"Never mind what you look like, just tell me if you've leveled up."
Li Xingkong looked at the drastically changed system with a smile, nodding repeatedly, seemingly admiring his own masterpiece.
"Is this right? Is this right? I'm asking you, is this right?"
The system, now in its transformed state, looked utterly indignant and grabbed Li Xingkong's finger, shaking it back and forth.
"Alright, alright, immortals are formless, and so are immortal artifacts. You can change into whatever form you want, right? Go ahead and try it out to see how it goes after the advancement."
The system rolled its eyes at Li Xingkong, then fiddled with things for a while, and a familiar ball of light returned once again.
"I'm telling you, you've just added a special effect, what's the difference?"
Li Xingkong's appearance wasn't created arbitrarily. When the system's true form was captured by Wan Chongshan, it did reveal its true form, which was exactly the same as the one Li Xingkong created.
"What do you know? Without these special effects, I feel like I'm running around naked."
The system let out a long sigh of relief, as if it had returned to its comfort zone, and then it checked its improvements.
"The computing power has increased by about three orders of magnitude, and the thread load has increased... wow, almost a 1000 kilobyte."
"Huh, what's this shared computing power?"
From a performance standpoint alone, the system upgrade is nothing short of a complete transformation, and it even seems like some new features have been unlocked.
Why don't you give it a try?
This was also Li Xingkong's first immortal artifact, and naturally he had never seen what it was before.
"Okay, I'll give it a try. We can't possibly share the computing power pool with all the systems."
Curious, the system tried to activate it, but nothing seemed to happen.
After waiting a few seconds without feeling any improvement in its computing power, the system became unconvinced and clicked a few more times, but still received no response.
"Strangeness..."
"I said, slow down..."
The system didn't react because Li Xingkong hadn't granted the necessary permissions yet.
Indeed, the request for shared computing power from the system was sent directly to Li Xingkong's mind.
The one sharing emotions is none other than Li Xingkong's computing power.
The computing power of immortals is limitless; the only thing that can limit its application is the immortal's own control over it.
As Li Xingkong continued to analyze the request in his mind, he didn't expect the system to send it over and over again.
"Alright, alright, it's approved."
Li Xingkong, urging himself on, agreed to the system's request to share computing power.
"So that's where I went. Why didn't you say so earlier? Heh."
The system casually began probing the limits of its computing power. Li Xingkong felt as if he had become a server, with the system's actions laid bare before his eyes.
"Let me see the limits of your computing power..."
The system stopped mid-sentence.
After a long while, the system seemed to realize something and let out a mournful cry.
"You!!! You deserve to die!"
It was a mixture of grief, jealousy, and a touch of envy.
This was the first time Li Xingkong had ever heard such complex emotions in a person's words.
"Tell me the truth, what's your computing power limit? I'm so tired, I can't even open my eyes."
The system is having some trouble handling it.
"Hmm, it's probably limitless. Anyway, I haven't reached the limit. I can still increase the computing power, but my level of control is already overloaded."
Li Xingkong said this.
"Frog Fun, Frog Fun, is that human language? Fine, enough of that, just turn on this computing power sharing, you hear me? Turn it on!"
The system exclaimed, "With such high computing power, how awesome would it be to read academic papers?"
"Alright, alright, you can keep it open all the time."
As for computing power, there's plenty; Li Xingkong wouldn't mind sharing some with the system.
"That makes sense. Now that you've secured your promotion, aren't you going into seclusion to cultivate Dao of Self?"
The system spoke calmly, but its frantically running computing power was telling Li Xingkong that this guy was far from being as calm as he appeared.
"I do have that idea, why?"
"Go into seclusion quickly, go into seclusion quickly, so I can also soak in the pool of Human Immortal scriptures."
So it turns out they got a promotion, and now they want to enjoy it.
"Alright, alright, you got promoted today, so whatever you want, let's go."
Li Xingkong shook his head. This damn system is a complete bookworm.
With a flick of his wrist, the mess caused by the weapon forging was instantly restored to its original state, and Li Xingkong's figure disappeared as well.
The next moment, he appeared in his secluded cultivation room.
Dao of Self -cultivation!
Immortals possess computational power and comprehension far surpassing those of Nascent Soul cultivators, and their speed in cultivation is equally incomparable.
Moreover, Li Xingkong cultivates the Dao of Self, which is uncontrolled by anyone, making his cultivation even less of a concern.
After ten years of seclusion, Li Xingkong touched the edge of the Dao of Self, grasping the shadow of the conceptual self.
After a century of seclusion, Li Xingkong could clearly see how the interactive information he sent out with each action interacted with other immortals.
I feel like I'm living in a huge net, where any one move can have far-reaching consequences.
During his secluded research, Li Xingkong also discovered that the relationship between immortals and the Dao is not strictly one-to-one.
Many paths were held in shares by multiple immortals.
Although two immortals may walk the same path, the latter may be assimilated by the former, but only if the latter treads on territory already controlled by the former.
But the Dao is not confined to ordinary places. More often, it is like a rope, with multiple immortals starting from different ends and moving forward step by step until they collide at a certain point.
You won't allow others to interfere with the parts you control, but if you want to improve your cultivation, you have to seize the parts that others occupy.
This also leads to a situation where immortals who cultivate the same path either don't interact with each other at all, or they become very close when they meet.
Many immortals who are unable to advance are stuck here.
This is the essence of the struggle between different paths.
Li Xingkong not only saw how Dao Immortal controlled the Dao, but also how the Tongtian Jiaozhu's Interception Dao operated.
Simply put, each immortal's message carries their basic information, and the Tongtian Jiaozhu reads the mark of the Jade Void Sect members from this basic information. Then, he directly cuts off that interactive message and sends back a simulated request of agreement.
To cut it off in one word, it is so unreasonable.
The principle behind Li Xingkong's desire to study the Dao of Self, and his ability to act freely, is also the same.
All outward information is redirected inward.
The approval is replaced by one's own will.
Simply put, it means setting up a private server locally, and being the GM for your own account.