“You really are desperate for money,” Travis Sullivan also started laughing. He didn’t care about that silver dollar at all; he just wanted to put the other down. “Then let me ask you, how many ways are there to open the Zhongwan acupoint?”

“Zhongwan acupoint?” William Thompson shot him a sidelong glance, asking in surprise, “Aren’t you cultivating the Thirty-Six Ancestral Orifices?”

“I’m cultivating the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices,” Travis Sullivan replied proudly. The Thirty-Six Ancestral Orifices were common stuff, what the students of the main academy practiced. Only after advancing to become a Supervisor could one cultivate the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices.

However, those great aristocratic families, if they had the cultivation method for the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices and started training their children from a young age, their combat power would be much stronger than those who switched to the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices halfway through.

There were also the imperial family’s techniques, which were said to cultivate the One Hundred and Eight Ancestral Orifices… but that was just a legend, impossible to verify.

Someone Sullivan, not to boast, just happens to be cultivating the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices method—so, tell me, how many ways are there to open the Zhongwan acupoint?

I’m really not bullying you, just crushing you!

“Isn’t this… like asking how many ways there are to write the character ‘hui’?” William Thompson was dumbfounded. Are you trying to act like Kong Yiji now?

Chapter 7: Out of Syllabus

“What?” Travis Sullivan was completely baffled by William Thompson’s answer.

“I ask you about opening the Zhongwan acupoint, and you ask me… about ways of writing something?”

“I knew it, you just can’t communicate effectively with a genius like me,” William Thompson didn’t bother with him at all, just curled his lips into a strange smile. “How many ways are there to open the Zhongwan acupoint, right?”

“That’s right,” Travis Sullivan nodded proudly. “You haven’t cultivated the Seventy-Two Orifices, so I’ll let you guess. Just get the number right, no need to explain.”

At that moment, a beautiful middle-aged woman happened to be passing by in the library. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but frown and slowed her steps a bit—discussing methods of opening the Zhongwan acupoint, is this the main academy’s library or the research academy’s library?

Forty years ago, if the main academy dared to discuss these things, it would have been considered overstepping. The students of the main academy only practiced the Thirty-Six Ancestral Orifices; only after becoming a Supervisor could they access the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices cultivation methods.

But later, because of the War of National Defense—also known as the Third Sino-New War—these restrictions became less strict. On the battlefield, it was always better if our own people were a bit stronger.

So the authorities tacitly allowed such discussions, thinking that if people among the populace could cultivate the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices, it would still add to the nation’s strength.

Unfortunately, the effect wasn’t great. The Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices cultivation method required a lot of resources, which commoners couldn’t afford, and the great families guarded their techniques closely, not letting them spread—if everyone knew them, what would make us a great family?

But in any case, because of the War of National Defense, many commoners became aware of the Seventy-Two Ancestral Orifices cultivation, and such discussions could no longer be called overstepping—just don’t talk about it in public.

The research academy’s students were all Supervisors, so discussing this was fine, but the main academy’s students… heh.

The beautiful woman perked up her ears, wanting to hear the answer to this conversation.

“Opening the Zhongwan acupoint, such a simple question, heh,” William Thompson also laughed. After a pause, he answered very straightforwardly, “There’s only one way to open it.”

Nonsense! The beautiful woman lightly patted her forehead. If you don’t know, don’t talk nonsense. There are at least five mature methods, aren’t there? And even more immature ones!

I forgot, after all, this is just the main academy, not the broad academy.

“Nonsense!” Travis Sullivan was also annoyed. “Your attitude is way off. I won’t bother explaining the correct answer to you. Hongyun Restaurant, you’re treating!”

“I’m treating, but can you even eat after this?” William Thompson looked at him with disdain. “Then you tell me, how many are there?”

“This topic isn’t allowed to be discussed,” Travis Sullivan felt the other had lost, so he was much calmer now. He explained seriously, “It’s not appropriate for me to tell you the answer, but I can responsibly say… at least six. No further explanation!”

You should explain! The middle-aged woman’s legs trembled when she heard “six,” and she almost wanted to rush out and drag away that handsome boy—the other good-looking one she’d leave alone.

“Six… heh,” William Thompson sneered, “There are more than six hundred ways, what do you know?”

Huh? Travis Sullivan and the middle-aged woman were both stunned.

Travis Sullivan was the first to react. He didn’t care whether the other was talking nonsense; first of all, anyone who dared to claim there were six hundred ways to open an orifice was either an idiot or had something to back it up—even for the Thirty-Six Ancestral Orifices, there weren’t that many methods.

Does William Thompson look like an idiot? Not at all.

Travis Sullivan kept a straight face and said, “Anyone can talk big. You need to make yourself clear!”

“Why do I call you a fake genius?” William Thompson shook his head disdainfully, then raised an index finger and waved it, “There are countless ways to open an orifice, but only one that suits you… You’ll need at least a month to ponder what I just said.”

“You think I need to torture myself for a month over that nonsense?” Travis Sullivan was so angry he almost jumped up. “Of course there can only be one method for opening an orifice. What we’re discussing is how many methods there are in total.”

William Thompson glanced at him coolly. “I said, there are countless methods, but only one that suits you.”