Dragon Raja: Dragon Slaying Begins with System Hosting

Page 7

Chapter 11 Evolution of Civilization

Xia Mi smiled at Lu Mingfei's unusual answer and then said, "Your novel is now available for purchase. I saw many people in the comments section saying it's doing very well."

"Your grades are alright, I guess." The system looked at the book in Xia Mi's hand. "Are you interested in ancient scripts?"

“I’m mainly interested in the evolution of human civilization,” Xia Mi said.

"Civilization evolution?"

"Yes, that's right. From picking up stones to lighting fires, from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, and then transitioning to the Iron Age, and gradually arriving at where we are today, it may seem to some people with limited cultural knowledge that it's been thousands or even tens of thousands of years. But from the perspective of the Earth's natural cycles, it's just that wheat has ripened a few thousand times. Before that, wheat on Earth ripened countless times, while humanity suddenly rose to prominence in what can be called a mere few thousand years. Don't you find that amazing?"

Xia Mi spoke at length, causing the system to fall into deep thought.

I know she has this kind of interest, but it's true that she can't analyze anything. Lu Mingfei's knowledge in this field is almost blank. All he knows are things like the Hemudu site from history books.

After a brief analysis, the system said, "But there were already signs thousands of years ago, as you mentioned. Evolutionary theory can be traced back to the beginning of upright walking by apes millions of years ago, and the Hemudu site in history books did not appear all at once."

"No, no, no." Xia Mi waved her hand and said, "Tribal system is only the beginning of civilization, but tribal system could not have developed into what we are today. Human civilization began with the emergence of writing and a systematic social system."

For example, we talk about a history of five thousand years, but the West doesn't recognize the entirety of that history because, apart from historical records, there isn't enough corresponding material and written evidence. Therefore, they recognize the Shang dynasty but not the Xia dynasty.

The system looked down at Xia Mi without saying anything, signaling her to continue.

Xia Mi continued, "Take, for example, the civilizations that established dynasties. The establishment of dynasties was the result of a high degree of social stratification, which meant that royal power was greater than divine power, and this is very important."

As for how to demonstrate that royal power is greater than divine power, the city walls of ancient cities were generally a three-layered structure. The outermost layer was called Guo, and the surname of Dong Guo came from living in the eastern Guo. The common people who paid taxes lived inside Guo, commonly known as Guomin. The common people outside Guo could evade taxes and corvée labor, but they lost the protection of the army and the city-state.

Guo is the earliest to appear, dating back approximately 10,000 years, and it often appears in the form of moats. The second layer is the city, which was mainly inhabited by the ruling group, who could be representatives of divine authority or royal authority. It appeared slightly later than Guo, around 8,000 years ago.

The third layer, the palace, served as the residence of the sole ruler. However, divine authority cannot have only one ruler. The existence of the palace necessarily proves that the monarchy was the highest ruling class in the kingdom. The palace appeared five thousand years ago, during the period of Shimao and Taosi, but the palaces of Shimao and Taosi were not complete.

Therefore, we generally consider the first true palace city to be the palace city at the Erlitou site, which corresponds to 3900 years ago, during the late Xia Dynasty. This was also the first regional monarchy, as previous dynasties were all regional monarchies. This is why the Xia Dynasty is defined as the first dynasty, not just because it had a capital city.

While sites like Dadiwan can indeed be traced back 8,000 years, and their inner and outer walls were built 5,000 years ago, the vast array of ancient Chinese cultures of that period is often described as numerous as stars in the sky. Similar ancient cities are rare, but there are a few; one site cannot represent an entire era.

Xia Mi was so tired after saying all that.

Lu Mingfei was somewhat shocked. Was this the top student in the city's high school entrance exam? Terrifying!

"I see." The system nodded, its previously indifferent expression finally disappearing in front of Xia Mi, looking as if it had learned something.

Seeing the change in Lu Mingfei's expression, Xia Mi added with great interest, "As for the Hemudu site you mentioned, it can be traced back to the Shangshan tribe, which lived 12,000 years ago. Around 10,000 years ago, they clearly domesticated rice, which is Shangshan's most outstanding contribution to Chinese civilization. Hemudu was slightly later than Shangshan, about 8,000 to 5,000 years ago. It was deeply influenced by Shangshan, and rice agriculture was very developed. Because of the rich material foundation, their spiritual world began to be rich, such as the earliest lacquerware in China, and quite exquisite ivory products, etc. In particular, the Hemudu site is located in clay, which preserves a fairly complete wooden building. These two are among the top twenty important tribes that explored civilization on our land of China."

"Hmm." The system nodded gently again. "You're really amazing."

Xia Mi smiled a little shyly, "Hehe, I'm just interested in this. I know all this from books, not from figuring it out myself. By the way, what book are you looking for at the library?"

"**Strive.**" the system said, "You won't find it in the school library."

"Huh?" Xia Mi said with some surprise, "How could you possibly find a book like this in the school library? But you really plan to write these things in the book? I thought you were just trying to piggyback on the title of the Führer's book."

"Besides, in the dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, how can you pursue fairness for the weak? Why don't you tell me the general outline of the novel's sequel? I'm poor and can't afford to buy Qidian coins to read the official sequel. But don't worry, I promise I won't leak it," Xia Mi said, patting her chest.

The system simply stated: "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand, one must attain immortality, slay immortals, overthrow the Heavenly Court, and sever the connection between Heaven and Earth."

"The connection between heaven and earth is severed..." Xia Mi pondered this ending for a moment, feeling that it wasn't quite right, but she was too embarrassed to ask too much about the detailed ending of the novel.

She said, "Your book is probably hard to find. It's a banned book in China, and it's impossible to buy it through official channels. You might be able to find it in the library of an institution, but you probably can't get in there. A few years ago, a publisher in China printed and sold it, but there were no subsequent reprints, so it's out of print. You might have to go to a secondhand bookstore or a flea market to buy it."

"Oh, I see. That does seem a bit troublesome. I'll look for it again later."

Perhaps because both of their encounters happened in the library, Xia Mi asked, "Do you also enjoy reading?"

The system simply stated: "Read books, and the world is right before your eyes; don't read books, and the world is just what you see before you."

“That makes sense, but I forgot you're a writer, how could you not like reading?” Xia Mi said, then asked, “The city library is a proper library, it probably won’t have the book you’re looking for, so what book are you looking for next?”

Chapter 12 Orphan Xia Mi

"Let me see," the system said. "I read books rather casually, mainly to collect materials needed for my novels. If you read my novel, you'll probably find that some of the plots are copied from historical stories. The latest plot, where the protagonist fails to transcend his tribulation and loses all his cultivation, and the female lead is willing to be a mortal with him for the rest of her life, is copied from the story of Zhuo Wenjun and Sima Xiangru selling wine at a counter."

"I don't have money to read the latest chapters, and I don't know how things will develop afterward." Xia Mi said with a grin, "But can you call it plagiarism when it's a scholar's business? What you're doing is clearly borrowing."

“Yes, to learn from.” The system smiled. “Do you have any books you can recommend?”

"My recommendation?" Xia Mi pondered for a moment. "I don't know what kind of book you want, but I see that your book incorporates a lot of profound sayings, and given the ending you chose, perhaps you should take a look at books about social structure, human nature, or the Daoist Canon."

The social stratification is something that feels awkward to me when I read many fantasy and cultivation novels. Why does the cultivation world follow ancient systems and class divisions from legends and myths? Of course, it's unrealistic to write about things beyond our understanding, such as a complete worldview of the cultivation world, since novels are written by people. But you could perhaps revise it to create a more complete and reasonable system.

Analyzing human nature can add depth to your novel.

As for the Daoist Canon, it is a patch that Daoism has patched up over a thousand years of conflict with Buddhism. It contains many unimaginable divine methods that can break out of people's fixed perceptions and may help you write about the powerful and sophisticated style of high-level cultivators.

For example, if a person wants to kill a dog, they can kill it by slapping it, electrocuting it, drowning it, putting it in a vacuum chamber, or using DNA weapons, but they would never think of using sharp claws and teeth to fight the dog. Fighting with sharp claws and teeth is a dog's mindset; only dogs would think that humans need to fight them in that way.

"You're right." The system nodded slightly, quite agreeing.

Upon hearing his approval, Xia Mi immediately added, "I was just saying that casually. Don't overthink it and cause your writing to hit a bottleneck. Raising a question doesn't necessarily mean you have to solve it. You're writing quite well right now, just keep writing at your own pace."

"knew."

At Xia Mi's recommendation, the system selected a book called "Essentials of Yangming's Philosophy" to read, which mainly discusses Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind.

The two sat on chairs in the library. Xia Mi rested her chin on one hand and slowly flipped through the book with the other, while the system flipped through the book much faster.

Lu Mingfei suddenly thought of a question: on the surface, the system is just a simple AFK system, but theoretically, he can do everything that the system can do.

However, looking back now, he realizes there are still some problems. This theory can only exist in theory; the level of systematic learning and focused work is something he cannot reach.

"By the way, how much money do you make from that novel you wrote?" Xia Mi asked. "Several thousand, I guess?"

"You can add another zero," the system said calmly.

Xia Mi was a little confused: "Tens of thousands? A year?"

"Tens of thousands a month."

Her eyes changed, they seemed to turn into the shape of money, sparkling, and she said in an amazed tone, "Tens of thousands a month, you've struck it rich!"

"I'd say it's barely considered making a fortune."

"You think tens of thousands a month is barely enough?" Xia Mi said with envy, "Houses in the capital only cost a few thousand per square meter. You could buy a house in a year if you wrote. Is writing novels really that lucrative? It's a pity I don't have that kind of talent, otherwise I could earn enough to buy several houses."

The system paused for a moment: "How did you know about housing prices in Beijing?"

They live south of the Yangtze River, thousands of kilometers away from Beijing. Who in their right mind would care about housing prices thousands of miles away?

“Because I’m from Beijing, I went to elementary school and junior high school in Beijing,” Xia Mi said. “But my parents passed away early, leaving me only a small single room assigned to me by my work unit. Now that small single room is really expensive, worth tens of thousands of yuan.”

Xia Mi is an orphan? The system paused again before asking, "You're from the capital, why did you travel so far to study here?"

Xia Mi said nonchalantly, "Because Shilan Middle School is willing to give me money. I'm an orphan, and my parents didn't leave me much money. These days, prices are skyrocketing, so I have to find money to support myself. Shilan Middle School said that I can just focus on my studies, and they'll waive all my accommodation and living expenses. If I get good grades, they'll even give me a bonus. So I came here. It's that simple."

"Don't any schools in Beijing offer you scholarships?"

“Yes, yes, and 10 schools were vying for me.” Xia Mi said with some pride, “But in the end, Shilan Middle School offered the highest price, giving me a scholarship of 10,000 yuan a year, while other schools only offered tuition and accommodation waivers, and the highest scholarship they were willing to offer was only 2,000 yuan.”

"Then you're even more amazing, you can earn money while studying. Maybe one of the tuition fees I paid is in your scholarship."

"If your grades are good, you can get your tuition and fees waived, right? Shilan Middle School isn't just waiving tuition and fees and giving bonuses to me. I think it's enough to be in the top 100 in the city? Anyway, Shilan Middle School doesn't lose out. They pay us to come here, which is like hiring mercenaries. If we do well in the exams, more students and parents will consider Shilan Middle School, and they can collect more tuition fees."

"But I barely made it into Shilan Middle School when I took the high school entrance exam." The system immediately adopted the persona of a poor student.

"Huh? Your grades are so bad? Is there something wrong with your study methods?" Xia Mi rested her chin on her hand and turned to look at Lu Mingfei, saying, "In many things, you boys should have an advantage over us girls. In junior high, many textbooks cover shallow knowledge, and we girls can make up for it with hard work. But in high school, when the knowledge becomes more in-depth, you boys immediately catch up. You have more energy to study late into the night than we girls."

I remember a newspaper article once revealed the male-to-female ratio of students admitted to Peking University and Tsinghua University. Both Peking University and Tsinghua University had a significantly higher proportion of male students. And speaking of top scientists, there are more males than females among them.”

"Perhaps it's the feudalistic preference for sons that prevents many families from giving girls much of an education? The newspapers even say there are 30 million unmarried men." The system said, "However, my learning methods may indeed have some problems."

Xia Mi got excited when this was mentioned, looking confident and ready to give advice: "The problem of study methods is easy to solve. You're not stupid, you can write novels like that. After you correct your study methods, your grades should improve quickly. Tell me about your study methods, and I'll see if there's anything wrong with them and see if I can help you change them."

As the top student in the city in the high school entrance examination, Xia Mi has the strength and qualifications to say such things, especially when it comes to Lu Mingfei, who barely made it into Shilan Middle School.

“Okay.” The system was more than happy to oblige. From the moment it asked her to recommend books, the system had been trying to facilitate a deeper and more meaningful exchange between the two of them.

Chapter 13 Strange Script

"...Sometimes people fall into a misconception, mistaking familiarity for knowledge...Practicing problems is correct, but when you face the situation where your efforts don't lead to better or further results, it might be because you've fallen into a misconception about practicing problems, spending a lot of time on problems you already know how to solve. Psychologist Erik Erikson proposed a method called deliberate practice, which involves focusing intently and continuously on difficult problems..."

Xia Mi spoke eloquently and knowledgeably about studying.

Although the system has already found solutions to many common learning misconceptions, it still brought them out, and then affirmed what she said.

He asked the question himself, and the other person was teaching him carefully. Logically and emotionally, he didn't need to say anything more.

The two were talking when the librarian came over and said, "It's time to close."

"Ok."

The two emerged from the library, the sky ablaze with the glow of the setting sun, but it was still early before nightfall. The system asked her, "Have you eaten?"

Xia Mi said, "You definitely didn't eat dinner. Are you hungry? Then go home and eat."

"No, I was just worried you might be hungry. I must first thank you for your generous guidance today; what you just said was very enlightening," the system said. "Let me treat you to dinner."

"You want to treat me to a meal? No need, I'm not hungry yet." Xia Mi smiled and said, "Besides, sometimes meeting a good listener is even more enjoyable than feeding someone."

The system didn't press the issue, "Then are you going back to school now?"

"No, it's still early."

"How about we go get a milk tea? You've been talking to me for so long, you must be thirsty too."

“Sure.” Xia Mi didn’t refuse this time. The two found a bubble tea shop, sat down, and ordered two cups of pearl milk tea.

"Lu Mingfei, I discovered something very interesting while researching ancient scripts," Xia Mi said to Lu Mingfei, sitting in a high chair, swinging her legs as she waited for her milk tea. "Many early scripts were pictographic, right?"

Lu Mingfei snapped out of his reverie and nodded. "Mm."

The system just suggested that he unsubscribe, and he did so without much thought.

Because this is essentially half a date, the system's opinion is that it can't handle some very human aspects, and love is something that is extremely subjective. The system is rational, but not human; it only seeks the optimal solution. In areas such as learning, the system is stronger than Lu Mingfei himself, but when it comes to how to date, the system has an inherent emotional deficiency.

Love is a somewhat blind thing, but the system is not blind. It has no passion. It will analyze and give Lu Mingfei the optimal solution, but Lu Mingfei may not necessarily need to take the path of the optimal solution.

This made Lu Mingfei feel that the hosting system was intelligent to a certain extent, but it was also not intelligent enough and had great limitations.

“I’ve discovered some very strange characters.” Xia Mi took out a ballpoint pen and a small notebook from her pocket and began sketching something on the paper: “Hypographical characters generally have a very singular meaning. For example, oracle bone script, the pictographic form and the meaning are directly related, each referring to only one meaning.”

But then I saw some strange hieroglyphs. In my mind, hieroglyphs always have a specific meaning, but those two characters didn't have a corresponding counterpart; it was as if they were describing a non-existent 'god'.

"You carry paper and pen with you at all times?" Lu Mingfei asked, somewhat surprised.

Xia Mi, with her head down, was drawing the hieroglyphs that she found strange, and replied, "I make memos and such. Sometimes when I think of something, I write it down so I'm afraid I'll forget it later."