The Heavens

Wang Qi was unaware that the two people outside had been so shocked their foundations were almost shattered.

A moment ago, he had taken the book chest from Li Ziye and, upon returning to his room, impatiently dumped out all the books inside. Li Ziye's book chest was indeed magical; after a short while, Wang Qi's room was piled high with books, forming a small mountain.

Wang Qi first found the two books Li Ziye had specifically mentioned: Breaking Profound Chapter and The Logic of the Great Dao.

Breaking Profound Chapter was a meditation technique, which, according to ancient principles, was a method of "borrowing the illusory to cultivate the real." It involved visualizing a concrete object in one's mind, such as True Fire, Auspicious Clouds, or Dragon and Tiger. Gradually, the soul would take on the characteristics of the visualized object.

However, according to Li Ziye, this was nonsense. Thought influences the soul, and contemplation can strengthen the soul, nothing more. The content of the thought wasn't crucial; the act of "thinking" itself was key.

Breaking Profound Chapter was an unusual meditation technique. It required the practitioner to directly visualize the Great Dao, contemplate the Great Dao, and strengthen the soul. The book clearly stated in its opening: "To seek the Dao, one must first break through the profound. Only by not seeing the profound can one see the Dao."

Wang Qi whistled. For some reason, he felt a strong affinity for this statement.

"Breaking the profound, breaking the profound... I feel like I've heard this before..."

Heavenly Change Formula Wang Qi then noticed a book with a seemingly interesting title and couldn't help but flip through it.

"That which contains heaven within its form, and whose methods change with heaven, is a heavenly variant form..."

Was he learning such high-level concepts right at the beginning?

Wang Qi frowned. The difference between modern and ancient methods was indeed vast. According to Zhen Chanzi, comprehending the "Heavenly Dao" was a cultivation practice for Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Yet, this Heavenly Change Formula actually aimed to thoroughly investigate the changes of heaven from the very beginning of cultivation?

However, a book placed alongside Heavenly Change Formula made Wang Qi realize something was amiss.

Heavenly Origin Formula.

Perhaps to native inhabitants of the Divine Continent, this would sound like the name of a Qi-refining technique. But Wang Qi knew that in ancient China, "Tian Yuan" referred to what modern mathematics called "equations"!

"If the 'heaven' in Heavenly Change Formula refers to Tian Yuan..."

Wang Qi flipped through the pages, verifying his guess.

"Indeed! This Heavenly Change Formula is studying the correspondence between numbers under two sets! In other words, it's what they call functions on Earth!"

Wang Qi's breathing suddenly grew heavy. He finally remembered a problem he had forgotten... no, deliberately ignored for over a decade.

As he turned the pages, the classic function graphs recorded in Heavenly Change Formula seemed to transform into spirits, constantly shouting in his ears, making it impossible for him to ignore this problem.

Wang Qi dropped Heavenly Change Formula and stumbled to his desk. He took out Xuan paper and a brush, ground ink with trembling hands, thought for a moment, then discarded the brush. He extended his hands, raising his index finger on his right hand, and his index and middle fingers on his left.

"Kid! You've gone mad!"

Zhen Chanzi roared in Wang Qi's consciousness, but Wang Qi paid no heed. He began to do something Zhen Chanzi couldn't comprehend – counting his fingers.

"1, 2, 3... Counting from the left hand is also 1, 2, 3... 1 + 2 = 2 + 1, the commutative property of addition holds."

Then, he raised his left pinky finger.

"1, 2, 3, 4... Counting from the right hand is also 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 + 1 + 2 = 1 + (1 + 2), the associative property of addition holds."

Next, he used the brush to draw a 2x3 and a 3x2 matrix on the paper.

"Both have six dots, the commutative property of multiplication holds."

Hoo... hoo...

Wang Qi's breathing became as rough as a blacksmith's bellows, but he continued to verify on paper the mathematical laws from his past life, from Earth.

The laws of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were consistent with Earth.

The concept of fractions... holds... the definition of the number zero... zero cannot be a denominator... 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13... the prime number list is still here... factorization... consistent...

The definition of natural numbers is consistent with Earth... Peano axioms hold...

Two points form a line, three points form a plane... In the same plane, through a point not on a line, there is exactly one line parallel to the given line... The sum of interior angles of a triangle...

Euclidean geometry holds.

If curvature changes... through a point not on a line...

Luo geometry, Riemannian geometry hold.

All of them hold!

Wang Qi's mind buzzed, but he still picked up the brush and casually drew several circles on the paper, some intersecting, some contained within others, some independent.

"If these circles are considered sets... OR, AND, NOT, they hold. The most basic logical structures hold, then further logic..."

Countless propositions from his previous life surfaced in Wang Qi's mind.

Logical connectives... consistent with Earth.

The law of contradiction, the law of identity, the law of the excluded middle, the law of sufficient reason... hold...

Deductive reasoning... holds!

Crack! The brush fell from Wang Qi's hand onto the table. But Wang Qi himself was oblivious. He only felt as if a hornet's nest had been stuffed into his head, his consciousness in complete disarray. And the entire world seemed to roar at him from the few pieces of paper on the table!

"This world..."

Wang Qi murmured, unable to stand. His legs gave out, and he knelt on the ground.

"Wang Qi! Wang Qi!"

Zhen Chanzi's spirit roared from within the ring. The events of the past few days seemed more bizarre than the last, and for the first time, he felt the terrifying weight of ten thousand years. Wang Qi's frenzied actions before him made him realize that he was no longer the omnipotent Mahayana cultivator of ten thousand years ago!

Suddenly, Wang Qi's shoulders began to tremble.

"Hoo hoo... haha... hahahahaha!"

As if recalling a hilarious joke, Wang Qi doubled over, laughing and pounding the ground.

This world is knowable. This world is explorable. This world can be conquered!

Wang Qi laughed until he was breathless, piecing back together what had shattered in his heart fourteen years ago, what he had abandoned fourteen years ago.

This was something no one in this world knew, something Wang Qi himself had almost forgotten.

In his previous life, Wang Qi was a top student at the University of Copenhagen, double-majoring in mathematics and physics, and had even become an assistant at the Niels Bohr Institute. If not for a sudden notification of his parents' critical illness, he was destined to become a renowned scholar!

Later, due to the vastly different research environment in China compared to abroad, and the fact that his "assistant" credentials didn't earn him much respect from domestic research institutions, he left the research field.

Then, he transmigrated. Everything he once possessed was lost overnight, and everything he believed in was shattered overnight.

For the first few years, he cried and cursed almost every day. He cried for himself, and cursed the heavens! He once cursed everything he had learned, cursed such a fate. He also once hated both worlds, his past and present, which seemed to lack any rationality.

And now, as his emotions finally calmed and he could accept everything about this world, Wang Qi finally had an epiphany.

This world also operates under objective laws!

There are all sorts of incredible phenomena here, but they are not supernatural, not irrational. This is simply a new frontier that Earth's science has yet to explore! This world can be analyzed step by step, conquered step by step!

And the means of analysis, the means of conquest...

Wang Qi leaped up and frantically rummaged through the pile of books.

The Book of Evolution... Evolution, confirmed. Introduction to the Dao of Elemental Force... Three Heavenly Principles... Newton's three laws of motion, confirmed. On Cold and Heat... Cold and Heat Elemental Dao, Three Methods of Burning Heaven... The zeroth law of thermodynamics, the three laws of thermodynamics, confirmed. Preliminary Explanation of the Burning Gold Method... Chemical reactions exist. The Heavenly Order Table... The periodic table is highly similar to Earth's. Preliminary Explanation of Flowing Methods... Fluid mechanics, confirmed. ...

Knowledge from Wang Qi's previous life flooded his mind. The changes in his consciousness were immediately reflected in the faint Magical Power within him.

Zhen Chanzi was astonished to discover that Wang Qi had somehow bypassed Li Ziye's seal, and his internal Magical Power began to circulate. The fluctuations of Magical Power on his body became increasingly obscure and bizarre!

Zhen Chanzi quieted down. Having known Wang Qi for several years, he understood that despite the young man's seemingly eccentric behavior, he was actually sharper than anyone else. Since the current cultivation method was beyond his understanding, the great power from ten thousand years ago ultimately chose to remain silent.

In the cultivation of the current method, the "Nurturing Heart Stage" strengthens the soul and increases consciousness, while the "Learning Stage" involves extensive study of past summaries of the Heavenly Dao's principles.

Zhen Chanzi had noticed years ago that Wang Qi's soul power was more than double that of an ordinary person, almost reaching the level of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator in the ancient method. Therefore, his soul had long surpassed the standards of the Nurturing Heart Stage.

This was the advantage of transmigration.

As for the academic requirements of the Learning Stage...

"Hahaha, it's just high school science level!"

Wang Qi roared with laughter, continuously recalling his past studies in his mind, and simultaneously began to sense the so-called "breathing of heaven and earth"!

Then, Wang Qi's Magical Power fluctuations and the flow of spiritual energy between heaven and earth merged as a matter of course. An aura several times stronger suddenly erupted from Wang Qi's body. The surging Magical Power scoured his body, and Wang Qi felt a warm current constantly flowing within him, every cell in his body in ecstasy.

Magical Power!

This wasn't the first time Wang Qi had felt this sensation, so he quickly gathered his thoughts, actively guiding the nascent Magical Power and directing it into his dantian.

"I never expected my greatest cheat code to come from my past life!" Wang Qi sighed inwardly. The current method was undoubtedly based on exploring natural laws, meaning that his past life as a scientific researcher gave him an immense advantage in this regard.

After Wang Qi finished his practice, Zhen Chanzi asked in an uncertain tone, "Qi Condensation Stage?"

Wang Qi was in high spirits and eager for someone to ask. He immediately boasted, "Haha, didn't expect that, old man? I'm a peerless genius practicing the current method! Wasting the past few years with you was a complete waste."

Zhen Chanzi didn't retort but sighed, "Only today do I truly understand the fearsomeness of time... Heh, entering the Qi Condensation Stage in half a day..."

Just then, the study door was kicked open, and Xiang Qi, like a red blur, lunged at Wang Qi, her delicate hands trembling as she felt him all over.

Wang Qi was horrified, "Whoa! What's going on? Fairy, stop! I'm not that kind of person! Don't... don't... hey, I'm telling you, did you eat something you shouldn't have... sob sob!"

Wang Qi's words finally made Xiang Qi realize what she was doing. She was greatly embarrassed and clamped a hand over Wang Qi's mouth.

The physical strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was immense. With that one hand clamp, Xiang Qi nearly shattered Wang Qi's jawbone!

Damn it, silencing me! Wang Qi struggled to breathe, only having this thought in his mind, and desperately thrashed.

At this moment, Li Ziye followed, moving Xiang Qi's hand away with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Junior Sister Xiang, if you continue like this, you'll truly suffocate this genius to death."

Xiang Qi shot Wang Qi a glare, "You dare to speak nonsense again, kid."

Li Ziye pointed a finger at Wang Qi's forehead, channeling a bit of Magical Power to help him heal and, incidentally, to check his cultivation progress.

Wang Qi felt a chill run down his spine, unable to catch his breath. "Holy crap... this is... a threesome... incoming... Fairy, you're too extreme, little bro-- Ah! Ahhh! Murder-- Ah!"

Li Ziye looked at the boy being beaten by the blushing Xiang Qi and shook his head, "If you don't play with fire, you won't get burned."