The sword cultivator ignored the scholar's question and said expressionlessly, "Two batches left. Continue."
The floor of the great hall grew illusory once more. This time, a massive tree emerged, bearing dozens of fruits, each containing a humanoid being.
The test results were slightly better this time, yielding a faint red glow. The sword cultivator plucked the fruit and placed it on the altar to the side. A ray of Buddhist light then descended from the air, causing the fruit to ripen rapidly and crack open. From within stood up a somewhat petite young woman.
She looked somewhat dazed, while waves of immortal light surged through her body, transforming her rapidly from the inside out as clarity gradually returned to her eyes.
The sword cultivator's gaze penetrated her body before he gave a slight nod. "Born at the perfection of Body Casting. Not bad. First, finish this test paper, and then read through all these materials. Go on. Enter the gate over there; your quarters are inside."
Standing by in silence, the scholar watched the young woman sit cross-legged on the floor, quickly solving problem after problem before her. After watching for a while, he shook his head slightly. The newly born woman's talent in mathematics was still a cut below his own—and by the official standard, even he fell short of passing.
With a single sword strike, the sword cultivator destroyed the great tree. The grand formation then restarted, and within it emerged a cluster of mist glimmering with starlight. This time, the humanoid beings had no embryos, gestating directly inside the mist.
Yet this time, not even a faint glimmer appeared. After recording the data, the sword cultivator obliterated them with a single stroke.
"That concludes today's work. Go back and study the materials thoroughly; stop idling about. The pressure on our true self is growing heavier, so we must pick up the pace here as well. You possess eight hundred strands of divine sense, which in the past would have equaled dozens of dharma idols at least. If you work hard, you can still be a usable scrap." The sword cultivator patted the scholar on the shoulder, offering earnest encouragement in an effort to boost his morale.
"I have an idea, but first you must tell me what these experiments are really about."
Unmoved, the sword cultivator replied, "State your idea first."
After trying several times in vain and knowing the sword cultivator was stubborn to a fault, the scholar could only say, "In these batches of experiments, each batch had a different maternal host, and each batch used different materials for the embryos. Perhaps our true self wishes to emulate Heaven and Earth, driving the evolution and divergence of living beings. If our goal is to uncover powerful individuals amid infinite variables, then perhaps our current method of destroying them upon failing numerical testing is wrong. We set the standards, and we established the numerical thresholds. Such a testing mechanism only identifies the strong individuals we desire, not those chosen by Heaven and Earth."
"How would you modify it, then?"
"Apart from those with obvious defects, enlighten all the embryos, let them grow freely, and observe them throughout their growth."
The sword cultivator frowned. "That would make the experiment's duration far too long, and it does not align with the true self's reasoning in designing this experiment."
"Then what is the true self's reasoning behind this experiment?"
"That is not for you to ask."
"Why were she and I created? What are we, exactly? Why does our true self view us as avatars—or is that merely wishful thinking on our part, and you are the only true avatar?" the scholar pressed repeatedly.
The sword cultivator was about to refuse when his aura suddenly shifted. His physical size remained the same, yet his overall presence soared boundlessly. The grand hall, hundreds of zhang across and originally magnificent beyond measure, now seemed entirely incapable of containing him.
The sword cultivator leaned down slightly. With that single movement, the scholar, who had stood at equal height, suddenly felt infinitesimally small. Only by looking up could he meet the sword cultivator's gaze, which had now turned into two blazing suns hanging in the sky, completely obscuring the sword cultivator's figure.
The scholar remained standing and asked, "The true self?"
"Strictly speaking by scientific standards, I should be considered your male parent, while the sword cultivator is my avatar."
"I knew it. What is the significance of these experiments?"
"The sword cultivator can be regarded as another me. Even if I deliberately sever my connection with him, he still acts as another me. But you are different. Although you were formed with a mere ten percent of other impurities mixed in, you already possess an independent personality and judgment. Your thoughts are your own; I do not manipulate them."
The scholar immediately asked, "Then what is the purpose of creating us?"
The voice in the sky sounded ethereal and distant, cascading down like sunlight. "Initially, I wanted to create a batch of geniuses with outstanding cultivation aptitude."
"And what was the defining standard for a genius?"
"Mathematics. The most direct, critical, and scarce talent. Mathematical aptitude has nothing to do with cultivation realm; you either grasp it or you do not."
The scholar nodded. "Indeed. Currently, the realm's top mathematical geniuses actually all possess template Dao Foundations, with a rare few Golden Pellets forcibly elevated through the merit of Heaven and Earth. Moreover, most mathematical achievements are produced during youth; once one grows older, one inevitably slows down. Although Wen Guantian advanced to the Golden Pellet realm, it was unfortunately too late; his current results are no longer as dazzling as in his youth."
"Precisely. That is why I wanted to produce countless Wen Guantians capable of attaining the Golden Pellet or even the Nascent Soul realm relying solely on innate aptitude. That was the initial purpose of the experiments."
"So my ten percent of impurities came from Wen Guantian?"
"Mostly from Wen Guantian, with a small portion from other mathematical geniuses. The proportions have been constantly shifting, varying with each batch."
The scholar froze for a moment. "Then what am I?"
The air fell silent for a moment before the voice replied, "At present, that question does not matter to me."
Afterward, the sensation of gazing up into the cosmos receded, and the sword cultivator reappeared before the scholar, asking, "Do you understand now?"
The scholar bowed to the sword cultivator and said, "Father."
The sword cultivator's expression finally shifted. He froze for an instant before leaping aside as if jolted by electricity, barking, "Be serious! I..."
The scholar finished the sentence for him: "...don't have such an unreliable eldest son, right?"
The sword cultivator adopted a solemn expression. "Strictly speaking, first of all—"
Shuddering all over, the scholar promptly surrendered. "Hold on! I won't joke anymore, and you're not allowed to preach!"
Turning serious, the scholar requested all the records and borrowed the majority of the sword cultivator's ten thousand strands of divine sense. He scrutinized the data from past experiments in detail, then murmured thoughtfully, "So ten percent impurities is the tipping point for developing an independent disposition. The combinations and variations here are vast—virtually limitless."
The scholar sat down and pondered for several days straight. The sword cultivator waited patiently beside him. With only a few hundred strands of divine sense remaining on him, all dedicated to handling Qingming's daily affairs, he could do little else while waiting anyway.
On this day, the scholar finally opened his eyes and said calmly, "I understand."
He then projected all the images from past experiments and said, "In the end, the true self was merely attempting to replicate Wen Guantian or a few other mathematical geniuses. But now, the maternal hosts used for gestation are constantly changing, the placental matrix is being adjusted, the proportion of impurities is being finely tuned step by step, and merit from the otherworldly realm is being added to catalyze the process. The experiment's boundaries have expanded boundlessly—this is no longer just about replicating a few geniuses!"
The sword cultivator listened quietly, expressionless.
Wen Guantian projected two more images—one of the thriving Native Realm, vibrant with life, and one of the otherworldly realm with only a single great tree—and said, "The otherworldly realm has already restarted successfully. What separates it from the Native Realm is hundreds of millions of living beings. Naturally evolving these beings would have required a billion, perhaps even ten billion years. Yet now, through these experiments, the true self wishes to directly create living beings suited for the otherworldly realm, compressing billions of years of time into the present to fill the void of that world. Perhaps the true self has not even realized that what he is doing now is mending heaven's deficit!"
Chapter 1446