Applied Immortality

“Theory of Spiritual Energy’s Nature… energy index, or power. Tch, at least there’s no modern yet fragmented world setting to this universe; one wrong step would lead to endless more. How reckless of me.”

Wang Qi was on the roof of his house, putting down a book while rejoicing. But that excited face didn’t fool anyone. He had not a trace of regret.

The first quarter moon hung high in the starry night sky, illuminating the world like a frozen painting in ice. Most of Albion’s villagers would be sleeping around this time, but today, the village had sparse thoughts about resting. There were clear signs that some had gathered before the ancestral hall in the center for a celebration.

“We have an immortal!”

The simplistic villagers took it as a miracle and started rejoicing. The old scholar teaching the kids in the ancestral hall was close to erecting a monument to commemorate this grand occasion.

Wang Qi did not join the festivities. He was a man of two worlds. He was a researcher and a scientist in the first, while in the second, he just shambled his way through most of his first years, was treated like a fool by others, and wasn’t so used to participating in such lively crowds.

He rather enjoyed observing them from a distance.

Wang Qi held a jar of the village’s home-brewed wine on the roof of his home, planning to do just that for the night.

The youth kept mumbling ‘how reckless’ despite having no regrets in between the gulps of wine. He had a good reason for doing this, too.

This morning, he had regained his past life knowledge and practically instantly achieved Reaching Heaven, giving Li Ziye and Xiang Qi a serious fright. Only after he noticed a glaring problem.

This world had spiritual energy.

This spiritual energy did not exist, nor could it be quantified in his past life.

The modern cultivation system was based on the laws of nature this world operated on, or, like the folk here liked to say, Dao. With a basic misconception of Dao, one’s practice in cultivation methods would become a grueling task or make one go insane, if not doomed.

[How fortunate that all these fears are baseless.]

Earlier today, he had gotten Li Ziye’s words and Reaching Heaven wrong.

Reaching Heaven was the threshold, and it wasn’t knowledge the highlight of achieving it, but understanding the thoughts and notions of the predecessors who sought Dao through this knowledge. It was a medium. 

Putting it in Earth’s words, seeking Dao wasn’t just a high school diploma Wang Qi first thought, but more in line with the scientific spirit.

An endless pursuit for knowledge, for truth.

The Dao was sublimely ingrained into the endless universe, but people could rely on themselves to make tiny, but firm, steps into unraveling its inner workings.

Science and technology thrived in Wang Qi’s past world. Besides those with a screw loose, Dao was a part of every person in the subtlest way.

Wang Qi had crossed over, and this made him seriously doubt science as a whole, resulting in letting a gem waste away. It was all thanks to the discoveries of many great people of this world in the field of mathematics and logic that brought to light the problem with his mentality. As for his knowledge base, that had exceeded the requirement for Reaching Heaven many times over. 

When a cultivator advanced, he had to grasp a cultivation method to refine spiritual energy so that he could take in the breath of the world. Wang Qi’s advancement was in line with a sudden insight in his mind that bled into his spiritual power, making it surge like a flood and triggering his breakthrough.

Countless geniuses sought this perfect advancement.

Wang Qi downed another cup, muttering, “It was still reckless, but, thanks to you, old man, it turned out to be helpful.”

Wang Qi was talking about a different matter this time.

When he was verifying Earth’s mathematics and logic this morning, he scribbled down a bunch of equations and theories.

He only used the standard symbols of Earth as he wrote.

Divine Province’s symbols and standard system of calculation lacked the common alphabet used on Earth, let along Arabic numerals.

His advancement was just too fast, in fact, scaring the hell out of Li Ziye and Xiang Qi. Once the fright passed, the two entered their roles as Immortal Alliance operatives. 

While he did not break the rules over lunch, that didn’t mean he couldn’t ever. Say like that Unfettered down the street.

Wang Qi jumped in fright once he got to know their doubts. In light of Daoist Proscribe being public enemy number one, the moment one saw any connection between them, at best, he would only be ignored when going out, while at worst, he would be pretty much banned from the modern immortal society and end up in a rut.

Xiang Qi’s sharp eyes noticed Wang Qi’s scribbles as they talked. Li Ziye had no clue what they represented, but his keen senses told him they had to be arcane mathematical permutations.

As doubts mounted in the two, Zhen Chanzi intervened and saved him, “This is an ancient calculus style I taught him. Heh, I never imagined math could raise immortals.”

The foundation of the Myriad Arts Sect was the Primordial Heavenly Lord and Computation Demon Lord’s legacies, and only later could one art have endless variations, that one art could defeat endless others. As such, Li Ziye did not doubt Zhen Chanzi.

It helped curb their suspicions in regards to Wang Qi’s talent as well. [He already knows the fundamentals of math.] This thinking, at least, put his talent in the realm of human possibility.

“I’ll have to make a habit of destroying my drafts.”

Wang Qi squinted, looking at the lights as he muttered.

As the moon neared its peak, the celebration still went strong at the ancestral shrine, their cheers reaching Wang Qi.

“This world sure is fascinating.” Wang Qi gulped more wine.

Then another.

And another, and another.

Eight cups later, Wang Qi’s slurs came from the roof, “Isn’t this the perfect chance to butt in, old man? Talking to myself is embarrassing.”

Zhen Chanzi’s voice was low, “Oh.”

“All this time I’ve been talking so you would join in. The least you can do is say something when someone’s trying to thank you.” 

“Oh.”

The flat response from the ring had Wang Qi startled, “Hell’s bells, I don’t know you anymore. Are there perhaps two souls in there? Do you know the old man who passed down Grand Scripture of Primordial Chaos to me? That stuck-up yet chatty…”

Zhen Chanzi snapped, “Who are you calling stuck-up and chatty?”

Wang Qi deadpanned, “Don’t you always chatter away? Especially when I say ‘this is intriguing.’ You’d reply with ‘what’s so nice about it’ while trying your best to twist my moral values.”

Zhen Chanzi wanted to bite back but sighed, “I’m just old.”

Wang Qi snorted, “It took you ten thousand years to figure that out?”

Zhen Chanzi did not rebuke the insufferable brat.

“While I did say I’m old, that only reflected the seniority I held with my age. Until now, I always saw myself as having incredible talent, and thanks to the ancient legacy, being trapped in this ring would only be a minor setback before I stood above the crowd once more at the first chance I had.

“Today, however, I realized how terrifying ten thousand years of time actually are. Ancient legacy? What I see as my lifeblood, others only see garbage. Talent? I believed the world would decay as generation upon generation of cultivator scraped the spiritual energy clean from the air, that the immortal path would fall to ruin with every generation. The reality? Posterity has long since carved its own path to soar once more, while I lack even the minimum bravery to make my own.” 

Zhen Chanzi grew livelier as he spoke, his voice cracking with despair and a case of personality disorder, “I could be getting a new body tomorrow, but what would be the point?”

“Ha?” Wang Qi couldn’t be more obvious in his disdain, huffing, “You’re saying your life so far had no meaning, codger?” 

Zhen Chanzi snapped, “Then you tell me what has meaning?” 

Wang Qi leaned back on the roof tiles, raising the hand with the ring high at the night sky. “Let me ask you this. Was cultivation all you thought about? You must’ve stuck to your beliefs even as others thrashed you.”

“The path to enlightenment can only come by having absolute faith in oneself!”

Wang Qi laughed, “Then today you had it coming—having your world come crashing down, your beliefs shredded to the point you were having a mental breakdown!”

Zhen Chanzi’s retort turned into a simple huff.

Wang Qi continued, “The world has meaning because there’s always something interesting to do or pursue. Conjuring up some vague and boundless notion, then lying to yourself that it’s Dao and actually believing it, you’d have to be out of your freaking mind not to be scared to death.” 

Zhen Chanzi barked, “Well ain’t you the expert.”

Wang Qi gazed at the sky with a smile.

[It’s a shame I can’t use those experiences to teach you to have integrity, old man.]

Wang Qi was dead set on keeping some things to himself, even from Zhen Chanzi, whom he was now stuck with.

The moment it dawned on Wang Qi he crossed over, his first reaction was ‘fu-‘, ahem, a colorful yet omitted long tirade of curses. 

In his mind, crossing over was fate’s way of screwing you seven ways to Sunday.

[Yes, I’m a nobody and broke in this world, but it’s ‘my’ world! Mine! It has my friends, family, my dreams, my goals, and my bloody identity, god damn it!] 

[Yet all of that got flipped overnight? Stick it where the sun don’t shine!]

[And what did I just learn over the past twenty years? What kind of science does that fit into? Posturing? I learned jack shit!] 

[What’s the point of living in an irrational world?]

It made so Wang Qi believed his last hope and fortune after crossing over lay in others pulling him from the edge of despair. Through the dozen or so years he learned to calm down. Then there was yesterday, when he had the luck to reacquaint himself with the world and its nature thanks to all the theories and research the people of this world had done.

He had broken through in more ways than one, making Wang Qi’s mind stronger than ever.

“I don’t get a single thing when it comes to Dao, old man, but the pioneers of modern cultivation had already established the path of seeking Dao. I will definitely walk it, little by little, and reach the supreme Dao!” 

His voice echoed with resolve.

Zhen Chanzi was silent. The youth’s confidence reminded him of himself thousands of years ago, when he too peered into the immortal world.

The him then was just as confident, just as sure he would walk all the way to the last step.

Ten thousand years was a dreadful concept, turning that last step he yearned for so much into a cruel joke, as well as crush the last vestige of ambition he ever had left. If he were a youth, even he would be filled with endless ambition after waking up in a brand new world. 

“Ha-ha-ha, I have really gotten old…”

Wang Qi smiled, “Right you are, old man. Be sure to learn from me, see for yourself what holds meaning.”

“What do you mean?”

“Now, in this very instant, my mind is filled with interesting things, fighting to come out!”