Chapter 5

In the eyes of others, Wang Qi's smile was truly bizarre. Xiang Qi couldn't help but nudge Li Ziyi with her elbow: "Senior Brother Li, is this kid crazy or what?"

Li Ziyi looked at Wang Qi, who was laughing uncontrollably, and smiled bitterly: "I'm not a disciple of the Yangshen Pavilion, so I can't really tell if his mental state is normal."

"This kid has always been saying weird things," Zhen Chanzi interjected into their conversation: "He always thought that sitting in meditation and cultivating qi was the most boring thing. If it weren't for the ultimate goal of immortality, he wouldn't do it. But if he encounters something interesting, he will definitely investigate and enjoy it to the fullest. He probably thinks that the current cultivation methods are much more interesting than the ancient ones."

Zhen Chanzi was not one to dislike talking, but he was worried that if he revealed his existence, other cultivators might intercept Wang Qi to seize the jade ring. If the jade ring fell into the hands of a good person, it would be fine, but if it were taken by a villain, Zhen Chanzi would be doomed. However, since the two people in front of him already knew about his existence, he no longer held back.

Xiang Qi's face showed disgust: "So he really has gone crazy from cultivation?"

"Ha ha ha... The old man told me about that so-called Immortal Dao... It's just a bunch of nonsense... It seems lively with all the back-and-forth, but in reality, the actions of cultivators are monotonous... Ha ha ha..." Wang Qi was delighted: "To put it simply, it's like a group of shrimps, crabs, fish, and frogs fighting for food in a pond that is destined to dry up. Who would want to spend their days seeking 'opportunities'?"

Zhen Chanzi said angrily: "It seems I talked too much to you before. Besides, how do you know that today's cultivators don't seek opportunities?"

Wang Qi pointed to the light sphere in the sky—the battlefield of the Wuwei Great Cultivators: "I don't understand what the Immortal Alliance is, but from its name, it's probably a coalition of multiple sects. And to use four Great Cultivators..."

"Che, Great Cultivators," Xiang Qi suddenly interjected: "The Celestial Sovereigns of the Free and Easy Realm are not comparable to the so-called ancient Great Cultivators."

Wang Qi was greatly surprised: "Free and Easy? The classification of realms today is different from the past—this isn't the point. The point is, to use four Celestial Sovereigns to surround and kill one, it proves that either the Immortal Alliance has no strong external enemies, or the current Celestial Sovereigns are not valuable. But the Free and Easy Realm corresponds to the Great Cultivator of the old system, right? It should be the highest realm of cultivation today?"

Li Ziyi smiled and nodded, affirming: "Indeed. You have some insight, young man."

Wang Qi continued: "Since there are no external enemies, they must have united. This means that for today's cultivation methods, the benefits of cooperation outweigh competition. Since the Celestial Sovereigns mentioned the old man, cough, Daoist Bu Zhun, because he violated the Immortal Alliance's rules and is hiding here, it shows that the Immortal Alliance has at least a strict and powerful system on the surface. This means that the cooperation of today's cultivators is long-term, not just for a quick profit."

Li Ziyi nodded in agreement: "That's correct."

"Since today's cultivation methods don't focus much on resources, with my smooth-talking skills, it's not impossible to cultivate to immortality peacefully, right?"

Zhen Chanzi sneered: "Smooth-talking skills? Don't ruin a good word! If you were smooth-talking, the hundred or so people in Dabai Village wouldn't treat you as a laughingstock."

Xiang Qi sneered: "You treat today's cultivators like fools, wanting to be a parasite?"

Li Ziyi also shook his head: "Today's cultivation methods are not something you can master just by being good at scheming—what? Be careful!"

Li Ziyi's face suddenly changed, and he slapped the sword case on his back with his right hand: "Heavenly Sword! Draw!"

A sword beam silently flew out of the sword case, hovering above Li Ziyi's head. Then, it burst into a brilliant light!

The light sphere that trapped Daoist Bu Zhun shattered like a soap bubble.

Several semi-transparent streams of light flew out from the shattered light sphere, one of which headed straight for Wang Qi!

"Go!"

Li Ziyi's finger gesture guided the Heavenly Sword, which emitted a light as bright as the sun, then collided with the stream of light!

—

Zhen Chanzi had been watching the battle of the Celestial Sovereigns.

Since he had lived in the same village as Daoist Bu Zhun for five years without discovering him, Daoist Bu Zhun's abilities must be higher than his. He must have noticed Zhen Chanzi's frequent release of spiritual senses and teaching Wang Qi cultivation.

When he left the village, he released his spiritual senses over a wide area and discovered the four Celestial Sovereigns, so they must have also noticed him.

Therefore, he no longer concealed himself and boldly observed the battle of the Celestial Sovereigns.

As Zhen Chanzi expected, the five Celestial Sovereigns were too busy to deal with a half-disabled, non-interfering ancient Great Cultivator.

Just now, he noticed Daoist Bu Zhun releasing several semi-transparent rectangular thin sheets from a treasure he couldn't see through, heading towards the light sphere. He knew something might go wrong and quickly warned Li Ziyi, the most powerful cultivator nearby.

Sure enough, Daoist Bu Zhun's spell eventually had a ripple effect, transforming into several streams of light, one of which headed towards Wang Qi.

"Go!"

The light of the Heavenly Sword was so intense that it almost burned Wang Qi's eyes. But when this powerful sword collided with the stream of light, it was completely silent.

Then, the light on Li Ziyi's Heavenly Sword began to spread, slowly covering the entire sky. A crack appeared in the sky, slowly spreading. Finally, under Wang Qi's astonished gaze, the sky, dyed golden, shattered, revealing... the original color of the sky.

"What... What's happening? Why did a barrier suddenly appear?"

Wang Qi finally understood that it wasn't the sky that shattered, but a semi-transparent film that suddenly appeared above his head. The film, not the sky, had shattered.

Xiang Qi also looked at Li Ziyi, clearly curious about this level of power.

"The Great Rectangular Heaven Map, Daoist Bu Zhun's life-bound treasure," Li Ziyi said with a lingering fear: "Many years ago, my predecessor from the Myriad Methods Sect created a mathematical method called the Rectangular Method to归纳 a complex cultivation system into a matrix. In the past, Daoist Bu Zhun used the Rectangular Method to solve a level of Heavenly Dao. This level of Heavenly Dao, combined with a third-order matrix, can refine all cultivation methods and channel the power into the matrix, which is extremely terrifying!—I wonder how the battle ended."

Wang Qi felt a lump in his throat—damn, this setting is a bit bizarre, this world's Heisenberg has even developed matrix mechanics?

"Daoist Bu Zhun used the Great Rectangular Heaven Map to break free from the confinement and escape. The other four pursued him, but his movement techniques are truly bizarre, and the other four couldn't surround him again."

Li Ziyi nodded: "Indeed, Daoist Bu Zhun is known for the most bizarre movement techniques in the world, even immortals can't catch him."

Zhen Chanzi's tone was somewhat dejected: "You, a mere Golden Core cultivator, can unleash a power equivalent to a Soul Transformation cultivator... Maybe I really am old..."

"Golden Core!" Wang Qi let out a cry of surprise. He had thought this calm and unassuming man was at most a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Xiang Qi, but he was actually a Golden Core!

According to Zhen Chanzi, Golden Core cultivators are a different level of beings. If they descended to the mortal world, even the emperor would treat them with respect. Wang Qi thought that achieving Golden Core and not experiencing the joy of dominating the mortal world would be a waste, but he never expected to meet such a gentle Golden Core cultivator first.

Li Ziyi wiped the cold sweat from his head: "Sir, you flatter me. I can defeat an ancient Foundation Establishment cultivator, but I can't match the explosive power of an ancient Soul Transformation cultivator. The power of that strike came from the Heavenly Sword in my hand."

Wang Qi drew a deep breath. Zhen Chanzi had said that a Golden Core defeating a Foundation Establishment was a delusion, but Li Ziyi said it wasn't difficult. How advanced had the cultivation methods of the Immortal Dao become?

"Those Great Cultivators... Celestial Sovereigns mentioned the Heavenly Sword. Is the Heavenly Sword a standardized treasure?"

Zhen Chanzi asked. In his memory, standardized treasures were generally not very good.

Li Ziyi shook his head: "The Heavenly Sword is indeed a flying sword, but it's special. If you don't mind, I can explain from the beginning, okay?"

Zhen Chanzi said: "We have nothing else to do."

Wang Qi was also very interested in this strange world and naturally had no objections.

"When the current sects and the ancient forces were in a great battle, some ancient cultivators defected. Among them, those with shallow cultivation and weak Dao hearts, we tried to help them switch to the current methods. But some of the more advanced ones had their cultivation methods already set, and we couldn't kill them or let them grow, so we sealed them to the mortal world to become local kings. Their descendants became non-current cultivators tacitly allowed by the current Immortal Dao."

"Seven hundred years ago, there was a dynasty called Dade. The emperor of that generation, Xi, was an ambitious person. He not only simplified the royal cultivation method and promoted it among the soldiers but also used his eloquence and political skills to bring high-level cultivators under his command. Other countries followed suit, and for a time, the Immortal Dao lost control over the mortal world."

Zhen Chanzi said: "The history of cultivation is eighty thousand years old, and there have been many times when the royal families were the strongest sects and the nobles were all cultivators. This is not unusual."

"But in the end, Emperor Dade launched a war that swept the world. For some reason, he managed to persuade Daoist Bu Zhun of the Ethereal Palace, Hai Senbao, and the Flame God of the Gold Burning Valley, Ao Haien, to join his side."

Zhen Chanzi sighed: "This person is not simple, he should be a wise ruler."

Xiang Qi shook her head: "Later, he revealed his identity as a demonic cultivator. It turned out he had obtained an ancient demonic cultivation manual from somewhere and was willing to stir up chaos to use the resentment of the world to enhance his cultivation."

Li Ziyi continued: "Emperor Dade knew that he couldn't match any of the current Celestial Sovereigns. If his demonic cultivator identity was exposed, Daoist Bu Zhun would be the first to not spare him. This Emperor Dade was indeed capable, he managed to persuade Daoist Bu Zhun and others to forge a world-destroying demonic weapon for him! In the current sects, the Light Hall and the Ethereal Palace are two branches that diverged but converged. They have different foundations but can communicate at higher levels. Therefore, there was a lot of exchange between the two. The foundation of the world-destroying demonic weapon was the creation of the Light Hall's Celestial Sovereign, Taiyi, Ai Zitan, a game of his!"

"Early in his life, Taiyi was bored and derived a small spell from his cultivation method and pushed it to the extreme. At the time, the Celestial Sovereign thought this method was too fierce and could only remain at the theoretical level. Unexpectedly, the Nuclear Chain Law King, Fermi, eventually solved this spell. But in the Law King's mind, once this method was used, it would backfire and result in mutual destruction. The Flowing Cloud Sect's sword control techniques provided the possibility for this spell to be activated, and the unique sword control technique of Feng Buren, the摘星揽月, made this grand spell even more powerful. Taiyi then urgently wrote to the American Emperor Luo. To save the world, the American Emperor gathered the cultivators of the Ethereal Palace, the Gold Burning Valley, the Myriad Methods Sect, and the Flowing Cloud Sect to form the Heavenly Sword Sect to oppose Emperor Dade."

"The Heavenly Sword Sect, with the help of the American Emperor, gathered all the resources of the world and, after several years, forged a powerful weapon before Emperor Dade, capable of activating Taiyi's world-destroying spell. When the Heavenly Sword first appeared, it reached the heavens and the underworld, like a thunderbolt, and all within the four borders submitted to its command. Later, Emperor Dade's identity was exposed, and Daoist Bu Zhun and others were disgraced, and the great battle ended."

"Unexpectedly, the American Emperor Luo suddenly went mad and died, and the treacherous minister Du stole the throne, wanting to monopolize the Heavenly Sword. The Heavenly Sword Sect saw through his plot and invited all the cultivators in the world to question the Heavenly Sword. Du sent troops to attack, but a cultivator single-handedly annihilated the American five divisions. At that time, he was given the nickname 'Five Divisions Annihilation,' which is the current Palace Master Qian."

Zhen Chanzi sighed: "It's quite a dramatic story... Kid, isn't this the part you're most interested in? Why have you been silent since the beginning?"

Wang Qi stared fixedly at the Heavenly Sword above Li Ziyi's head. He only snapped back to reality when Zhen Chanzi called out to him: "Senior Li... Your Heavenly Sword... Is it called 'Fat Man,' 'Thin Man,' or 'Little Boy'?"

"Ah?"

Even with the reaction speed of a Golden Core cultivator, Li Ziyi couldn't handle this question and was stunned on the spot. If Li Ziyi was thunderstruck, Wang Qi felt like he had been hit by the legendary flying immortal thunder for three days and three nights.

This is the Immortal Dao version of the Manhattan Project, damn it! Do you guys even know what you're holding, you nuclear sword cultivators!