Unexpected Intelligence

In the inner city, tea houses weren't overly abundant, but they weren't scarce either. While cultivators required less food and water than mortals, they couldn't survive on nothing. Moreover, many in the immortal path enjoyed a good drink.

The White Horse Tea House was located in the eastern district of the inner city and was considered quite lively. Its proprietor adopted a populist approach. While they stocked famous teas like Longjing and Biluochun, the establishment primarily dealt in affordable, strong brews. The tea house also featured a small stage where crosstalk and skit performers took turns. Over time, the owner became a model of low profit, high turnover.

Currently, Wang Qi sat at a table in the White Horse Tea House, staring intently at the blue-robed cultivator opposite him.

Just moments ago, Wang Qi, having found the perfect vantage point, had witnessed the blue-robed cultivator's movement technique. A mischievous idea struck him, and he'd intended to shout out the cultivator's movements to the many black-faced cultivators chasing him. To his surprise, the blue-robed cultivator had seized him, dragged him to this tea house, and unceremoniously shoved him into a chair.

Afterward, the blue-robed cultivator had casually sat opposite Wang Qi and begun examining cards in his hand.

Although the blue-robed cultivator's restraint had lost its effect after he released him, Wang Qi still had no intention of escaping. Zhen Chanzi had just communicated with him telepathically, stating that this blue-robed person was at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If the man held a grudge for Wang Qi's prank and had no intention of letting him go, Wang Qi knew he wouldn't be able to escape no matter what.

Because he didn't want too many people to know about his existence...

And Xiang Qi would come find him as soon as she finished her resignation procedures. Furthermore, there were rules against harming others and private duels near the Immortal Alliance, so he didn't need to worry about his safety for the moment.

But...

"Big brother, what exactly do you want..." Wang Qi, watching the cultivator still engrossed in the cards, couldn't help but bang his head on the table.

The blue-robed man looked up, a look of bewilderment on his face. "Huh?"

"I said... the crosstalk performers on stage have changed three times already, and the pot of strong tea on the table has been refilled so many times it's lost all flavor..."

The blue-robed cultivator suddenly understood. "Oh! So that much time has passed—Why haven't you left yet?"

Wang Qi was dumbfounded. "What the hell, you dragged me here and you're asking me why I haven't left?"

The blue-robed cultivator was also greatly surprised. "I just stopped you from attracting those fiery guys, why would I drag you here? Besides, even if you say I dragged you here, haven't I already let you go?"

Huh? Wang Qi looked at the blue-robed cultivator's slightly wronged and confused expression, paused, and then jumped up. "Damn it, you pushed me into a chair when you let me go? That usually means 'sit here and don't move,' right! It hurt!"

After a brief spat, they both sat down again. Wang Qi sullenly downed a cup of tea. The blue-robed cultivator chuckled, "Little brother, don't look so glum. I admit I was wrong about this, but wasn't the cause your playful heart?"

Wang Qi grinned and rubbed his backside. "The strength you used to push me wasn't small."

"Ahaha." The blue-robed man gave a dry laugh. "The connection between cause and effect is truly wondrous, truly wondrous!"

"Cause and effect?" Wang Qi, who had been about to get up and leave, couldn't help but ask more when he heard the blue-robed man's words. "Does the current cultivation system also have aspects of cause and effect?"

Zhen Chanzi had said that only great cultivators who had achieved considerable cultivation would delve into this level.

The blue-robed cultivator looked surprised. "Tsk tsk, little brother, what sect are you from? You don't even know such a basic question?"

Wang Qi replied, "I was a rogue cultivator before, but then I met a Guardian Envoy who arranged for me to come here for the unified entrance trial."

The blue-robed cultivator's eyes widened. "You... you... your cultivation has clearly broken through Reaching the Heavens! A rogue cultivator breaking through Reaching the Heavens before entering?" He then gave a thumbs-up. "Genius, I commend you."

Wang Qi said, "Brother, please enlighten me. Does the current cultivation system have any research on cause and effect?"

The blue-robed cultivator's attitude immediately became much warmer. "Come, come, sit down and talk. Uh, what's your name, little brother? It's inconvenient to address you without knowing your name. My surname is Su, Su Junyu."

"Wang Qi."

Su Junyu pushed Wang Qi down onto the table and chuckled, "Wang Qi, you haven't formally studied the current cultivation system, so you probably don't know. Actually, many terms in the current system are borrowed from the ancient system, but their meanings in the current system are vastly different from the ideas of the ancient cultivators who invented them."

Wang Qi said, "I'm eager to hear more."

"The ancient concept of cause and effect means 'sow one cause, reap one effect,' emphasizing 'cause, condition, effect.' You sow a cause, pass through a period of conditions, and obtain an effect. Cause and effect are immeasurable, but ultimately, good deeds are rewarded and evil is punished—that's what ancient cultivators said." The current cultivators seemed to get excited when discussing their areas of study, and Su Junyu was no exception. He rested one foot on the tea house stool, speaking with great momentum. "But from the perspective of the current system—nonsense. Wang Qi, do you understand Heavenly Change Formula?"

Wang Qi nodded. Isn't that just a function!

Su Junyu continued, "Let's take the simplest Heavenly Change Formula as an example. Tian Yuan plus one equals Di Yuan. Do you understand this?"

Wang Qi nodded again. x + 1 = y, the simplest function learned in junior high on Earth.

"Here, there are two sets of numbers involved, the Tian Yuan set and the Di Yuan set. Any number in the Tian Yuan set plus one corresponds to a number in the Di Yuan set."

Wang Qi silently translated it into Earth's mathematical language: Set x and Set y...

"If, at this point, we call the Tian Yuan set the cause, then the Di Yuan set is the effect, and adding one is the 'path' that leads the cause to the effect. And our current system seeks this 'path'." Su Junyu raised the teacup on the table and drank it down in one gulp. "Ancient cultivators spoke of cause and effect as referring to ethereal luck. But the current system discusses cause and effect as seeking the path from cause to effect. Take this incident, for example. Your momentary impulse wasn't the beginning; the initial cause lies in your nature. And your nature leading to the effect of 'you being shoved into a chair'—how many factors were involved? According to what laws did it lead to this effect? How would this be calculated if put into an algorithm? Thinking this way is truly interesting."

Determinism?

Wang Qi's mind raced—meaning, in this world, determinism had not yet been thoroughly disproven?

Due to insufficient information, Wang Qi couldn't judge the level of mathematical and physical research achieved by the cultivators of the Divine Continent. However, he knew at least that Misty Palace being one of the Five Masters implied that quantum mechanics had been established. And quantum mechanics was the first force to challenge determinism!

Wang Qi tentatively asked, "This sounds very powerful. If one cultivates this method into Spiritual Power, wouldn't they have an advantage everywhere in combat?"

Su Junyu burst into laughter. "Wang Qi, you have a good eye! This is a supreme cultivation method of my Myriad Dharma Sect, Bai Ze Calculation!"

As expected, it's determinism and Laplace's demon!

Wang Qi pretended to be confused. "But the Guardian Envoy who brought me here seemed to mention Misty Palace's Unpredictable, Ethereal Path..."

Su Junyu frowned and interrupted, "That's because the Misty Palace cultivators have gone mad. Forget it, don't blindly believe the specific principles within this without entering the sect. If you encounter strange things in the future, remember one thing—if an effect appears rootless, it means you haven't found the cause yet."

Wang Qi was somewhat surprised. This single sentence from Su Junyu revealed so much information.

Firstly, quantum physics had a foundation in this world, but it wasn't stable—at least, the explanation for the collapse of Schrödinger's wave function was not settled. Su Junyu's insistence on "specific cause leads to specific effect" determinism indicated his leaning towards the "hidden variables" interpretation, believing the collapse was due to factors overlooked by the researcher. This proved at least two things: First, chaos theory had not yet been developed. Second, Bell's inequality, which was crucial for the breakthrough in quantum mechanics, had not appeared!

"But judging by chaos theory and Bell's inequality, the scientific level of this world is roughly equivalent to the 1950s. No, there seems to be a problem. If the Divine Continent's 'Five Masters' Extinction' corresponds to Qian Xuesen on Earth, then it should be at least close to the 1970s... That's not right either. Based on the immortal history I already know, there are several inconsistencies. The Heavenly Selection Divine Lord, who corresponds to Darwin, was the first Free and Unfettered cultivator of the current system, a predecessor to Lord of Yuanli Newton. But according to Earth's history, Darwin was born 150 years after Isaac Newton..."

"Is this strange correspondence not perfectly aligned? Then what principle governs it? Does it have anything to do with my transmigration?"

Seeing Wang Qi lost in thought, Su Junyu mistook it for deep contemplation triggered by his words and laughed heartily, "You'll have plenty of time to ponder these things once you're admitted. You know, the initial stage of cultivation in the current system is a process of shattering your worldview and then piecing it back together."

Wang Qi didn't care about that. His worldview had been reshaped many times during his studies in his previous life, and transmigration had reshaped it again. He was almost immune to such changes.

My gains today are already significant. Now that I've figured out Divine Continent's mathematical level, I can determine what mathematical tools to use to analyze Unforgiving Taoist's manuscript. All that's left is to know Misty Palace's signature techniques to roughly understand the context of Unforgiving Taoist's manuscript.

In the future, I'll need to conduct several experiments, including the black-body radiation experiment, or obtain the data from them. This will allow me to thoroughly analyze this manuscript. If I can also obtain modern cultivation techniques and understand how theory integrates with practice...

Heh heh, just thinking about it makes me a little excited!

At this moment, Su Junyu took two decks of Fate Cards from his pocket, added a few cards from the newly purchased booster packs, and pushed one of the decks towards Wang Qi: "Do you play? I'll lend you a deck if you do."

Wang Qi smiled: "Senior Su, you really love this game."

Su Junyu beamed: "This is my path to cultivation."

"Cultivation?" Wang Qi raised an eyebrow: "Bai Ze Calculation?"

Su Junyu nodded: "Exactly Bai Ze Calculation! A game of Fate Cards, from my perspective, is a system that constantly introduces new variables. If I can use these constantly introduced 'causes' as a foundation to calculate the 'effect' of 'victory,' that is my path to cultivation."

Wang Qi looked at the deck Su Junyu lent him, his hand trembling: "These, these... so many cards above rarity eight?"

The rarest card in Xiang Qi's hand was only the rarity eight "Profound Gold Lightning Strike Art"!

Su Junyu chuckled innocently: "Pull hard, and miracles will happen. All 108 of my cards rarity eight and above were obtained this way."

"Holy crap, let's be friends! Rich guy, let's be friends!"

"Alright, if you win against me, we'll be friends."

Wang Qi thought for a moment, his face falling: "That's unrealistic. I don't even recognize half the cards in here."

As a poor guy who's only ever played with the starter pack, he really couldn't handle the rich guy's cards!

Su Junyu pulled a book from his storage bag: "Rulebook and complete encyclopedia. I'll lend it to you."

Wang Qi flipped through it: "Let's see, starter pack card details... expansion packs 'Holy Infant's Calamity,' 'Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting,' booster packs from Holy Infant Sect and Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao... tsk tsk, Da Luo Xuan Qing Palace's expansion pack 'Peerless Heavenly Net,' and then rare cards -- hey!"

Suddenly, Wang Qi's pupils contracted, and then he burst into laughter: "Hahaha, it's like wishing for a pillow when you're already sleepy!"

In his hand, the encyclopedia had just flipped to the "Misty Palace Rare Card List."