Applied Immortality

Supreme Lord Einstein was fishing.

No, it wasn’t uploading something mind-boggling on the All-immortal Realm. It required a certain heightened state of ennui to resort to such insipid actions. No, he was fishing in the truest sense of the word, although the area might be questionable.

In an empty realm, only his floater bobbed on a suspended body of water.

It was a world within a world, like a cave. The cave’s world was disconnected from Divine Province’s environment. The maker of this place didn’t bother with trifles like props, such as a sun, moon, stars, or even ground. The same, it would seem, applied to its subsequent users as well. 

In theory, there should be nothing alive in this place, let alone fish. The Supreme Lord was of a different mind. As the strongest modern cultivator, forming a pond couldn’t be easier. Thirty years spent here led to his great spiritual power twisting the empty void into a gravitational field. The earth and water placed within this pull came from the Scorching Metal Valley cultivators’ conjuring. As for the guppies, the Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator came up with them out of thin air, all being undiscovered species not present anywhere on Divine Province.

It was a favorite pastime of his when nothing threatened the world. Second only to the erhu, of course. Fishing relaxed him and didn’t hinder his train of thought. 

All the fish here passed through the evolutionary divine’s hands, ramping up their development. The Supreme Lord’s fish were hardly even biting, but if there was one thing he had, it was patience.

Other cultivators stationed here didn’t have his extensive capacity. Ripple Heavenly Lord Schrödinger sat across from Einstein, ripples spreading from under him and keeping him afloat in the water. His elbow was on a knee, supporting his chin with his hand, looking most agitated. He’d changed his posture eight times in the last fifteen minutes alone.

Ripple Heavenly Lord finally had enough. “So boring~.”

Einstein reached out and grasped another fishing pole out of the void. “Here.”

Schrödinger waved him off. “No thanks. Help me out, Dopey.” (Tamon: the dopey one was Einstein’s nickname in childhood.)

Schrödinger was older than Einstein; the Supreme Lord was sporting the image of a lively old man with a mess of white hair, not minding appearances in the least. Ripple Heavenly Lord, however, saw himself as a dashing youth, making sure to keep any wrinkles as far away from his face. He struck a quirky image, calling the wizen Supreme Lord by his nickname.

Einstein caught on to his request. “No.”

“How long have we known each other?”

“You have a responsibility and can’t just shirk it.”

Schrödinger held his forehead. “How utterly boring.”

“The perfect time to fix that pretty bad habit of yours.” 

Schrödinger roared to his feet. “Enjoying a gripping story of love in the twilight with company is called class! Class, I say!”

“Unable to enjoy it without company makes it a bad habit.”

Schrödinger heaved a sigh, sitting back down on the water.

Being friends for so long, Einstein couldn’t help himself. “Didn’t you use the All-immortal Realm to hook up?”

Schrödinger shook his head. “You know me, inspiration floods me when there’s an angel by my side. As for All-immortal Realm’s theoretical topics? Ha-ha… no, I must get Neumann to set up a general chat, especially a mimicry function.” 

Einstein thought, [How’s that any different from living a fantasy? Wouldn’t it be better for the Radiant Divinity Pavilion to give you such an art instead?] Looking at the fire in his friend’s eyes, he shot down the idea. This place had a knack of driving bored people mad. Modern cultivation pursued Dao and nothing else, but modern practice emphasized being true to oneself, unchanging, and unflinching. As it did not abolish one’s desires and feelings like the olden system, prolonged contemplation of Dao would test one’s character and heart.

So he kicked the ball into Neumann’s court. [Brother, the dignity and honor of the Myriad Arts Sect’s All-immortal Realm rest solely on you.] 

A yell of excitement broke the silence of this realm.

“Eureka!”

Ripple Heavenly Lord jumped to his feet, grave. “Bohr?”

Einstein nodded. “He must’ve had some revolutionary breakthrough.”

Tens of thousands of years ago, when the basics of Dao computation were set in place, Computation Demon Lord Archimedes had an epiphany while bathing regarding the principles of irregular rigid bodies. In his excitement, he soared on his sword, shouting, “Eureka!” The irony of it all was that Demon Lord’s disciples treated it as a cultural event, and even if the Myriad Arts Sect celebrated it to this day, there were hardly any people willing to follow his controversial example of jubilation. 

Quantum Grandmaster’s outburst was much too similar to Computation Demon Lord of old, making Ripple Heavenly Lord consider with no little malcontent that the eminent figure had given himself free to express himself in the buff. Anyone who heard would believe Quantum Grandmaster had another breakthrough. 

“I just can’t shake the feeling that he has long since gone astray from that elusive path of his.”

Schrödinger asked, “You’re fine with it?”

Einstein could hardly contain his excitement. “What’s the harm in losing a couple of times to him? Did we ever fear him back in Whill Village?” 

“Well said!” Schrödinger got fired up. “The pretties of Divine Province will have to pin for me for a while longer. I’m going out to see him.”

The two weren’t alone in overhearing Bohr’s excitement. Daoist Indisputable Pauli urged Searing Heaven Kelvin to hurry up with the flying. 

During the operation against Daoist Proscribe, the two fellow disciples fought bitterly until they fell into the Nether Sea. Pauli and Heisenberg had a heated argument beside the one with their fists as well, their late departed master, Sommerfeld, mentioned. The rash Pauli lost it, unleashing in his rage a power of the Heavenly Sword beyond what Lord White Marsh predicted. It was how the two fellow disciples fought to near death. 

The Nether Sea was a place of extreme cold, sealing Pauli in ice the instant he touched its waters. It almost cost him his life. Thanks to Searing Heaven having crushed the Nether Sea dragon a thousand years ago, the lesser demons sround scared at the mere feel of Unfettered Pauli’s aura.

Searing Heaven melted Pauli with Celestial Entropy, but at the resounding excitement of his Senior Uncle, the latter couldn’t sit still, requesting Searing Heaven to take him. 

Searing Heaven’s place was close to Quantum Grandmaster’s, and Pauli was soon seeing Bohr on his desk in deep contemplation.

Pauli was touched. “Senior Uncle, have you figured out wave heavenly variations collapse?”

Bohr looked up in bewilderment. “Yes?”

Pauli asked again, “You’re asking me?”

“Yes.”

Pauli slumped. “I thought you’d figured it out. What were you thinking just now?”

Bohr scratched his head and said, “Crosspoems.”

“Eh?”

[Is that supposed to be a metaphor for something?]

Bohr moved aside to let Pauli take a look at his desk. “I’m doing a crosspoem which is fairly difficult.”

Kelvin and Pauli had goonie looks, with Pauli asking, “Senior Uncle, is it boredom?”

Bohr took out a stack of papers with a wry smile. “This thing’s beating my brain out.”

[That’s not how you use it. Senior Uncle, are you just showing off?] 

Pauli shook his head and took the papers.

“This again…” Pauli sighed.

In their somber mood, Kelvin said, “It will pass. You don’t have to…”

Bohr sat back down. “If Heisenberg was here…”

“Forget about him, Senior Uncle!” Pauli winced. “He’s a traitor!”

Silence fell between the two Elusive Palace’s Unfettered.

Kelvin worked his mouth to say something, just as the copper mirror at their waist shone.

That was an All-immortal Realm terminal. Its light meant a higher-up of the Immortal Alliance made contact.

The two shared a look and excused themselves from Kelvin, sinking their thoughts inside their mirrors.

Lights flashed before their eyes as the world changed.

It took the form of a conference room. Most people here were illusory, proving they entered the Myriad Arts Monarch with their senses, the great majority being Myriad Arts Sect’s Unfettered. Only four had their entire minds focused here: People’s Champion Neumann, Myriad Arts Monarch Chen Jingyun, Laser Madam Marie Curie, and Sky-ringing Sword Deng Jiaxuan. 

Pauli stumbled upon Hua Ruogeng, the Vice Sect Leader of Myriad Arts Sect, chiding Chen Jingyun, his disciple. Pauli asked the only person here who he knew best, Neumann, “What’s the situation?”

Neumann shrugged. “Sect Leader Chen activated the Primordial Unity Array and its seven unsolvable bridges, trapping himself. Now he needs help getting out.” Neumann snickered, “Of all Unfettered, him asking for help is most surprising.”

“There’re plenty of crazies in Myriad Arts Sect.”

A fellow Myriad Arts Sect cultivator, Neumann, nodded with pride.

The tongue-lashing didn’t last long, and Myriad Arts Sect agreed to send someone over. The meeting was adjourned, with most of them leaving, except for Bohr, Pauli, Neumann, and Chen Jingyun’s group of three. 

Neumann gestured for the two from Elusive Palace to take a seat. The six sat in a circle, welcoming Elusive Palace’s Unfettered Goudsmit into the room moments later.

Chen Jingyun began, “I called for this meeting for one reason. Pauli, Goudsmit, do you remember the first time Daoist Proscribe was surrounded?”

Pauli frowned, with Goudsmit nodding naturally, “Yes.”

“The two peacekeepers assisting you back then diverted Daoist Proscribe attention, did they not?”

Marie Curie nodded. “I recall that village had a youth breaking through to Qi Refining with an ancient legacy. The girl from Scorching Metal Valley used him to draw out Daoist Proscribe’s attention.”

Goudsmit and Pauli nodded.

“That same kid is in Argent Apex’s Immortal Institute.” Chen Jingyun continued, “Something about him doesn’t sit right.”

(Author note)PS: Niels Bohr had indeed been doing crosswords.