his own Path was set in stone; he couldn’t make any brand-new changes.
Or rather, the cost of changing was too great—so great that it would mean abandoning all the strength and Realms he had accumulated over the years. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
But the appearance of Gu Ming’s Evolution Method had caused a rare flicker of uncertainty in his heart.
The Pet Beasts he had already raised could no longer change their paths.
But he could guide a new generation of students and let them walk this new path.
Even if he couldn’t learn this path himself, his ability to critique the New Technique’s flaws was still ten, even a hundred times greater than Gu Ming’s.
This, too, was the purpose of being a university professor.
Gu Ming heard this but still felt uneasy.
’Becoming number one in my year at the university is one thing.’
’But to leap past the university and become a trailblazer for the entire nation... what is this becoming?’
’I haven’t even learned to walk the path yet, my life has just begun, and now I’m already piloting a plane?’
But things had already come to this. The tide of events was set in motion, and it wasn’t something he could stop just because he wanted to.
Besides, the Beastmaster world valued scientific cultivation. They determined the truth of the Great Dao among Beastmasters through methods like Dao debates and Pet Beast duels.
Without a brave and innovative spirit of exploration, how could one ever cast off the old to bring in the new and reach the pinnacle of Beast Taming?
Gu Ming’s anxiety lingered in his mind for a while. But since he couldn’t change the possibility of conflict no matter what, he decided to let go of his anxiety and rise to the challenge.
