Unforgiving Taoist's Manuscript

Li Ziye never did get to see the sunlight he loved.

In the predawn hours, the Myriad Dharma Sect disciple swallowed his last breath. Once he had confirmed Li Ziye's death, Wang Qi sighed. "Honestly, Senior Brother Li, that death was nowhere near heroic enough. It would've been so much better if you'd said decisively that you had no regrets."

Zhen Chanzi spoke up. "You..."

Wang Qi laid Li Ziye's corpse flat on the ground, then stepped back two paces and sat down. "All right, old man. Now let's talk about what's between us."

Zhen Chanzi fell silent. "There is nothing to say."

Wang Qi sneered. "So you're not denying that this can be blamed on you?"

"Indeed."

"So you deceived me."

"It isn't the first time you've been deceived."

"Indeed." Wang Qi returned to his usual expression. "But I really am angry right now."

"Mm." Zhen Chanzi's tone held neither joy nor anger. "I had been gambling all along, gambling that you would not easily encounter someone holding another piece of that set of immortal artifacts—after all, the odds of you encountering the Lord of the Shattered Heavens Path were minuscule."

"Then what exactly did he use to sense you?"

"A replica of the immortal artifact that the Lord of the Shattered Heavens Path seized. If all one wanted was to sense other immortal artifacts, replicas were not all that expensive to make. But in ancient times, everyone feared others stealing their fortuitous opportunities, so no one used such methods at all."

Ancient Method Cultivators lived only for themselves. For the sake of a single thread of opportunity, there had been countless cases of friends and relatives turning against each other, masters and disciples slaughtering one another, husbands and wives coming to blows.

"But no matter what, if you'd told me about this earlier, I might not have kept this thing on me every moment." Wang Qi removed the ring and said, "If I'd left this piece of junk at home, I never would've been in danger."

"Now that you know the truth, if you throw the ring away, I have no grounds to blame you."

Wang Qi smiled, pinched the ring in his palm, and raised the hand holding it as though he were about to throw it away. "One last question. What is this ring's true purpose?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? You don't know about your own sect's magic treasure?"

Zhen Chanzi gave a bitter smile. "Our patriarch was fortunate enough to buy it from a Rogue Cultivator who did not recognize its worth. Its known uses are only to accelerate a cultivator's absorption of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, assist with minor spells similar to the Concealing Breath Technique, sense the other parts of that set of immortal artifacts, and contain souls."

"I see." Wang Qi lowered his hand and put the ring back onto his left index finger.

Zhen Chanzi said, "...What does this mean? You know this ring is utterly useless to you and is instead a hidden danger, yet you still want to keep it?"

Modern Dharma was far stronger than the Ancient Method, and Wang Qi's talent in Modern Dharma could be called startling and heaven-defying. His choice to follow Modern Dharma should have been set in stone. Modern Dharma Cultivators drew upon spiritual power from beyond the heavens rather than the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so the ring's first function was equivalent to useless for them; and the spells enhanced by the ring were all relatively low-level Ancient Method spells. Modern Dharma spells, which were far more difficult than Ancient Method spells, posed far too great a challenge for the ring. As for containing souls? There was already one inside. Unless Zhen Chanzi was willing to come out, that function was effectively crippled as well.

As for the remaining function, it was simply a hidden danger.

Wang Qi propped himself up with his right hand and leaned back slightly. He held his left hand level, raising the ring before his eyes. "No matter what, you have kept me company for all these years. I never took you as my master, and you had no obligation to bare your heart and soul to me. Let this accident go. Besides, as a Mahayana Stage cultivator, your experience will always be of some use. If you are willing to tell me everything you know from now on, then as I promised before, should I one day master a wondrous Dharma, I will personally forge you a new body."

Zhen Chanzi asked suspiciously, "Just like that?"

"You seem to have little faith in my character?" Wang Qi looked at the ring with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"It is not a matter of character, but... your purpose is likely not so simple."

Only after Zhen Chanzi finished speaking did he notice that Wang Qi's smile was somewhat chilling.

Wang Qi looked at Li Ziye's corpse and said, "It really isn't that simple. Without you, I truly wouldn't know where to find the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao."

Zhen Chanzi was greatly alarmed. "Have you gone mad, boy?"

Wang Qi pondered for a moment. "What if I report this to a Modern Dharma Sect?"

"You intend to use yourself as bait and ask Modern Dharma experts to protect you?" Zhen Chanzi quickly understood. "If they fail the first few times, the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao will only regard you as a trap. After that, even if you swagger down the street, they will still think you are a trap. If they send a top-tier expert on their first attempt, then with Modern Dharma Cultivators preparing in advance, they will most likely have time to react. The only danger seems to be losing an immortal artifact that is completely useless to you—and equally useless to other Modern Dharma Cultivators."

"What do you think?"

Zhen Chanzi said, "If we had not spoken tonight, and Li Ziye had not gone out unexpectedly, I might have considered it a good method."

Wang Qi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Li Ziye's combat strength exceeded that Nascent Soul Realm cultivator from the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao. Even with that mongrel Nascent Soul Realm cultivator joining in, Li Ziye still had a chance of winning. Therefore, if they wished to win, their only opportunity was to first seriously injure that girl Xiang Qi, then have three Foundation Establishment Realm subordinates set up an array, use the girl as bait to lure Li Ziye into it, and defeat him with the array's aid. But this tactic required Li Ziye and Xiang Qi to be separated. Who do you think could have predicted the exact time Li Ziye would leave?"

Wang Qi suddenly understood. "That passing Golden Core cultivator! You mean there is a traitor within Modern Dharma."

Zhen Chanzi said, "There is another layer of strangeness here. Modern Dharma Cultivators have extremely low demands for resources. There is no reason for them to betray the immortal alliance, which currently holds absolute supremacy, for a trifling profit."

"What if it isn't trifling?"

Zhen Chanzi rejected the notion. "Impossible. Ancient Method cultivation consumes an enormous amount of resources. Even Great Sects would not have much surplus."

Wang Qi thought for a moment. "So, old man, you used to live hand to mouth too, didn't you?"

"That is why I truly admire those who founded Modern Dharma. Cultivating without relying on resources, heh heh." Zhen Chanzi chuckled twice, then continued, "But this involves yet another strange matter. The academic systems you spoke of last night sounded practical and feasible. But have you considered this: why has Modern Dharma's immortal way not developed similar systems?"

Without even thinking, Wang Qi replied, "Obstruction from feudal forces, conservatives, and diehard reactionaries."

Zhen Chanzi snorted. "Idiot! How could great powers capable of creating Modern Dharma from the Ancient Method possibly be fossilized fools clinging rigidly to old systems?"

Wang Qi scratched his head. "Science students don't understand politics?"

"...What does that mean?"

"It roughly means bookworms don't understand the arts of power."

"The possibility is low." Zhen Chanzi said, "Since spreading knowledge would greatly benefit the development of Modern Dharma's immortal way, yet the current leaders of Modern Dharma Cultivators are obstructing it—at least obstructing the spread of knowledge among low-level cultivators—then there can only be one reason."

Wang Qi truly could not understand what medicine Zhen Chanzi was selling from his gourd. "Speak."

"Modern Dharma Cultivators currently face a great enemy. They cannot casually reveal the foundations of their cultivation methods."

Wang Qi was deeply astonished. "That's impossible. According to Li Ziye's account, Modern Dharma Cultivators have already completely overwhelmed Ancient Method Cultivators. They still had to sneak around and go through enormous trouble just to kill two talented disciples. They do not seem to possess much power."

Zhen Chanzi said quietly, "Exactly. Ancient Method Cultivators can now give the fortuitous opportunity of immortal artifacts to Nascent Soul Realm disciples to improve their odds of stumbling upon a dead rat, so their circumstances are quite dire. This is another strange matter. Where does the enemy come from? The demonic path, where one person's success left a thousand miles of land barren, has been suppressed beyond all movement since fifty thousand years ago; the Demon Race became humanity's hunting prey twenty thousand years ago; the dragon demons beyond the seas may be powerful, but they cannot come ashore... Where does the enemy come from?"

"Tsk tsk." Wang Qi looked at the ring and said, "So in your eyes, Modern Dharma's immortal way is completely untrustworthy?"

"Not so. Judging from Li Ziye and Xiang Qi, Modern Dharma's immortal way should not cut corners in training disciples. You need only enter a Modern Dharma Sect through normal channels. Do not do things like risking your life by borrowing their strength."

Wang Qi nodded. "Looks like keeping you around is rather useful after all, old man. Then let me ask you another question. What kind of school is the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao, and how strong can its strongest members be?"

"The Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao is one of the most tyrannical major sects of the Ancient Method." Perhaps because the name of his enemy had been mentioned, Zhen Chanzi's tone became somewhat gloomy. "Not only in its conduct, but in its inheritance as well. The ancient inheritance, the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao Scripture, is the most tyrannical cultivation method in the history of the immortal way. Once one Dharma emerges, ten thousand Dharmas shatter... Heh, who would have thought that today, we would instead be pressed down and beaten by someone else's 'Myriad Dharma'?"

"How much of the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao's skill had that Nascent Soul Realm cultivator learned?"

"The stronger one's Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao cultivation, the more miraculous it becomes. That one could at most be considered a True Disciple, and not a particularly favored one at that." Zhen Chanzi took considerable delight in the death of an Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao disciple. "At the Mahayana Stage, they are basically invincible among those of the same realm. Ten thousand years ago, I stood alongside that generation's Lord of the Shattered Heavens Path as the foremost under heaven. Modern Dharma rose only around two thousand years ago. In the eight thousand years from my time in Yunlou to Modern Dharma's birth, it would not be strange if three or four more Mahayana Stage cultivators emerged—provided Modern Dharma Cultivators did not beat them to death."

Wang Qi seemed thoughtful. "If I cultivated the Ancient Method, even reaching the Mahayana Stage, I would be unlikely to defeat a Mahayana Stage cultivator of the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao. If I cultivated Modern Dharma, an ordinary Grandmaster would probably still be unable to bring down a Mahayana Stage cultivator of the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao."

"You should know that revenge requires learning patience and forbearance."

At this time, dawn had only just begun to break, and weak sunlight pierced through the dark clouds. Carrying Li Ziye's storage pouch, Wang Qi stood and stretched lazily. "My body's gone stiff from sitting... Old man, I think I told you before, didn't I? What I seek in life is freedom and joy."

"I know."

"If I always feel that I owe someone something, I will be unhappy. Things that make me unhappy are better ended sooner."

After a long while, Zhen Chanzi sighed. "I suddenly feel that you now resemble a normal person."

"Before, I thought this world had gone mad. So I went mad along with it. Then today, I discovered that the world was not mad. I should have been happy, so my brain short-circuited." Wang Qi said flatly, "Now, I am not happy."

Those words were like clouds over mountains and mist over seas, and Zhen Chanzi wanted to ask further. But Wang Qi spoke again. "Those who make me unhappy, I will only make them suffer twice as much." With that, he looked at the sky, decided it was bright enough to see clearly, and began rummaging through Li Ziye's storage pouch.

"What are you doing? Spirit ink, spirit paper... Boy, can you draw talismans?"

Zhen Chanzi watched Wang Qi pull out item after item from Li Ziye's belongings and found it very strange.

"No, I want to copy something."

"Are you squandering wealth?" Zhen Chanzi could not help reproaching him. "These are all top-grade spirit paper and spirit ink!"

At last, Wang Qi pulled a stack of papers from the storage pouch. "This."

Zhen Chanzi stared in stunned disbelief. "This is... Unforgiving Taoist's manuscript!"

"One cannot pass up gains that are there for the taking. Xiang Qi knows about this stack of manuscripts, so I cannot keep it for myself."

Zhen Chanzi warned him, "This is not a secret manual. It contains things deduced by a Free and Unfettered Stage cultivator. First, it is incomplete; second, there is no matching cultivation method. Can you understand it?"

Wang Qi laughed heartily and did not answer.

If his deduction was correct, then Unforgiving Taoist's cultivation method must have some connection to the theories of the scientist Heisenberg from Earth.

Do you know where I farmed experience in my previous life? The Niels Bohr Institute—the holy land of the Copenhagen School, the place where the scientist Heisenberg once fought!