Chapter 18 - 13 Deadlock and Opportunity

The expressionless young man Ye Chang was so excited at the moment that he could hardly contain himself. He looked at the Qi Cultivation Practitioner he had captured, his eyes not concealing the greed within. The moment he engaged in combat with that Golden Core Cultivator from the Wanfa Sect, he suddenly felt the Magic Artifact he always carried with him, warming up! This artifact was a replica of a Half Immortal Artifact in the hands of the Sect Leader, a replica of one that had been snatched from another sect by the master of Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao thousands of years ago, part of a complete set of treasures. The replica in his possession wasn't very effective but could sense the whereabouts of other treasures. A Half Immortal Artifact, ah! Unlike a Lifebound Magic Treasure that could grow stronger with one's Cultivation, the power of a Magic Artifact was fixed and difficult to enhance. Magic Artifacts were divided into six levels: Talisman Artifact, Heavy Artifact, Treasure Artifact, True Artifact, Mystical Artifact, and Immortal Artifact. Talisman Artifacts were mostly used by Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment Cultivators. A Golden Core Cultivator considered wealthy to possess a Heavy Artifact, a Treasure Artifact was enough to make Nascent Soul Cultivators fight to the death, Unification, and Divine Separation Cultivators could have True Artifacts, while Mahayana Cultivators might only acquire Mystical Artifacts. As for Immortal Artifacts? Those were the possessions of Immortals who had achieved Ascension. Ye Chang, as the foremost Ancient Method Practitioner of the present and a direct disciple of the Sect Leader of Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao—the Master of Heaven Splitting Dao—possessed only a Top Grade Treasure Artifact! And now, he, Ye Chang, was about to acquire a Half Immortal Artifact! This thought intensified the heat in his gaze. When he captured this little Qi Cultivation Practitioner, he had already discerned that although the boy had switched to practicing the Modern Method, traces of Spirit Body Cultivation remained in his body, and his Cultivation Technique matched exactly with that of the sect destroyed as described by his master! Moreover, this kid had nearly eluded his own Spiritual Sense. Had it not been for the response from the Magic Artifact, he wouldn't have detected this small Qi Cultivation Practitioner. This indicated that the opponent's heritage was also exceptionally superior! After dealing with this kid, he could not only obtain the clues to the Immortal Artifact but also a legacy of the Ancient Method! Such luck was a heavenly favor indeed! However, the pressing matter at hand was to shake off the Wanfa Sect disciple following him! "Leave the person behind!" Li Ziye sped forward on his sword, biting closely behind him. Li Ziye's heart was also secretly shocked. The Modern Method was generally stronger than the Ancient Method, and it was considered not a "struggle" for a Modern Golden Core to slay an Ancient Nascent Soul. However, this Ancient Nascent Soul Cultivator could contend with him, even though he wielded the Heavenly Sword, a key figure in the Ancient Method Practitioners for sure. Specializing in capturing Wang Qi, this figure must be up to something! With his hands rapidly changing Magic Formulas, Ye Chang launched several spells glowing with golden light toward Li Ziye, but with a slight sway of his body, Li Ziye evaded each of the attacks. "Indeed the disciple of Wanfa Sect, ordinary attacks can't touch him," Ye Chang thought with irritation. The Wanfa Sect was a modern, powerful sect, its disciples excelling in "one method breaks ten thousand" and "one method extends to ten thousand." Even the simplest Martial Skill executed by them could bring about inconceivable effects, and even the most intricate of Spells appeared full of flaws in their eyes. Li Ziye probably saw through his moves the moment he made them. Li Ziye suddenly sped up, thrusting his sword quickly. Ye Chang gritted his teeth and activated three Talismans. The Spells produced by the three Talismans charged at Li Ziye in the form of a T-formation. Li Ziye changed his thrust into a slash and, with an exhalation and a loud shout of "Break!", the Heavenly Sword emitted blinding Golden Light as it cleaved powerfully toward the Spells activated by the Talismans. His strike hit precisely at the critical juncture of the Spells' operation, shattering all three of them! But the clash gave Ye Chang the chance to widen the distance to about thirty yards. At this moment, Wang Qi could only watch the confrontation between Ye and Li, unable to move his body an inch. Ye Chang had cast a Spell that bound every muscle and meridian, preventing him from so much as blinking an eye. He was wrapped within the Escape Light, completely immobilized. "What in the world is going on?" Wang Qi felt like someone had stuffed his heart with pounds of lead, dragging it down. No matter how he called out within his Spiritual Sense, Zhen Chan did not respond. This was the first time this had occurred since Zhen Chan guided him onto the Immortal Path. "Damn it! Damn it all! What exactly is going on?" Wang Qi roared inwardly. He couldn't understand why he had been entangled in a clash among high-order Cultivators. "Calm your mind. Anxiety is of no use to escaping the predicament." Suddenly, Zhen Chan's calm voice echoed in Wang Qi's mind. Wang Qi furiously demanded, "Old man, explain yourself!" Zhen Chan went straight to the point: "This person is here for this ring. He is a True Inheritor of the Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao, the very sect that destroyed my Luofu Xuanqing Palace thousands of years ago. This ring is of great significance." "Hey, hey, you've never mentioned this before," Wang Qi was almost laughed out of frustration—if he had been able to laugh at that moment. With no detectable emotion in his voice, Zhen Chan replied, "I had intended to wait until you had truly embarked on the Immortal Path before discussing it. Setting that aside, I've surreptitiously extended a strand of Soul into your body, a technique that is greatly wearing on my residual state. Less talking now. The Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao and Luofu Xuanqing Palace have clashed for thousands of years; we understand each other's spells well. I will transmit to you a Forbidden Breaking Technique; if you can master it, you'll be able to muster a trace of Mana in an unguarded moment of his." "A trace of Mana? What good is that... Are you suggesting I should activate the Talismans I'm holding?" Wang Qi quickly caught on to Zhen Chan's intention. "Correct. While Li Ziye and this man are at an impasse, you only need to find the right moment and activate the few Talismans still clutched in your hand. But, with the huge disparity in strength between you and him, if he notices, even possessing the Forbidden Secret Technique would be futile. Moreover, I cannot afford to let Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao detect my existence, so this time, I will not extend my Spiritual Sense; you must seize the opportunity yourself." "My power is dwindling, I impart the spell to you! Although the technique is complex, it represents your only chance now; you must grasp it quickly." Before Wang Qi could react, he felt a sharp pain in his head, and a Magic Formula emerged directly into his mind. However, upon seeing this spell, Wang Qi almost cursed out loud. "This, this actually requires simultaneously controlling thirty-seven streams of mana in different meridians, each in a distinct manner! Old man, why not just tell me to go die!" For a cultivator, multitasking was no great feat, but asking a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator to divide his mind and spirit in thirty-seven ways was indeed asking the impossible. "Impossible, there's no way to learn this in such a short time; even if I memorized the routes, I couldn't get thirty-seven streams of mana to operate independently." "Unless... they could be made to follow the same pattern!" "But these thirty-seven routes are too different... Wait, if this problem were translated into a mathematical one, it seems... to describe a system made up of thirty-seven particles..." Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through his mind. "That's it! Hilbert Space! This spell doesn't involve any complex changes, the only difficulty lies in the operation of the thirty-seven streams of mana! Using Hilbert Space algorithms, summarize this system with a single function!" Hilbert Space is an extension of Euclidean Space, but not limited to three dimensions. Simply put, to depict a point's movement in three-dimensional space, you need a three-dimensional coordinate system established by three vectors. To treat two points as one, you require a six-dimensional coordinate system with six vectors. Likewise, three points need nine dimensions, four points need twelve dimensions... "Thirty-seven paths would require a one hundred and eleven dimensional Hilbert Space! I cannot be intimidated by the number of dimensions; in the field of mathematics, depicting a point in a one hundred and eleven-dimensional space is much simpler than depicting a system of thirty-seven points in three-dimensional space!" "Hilbert Space was something I was very familiar with in my previous life. Moreover, in my past life, quantum physics required six vectors to describe a single point, now it's only three dimensions. After the Nourishing Life Master's cultivation, my soul is several times stronger than before, and naturally my calculating power is also greater!" "Mentally calculating a one hundred and eleven dimensional Hilbert Space is not impossible!" Having made the decision, Wang Qi focused his mind and began to calculate. "Let's set the Danzhong acupoint... No, start the calculation with the Danzhong as the origin..." Just as Wang Qi began his calculations, Li Ziye launched another round of attacks. "No more retreating! If we retreat again, the secret base might be exposed." Ye Chang released layers of light barriers, but Li Ziye broke through each layer rapidly with his sword. "This kid's sword that breaks through Wanfa is too difficult to deal with... I need to think of something!" Under the pressure of Li Ziye's Heavenly Sword, Ye Chang's Heavy Sword's momentum was faltering, barely keeping up. With no other choice, Ye Chang slapped his chest, spewing a mouthful of Primordial Qi onto the Heavy Sword, using the surge in sword Qi to force Li Ziye back. Li Ziye was about to charge forward again when Ye Chang suddenly stopped, gathered energy, and pulled Wang Qi into his grasp, shouting, "Don't come any closer! If you do, I'll crush this kid!" Wang Qi's heart skipped a beat, stopping his calculations. What a joke! This situation was completely outside of his calculations! Although he had come to somewhat admire Li Ziye after a few days together, Wang Qi was not naive enough to believe that Li Ziye would sacrifice himself for the sake of a mere Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator! Li Ziye paused his offensive and smiled, "What now, you think I would let you, a Nascent Soul Stage big fish, go for the sake of a little Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator?" Ye Chang sneered coldly, "Don't I know what kind of moral fiber you Modern Cultivators have? You still don't understand it yourself? One by one, you've gone crazy, actually believing in that fake benevolence, and even priding yourselves with a 'Heart of World Protection'." Li Ziye shrugged his shoulders, "Okay then, you win." Ye Chang grinned maliciously, "Then, put down the Heavenly Sword in your hand." Li Ziye gave a bitter smile, tossed the Heavenly Sword upwards, where it turned into a silver-band and returned to the Sword Box. Then, Li Ziye took off the Sword Box that he always carried with him and threw it to Ye Chang. Is this guy stupid? Wang Qi was astounded. There's no denying that selfless people exist in the world, but one also has to admit that such people are exceedingly rare in both his past life and the present world. Could it be that the first Golden Core Cultivator he encountered was such a person? What were the odds, like winning the lottery several times over? [Note: Hey there, I'm heading out tomorrow, so updates will be adjusted to two in the evening.]