Chapter 421: Mountain Is Not A Mountain; Water Is Not Water

　　“Water’s made of hydrogen and oxygen elements?”

　　Dragin grabbed the water in front of her. No matter how she looked at it, water was still water. Nothing came out of it.

　　“There’s no point separating it this way. Hydrogen and oxygen are formless, there’s no way to see it.” Li Nianfan ruffled Dragin’s head. He shook his head with a smile.

　　Dragin lifted her hand and said, “Brother, then…if my dragon family’s made of the water element, does that mean we’re made of hydrogen and oxygen elements?”

　　Huh?

　　Li Nianfan looked at Dragin, rather amused. She seemed to have understood it and she even used an example!

　　“Hmm…you could say that.” Li Nianfan thought for a while. He continued, “However, this is just a theory, it’s just my speculation.”

　　The crowd nodded in unison. They all looked at Li Nianfan without blinking. They were serious.

　　‘Call it speculation or whatever! We’ll believe whatever you say!’

　　Li Nianfan continued, “I’ve thought about the cultivation. There are two important elements in the cultivation to immortality—one is Spiritual Root and the other is Spiritual Qi. The so-called Spiritual Root is made of the body’s structure. Dragin, your dragon family’s made of mostly water elements, while an ordinary man’s made of mostly carbon elements. Of course, the more powerful cultivators probably have an element in them that makes them different from an ordinary man. This could be the so-called Spiritual Root that’s required to cultivate.”

　　“Human bodies are made of carbon elements?”

　　Xiao Chengfeng could not help looking at his own body. After looking closely, he seemed very perplexed.

　　‘What’s a carbon element? I’m made of this thing? I’m not made of flesh and blood?’

　　Li Nianfan smiled, “This is easy to verify. Do you know why wood will turn black when burnt? Similarly, if the human body’s being burnt, only some black ashes will be left behind. This is the carbon element.”

　　“If so, the carbon element is the basic component, while earth, water, wind, and fire elements are those that determine one’s cultivation!” Lan seemed to have vaguely understood it.

　　“However…the earth, fire, water, and wind elements are indeed the signs of all powers in the world.” Lan realized. “No wonder so many people left their flesh bodies behind to use the elements in the world to restore it. They’re actually changing the elements of their bodies? It’s beneficial for cultivation?”

　　“You can see it this way. I was just making an example.” Li Nianfan smiled. “Actually… Nevermind. This problem’s too complicated. It’s hard to explain to you all at once. It’s not ideal for us to stay outside the Southern Sky Gate for so long. You all must be busy. Once you all have the time, do stop by the Deluxe Merit Palace. I’ll explain further.”

　　To be honest, he had thought this through. He had some realizations but they were just some theories for now. He had no way of verifying them.

　　To him, the people in this realm were like a gun or a cannon, while the Spiritual Qi and Immortal Qi were like bullets or elixirs. The Spiritual Roots had an immense power that could trigger even more power.

　　Nuclear aggregation was such a cool thing, it formed a sun. If they had a nuclear aggregation inside one’s body, how powerful would that be? Would that not make a sun in human form?

　　Of course, this would not have happened in his previous realm. However, this cultivation realm seemed to be too unrealistic. The so-called ‘cultivation’ was probably the process of regenerating different energies of each element.

　　Chang’e and the rest exchanged looks. They seemed disappointed.

　　Apparently…the expert thought they were not smart enough.

　　However, after hearing what the expert said, this was indeed mysterious knowledge. It opened up a new door to them. They understood this world a little better now.

　　The basic elements of the world…who else would know about this? The expert was so powerful!

　　So terrifying! So shocking!

　　Since Li Nianfan had already said so, they did not dare to refuse. They answered, “We’ll find you another time, then. Goodbye.”

　　When they parted with Li Nianfan, they exchanged a look with one another. They saw a similar look of shock and terror in one another.

　　Lan said, “This is too important, I must speak to the Empress!”

　　“Let’s go.”

　　The group did not dare waste any more time. They flew toward the Jade Emperor’s Palace.

　　The Jade Emperor and Empress were still able to maintain their cool in the beginning. However, when they heard about how the group accidentally bumped into the expert, their faces changed. The more they listened, the more shocked they were.

　　Gasp…

　　The two big shots gasped at the same time. The Gods in the Heavenly Temple instantly felt the air becoming thinner. They found it hard to breathe!

　　“The basic elements of the world!?”

　　Merely five words, and yet it made them so, so, so shocked! They felt their scalps itching with layers of goosebumps formed.

　　They were in a much higher realm, so they knew the power of these words.

　　This was related to the…creation of the world!

　　Indeed, the creation!

　　“This…this is beyond the ultimate truth!”

　　The Jade Emperor took a deep breath. He was very shocked. His voice was shivering as he said, “This thing… I don’t even dare to think about it! I don’t even have the right to know about it and yet…you all heard about it from the expert!?”

　　Lan said, “Lu Yue mentioned it. The expert even praised him for that.”

　　The crowd looked at Lu Yue with complex looks. It was like a bunch of bad students looking at the best student.

　　Lu Yue was dumbfounded. However, this did not stop him from boasting about himself. He gently coughed, “Don’t look at me like this, you only have to think more, analyze more, and you all can be just like me.”

　　The Jade Emperor did not respond to him. He said in a serious tone, “Lan, repeat the exact words the expert said.”

　　Instantly, Lan repeated what Li Nianfan said to them.

　　“Right, the expert’s right! We only know the ‘what’ but never asked the ‘why’. This is a different realm! This is our difference!” The Jade Emperor felt as if he was woken up by someone’s words.

　　“We only know that the dragons, phoenixes, and kirins are strong. However, we neglected how they were powerful because of the four basic elements of the world. The earth, fire, wind, and water elements have their own usages. It’s a pity that the expert didn’t explain further.”

　　The Empress suddenly spoke, “Jade Emperor, do you remember the sentence, ‘In the beginning, the mountain looks like a mountain, the water looks like water. However, looking closely, the mountain is not a mountain, the water is not water.’ I remember we even debated about it back in the day!”

　　“Right, I understand now! This means that we need to look at the basic components of things!” The Jade Emperor let out a look of realization. His face was flushing red. “A mountain isn’t actually a mountain. It’s a carbon element. Water isn’t water, it’s hydrogen and oxygen elements! Right! These are the basic components of the world.”

　　The more they spoke, the more shocked they were. They had so much admiration and respect toward the expert.

　　They had learned so much from the expert! When he was in the mood, a few words from him would make anyone so much wiser! How useful!

　　Wonderful! Powerful!

　　The Empress sighed and said, “Unfortunately, our knowledge is so limited. If only the expert’s willing to teach us more, it’d be so beneficial for our cultivation!”

　　“Mind your words!” The Jade Emperor’s face straightened. “Empress, we’ve come so far, we can’t be greedy. Even if we learn a little from him, it’s already a big step for all of us. We have to be grateful, how can you be so ungrateful?”

　　Lan was shocked. “Jade Emperor, is this beneficial for our cultivation?”

　　“Of course, very beneficial!”

　　The Jade Emperor took a deep breath and said with respect, “You’re not a Daluo Golden Immortal yet, so you won’t feel much. The Daluo Golden Immortal starts to grasp the laws of nature, the law of cultivation, but…it’s very difficult to actually grasp the law of cultivation. It’s almost impossible! However, once you learn about the basic elements of the world, it’ll be very helpful! After all…this is like standing at the source of all resources in the world and looking at how the world works! This is very terrifyingly beneficial!”

　　This was similar to a gun user versus someone who knew how to make guns! If one knew how to make a gun, one would understand how to use a gun better.

　　“Back then, Pangu was able to change into different forms because he knew about the basic elements that made up the world!”

　　The Empress was emotional. She gasped and said, “This is something that even Dao Zu was unable to grasp! We’re so lucky to be told about this! I was indeed wrong to complain earlier!”

　　“But…” Lan bit her lip. She was uncertain. “The expert said that once we’ve sorted out our problems and have time, we can ask him for more.”

　　“What!?” the Jade Emperor and the Empress cried out in unison. They stared at Lan with excitement. “The expert actually said so? He said that we can ask him for more?”

　　Xiao Chengfeng nodded. “I heard that, too.”

　　“This…this…this…” The Jade Emperor and the Empress felt dizzy. They were so happy that they felt dizzy.

　　This was such a big matter and yet the expert was simply offering to share his insights with them!?

　　Knowing about the basic elements of the world was one thing. The most terrifying part about all of this was that the expert could simply tell this to the others! This implied that the expert did not care about it at all!

　　This was an opportunity that even Dao Zu would be jealous of!

　　The expert was too generous!

　　The Jade Emperor was impatient. “Once we fix our things? What do we have to fix? We have so much time now to visit the expert!”

　　The Empress thought about it. “Wait a minute, if the expert said we have things to fix, we do!”

　　With that said, the crowd looked at Lu Yue in unison.

　　“Right, Lu Yue broke the Heavenly Laws. He’s a prisoner, we haven’t decided on his penalty.” The Jade Emperor straightened his face. “Come over, tie Lu Yue to the lightning pillar to receive one hundred and eight lightning whips!”

　　“No need, I’ll fly there myself.” Lu Yue was already in the air. He seemed impatient. “Please, whip me faster, I’m not afraid of pain as long as I don’t die. This is so that we can fix this quickly and go get a lesson from the expert.”

　　The Jade Emperor stroked his beard. “Hmm, I have the same thought. Hurry up, don’t waste time.”

　　The next day. Early in the morning.

　　Li Nianfan saw the Jade Emperor and the crowd standing outside his door. He was dumbfounded.

　　In their eyes, he saw their craving for knowledge. They even had some notebooks in hand. It seemed as if they were ready to take notes.

　　What were they here for? A lesson?