Yama Rising

“No, no, no.” Gu Qing’s eyes gleamed craftily as he smiled, “That’s just an example. Exchange programme, professional seminars, academic exchange forum… Regardless of what kind of school you are, you would necessarily be involved in at least one of them! As long as you can do well enough, you’ll definitely be given the opportunity to participate in one of these!”

Oh damn! There’s hope yet!

Nevertheless, his thoughts began to flow down the new path that had opened - That’s right… an exchange. The First Academy of Cultivators might not have any exchange programmes with other universities, but they would most certainly have some form of exchange or interactions with the rest of the cultivation world!

Tao Ran must know about these things! External communications are part of the professors’ scope of responsibilities after all!

Gu Qing smiled like a crafty old fox, “One of the simplest ways to do so is… to publish a thesis paper.”

Is this really a good way to talk about the pursuit of knowledge… cough cough… Tsk… academics… It’s disgusting to employ such tried and tested methods!

Distinguished Fellow Yu, I’m going to give you yet another good showing!

Arrrghhh… Is this what an elite school student is like? Is this what a gifted talent is like? Why does this man exude such intelligence? Arthis and Qin Ye couldn’t help but shrink back from Gu Qing’s intimidating display of wisdom.

In fact, it was so dirty that Qin Ye wanted to leave as quickly as possible. He coughed softly, “I understand. I’ll relay the dream for you as soon as I’ve got the time.”

This was a suppression of IQ. Under the domineering radiance of Gu Qing’s immeasurable intellect, Qin Ye and Arthis were no more than maggots. Even as they arrived back in Qin Ye’s dorm room, Arthis continued to mull over their earlier exchange, “The learned… no wonder the world had always been ruled by the learned. Their tactics are completely disgusting. We can’t afford to cross them. Ever. Come to think of it, haven’t you been through college several times by now? Why is there such a large chasm between your intellect and his?”

“... Ah, what distinguished flavour your rebuttal has… It’s so flawless that there’s just no room for a rejoinder…”

“Professor Tao.” Qin Ye sat down with a wide grin on his face, “Can I ask you something?”

Eh? This old man’s intuition is pretty sharp, isn’t it? Qin Ye blinked several times, “Does the academy have any opportunities to participate in academic forums or exchange programmes?”

Tao Ran adjusted his glasses again. No… I could’ve sworn I felt the deep malice of the world engulfing me for an instant there. But why does his question sound so open and aboveboard… I guess I’m really getting old…

Qin Ye blinked at Tao Ran with puppy eyes and prompted him, “Professor Tao, you would never dash an instructor’s ambitions and dreams, would you?”

“But not now.”

Tao Ran opened the drawer beside him and pulled out a stack of documents, “These are the exchange requests sent by various organizations since the commencement of this semester. However, we’ve not agreed to a single one just yet.”

Qin Ye flipped through the documents and read them, “The New Generation of Cathayan Cultivators? Southeast District Cultivator Trials? Secrets of Little Paradise Forum?”

“Of course there is.” Tao Ran took a sip of tea, “Firstly, we’re the First Academy of Cultivators. We’re a school. And the primary focus of every school is knowledge, and not abilities. This doesn’t mean that the display of our abilities isn’t important. It’s just that it’s not our focus for now.”

Qin Ye got the gist of it, “So the only ones who would be able to represent the academy would be the freshmen?”

Tao Ran snorted, “Therefore, the only ones we can participate in right now would be limited to those relating to the exchange of discourse and knowledge. But do you see any relating to these in our list of invitations?”

Tao Ran glanced at it dismissively, “That’s an invitation to me personally.”

Not a single one was addressed to the First Academy of Cultivators for the purposes of a knowledge-based discussion or exchange.

Qin Ye deftly caught the implications of what Tao Ran’s spiel, and he probed further, “Then… does that mean that the academy isn’t preventing instructors from carrying out their own research?”

“You’re thinking of embarking on a research topic?”

Tao Ran’s eyes were filled with disbelief - the same kind of disbelief that he had when he first discovered the products of Anerle, Whispers and Triumph hidden in the recesses of Qin Ye’s room. After much deliberation, he finally continued, “By right… the academy should render you its fullest support…”

“But!” Tao Ran glared at him and snuffed out his cigarette, “Every research project must be approved and backed by a faculty professor and registered under the academy’s name. Little Qin, if you can really get it done, there will naturally be immense benefits to you. But have you thought of the converse? Every single instructor in the academy is focused on learning right now. You’ll be the only one embarking on a research project. Have you thought about how the other instructors would view you if you don’t succeed in your endeavours?”

This was an overflowing display of protective love. As a professor of his faculty, Tao Ran would naturally have a large piece of the pie if Qin Ye’s research was successful. But rather than revel in the thought of accruing merits for himself, the first thing that crossed Tao Ran’s mind was instead to protect Qin Ye’s image.

Nevertheless, Qin Ye took some time for deliberation, before finally responding in earnest, “I do have a research topic that I would like Professor Tao to support.”

“It’s about the evolution and diversity of Yin spirits!” Qin Ye took a deep breath and explained at one go, “It’s the same topic that I’d used for my opening lecture! Professor Tao, I’ve looked into this before. No research has been published in this subdiscipline before! In fact, I imagine that the only person who’s working on this right now is Academician Yu. I know full well that if a research topic is going to become a core discipline in any academy, it would take much more than the efforts of a single person. It would require multiple papers and countless sources of proof and evidence. Incidentally, I’ve got some experience and insights in this field, and I hope that the academy would support me in this regard!”

This was indeed a research topic that ventured into uncharted territories. Otherwise, Professor Yu would never have applied for the hunting zone in Mount Tai City to be kept under surveillance as an experiment. As far as Professor Tao knew, Professor Yu had already pushed for it, and several decision making bodies were also keeping tabs on this research topic. However, nobody ventured further to make a decision on it.

Simple. The amount of research conducted on Yin spirits was just far too sparse to prove anything to date. Bizarre spirits like the Great Intergenerational Heredity was but an example of this, and it was quite likely that this was the only bizarre Yin spirit that Cathay had any research information about right now. With the severe lack of proof in hand, not even Professor Yu could bridge the gap to prove that the diversity of Yin spirits was a norm, rather than an exception. And if the appearance of the Great Intergenerational Heredity was but an isolated incident, or a rare exception, then the pursuit of research into the diversity of Yin spirits wouldn’t mean much, even if they did manage to prove its existence.

Otherwise, such research topics, even if proven, would hardly cause a ripple in the academic world.

“Are you saying that you’re able to prove the contents of what you’ve discussed during your opening lecture?” Tao Ran’s expressions turned grave, “Little Qin, this is an academy. And as far as academies are concerned, everything we say must be backed by irrefutable evidence. This isn’t like a battlefield, where you can move and act based solely on your instincts and intuition.”

He shook his head lightly, “Logically speaking, with an organization built upon academic research, your discourse during the opening lecture should have caused ripples throughout the academia by now. But it hasn’t. Why? It’s because there’s insufficient evidence!”

“It’s irrefutable that you’d introduced the research academia to a whole new perspective. But proof takes time - sometimes several years on end. The examples you had provided earlier were built upon some measure of speculation and assumptions. Turning your perspective into an irrefutable conclusion isn’t going to be simple. If you’re going to do it, then you’ve got to ensure that your evidence is real and applicable, and every statement and premise you make is backed by relevant papers and research and supported by examples. Otherwise… you’re only going to be wasting your time.”