Chapter 196, Oblivious Advancement

Translator: Tamon

 

“Abstract Space Differential Heavenly Origins, Integral Heavenly Origins’ Min and Max, Existence, and Other Discoveries,” “Brief Explanation of Nonlinear Celestial Changes Series and Its Characteristics,” “Results of Combining a Mental Art and Celestial Changes Series,” “In View of Comprehensive Geometrical Knowledge System of Group Theory,” “Curve of Fast Descent and Fist Motion Principles,” “Common Mathematical Problems About Calculus and Blade Arts.”

 

Every paper that landed in Xiang Qi’s hand was a title to a thesis or theory.

 

Wang Qi might have been writing the general outline of a paper, its conclusions, or the debates, and everything was about the research results of the forebears, containing no personal input, but nevertheless, think about his damn age! What was he now, fourteen-something?

 

[Abomination!]

 

Writing down theories and papers required systematic thinking. When a cultivator wrote the conclusion of such papers, that final concept would be fully integrated into his ‘arts,’ becoming part of himself.

 

Thinking affected the soul, the soul controlled spiritual power, and a cultivator’s insights would be reflected in their spiritual power.

 

The specialization and quality of the papers had a direct correlation with a cultivator’s strength.

 

Xiang Qi’s right hand moved like lightning, forming a finger sword and stabbing at Wang Qi’s Dantian. Wang Qi’s mind was sixty percent engrossed in math, too focused to react.

 

Wang Qi’s electromagnetic field warped and vanished, with the errant static charge puffing up Xiang Qi’s hair. The floating books flew all over, out of control, and Wang Qi pushed down with both hands out of instinct, but a force flung them away in contact with Xiang Qi’s delicate arm.

 

Xiang Qi pushed a soft spiritual power into her junior brother’s Dantian. Wang Qi felt his spiritual power rising up but, with no chance of fighting back, was forced into submission. Xiang Qi felt her fingers were dipped into boiling water, the heat numbing them as well.

 

Xiang Qi took back her hand. “Huh, instilling a trace of Celestial Hymn Odyssey and Celestial Entropy I see.”

 

Wang Qi frowned. “Senior Sister, what are you doing?”

 

Xiang Qi flicked her hand, using the Heavenly Entities Codex to clear up the aftereffects on her hand. Celestial Hymn Odyssey was gaudy as hell, while Celestial Entropy was tyrannical as hell. She had to deal with those two forces, or her fingers would be in a lot of pain for a good while. Scorching Metal Valley was adept in the matter transformation path, with full understanding of electromagnetic forces and the exothermic reaction resulting from covalent bonds and other matter transformations. Handling it was a cinch for a thermodynamic spiritual power.

 

Xiang Qi offered Wang Qi a flat smile. “It looks like congratulations are in order. How does it feel being at mid Qi Refining, Junior Brother?”

 

“Mid Qi Refining?” Wang Qi freaked out. “Me, at mid Qi Refining? Is this a joke?”

 

Zhen Chanzi’s odd voice came out. “It is indeed mid Qi Refining. You reached it yesterday.”

 

Wang Qi was still looking floored. “Don’t they say advancement must come with seclusion? I’ve not done a lick of meditation these past few days…”

 

Xiang Qi banged her head on the table. “Oblivious advancement… Shit, if I knew this, I’d have sat down writing papers too back in the day, rather than waste years forming a second-grade foundation…”

 

“I thought you were in a meditative trance while running the numbers, sealing off outside interference. Since you were still going even after advancing, I figured your spiritual power hadn’t settled. But it turns out you were totally oblivious?” Zhen Chanzi’s voice contained just a hint of shock. A tiny hint.

 

Wang Qi made faces. “Man, what a letdown. Not shouting the trademark ‘advance’ after popping pills is so lame…”

 

[Guess all geniuses have one screw loose too many.]

 

[Yep, I’m better off not trying to get a freak’s mentality, even if a genius…]

 

The old man and the girl used different quips yet were oddly in tune.

 

Zhen Chanzi explained after his dumb line. “I told you ages ago, if every minor advancement needs you fighting for your life, that kind of nonexistent talent won’t even get you past the big hurdle.”

 

Xiang Qi added, “Also, modern cultivation’s knowledge of the body and soul is far beyond your average folk. What changes the mental art should take, what acupoint to target, what part of the flow is slow, what meridian to focus on… Anyway, as long as you are at least half a man and the other half isn’t too much of a complicated bundle of random lineages, you’re clear all the way to late Golden Core. Even getting spiritual power quality, adequate foundation, and Golden Core purity in the Secular Stage’s three realms.”

 

Xiang Qi finished off with a question. “You really don’t feel any different? This is advancement we’re talking about here! Quantity to quality! Not a single thing?”

 

Wang Qi scratched his nose. “Doesn’t look like it. I’ve been focused solely on math these few days.”

 

“Can math problems get you so enthralled?” Zhen Chanzi was skeptical, but Xiang Qi’s nod said it all.

 

Math had its own beauty, but nothing like poetry and art. You either understood it or not, never able to even cross its threshold. To a layman, math was nothing more than platitudes written with formulas and numbers into the world’s most convoluted maze, whose only purpose was to give you a migraine. To the erudite scholar, however, it became the perfect structure of beauty and design, the world’s Dao whispering in his ears!

 

Hence why Myriad Arts Sect disciples had such boundless pride, amiable like Li Ziye, goofy like Su Junyu, yet all showing undying conviction when they spoke of their resolve for it. Xiang Qi was way more familiar with these bipolar traits than she liked.

 

“However, you’re really savage…” Noticing Wang Qi using Celestial Hymn Odyssey again to gather the books, Xiang Qi was left speechless. “Did you write these after coming back from Langde? In fifteen days…”

 

Wang Qi waved her off with an insufferable ‘just a cinch’ look. “They’re just conclusions and theory references. An afternoon per paper is enough.”

 

“Ha-ha, all you guys do is piss me off…”

 

Xiang Qi shook her head, determined not to go head-to-head with freaks. She flipped through the papers and clicked her tongue. “The premise, the speculations, even the conclusion—they’re all here. Are you sure it’s your first time writing? It’s too neat.”

 

Wang Qi chuckled. How many papers had he written in his first life? Too many to count.

 

“Senior Sister, what do you think of these papers?”

 

“Ha-ha.” Xiang Qi looked away. “I’m not exactly specialized in this field and wouldn’t want to misguide you. Once Moneybags is back, you can ask him.”

 

[Ugh, I don’t know, happy?]

 

Wang Qi stood up to stretch. “I guess. These papers are a sum of my learnings and what I plan to learn for the next half a year. The process is almost done. All that’s left is to ask Senior Brother Su about mathematical mental art-based foundations.”