Applied Immortality

“Something isn’t right about that child.”

Chen Jingyun had everyone frowning. Neumann spoke up: “Sect Leader Chen, that’s not enough to call for a meeting. Notifying me would’ve been enough.”

Chen Jingyun shook his head. “That’s not all.”

“Tell us more.”

Chen Jingyun was concise: “Merely days after entering the Immortal Institute, the child solved nearly ten complex problems in the back of the Arts Archive.”

Pauli and Goudsmit didn’t involve themselves in the Immortal Institute’s matters, so they did not grasp the severity of the issue, unlike the rest of the people who grew restless. Neumann asked, “Are you certain it’s ten and not finger-counting or some simpler topics? Ancient cultivation can still solve them.” 

Deng Jiaxuan supplied, “This was the last issue I addressed before joining the encirclement. The report said the teenager went through Reaching Heaven in just half a day. What if he’s a supreme computational genius?”

Chen Jingyun shook his head and said, “Utterly implausible. The ancient arithmetics never outgrew finger-counting and simpler problems. Not to mention those aren’t entirely math problems as well.” 

Deng Jiaxuan shook his head. “By ignoring everything and treating the problem as a purely mathematical issue, one can just apply the formula to reach the result.” 

“What?”

“In the case of Broglie’s Grand Ripple Enigma’s problem, by not understanding Wave-particle Duality, one couldn’t even formulate the problem—the high calculation skills aren’t the issue here, but the Wave-particle Duality.”

Deng Jiaxuan said, “I proposed the question, so how come you know it better than I do?” 

“The subject title is cryptic, while the description is confounding.”

[So it’s you who can’t make sense of it!] Deng Jiaxuan dissed him.

Chen Jingyun’s word got Bohr on his side—it was harder for this Unfettered to explain than to comprehend the world.

Neumann whispered to Deng Jiaxuan, who shook his head, “We can’t deny the possibility of him being a genius. Perception and deep insight in the formulation of the problem can enable him to turn it into a purely arithmetic problem.

“It’s fine for now. An ancient cultivator is incapable of integrating arithmetics into their cultivation, finding no use researching it either. If one such person is willing to go through all the trouble in bringing his calculating skill to such a level, he’d long since turned his mental art into a modern one.”

Neumann nodded. “Indeed, this way we can remove the possibility of him being a spy—his top arithmetic talent would’ve led to the modern system assimilating him with time even if he were a spy.”

Everyone present picked up on Chen Jingyun’s implication. Goudsmit asked, “Sect Leader Chen suspects…” trailing off as he gave Pauli and Bohr a look.

 Bohr grunted, “Insufficient proof.”

Chen Jingyun nodded. “It’s a mere conjecture. The odds are he isn’t our enemy.”

Neumann added, “As things stand, the chances of him being a genius and a calamity are even.”

“You forgot two more.” Chen Jingyun said, “I noticed a pause as he read the part about Sommerfeld’s death.”

The room exploded in noise, with Pauli outraged. “What did you say?”

“Few know Sommerfeld’s real cause of death, but all here do. At that time, Searing Heaven, Evolutionary Divine Lord, and the seniors worked together and killed the monster, Sommerfeld.”

Goudsmit shook his head. “Going by Radiant Divinity Pavilion’s theory, Sommerfeld’s soul fragment has slim chances of taking over a fetus.” 

Pauli choked, the words breaking out with bloodthirst. “You mean… that he…”

Bohr steadied his master, “It may very well be Junior Brother. Slim chances don’t equal zero. It might be a coincidence.” 

Pauli calmed down after a while, sitting back down. He waved at Chen Jingyun. “Anything else?”

Chen Jingyun nodded. “The last possibility revolves around him living in the same village as Daoist Proscribe.” 

Goudsmit frowned. “The bastard’s works?”

Marie Curie was pensive: “Heisenberg had studied arithmetics under Myriad Arts Sect’s Born. He’s also the founder of the elusive path, understanding wave-particle duality, among other principles. But most importantly, he is Sommerfeld’s disciple. If he got close to Wang Qi, it shows how much he cared for Sommerfeld.”

Deng Jiaxuan frowned. “Suppose it’s true, including Daoist Proscribe arranging for him to receive the ancient inheritance…”

The room plunged into a chilling silence. For Daoist Proscribe to pull off something so complex, no one in the Immortal Alliance could be trusted.

Pauli shook his head. “The same oblivious fool that got shafted by the Demonic Emperor came up with such an ingenious plan?”

Bohr agreed.

Deng Jiaxuan pointed out, “I forgot to mention. I’m the one usually handling these matters in the Immortal Alliance. Thinking about it more, I found one counter to this theory. If he’s the demon’s reincarnation, he should’ve been born centuries ago.” 

Goudsmit said, “That ‘thing’ can be blocked.”

Marie Curie added, “Something feels off. Our control of ‘it’ is unrelated to Sommerfeld.”

Neumann muttered, “Some scenarios don’t contradict each other, making it possible to coexist. Wang Qi may be ‘that’ and Heisenberg’s pawn.”

Chen Jingyun raised his voice. “To reiterate, how do we handle this?”

Bohr proposed, “He can still be just a supreme talent.”

Deng Jiaxuan clapped, drawing attention. “As I’ve been handling Immortal Alliance’s affairs, I ask that you listen to my suggestion.”

They all nodded. Heavenly Sword Palace defended the Immortal Alliance, at the cost of their future. They were beyond reproach in this matter.

Deng Jiaxuan stood, taking on a grave posture, and said, “My suggestion is to go by the book. We established the Immortal Alliance’s rules and swore to abide by them. If we break our rules, we’re doing nothing more than discredit ourselves.” 

Chen Jingyun frowned. “Brother Deng, in short?”

Deng Jiaxuan continued, “He’s to be treated like any other cultivator. We have nothing more than conjectures based on circumstantial evidence, insufficient to conclude what the child will become. On the other hand, the moment it’s found he’s practicing ancient arts, execute him.”