From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

"It's not that I can't concentrate!"

Xiaoyu objected, saying she didn't really want to go to the park anymore. But after thinking about it carefully, she realized that going to the park was much better than being asked by Jiang Liu to help her search through various ancient books and exhaustively find the correct formula and proportions.

We arrived at the park.

Jiang Liu led Xiao Yu to a secluded grassy area, where he used magic to pile up the scattered stones on the park grass into a mound nearly a meter high, nine centimeters taller than Xiao Yu's 91-centimeter height.

"Well, Xiaoyu, you are indeed a bit short. I'll make you some nutritious meals later, so you can nourish your body properly." Jiang Liu said seriously, comparing Xiaoyu's height with that of the pile of stones.

"Hey!"

Xiaoyu exclaimed, a little angry, but still asked, "Is this pile of stones my practical lesson? Do I have to pick up the stones, find the thieves in the park, or the people who litter, and then secretly teach them a lesson?"

"...That's irrelevant."

Jiang Liu pursed his lips, silently complaining about the security situation in the United States, before getting down to business, "Your practical lesson involves classifying this pile of stones."

"This joke is not funny at all."

Xiaoyu suspected that Jiang Liu was playing a trick on her. "They are all stones, so they are all the same type! Besides, I'm not a three-year-old child. I don't play with sand or stones anymore."

"Do you know? Your name, Yu (玉), also means stone. But do you think the value of jade can be equated with the value of these stones right now? Would the owner of a jewelry store classify jade and stones together?" Jiang Liu asked.

"of course not."

Xiaoyu frowned, but she wouldn't lie. She was certain that jade was also a stone, but if you really wanted to classify it as a stone, not many people in the world would agree. "So how do you want me to classify it? By value? They're all stones, they have no value, they might be mixed with cement and used to build roads?"

"By color, by size, by shape, by property," Jiang Liu listed four categories, then added, "If you successfully categorize this pile of stones, I'll buy you ice cream, how about that?"

"Keep your word."

With the reward, Xiaoyu focused all her attention on the stone in front of her—Uncle Long wouldn't buy her ice cream often.

Looking at the hundreds of stones in front of her, each nine centimeters taller than her, varying in size, shape, and color, Xiaoyu was at a loss.

These stones lay quietly on the ground, some with sharp edges, some round like pebbles, some as large as pebbles, and some as small as fingernails.

Xiaoyu stared at the pile of stones for a long time, hesitating to make a move, pondering how to complete the task assigned by Jiang Liu.

By color?

They can have different shapes.

By shape?

However, their properties may differ.

By nature?

They can vary greatly in size.

By size?

But their shapes are different.

This is a vicious cycle, a dead end!

In a flash, Xiaoyu suddenly suspected that Jiang Liu was still teasing her, a little girl!

Otherwise, why provide four classification criteria?

Why not just use one method? For example, you could simply categorize them by size or shape. Wouldn't that be much simpler?

But Xiaoyu was stubborn and didn't immediately cause trouble for Jiang Liu. Instead, she secretly encouraged herself, saying to herself, "Xiaoyu, it's just dividing them into four groups, right? No problem. Just follow the rules!"

So Xiaoyu took action, picked up a blue pebble and a red round stone, and piled them together.

However, after dozens of round stones had been piled up, Xiaoyu felt that the colorful pebbles piled together were a bit of an eyesore.

Without him.

One of the four criteria given by Jiang Liu was based on color.

So Xiaoyu temporarily stopped searching for pebbles in the pile of stones and instead turned to sort the pebbles she had found into five categories: blue, gray, yellow, black, and red/pink. But before she had even sorted half of them, she grabbed her hair, feeling that this was a waste of time, and turned her attention back to the pile of stones.

This back and forth made her feel frustrated and upset. Finally, she sat on the ground, staring at Jiang Liu, her face puffed out, sulking.

"What's wrong? Can't you do it?" Jiang Liu asked with a smile.

"Are you trying to teach me to follow the rules?" Xiaoyu sneered, thinking of Jiang Liu's abilities, "And you can directly obtain the potion formula for finding demonic energy from the Zhou Qi Bureau."

"That's certainly possible, but I'm not from this world. I'll eventually have to return to my own. What will you do then if something similar to the Eight Great Demons reappears?"

Jiang Liu was quite patient. He walked to Xiao Yu's side, squatted down, and patted her head. "Also, I'm not trying to make you follow the rules, but to help you create a prototype of a way of thinking in your mind during this experience that will allow you to see all the rules and laws of the world."

This allows you to unravel any problem, pinpoint the root cause, and use that as a starting point to solve the difficulty.

# Chapter 820 Focus Your Attention, Xiaoyu (Continued)

Because Xiaoyu's ancestral aperture contained a speck of light from Jiang Liu, she was able to recover her composure faster than usual. However, she still had a headache when faced with that pile of stones and pleaded, "Could you change the classification from four to one?"

“Then it’s pointless, Xiaoyu. You can classify them according to the order of color, size, shape, and properties I’ve described, or you can shuffle the order according to your preference.”

Jiang Liu pointed out, "I think someone as intelligent as you should be very clear about what you lack, right?"

"Focus your attention."

Xiaoyu knew this all too well, but she could only turn her gaze back to the pile of stones, unable to muster any interest whatsoever.

Seeing this, Jiang Liu decided to further broaden Xiao Yu's thinking, and said, "Actually, this is no different from magic."

"Think about it carefully. The basic potion making requires the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth to come together. The cauldron is metal, the mage's qi is fire, and earth, water, and wood are the things to be boiled. Compare the five elements with the types and colors of stones, and then divide them. Try it out as the steps for making your own basic potion."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu immediately became interested.

She wasn't interested in simply classifying stones, but when it came to learning magic, she was willing to try no matter how hard or tiring it was, and could even be described as persistent and indomitable.

This moment.

Xiaoyu looked at the pile of stones again, and a flash of inspiration struck her. The stones reflected the light in her ancestral aperture, just as if she were looking at the raw materials for preparing a basic magic potion. Her attention immediately focused.

The first step is to divide by color.

The colors blue, gray, yellow, black, and red can be defined as follows: blue represents wood, gray represents metal, yellow represents earth, black represents water, and red represents fire.

In this way, Xiaoyu used both hands and, in the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the pile of stones was divided into five small piles.

Gray stones were the most numerous, followed by black, then yellow and cyan, with red being the rarest, numbering only about ten.

Once the first step is completed, the second step begins: sorting by size.

However, the stones vary in size, ranging from as large as a fist to as small as a fingernail, with some stones falling between the two sizes.

Therefore, this step requires first dividing the stones into three categories: large, medium, and small, and specifying the volume range for each category.

Compared to mixing basic potions, this step is to determine the proportions!

After completing the second step of classification, Xiaoyu had a vague and inexplicable understanding of what Jiang Liu meant by seeing through all the rules and laws of the world.

The world may seem complex, but it is actually governed by rules. By peeling back the layers and classifying them step by step, we can see clearly, no, truly understand the whole picture of the world.

In that instant, Xiaoyu seemed to have "enlightened" herself. After completing the classification by size, she began the third step: classifying by shape, including spheres, squares, triangles, and irregular shapes.

This step of comparing and mixing basic potions involves relying on the flow of Qi within the potion. The more irregular the shape of the material, the more Qi is required during mixing.

Then comes the fourth category—

Stones can be classified according to their properties, by observing their smoothness and roughness.

Smooth stones, with a relatively hard texture, represent strength and are associated with Yang.

Rough stones are generally brittle, representing softness and yin.

In contrast, when preparing basic potions, it is essential to balance yin and yang; otherwise, the potion may be prepared incorrectly, resulting in reduced effectiveness or other adverse effects.

And so, as dusk fell, on this secluded patch of grass in the park, four categories were distinguished based on color, size, shape, and color.

First principle: Analyze colors according to the five elements.

Second principle: Measure the body to determine proportions.

The third principle: Observe the shape to judge the cooking time.

Fourth principle: Transform Yin and Yang according to their properties.

Sorting stones, and mixing basic potions—

It seems to be the same thing!

Are Qi cultivation and this "grasping the essentials and managing the details" the same thing?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Jiang Liu said, "It is one thing, but it is much more complicated. If you want to cultivate Qi, you also need to have a good understanding of your body. It's not just these four principles, nor does it necessarily have to be these four principles."

"I understand... Wait, you know what I'm thinking?"

Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Thai pants are hot! Can you teach me!"

"Do you know? Once you've mastered your cultivation, you'll be able to read minds without a teacher."

Jiang Liu smiled slightly. Seeing the sun setting in the west, he bought an ice cream for Xiao Yu, who had already mastered the "key points and all the details" method. After fulfilling his promise, he led her to his father's antique shop and asked on the way, "So, regarding the formula for ordinary demonic energy, besides exhaustive search, do you have any other ideas now?"

"Of course."

While licking her ice cream, Xiaoyu held up a finger, "First principle, according to the Bagua, the attributes are determined - the eight great demons respectively control gravity, mountain-devouring, wind, lightning, water, fire, earth, and weather;

The second principle is to find the location based on habits. The eight demons were sealed in different locations. You said that their bodies were also made of earthly matter, and the places where they were sealed were the regions of the kingdoms they originally ruled. Therefore, some of the plants and animals in that region must have similarities to the demons' bodies.

The third principle is to determine the materials based on their physical appearance. The images of the eight demons have similarities to plants and animals in nature. For example, Ximu looks like a pterosaur or a bat, Xiaofeng is a toad, and Zhongsu's chin looks like a hippopotamus. This way, we can narrow down the range of materials for the recipe.

Then comes the fourth category...

Then, the fifth principle…”

Before grasping the essential principles, Xiaoyu had never realized she could see the world in such a way! It was truly—

awesome!

then.

After returning to his father's antique shop and having dinner, Jiang Liu asked Xiao Yu to look through books on geography, geology, and the flora and fauna of the corresponding locations. He asked her to help categorize the books and determine the range of corresponding plant and animal raw materials needed to find the eight demons.

Xiaoyu: "???"

But since it was related to magic, she did it anyway.