Applied Immortality

“Moment of choice.”

Wang Qi talked to himself as he placed the ring on a stack of papers.

The ring, Math, was an immortal item that the Middle Ages’ Numeral School made. Myriad Arts Sect hailed itself as following the Numerical School’s ideology to this day. As for the ring, it was Numerical School Leader’s symbol. 

The papers were copies of Daoist Proscribe’s work, the strongest gemius of modern cultivation, on the same level as Supreme Lord and Arbiter of Arithmetic. On these papers were written Daoist Proscribe’s deductions on his mental art. 

Looking at the two another way, one was from the Myriad Arts Sect, and the other was from Elusive Palace.

This was what it meant to specialize. Wang Qi had two lifetimes working to his advantage, but even that wasn’t enough to crush all his peers. Doubling cultivation methods sounded neat, but the farther one went, the more effort each mental art needed. He already had trouble dealing with all of them. At this rate, the admissions trial would put him behind far too many people than he would like.

To that end, some cultivation methods had to be put on hold. The important thing right now was to deal with the admissions trial. 

The admissions trial wasn’t just a way for Immortal Institute’s genius disciples to pick their future sect, but for the sects to pick their disciples. Training a particular sect’s mental art improved one’s chances of joining that sect.

To alleviate the mental arts conflict, he chose the Evolution Chart as his main cultivation method. He could never stop training it. The only way to make more time was by dealing with the mental arts he minored in. 

“Divine Hexagram Computation and the Book of Geometry can’t stop. Mathematics is the queen of science. Divine Province’s cultivation world has the same view. No sect would ever refuse a disciple specializing in math.

“I’ll also need Celestial Hymn Odyssey to research electromagnetic forces later, but it’s far away. From what I can see, the admission trial’s requirement of electromagnetic fields won’t go into much detail. I’m not too familiar with the classical physics era either. I’ll stop it for now.

“I understand wave-particle duality to perfection, but I need a lot of time to integrate it into my mental art. Solar Flare and Heavenly Light Transmutation will stop.

“Grand Ripple Enigma and Celestial Entropy—the two have obvious fighting power even at entry level and are completely different from the late-stage cultivation methods like Waveform Essence. They’re shortcuts to improve my battle instincts. I can’t stop them before the admission trial.” 

…

Analyzing the many arts he cultivated, Wang Qi arrived at a crux.

“What do I do about the Grand Discrete Unity Treatise and Waveform Essence?”

The two mental arts would give him bonus points with the ambitious Elusive Palace. That went double for Waveform Essence, which was only theorized to be cultivated at Qi Refining Realm. Just by showcasing this mental art, Wang Qi was of the firm belief he’d become an inner disciple.

But he was going after the true disciple spot.

Modern cultivation didn’t need resources, shifting priorities toward research. Just like how greater scientists on Earth could easily apply for funds, true disciples’ endorsements for research were also beyond what an inner disciple got.

Like Su Junyu and Xiang Qi stated, the five best’s true disciples’ abysmal low acceptance wasn’t a joke. Even Wang Qi had to grasp every advantage he could think of. 

The Grand Discrete Unity Treatise and Waveform Essence were key issues for his admission trial.

The mental arts were feeble starting out but grew the more one delved into them. Qi Refining Realm-wise, they had limited combat power.

Halting the two meant Wang Qi’s heart was set on abandoning Elusive Palace for Myriad Arts Sect.

Wang Qi sighed. “It’s a really tough choice.”

Zhen Chanzi said, “It doesn’t look like it to me. Math has no real use to you, while Daoist Proscribe’s work has real and tangible results through their incredible arts.” 

Wang Qi shook his head. “It’s not so simple. My major is in Evolution Chart. If I don’t wish to rely on comprehending the life path to infer this damaged cultivation method, I only have math to fall back on—specialization, got it?”

Zhen Chanzi paused. “In other words, your choice in the Myriad Arts Sect has nothing to do with Math? Why bother with all this then?”

Wang Qi said, “Don’t you think having one Myriad Arts Sect symbol and one Elusive Palace symbol sets a nice stage?”

“Ha-ha…”

“Also, it is related somewhat.” Wang Qi switched topics: “At the least, my math will improve after joining the Myriad Arts Sect and better grasping Math. Doesn’t Celestial Rift Lord have a matching item?”

“You’re after the Imperial Celestial Rift Sect?”

Wang Qi nodded. “Butchering my home and killing my friend makes us sworn enemies.”

“That gives you sufficient reason to pick Myriad Arts Sect.” 

Wang Qi shook his head and said, “I don’t want to give up on Elusive Palace.”

“Eh?”

“You won’t understand.”

The physical laws of this world were strikingly similar to Earth’s universe, yet not identical. For Wang Qi, everything this world offered fascinated him. As a researcher, his nature compelled him to explore it.

The microscopic realm was exceedingly close to the nature of the world, with Elusive Palace having delved deepest into this field.

Unlike other fields requiring substantial resources for repeated experiments, mathematical research hinged on the researcher’s ability. As for resources, it was easier to access the All-immortal Realm. He might not even get the chance to conduct cutting-edge physical experiments. 

“That’s why it always comes down to Myriad Arts Sect or Elusive Palace.”

Wang Qi was brought back to his college days when he chose his major, either math or physics, but he didn’t want to give up on either. However, Divine Province’s cultivation community did not offer any double majoring solutions. He had to choose still.

Wang Qi pondered for a long time, sighing at the end and placing his hand on Daoist Proscribe’s papers. 

The papers delved into the Grand Heavenly Chart, Ethereal Cloud Sword, Elusory Movement, and many other ultimate skills. Training in but a few would one reach a weighted value of 20, making light work of most enemies.

[Should I go for Elusive Palace then?]

[No, with these papers on hand, Elusive Palace loses most of its value. They are my guides to walk far on the elusive path. What I lack is foundational and basic knowledge to put theory into cultivation methods.] 

With a rock-hard foundation, connecting theory and cultivation arts to create a superstring or a super cultivation method in the form of the greatest unifying cultivation method on Divine Province was all very much possible.

[And that foundation…]

Wang Qi’s gaze fell on the ring.

[I had a good math foundation on Earth, but not the best. Now is the best time to make up for it. Moreover, integrating math into cultivation is far easier than quantum physics, allowing me to quickly grasp what ties theory to cultivation.] 

[Furthermore, advanced math offers few opportunities to join a physics research. The most famous examples are Hilbert and Neumann from Earth.] 

Wang Qi chuckled and grabbed the ring. [Myriad Arts Sect, here I come!]

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