Applied Immortality

Wang Qi’s defining trait was an insatiable curiosity. Barring that would make any research dull and pointless. 

Finding resolve and grasping his nature, his yearning to solve all the abnormalities and mysteries only grew. Like when Zhen Chanzi mentioned having seen Divine Hexagram Computation.

The cultivation method was created a thousand years ago, when Zhen Chanzi was still stuck in his ring somewhere. The timing made no sense. Nevertheless, Myriad Arts Sect’s inheritance was ten thousand years of arithmetics. Divine Hexagram Computation had been nothing but your average modern mental art before shifting to a binary system, of course. The original version even started off inspired by an ancient cultivation method.

Divine Hexagram Computation’s early form had long since been made obsolete and removed from the Arts Archive. The only way to get it was with merit. As to what ancient art stood at its core, the Immortal Alliance sealed that information, banning its spread—ancient cultivation and modern cultivation were mortal enemies. The Immortal Alliance would never spread the use of ancient mental arts. 

Wang Qi was left with no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Learning the art’s history, Zhen Chanzi scrutinized the art Wang Qi made with the Spiritual Energy Essence Equation. “I just don’t get how you made it.”

“The essence equation’s cycle number represents the route a cultivation method has to take to make a full cycle. Furthermore, each division has its own meaning.” Wang Qi explained.

Zhen Chanzi sighed, glancing at the tentatively named Heavenly Stems Notation cultivation method. (Tamon: There are 10 heavenly stems, hinting at the decimal system.) 

“Now that you mention it, I feel like I’ve seen this stem art somewhere, but where?”

Wang Qi frowned. “No way, am I supposed to infer the same cultivation method for this to work? There’s more than just one cultivation method corresponding to one essence equation.”

“Let me finish. This time it feels more familiar; I just need to think it over and…”

Wang Qi crossed his arms in silence. Taking into consideration the ten millennia cooped up in that ring, Wang Qi reckoned the old guy’s feelings must be skewed. [Maybe I should eat first.]

Fortune was with him, for Zhen Chanzi soon found the answer: “You should change the 18th sentence to ‘stillness encompasses all stillness’ and the 22nd, about ‘inner strength, outer tranquility’ to…”

With Zhen Chanzi’s help, Wang Qi amended the Heavenly Stems Notation. He reckoned the difficulty went from primary school to being a humanities high schoolers level.

[It should reach Golden Core now?]

Wang Qi asked, “What did you recall?”

Zhen Chanzi muttered, “How can it be? This is the art of refining this ring.” 

“Eh?” Wang Qi gapped. “Even with my alterations included, the core of this cultivation method is still Myriad Arts Sect’s arithmetics. Just how old is this thing?”

Zhen Chanzi said, “Around twenty thousand years. Ephemeral Tranquility Palace was an average sect at the time. An outer disciple bought this ring from a rogue cultivator.”

“The Myriad Arts Sect lost an immortal item.” Wang Qi was skeptical. “Going by historical records, Myriad Arts Sect was just starting twenty thousand years ago. How could it create an immortal item?”

“I don’t know either, but what I do know is that the Ephemeral Tranquility Palace spent seven thousand years figuring out this refining art. Due to the barriers to it being beyond ingenious, my master used them to revise the Grand Scripture of Primordial Chaos and learn many magical arts.”

Wang Qi was unable to make a clear connection between the Myriad Arts Sect, the ring, and Ephemeral Tranquility Palace. Despite mulling it over and over, the only conclusion he drew was to refine it as well and see how the ring came to be. 

Zhen Chanzi nodded at his idea. “It should work. I’ll work on amending the art.” 

Wang Qi refused, “No, this art is an inferior version of Divine Hexagram Computation. No amount of extrapolating will change that. Binary or decimal system make no difference to me either. Adjusting my spiritual power will do.”

Wang Qi ignored Zhen Chanzi as he sat down, beginning the refining of the immortal ring. 

It was delusional for a Qi Refining cultivator to grasp an immortal item’s makeup, but Wang Qi just wanted to leave a trace of spiritual power at its core.

So long as the magic item was ownerless and its cultivation method did not conflict with the item’s nature, leaving one’s mark on it was easy. Wang Qi found with astonishment that the decimal-transformed Divine Hexagram Computation’s spiritual power flowed into the ring without hindrance, leaving his mark with ease.

Zhen Chanzi felt conflicted; his sect’s grandmaster worked thousands of years to crack it, yet someone up and refined it. He felt like crying.

Wang Qi opened his eyes and said, “I can see two ancient seals inside. What are they?” 

Zhen Chanzi explained, “Just as mortal smiths like to brand their work, cultivators do it as well. The ancient seals—wait, that’s the ring’s true name. Its creator left it behind.” 

Wang Qi wrote the two characters down: “I don’t know them. You take a look.”

Zhen Chanzi said, “Math?”

“Crap! Math?!”

[T-the script is all whack! Isn’t this supposed to be a theory-themed world? How did this immortal item come to be?] 

[Is bro Dao the Minister of Education? Is this math one of the three legendary items—Chinese, math, and English? (Tamon: reference to a magazine since 1985 that published articles in those fields.)

[It’s unscientific! It’s un-Dao!]

Zhen Chanzi watched Wang Qi panicking and said, “Yes, it’s Math alright. It seems to be a very important immortal item.” 

Wang Qi said, “Have you heard of it?”

Zhen Chanzi started, “Weren’t you planning on joining the Myriad Arts Sect? Do well and learn a bit about its history. Even without knowing the ring’s history, you at least know about the Middle Ages Numeral School, right?” 

Middle Ages Numeral School was one of the many schools of thought during humanity’s resurgence period. Established by Primordial Heavenly Lord Phytagoras, he believed Dao was numerical and that numbers were the root of heaven and earth, of the world. The disciples of this school called themselves numerologists, and their teaching was known as mathematics.

“Hold up, math was the school’s doctrine?”

“Yes.”

Wang Qi’s mouth twitched. “Shit, this thing…”

[Was no different than a magic treasure in the world where all schools of thought could cultivate, declaring far and wide that it was named Confucianism or Mohism. Anyone with half a brain can figure out this thing’s pure gold!] 

“From Primordial Heavenly Lord Phytagoras, maybe it’s a  Numerical School leader’s keepsake.” Zhen Chanzi surmised.

A sudden thought came to Wang Qi. “Myriad Arts Sect is a near ancient school of thought, getting Middle Ages Numeral School’s legacy… They also presented themselves as Phytagoras and Archimedes’ successors. This is the Numerical School leader’s keepsake—ain’t that the same as the Myriad Arts Sect Leader’s keepsake?”