Exploring Immortality Cultivation

Bao Xiaofeng felt as if he had just smashed his face against a wall, a sense of shame before his ancestors overwhelming him.

Sis, sis... even this...

"Tsks, your sister really lived up to the label of a genius!" At that moment, an especially irritating voice rang out.

Bao Xiaofeng looked at Su Junyu, who approached with bad intentions, his eyes nearly brimming with tears, "If you're looking for a fight, let's find a place and settle it now."

Su Junyu waved his hands, "No, no, no, I mean it sincerely. We're both in the domain of mathematics; you should know how much this kind of persistence could help her, right?"

Bao Xiaofeng banged his head twice against the wall to his side before turning to Su Junyu, "Indeed. My sister, when she's not contemplating math problems, is just an ordinary child, perhaps a bit spoiled..."

"Once math is involved, it's like this." Su Junyu looked towards the stage, "I thought my little brother was doomed this time. Now it seems that with your sister as his opponent, there's nothing to worry about!"

Bao Xiaofeng flew into a rage, "What the hell are you saying!"

Su Junyu motioned with his mouth, "See for yourself."

The situation on the stage was developing in an inexplicable direction.

Faced with a stubborn problem, Wang Qi thought for a moment and answered earnestly, "This seems to involve a very complicated math problem."

Bao Xiaoya nodded, "Indeed, logically speaking..."

Wang Qi shook his head, "That's not it. We can go deeper—have you studied set theory?"

Bao Xiaoya nodded, though not fully understanding. She yet didn't grasp the connection with set theory.

In mathematics, sets and logic are very close fields. A set is the foundation of mathematical language; logic is the only tool in mathematical research. Both are the most basic portions of mathematics and are its roots. A logical issue can also involve a math problem.

But... the definition of "upright and open"? This seemed closer to word play?

Seeing Bao Xiaoya's puzzled expression, Wang Qi felt a thrill of delight,

Muahaha, being stubborn really is so cute! It seems tricking you for an extra hour won't be a problem!

Though his heart was near bursting with laughter, Wang Qi remained calm on the surface. He summoned up a bit of mana and shaved off one of his hairs, asking, "Miss Bao, please look. I've just shaved off one of my hairs."

Bao Xiaoya responded with unfriendliness, "I can see for myself."

Unperturbed, Wang Qi continued, "If I keep shaving them off like this, after how many would you consider me bald?"

"Eh?" Bao Xiaoya's eyes widened, stumped by the question, "This... what's the exact definition of 'bald'? The surface area covered by hair? The coverage ratio? Or the number of hair follicles?"

Wang Qi shook his head, "There's only the one definition for 'bald.'"

Bao Xiaoya shook her head in confusion, "I don't know."

Wang Qi persisted, "If I were to establish a set named 'bald,' how many people in Shenzhou do you think would qualify as elements of this set?"

"Can something without a clear definition be considered a set?" Bao Xiaoya put down her long sword and continued with her questions.

In that instant, Bao Xiaoya had unexpectedly let down all her guards! Theoretically, if Wang Qi launched a surprise attack now, he would have a great chance of defeating her. But would Wang Qi do that?

Hehe, of course not! Now is my time to bask in my supreme glory!

"Why not." To show his sincerity, Wang Qi also sheathed his Sword Momentum, "You know, the definition of a set is 'A collection into a whole of definite and separate objects of our perceptions or of our thoughts.' Doesn't the concept of 'bald' match with the phrase 'certain properties'?"

Bao Xiaoya shook her head, troubled. She found the problem rather difficult to grasp.

How do you perform calculations with such vague things?

Wang Qi sat down on the ground and said, "Sit. Actually, we can discuss this question."

Bao Xiaoya naively sat opposite him, "Discuss... what?"

Wang Qi pointed skyward, then toward the ground, "In fact, there are many such unclear definitions in this world."

Bao Xiaoya replied with confusion, "You point up and then down... does this have something to do with life?"

"Cough cough, don't mind those details; look, we are discussing such fuzzy questions, so why should you concern yourself with the minutiae?"

The girl nodded, "That's true as well."

Wang Qi cleared his throat and began, "Where were we? Oh, right, in reality, we face many concepts without clear boundaries. For example, a 'heap of sand'—one grain doesn't make a heap, neither do two, so how many grains are needed to constitute a heap? Likewise, 'beauty and ugliness.' What defines beauty? What defines ugliness? Can this be quantified? How to quantify it? Miss Bao, how would you rate your own looks?"

"Um..."

Wang Qi's barrage of questions left Bao Xiaoya somewhat dizzy; this was the first time she considered such "imprecise" questions with the mindset of solving math problems. After a while, she finally said, "These, seem to be all man-made definitions. Could these be considered pseudo-questions?"

Wang Qi shook his head, "Miss, do you think your brain isn't composed of basic particles, isn't an aggregation from the Spirit Energy Theory? Does your soul not conform to the Spirit Energy Theory?"

Bao Xiaoya earnestly shook her head.

"The mind is the function of the organ of thought. The organ of thought is a natural product, transformed by the Dao. So what right do we have to exclude the concepts conceived by the mind from natural concepts?"

The disciples of the Bo Family fell silent.

Then, the entire venue erupted into an uproar.

"What is that guy talking about?"

"Why has he started preaching Wen Dao?"

"Is this a stalling tactic?"

Meanwhile, the expressions of Su Junyu and Bao Xiaofeng had changed.

The questions asked by Wang Qi weren't some mystical nonsense or mere word play. What he was talking about was one of the most important mathematical achievements from the mid-20th century on Earth—fuzzy mathematics.

In many people's minds, mathematics has to be rigorous, exact, not tolerating even the slightest error. Even a small mismatch in a decimal point could lead to disastrous "miss by an inch, fail by a thousand miles" outcomes.

But truly profound mathematics can axiomatize even "uncertainty," "imprecision," and "laxness" right before your eyes.

Fuzzy mathematics and Chaos Mathematics were the proof of mathematics venturing into an uncertain world.

"So," Wang Qi laughed wickedly, "Let's start from logic and carefully discuss this issue, shall we?"

This way, I can drag this out as long as I want, muahaha!