Applied Immortality

No matter how sullen he was, Geng Peng said he would spar, and that was what he did with the brat—to try and beat him silly and save his honor.

Following convention, since Geng Peng had higger cultivation on the sparring ring, he couldn’t be the one to attack; he could only deflect or parry the incoming blows. This gave Wang Qi free rein to attack. Of course, Wang Qi was neither a master swordsman nor a discoverer of the predecessors’ formulas. Geng Peng outclassed him in this aspect, so Wang Qi had no chance of defeating Geng Peng no matter how he tried.

Geng Peng mocked, “Match your spiritual power! This is your glaring fault, Wang Qi. Your skill is good, but you’ve yet to understand how to use your spiritual power in correlation with the martial arts.”

Wang Qi let the jab slide since Geng Peng told the truth. He could never use his spiritual power unless he figured out a way to combine all those cultivation methods within him.

Geng Peng felt ashamed when Wang Qi didn’t react. The two ‘passed’ a few more dozen moves between them, and when Geng Peng pushed back Wang Qi’s sword, he said, “Remember to match your spiritual power when training in sword arts.”

Wang Qi nodded. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

“That will be all. Resume training with your group.”

[That’s it? What the hell was that thing all about then?] The question plagued Wang Qi for a while.

Thanks to Geng Peng’s generosity, his fellow students switched Wang Qi’s label from genius to top student. While the more ‘astute’ ones were left stumped by Geng Peng’s attitude, their attitude towards Wang Qi became ambiguous. 

In this regard, Wang Qi’s instinct was to proudly declare, “I don’t care.” But for his ‘sensible’ image, he was more than happy to exchange insights on the sword with the others. At least, Wang Qi convinced himself that his happiness was due to his improvement in the sword rather than any change in the ‘I got few friends and even fewer in the harem’ situation. 

With the afternoon training over and done with, the disciples had three hours of freedom. Wang Qi used this chance to bring the vivisected pillow to Mao Zimiao before paying Arts Archive a visit, sitting before the many cultivation methods along with the other disciples there.

Reaching the back cultivation methods required solving their topics. Besides Book of Geometry and Divine Hexagram Computation being on the easy side, the rest hardly had anyone perusing them. Wang Qi refrained from telling anyone he solved all of them the first time he came by, opting to train in the first, biggest area.

He needed the praying mat’s calming function more than anyone.

With the mat’s help, Wang Qi’s random thoughts grew fewer and fewer, his heart and mind tranquil.  

He started off cultivating Myriad Arts Sect’s Divine Hexagram Computation. It was the mildest among them and had the least conflicts, making for a great buffer for when the other mental arts went out of whack.

Wang Qi finished his third cycle and Divine Hexagram Computation’s spiritual power showed clear signs of improvement. This led to the frail balance with the other mental arts falling apart, causing various incompatible spiritual powers to look for a new equilibrium. 

Wang Qi switched his gestures, he leaned forward and trained in Celestial Hymn Odyssey.

Celestial Hymn Odyssey’s field had a constricting effect on spiritual power, but it emphasized a continuous flow of spiritual power while the Grand Discrete Unity Treatise was the exact opposite, a discontinuous flow, making them clash harder. Celestial Hymn Odyssey barely advanced and Grand Discrete Unity Treatise’s spiritual power lashed out.

By the time Wang Qi finally brought his messy spiritual power bomb under a new balance, two hours had gone by.

“A lifelong regret due to just a minor curiosity at the start.”

Wang Qi sighed, his cultivation anything but the simple practiced ease he expected. All those cultivation methods needed most of his energy just to switch among them as he trained. He had to say bye-bye to his free time if he valued not dying from the strain.

“Is there no other choice than training in Evolution Chart?”

There was a consensus among modern cultivators. To train a cultivation method to a profound level, knowing its rules was a must. To activate a magical art, one had to know its theories.

Take Thunder Cell for example. Before Thunder Cell Faraday researched how lightning flowed, none could use it. But upon understanding how electricity moved and interacted with nature, Thunder Cell could be deployed at will. While trying to follow the ancient cultivators in resisting the lightning’s power with one’s body without even grasping how it manifested, even a Thunder Cell imitation would be impossible.  

Using Evolution Chart as the major, one could solve the cultivation methods’ conflict with ease, sure, but Wang Qi was no biologist on Earth and could not deduce its deeper insights. Failing that meant he would ruin the Evolution Chart. The result would only lead to straining his other cultivation methods.

“Am I supposed to rely on a cultivator’s long lifespan to expand my biology knowledge?”

The idea was snuffed the moment it formed. Math and theoretical physics were his specialties. He loved those two fields in his previous life as well, not biology. Not to mention researching theories was a drab and tedious affair. Without wanting it with his whole heart would lead to no results. 

Every single accomplished scientist on Earth, regardless of personality, ethics, and integrity, had insane prejudice when it came to their research field.

“So what the hell was wrong with me back then?” Wang Qi sighed.

Zhen Chanzi finally spoke, “Have you no idea why you went crazy?”

“I probably got so excited I blew my top.”

Zhen Chanzi paused, “Wrong, you were raving mad.”

Wang Qi smiled. “Why would I be mad about?”

“You’re not a normal person.”

“Obviously! Since I’m an immortal cultivator genius! How can I be normal?”

Zhen Chanzi explained, “Not true at all. In my thousand years of cultivation, I’ve met with more weirdos than I could count. There were those with exceptional will, those who went bat-shit insane, and even those that killed their self to uphold their path. However, I’ve never seen someone quite like you.”

“Old man, did you just call me a degenerate?”

Zhen Chanzi’s voice was low but sounded quite cheerful. “You’re no degenerate, but a lunatic.”

“That’s still a curse…”

“I’m complimenting you here,” Zhen Chanzi added. “How important was that village to you?”

Wang Qi was silent.

“The village’s slaughter, owing a life, any of these two events could easily crush anyone’s spirit. You just laughed it off and kept going. This could only mean two things, that you either have a strong will, or you’re a madman.

“However, since you see yourself as owing others, it’s clearly not due to strong will. That only leaves the latter. When I guided your cultivation, you not once even thought about fighting, only dreaming of a peaceful journey of cultivation. Then all of a sudden you care whether a mental art is strong in battle? Ha-ha, isn’t living forever enough?”

Zhen Chanzi paused, following with a chuckle, “That’s why you’re raving mad, just that you sealed all that rage in your heart, letting it affect you. At the very start, did you even have a glimmer of hope that you might combine the cultivation methods? Weren’t you an extremely cautious person who never bets his life? What did you do now was no different than a gamble!”

Wang Qi chuckled, “That’s one reasonable explanation. I just got one question. How come I never realized I was angry?”

“I never managed to figure it out as well. How could you quell such deep-seated hatred without showing the slightest sign on the surface? Actually, anger is easy to discover, just look within you.” 

Wang Qi fell silent. [How angry am I? How hateful? The hatred of a destroyed village!]

Albion Village was the first place he acknowledged since he came to this world. It was his home. But then the accursed day came that his home was burned to the ground. 

The hatred of his home’s destruction couldn’t be forgiven.

He also owed Li Ziye a life.

It was natural for one to pay his debts, but when the other died, what then?

Impossible.

That meant he had to find other venues of compensation.

“It’s true. I really want to remove those sons of she-dogs from the Imperial Celestial Rift Sect. That’s why I switched my focus on the powerful arts…”