Exploring Immortality Cultivation

The communication with Mi made Wang Qi once again marvel at the vastness of the universe and the wonder of creation. He had never imagined that within the universe, there existed such magical "clusters" like the Sea God Type.

This truly was the magic of nature, the miraculous craftsmanship of creation.

What ordinary people refer to as "nature" mostly still points to the "biological sphere." Perhaps one could also include the "atmosphere," "rocky sphere," and "water circle." This concept is so minuscule, it often doesn't even amount to one-tenth of the total mass of a rocky planet. And that's with the rocky sphere taking the lion's share. For example, on Earth, the water circle accounts for only two to three thousandths of Earth's total mass.

And Earth's total mass is only one three-hundred-thousandth of the total mass of the Sun System.

The nature of a planet, when compared to the mass of a constant star-planet system, is so trivial.

Self-gravitating matter clumps together, creating stars, and the fusion of stars makes matter tend toward order. For the universe, sunlight is the oldest stream of low entropy. Due to the existence of sunlight, negative entropy systems—"life"—emerged on small planets. The earliest life, sustained by sunlight, were ancient "producers." Then, there were "primary consumers"—herbivores, "secondary consumers"—carnivores. In addition, there were "recyclers" that broke down materials.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, the negative entropy provided by the sun is consumed at each level of the food chain, and only a limited part can be transferred to the next level. The higher up in the hierarchy, the fewer the life forms.

This is life, this is the ecosystem, this is the biological sphere.

Is heaven fair? Is nature a chain of interdependence, each link connecting to the next? Is nature a closed circular system?

Far from it.

The ecosystem is bottom-up and irreversible. It builds upon sunlight, beating matter into step after step of hierarchies. The upper level often consists of only one-tenth of the lower level. And those at the apex are the sovereigns of the ecosystem.

Some races are innately more privileged than others. For instance, the Dragon Clan at the top of the food chain.

The levels of the food chain are absolute.

Of course, there are also paths to leap out of this tower of hierarchy. Take Earth People, for instance. Omnivorous humans were just ordinary consumers in the middle of the food chain. But now, in the modern era, humans have become the natural predators of all life forms.

The situation of Shenzhou creatures is similar to that of Earth, but it is also influenced by an additional layer of Spiritual Energy.

And the Sea God Type represents an entirely different path.

For scientists, there is nothing more attractive than the "unknown" and the "completely different."

The deeper the two discussed, the more entrenched they became. Mi was a supreme powerhouse among the Sea God Type, who was now striving to integrate what she had learned with the Modern Method. Although Wang Qi's cultivation level was not high and his mana was weak, he was one of the strongest among the Modern Method's younger generation. Furthermore, he had learned from two lifetimes and two theoretical systems in comparison, which gave him an understanding of the Great Dao far beyond what mere Foundation Establishment could measure.

In the heat of discussion, Wang Qi asked Mi a rather important question, "Speaking of which, Senior Sister, what realm would you say you belong to now?"

Mi shook her head, "Your level system doesn't apply to me, I can't measure myself with that system."

Wang Qi was not discouraged, "Even if we can't measure using levels, what about in terms of combat power?"

Mi shook her head, "It's foolish to judge realm by combat power. There are too many factors that can affect combat power. Take you, for example, you are currently only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, yet possessing the Heart Demon Curse, a first-class combat spell, makes it possible for you to overcome challenges beyond your level."

Wang Qi realized he had misspoken and added, "Excluding magical treasures and outer objects, excluding any spells and divine skills, relying solely on realm."

Mi still shook her head, "It's unrealistic. You've seen these past few days, for members of the Demon Clan, bloodline is an absolute factor affecting combat power. The Spirit Awakening of a mouse and that of a tiger are completely different."

"Moreover, even within the same species and the same realm, there is a world of difference in combat power. For example, like your Foundation Establishment compared to Ancient Method Foundation Establishment."

"Additionally, how to define combat power is also an issue. If it's about the wide range of attacks, few creatures in Shenzhou could compete with me. But if it's one-on-one, I might not even be able to stop a Mahayana Cultivator."

Mi spoke with logic and clarity, and Wang Qi couldn't help but be convinced. He pondered for a moment and then asked, "What about in terms of the essence of life, Senior Sister, roughly which level would you be at?"

The principle of cultivation for Shenzhou creatures is to construct a new life system with Spiritual Energy. For the Human Clan, the Qi Cultivation Stage is about building an internal Spiritual Energy cycle, the Foundation Establishment Stage solidifies the cycle, the Core Formation Stage achieves the inner core of the cycle, the Nascent Soul Stage creates Spiritual Energy organs, making the Spiritual Energy cycle system the main body of the life system; during the Divine Separation Stage, the Spiritual Energy cycle system begins to merge with other systems, such as thought, and the hallmark ability that appears is Divine Separation Sense Transformation; in the Unification Realm, the Nascent Soul Body merges, and the Spiritual Energy system fully integrates with the original life system, completely changing the nature of life. The Mahayana Realm is the ultimate transformation.

Mi blinked, "If we are going by that standard… do you really want to hear it?"

Wang Qi nodded, "Of course I do!"

Mi said, "None of them. To you, we are… Innate Saints."

Wang Qi didn't quite follow, "Innate what?"

"Innate Saints," Mi reiterated seriously. "Immortals, Longevity Guests… we are that from birth."

"From birth..."

"Right, from birth," Mi continued, "Haven't we just discussed this? Realm strength and combat power can actually be viewed separately. It's just that the divine spirits of this world are from the same biosphere and even the same cultivation system, and they have the Transformation Technique to free themselves from the shackles of lineage, so the differences are not so pronounced."

"But we are different."

"Using the terms of your Modern Method, we are born with a fully open spiritual energy system, unmistakably immortals. Even though we're very small when we're first aware of ourselves and can't beat any transformation demon beast in this world, according to that theory, we are immortals, innately so."

This time it was Wang Qi's turn to blink, "Innate Saints... can't you ascend to immortality?"

Mi shrugged, "In my homeland, since the birth of living beings, there has never been a concept of 'Immortal Ascension.'"

"Can't ascend?"

Mi nodded, "Right, since the beginning of life, there has never been talk of ascension to immortality."

Wang Qi frowned, "What exactly is the standard for Immortal Ascension?"

Could it be the total amount of mana? No, that's not right, definitely not. Mi's total mana surpasses the sum total of most individuals on this planet. It's also definitely not about the state of the life system. Mi was born for longevity and everlasting life; it doesn't make sense for there to be no Immortal Ascension.

Could it be that collective intelligence can't ascend?

Then does artificial intelligence qualify for ascension?

To this, Mi simply smiled, "Perhaps it's because we truly represent the outermost 'Heterodox Path' in the universe."

The hometown of the Sea God Type beings, with neither Immortal Transmission nor immortals, practices the Sea God Cultivation Method which is neither demarcated by the forty-nine paths nor structured by the spiritual energy system. Speaking in terms of 'Heterodox Path,' they are indeed more 'heterodox' than the Modern."

Wang Qi laughed heartily, "You seem to be validating what the Ancient Method Practitioners here have been saying."

The Ancient Method Practitioners claim that those of the Heterodox Path cannot ascend. Those Ancient Method Practitioners, who comprise one ten-thousandth of the Human Clan, cling to this final belief overseas.

After laughing, Wang Qi looked at Mi, who was playing a game to herself like a little girl, and sighed inwardly.

Truly, comparisons are odious.

The Human Clan developed the cultivation system initially to avoid death and prolong life. The Demon Clan stumbled onto the path of cultivation through coincidences and probability outcomes.

Yet the starting point of the Sea God Type's cultivation journey is the pinnacle of cultivation for all creatures in Shenzhou Heaven and Earth.

They start off undying and immortal. They don't worry about life and death, food, or reproduction. Perhaps this is the reason for their philosophically and poetically inspired cultivation methods.

Contemplation is cultivation in itself. Aside from thinking, they have nothing else to do. Those who do not contemplate are weeded out for being too weak.

After his reflection, Wang Qi asked, "Senior Sister, what do you feel about the sea here?"

"It's very similar, but it's not the sea of my homeland," Mi answered. "I never imagined there could be such a... strange sea with such bizarre marine life beings."

"Strange..."

Low and chaotic.

That was Mi's assessment of the Shenzhou West Sea. Her perspective on "life beings" vastly differed from that of the Human Clan. To her, the advancement and inferiority of a community were not determined by the average strength of the community, but by its level of civilization and order—perhaps because she was a collective intelligence.

Wang Qi sighed softly at Mi's assessment, "Different species, different behaviors, lead to completely different civilizations..."

"Regarding your Dao and the Demon Clan's path, I still have many questions," Mi replied. "I will never understand the thinking of these creatures. To me, most of their actions seem utterly meaningless..."

Sea God Types never worry about life and death, food, or reproduction. They are a collective intelligence, often containing more than one kind of microorganism within them. In the food chain, they are "producers," "consumers," and "recyclers" all at once.

Wang Qi thought for a moment, crouched down, and patted Mi's head, "Senior Sister, that's probably because you haven't encountered ordinary members of the Human Clan. To you, the actions of most Human Clan members must seem meaningless."

"Yet your race as a whole is much closer to us."

Remembering the chaos among the sea's Demon Clan, Wang Qi smiled bitterly, "We've already managed to forge our own path, well beyond the Demon Clan's way, whereas you... Senior Sister, you've stood at our pinnacle from the very beginning." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendations, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)