Exploring Immortality Cultivation

"Ahahahaha... Old Ai, let's drink up this glass!"

At the dinner table, Wang Qi, dressed anew, was downing drinks heartily and persistently urging others to drink more.

Wu Shiqin was confused and sniffed the drink before asking, "Senior Brother Ai, the wine we're drinking now... is it a fine vintage your family has kept for hundreds of years?"

"No, it's bought, at best a twenty-year-old vintage. Given that both my uncle and I don't care much for liquor, they might have even bought new wine."

Ai Changyuan looked at Wang Qi, puzzled. "Old Wang, you seem very... excited?"

"Please call it 'excited'." Wang Qi was already slightly tipsy. With a bit of mana circulating in his system, he sobered up, then burst into laughter again. "Happy! So happy!"

Ai Changyuan looked over at Wu Shiqin. "What happened when I went to turn myself in?"

"I just told him about the establishment of the Zhenhai Navy," Wu Shiqin said with some hesitation.

"That's right, the Zhenhai Navy! Yes, the Zhenhai Navy!" Wang Qi slapped Wu Shiqin, exclaiming, "Do you know? The laws that allowed mortals to possess the strength of cultivators in the Zhenhai Navy were actually created by me! Me!"

"You?" Wu Shiqin did not understand the secrets pertaining to immortals, nor was she aware of the hidden projects of the Immortal Alliance. She did not grasp what this meant.

Ai Changyuan nodded. "How much is the Immortal Alliance planning to pay?"

"Based on headcount. From now on, for every person that uses this technology, the Immortal Alliance will allocate a batch of merit to me."

Wu Shiqin frowned. "Uh, wait a second, the Zhenhai Navy has a strength of ten thousand soldiers, right? Even if each person just gives you one merit point, you'd have..."

"After being poor for so long, I'm finally getting a bit of a tycoon's feeling back!" Wang Qi gestured to the east. "Soon, I'll be able to establish an Empirical Department in Shenzhou's hinterlands— one that spans tens of thousands of acres. An ultra-large scale Spirit Prohibition restriction, a large particle collider array, extreme low-temperature spirit prohibitions, top-notch calculators... whatever I want, I'll have!"

"Impressive," Wu Shiqin toasted. "That's clear as day."

Ai Changyuan sent a secret message to Wang Qi. "Old Wang, did you get it wrong? Those gadgets cost millions, tens of millions of merit points apiece. The current Empirical Department's equipment is mainly supported by the Immortal Alliance... Surely it's not one merit point per person, right?"

"The full set of technology they are using was developed by me. The techniques that allow ordinary people to gain mana, the artificial law foundations, the systems managing these mana, the techniques that grant them superpowers, all of these were developed by me—although some of it was developed by Wanfa Sect's senior Feng Luoyi, the ideas were all provided by me. Tell me, how much should they give me?"

"Impressive." Ai Changyuan secretly gave a thumbs up.

Wu Shiqin shook her head and sighed. "It looks like you're on the fast track to success. Just don't forget us old friends—honestly, I'm quite envious. In the future, you can exchange for whatever you want. Unlike me, who now needs to save up for a long time just to learn a new divine skill..."

"By the way, your three papers on electromagnetism are quite interesting, but 'pioneer' is not a popular research direction. You should focus on the microscopic domain." Ai Changyuan made a gesture to indicate something smaller and turned to Wang Qi, "Also, Junior Sister Wu, your perspective is a bit narrow! Wang Qi, it seems you've achieved in one generation what would take several generations to accumulate. Maybe in less than two hundred years, after completing Void Refining Nirvana, Shenzhou will have a new and powerful family— the Wang Family! The Wang Family!"

Wang Qi shook his head. "If you ask me, Old Ai, your perspective is rather limited too."

"Family clans? Tycoons? Noble houses? In a highly developed society, the old clan system can no longer keep up. Hundreds of years ago, the Immortal Alliance swept away the old sects and noble families, and even the last remnants of that poison was obliterated by the Heavenly Sword half a year ago. The Bo Family, the Ai Family, and other new-style families are indeed well adapted to the modern Immortal Path of the two realms, Immortal and Mortal, where seeking Dao is principal. However, the world will soon undergo cataclysmic changes."

Ai Changyuan just shrugged at Wang Qi's remarks. "Whatever you say, you're the Master of Human Dao."

"That reminds me, I almost forgot. Congratulations, Wang Qi, you even seized the Dao Seed Award," Wu Shiqin said. "Although I don't see what good that is."

"The New Army." Wang Qi pointed toward the New Army's barracks. "My paper gave rise to the Zhenhai Navy."

"Indeed, that's quite profitable."

"Not just the Zhenhai Navy," Wang Qi had a triumphant look on his face.

Wu Shiqin was noncommittal, "Maybe, who knows? Perhaps the Immortal Alliance will also use it to expand the Security Guardians and Law Enforcement Officers?"

Wang Qi shook his head, "You two, think about why the Zhenhai Navy is the first army!"

"You mean... Mortals?" Ai Changyuan quickly grasped the key point, "Does the Immortal Alliance plan to spread it to all mortals?"

"All mortals? Does the Immortal Alliance need that many low-level cultivators who can't advance?" Wu Shiqin still didn't understand.

"The reason why the Immortal Alliance currently doesn't need that many low-level cultivators is that there aren't that many of them in the world; the division between Immortals and Mortals only exists because it has been unbreakable. As soon as that many cultivators emerge, the Immortal Alliance will find suitable positions for them."

Just like the advancement of observational techniques in and of itself spurs on the development of science. A biologist before the invention of the high-power microscope could never comprehend what a biologist with one would be thinking.

On Earth, human society has experienced many "leapfrog developments." Fire, steam engines, electric motors, internal combustion engines, computers... With each technological revolution, the speed at which humans obtain resources and the intensity of their research investments greatly strengthen, the population increases significantly, and more talents emerge. These, in turn, further advance technology.

In that cosmos, the progression of scientific civilization was always accelerating.

In this world, however, the ease with which technology black boxes formed and the physical properties of Spiritual Energy made technological revolutions unlikely. But "unlikely" didn't mean "impossible."

Breaking the binary division of Immortal and Mortal on this planet, breaking down the two separate classes of "Mortals" and "Cultivators," and even potentially dismantling the class distinction between "Immortals" and "Cultivators"—if this is not a technological revolution, what is?

Liberating the productive forces of cultivators, allowing more Modern Cultivators to fully devote themselves to research, and improving mortals' living conditions to remove restrictions on population growth—if this is not a technological revolution, what is?

"A new era is upon us. With the addition of countless mortals, the cost of research resources will drop significantly, and our population base will expand, birthing more geniuses. All of them will be our assets," Wang Qi embraced the sky, declaring loudly, "The pace of Modern cultivation will exceed your wildest imaginations, perhaps textbooks will enter an era of updates every day. We will also walk further on the path of Immortal Dao!"

The reason for the existence of prestigious families lied solely in the fact that the descendants of cultivators had a higher chance of becoming cultivators. Once low-level cultivators lost their value and geniuses weren't rare, the family system would also lose its edge.

Just now, he had learned that according to the Immortal Alliance Law, not only would he receive Merit for every mortal who embraced this technology and became a Pseudo Cultivator, but he would also own a share of the benefits from the production involving these Pseudo Cultivators. Feng Luoyi candidly admitted that once the "Divine Capital Mode" spread, Wang Qi's personal assets would comprise one-eighth of the entire assets of the Immortal Alliance, even surpassing any sect's total assets. By then, even if he truly could not break through the Primordial Spirit Heaven Barrier and remained simply a Golden Core Cultivator, he would be "Shenzhou's First Golden Core," whom even those at the Carefree Stage would have to pay their respects to.

Of course, the Immortal Alliance would not stand by and let such a thing happen, so he could not actually play things out like that. But Wang Qi's final profit would definitely not be small.

"That's why I say your vision is too limited. What family can compare to the financial oligarchs, monopolistic capital, trusts, or the Carnegies?" Wang Qi thought to himself.

But that part, it was best not disclosed to others.

"Old Ai, come here, I need to discuss something with you." Wang Qi beckoned, signaling to Ai Changyuan, "I'm offering you wealth and an additional boost to your path of Immortal Dao, want to take it?"

"What is it?"

"The next step after an artificial Law Foundation is an artificial Golden Core. This technology relates to the understanding of Golden Cores and, if successful, could benefit Core Formation as well." Wang Qi summoned the Ghost Soldier "New Moon," "I used your Law Foundation during its upgrade, and you are quite familiar with it. Let's use it as a proof of concept and create an artificial Golden Core to perfect the design of your own Golden Core simultaneously."

Ai Changyuan stroked his chin, "You mean..."

"The 'money' and prospects of the artificial Golden Core are as broad as those of the artificial Law Foundation," Wang Qi said, draping an arm around Ai Changyuan, whispering, "You will also need an Empirical Department of your own, one where you can do whatever you want, right?"

"It sounds... infinite!" Ai Changyuan frowned, "But why would you share such a promising project with me?"

"This direction will be accomplished by the Immortal Alliance in roughly three to five years, and clearly, I don't have that much time to work on it. Thus, it's better for us all to make money together instead of one person hoarding the opportunity." Wang Qi explained, "Moreover, when I undergo Core Formation, it will also involve the Heavenly Material Circulation, which will benefit me just as much as it benefits you."

"Deal, I'm in."

Their palms met with a clap. Neither knew the size of the waves this clap would cause in the tides of history. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote and donate at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)