I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1748 - 183: The Dean’s Lecture (2)

Chapter 1748: Chapter 183: The Dean’s Lecture (2)

The pride of sects and sacred grounds fundamentally lies in their understanding of martial arts and spiritual cultivation.

For Lei Dong, who had ingrained this understanding into his very bones since childhood, Tang Luo’s words were rapidly overthrowing all of his knowledge of martial arts. This intense shock left his thoughts in utter turmoil.

Watching his teammate lose composure after just a few statements, Zhu Huolong furrowed his brows tightly.

Although Tang Luo’s recent words were certainly profound enough to cause even him to waver slightly, Wushen Mountain’s teachings promptly pulled him back and allowed him to quickly identify flaws within Tang Luo’s reasoning.

"Honored Headmaster, Zhu Huolong carries doubts in his heart."

With one hand pressing Lei Dong’s shoulder, forcing him back into his seat, Zhu Huolong stood up smoothly: "The Headmaster just stated that martial arts are merely a way to understand Spiritual Power. Forgive me for daring to dissent, but martial arts are far more than simply understanding Spiritual Power—they’re about creation, mastery, even endowment. Take Wushen Mountain for example: while we too divide into the branches of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, how could our methods possibly be equated with commonplace Five Elements techniques? Each branch is the result of our predecessors turning the impossible into reality. Such magnificent achievements—are they, in the eyes of the Headmaster, merely ’understandings’?"

Following the emphatic words of Wushen Mountain’s direct disciple, murmurs rose throughout the lecture hall. Undoubtedly, his sentiments resonated with the beliefs of the vast majority of martial artists, especially those of higher realms of cultivation.

After all, martial arts have flourished for millennia. Xu Sheng’s "Spiritual Power Analysis," engraved upon Tiannan’s stele, had long since been translated into dozens of languages, leading many elite heirs of noble families to believe that Spiritual Power held no secrets from them. And now, someone was claiming that martial arts were merely about understanding Spiritual Power.

If not for Tang Luo being their revered Headmaster, the response wouldn’t have been limited to whispers and murmurs.

Confident he’d pinpointed a flaw, Zhu Huolong smirked arrogantly, yet Tang Luo remained composed, casually placing his teaching staff on the desk as he remarked indifferently, "Creation? Mastery? Endowing? Perhaps ’discovery’ would be more accurate."

"Did the sacred grounds and sects truly create martial techniques, or did they simply discover more efficient ways of utilizing them under the rules of Spiritual Power? Think about this yourselves. To date, whether among the great sacred grounds of Xiehe or the countless sects, has there ever been a technique that exists beyond the rules of Spiritual Power? Has there ever been a forbidden method or supernatural divine skill that allows cultivation without relying on Spiritual Power?"

"If one day, Spiritual Power were to vanish entirely, would martial arts still exist?"

The soft yet penetrating words reached every corner of the lecture hall. Perhaps it was because Spiritual Power was so familiar to the martial artists of Xiehe—so familiar they never stopped to ponder what would happen if it disappeared entirely.

Therefore, when Tang Luo abruptly threw out this possibility, the audience seemed momentarily dazed.

Zhu Huolong himself was also momentarily shaken by this abrupt hypothesis but still forced himself to retort, "Heavenly and Earthly Qi have existed since time immemorial; your hypothesis is simply impossible!"

"Since time immemorial..."

Repeating those four words with deep meaning, Tang Luo turned to Zhu Huolong and asked, "It’s said that Wushen Mountain is the Human Race’s oldest sect, with a lineage that can even trace its roots back to the Age of Darkness before the era of totems. Is this true?"

Among the sects of Zhongzhou, the longest lineage undeniably belonged to Wushen Mountain. By historical standards, even the oldest sects were judged as mere fledgling disciples in Wushen Mountain’s eyes, and this was their greatest source of pride.

Faced with such a direct query, Zhu Huolong naturally responded with immense pride: "Our sect’s lineage is ancient and uninterrupted! Over ten thousand years ago, the ancestral witches established their spiritual court in Zhongzhou, and the teachings have been passed down ever since."

"Then, Zhu Huolong, could you answer me a single question? In Xiehe’s ancient history, did the Demon Race come first, or did the Human Race?"

This question, hitting straight at a blind spot of historical knowledge, left Zhu Huolong flustered. He could only respond defensively, "Does this even matter? The Demon Race has been extinct for a thousand years. The Human Race is the true overlord of Xiehe now. Fixating on ancient matters is utterly pointless."

"It seems Wushen Mountain also has no answer to this question. But that’s alright—The Academy might have a perspective on the matter."

Listening closely to the hints of apprehension in Zhu Huolong’s tone, Tang Luo continued casually, "Xiehe should have seen humans before it saw demons. Furthermore, prior to the emergence of the Demon Race, there should have been no Spiritual Energy in existence."

"Absurd! Utterly preposterous nonsense!"

Agitated, Zhu Huolong exclaimed loudly, "Making claims like that—do you have any evidence?!"

"The recorded origins of martial arts within the Human Race all emerged after the appearance of the Demon Race. They began with imitations of the supernatural powers of demons, either recorded as totems or depicted through facial tattoos and bodily inscriptions. Even the oldest records date back no more than twenty or thirty thousand years."

Tang Luo spoke softly and thoughtfully, "But if the Human Race has only existed for twenty or thirty thousand years, where did the people who created these records come from? Moreover, today we know the Human Race possesses intelligence far superior to that of demons. Is it truly conceivable that humans tens of thousands of years ago were so dull-witted that they couldn’t cultivate Primary Qi from the heavens and earth?"

"In Buddha’s Country’s rainforests, we find marks of human tribes congregating over tens of thousands of years ago—stone tools preserved in pristine condition. Yet there is no trace of evidence from those times concerning cultivation practices. Even myths only began to spread after the appearance of demons."

"Nowadays, martial arts and spiritual cultivation are often conflated as one and the same. But in truth, they are two entirely distinct and opposing endeavors."

"The more fervently one pursues martial arts, the further one’s perceptions are shaped by it. And the true barrier preventing humanity from crossing the sea to the other shore is precisely this martial arts paradigm filling the mind."

"The deeper one accumulates martial arts on this side of the shore, the harder the path becomes on the other side."

"If you wish to walk farther and longer, then begin now: let go of your obsession with martial arts research, forget about divine skills and forbidden techniques, and simply observe and experience the world. Then devote yourself earnestly to cultivation."

"Use Spiritual Power to stimulate and strengthen the physical body. Use meditation to deepen and enrich the spirit. Persistently draw from the heavens and earth through Primary Qi—this is the essence of spiritual cultivation and breakthrough."

Having committed himself to delivering this grand lecture, Tang Luo spoke candidly, revealing all his deductions through observing the heavens and ancient texts over the years.

After saying his piece, nearly everyone in the classroom was staring at Tang Luo with the gaze reserved for lunatics.

In an age of flourishing martial arts, anyone voicing such ideas would naturally be dismissed as misguided or mad.

Though his words sounded logical, following them seemed a prospect so implausibly absurd that anyone attempting it would surely be deemed irrational.

Sensing the collective doubt and disbelief, Tang Luo was unfazed. If someone had said such things to him before his breakthrough, he truly might have cracked open their head to see whether it was filled with water or urine.

Yet after crossing to the other shore, not only had the world he perceived changed, but so had the lens through which he viewed it.

If someone had spoken to him about Xiehe’s origins and the scenery beyond the shore during his youth, his choices would have radically transformed.

For martial artists, how one understood the world ultimately determined their upper limits.

Everything Tang Luo had failed to receive during his own cultivation, he freely imparted this day to the disciples attending his lecture.

Alas, while the enlightened see obstacles as opportunities for wisdom, the unenlightened perceive wisdom as obstacles of delusion.

In the end, many listened, yet few truly understood.

Ah well, ah well. Gently placing his teaching staff back on the desk, Tang Luo stepped away from the podium, his figure fading from the stage.

Meanwhile, heated debates erupted within the sky-tier lecture hall of Unparalleled Academy...