Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 290 - 44 Under the Famous Reputation

Contrary to what one might expect of luxury, the Feng Family's breakfast was simple yet exquisite. Each person had a bowl of tender and smooth bean curd; the seasonings in front of Wang Qi were double portions, one with sesame oil, seaweed, shrimp flakes, pickled vegetables, and sauce soup, and the other with honey and dried fruits. Additionally, there were four crispy fried dough sticks, half a salted duck egg with a red yolk, and several small dishes such as dry-fried silk and furu.

Wang Qi poured the honey and dried fruits into his bean curd, and then stirred slowly with a spoon. During this time, he glanced at Feng Xianglun again. Feng Xianglun remained expressionless while eating, as if he was chewing wax.

This family was truly... it's hard to say what was off.

The Feng Family ate their meal mostly in silence, which created a somewhat oppressive atmosphere. Fortunately, they ate quickly enough, and by the time Wang Qi finished eating, most of the Feng descendants had already left the hall.

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Feng Shouji instructed the servants to clear the dishes, then said to Wang Qi in a low voice, "My father is a bit strange, please be patient with him."

Well... you could at least clarify what's wrong with the old man...

Looking at Feng Xianglun's aged figure, Wang Qi suddenly felt nervous.

After a while, the sound of deep breathing suddenly filled the hall. Wang Qi initially thought he was just too tense and unconsciously tried to calm down, but soon he realized that the one with the faintly erratic breathing was actually the Great Grandmaster in front of him, Feng Xianglun!

"Forgive me," Feng Xianglun eventually gave Wang Qi an apologetic smile, startling him nearly to his feet. Then Feng Xianglun reached out his hand to Wang Qi and said, "About that letter from my father, please hand it over, young brother."

Wang Qi took out Feng Luoyi's family letter from the Storage Bag. As Feng Xianglun used his mana to shoot it into his hand, his hand trembled. He shivered as he pulled out the letter and took three deep breaths before continuing to read. Throughout the reading, Feng Xianglun had an expression like he was on the verge of tears. After reading the letter four times over, he carefully tucked it away close to his body.

Then came an eerie silence.

What was with this inexplicable sense of awkwardness?

Seeing the Great Grandmaster lose his composure made Wang Qi feel uneasy. Just when Wang Qi started to squirm in discomfort, Feng Xianglun finally spoke up, "Young brother, you've seen me make a fool of myself."

"Uh, what's the matter, elder?" asked Wang Qi, puzzled, "If it's missing family, with the help of a calculator, it wouldn't be too hard to meet with Teacher Feng, so why must you and your father go through such hardship..."

Feng Xianglun gave a bitter laugh, "This is my Heart Demon." Seeing Wang Qi still looking confused, Feng Xianglun explained, "My father sending you to deliver this letter means you are not an outsider... Would you like to hear the reason?"

Although Wang Qi was somewhat curious, he still declined, "If it involves matters you're unwilling to touch upon, elder, there's no need to force it."

Feng Xianglun shook his head and asked, "Do you like mathematics? How fond are you of it?"

Wang Qi frowned, "Though I dare not say I would die for it, I am quite fond of it."

Feng Xianglun sighed, "So am I. Ever since I was young, I've loved mathematics and even had some small fame back then. At the time, I had thought about solving all the problems that others couldn't. And my disdain for my father's focus on practicality, I felt if one were to do it, one should aim for the end, to establish a school within mathematical reasoning and then be able to undertake the corresponding practicalities as well—in other words, I wanted to be an Arithmetician even greater than my father."

Wang Qi furrowed his brow. Feng Luoyi's mathematics was top-notch, stronger than him...

Feng Xianglun saw Wang Qi's expression and laughed, "Ridiculous isn't it... the folly of youthful arrogance. It's not even worth mentioning now. Because when I truly began my research, I found out—I was actually a fool."

Feng Xianglun chuckled as if he was talking about a joke, but Wang Qi didn't laugh.

"I specifically chose a field that my father was not deeply involved in, topology and geometry, in order to not seem like a little devil hiding under the reputation of his father. But I soon discovered that the problems I racked my brains over were easily solved by my father with only a moment's thought, not even worth mentioning..."

"Why torture yourself?" Wang Qi looked at Feng Xianglun and sighed, "Teacher Feng is the pinnacle of Shenzhou; there are hardly any Arithmeticians stronger than him in the whole of Shenzhou. If you take Teacher Feng as the standard for Arithmeticians, then how many famous mathematicians in Shenzhou can be considered as failures?"

"But I am his son," Feng Xianglun said with a wry smile, "A genius in the world of Go in his own right, could his son possibly be a failure?"

"At the end of the day, perhaps I shouldn't have liked mathematics, right? If I hadn't liked it, I wouldn't have entered the same domain as my father. If I had not become an Arithmetician, and instead lived as an ordinary Seeker of Seeking Dao, perhaps I would have had a comfortable and pleasant life?" Feng Xianglun looked at Wang Qi with empty eyes, "Young brother, if you truly like mathematics, then it's probably best not to become a disciple of my father..."

Wang Qi understood it now. This was like the mathematical version of Hayao Miyazaki and his son Goro Miyazaki.

Children overshadowed by their parents' illustrious reputations.