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Translator: Tamon
With Su Junyu’s help, Wang Qi had no trouble leaving his mark on the magic items.
Wang Qi looked eager, “Brother Su, now could you take me to the Art Archive?”
Art Archive was where freshmen chose their cultivation method. It even held the first chapter of the five best sect’s mental arts, including, but not limited to, Evolution Chart, Grand Ripple Enigma, and Celestial Entropy, arts that went all the way to Unfettered.
The operative word here was chapter, of course.
By Wang Qi’s reckoning, these had to be the top cultivation methods this world had to offer in terms of the fruits of all its research, including modern cultivation’s theories regarding the world’s nature. [Just the first chapter, sure, but enough to help me find the real difference between the two worlds and cement my path toward the future.]
Su Junyu said, “Where’s the fire? We have one last thing to do.”
He came out from between the shelves with a bamboo tube, “Extend your arm.”
Wang Qi raised his sleeve and presented his right arm. The familiar action got his mind wandering. [Why does this feel like those whiny brats taking shots from a nurse?]
Su Junyu broke the bamboo tube, revealing a five-inch needle, and jabbed it in his harm before he could react.
Wang Qi gasped in pain. [Totally like a vaccine!]
Zhen Chanzi warned, “There’s poison inside!”
“Poison?”
Wang Qi was taken over by dizziness, numbness, warmth and weakness. It spread out from his arm as he said, “Brother Su, explain.”
“Myriad Poison Needle, containing a thousand plagues and ten thousand poisons, all in one needle.”
Zhen Chanzi was dubious, “The needle isn’t that poisonous.”
Su Junyu smiled, “The types of plagues and poisons have precise dosages to offset each other and become harmless. Over the next few days, they will meld with your meridians and grow along with your cultivation. While they have no effect on cultivation, they have their uses, that in inoculating you against 99% of ancient system’s plague arts, repelling 70% of the various parasites and a 50% immunity to drugs.”
Wang Qi shook his head, looking at his arm. “Not that. I was asking for an explanation for my still bleeding arm…”
Su Junyu scratched his head, apologetic, “The needle slipped in my damp hands and went too deep. It hit a major blood vessel.”
“Isn’t that required?”
“Skin-deep is enough.”
Wang Qi’s mouth twitched, reigning in his curses, “I can’t move my right arm now. Please wrap it up.”
Su Junyu pulled out the needle, laughing, “This thing doesn’t come cheap, with only the Immortal Alliance center and the center’s direct affiliate Immortal Institutes’ geniuses get to enjoy it free of charge. All the rest have a downgraded version, the Hundred Poison Needle. The bare minimum needed to withstand the most common ancient plagues and the worst drugs on the streets.”
[Since there are vaccines, I wonder how this world views diseases and immunities.]
Wang Qi shook those thoughts away and sighed, “Modern cultivation should have plague and poison arts as well, right?”
Su Junyu shivered, “Malignant Woods is a branch of Heavenly Spirit Range, but no one has witnessed those madmen’s arts. A rumor goes around that if the arts they toy with run amok, it would wipe out humanity. In the case of poisons, Spirit Beast Mountain and Myriad Flowers Valley’s branches research them as well. Scorching Metal Valley has made some breakthroughs in this field, Celestial Blade Discs’ first period’s transformation is characterized by high toxicity. The latter’s poison isn’t as eerie as Heavenly Spirit Range’s many arts, but it’s relentless and mostly incurable. The only solution is to use spiritual power to neutralize the poison’s strength. You can’t mean to go in that direction, can you?”
Wang Qi shook his head, “Just curious. Can I resit modern plagues and poisons?”
[You kiddin’? My field is in theoretical physics and math. I just wanted to know how immune I am.]
Su Junyu said, “Myriad Poison Needle was made with immunity as its focus. Malignant Woods comes up with dozens of new types of diseases every century, so don’t even think of facing any of them.”
Wang Qi nodded, feeling sick as the Myriad Poison Needle took its effect, “How long do the side effects last?”
“A couple of days.”
Wang Qi’s face fell, “There’s no way I can meditate like this. And you want me to wait for days before I can pick my cultivation method?”
Su Junyu turned grave on the spot, staring hard, “Brother, I feel the need to warn you that it’ll be best you remove the hasty need to cultivate the ancient system advocated.”
“Eh? Wait, you got it all wrong…”
Su Junyu gripped Wang Qi’s shoulder, cutting him off, “Modern cultivation doesn’t need resources, taking spiritual power from the breath of the world. Having enough understanding of the world’s laws, you will have a constant supply of spiritual power from the void beyond. On top of that, the thousands of years of extensive research removed any walls when going through the Secular Stage. There’s nothing stopping any modern cultivator from reaching Golden Core.”
Wang Qi thought nothing of it, while Zhen Chanzi shuddered to the core. Even the most ancient legacy would have the user go through many challenges in forming their core.
“However, due to the swift rise in cultivation, there’s a high chance that one’s mentality or knowledge isn’t enough to back it up. Lacking knowledge means failing to reach Eminence Stage’s Primordial Spirit Realm. But when it comes to mentality, a lack of it would make you a degenerate as you lose your mind in the practice. Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core modern cultivator restrain their growth to experience the secular world or pursue Dao in seclusion.”
[Ain’t that balancing life and work to a researcher or worker? I just want to understand this world’s theories, not jump right into cultivating.] Wang Qi felt like crying.
“In short, I’ll take you to your dorm.” Su Junyu said, “If you feel better the next couple of days, feel free to look over the textbooks. The modern cultivation’s foundation is a summary of the Dao. The knowledge will help you on your path.”
Su Junyu cleared his voice, whispering, “I’ll let you in on a little secret. The admission trial is one topic, with a lower weight than knowledge and mathematics tests.”
In an Immortal Institute’s seclusion room, Sky-ringing Sword Deng Jiaxuan wore a blue shirt and a longsword on his back.
He coughed and said to Chen Jingyun, “Immortal Alliance’s affairs are now concluded, with only Immortal Institute remaining. If you like guiding the ignorant youths, just show yourself around, uh, or just stay in your office, since you don’t like talking.”
Chen Jingyun nodded.
“Immortal Institute will handle things by the rules. Oh, the only one of note this year is a kid called Wang Qi. He has an ancient Great Ascension fragmented soul with him.”
Chen Jingyun nodded, “Ziye gave his life to save him. I remember him.”
Deng Jiaxuan frowned, “It doesn’t bother you?”
Chen Jingyun shook his head, “I met him at the entrance. Zhen Chanzi, Ephemeral Tranquility Palace’s late Great Ascension cultivator, just as the report said. He won’t stand up to a hundred of my sword strikes even if by some miracle recovers his strength.”
The question of value was but one step away for Almost Prime Law to reach One Plus One stage. Combining it with his sword arts would make Chen Jingyun a truly rare swordsman in the world.
Deng Jiaxuan held his head, “How can I put it? I’m not asking you to be on guard, just observe and ensure he’s not swayed by the ancient system.”
Chen Jingyun nodded, “I got it.”
Deng Jiaxuan’s summoning magic item shook and Deng Jiaxuan smiled, “A week from now, South Sea, Luo Island. Lord White Marsh ran the math. Heisenberg and Daoist Pauli have clashed ten times these days, making his escape route certain.”
Chen Jingyun frowned, “The old dragon.”
Deng Jiaxuan smiled, “Brother Sanqiang will handle it.”
Three Sword Saint Qian Sanqiang wielded a powerful sword art, a strong sword energy, and a mighty sword aura, hence his title. Deng Jiaxuan had been ill for so long that the Heavenly Sword Palace’s external affairs were left in his care.
Chen Jingyun’s mention of the old dragon was referring to the oldest being in the world, the dragon king and lord of the sea demons. Dragons were a natural warrior race, with the ancient Dragon King even more so. Sixty thousand years ago, the thriving ancient cultivation reached the shores of the continent, yet Dragon King was so strong, that he defeated all Great Ascension cultivators challenging him. He forced humanity a hundred miles away from the coast. Later on, he defeated sixteen Great Ascension cultivators at sea, killing half of them.
With all this in mind, Deng Jiaxuan still believed Three Sword Saint was enough for that demon, or at the very least, fight him for a spell. The Dragon King was also put on the spot, having to consider whether to kill Three Sword Saint and face the wrath of hundreds of human Unfettered when such an eminent figure would die.
Chen Jingyun cupped his hands, “Brother, I wish you the best.”
Deng Jiaxuan returned the gesture, smiling before shooting into a light as he rode his sword.
Wang Qi lay in his room, under the covers, and sweating.
Argent Apex’s Immortal Institute’s dorm had single rooms. The Myriad Poison Needle had such grave side effects that he didn’t even try taking a walk.
Immortal Institute was different from other branches. There were just rare lectures held by low cultivators in the branches, with the students having to learn through books alone. Immortal Institute had full-time teachers instead, holding their jobs year-round. The random transfer students aside, most disciples enrolled in March and April, which made the dorm almost empty right now. It saved Wang Qi time from paying a visit to all of them and saying hi.
The bouts of nausea prevented Wang Qi from even studying a cultivation method. As for textbooks? Were the math and physics of high school that hard for the likes of him?
So Wang Qi found his time better spent perusing history books and making a timeline of the notable figures throughout the ages and cross-referencing it with Earth’s history. More and more Unfettered with spoof names appeared that gave him the feeling the two worlds were connected.
“I knew it. Most of Earth’s great scientists have a correspondent in this world.” Wang Qi bit his pen, ideas popping in his head, “Collective crossing doesn’t make sense, so let’s just call it parallel world analogy.”
