Chapter 1653
Chapter 1653 - 1649 Book of Truth
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8 min read
Even a leaky boat has three pounds of nails, let alone an entire former kingdom.
Lu Ping’an’s act of taking disciples is a political event; the quality of the disciple is not important, what matters more is whom he chooses... But given a choice, Lu Ping’an naturally prefers those with better talent and more pleasing to the eye.
At the very least, this "sensible" little girl was very pleasing to Lu Ping’an’s eyes.
"...Come with me, I will give you a promising future."
The thing Lu Ping’an most appreciated was probably that the girl had no attachments or relatives, yet her character hadn’t fallen into darkness or extremism.
Ability can be cultivated, but once character and morals are formed, they are very difficult to change.
She possessed the power to obtain everything but still exercised considerable restraint... Being committed to a mental institution might have been her predicament, but it was also a testament to her self-control and choice.
And having been sent to a mental institution also meant that she didn’t have complicated social relations, which was a good thing for the outsider Lu Ping’an.
"...Let’s go, this wasn’t in the plan. I hope the next student will meet my needs."
But after a brief conversation, Lu Ping’an gave up on the previous "agent cultivation" plan.
Not everyone is cut out to be a qualified agent... even "proxies" need enough leadership and political wisdom. No one wants to use a true fool.
Leadership charisma may sound vague, but the ability to bribe subordinates and cultivate one’s own power, at the very least, the ability to protect oneself, is also fundamental.
If Miss Shiraishi had such ability, she wouldn’t have ended up in a mental institution, emotional intelligence and IQ are never equivalent.
Lu Ping’an learned that she used to work at New Tokyo University... The reason she was locked up was that her "ability was about to lose control," in fact, it was because she had seen "too much" in her research and couldn’t stabilize in the end.
Now, after she "devoured" a part of Lu Ping’an, she stabilized... And from what Lu Ping’an sensed, if she had enough resources and Extraordinary Material, her growth rate wouldn’t have turned out this way either.
She turned herself into chicken ribs, with no Investor nor trustworthy companions...
"Can my promised laboratory and research team get funded soon? I also need to retrieve my previous achievements..."
But this kind of "forthright" character, Lu Ping’an actually liked very much.
He almost understood that the other party is an entity that can read everything. Thus, her growth environment was remarkably straightforward; good is good, bad is bad. Lacking the delicacy of the grey area is not bad, but this also made her unpopular...
"...I don’t know what I can bring to you, and I don’t even know when I might lose control next time. Even so, are you willing to take me as your Disciple? If we’re going by your traditions, a disciple is almost like family, right?"
"Only an inner chamber disciple is the kind that inherits the mantle; you still need to face trials and prove yourself."
Lu Ping’an didn’t say everything; as for the "losing control" that the other party was worried about, in fact, it was the reason why Lu Ping’an chose her.
"Finish reading this within a month."
After pondering for a while, Lu Ping’an casually took out a "notebook."
This was not a product of the Taboo Library, just Taboo knowledge recorded by Lu Ping’an as a Scholar.
A low-level Scholar, as a Profession lacking in combat Abnormal Ability, their core ability is "Reading and Writing," with the few awakened Abnormal Abilities simply serving as support for accelerated growth. Their main method of combat is to fight with the "knowledge they’ve recorded."
Painters use their own paintings, and the most common pure scholars, such as lawyers/judges, use a "Law Book" they have recorded, and all these are based on the "Taboo Notes" that have been documented.
This is considered the scholars’ path of cultivation. Most scholars start by "copying books," continuously absorbing and collecting various taboo knowledge, trying to understand the rules and truths of the world, and recording them down to become a part of themselves... Those Taboo Notes they leave behind in their growth are not only a record of their development but also their wealth, and could even be a part voluntarily cut off by them.
Some high-tier scholars intentionally "cut out" some of their knowledge and put it into Taboo Notes. Doing so not only provides them with a powerful weapon, but they also become safer and more relaxed.
Clearly, this girl has "read" something but completely fails to understand it, instead shaking her "worldview" to near collapse.
It’s as if her entire past knowledge system was built on "1+1=2," and when she stumbles upon the bizarre reality that "1+1 is greater than 2," she starts to doubt if everything she knew before was wrong.
Even though Lu Ping’an has helped stabilize her and even used part of himself as her "computing server," if the fundamental issue shattering her worldview isn’t resolved, problems will arise sooner or later.
This kind of incident occasionally happens to high-tier scholars, and those with sanity will cut off these things... If you cannot understand, or even find it contradictory, it’s very likely that the problem is not with the knowledge itself but with the limitations of your abilities—seeing only part of the whole naturally leads to errors.
𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Cut it off, set it aside for a while, and come back to read it when you’ve grown.
But this time, the problem for Wuling is that the "content" she has read is too advanced; even she is unable to imprint or cut it off. This kind of "knowledge" is an embodiment of contamination itself, and mere forgetting is not enough for cutting it away; it must be "recorded" as a medium, but obviously, she is not up to the task...
"If you’ve read half of it, you should be fine... if you haven’t gone mad, that is."
With these words, Wuling, who was previously eagerly holding the worn notebook, shivered. She could feel that what Lu Ping’an said was utterly true.
"Then... never mind..."
"At most two years, and you’ll definitely go completely insane... In this world, there are less than ten fingers worth of people who could save you. Maybe you could try seeing if you can meet someone more capable."
Lu Ping’an left that book there, and unlike other Taboo Notes, it did not emit any contamination, but this very calmness itself is what truly frightens those in the know.
[Partial Speculations of Lu Ping’an’s Unified Field Theory (Unknown Level): It records Lu Ping’an’s understanding of the universe and the world, which itself is meaningless, just like humanity itself....]
This represents the truth glimpsed by Lu Ping’an upon obtaining the Eye of Truth. It should be an upper-level theory to the immature "Truth of the Universe" perceived by the little guy... This book couldn’t even be classified by the Courtyard; in terms of level, it should be "above the Gods."
But what troubles Lu Ping’an is that this book cannot be utilized... Just like the little guy, Lu Ping’an’s scholar level is not high enough.
"Has anyone read it before...?"
"They all went mad, without exception."
Lu Ping’an’s brutally honest words were rather excessive, but the girl’s grip on the little notebook tightened even more.
"Great... too dangerous. Let me examine it first." She knew that this represents knowledge that exceeds the limits of scholars, indicating that it must contain great secrets.
And looking at the girl whose drool unknowingly started flowing, Lu Ping’an nodded his head in satisfaction.
As a scholar, this is how one should be.
It’s not about being ready to die after hearing the Tao morning and night, but that one’s entire life is a pursuit of the Tao.
Lu Ping’an himself cannot be this pure... but he always likes and admires those who are such pure "fools."
"Don’t start reading it just yet. Find ten scholars and share the load with your ability... You can’t find any? Don’t worry, that was before; now you can definitely find them. Just say it’s by my word."
— End of Chapter 1653 —