"Essence of Spiritual Qi... the exponent of energy... Tsk, tsk. Good thing there was no setting like 'the cognitive world shattering and solidifying,' or one wrong step would have led to wrong steps all the way down. Too reckless, too reckless."
On the roof of the Wang Family's old residence, Wang Qi set down a book, his face carrying a trace of relief—along with a trace of smug self-satisfaction, naturally. Looking at that expression, where was even the slightest hint of regret?
That night, the moon shone bright while the stars were sparse. A crescent moon hung slantwise at the edge of the sky, casting a frosty sheen over heaven and earth. At this hour, most of Dabai Village's residents would ordinarily have gone to sleep. Yet tonight, scattered lights still flickered in the little village. Near the ancestral hall at the village center, villagers could faintly be seen gathered together in celebration.
Our village was going to produce an immortal!
The villagers were simple folk, and they felt that this was surely one of the greatest joyous occasions in the village's history. They actually treated it like a festival. The old scholar who taught the village children their elementary lessons in the ancestral hall had nearly wanted to erect a monument in commemoration.
Wang Qi did not join the village's celebration. Though he had lived two lives, in his previous life he had known only scholarship and had treated the laboratory as a sacred land. In this life, he had muddled through several years in a daze and been regarded as a fool. He truly was not used to so many people gathering together in lively revelry.
Still, even if he could not blend in, watching from afar counted as sharing in their joy.
With that thought in mind, Wang Qi carried a jar of the village's home-brewed rice wine and sat alone atop the roof of the Wang Family's old residence.
Though the youth muttered, "Too reckless," there was not the slightest trace of lingering fear on his face. Instead, he kept pouring himself drink after drink. And he had his reasons.
That morning, he had integrated the knowledge of his previous life and swiftly comprehended the Reaching the Heavens Path, thoroughly startling Li Ziye and Xiang Qi. But he soon discovered a tremendous problem.
This world possessed spiritual qi.
And "spiritual qi," this physical quantity, simply did not exist in the world of his previous life!
The cultivation of Modern Dharma Cultivators took one's understanding of the fundamental laws of the world—in other words, the "Dao" spoken of by modern cultivation—as its prerequisite. If one's understanding of the Dao was flawed, then practicing a superior cultivation method would not only yield twice the effort for half the result, but might even cause one to go berserk, perish in body and soul, and vanish from the world.
Fortunately, though, that had merely been unfounded anxiety.
In truth, he had misunderstood Li Ziye's words during the day, and he had also misunderstood the Reaching the Heavens Path of modern cultivation.
What was called entry into the Reaching the Heavens Path did not mean relying on knowledge to break through. More importantly, it meant comprehending, from that knowledge, the intent with which those before them had sought the Dao.
In Earth's terms, this "intent to seek the Dao" was not the "high school diploma" Wang Qi had imagined before. It was the "scientific spirit"!
Seek knowledge. Seek truth.
Heaven and earth were boundless, the great Dao ethereal and elusive. Yet people like them could rely on themselves to unravel, step by step, the ultimate principles of the world.
In Wang Qi's previous life, technology had flourished. Apart from the occasional person whose brain short-circuited, this intent had long been carved into everyone's heart through subtle influence.
Yet because of his transmigration, Wang Qi had begun to doubt "science" at its very foundation, causing a bright pearl to be covered in dust. Only through the mathematical and logical research of this world's great minds had he realized the problem with his own convictions. As for his accumulation of knowledge, it had long surpassed the requirements for breaking through the Reaching the Heavens Path.
When ordinary cultivators broke through, they had to study Qi Refining cultivation methods and take shortcuts by breathing in and out with heaven and earth. Wang Qi's breakthrough, however, was a flash of enlightenment in his heart directly reflecting upon his mana. Like water overflowing once the vessel was full, he broke through naturally.
This was the perfect breakthrough countless geniuses sought yet could never attain!
At that thought, Wang Qi could not help taking another sip of wine, clicking his tongue as he said, "Still, I was too reckless. But thanks to you, old man. You turned out to be unexpectedly useful at a time like this!"
But Wang Qi's remark about being reckless referred to another matter.
That morning, while verifying the mathematics and logic he had learned in his previous life, he had written several formulas on scratch paper.
And the symbols he had used were the computational symbols he knew best from Earth.
One had to know that the calculation symbols of the Divine Land formed a system of their own. They had none of the many letters common in Earth's equations, much less Arabic numerals.
His breakthrough that morning had come far too quickly, genuinely frightening Li Ziye and Xiang Qi. Yet after their shock passed, the two displayed the qualities expected of Immortal Alliance enforcers.
Indeed, breaking through over the course of a meal was unlikely. But what if he had already possessed the conditions to break through?
For example—the forbidden Free and Unfettered Cultivator living near his home?
When Wang Qi saw that the two harbored such suspicions, he was also startled. The Unforgiving Taoist was now practically in a state where everyone shouted at him and beat him. If Wang Qi were thought to be connected to him, he would probably draw several extra glares just walking down the street, never mind gaining any benefits from the modern immortal path!
Then Xiang Qi, sharp-eyed as she was, discovered Wang Qi's scratch paper. Though Li Ziye could not understand those formulas, he keenly sensed that those ghostly scribbles were clearly an advanced mathematical method that had entered the hall and reached the inner chambers!
Just as Li Ziye and Xiang Qi grew increasingly suspicious, Zhen Chanzi spoke up to patch the lie. "This is ancient mathematics that this old man passed on to him. Heh, this old man truly never imagined that mathematics could be used to cultivate immortality."
The foundation upon which the Myriad Dharma Sect had been founded was the ancient inheritance of the Primordial Heavenly Lord and the Geometric Devil. Only afterward had come the principle that one method gave rise to myriad methods, and one method could break myriad methods. Therefore, Li Ziye did not overly doubt Zhen Chanzi's explanation.
And this explanation somewhat dispelled their suspicions about Wang Qi's talent as well—so the brat had already possessed a foundation in mathematical principles. Viewed that way, his aptitude was barely still within the limits of what humanity could endure.
"Looks like I'll need to get into the habit of destroying scratch paper whenever I use it."
Wang Qi narrowed his eyes and gazed at the distant lights, seeming to mutter to himself.
By then, the moon was nearing its zenith, yet the people gathered near the ancestral hall still refused to disperse. Their clamor could faintly reach Wang Qi's ears.
"This world is rather interesting."
Saying this, Wang Qi took a sip of wine.
Then another sip.
After a while, yet another sip.
After seven or eight cups had gone down his throat, Wang Qi's slightly embarrassed voice rose from the roof. "Old man, shouldn't you be picking up the conversation? It's really awkward for me to talk to myself!"
Zhen Chanzi's voice sounded somewhat muffled. "Oh?"
"Wasn't I saying all that just to wait for you to respond? At the very least, when I thanked you, you should have made a sound, right?"
"Oh."
Hearing such an indifferent response from the ring, Wang Qi was greatly alarmed. "Holy hell, Senior, who are you? There were two souls in this ring from the start, weren't there? Do you know that old man who taught me the Daluo Hundiantianjing? The one who looks all aloof but actually loves talking..."
Zhen Chanzi said unhappily, "What do you mean, 'looks aloof but actually loves talking'?"
Wang Qi answered with a straight face, "Don't you usually love talking? Especially whenever I say, 'This thing is kind of interesting,' you always ask, 'What's interesting about it?' Then you try to twist my outlook on life and values."
Zhen Chanzi wanted to retort, but in the end he merely sighed. "This old man has grown old."
Wang Qi snorted in disdain. "A ten-thousand-year-old immortal who won't die, and you only noticed today?"
For once, Zhen Chanzi did not angrily rebuke this brat who had no respect for his elders.
"Only today. Though this old man calls himself 'this old man,' it was merely to maintain his status. In the past, this old man considered himself extraordinarily gifted and bore an ancient inheritance. I believed that being trapped in this ring was no more than a flood dragon temporarily dwelling in shallow waters. Given the slightest opportunity, I could once again shake the world with my might."
"But today, this old man finally realized how terrifying ten thousand years truly are. Ancient inheritance? Once, I regarded it as my very life; today, people cast it aside like worn-out shoes! Talent? This old man always believed that heaven and earth would eventually wither as generations of cultivators gathered qi, and that the immortal path would inevitably decline with every generation. But what was the reality? Those who came after had long since carved out a Reaching the Heavens Path alive and kicking! This old man does not even have the courage to create a method of my own!"
Zhen Chanzi grew more and more agitated, and his words even carried the faint air of smashing the jar once it had broken. "Even if this old man could reshape my body and return to heaven and earth, what meaning would there be?"
"Hah?" Wang Qi practically voiced his contempt through his nostrils. "That's why I say, old man, your old life was pretty meaningless."
Zhen Chanzi snapped, "Then tell me, what counts as meaningful?"
Wang Qi lay back on the roof and raised the hand wearing the ring high into the air, directly toward the night sky. Looking at the ring, he asked, "First, let me ask something. Were you the one-track-mind type before? The kind who believed you were right even if beaten to death."
"If one did not possess absolute confidence in what one knew, how could one attain the Dao!"
Wang Qi burst into laughter. "Then after seeing one thing after another these past few days that shattered your worldview, and ending up with your Dao heart thrown into disorder, you completely deserved it!"
Zhen Chanzi had no answer, and could only give a humph through his spiritual sense.
Wang Qi said, "The reason the world is interesting is because it's so vast that there will always be new things to play with! You imagined some vague concept of infinity, fooled yourself into believing it was the Dao, and then actually believed it yourself—if you weren't scared to death, that would be the real injustice!"
Zhen Chanzi laughed in extreme anger. "You make it sound as though you truly understand."
Wang Qi looked at the sky, chuckled a few times, and said nothing.
Too bad I can't use that experience to teach you how to behave, old man.
There were some things Wang Qi decided to bury in the depths of his heart forever. Even Zhen Chanzi, who was already tied to the same rope as him, absolutely could not be told.
When he transmigrated, Wang Qi's first reaction had been—#%#. Ahem. In short, it had been a curse.
In his view, transmigration had simply been an arrangement of fate brimming with malice.
That's right, in this world, my talent went unrecognized, and my ambitions went unrealized. But that was my world! Mine! My friends and family were there, along with my pursuits, my ideals, and the value of my existence!
And then all of that was fucking erased overnight?
Fuck you!
And besides, what exactly had I spent twenty years learning? Which law of science did this fucking conform to!? Fake? It was fake! I didn't know anything at all!
If the world did not follow reason at all... then what was the point?
Yet in that transmigration, the one thing Wang Qi considered fortunate was that he had family who sincerely cared for him and pulled him back from the brink of collapse. He had more than ten years to slowly calm down. And then there was yesterday, when he had been able to use the research of this world's wise men to understand the world anew.
But that breaking and rebuilding instead made Wang Qi's heart incomparably strong!
"I truly don't understand what the Dao is, old man. But since those great powers who founded modern cultivation have already determined the path of seeking the Dao, then I, Wang Qi, will surely seek that supreme heavenly Dao, bit by bit!"
The youth's words struck the ground with the force of metal and stone.
Zhen Chanzi fell silent for a while. The youth's confidence could not help reminding him of more than ten thousand years ago, when he himself had first glimpsed the immortal path.
Back then, he too had been brimming with confidence, convinced that he would surely take that final step.
Was ten thousand years truly so terrifying? Not only had it turned the final step he had dreamed of into a joke, it had also ground away that last trace of youthful spirit in his heart? If he had been his younger self, then even if he woke to find heaven and earth transformed into an entirely new world, he would only have felt heroic ambition surging within him.
"Hehehe, I truly have grown old..."
Wang Qi laughed. "That's more like it! Old man, from now on, learn more from me. Learn what it means to be interesting!"
"How so?"
"Right now, this very moment, interesting things in my head are already struggling to burst out!"
Before you continue