Chapter 43: This Is No Place to Follow Tradition!

While the mighty Unfettered had their little conference, Wang Qi was in deep thought on his bed.Perusing Xiong Mo’s research brought insight, yet the vague notion he gleaned from it was far from enough to help with his problem. 

He aimed to challenge Divine Province’s immortal path’s common sense.

Relying on the knowledge Earth’s web novels offered him, the only thing justifying the MC’s existence was to violate the natives’ common sense. This world, however, was as real as it got. Divine Province’s cultivators were pioneers of Dao. There would hardly be any gaps in their cultivation theories for him to exploit. 

Since it was a universal requirement to have deep knowledge in a field to train in a said cultivation method to new heights, he couldn’t just slide past Darwin’s theory of evolution while training in the Evolution Chart. 

Be that as it may…

“How did this Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator end up teaching a Drifting Cloud Sect class?”

The question plagued Wang to no end, but a new problem had taken on increasing precedence as of late.

“His research includes zoology, genetics, biochemistry, and biotechnology. The insect demon research involved Drifting Cloud Sect’s knowledge of aerodynamics, while the flower demon required optics.”

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The average research project would have an extensive research team handling it. However, Xiong Mo’s research was particularly specific, to the point that no other cultivator would be caught dead touching that tentacle stuff. From the research project to its reports, everything was done by just one man. 

But how could he grasp so many theories?

Grasping theories and knowing them was totally different. Why else would the modern system bar the doors to so many outsiders seeking immortality? To say nothing of the dedication put into repelling ancient cultivators. With a high cultivator’s perfect and sharp memory, dumping a library’s worth of books into their minds couldn’t be easier. If that was all it took to attain world peace, wouldn’t modern cultivation have disseminated their knowledge to every corner by now?

“I need a Watson to find what’s elementary…”

Wang Qi turned over, muttering to himself, unable to let this issue go for the entire night.

In the morning, Su Junyu gasped in fright at Wang Qi’s face. “Why the devastated look? Did you spend all night pondering the path of the living?”

Pondering the path of the living was a cultivator’s version of Earth’s ‘studying biology,’ short for ‘studying the way living beings reproduce.’ It had severe obscene connotations depending on the situation, such as this. Only for Su Junyu to realize Wang Qi had no way of reading between the lines since he just started his journey toward immortality. 

Wang Qi still hadn’t woken up from his deep thoughts regarding the Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator’s research, nodding out of reflex, “Right you are.”

Su Junyu’s face took a subtle, knowing look. “Which place in Argent A—that’s not it! In my capacity as a teaching assistant, I must deduct points from a bastard like you. You’re a student; act like one!”

Wang Qi finally got Su Junyu’s meaning, but his attention was elsewhere. “Argent Apex has such a place?”

“You didn’t know?” Su Junyu reacted like he suffered a mental trauma: “Is it the raved true love? Holy sh*t! How long has it been going on?”

[What the shit is up with your speech?] Wang Qi gave him an annoyed look. “Giving your first time at some romantic place cheapens it.” 

Su Junyu suffered a critical blow: “There’s absolutely no way I envy the guys getting in on such places… totally not!”

“Eh?” Wang Qi grinned. “A dedicated bachelor? For how long?”

“Bastard, you dare mock me as well? It takes one to know one!”

Wang Qi quipped, “With our age differences?”

Wang Qi had Su Junyu cornered, dishing out one low blow after another. He was hugging himself on the ground and shedding tears of sorrow. Wang Qi’s mood brightened as he hazed this old friend. 

[That’s called feeling joy at another’s pain. So what if my last life was spent rubbing it out? Ha-ha-ha, why do I feel down all of a sudden?] 

Su Junyu recovered from the trauma after a while. “Forget it, I’m sure you’re not that ahead of me anyway. Now what the hell did you do last evening?”

“I went to see Teacher Xiong’s research projects and reports.”

Su Junyu sympathized, “Oh, so it’s a degenerated mental health to the point of nightmares.”

“I was really reflecting on Teacher Xiong’s research. How did he do all that?” 

Su Junyu was astounded. “Did you just discover a new… inclination?”

“I do find insect girls to be cute.” Wang Qi declared, “But it’s not like I’m considering recreating the experiment.

Wang Qi went on explaining his doubts to Su Junyu.

Why could Xiong Mo conduct these experiments intersecting multiple fields?

Wasn’t it said that understanding a field’s theories could then help one comprehend that field’s cultivation methods and magical arts?

Su Junyu shook his head and said, “You lack one basic piece of information.”

“What?”

“‘Seniors’ pursuits’ and ‘contemporary arts’ aren’t that simple concepts.” Su Junyu waved his finger at him and said, “However, you’ve come to the right guy! No one is better than Myriad Arts Sect people when it comes to discussing the ties between the two.”

He looked obnoxiously smug with that ‘come, beg me for it’ look.

Wang Qi bowed. “If you’d be so kind as to enlighten me, Brother Su.”

Su Junyu nodded sagely. “Of course, my child. Do you know what you’re currently learning?” 

“The concluded axioms every large sect’s seniors discovered about Dao.”

Su Junyu nodded. “Do you find an axiom enough to make up a magical art?”

Wang Qi paused, catching on.

“An art or a skill needs many axioms to work.” Su Junyu continued, “Bark and xylem are a must for a tree to grow. I’m sure you know what xylem is. Looking at the arts as leaves, the fundamental paths used therein are the tree’s xylems, while the art’s axioms are the tree’s bark.” 

“Without other axioms, the tree is still a tree, a good material for you to use to build your stair towards heaven, towards Dao. However, by lacking the ‘bark,’ or the other axiom making up the magical art, the wood will always remain as such. The Dao will be just that, Dao, never to become art.

“In the case of only the bark remaining, the leaves can survive, but they lack xylem to grow, leading to falling at a mere breeze. Not one man can attain Dao based on one art, unless his perception is so high that he can grasp Dao from the art.

“In short, art had many axioms involved. You may not be versed in an art’s foundational field, but as long as it uses one of the axioms you know, it’s enough. Of course, a thin bark makes it impossible for a tree to bloom in all its splendor. A person will never use an art to its full power if he doesn’t know its core principles.”

Su Junyu looked smug at the end of his speech, fishing for compliments. Wang Qi was disappointed him by having a heavy heart and contemplating instead of humoring Su Junyu.

Wang Qi asked, “Brother Su, dare I ask, how do cultivators celebrate when they’ve comprehended a major breakthrough? What are the customs in the immortal world?”

Su Junyu paused. “Customs, you say… Myriad Arts Sect retained the tradition of Computation Demon Lord to this day. The Demon Lord reached an epiphany while bathing, flying out naked on his sword in excitement and shouting eureka. Many of his disciples followed in this tradi-, what the hell are you doing?” 

Wang Qi took off his belt, his hands on his lapel, as he bore a cold smile and said, “Following tradition.”