Lin Mu remained seated within the mobile courtyard, the faint hum of the spatial channel flowing endlessly around them like a silent river through the void. The Saintess stood across from him, her presence calm and unhurried, as if ti itself had slowed in deference to their discussion.
What had begun as curiosity had now grown into sothing far deeper.
Lin Mu broke the silence first.
"If these fundantal constituents exist," he said, "then there must be so way to classify them. At least conceptually."
The Saintess nodded slightly, clearly having expected this line of thought. "That was precisely what the ancients attempted," she replied. "Though their classifications varied greatly depending on era and school of thought."
Lin Mu leaned forward, his eyes sharp with focus.
"I know tals fit this idea well," he said. "Iron, copper, gold. Those are obvious. But even among tals, there are distinctions."
He paused, then continued.
"Brass and bronze are not true elents. They are mixtures. Alloys. That much is known even to common blacksmiths and they have been making them from Copper, Zinc and Tin since tis immorial. They behave differently depending on composition, which ans they cannot be fundantal."
The Saintess smiled faintly.
"A correct inference," she said. "Many cultivators fail to make that distinction because they only care about results, not structure."
Lin Mu nodded.
"From what I can tell," he continued, "lead, silver, cobalt, nickel, titanium. These feel... singular. When refined, they do not change in nature unless sothing is added."
As he spoke, he conjured small illusions of ingots, arranging them in the air as if laying out pieces on a board.
"And then," Lin Mu said slowly, "there is sothing I overlooked before."
The Saintess raised a brow slightly.
"Coal," Lin Mu said.
Her eyes flickered with interest.
"In steel forging" Lin Mu continued, "iron is combined with charcoal or coal. The result is not just stronger iron. It is sothing fundantally different. Steel has properties iron alone does not. It is stronger, flexible, and does not rust easily. And so forms of steel do not rust at all"
He frowned slightly as he spoke.
"Charcoal and mined coal are not the sa substance. One is found in mines within the earth, and the other is made by burning wood. Yet both can be used. That ans there must be a shared component between them. Sothing essential."
He looked at the Saintess.
"I do not know its na," he admitted. "But I know it exists."
The Saintess regarded him for a long mont, then nodded.
"You are correct," she said. "There is probably an elent common to both."
Lin Mu exhaled slowly, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face.
"So my reasoning holds," he said. "Even if my terminology is incomplete!"
"It does," the Saintess agreed. "Nas are secondary. Understanding is what matters."
They continued like this for hours.
Lin Mu proposed classifications, tentative groupings, patterns he sensed through observation and logic rather than direct perception. tals that conducted heat and energy differently. Substances that bonded easily versus those that resisted combination. Materials that were stable in isolation and others that only existed briefly before reacting.
For a ti, it felt less like cultivation and more like scholarship in its purest form.
Eventually, Lin Mu's thoughts turned toward gases.
"This is where I am completely lost," he admitted. "I cannot tell them apart at all."
The Saintess lifted her hand, and the air around them shimred.
A small pocket of space was isolated, and within it, the air began to separate.
Lin Mu watched intently as faint layers ford. So invisible, so with the slightest hint of color.
"These are different gases," the Saintess said. "At least several of them."
Lin Mu squinted.
"They look the sa," he said. "Even knowing they are different, I cannot perceive how."
"That is normal," the Saintess replied. "Even I struggle to distinguish them clearly unless they are highly concentrated."
She paused, then added, "And to complicate matters further, not all gases are elental. So are combinations of multiple fundantal constituents."
Lin Mu felt his head ache slightly.
"So even air is... layered," he said.
"Yes," she replied. "What cultivators casually call air is an incredibly complex
mixture."
Lin Mu let out a low laugh.
"This is absurd," he said. "The world is far more intricate than we give it credit
for."
"That is why most do not pursue this path," the Saintess said calmly. "It does not grant imdiate power. It demands patience without promising reward."
Lin Mu's eyes glead faintly.
"That only makes it more appealing," he said.
Their discussion stretched on, uninterrupted by the passage of ti. Day
turned to night within the spatial channel, though neither truly noticed. Lin Mu proposed theories, refined them, discarded others. The Saintess occasionally corrected him, occasionally admitted she did not know either.
For the first ti in a long while, she felt sothing akin to intellectual
refreshnt.
It was not often she encountered soone who asked questions for the sake of understanding rather than advantage.
As their conversation finally slowed, the Saintess found herself studying Lin Mu
with renewed interest.
She thought of the decision she had made long ago.
Head of Scholar Peak for the Serpent Moon Sect... Her Sect.
At the ti, it had been an intuitive choice. Now, she felt quietly vindicated.
Even within the Celestial Realm, individuals with such hunger for knowledge were rare. Perhaps fewer than ten she had encountered across millennia.
Power seekers were common.
Scholars were not.
Knowledge, she knew, was never wasted. Even if its application was not
imdiately apparent, it shaped the foundation upon which everything else
stood.
Eventually, silence settled between them.
Lin Mu's expression softened, his thoughts turning inward once more.
Then he spoke again.
"There is sothing else I want to ask," he said.
The Saintess inclined her head.
"Go on."
"Was what I did... right?" Lin Mu asked quietly.
He did not need to specify.
She had seen everything.
The city. The confrontation. The overwhelming force.
The Saintess answered without hesitation.
"Yes," she said. "It was right."
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