Chapter 46 - 8: On the Criteria for Making Friends

Seeing Xiong Mo's research plans and experimental reports, Wang Qi couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy shit!" Zhen Chan asked, "You haven't even looked at the specifics yet. Why are you swearing already?" Wang Qi explained, "His projects prior to the Golden Core Stage were all about the ecological research of the Naxi Ancient Land. At the usual pace of the Immortal Alliance, the three realms in the human world—Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core—are mostly about accumulation, which is normal. Typically, only cultivators above the Primordial Spirit Stage have the qualifications to conduct independent research. However, after he advanced to the Primordial Spirit Stage and became a Great Grandmaster, all research plans... were either discontinued or rejected." "Is that so strange?" "The Immortal Alliance usually does not forcibly interrupt experiments because even a failed experiment can at least eliminate one wrong approach for the successors. Experiments are generally halted only when the funding runs out. Forcing a stop twice, did this guy conduct illegal human experiments or what..." Wang Qi opened the first experimental report. "The Naxi Insect Demon Military Weaponization Research Report... it seems a bit callous but still fairly normal." Over a thousand years ago, the nine great Demon Kings gathered their forces, attempting to compete with the Human Clan. As a result, eight of the Demon Kings were slain, with the remaining one fleeing overseas seeking protection from the Ancient Dragon King. The territories of the nine Demon Kings were then divided among the sects of the Immortal Alliance. Among these, the territory of the Mysterious Poison Demon King, the Naxi Ancient Land, was full of poisonous miasma and rarely tread upon by the Human Clan cultivators for tens of thousands of years. This place is rich in species, including many extraordinary kinds from ancient times, which greatly enriched the life map in the Modern Immortal Path, thus it was allotted to Tianling Ridge. Tianling Ridge established a barrier as the largest "protected area" around the outskirts of Naxi Ancient Land. Xiong Mo's research focused on a social species of insect from the dragonfly order, found in the Naxi Ancient Land. All the adult forms of this demon insect are demonized individuals—in layman's terms, all the adults are demon creatures. Under the command of that Mysterious Poison Demon King, there was even an Insect Queen that had awakened spirit wisdom and transformed into a humanoid form. This type of Insect Demon reproduces quickly, and individual strength is not weak; in swarms, even high-order cultivators have to detour around them. This research aimed to turn these Naxi Insect Demons into biological weapons. "By further differentiating the types of insects and enhancing their overall combat effectiveness through division of labor. This sounds pretty reliable. 'Planning to introduce partial genetic sources of leaf-cutting ants to give the Insect Demons the ability to cultivate fungal crops.' Even this is considered... This research clearly has great value..." On Earth, even scientists from different domains can share the same or similar views on some fundamental issues. In Wang Qi's view, this technology-focused research has both practical application and technical value; there's absolutely no reason for it to be halted. And then, Wang Qi read some content that challenged his views. "Because the Insect Queen is not easy to move and cultivating a transformed Insect Queen is too costly, it is proposed to introduce a role that can command the subordinates on behalf of the Insect Queen, handling military power only and not needing to reproduce... To facilitate communication between cultivators and this type of adult insect, and command the swarm, it is planned to endow it with higher spirit wisdom... To remove the cultivators' reservations, it needs to have a human-like appearance... Proposed to be a young girl..." Damn it... Wang Qi continued flipping through. This experimental report and subsequent plans even included illustrations of the demonized insect. From the views at different angles, aside from the two pairs of dragonfly wings on the back and the chitinous organ where the wings joined the body, it indeed resembled a human girl, and... as it was a biological illustration, of course, it was nude. "This is just challenging human ethics..." Wang Qi muttered. The second research plan: "Naxi Flower Demon Breeding Plan." "To prevent the militarized insect demons from becoming a disaster, I propose using the natural enemy of the insect demons, a carnivorous flower demon that grows in the Naxi Ancient Land, as a base to create a counter to the Naxi demon insects..." Then, this Great Grandmaster from Spirit Beast Mountain justified giving the flower demon the ability to transform into a human form for the sake of "easy communication" and "dispelling cultivators' dislike," and it was to be a young girl. And then came the illustrations, naturally nude juvenile girl figures from various perspectives—only with tentacles on their backs. The plan did not pass. Moreover, the high-ups of the Immortal Alliance bluntly attached the reason for rejection: You idiot! What could be more shameful than leading a group of girls on a demon-slaying campaign? Leading a little girl on a demon-slaying campaign! Where have you placed the dignity of the Immortal Alliance! The third proposal, Immortal Prosthetics, was a joint research project between Tianling Ridge and Thousand Mechanism Pavilion. The records show that Xiong Mo was kicked out of the team halfway through—they had unauthorizedly added a transformation feature to the prosthetic, and a woman who had been gnawed on one side by a demon beast and volunteered for the experiment still has the problem of spider legs popping out behind her when agitated. Although this feature gave the woman, who was originally a mortal, the combat power that could rival that of Modern Foundation Establishment and Ancient Golden Core practitioners, the cost of using this feature was... clothes bursting off. —He definitely did it on purpose! This kind of welfare-laden feature must have been meticulously designed! Zhen Chan's tone was like he had swallowed a fly: "It's a bit disgusting." Wang Qi slapped his thigh: "This is someone who knows how to have fun!" "Knows how to have fun?" "Do it yourself, have plenty of food and clothing—for those 'gentlemen' who like non-humans, this is just the pinnacle!" Someone's gotta get on the non-human wives; if there are no non-human wives, make 'em and get on them anyway! What kind of spirit is this? It's the spirit of love that transcends race! Wang Qi, with a "gentleman's" smile, clicked on the next experimental report, "Transformation Divine Power Study," and then... As a psychologically mature adult, Wang Qi was deeply shocked when viewing certain images. He quickly closed the display interface, expressionless: "Old man, did you see anything?" Zhen Chan spoke stiffly, "No." Damn, because you like non-humans you turn yourself into one? Tentacle muscle guys are simply an assault on the eyes! Shouldn't this stuff be classified and sealed away? What if kids saw this free-for-all? And isn't this supposed to be an Immortal Hero setting? Why is there a Cthulhu tentacle evil god transformation? Coach, you've got the style all wrong! Wang Qi held his forehead, thought for a moment, and then reopened the first experimental report. Zhen Chan instantly became horrified: "What are you doing, kid?" Wang Qi quickly flipped to the last few pages of the report: "I need healing." "Kid... hold on! Think about the outside, the endless beauty of this world, don't give up on yourself!" Wang Qi exclaimed, "You don't understand! If I don't do this, I can't get through it right now!" "Where is your Heart of Seeking? You..." Perhaps Wang Qi had raised his voice too much, as the few other people in the Immortal Mirror Room looked over. Wang Qi immediately fell silent. It's not shameful to view suggestive images, but doing so in public under everyone's gaze does test one's nerve. However, although Wang Qi intended to be a quiet and handsome man watching suggestive images quietly, the people he had disturbed had come to him on their own. Wang Qi jumped when a strange voice called out from behind him, "Brother Wang Qi?" "Don't just randomly call out to someone at a time like this! What if it leaves a hidden illness?" he protested. "Ah?" Although the young man behind him had anticipated many possible responses, Wang Qi's reaction still caught him off guard. Only then did Wang Qi turn around, "What's up?" The youth forced a stiff smile, "Heh heh... Brother Wang Qi, you really are... uniquely independent." "Thanks." Wang Qi's response once again exceeded the young man's comprehension. He laughed awkwardly, "Hahaha..." "Are you here to crack jokes?" A flicker of anger appeared on the youth's face. When had he ever been treated so unreasonably? But he quickly regained his composure, "Nothing much. I just wanted to make friends with Brother Wang Qi." Wang Qi frowned, "Who are you?" The corner of the youth's mouth twitched, "Heh heh... Brother Wang Qi is truly devoted to seeking the Dao. We're in the same class; my name is Du Bin, in the same class as you." It was only upon hearing the other's name that Wang Qi took a second look at him—How does a perfectly good human end up with a dog's name? Du Bin, no, I mean Dobermann saw Wang Qi's interest and became a bit more haughty, "Brother Wang Qi, I truly admire your talent for breaking through to Heavenly Communication before even entering the Immortal Institute." Wang Qi gave him a look, "Aren't you also at the Qi Cultivation Stage?" Du Bin shook his head, "I am a disciple from a family of renown; it's naturally different." He then added with a hand gesture, "Brother Wang Qi, your talent is truly enviable. I just wanted to make a friend." Wang Qi turned back around, his eyes returning to the Ten Thousand Immortals Mirror, "Not interested." Du Bin was taken aback, "What's going on?" "No interest means no interest." Du Bin's face turned awkward, "Brother Wang Qi, you have good relations with Senior Sister Xiang from Burning Gold Valley and Senior Brother Su from Wanfa Sect, and you even show respect to that half-demon... Did I do something wrong?" Wang Qi was expressionless, "No." "Then why..." Wang Qi's tone was very serious, "I have two criteria for making friends. Either they're someone whose coattails I can ride." "Ah?" "Xiang Qi and Su Junyu naturally fall into the first category, and that dumb cat falls into the second category." Du Bin's face went through several changes, "Are you joking, Brother Wang Qi?" How could anyone seriously say anything like that! Wang Qi turned to let Du Bin see the Ten Thousand Immortals Mirror in front of him, "Honestly, I'm also not a fan of cats. Of course, I'm even less of a dog person." That powerful image struck Dobermann's world view hard. He stepped back sharply, sized Wang Qi up and down, then fled in a panic. Wang Qi snorted and said to the ring, "Hehe, couldn't handle it, could he? Old man, now can you tell me why I shouldn't associate with that guy?" Zhen Chan replied, "There are signs of Spirit Body Cultivation on him; he must have once been an Ancient Method Practitioner. Plus, I'm very familiar with his Cultivation Technique." Wang Qi's eyebrows raised, "Can you remember it?" Zhen Chan said, "Not all Cultivation Techniques are like the 'Yao Ding Calculating Scripture.' Du Family's 'Green Moon Rotation Technique' from the Yanyue Sect, hehe, although it incorporated some elements from the Modern Path, turning the essence of Heaven and Earth into a method of 'Borrowing Heaven and Earth Breathing,' it's fundamentally the same." Wang Qi frowned, "Still pursuing the family's Cultivation Technique after joining the Immortal Institute?" "Most likely here to get a Sect disciple's status for show. Someone like him approaching you to be friends usually has ulterior motives. But you rejected him in that way?" "It's just to save future troubles." "But you actually took my advice?" Wang Qi shook his head, "Your advice was only part of it. How can we be friends when our personalities are so different? That guy couldn't even take a couple of jokes." "But even if you can't be friends with that kind of person, you could still consider using each other as partners. Your method was a bit extreme." Wang Qi scoffed, "Would a smart person care about that if they wanted to form a beneficial alliance? And why would I collaborate with someone who isn't smart? Besides, why would I offend a real friend for some business relationship? Am I stupid?" Zhen Chan thought for a moment, then chuckled, "'That half-demon'? Because this fellow is biased against half-demons? Haha, you really do care about that little girl!" Wang Qi pursed his lips, "You're overthinking it." ———————————————————— Thank you to the generous student from the shadows for your large number of recommendation tickets! I'm truly inspired by your support of nine, ten tickets at a time! Also, please give me your recommendation tickets~