Chapter 452: What is the Boss Playing?

The Heavenly Academy harbored no small number of disciples.

Within its walls, they were divided into two distinct kinds: the indoor disciples, who had formally bound themselves to a master and inherited a specific lineage, and the ordinary disciples, who possessed no such master.

Though differences in strength and seniority naturally existed between them, no formal ranks were ever drawn; those capable of entering the Heavenly Academy were already the elite of the younger generation, rendering any forced stratification entirely redundant.

In truth, certain scions of the great clans held names within the Heavenly Academy merely as a formality, while the techniques they cultivated rarely belonged to the academy itself; the likes of Xun Yuan and Tang Yu, for instance, possessed their own inherited clan techniques as their primary focus, meaning that despite being enrolled, they had no need to remain within the academy to cultivate day after day.

Of course, the vast majority still chose to seek out a master of lineage within the Heavenly Academy, for in the matter of cultivation, the circulation of energy, the movement of qi, and the intricate crucial points of spellwork—even these most fundamental basics—were far more rapid and convenient to master under guidance than through groping blindly in the dark.

As for Jiang Xiaoyue, however...

"Boss..." While Boss Fang was thoroughly absorbed in his game, he caught sight of Jiang Xiaoyue and several older girls walking into the internet cafe together after finishing school.

Yue Bai called out, "A bowl of instant noodles and a bottle of milk tea!"

Mu Qing added, "Sister Qin'er, bring me a box of spicy strips first."

Young Master Xu and Lei Ge chimed in together, "Bring one of everything for us. Boss Xiaoyue, what would you like to order?"

Yet Jiang Xiaoyue did not head toward the counter; instead, she skipped over to Boss Fang’s side. "Boss, today the elder lectured on the composition of 'qi'—something about the way of Yin and Yang, and how 'that which falls is Earth, and that which rises is Heaven.' I felt like I couldn't understand it at all. Do you understand it?"

"That..." Boss Fang, currently playing his game, replied casually, "Qi, well, it is mainly composed of nitrogen and oxygen."

"Oh... composed of nitrogen and oxygen..." Xiaoyue pulled out a small notebook and jotted it down.

"Then what does 'that which falls is Earth, and that which rises is Heaven' mean?" Jiang Xiaoyue asked again.

Boss Fang answered offhandedly, "Isn't it just that gases with lower density like nitrogen rise to become the sky, while those with higher density, like carbon dioxide and oxygen, all fall to the ground?"

"Then what exactly are nitrogen and oxygen...? How come it feels like the elder never mentioned them?"

"This nitrogen and oxygen, you see..." Boss Fang taught completely blindly, and Jiang Xiaoyue learned completely blindly, leaving the onlookers staring at them in utter bewilderment.

Soon, Jiang Xiaoyue’s notebook was filled with a dense cluster of notes, stretching all the way from middle school physics and chemistry to high school physics and chemistry...

Everyone else was utterly dumbfounded.

"Huh...?" Jiang Xiaoyue looked at her little notebook, scratching her small head as she mumbled, "Qi is composed of invisible particles, mainly N2 and O2... Above the sky is the ozone layer... its component is O3, which is formed by three oxygen atoms..."

"So... that's how it is...? Why does it sound like... I still don't get it?"

Holding her little notebook, Jiang Xiaoyue stood there in complete confusion. "Maybe I should go ask big brother?"

"Big brother!" Jiang Xuan was currently reading Legend of Chusen.

"Hmm? Xiaoyue, you're back?" Jiang Xuan cast a brief glance before returning his eyes to Legend of Chusen.

"Ugh! The boss just explained the composition of qi to me, but I feel like I can't quite understand it," Jiang Xiaoyue said.

"Isn't it just the composition of qi?" Jiang Xuan waved his hand grandly, brimming with confidence as he said, "Little sister, feel free to ask whatever you don't understand. Boss Fang may be powerful, but when it comes to the composition of qi, how could anyone have studied it deeper than our Jiang Family?"

They were, after all, an inherited clan with incredibly profound foundations.

"Mm!" Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoyue said excitedly, "The boss said just now that the main components of qi are two types of gas, N2 and O2, and the basic way they are formed is through a particle called hydrogen and..."

Jiang Xuan stared agape at Boss Fang beside him, his expression frozen in shock.

"What kind of qi is that?!"

...

The sci-fi games and movies released in the past belonged to relatively low-tier sci-fi worlds, such as Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto, Counter-Strike, and the like.

Although they could not replace the most cutting-edge, top-tier spiritual artifacts and treasures, they undoubtedly posed a massive shock to low and mid-tier spiritual artifacts and treasures.

Of course, it was merely a shock, not an obsolescence; a cultivator's spiritual artifact inherently possessed many advantages that technology could not replicate, and coupled with foundations accumulated over vast stretches of time, it was absolutely not something that could be replaced by a concept that had not yet been fully digested. It simply meant that in the future path of spiritual artifacts, cultivators and martial artists now had an additional, simple, and brutally direct choice.

Yet to comprehend these things, one truly needed to employ a great deal of foundational knowledge that they had previously never encountered.

However, for players who merely played the games without researching spiritual artifacts, they naturally paid no heed to such things.

"Forget it... I'll just ask the elder when I have time..." Jiang Xiaoyue grumbled in annoyance. "How can even big brother not know?"

"Off to play games!"

Jiang Xiaoyue found an empty seat nearby.

At this moment, Boss Fang glanced at his task list once more.

The activation count for Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 had already surpassed two thousand.

Boss Fang wasn't live-streaming today; he was still in the game, controlling Jing Tian to level up and practice his swordsmanship.

Unlike the original version of the game, it was naturally impossible to farm a mountain of items and medicines here. Although there was no restriction on using treasures and items, certain rare treasures were inherently precious and unique, meaning they could not be accumulated through farming like in the original game.

Therefore, what could be relied upon most remained one's own combat skills and Jing Tian's raw strength.

If one's own strength was insufficient, the only option was to grind Jing Tian's level higher; of course, this simultaneously elevated one's own strength as well.

Hence, Fang Qi had never been in a hurry to clear the game.

It was only when he felt he was sufficiently prepared that he formally stepped into the New Deity Realm.

"The boss is live-streaming again?"

"Where is he planning to fight today?"

"It seems only Chong Lou is left to fight..."

Not only had many of the old customers already taken their seats in the lounge area, but at this moment, an old man with white hair, trembling as if he might topple with the wind, walked toward the shop, supported by a black-robed Daoist and a young man in white clothes.

"Is it this shop?" The old man peered into the store. "It seems... there's nothing particularly special about it?"

To think that a mere shop like this could cause his divination tool to explode instantly when he attempted a calculation using the Mirror of Grotto-Heavens?!

"Support... support me inside..." the old man said tremulously.

"Be careful, Senior..." The two hurriedly supported him as they pushed the door open and entered.

Just as they stepped inside, they saw a large crowd of people staring at the big screen from the sofas in the lounge area near the entrance.

"What are they watching?" Gu Tingyun cast a strange glance at the big screen.

Seated upright right beside them was a large white deer.

"Watching the boss fight Chong Lou!" the white deer kindly explained.

"Chong Lou?" On the big screen, ethereal immortal qi drifted. A young man dressed in a purple-gold Daoist robe and a magnificent crown held the Demon-Suppressing Sword.

Opposite him stood a demon warrior clad in red-gold armor, with twin horns upon his head, exuding a heroic and martial aura.

It was exactly like the opening animation from the start of the game.

Jing Tian versus Chong Lou.

The final cycle of karmic retribution for Legend of Sword and Fairy 3, which had existed in the previous world, would also meet its conclusion here.

"Who is Chong Lou?"

One of the white deer's front hooves pointed at the big screen as it cried out in excitement, "The Demon Lord! Today the boss is live-streaming the fight against the Demon Lord, the final battle of the New Deity Realm! It's bound to be spectacular!"

The three who had just entered the door stiffened. "What?!"

The black-robed Daoist and Wang Xie almost let their hands slip, nearly throwing the old man they were supporting right out.

"The boss is fighting what?"

How on earth was this little deer watching so calmly and unhurriedly?!

The silence stretched into eternity, a profound and empty void.