Wang Qi felt that he simply could not suppress the million galloping grass-mud horses in his heart.
So he asked Li Ziye, "Senior Li... is your Heavenly Sword called 'Fat Man,' 'Thin Man,' or 'Little Boy'?"
Li Ziye froze on the spot. Xiang Qi frowned and asked in confusion, "None of those sound like names for a flying sword. How did you come up with them?"
"Because those are the names of nuclear bombs, you nuclear-bomb sword immortals!"
"Ah?"
This time, Xiang Qi was the one left bewildered.
Zhen Chanzi sighed. "This kid is spouting incomprehensible nonsense again. Ignore him."
Xiang Qi pointed at her own head in a probing manner. "Is it... like that?"
Wang Qi shouted, "Hey, hey, just because you don't get the reference doesn't mean you can treat those who do like lunatics, okay?"
Zhen Chanzi said, "...Just assume it is."
"Old man, whose side are you on?"
Xiang Qi's expression changed. "You Ancient Method Cultivators... do you have to be mad before you can enter the Dao? How disgusting!"
Zhen Chanzi could not help roaring through everyone's spiritual sense, "At least this old man is normal!"
Li Ziye finally came back to his senses. He stopped Xiang Qi, who wanted to argue with Zhen Chanzi, and recalled his Heavenly Sword. "All right, Junior Sister Xiang. Now that the four seniors have gone after Unforgiving Taoist, what do you think we should do next?"
Wang Qi asked curiously, "What mission?"
Li Ziye smiled. "Come to think of it, it has something to do with you, little brother. Piaomiao Palace is exceptionally skilled at investigating the minute and subtle. Even a Free and Unfettered Grandmaster of the same realm would find it difficult to sneak close to a Piaomiao Palace grandmaster. Unforgiving Taoist's movement technique is also peerless beneath heaven. Unless we trap him in one place, we cannot possibly capture him. The Immortal Alliance's plan was to have a low-level cultivator with direct Immortal Alliance status approach him and draw even a little of his attention."
Wang Qi pointed at Xiang Qi. "So Fairy Xiang came to draw his attention? By selling her charms to catch that old man's eye?"
The sound of a sharp weapon slicing through the air rang out. Xiang Qi's flying sword suddenly appeared before Wang Qi, pressed against his throat.
A trace of icy chill seeped through Xiang Qi's voice. "Some things cannot be said carelessly!"
"Ahahaha, I was only joking. Why should Fairy take it so seriously?"
Li Ziye smiled bitterly. "You two... Still, we truly are troubled over how to enter the village naturally without making Unforgiving Taoist suspicious."
Xiang Qi snorted and recalled her flying sword.
Rubbing his neck, Wang Qi asked, "Then why not have Fairy Xiang play a cultivator who defected and stumbled into the village in a panic, then have Senior Li go in and seize him in one stroke?"
Li Ziye shook his head. "That was our original idea too, but there was a problem. To keep Unforgiving Taoist from noticing anything strange, and to prevent those in the Immortal Alliance who sympathized with him from leaking the news, Junior Sister Xiang and I were both temporarily transferred from nearby. But I am a disciple of the Myriad Dharma Sect."
Zhen Chanzi asked, "What is so extraordinary about this Myriad Dharma Sect?"
"Ten Thousand Techniques Disciples are best at calculation, capable of calculating the myriad methods beneath heaven." As Li Ziye spoke, he unconsciously carried a hint of pride. "When Myriad Dharma Sect disciples fight others, they may fail to overcome them—but if they can win, then there is absolutely no room for the enemy to flee."
Xiang Qi continued, "It so happened that a faint abnormality appeared in the flow of heaven and earth's spiritual energy. Senior Brother Li calculated that an Ancient Method Cultivator in Dabai Village had completed a heaven-reaching cultivation... Wait, Ancient Method Cultivators call it a spirit body, right? The Immortal Alliance happens to have a system specifically for guiding Ancient Method Cultivators who accidentally acquire ancient inheritances, so I went over."
Zhen Chanzi asked again, "Then how did you discover my breath-concealing method?"
He was too embarrassed to call it a wondrous technique again.
Xiang Qi sneered. "You call that concealing your breath? Completely cutting off inside from outside, ensuring not a thread of mana or intent leaks out? Hmph, hmph. You thought you had disguised yourself as a stubborn rock, yet you failed to realize that even stubborn rocks and rotten wood take part in the subtle shifts of spiritual energy between heaven and earth. By separating inside from outside, you removed yourself from those shifts, standing out as plainly as a stone in flowing water."
Wang Qi's eyes widened. "So when you spoke with me, you were actually just going with the flow and pretending to be an innocent girl whom I had tricked into revealing information, all so you could stay there a little longer?"
Xiang Qi nodded. "You are smarter than you look."
Damn it, who said ancient people in another world only had an IQ of nine?
Li Ziye said, "In any case, thanks to you, little brother, we have completed our mission. Junior Sister Xiang, should we wait here for the seniors to return, then go together to the Immortal Alliance headquarters to report? Or should we go directly to the nearest Immortal Alliance branch? And there is also little brother Wang Qi's matter."
Xiang Qi's large eyes spun twice. "In my opinion, shall we wait here for a while first?"
Li Ziye asked, "Why?"
"We came to assist the seniors, so we should follow their lead. It would not be quite right to return on our own. Besides, Dabai Village has likely been frightened by this incident. If the two of us linger here for a few days, we can treat it as comforting them. That would count as a good deed too."
Li Ziye smiled and patted Xiang Qi atop the head. "Tell the truth."
Xiang Qi stuck out her tongue. "How glorious would it be to travel to headquarters with four Free and Unfettered True Lords? Besides, after staying in such a remote place for so long, I do miss the prosperity of headquarters."
"What about little brother Wang Qi?"
"We handle matters according to the rules. At worst, it is only a year."
The moment Wang Qi heard that it involved him, he could no longer sit still. "Hey! What do you mean, 'according to the rules'? What do you mean, 'at worst, a year'?"
Li Ziye explained, "According to Immortal Alliance regulations, if an Ancient Method Cultivator is found, we must help him convert to the Modern Dharma. Ancient Method Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm must take the Immortal Alliance's unified Shenzhou sect entrance trial together with those seeking immortality in the mortal world every June. On the sixteenth day of the first month, every Immortal Alliance branch and sect outpost opens lecture halls to teach the methods that immortality seekers will be tested on."
Wang Qi said, "This system feels like something I have seen somewhere before... How strange..."
Li Ziye said, "It is already late spring. For little brother Wang Qi, I fear not even a day can be wasted..."
Xiang Qi waved a hand. "Senior Brother Li, it is only some basic knowledge. Either you or I can handle it."
Li Ziye thought for a moment. "True enough. What do you think, little brother? Let me state this beforehand: it is only introductory knowledge. Whether Junior Sister Xiang and I teach it or the lecturers at those halls teach it, there will not be much difference."
Wang Qi pondered for a long while. If the Immortal Alliance's ascension trial was what he thought it was, then he had nothing to fear. It was only exam revision; he had been good at that in his previous life. But... comforting the villagers...
Wang Qi nodded. "All right, then."
Li Ziye nodded. "In your opinion, little brother, where would be suitable for the two of us to stay?"
Wang Qi said, "My family still has some property passed down from our ancestors. The house is fairly spacious. What do you two think?"
"We will follow our host's arrangements."
With that, Li Ziye launched into a movement technique and used his escaping light to carry Wang Qi slowly toward Dabai Village. Xiang Qi raised her Sword Light and followed close behind.
Wang Qi asked, "By the way, Senior Li, you keep talking about Ancient Method Cultivators and Modern Dharma Cultivators. What is the difference between the two?"
Li Ziye smiled. "There is nothing else to do, so I may as well explain."
"Ancient Method cultivation emphasizes 'stealing the essence of heaven and earth'—'the sage is the great thief who steals from Heaven.' Its purpose is to absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth and construct one's own little world. Modern Dharma cultivation is different. What we emphasize is 'the Dao follows nature,' borrowing the power of heaven and earth."
"Borrow?" Wang Qi was deeply puzzled. "If one borrows, one must return it... Do you disperse your mana and return it to heaven and earth?"
Li Ziye shook his head. "No. Did Junior Sister Xiang not tell you earlier? All things between heaven and earth participate in the natural flow of spiritual energy. Do you know where that natural flow comes from?"
Wang Qi shook his head to indicate that he did not.
Xiang Qi interjected, "The breathing of heaven and earth."
"The breathing of heaven and earth?"
Li Ziye explained, "Heaven and earth also exchange spiritual essence with the realms beyond. If heaven and earth are compared to a person, then what else could that be but breathing? The simplest examples are the power of True Fire and the power of the stars. Both come from beyond heaven."
Wang Qi nodded, secretly thinking, This world even has concepts like 'heaven and earth,' 'celestial bodies,' and 'the universe.'
"Modern Dharma cultivation is to integrate oneself into that breathing of heaven and earth, borrowing it to directly gather the endless, pure spiritual energy beyond heaven! Not only does this process not harm heaven and earth in the slightest, it can strengthen that breathing and make this world more robust. In turn, as the power of heaven and earth grows stronger, it becomes easier for us to gather spiritual energy."
"At higher realms, we can directly take nature as our teacher and forge a complete inner heaven and earth, rather than, like the Ancient Method, painstakingly pondering one person's path."
Wang Qi nodded. Cultivation methods were meant to turn oneself into a "little heaven and earth," allowing one to live independently even after leaving the great heaven and earth outside, and truly share the lifespan of heaven and earth. If heaven and earth were compared to a farmwoman and spiritual energy to eggs, then Ancient Method cultivation was knocking the farmwoman down and snatching all her eggs, while Modern Dharma cultivation was borrowing the farmwoman's chickens to lay one's own eggs...
Why did it sound so sleazy when put that way?
Just as Wang Qi's thoughts drifted toward the farmwoman saying, What a big deal—I thought you were stealing my eggs, Zhen Chanzi spoke in admiration. "Remarkable. The creators of the Modern Dharma were truly remarkable. Who was this great mighty figure who created the Modern Dharma? Did they ascend as immortals?"
Li Ziye shook his head. "The so-called creators of the Modern Dharma do not refer to one person. Has old sir ever heard of the two ancient cultivators Bigoci and Jimide?"
Zhen Chanzi's tone was uncertain. "They seem to have been two Mahayana grandmasters from the distant ancient age."
Pythagoras and Archimedes! Wang Qi thought. Once he accepted this absurd premise, these correspondences became especially easy to guess.
"Primordial Celestial Sovereign Bigoci and Geometric Devil Jimide were both great Mathematicians of ancient times. The lineages of these two were merged together in ancient times, forming the foundation of the Myriad Dharma Sect. The Myriad Dharma Sect's core cultivation method is considered the orthodox Modern Dharma; nearly every cultivation method of every Modern Dharma sect bears the shadow of the Myriad Dharma Sect."
"However, though the Myriad Dharma Sect was the earliest sect to research the path of the Modern Dharma, it was not the earliest Modern Dharma sect. The several sects that truly developed the embryonic form of the Modern Dharma were Mysterious Star Observatory and Sky Spirit Ridge."
"Mysterious Star Observatory is currently the strongest school of immortal cultivation in the west, skilled at breathing and meditating beneath starlight and moonlight. Since Master Ge Bai of Xuanxin founded the sect, Mysterious Star Observatory has always produced outstanding talents in abundance. In his early years, Master Ge Bai had been a low-ranking Dharma Protector in the Holy Infant Sect, then the foremost Ancient Method sect. Later, he gradually discovered that the Heavenly Dao cultivated by Ancient Method Cultivators was not the true Heavenly Dao. After spending his life in melancholy, he finally decided in old age to defect from the Holy Infant Sect and establish Mysterious Star Observatory himself in pursuit of the ultimate truth. Thus, Mysterious Star Observatory suffered severe suppression and persecution from Ancient Method Cultivators in its early days. Many first-generation disciples, such as Bruno, died to attain the Dao."
"On the other side, the sects that gradually established Modern Dharma cultivation were Spirit Beast Mountain and Myriad Flowers Valley. These two sects had always advocated cultivation without harming the living beings of heaven and earth, but they could only ensure that gathering heaven and earth's essence would not harm the creatures nearby. That continued until Darwin, the God of Heaven's Choice, appeared. Darwin, the God of Heaven's Choice, was a legendary figure of Spirit Beast Mountain. Like Master Ge Bai, he had been an outer disciple of the Holy Infant Sect in his early years. Later, he discovered that the Ancient Method path was untenable and turned instead to Spirit Beast Mountain."
"Because the Myriad Dharma Sect's members had wide-ranging friendships in those years, they were able to learn from Spirit Beast Mountain, Myriad Flowers Valley, and Mysterious Star Observatory, transforming their own cultivation methods and ultimately becoming a Modern Dharma sect. Due to their conflicting ideals, grandmasters of the Modern Dharma sects and Ancient Method sects argued without end. Yet at the time, no matter how wondrous the Modern Dharma was, it could not withstand the Ancient Method Cultivators' overwhelming numbers. During that period, Modern Dharma Cultivators lived in extreme hardship."
Xiang Qi continued, "But afterward, the Modern Dharma encountered a great stroke of fortune. On Riftfall Island, an island in the far west of Shenzhou, there emerged an unprecedented genius: Lord of Yuanli Newton! Lord of Yuanli had originally belonged to the 'strength cultivation' branch of the Ancient Method..."
Zhen Chanzi said, "The one that does not cultivate Dao methods, only strength and martial techniques?"
Xiang Qi nodded. "Yes, but Lord of Yuanli recognized his own shortcomings and entered the Myriad Dharma Sect. He elevated the arts of strength cultivation to a level beyond technique and nearing the Dao, forming his own branch. Legend says that Lord of Yuanli received heaven and earth's favor, and heaven and earth used an apple as its hand to impart to him the three great principles of heaven, encompassing all things!"
"With the three great principles of heaven, Lord of Yuanli founded the Yuanli Sect in central Shenzhou. Lord of Yuanli's friend Bo'er established Burning Gold Valley. His rival, the Rogue Cultivator Hu Ke, unified Spirit Beast Mountain and Myriad Flowers Valley by reforming their foundational cultivation methods, achieving the Sky Spirit Ridge of today. Later, Marquis Kelvin of Burning Sky, born of noble blood, gathered a host of heroes and founded Burning Sky Manor."
Li Ziye closed his eyes, seemingly lost in yearning for that era when the predecessors of the Modern Dharma, with the whole world as their enemy, carved out a bloody path step by step. "Lord of Yuanli and the geniuses of his generation completely turned the tide. The Modern Dharma finally crushed the Ancient Method utterly and became the orthodox path of Shenzhou!"
Before you continue