Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

The originally joyful outing was marred by a tangled web. Su Yingying began to worry about Liu Xing again, but Liu Xing assured her not to worry. The next day, Liu Xing arrived at the administrative center and began researching the quests, looking for anything that would suit his needs. He now had 200,000 points, making him a wealthy man, not short of money. However, he was short of elixirs. His cultivation had stagnated for years, and he needed to find a solution. His previous quest for the Tianmu Beast remained unanswered, so he increased the reward and continued to seek other elixir recipes. Feeling a little depressed, he wandered to the central square. In the center stood a massive statue, said to be that of the sect's founder, Tianjizi. Liu Xing looked up. The statue, a hundred feet tall and imposing, held an imposing presence. The old man, with an air of immortality, gazed forward, exuding a sense of intimidation. Liu Xing had passed by this place several times before, but had never truly admired the statue. This time, with nothing better to do, he decided to wander around the square.

Beneath the sculpture was a large square stone platform, engraved with a number of inscriptions and patterns. Some recorded the historical background of the Thousand Machines Sect, others depicted the elders and meritorious officials of past generations, and some contained difficult questions about the prohibitions. Liu Xing read through them one by one, absorbing them with great interest.

Suddenly, he saw a problem: "How to prove that in a three-dimensional space, assuming that every closed curve can be contracted to a point, then this space must be a three-dimensional sphere."

The Poincaré conjecture? Wasn't it one of the world's most difficult mathematical problems in his previous life? It was later successfully proved by Russian mathematician Perelman. Back in college, he was also a math enthusiast and had even researched the methodological approach to this proof.

Suddenly, he saw a math problem from his past life in another world, and he immediately realized that this theory had strong guiding significance for the application of teleportation arrays. No wonder it was engraved there. Had no one ever proven it? Mathematics is a fundamental science, the basis for explaining the principles of the universe. It seems to be applicable everywhere. With Liu Xing's current mastery of forbidden techniques, he is not yet capable of building a teleportation array. But he knows that there are many people in this world who can build teleportation arrays, so this theory of three-dimensional space should have a wide range of applications.

"Oh, I understand. These teleportation array builders only know the facts but not the reasons. Although the theory has begun to be applied, no one can prove its rationality." Liu Xing thought for a long time and came to this conclusion.

He looked at the question again and noticed a small arrow after it. He channeled his spiritual consciousness into it and was prompted to enter his answer. He understood that this was a world-class problem left here by the Forbidden Department, awaiting an answer. He wondered what would happen if he entered the correct answer. Liu Xing didn't act rashly. Solving this problem would require calculus and other mathematical theories from past lives. He needed to clearly organize these theories so that the people of this world could fully understand them. This would be equivalent to establishing a new school of thought, which would cause another sensation in the sect. He was unsure whether he wanted to do this. So he withdrew his spiritual consciousness, returned to his cave, and pondered carefully.

His biggest secret is his soul from another world, and this cannot be known to anyone. He needed a plausible reason for inventing calculus. He couldn't just say it was some random story he came up with in a cave, as that wouldn't fool the Nascent Soul Elders in the sect. So he spent three days gathering all the forbidden theories he had learned in this world, and finally found some similar knowledge points. He then rebranded the term calculus into a common sense term in this world, with the same logic and explanation. This rebranding turned it into some innovative ideas he had summarized through study and research. Although it was still a bit shocking, it made sense. He already had the title of forbidden genius in the sect, and everyone knew it, so the elders were amazed but couldn't find any loopholes.

He then spent another three days using a modified version of calculus to prove the correctness of the Poincaré conjecture. Looking over the proof, which filled dozens of pages, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Mathematicians share a common trait: the immense sense of accomplishment they feel when they solve a difficult problem. The joy this feeling brings is comparable to that of a wedding night or the moment of passing the imperial examination. So many mathematicians obsess over a single topic for decades. What kind of faith sustains them? Perhaps it's the joy of achieving the answer.

As he proved this theory, he discovered that his understanding of the art of prohibition had reached a new level. Some of his previous doubts were now explained by this theory. If he now had the architectural blueprints for the teleportation array, he could try to set it up. It was truly amazing. It's only when you need it that you regret not having read enough. The knowledge gained in your past life could actually be of immense value in this life. This only strengthened his resolve to continue reading as much as possible. Read more, knowledge is power!

Next, he had to consider the pros and cons of revealing his answer. The upside of revealing his talent for forbidden techniques was that he would be recognized by the sect's higher-ups and receive rewards, perhaps even be accepted as a disciple by a Nascent Soul Elder. This would give him a powerful backer and more leverage for resistance. The downside was that his secrets might be exposed. His technique had already been packaged, so he wasn't afraid of doubts or theft. He wasn't sure about his soul and bamboo flute; to him, they seemed ordinary, but he wondered if a Nascent Soul Elder would discover any secrets. He paced back and forth in his cave, weighing the pros and cons.

After a long moment of reflection, he finally decided to trust that his soul and bamboo flute would remain undetectable. This was a unique existence in the other world, and he doubted the people here were capable of identifying it. It was worth a gamble; whether he could be recognized by the sect depended on this one chance.

So that night, he pretended to relax and went to the central square. It was deserted, and he was the only one there. He then sat cross-legged on the stone platform beneath the statue, concentrating his mind and meditating for a while. He rehearsed the proof of the Poincare conjecture in his mind, making sure nothing had been missed. Then, his consciousness entered the point indicated by the arrow and began to demonstrate the proof.

Time ticked by, and Liu Xing was confident. Every step of his proof was consistent with the theoretical knowledge of this life, but his unique thinking had built upon this foundation, creating new theories. Link after link, his logic was rigorous and flawless, the entire proof process was perfect. Three hours later, the answer was demonstrated, and Liu Xing waited quietly.