“Throughout history, whether it was tycoons or people in power, once they reached a certain height, they all relentlessly pursued the ambition of immortality, and that desire has never changed.”

Professor Sullivan spoke with feeling, because he had personally come into contact with some people who are now driving these studies and investing massive amounts of money.

“If you want to study the old arts, I won’t stop you. I have some things here that I can give you.” Professor Sullivan stood up and took some papers from the bookshelf.

He was very serious as he handed them to David Miller, telling him to keep them safe.

Brian Carter immediately grew curious, craning his neck to take a look.

Professor Sullivan glanced at him and said, “If you want to learn, I won’t stop you either. But to practice this kind of thing, you need an extremely solid foundation. You’ll have to work hard, otherwise, you could run into very serious problems and harm your life.”

Professor Sullivan made it clear that if you haven’t mastered qi gathering, you can’t nourish your body internally, and you shouldn’t touch this stuff.

Upon hearing this, Brian Carter’s face immediately fell.

After listening, David Miller instantly understood that this must be some kind of extremely powerful “root method.”

Internal nourishment, qi gathering, meditation, and so on can fundamentally change a person’s physique and spirit, and are called the root of the old arts.

Physical techniques, while dazzling and crucial in actual combat, still need to be based on the root method.

“The things recorded on that pile of bamboo slips in the photo were deciphered by me and written down on these papers,” Professor Sullivan explained the origin of the root method.

The things recorded on the papers actually came from a large pre-Qin tomb.

David Miller was deeply astonished—this was truly an ancient method in every sense, from an era far too distant.

In that period, it was especially difficult for bamboo slips to survive.

Before tombs that were too ancient were even opened, the bamboo slips had already rotted away.

Even if they hadn’t decayed, at the moment of opening, due to the drastic change in environment, ninety percent of the bamboo slips would be destroyed, let alone leave any written records.

Professor Sullivan said, “Nowadays, with technology becoming more and more advanced, some of the good things left from ancient times can be quickly processed and preserved the moment they are unearthed.”

Brian Carter thought for a moment and asked, “After two or three thousand years, are these records still useful? Aren’t they outdated?”

Professor Sullivan nodded, “You have a point. Times are always moving forward, but the records on this pile of bamboo slips are of great value. After all, that era saw the emergence of some extremely powerful fangshi, so the root methods from that time wouldn’t be too shabby.”

Moreover, Professor Sullivan made it clear that this method had been verified—it was good stuff, even truly remarkable.

After hearing this, David Miller carefully put it away.

Professor Sullivan continued, “After the old arts experimental class was disbanded, you’re facing two problems: first, you no longer have medicinal meals made from rare ingredients; second, you lack more advanced old arts scriptures.”

As for the former, David Miller had long realized it was a problem. But as for the latter—the old arts—he had already learned quite a bit, and all of it had impressive origins, such as museum rarities and tycoons’ rare collections. Could there really be anything even more astonishing than these?

Professor Sullivan told him that the experimental class’s teaching materials were indeed excellent and of extraordinary origin, but they were all just parts of each rare secret manual. What he had learned was incomplete.

In fact, even Professor Sullivan never had the chance to see the later chapters.

“Because those things are extremely precious, they only gave you the first part of the root method. If someone really mastered it, naturally, the subsequent methods would be delivered.”

But unfortunately, the experimental class was disbanded, and the old arts research project was abandoned, so there were no more follow-up root methods.

Brian Carter laughed and said, “The root method recorded on these bamboo slips has helped David Miller solve an important problem he was facing. If one day, he becomes a powerful fangshi in the modern era, that would be interesting—something to look forward to.”

“If he truly masters and thoroughly understands it, maybe it will solve his other problem too, and he’ll no longer need rare ingredients and medicinal meals to practice the arts.”

Professor Sullivan’s words took David Miller by surprise.

What did this mean? The root method recorded on the bamboo slips was extremely mysterious and astonishing!

“Is it really that amazing?” Brian Carter exclaimed in surprise.

“Of course. The things left behind by those fangshi are never simple. The old arts of that era were truly brilliant, and the pursuit of the elixir of immortality and so on were all related to the fangshi.”

Professor Sullivan revealed that, during a certain period, the tycoons of Newstar spent huge amounts of manpower and money searching the old land for ancient tombs, hoping to unearth things related to the fangshi.

Nowadays, the many burial clusters beneath the old land have all been thoroughly excavated, and there are very few that have slipped through the net.

“So, even if you want to follow the path of the old arts, you have to go to Newstar, because many precious classics, secret methods, and rare scriptures from all eras are no longer in the old land.”

Brian Carter grumbled discontentedly, “Do some of the tycoons have some kind of special collecting obsession? What do they need so many old arts for?”

“They’re useful, of course. After verification, the old arts have been analyzed and applied by certain life research institutes. In the field of biology, they’ve developed some modern results for specific purposes, such as slowing the aging of some of the old guys.”

Professor Sullivan shared many secrets.

In fact, many good things have been unearthed from ancient tombs. For example, someone once dug up golden bamboo slips—made from a special kind of bamboo that, after countless years, had not decayed and was still as hard as iron.