Are you a comedian sent by the Heavenly Dao to slap our faces?

After lying on the ground for a moment, Wang Qi stood up and said, "I need to get ready. I'll be leaving in a few days to find that 'opportunity' and start my life of killing people for treasure and letting the virtuous have it!"

Zhen Chanzi suddenly spoke, "Slow down."

"What is it?"

"You still don't have the self-awareness of a cultivator," Zhen Chanzi said. "Your Magical Power needs to be tempered, needs to be pondered. After your Magical Power advances, you can relax for a bit, but after indulging, you must meditate for a while longer to comprehend the cultivation method."

Wang Qi sighed and sat back down inside the Gathering Spirit Array. He began to comprehend the cultivation method Zhen Chanzi had left within him.

The peerless cultivation method was not written down, only a feeling. Wang Qi followed the obscure will in his mind, directing his Magical Power, and in the process, pondered the characteristics of Magical Power.

Sensing his Magical Power flowing through his body with his will, becoming cold or hot, Wang Qi shook his head and chuckled inwardly.

This power is truly unscientific.

After finishing, Wang Qi closed his eyes and savored the changes in his body. When he opened them, he felt an inexplicable sense of unreality. "Old man, did I succeed?"

According to the description in the cultivation method in his mind, he had actually broken through perfectly…

"Is something wrong?"

"Was it too smooth?" Wang Qi scratched his head, a little confused.

Didn't novel protagonists always have to risk half their lives and countless savings to break through, only to miraculously reverse their fortunes at the brink of failure, preferably with unprecedented coincidences to unlock hidden achievements in the cultivation method!

If breaking through is this easy, it'd be a flop as a novel!

After Wang Qi inquired about the reason, Zhen Chanzi was almost so angry he lost his soul. He roared in Wang Qi's mind, "Absurd! Absurd! You're actually using common gossip as a benchmark to measure your cultivation achievements? Breaking through the first realm alone requires a desperate struggle; how can you break through the final realm with such aptitude? Do you still treat cultivation as child's play even now?"

Wang Qi shook his head. "It's not child's play, it's a game! A game! Something this bloody and violent should definitely be banned for children."

Zhen Chanzi: "…Fine, fine. You brat, talk to me less from now on."

Next, Wang Qi spent another three hours adjusting his state after breaking through and stabilizing his cultivation. After finishing, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right, old man, do cultivators have any good methods for concealing their aura and cultivation progress?"

"What do you need that for?"

Wang Qi said matter-of-factly, "Hiding your cultivation to pretend to be weak and then slapping faces is the best part!"

Zhen Chanzi immediately regretted it. He felt that conversing with this kid with a screw loose was a major stain on his twenty thousand years of life. "This ring comes with the highest-grade aura concealment technique. While your current Qi Refining level isn't enough to unleash its full divine power, it's more than enough to fool ordinary Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"Are there any skills for making money?"

"Making money?"

"Like conjuring artifacts out of thin air, or alchemy with a hundred percent success rate…"

Zhen Chanzi hadn't felt like spitting blood for nearly ten thousand years. "If such skills existed, I would have unified the immortal path ten thousand years ago!"

"Huh?" Wang Qi pouted, his tone filled with disdain. "So uninspired."

Zhen Chanzi was silent for a moment, then said helplessly, "I've given you the alchemy and artifact forging methods. Learn them yourself."

Wang Qi nodded in satisfaction and began counting on his fingers. "That works too. That's another point of satisfaction fulfilled."

"Brat, what's the point of you doing all this?"

"For fun!"

"Reaching the pinnacle of cultivation, reigning over the immortal path, being revered for eternity, that's also a kind of fun. Why don't you pursue it?"

Wang Qi had already started packing up his belongings to prepare for his departure. Hearing this, he stopped what he was doing and held the ring up to his face. "Eternity? Can the matters of future generations be changed just because I care? And besides, being revered by future generations doesn't bring me a single copper coin! Moreover, reigning over this world? Old man, don't you find this world truly boring?"

"Boring?"

"It's just a stagnant pool. According to you, the first Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared eighty thousand years ago, and then ten thousand years later, the first ascended immortal appeared. Forty thousand years ago, the immortal path developed to its peak, and then it gradually weakened due to the depletion of spiritual energy and resources?"

"That's true. My Primordial Spirit was destroyed, so I can no longer sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. However, judging by the rate of spiritual energy depletion ten thousand years ago, it's likely we've entered an era of declining spiritual energy, and there won't even be a Mahayana grandmaster in the entire world…"

"Then in another forty thousand years, won't the immortal path be doomed? Ruling over a group of people destined to have no descendants, it sounds boring, so boring."

Zhen Chanzi remained silent. He himself was a grand cultivator of the Mahayana realm and naturally understood the inherent flaws of the immortal path better than anyone. Cultivators cultivate by seizing the creation of heaven and earth to forge their "true self." While the spiritual essence a cultivator seizes is but a drop in the ocean of heaven and earth, even the vastness of heaven and earth cannot withstand the endless exploitation by disciples and descendants.

"This world will sooner or later be depleted by cultivators. I can't manage the world, and I don't really want to—you know I hate trouble the most. So, the state of the world, the state of others, it's all irrelevant to me. I only seek a brilliant life."

After speaking, Wang Qi no longer paid attention to the silent Zhen Chanzi and began preparing for his future travels.

Cultivation emphasizes method, wealth, companions, and location. Of these, he only possessed "method." The other three could not be provided by this desolate village.

Since the cultivation in the spiritual body stage primarily focused on tempering the body and produced no divine abilities, if a Qi Refining stage cultivator were to get into a conflict, they would surely die. Furthermore, Zhen Chanzi had explicitly stated that the cultivation of the spiritual body realm was best achieved step by step on one's own, without the aid of any pills. Therefore, Wang Qi had not ventured out to seek so-called "opportunities." However, everything was different now.

"Since I'm essentially leaving and won't be coming back, the house and fields are useless… I'll sell them to the villagers at a good price… Hmm, three mu of land for… The old house can be sold to…"

Suddenly, the jade ring vibrated violently. Wang Qi felt as if he were holding a vibrating mobile phone. "Old man, old man. Did you suddenly turn on the vibration?"

"There's a cultivator's aura, Foundation Establishment Realm. I don't know their origin. Quickly inject your Magical Power into the ring, and I'll hide you."

Although Zhen Chanzi had perished ten thousand years ago, leaving only a wisp of his soul, he claimed that ten thousand years ago he was the sect leader of a great sect, a top expert in the world, and his cultivation had already reached the peak of the Mahayana stage. He was only a step away from ascending to the heavens and roaming the universe. Even now, with only a wisp of his soul remaining and his power diminished, he possessed various incredible abilities.

Wang Qi did not hesitate and injected all his Magical Power into the jade ring. A cool sensation flowed out from the ring, permeating Wang Qi's entire body. Then, Wang Qi's vitality completely receded, making him appear like a withered log or a stubborn rock.

"Wait a moment! Old man, you shouldn't know any information about the current immortal path, right? I think it's better to ask first?"

"It's not yet clear if the other party is benevolent or malicious. If they have ill intentions, wouldn't you be walking into your death if you went out rashly? Stay put!"

Zhen Chanzi's voice held a hint of solemnity. In his spiritual sense, the Magical Power aura, strong enough for the Foundation Establishment Realm, was originally heading towards the center of the village. However, it suddenly veered off three hundred feet away and flew towards them.

Three hundred zhang, as far as Zhen Chanzi knew, was the limit of the spiritual sense range for the Foundation Establishment Realm, and that was for cultivators who specifically practiced divine sense techniques.

Detected? That shouldn't be possible. Zhen Chanzi was merely a remnant soul, but his spiritual sense for detecting Magical Power could still extend over ten li. He had issued a warning the moment the other party entered this range. By the time Wang Qi activated the ring, the intruder was still two li away. A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator with a spiritual sense extending two li? That was completely defying the natural order!

But could a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator see through the concealment magic of this ring? Absolutely impossible. Even in the prosperous ancient era of immortal cultivation, no one could have seen through the ring's magic with a cultivation level less than two major realms higher. How could it be possible in this era of declining magic?

Wang Qi saw only a white streak of light flying towards him from the horizon. Zhen Chanzi said gravely, "Pretend you don't know anything for now."

Fearing the approaching cultivator, Wang Qi didn't reply to Zhen Chanzi.

"Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... Good, don't be nervous... Keep smiling... Relax your facial muscles, make sure to show six teeth... Keep your breath fresh, uh, well, that seems impossible."

Wang Qi faced the streak of light and put on what he thought was a charming, standard smile.

"What exactly are you doing..." Zhen Chanzi was utterly bewildered.

"A good first impression," Wang Qi gritted out from between his teeth.

"Idiot! You should be pretending to be busy at this moment!"

"Nonsense! The Gathering Spirit Array in the yard isn't even put away. Wouldn't it be suspicious if I knew nothing!"

Just then, the white streak of light stopped above the old Wang family residence. The light dispersed, revealing a girl of sixteen or seventeen. She was extremely pretty, dressed in a red gown, and standing on a small purple sword.

"Sword control..."

Wang Qi showed a hint of envy. In his past life, he had countless times fantasized about one day soaring through the skies on a celestial sword. Though he had been introduced to the path of immortality in this life, he hadn't reached Foundation Establishment yet and couldn't wield artifacts.

However, the girl's next words shattered his reverie.

"You down there, I'm talking to you, ancient cultivator who just broke through to the Qi Refining stage, come with me!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Miss, what are you talking about? I don't understand at all!"

Wang Qi vehemently denied it.

The girl gave a scornful smile. "You think possessing an ancient artifact whose design philosophy has long been obsolete can fool modern cultivators? Your complete suppression of spiritual sense is too conspicuous, you know. Also, your cultivation technique is thousands of years out of date."

Huh?

Wang Qi was dumbfounded.

Damn it, the script is wrong! Didn't they say this was an era of declining magic? Didn't they say the older the cultivation technique, the more authentic? Cultivation techniques can become obsolete? Damn, damn, damn...

Not only was Wang Qi's mind in turmoil, but Zhen Chanzi was also losing his composure.

Who exactly is this little girl... what kind of terrifying treasure does she carry...

"No... I think I know who she is..." Wang Qi said to Zhen Chanzi using his still-unskilled spiritual sense.

"What?"

"She's definitely a clown sent by 'Brother Heavenly Dao' to slap our faces!"