Exploring Immortality Cultivation

"Taiyu Skill," as Wang Qi was calling out, Zhen Chan provided an explanation in his mind, "That little girl has a talent for the Taiyu Skill. She can combine it with her movement technique, and even though she's only at the early-stage of Foundation Establishment, with this skill alone, she can match an Ancient Golden Core in speed."

At this point, Zhen Chan sighed again. In his era, the Taiyu magic that involved space was an absolute skill reserved for high-order cultivators, and a Mahayana Cultivator who mastered even a bit of the Cosmic Light Power related to time could dominate the world. However, with the analysis of the nature of space-time by Modern Magic Theory, Taiyu and Cosmic Light spells were continuously simplified. It's not just the girl who seemed to be the True Inheritor of the Wanfa Sect who relied on the Taiyu Skill to enhance her movement technique at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but also Ai Changyuan, who, during his battle with Wang Qi while only at the Qi Cultivation Level, was able to affect the flow of time within a certain range.

The world had truly changed.

Wang Qi didn't think as much as Zhen Chan. He instead thought: The essence of space is analyzed by geometry and topology, which means this is exactly his field of expertise. Furthermore, from her swordsmanship, she seems to also excel in matrices...

Wang Qi asked, "Have you heard about a girl in the True Inheritor of Wanfa Sect who is particularly skilled in geometry and large matrix calculations?"

Mo Zhenzhen responded with uncertainty, "Are you talking about that... Senior Sister or Junior Sister?"

She was still undecided on whether to refer to the girl as a Senior Sister or a Junior Sister.

Huangfu Lian spread his hands and said, "If you as a True Disciple don't know, how would we?"

"I just joined this year and was sent here before I had a chance to visit the sect, so where would I meet the other True Disciples?" Wang Qi called out, "And True Disciples are generally quite famous, right? Like 'Demoness' Ai Qinglan, who even has a nickname."

Huangfu Lian said, "Senior Sister Ai is an exception among exceptions, hailed as a natural for the Carefree type, and there's talk she might break through the Primordial Spirit Heaven Barrier before long."

This was indeed where Wang Qi had erred. Cultivators below the Primordial Spirit Stage couldn't serve as strong combat forces and would hardly shine in research, so they really didn't have much renown. Even if some excellent Foundation Establishment or Core Formation Cultivators made a name for themselves, their fame would only spread in small circles.

It was like the top students in the Civil Engineering Department of Tsinghua University wouldn't care about who the top student in the Civil Engineering Department of Peking University next door was.

Wang Qi pressed on, "Isn't there some sort of list that ranks all the young talents and senior experts in the world?"

Huangfu Lian asked in wonder, "What would be the point of that?"

Since everyone was certain they would reach Golden Core, and those with exceptional talent would only remain in the Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment stages for nine years, such a ranking had little meaning.

It was like schools on Earth that rank students in the class during the monthly exams and rank the entire school at the end of the term, but they would never rank a single homework assignment.

Wang Qi sighed, "It seems there's no way to find out who she is in the short term."

Huangfu Lian gaped, "The legendary... love at first sight?"

"Getting back on the horse," Wang Qi explained, "I was utterly defeated when we clashed with chopsticks just now. I was thinking I must have a real swordfight with her sometime—just to clarify, I don't like the petite body type."

The girl had demonstrated matrix calculations with her swordsmanship that Wang Qi was very keen on integrating into his system. He hadn't given up on learning the Unpredictable Body Technique of the Daoist of Uncertainty. Interacting with her could be very beneficial.

Huangfu Lian said, "As a True Disciple, you just need to cultivate well, and you'll always have a chance to get back at her."

Wang Qi nodded, "I thought my swordsmanship was already quite strong—clearly, it's not enough among the True Disciples."

Set Theory is the foundation of all mathematics, and the insight gained from proving Godel's Completeness Theorem had strengthened him in all aspects. Just speaking of swordsmanship, after integrating all the swordsmanship he had learned, he had reached an advanced level in the way of the sword, comparable to well-known experts.

Yet, in front of equal-level show-offs, this was indeed lacking in maturity.

As the girl had said, he could do what others couldn't, but still didn't know what he could truly do.

........................................................................................

Five days later.

"You say you were provoked, so you came here... to get trashed?" Chen Feng, dressed in white training clothes, had just finished a set of Fierce Tiger Fist Technique from Tianling Ridge, beads of sweat dappling his forehead. Just moments ago, Wang Qi had suddenly barged into his courtyard, requesting a sparring match.

Wang Qi nodded, then corrected him, "It's not getting trashed, it's sparring."

"Is there a difference? I could beat you easily even if I only used the Qi Cultivation Level mana," Chen Feng said. "Besides, I've told you before, combat power isn't that important for someone at my level of cultivation. I had suggested that you simulate the Magic Foundation Establishment process with Artifact Refining, which is your task at this stage."

Wang Qi said, "Sparring can let me truly understand my abilities. I haven't really fought since my breakthrough, so I'm lacking in that kind of experience."

Chen Feng, somewhat annoyed, said, "You have a point there—however, aren't you looking at the wrong person? After a fight with me, you won't remember anything."

Wang Qi chuckled, "No worries, no worries, I have a strategy this time."

Chen Feng asked, curious, "What is it?"

The Heavenly Song Soul Probe Technique, though not an exceptionally profound Absolute Skill, was not easily cracked either.

Wang Qi, with a look of triumph, pointed at his attire, "Boss, check out these clothes..."

"The buckle on that belt is pretty unique," Chen Feng noticed at a glance the only Magic Artifact on Wang Qi.

A robe without belts would be inconvenient to move in. For aesthetic reasons, belts typically came with various styled buckles. At first glance, Wang Qi's attire seemed fine. But upon closer inspection, his belt buckle wasn't the usual Shenzhou beast head or openwork carving but a rectangular metal plate, with three grooves on it.

After examining it more closely, Chen Feng said, "This appears to be a calculator."

Wang Qi laughed, "These past few days, I managed to refine four or five, but only this one is barely usable."

In reality, the Talismanic Level calculator that Wang Qi had refined bore no resemblance to the device Su Junyu had gifted, which could be used as a netbook. His handcrafted piece was barely comparable to the motherboard of a remote control, and definitely not up to snuff with any CPU.

Chen Feng said with a laugh, "Recycling trash? But even the computational power this thing can provide is nothing compared to your natural ability."

Wang Qi shook his head, "That's not what this is for."

He swept his hand across his Storage Bag, producing three small objects. Chen Feng activated his powerful Eyesight and saw they resembled copper coins. By their aura, they seemed akin to a demon beast's Innate Divine Seal. This puzzled Chen Feng even more—the Innate Divine Seals of demon beasts were mostly weak, so those items seemed useless.

Wang Qi methodically pressed the three differently colored "coins" into his belt buckle. Then, he took a Ruyi hanging from his waist and tapped each of the "coins" sequentially.

"Soaring Eagle! Fierce Tiger! Jumping Locust!" An odd, synthesized voice rang out, followed by Wang Qi's belt buckle suddenly projecting a brilliant ring of multi-colored light. A red, a yellow, and a green light ring intertwined in front of Wang Qi, then flew towards him, forming a peculiar layer of Protective Gang Qi around his body.

"I haven't learned the trick of conjuring a layer of armor out of thin air yet," Wang Qi said with a hint of regret, "so let's use this 'Masked Hero System' to spar!"

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TAKA! TORA! BATTA! TATOBATATOBATATOBA~

I originally wanted to use that as the title... Don't hit me! I'm just a passing Masked Rider fan!

*cough* The system Wang Qi made was actually based on a personal guilty pleasure of mine. As I grew older, I found it harder to love those stories that read "stupid" but write as "morally questionable." The Masked Rider series, although targeted at children, truly holds up in terms of values, and they offer both plot and depth—most of the series is well worth watching.