Everyone knew the old professor was fuming with anger and dared not approach, which made it easy for Renji to reach the professor with greying temples.
“Professor Einstein, I think your scolding was excellent, really satisfying! It was very helpful to me, and I’m very grateful. But regarding what you said, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you, if I may?”
The old professor glanced at the young man who had started the conversation.
For some reason, he found this young man quite agreeable. Plus, given his current bad mood and having no desire to continue his research at the moment, he thought it might be better to take this opportunity to clear up some doubts for the younger generation, rightly directing the study of ancient studies to prevent such bad trends in the future.
So he nodded and said to Renji, “Go ahead, what do you want to ask young man?”
“It’s like this, professor, I’ve been conducting research on elf species recently, so could you please explain in more detail about the connection between souls, the World Tree, and the elf species?”
‘Research on elf species?’
‘That’s quite rare’
Due to the Forest Alliance’s seclusion, such papers generally don’t have much of a market, and few scholars delve into this area, mainly because it doesn’t attract much funding, essentially running on passion.
Young people purely passionate about academia like this are becoming rarer and rarer, a precious rarity. Therefore, Professor Einstein’s attitude towards Renji improved significantly, and he patiently explained:
“Elves are nurtured by nature. For them, the World Tree is like the mother of the entire race.”
“The World Tree possesses a strange ability to connect all things, including souls. Hence, there’s a legend that the soul of every elf who dies becomes a leaf on the World Tree, with the sacred tree connecting every elf. Therefore, in a sense, elves do not fear the death of the body, as the soul is their true pursuit.”
Hearing this, Renji couldn’t help but interrupt before Einstein could finish:
“So professor, if an elf gives their body to someone else, does that mean, in essence, it doesn’t affect her, as her soul will remain in the World Tree?”
“No, what you said isn’t entirely correct. Theoretically, elves can indeed give their bodies to someone else, but in reality, it’s impractical for two reasons. One is that it requires tremendous control power, probably beyond even that of the peak guard of the elf species, maybe only someone like Lady Lena, could do it?”
“The second is that elves have a severe phobia of impurity and, unlike mechanical life forms that might completely abandon the body to exist as a digital life, elves cannot. Their souls need a new vessel to maintain vitality, and for a noble elf with severe cleanliness standards to transfer their soul into another shell.”
Professor Einstein shook his head as if it was beyond his imagination.
These pieces of knowledge were not found in games and were greatly helpful to Renji, making him feel as if he had grasped something.
Afterward, Renji consulted the professor on some other matters.
For example,
“Professor, a friend of mine has always been curious, is the fertility of demi-humans really that impressive? And is there any way to make them reproduce less?”
“Demi-humans reproduce in large numbers, but the demand is also high. You just need to regulate it well. As long as you control the raw materials well, even the most efficient workshop can’t produce in large quantities.”
Renji nodded, taking ‘academic notes’ seriously while asking:
“Professor, another friend of mine is researching mechanical life forms. He just kissed a robot. According to you, can that robot really have children?”
“It depends on the complexity of your genetic material and the computing power of the bioroid. Additionally, all known robots currently do not possess a reproduction module.”
Seeing Renji poised to continue asking, Professor Einstein was somewhat overwhelmed by the increasingly off-topic questions and waved his hand dismissively.
“Alright, let’s leave it at that for now. I have a topic about witches to deal with later. When you have time, come find me again.”
The old professor was just about to leave when Renji directly asked, “A topic on witches? Professor, are you referring to the precursor of the Goddess of the Holy Kingdom?”
This made the old professor stop in his tracks and turn back in surprise.
“Kael Technology gave you this topic too? Right, I think their hypothesis is quite interesting. The Goddess is actually just an ordinary village girl who, because of the many betrayals and deceptions encountered on her tumultuous journey of refuge, was engulfed by the miasma. The Emperor probably had long recognized the little girl’s potential, allowing her to undergo these trials before appearing at the critical moment to help the witch transcend and transform into the current Goddess.”
Whenever it related to the Emperor, the old professor became animated and spirited, but Renji shook his head in disagreement.
“Well, Professor, I tend to think that maybe the Emperor’s encounter with the Goddess wasn’t so much a complex calculation, just a coincidence? As for transcending the witch, I think even less so. Maybe the Emperor just took her in, gave her food and water? The real victory over the miasma’s will, was it not her own kind heart?”
Renji’s words made the old professor frown deeply, and he then asked, “According to you, are the remaining four guards also just lucky encounters by the Emperor?”
“At least I believe Zero and the Dragon Empress are like that. Zero was found unintentionally in a scrapyard, and according to my research, the Dragon Empress likely was a gladiator in the arena before, and the Emperor just happened to watch that match and took a liking to her.”
Professor Einstein had provided him with much assistance earlier, and here Renji was also trying, intentionally or unintentionally, to help the old professor by sharing some past stories, which might aid the professor’s research in ancient studies.
But obviously.
The old professor frowned even more, eventually letting out a long sigh and patting Renji’s shoulder.
“Young man, don’t just look at the surface. Often, many things that seem random have their inevitability. Emperor Ashen is far-sighted and probably has been secretly paying attention to these potential seeds, whether in a scrapyard or an arena, everything…was just arranged by him”
Seeing Renji’s lips move, about to retort, the professor raised his hand and cut him off, indicating he didn’t want to listen or perhaps saw no value in the discussion.
“Young man, it’s normal for you at your age to have this kind of fated romantic notion about the Emperor and his guards.”
“But with a bit more experience, you’ll understand that the Emperor is a person of terrifying rationality, someone who could abandon everything, even himself. Emperor Ashen has always worn the same cloak, never bought other clothes, never acquired any property, never indulged in any luxuries. Every resource the Emperor has taken out, every measure used, was only for one purpose – to defeat the tainted miasma and save the world.” .
“If you carefully study history, you’ll see that every step taken by the Emperor has a deep meaning behind it, each time achieving significant victories and gains. Once might be luck, but twice, three times, every time, could that all be luck? Obviously not. The intricate planning behind this, perhaps only the Emperor himself knows.”
For some reason, Professor Einstein, who is usually not so talkative, seemed to have a lot to say to this young man today, so he couldn’t help but ask:
“Young man, what’s your name?”
“Renji.”
“Renji, the waters here are deep, and you’re not yet able to grasp them. Study more for a few decades.”
Renji was about to speak but ultimately just nodded, affirming the professor’s words.
“Professor’s critique is justifiably on point. I will definitely keep it in mind and reflect deeply.”
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