Translator: CinderTL
Sitting at his desk, Feng Qi searched the internet for information.
As he had suspected, there was no record of anything related to the "Heaven-Reaching Road" online.
He couldn't even determine whether it was a place name or the name of a mysterious organization.
Closing the search page, he opened the official website of Star City Academy and logged into his teacher account to check the upcoming course schedule.
After opening his email, he saw a blue email containing the course schedule and a red notification email.
Curious, he clicked on the red email.
Tiger Soul Research Institute (Verified)
Subject: 26th Annual Fundamental Theory Concept Competition for New Cultivation Systems
Content: The 26th Annual Fundamental Theory Concept Competition for New Cultivation Systems will be held soon. This year's competition will be livestreamed online, and teachers from all academies are required to lead their classes in participation. The competition content will be based on and expanded from cultivation arts principles. The winning class will receive a cash prize of 5 million yuan.
Competition Details: Similar to previous years, each academy class must propose a novel concept for a new direction in cultivation arts. Using this concept as the core theme, they will present its potential for expansion and discuss its advantages and disadvantages compared to existing cultivation systems during the livestream.
Scoring: Preliminary and qualifying rounds will be judged by online voting. For the final round, the Tiger Soul Research Institute team will analyze and score the concepts proposed by the participating classes to determine the ultimate champion.
The Tiger Soul Research Institute reserves all rights to interpret the rules and regulations of this event.
After reading the email from the Tiger Soul Research Institute, Feng Qi's heart immediately stirred.
He opened a search engine and researched past Tiger Soul Concept Competitions, his excitement growing even stronger.
Beyond the allure of the five million yuan cash prize, a crucial reason for his interest was the competition's potential to accelerate the development of the New Cultivation Arts system.
The evolution of cultivation arts always follows a pattern: first comes the concept, then the theory, and finally the practice.
This process essentially involves elevating from sensory perception to rational understanding, abstracting ideas, generalizing them, and ultimately refining them into theoretical frameworks and practical applications.
As one of humanity's pioneering institutions in cultivation technique research, the Tiger Soul Research Institute's core mission is to refine and update the cultivation technique system.
Before each major update to the cultivation technique system, the institute places great emphasis on gathering external ideas.
When necessary, they even adopt concepts proposed by outsiders, refining them into integral components of the new cultivation technique system.
Classes wishing to participate in the competition must first propose a novel concept for a cultivation system and explain its feasibility in a live online broadcast. If they pass the preliminary and qualifying rounds, the Tiger Soul Research Institute's team will analyze and interpret the concept.
No matter how fantastical the concept, it's eligible for entry as long as it's supported by theoretical explanations.
The Tiger Soul Research Institute chose to crowdsource ideas precisely for this reason.
Sometimes, a concept born from a flash of inspiration might become a major cultivation system in the future.
Just as when humanity was initially focused on using technology to defeat invaders, someone had a breakthrough idea: guiding spiritual energy into the body to enhance oneself, thereby gaining power comparable to domain creatures.
Over time, with contributions from countless predecessors, this concept evolved into modern "cultivation studies."
After a moment of contemplation, Feng Qi decided to enter the competition.
For the five million yuan prize, and to contribute to the development of a new cultivation system.
During his time in the Dream Realm, Feng Qi had completed one and a half semesters of video tutorials on the theoretical foundations of cultivation techniques. This knowledge could be directly applied in the competition.
The problem now was that registration required participation by "classes," and his students were all in intensive training, leaving them no time to compete with him.
With this in mind, he dialed Bai Fusheng's number.
After a brief wait, the call connected, and Bai Fusheng's voice came through the line:
"What do you want, kid?"
"Grandmaster, have you seen the Tiger Soul Research Institute's latest announcement?"
"You mean the Cultivation Technique Concept Competition? What, you want to enter?" Bai Fusheng asked, sounding slightly surprised.
"Exactly. I have a new concept that I think could win the championship."
Hearing Feng Qi's brazen boast, Bai Fusheng on the other end of the line felt a twinge of embarrassment and couldn't help but advise him:
"Anyone can propose a concept, but the most crucial part of the competition is demonstrating its feasibility through rigorous theoretical proof. Otherwise, even the Tiger Soul Research Institute can't refine some idiotic concepts into practical theories and applications."
"Take last year's competition, for example. A class from the Future Academy proposed a concept of perpetual cultivation, suggesting that a cultivation technique could automatically circulate within the body even when not actively practiced, drawing in spiritual energy from the environment. This idiotic idea received the highest number of online votes, but the Tiger Soul Research Institute team unanimously rejected it in the finals because it was utter nonsense."
"As Director Liu of the Tiger Soul Research Institute put it at the time, 'Proposing the concept is easy, but our team at the Tiger Soul Research Institute can't possibly refine it into a viable theory.' So, are you sure you want to participate?"
After listening to Bai Fusheng's explanation, Feng Qi nodded again.
"No problem. The championship is practically in the bag. I'm already thinking about how to spend the five million."
Bai Fusheng: ...
"By the way, Grandmaster, if we win the five million, does it go to the class or to me personally?"
Realizing Feng Qi was genuinely considering how to spend the money, Bai Fusheng's forehead veins throbbed. He couldn't help but say:
"If you actually win the championship, the five million is yours! Plus, the academy will give you an additional three million as a bonus!"
"Thank you, Grandmaster!"
"Don't thank me yet! Win it first!"
"Winning the championship isn't the problem. The issue is that registration requires a class unit, and I need a class," Feng Qi stated, finally revealing his request.
Faced with Feng Qi's unwavering confidence, Bai Fusheng was visibly moved. After a long silence, he said, "Alright, you'll lead Cultivation Class One of the 22nd cohort in the competition."
Hearing this, Feng Qi couldn't help but ask, "Does the class teacher of Cultivation Class One have no objections?"
"What objections could they possibly have? Our Star City Academy has never excelled in these competitions. They're usually dominated by academies specializing in cultivation technique research, like Galaxy Academy and Lingxiao Academy. We participate merely as window dressing, with no real hope of winning. Since you have the ambition, I'll let you give it a try."
"Then there's no problem. Grandmaster, please arrange it as soon as possible."
"But I must remind you: once you commit to competing, you must give it your all. When you're out there, you represent Star City Academy. Even if you can't win, you can't afford to lose too disgracefully."
"Grandmaster, I think you misunderstand the concept of genius. Their confidence often stems from absolute strength."
Bai Fusheng: ...
(End of the Chapter)
Translator's Corner
Hey guys, so as I tried to login into my ScribbleHub account to today and found that it was banned.😭 All the stories have also been taken off of the site. I don't what has happened, I will try to contact them and figure out what's going on. Please contact me if you know what could be happening and have any potential solutions.
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