Perhaps because he was in such a good mood that day, Qin Siyang slept especially well that night.
He had a wonderful dream.
In the dream, the world was warm and peaceful. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the wooden floor, and the air carried the faint scent of books. In the living room, Wen Shu wore an off-white house dress as she cooked a delicious meal. She looked gently at Qin Siyang, who was cleaning the house, with a soft smile on her lips.
"Honey, can the two of us stay together forever?", she asked softly, her voice like a spring breeze.
Qin Siyang grinned and patted his chest without hesitation, "Of course! Our love is blessed by the gods!"
Wen Shu raised an eyebrow slightly, "Oh? And how are the gods blessing us?"
Qin Siyang casually pointed out the window, "The gods said our relationship will only end after Qian Wenzhao finishes pecking through a mountain of rice, Li Tianming finishes licking a mountain of flour, and Zhao Longfei farts hard enough to break a bronze lock."
Wen Shu looked outside in the direction he pointed, Qian Wenzhao was furiously pecking at a mountain-sized pile of rice, sending grains flying everywhere.
Not far away, Li Tianming knelt before an enormous mountain of flour, licking it until his face was completely covered in white powder.
As for Zhao Longfei, he was standing upside down beneath a hanging bronze lock, frowning as the muscles in his face trembled from the effort.
Looking at the scene, Wen Shu couldn't help smiling sweetly. Happiness filled her eyes, "Then we'll really be together forever."
Qin Siyang flashed a proud grin, about to add something else, then he woke up.
Morning light filled the room. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, the smile still lingering on his face.
"That dream... definitely worth savoring."
———
It was Monday again.
As usual, Qin Siyang arrived in the classroom right on time.
But to his surprise, the person standing at the podium wasn't Professor Wu Yu. It was an unfamiliar young man.
His hair was slicked back with meticulous care, and he had a scholarly look about him. His bearing was upright, and he stood with perfect posture. He looked to be in his early twenties, even a few years younger than Florence.
Qin Siyang walked to the front row, sat down, and asked Zhao Sifang beside him, "Wasn't this supposed to be Professor Wu's class? Who's that?"
Zhao Sifang activated the conversation blocker, "My second uncle just told me. His name is Quan Taibin. He's from Bang Country. He graduated from South Glory two years ago, stayed on because of his outstanding performance, and now he's a lecturer."
"A lecturer who graduated only two years ago?", Qin Siyang sounded slightly dismissive.
"He wasn't qualified to teach freshman foundation courses in the first place, but he insisted on taking Professor Wu's Introduction to Divine Structures class. He said he was more suited to teaching it than Professor Wu, whose research focuses on sequence abilities. So Professor Wu gave him the course."
"He took Professor Wu's class?", Qin Siyang glanced at Quan Taibin on the podium, "Then he must have some ability."
"Who knows," Zhao Sifang turned off the conversation blocker, and Quan Taibin began the lecture.
"My name is Quan Taibin. Starting today, I will be teaching your Introduction to Divine Structures course."
He looked around the classroom, slightly raising his chin. There was a hint of deliberate confidence in his tone.
"You can say that you're very fortunate."
"Because in this course, you'll be learning about my latest research results. And this knowledge will become valuable assets throughout your lives."
The entire classroom fell silent.
Between Quan Taibin's strange accent and awkward phrasing, Qin Siyang couldn't tell whether the man simply wasn't fluent in English or was really this absurdly arrogant.
'He set the bar so high. Isn't he worried he'll fail to live up to his own claims?'
Even Fu Wanli muttered beside him, "How's this teacher even better at showing off than I am?"
The other students also whispered among themselves, discussing this little-known lecturer.
Seeing that the students weren't impressed, Quan Taibin gave a crooked smile, "It doesn't matter if you don't believe me. Over the coming lessons, I'll lead you to the gates of a whole new world."
"Today, we'll begin by focusing on the structure of disc armor."
He first posed a question everyone was familiar with, "What most people care about regarding disc armor is its score. One point for a notch, five points for a circle, fifty points for a triangle. But have you ever wondered where these different scores actually come from?"
Fu Wanli curled his lip, "Obviously the United Government decided them."
"That's incorrect," Quan Taibin smiled knowingly, "If the United Government hadn't assigned these scores, would those markings disappear from the disc armor? Since they wouldn't, why do they naturally carry different values?"
"Uh...", Fu Wanli froze, unsure how to answer.
Sally tried instead, "Disc armor reflects a god's strength. Powerful gods have high scores, weak gods have low scores. That's simply how the apocalypse works."
"That's a widely accepted explanation, and it certainly sounds reasonable," Quan Taibin nodded before asking another question, "Then how do you explain the fact that the Horseshoe Crab's score is far lower than the Thunder Snow Wolf's, yet its shell can insulate against electricity, allowing it to slowly wear the Thunder Snow Wolf to death? And there are countless examples among the gods where the weaker overcomes the stronger."
That... actually made some sense.
The whole class was intrigued by Quan Taibin's question. Even Qin Siyang put away the disdain in his eyes.
The relationships of mutual restraint among the gods... they really didn't seem to be determined by disc armor scores alone.
'Does he actually know the answer?'
Quan Taibin smiled slightly, satisfaction written all over his face as he continued.
"First, you need to understand one concept: what does it mean to be strong, and what does it mean to be weak?"
"There has never been a fixed definition of strength and weakness. Just like rock-paper-scissors, the relationship between the strong and the weak is one of cyclical restraint."
"The same applies to the gods. Their strength and weakness are classifications created by sequence ability users. They do not reflect the restraining relationships between the gods themselves."
"The source of sequence abilities remains unknown. Humanity is merely a piece on the chessboard of heaven and earth. Right now, we can only survive within the safe zones. The gods are the higher form of existence."
"So what gives humanity the right to define which gods are strong and which are weak?"
The students all fell into deep thought.
Why did the scores on the gods' disc armor exist the way they did?
Quan Taibin's series of questions made everyone begin questioning the current consensus from an entirely new perspective.
Even Qin Siyang couldn't help looking at him differently.
"This professor from Bang Country is saying some pretty interesting things..."
Gu Yunpeng raised his hand, "But in actual combat, we really do feel that gods with higher disc armor scores are harder to kill."
"And that's exactly the problem."
Quan Taibin gestured for Gu Yunpeng to sit down, then swept his gaze across the classroom.
"Why is it that humanity clearly has no control over the world or over the gods, yet the gods' disc armor scores happen to correspond to how dangerous they are to humans?"