The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

Chapter 1348 394: Chaos's Whispers_2

"I'm... alright, just a bit puzzled." Ilana smiled wryly and returned the written manuscript to Ophelia, "Thank you for your concern, I'll be fine, just give me some more time."

Ophelia nodded, glanced down at the manuscript with the answer written on it, and after a moment let out a soft sigh.

Sure enough, people are different...

The answer that stumped her was something Ilana solved effortlessly... even though the latter was currently troubled by a more challenging problem.

Luo Yan calmly observed all of this.

Seeing another sheet of paper being crumpled into a ball, he knew he had to do something, so he got up, walked to Ilana's desk, and looked into her eyes, which appeared slightly dim due to confusion. He spoke softly.

"Seems like you're having trouble."

"No, Master, I didn't..." Ilana raised her head, a rare hint of panic flashed on her typically cool face, like a child worried about having their trophy taken away.

Her little thought couldn't escape Luo Yan's eyes; he smiled faintly and teased.

"Your eyes can't lie to me, I guess you didn't sleep until about two last night."

Ilana's cheeks reddened slightly, her lips moved, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Actually, she didn't sleep until four last night, but she thought it best not to mention it to avoid worrying Prince Colin.

"Since I don't know the answer to the question either, I can't give you academic advice; I can only suggest... don't carry too much of an idol burden."

"... Idol burden?"

Ilana gazed at him in confusion, not understanding why he was saying that, as she wasn't particularly famous; less than ten people in the Mage Tower knew her.

Luo Yan probably guessed what she wanted to say, and after pondering for a moment, he continued in a casual chatty tone.

"An idol burden isn't something only famous people have; ordinary people have it too, and... not less than those who are well-known. We often forget what we truly want because of others' expectations. You don't have to be too concerned about whether the editorial department of the Sage Report is satisfied with your theories. I hope you can freely explore what you love, which I believe was your original desire."

Pausing, he watched the gaze shift from confused to clear, and continued.

"Moreover, your equation is a remarkable achievement, much like a key opening a grand door, but that doesn't mean it can open all doors. This kind of thinking is essentially a 'path dependency.'

"Path dependency...?" Ilana whispered the unfamiliar term, her eyes filled with confusion, yet a hint of clarity, as if she had found something.

"That's right."

Luo Yan didn't directly point out her mistake, but picked up a crumpled sheet of paper and smoothed it out.

"Once trapped in the dilemma of path dependency, your knowledge and experience cease to be tools for solving problems, instead becoming shackles that bind you... since the original key can't open the door in front of you, why not try to find a new key?"

"For instance, you've been looking for the singular 'optimal path' for crack formation. But what if... the generation of cracks isn't a single result? Furthermore, each occurrence could be a 'probability' randomly chosen from countless possibilities... I think this possibility exists too."

This was probably the only clue Luo Yan could offer, as he only vaguely knew about some things as a 'Chaotic System,' lacking definite outcomes.

Luo Yan thought she would need some time to digest the enormous amount of information, but to his surprise, his words were just the key fitting the lock.

The word "probability" was like a lightning bolt piercing the long night, instantly shattering the shackles in Ilana's mind, opening the door to a New World.

The confusion and anxiety on her face vanished, replaced by a deep and genuine joy.

"... Probability!"

She muttered to herself, then suddenly raised her head, the clarity in her eyes brighter than ever.

"I understand now! I was trying to find a singular 'optimal' crack path, but as you said, the process might be random at each step! I don't need to predict 'which path it will be,' I just need to construct an entirely new mathematical model to describe 'which path it might be,' and 'how likely it is to appear!'"

Seeing the surprised look on Prince Colin's face, she took a deep breath and continued excitedly.

"The path's generation isn't fixed, but probability can be calculated with functions!"

She abandoned the obsession with finding a unique solution and started attempting to embrace statistical, inductive, and probabilistic thinking to approach the realm of randomness.

Without hesitation, she picked up the feather pen and instantly delved into the research of the current subject from a new perspective.

Luo Yan watched Ilana quickly emerge from her slump and enter a focused state; he couldn't help but nod with relief.

This girl truly is a genius!

She got it instantly!

Standing as someone who has been through this, he could obviously tell that the theory Ilana was excitedly elaborating was the embryonic form of the axioms in 'probability theory.'