Applied Immortality

Chapter 52: Just Keep Smiling

Wang Qi had no trouble finding Hilbert’s recommended books, but another issue cropped up. 

He needed merits to borrow them.

Immortal Alliance merits, from what Wang Qi recalled, were an Immortal Alliance system. Upon completing an Immortal Alliance job or task, the cultivator would receive merits from the Immortal Alliance. Word went around that everything could be bought with merits—as long as one had enough.

Wang Qi gave the library’s rules another careful read. They differed from the ones on Earth. You spent Immortal Alliance merits not to borrow time to read books but to borrow rights. Borrowing a book’s right to read implies earning the right to read said book from any library across the Immortal Alliance. 

Furthermore, the borrowing cultivator had to vow on their hearts never to make copies of it. Yet there was no ban on talking about their content.

“Is this to encourage communication among cultivators?” Wang Qi nodded after that reflection, soon becoming worried.

Hilbert recommended dozens of books, and the cost varied from around ten to over a hundred merits. Adding it all up would be close to a thousand merits. How long would that fricking take to earn? 

Wang Qi remembered like it was yesterday how Mao Zimiao worked as a janitor in the Immortal Institute for a month to earn one lousy merit. It was her task that had brought the two together.

Thinking about it, he realized the reason behind his situation. In Hilbert’s eyes, his math was at the level of those problems at the back of the Arts Archive. He believed Wang Qi wouldn’t be touching these books anytime soon. 

Also, Hilbert recommended these books to him so he would study for a long time since Hilbert had no intention of taking him as a disciple.

Wang Qi’s tension eased.

Although, going by his summary of the correlations between the two worlds, Divine Province’s cultivation achievements were often related to their parallel world analogy on Earth. [Doesn’t that mean I get these books at a severe discount since I have read their Earth’s counterpart?] 

Hilbert and Neumann wrote some of the recommended books. Their parallel world analogy on Earth greatly furthered the field of physics. Wang Qi riffled through their works more times than he could count.

Wang Qi perused ‘Calculator Mind Theory’, authored by Neumann of Myriad Arts Sect. Wang Qi figured this book’s counterpart on Earth had to be ‘The Computer and the Brain’ by John von Neumann, more or less.

Flipping through the book, Wang Qi discovered a seal placed on it, allowing only the first dozen pages to be read.

[I can’t believe there’s a preview implemented as well.] He shook his head and focused on the part he could read.

Wang Qi finished the preview and looked conflicted.

He was happy the Calculator Mind Theory was similar to Earth’s counterpart in terms of calculations, logic, knowledge, calculation magic items, as well as calculation magic item refining, but what it had extra was about applying the theories on cultivation, especially when it came to Divine Hexagram Computation’s explanations. It contained a clear example of how to build one’s foundation with this mental art and how to tie it to calculating magic items. This was exactly the kind of information Wang Qi lacked.

The only problem was that he couldn’t get them at a discount.

Wang Qi checked a couple more books, finding them in the same situation.

“Curses! I need them all!” Wang Qi whined.

By the time Wang Qi finished browsing the library, the afternoon practice was fast approaching.

Geng Peng glared at Wang Qi, the two seemed to be in tune when it came to the former picking on the freshman. Geng Peng went above and beyond the call of duty to find faults in Wang Qi and to see him fail, and Wang Qi did his part in giving his best in working to fix his slips.

Today, however, Geng Peng had to rub his eyes after glaring. For some reason, Wang Qi’s shabby performance with the sword and fists was gone overnight. The kid was like a different person. 

That didn’t mean the kid had no faults to pick on. Wang Qi hadn’t learned how to solve swordsmanship’s formulas, making his display a poor imitation of skill for the average Myriad Arts Sect disciple. But looking at it from a different angle, that of a freshman, Wang Qi’s swordplay was perfect. 

[Did he advance his cultivation?]

After the practice, Geng Peng couldn’t fight the question, “Hey, kid, did you get lucky yesterday?”

Wang Qi beamed, “What do you think?”

Indifference did not equal not having ire. Wang Qi didn’t let himself get dragged into Geng Peng’s pace while sword practicing, but by no means did it mean he liked the guy messing with him at every turn. His sword partner got so intrigued by his lucky encounter that he fell for it.

[I’m just that petty!]

His smile brought a certain possibility to Geng Peng’s mind. “Could it be ‘that?'” 

“That.” Wang Qi gave a vague smile as he left.

As for what ‘that’ was, [Ha-ha, he’ll fill in the blanks with whatever.]

Geng Peng grabbed Wang Qi’s shoulder, alarming Wang Qi. 

Geng Peng spoke with no little awkwardness, “Could ‘that’ really clear your mind and smoothen your energy flow?”

[Holy hell, this guy is even imagining it!] Wang Qi sneered inside, deciding to just smile and nod regardless of what the others said.

[Just keep smiling.]

Wang Qi’s smile further solidified Geng Peng’s wild guess. He whispered, “Argent Apex has such a place…”

[Hold up, I seem to recall hearing this line already.]

Geng Peng sounded hurt. “I’ve been lied to. The rumor about saving yourself for three hundred years to attain Eminence and three thousand years to reach Unfettered was all a sham.”

[Holy Mother of God!] Golden Core cultivators can live for centuries. Spending three of them on training instead of love is normal. Besides, the modern cultivation system has only been around for a couple of thousand years. [The only ones capable of living for three millennia among modern cultivators would be Unfettered alone!] 

Su Junyu did mention this before. [Can the Myriad Arts Sect be such a sordid sect? Bro, don’t just spend your life seeking zenith. Is that what you tell yourself to help you sleep at night?] 

“Wait, how is a student doing that? I’m docking your points!”

[Shit, the same damn reaction! What’s the connection between the Myriad Arts Sect and the die group?](Tamon: Go Die Group claims to ‘fight against the social trend of love capitalism’ and aims to ‘destroy the romantic atmosphere’. A Japanese prank culture group, or Kuso.)