Chapter 38 - 1 May Cicadas

Xin Mountain, a famous peak in the Shenzhou North Land, where the Immortal Alliance Main Temple was located. According to the map drawn by Xuanxing Temple, the Shenzhou Continent was even larger than the Eurasian Continent Wang Qi knew from his previous life. Its southernmost tip exceeded the Equator, and its northernmost part was somewhat distant from the North Pole. Shenzhou accounted for about eighty percent of this planet's landmass. The monsoons here were stronger than those on Earth, making the inland areas of Shenzhou drier, yet not barren. Xinyue, this city, despite being in the north, resembled the scenery of the Southern Country due to the climate adjustments made by the Liuyun Sect and Mountain River City. The atmosphere here was controlled by the arrays of the Liuyun Sect, making the temperature on the mountain not much different from that at the base. It was already the end of May, nearing midsummer. The mountainside where the Immortal Institute was situated was already sweltering. Outside the dormitory area, Chan'er, stimulated by the heat, shed its last layer of skin and emerged from the ground, chirping "zhi lao, zhi lao" on the trees. It was early morning, and the sound of cicadas was somewhat disturbing. A few new disciples couldn't bear the noise and pushed open the windows, throwing a few spells at the trees. Since they were novices and had hardly practiced any spells, the chirping did not abate much. Instead, those who cast the spells were immediately detained by the enforcers from the Discipline Office, who "deducted credits" to clear the minds of these drowsy fools right on the spot. It must be said, the Disciplinary Committee was a detested presence in any world. Wang Qi was sitting cross-legged on his dorm bed, silently circulating his qi. He had risen early, and the outside commotion did not disturb him at all. If a Modern Cultivator were here, they would not find it difficult to notice that all the Spiritual Energy inside the room was diverting, all pointing toward the meditating young man. A massive amount of Spiritual Energy was swallowed by the young man as he cultivated. This anomaly was evidence that Wang Qi had a preliminary understanding of the concept of "field." Typically, cultivators would not encounter this level until the Foundation Establishment Stage. Modern cultivation emphasized harmonizing oneself with the breathing of heaven and earth, and at this moment, Wang Qi seemed to have transformed into the breath of heaven and earth himself! Wang Qi was currently practicing a mental method from the Guiyi Alliance, known as the "holy poem of cultivation"—the "Heavenly Song." A stream of Mana pierced his Dantian and all his acupoints. The Mana itself did not circulate directly like in other cultivation techniques but acted more like a medium. The fluctuations created in the Dantian flowed ceaselessly among the acupoints. According to Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theorem, any tangible electric or magnetic interaction between several separate charged bodies or currents is transmitted through the medium that exists between them, regardless of whether that medium is a vacuum or physical matter. The fluctuations from the Dantian not only drove the circulation of Mana but also caused some of it to overflow, forming a field around Wang Qi. For typical disciples practicing "Heavenly Song," this portion of Mana was considered a reasonable loss. However, Wang Qi had already discovered how to utilize this portion of Mana. His Dantian had already developed a force of convergence, forming a "magnetic field" around him to gather more of heaven and earth's breath. According to Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theorem, electric and magnetic energy exist not only within charged bodies, magnetized bodies, or current-carrying objects but are mostly distributed in the surrounding electromagnetic field. At this moment, Wang Qi's application of "magnetic" force had far surpassed other practitioners of Mid Yuan Magnetic True Qi in his class. Feeling the Mana inside his body growing at a visible rate, Wang Qi was still somewhat dissatisfied. "At present, the 'field' formed mimics the structure of an electrostatic field, which is open. If I could create a closed vortex field, my cultivation speed should be able to climb to another level!" Over this past month, the more Wang Qi cultivated, the more he felt there was something wrong with his practice. Firstly, he severely lacked a method to link theory with cultivation techniques. Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theorem, partly high school coursework and chiefly university level, could be diagrammed by Wang Qi even with his eyes closed from his past life as an Earth top student. However, he couldn't apply this understanding to cultivation. Simply put, his mind was full of E=mc^2, but his practical skills were only at the 'can swing a hammer' level, far from building an atomic bomb. Regarding the second problem... Suddenly, Wang Qi felt a surge of Mana within his body, and the Spiritual Power within started to roar, making his whole body feel as though it was in a sea of fire! "Indeed," Wang Qi sighed, interrupting the "Heavenly Song" cultivation and switching to the "Heavenly Entropy Technique." The "Heavenly Entropy Technique," derived from thermodynamics, controlled temperature and heat from the aspect of entropy. Unlike the Fire Skill in Ancient Method, where each realm had a fixed power of True Fire, the "Heavenly Entropy Technique" functioned to increase and decrease heat. Even Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators could raise the temperature of a Carefree Practitioner's True Fire. Moreover, as long as there was sufficient Mana, one could ensure they weren't burned to death or frozen, as the temperature adjustments in the "Heavenly Entropy Technique" were limitless. The "Heavenly Entropy Technique" gathered the heat around Wang Qi. Under the action of the Entropy Reduction Technique, the agitation of the Mana gradually calmed down. Wang Qi was about to end his cultivation when suddenly, an anomaly occurred again. The power marshaled into the Dantian by the "Heavenly Entropy Technique" burst forth suddenly, sweeping through his body! Wang Qi gritted his teeth and began performing a set of hand techniques. Phase Wave Fist Sword, the accompanying hand technique of the "Elephant Phase Wave Skill." The foundation of the "Elephant Phase Wave Skill" was Phase Wave Theory. Phase Wave, also known as Material Wave or De Broglie Wave on Earth, is derived from the wave-particle duality of all matter's wave form. The "Elephant Phase Wave Skill" could transform Mana into intangible waves, and then into any tangible object, perfectly embodying the idea of "Elephant, formless," hence its name. Allowing the redundant strength within his body to transform into a wave under the effect of the Phase Wave Fist Sword, Wang Qi shouted and pointed to the right, sending a blade-shaped wave shooting along his finger. The tail of the wave blade swept across Wang Qi's bed, and just like that, the pillow was split in two, with stuffing flying everywhere. "How many has it been now?" Wang Qi frowned, wondering. When he first entered the Immortal Institute, after hearing the saying, "The Immortal Institute gives you the chance to make mistakes," he impulsively went to practice most of the peerless mental methods from the Transmitting Technique Hall. Once the cultivation technique had settled on the right track, it would naturally form a cycle within the body. If two cycles operated at the same time, it was crucial to ensure that the techniques didn't interfere with each other, otherwise, a qi deviation could easily occur. Initially, Wang Qi had cultivated too many techniques at once, and there were too many conflicting areas between them. The "Yao Ding Calculating Scripture" and the "Book of Geometry" simply had different emphases, so their contradictions weren't hard to reconcile. However, the "Great Discrete Coincidence," "Heavenly Song," "Heavenly Entropy Technique," and "Elephant Phase Wave Skill," as well as the relativity-based "Light Determining Heaven and Earth" in conjunction with "Heavenly Song" and "Great Discrete Coincidence," nearly all had huge contradictions. After practicing these techniques concurrently, the problems weren't evident in the early stages, but as Wang Qi deepened his cultivation, their contradictions became increasingly prominent, almost driving him to deviation. Wang Qi tried to pick up the cotton scattered around and then took the ring from the table, wearing it on his finger. Zhen Chan burst out laughing uncontrollably, "Ahahaha! I warned you not to practice so many mental methods all at once, and now you've faced the music, haven't you?" Wang Qi smirked. Initially, he thought that with Earth's slightly advanced theories over Shenzhou, the "superstring" theory, which claimed to explain everything, combined with his decent mathematical skills, he could integrate those techniques. Unfortunately, he later realized that his ability to apply 'theory to practice' was too weak. Even with an understanding of higher-level theories, he couldn't implement them. It seems being a transmigrator doesn't make one Long Aotian! While thinking of a solution, Wang Qi headed toward the kitchen. Actually, there were two ways to solve this problem. The first was to find a more advanced cultivation technique as the main study and forcibly suppress the backlash of the various techniques. "Elephant Phase Wave Skill," "Heavenly Entropy Technique," "Heavenly Song," and "Light Determining Heaven and Earth" were all unparalleled mental methods with a weight of four, while "Yao Ding Calculating Scripture" and "Book of Geometry" were rated three. Where could Wang Qi find a stronger mental method? Oh, there was one in the Transmitting Technique Hall, the "Heavenly Calculation Atlas." Although it initially had a weight of only one, it essentially had the potential of a six-weight unparalleled mental method, but... "I'm into physics and mathematics, not biology!" Wang Qi roared internally. He didn't believe that just understanding an evolution algorithm equated to fully grasping the evolution theory, allowing him to deduce the Heavenly Calculation Skill on his own. The second way was to deduce a technique by using the "Grand Unification Theory" and "Superstring Theory" from Earth that could encompass these techniques. However, after seeing the manuscripts of Daoist of Uncertainty, Wang Qi tearfully discarded this option. Even with the groundwork of Daoist of Uncertainty and various theories by Heisenberg, he still couldn't deduce a usable spell. What about stopping cultivation of the other techniques and only focusing on one? That idea seemed beautiful, but its practicality was even less than the previous two options—practically "equal to zero." Wang Qi discovered that the cycles of various techniques within his body had already formed a dangerous dynamic equilibrium. If he suddenly advanced one technique, this balance would be disrupted, and it was highly likely he would die from deviation, with a small chance of becoming crippled from it. "The feeling of lifting a rock only to drop it on your own feet and being unable to dismount the tiger but still having to keep dropping that rock...it's genuinely bitter!" The belief that a novel protagonist, either through a tragic cultivation error or being saved by a master, always results in powerful gains, is indeed deceptive! Unknowingly, Wang Qi's thoughts drifted away again, nearly walking past the kitchen. Since cultivation had taken quite a lot of time, Wang Qi didn't go out very early, and there was already a long queue in the kitchen. Wang Qi dutifully joined the end of the line. Remembering something about the pillow, he scanned into the corner of the kitchen. At the edge, he spotted that familiar orange color. Mao Zimiao, no, Mao Zimiao twitched her ears as if she sensed someone watching her. She looked up, saw Wang Qi, and waved happily. This cat was naturally kind and held no grudges. Given that there were few people in the Immortal Institute during the initial days, Wang Qi and Mao Zimiao quickly became acquainted. Wang Qi, holding a small bowl of noodles and a cup of soy milk, sat down next to Mao Zimiao and instinctively glanced at her cat ears. Mao Zimiao quickly covered her ears, "You won't get to touch them, meow!" Wang Qi nearly choked on his soy milk, "That day was really just an accident!" "That also shows that you, little Qi, have very little self-control, meow!" "I'm at a loss for words...", Wang Qi covered his face, "Alright, Zimiao, since I lack self-control, I need your help with something." "Figures," Mao Zimiao looked knowingly, "I thought as much. You never come to me unless you need help, meow. What is it this time? Clothes or a blanket?" After losing control of the "Elephant Phase Wave Skill," Wang Qi had to use Wave Blade, a kind of attacking method, to expel the redundant power, and within half a month, he had destroyed five blankets, seven pillows, and various articles of clothing. Later, after discovering Mao Zimiao was quite skilled at needlework, he simply asked her to help mend things—ending up with the "Beggar's Blanket" equipment after a month. Mao Zimiao, ever helpful and not minding it, agreed, "Alright. I'll help you sew after I practice my movement technique this afternoon." —————————————————————————————— As for this chapter... Ah, even a goofy youth has moments when their poetic soul burns!