The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

The online discussions were overwhelming.

"So the ancient cultivators weren't incapable, they just didn't have Flame Spirit Stones?"

"Spiritual energy turning into Flame Spirit Stones, isn't that like going from bulk to concentrated? Before, we were drinking diluted fruit juice, now we're drinking puree?"

"Hilarious! Ancient powerful beings: We also want to refine our bodies! But we don't have the resources!"

"So Professor Li means that our generation has a higher starting point than the ancient cultivators?"

"Is it possible that ancient cultivators could fly and teleport, while you can't even finish the first set of ultimate arcane techniques?"

"The person upstairs is right, I'm devastated."

Yang Wanqing sat on the living room floor, scrolling through comments on her tablet, laughing so hard she almost fell over.

"Sister Yao Yao! Look at this—'Since spiritual energy has turned into Flame Spirit Stones, does that mean the ancient spirit beasts have also become the strange beasts we see today? So those strange beasts aren't invaders, they're the natives?' Someone replied below, 'Then we're the invaders,' hahahahaha—"

Chen Siyao ignored her.

She read Li Jiaoli's paper three times from beginning to end.

The data for this paper comes from two sources: one is the ancient records of the Thirty-Six Islands, and the other is the measured data from global energy monitoring stations over the past four months.

The cross-validation of the two sets of data was done very well. Li Wenyuan used a thermodynamic model to explain the transformation process of spiritual energy, and the mathematical derivation was rigorous with a complete logical chain.

But what really mattered to Chen Siyao was not the thesis itself.

Rather, it is the conclusion of the paper.

Flame Spirit Stones are purer than spiritual energy. Their direct effect is more efficient than storing them first. The future evolutionary potential of humanity may surpass that of ancient civilizations.

If this conclusion is correct...

In ancient times, my brother also said that there were more people who practiced Qi cultivation.

With the advent of the Flame Spirit Stone era, is a completely new system needed?

She couldn't figure out this problem.

But she had a vague feeling that her brother might be thinking further ahead than she was.

She saved the two papers—Chase's Ultimate Arcane Arts and Li Wenyuan's Spiritual Energy Conversion—to her tablet and then left the study.

Chen Hao sat on the balcony drinking tea, with a half-open book beside him, the "In Search of the Supernatural".

"elder brother."

She handed the tablet over.

"Look, Professor Li has published another paper. Everyone's been talking about it lately."

Yang Wanqing also jumped up from the floor and ran over.

"Yeah, yeah, Master! Yao Yao and I both tried that Ultimate Arcane Technique, but it doesn't seem as good as the Azure Dragon Nine Transformations!"

Chen Hao took the tablet and glanced down at the screen.

Chen Hao didn't rush to read Professor Li's paper, but instead looked at Chase's Ultimate Arcane Arts first.

The diagrams of the twelve sets of movements scrolled by one by one.

He read very slowly.

Yang Wanqing tilted her head and leaned closer, trying to read his reaction from his face. But Chen Hao's expression was no different from that of someone watching the weather forecast.

"Master, what do you think?"

"Don't rush."

Chen Hao flipped to the detailed instructions for the seventh set and paused. Standing meditation.

It is indeed a method of stance training, but it does not follow the traditional Chinese Hunyuan stance. Instead, it derives an almost identical result from the perspective of Western kinetic mechanics.

Same way.

He continued flipping through the exercises. The eighth set: spinal undulation. The ninth set: three-point force application on the soles of the feet. The tenth set: chest resonance…

After watching everything, Chen Hao placed the tablet on his lap, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

Yang Wanqing was suffocating.

"Master! Say something!"

Chen Hao put down his teacup.

"This set of techniques is very good."

Yang Wanqing was taken aback. She had expected her master to say something like "not worth mentioning" or "just ordinary," but instead she was told "very good."

"Is it really that good?"

"Hmm." Chen Hao tapped the edge of the tablet twice with his finger. "Don't underestimate this Chase. How long has it been since the Flame Spirit Stone appeared? Four or five months."

"In such a short time, starting from scratch, they developed a systematic training method involving all twelve major meridians of the body, and it has been verified through experiments involving tens of thousands of people... In ancient times, this level of skill would have been coveted by at least a mid-level sect."

Yang Wanqing's mouth gaped open.

"A mid-level sect? Isn't that very powerful?"

"Which ancient cultivation method, which school or sect, wasn't finalized only after tens of thousands of years of inheritance, verification, modification, and refinement?" Chen Hao turned a page on his tablet.

"Although it can't compare to top-tier secret techniques like the Azure Dragon Nine Transformations and the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, this Chase has reached this level in just a few months."

He paused for a moment.

"The world's talents are as numerous as carp crossing a river. This is not an exaggeration."

Yang Wanqing fell silent.

Chen Siyao leaned against the balcony railing, looking at Chen Hao's profile.

She noticed a detail—when Chen Hao said "in ancient times," he didn't use a hypothetical tone, but a declarative one.

But she didn't ask.

"However," Chen Hao changed the subject, "this set of ultimate arcane arts has an upper limit. Activating the twelve main meridians is just the beginning."

"The human body's meridian system consists of far more than just the twelve main meridians. There are also the eight extraordinary meridians, three hundred and sixty-five acupoints, and countless capillary meridians... What Chase has done so far is just opening the outermost layer of the door."

Yang Wanqing immediately chimed in, "That's why the Nine Transformations of the Azure Dragon is so powerful! It directly accesses the deep meridians, right?"

"The Nine Transformations of the Azure Dragon follow a different path." Chen Hao didn't elaborate.

Yang Wanqing wanted to ask more questions, but Chen Siyao pulled her back.

"Let me read another one."

Chen Hao flipped to Li Wenyuan's paper.

He read this one even more slowly.

Spiritual energy is transformed into Flame Spirit Stones. Energy is conserved. From diffuse to condensed state. Purity increases four hundredfold.

He read the entire text word by word.

This time, Yang Wanqing learned her lesson and didn't urge her. She squatted on the ground, resting her chin on her hands, and waited quietly.

After reading it, Chen Hao did not speak immediately.

He picked up the teacup and found that the tea had gone cold.

Chen Siyao took the cup and turned to get hot tea. When she returned, Chen Hao was staring blankly at the skyline outside the balcony.

The twilight in Baotian City was pristine. A pale orange glow on the horizon silhouetted the distant buildings into black lines.

"elder brother?"

Chen Hao took the teacup and took a sip.

"Professor Li's reasoning makes sense."

Which part?

"The idea that spiritual energy transforms into Flame Spirit Stones," Chen Hao said, handing the tablet back to his sister. "Spiritual energy doesn't just disappear into thin air; it must have gone somewhere. The energy concentration of Flame Spirit Stones far exceeds that of diffused spiritual energy, which makes sense... It's like water evaporating and then condensing into ice; the volume shrinks, but the density becomes higher."

Chen Siyao astutely grasped his wording.

"You said 'spiritual energy won't disappear into thin air'—bro, how can you be so sure?"

Chen Hao paused for a moment.

"The paper contains supporting data," he said, changing the subject.

Chen Siyao stared at him for two seconds, then didn't ask any more questions.