Chapter 1098
The Path of Wisdom is the Most Anxious Path
Sherlock intended this trip to the Church to ask Madam Haibasha about his ancestor, Hermes.
If it was for the pursuit of truth, then it was not a waste of time.
Besides that, Sherlock was also calculating asteroid trajectories in his mind. Ever since Professor Moriarty passed away, Sherlock had decided to inherit his legacy in astronomy. Coincidentally, when he had switched professions before, he had read books on astronomy, and the textbooks then included several written by James.
As for the remaining computing power, Sherlock also used it to calculate the specific parameters of reservoirs and railways in the Avalon area.
As long as the amount of data was large enough for calculation, it could somewhat promote the depth of attunement to the Path of Wisdom.
Because he had lacked devotion before, Sherlock had been stuck at his current level for too long, and now he had fallen too far behind his friends.
In order to barely keep up with Eivass and Isabel’s ascension speed, Sherlock was performing calculations for the Path of Wisdom every moment. Although this level of computation provided little attunement, as Eivass put it, it was just “a drizzle of experience.”
But as the saying goes, every little bit counts.
Sherlock had always gotten by this way.
His wisdom was not innate but was brewed from his knowledge like fine wine; his knowledge, too, had accumulated book by book.
Since his talent was not as high, he would maximize his diligence—he had been doing it this way since he was a child. In this way, he had rediscovered his original intention.
This anxious emotion might be considered a inner demon on other paths, but on the Path of Wisdom, it was nothing.
This was the philosophy of the Great Philosophers—to pay any price in pursuit of higher truth, to cast aside all else for profound understanding. This competitive and curious obsession was one of the tenets of the path.
“If you don’t go mad, you don’t survive.” This was why High-Tier Extraordinary individuals on the Path of Wisdom were usually cold, crazy, and selfish. Because in their pursuit of higher truth, they no longer had enough computing power to maintain social interactions.
Although the computing power used for social interaction was only a tiny fraction of their total computing power.
However, if you don’t invest your whole being, can you truly say that you have “nothing but truth”?
Sherlock, however, was not too insane. Because Eivass had already foreseen this, he had given him a warning in advance.
In Eivass’s words, the Great Philosophers were not gods that “valued attitude more than actuality.”
The reason why the great mages used all their souls for computation was actually to extinguish the fire of anxiety in their hearts. Because only when they had paid their all could the feeling of “not being able to catch up to others” be understood as a lack of ability, and they could comfort themselves by thinking “there’s nothing to regret.”
“—The Path of Wisdom is the most anxious path. This is normal.”
Haibasha saw through Sherlock’s thoughts and simply smiled, “If you want to pursue truth, you naturally become impatient. I came this way myself back then.
“Every second you pause, a peer might have already reached your realm, or even surpassed your calculations. The technologies we develop and the theories we research could be thoroughly understood by someone else at any moment.
“To fall one step behind is to fall the next, and thus to fall behind the ‘next step toward exhausting truth’…”
If the High-Tier Extraordinary on the Path of Devotion were all fanatics with their own paths of devotion, the High-Tier Extraordinary on the Path of Authority were all old-fashioned sticklers for rules, and the High-Tier Extraordinary on the Path of Balance were mediators who considered world balance and peace… then the High-Tier Extraordinary on the Path of Wisdom were all shut-in, competitive maniacs.
This was determined by the basic logic of the Path of Wisdom—the definition of wisdom is “exploring unknown truths.” In other words, if an invention has already been invented by others, or if this definition has already been discovered by others, then even if future generations obtain it, it is merely “learning,” not “developing.”
To put it more clearly, it means… for the same research, whether a predecessor has left a mark here or not, the “experience” they gain is different, worlds apart. Even if someone discovers a mathematical theorem only one day later than another, the difference in path experience might require the former to spend ten years of ascetic practice to make up for it.
For Extraordinary individuals of the Fourth Tier and below, even “learning” can provide sufficient experience… but from the late Fourth Tier to the beginning of the Fifth Tier, to gain experience, one must calculate what others have not calculated and develop what others have not developed.
And here lies the most despicable aspect of the Path of Wisdom—their greatest difference from those on the Path of Balance is that they maintain “mystery.”
In other words, their inventions are unlikely to be publicly disclosed.
Because learning is definitely faster than research, and one’s own research might become a hint for others, thereby helping others to overtake them. To ensure they become the “marker” of the next piece of truth, mages generally tend to keep their research progress confidential.
Only when they no longer intend to advance further in that field will they, as victors, disclose their “summit record”—this is also a tactic. They intend to use this method to teach more people and attract more people into the field, thereby ensuring their advantage and first-mover status in new fields.
If you understand this, then the coldness, reclusiveness, selfishness, anxiety, and madness of the great mages can be understood: to ordinary people, an invitation to a banquet and a party is just that; to them, it might be suspicion like “someone wants to harm me, they want to waste my time.” Any unnecessary meeting could waste their time and energy, allowing others to get one step ahead and seize a new mark of truth.
“This kind of head start is addictive,” Haibasha said calmly. “Especially when your competitors are the smartest people in this World, and when it’s absolute fairness and correctness that verifies who seizes the mark of truth first… it’s even more addictive.”
There is no such thing as “publishing prematurely without full proof” or “stealing others’ research results,” nor is there “because you proved part of it, it’s also partly mine” or “your proof also referenced my research.” Whoever proves it completely is the one who gets it.
And for other Extraordinary individuals on the Path of Wisdom researching this field, when they manage to complete their proof after much effort, they can clearly see that a fragment of truth already bears another’s name—they were beaten to it.
The feeling of frustrating others is a great satisfaction.
Eivass could actually understand them quite well—this was just like the experts in speedrunning dungeon raids.
Even the act of “intentionally hiding a few key details to prevent others from overtaking one’s record” was the same. These mages were constantly competing, so they naturally had no worldly desires left.
But if Sherlock were to become such a fanatic, that would be something Eivass would not want to see.
Eivass nodded, “So I gave Sherlock another way of thinking—
“Truth is not fixed and unchanging; it increases. It even decreases in special circumstances.”
For example, in an era without electricity, research on electrical systems would not be considered truth; just as only after the invention of machinery could the truth of optimizing machinery exist.
The Flame Heavenly Envoy gradually transforming into the Machine Heavenly Envoy actually meant that the domain she held, “fire, steel, and casting,” had gradually changed—it might have meant a blacksmith before, but now it might mean machinery and factories.
“You mean…”
Haibasha was somewhat surprised.
Her own research direction was Grimoires—many of the books she sold here were written by herself. This was the approach of a Dream Traveling Monk. The Grimoires they wrote were most likely “fresh knowledge,” which naturally counted as a form of truth.
“I handed over all the tasks of laying railways and building reservoirs in Avalon to Sherlock for calculation,” Eivass said casually.
Sherlock’s computing power now rivaled that of supercomputers. This amount of data was merely child’s play.
“These things are accumulated bit by bit. Although they are not very powerful theorems, as long as the scale of the wonder is large enough, the meaning of this calculation will be elevated in turn. It’s equivalent to increasing the weight of truth.”
As long as Eivass, Isabel, and Yulia continuously provided him with custom data that only he could access, and let him calculate the data for the latest, even non-existent, buildings and engineering projects… Although the experience gained each time was not much, it could at least prevent the anxiety-inducing situation of years of research being quietly overtaken by others.
—Why couldn’t this be considered truth?
Pioneering and truth have always gone hand in hand!
“This approach… I think it’s feasible.”
Haibasha initially found it somewhat unbelievable, but after serious thought, she slowly nodded, “Perhaps it can really work…”
“…It actually works?”
Sherlock was somewhat incredulous.
Could such a loophole-exploiting method actually be effective?
“What about you—”
The Elf girl said smilingly, “You weren’t even sure if it would work, and you already listened to Eivass?”
“…Because he has no reason to harm me and no need to harm me.”
Sherlock was silent for a moment before replying seriously, “If there is anyone in this World I would choose to trust the most… it would not be my father, nor my brother. It would be this cunning fox full of bad ideas, who speaks lies the moment he opens his mouth.”
Eivass was surprised by this statement. He didn’t even have time to correct Sherlock that “I actually didn’t lie that much.”
He simply found it unbelievable—their interactions should not have been that extensive.
So in Sherlock’s heart… his credibility was that great?
(End of this chapter)
