Wang Qi lay on the ground for a while, then got up and said, "Ahh, I better prepare la. In a few days, I go out find this 'opportunity,' start my journey to kill people, grab treasure, and live the life of the virtuous inheritor loh!"
Zhen Chanzi suddenly spoke: "Wait."
"Eh? What now?" Wang Qi turned to look.
"You still don't have the self-awareness of a cultivator," Zhen Chanzi said. "Your spiritual power needs to be tempered, needs to be studied. After you make progress in your power, you can rest for a bit, but after relaxing, you must meditate again and understand your mental methods."
Wang Qi sighed and sat back down in the Gathering Spirit Array. He began contemplating the mental technique left in his body by Zhen Chanzi.
This legendary mental technique didn't have any written words, only a segment of feeling. Wang Qi followed the obscure, unclear will in his mind, commanding his spiritual power, trying to understand its nature.
As he sensed the energy inside his body flowing with his will, sometimes becoming cold, sometimes hot, Wang Qi couldn't help but shake his head and smile.
"Really, this is not scientific at all…"
After finishing the session, Wang Qi closed his eyes to sense the changes in his body. When he opened his eyes, he felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of emptiness. "Old man, is this considered a success?"
According to the technique in his mind, he seemed to have perfectly broken through…
"Anything wrong?"
"Isn't it a bit too easy?" Wang Qi scratched his head, a bit confused.
Wasn't it said that the protagonist in novels always has to struggle to the brink of death, exhausting all their savings, and only at the last moment of failure, they suddenly break through? Shouldn't there be some kind of hidden achievement in the cultivation method, like breaking through with some kind of great coincidence? Why was this so easy?
Breaking through so easily, wouldn't the novel suck then?
After hearing this, Zhen Chanzi nearly had a fit and almost died of anger. He shouted in Wang Qi's mind: "Absurd! Absurd! You actually measure your cultivation progress based on rumors from the streets? Even breaking through the first realm takes a fight for your life. With such talent, how will you break through the final barrier? Are you still treating cultivation as a joke?!"
Wang Qi shook his head. "It's not a joke la, it's a game! Game! Something with blood and violence like this should be banned for kids lah."
Zhen Chanzi was quiet for a moment, then responded: "...Fine, fine, you brat better stop talking to me from now on."
Wang Qi spent another three hours adjusting his post-breakthrough state, stabilizing his cultivation. After finishing, he suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, old man, do cultivators have any good methods to hide their aura and cultivation level?"
"What do you need that for?"
Wang Qi said with complete confidence, "Hide my cultivation and act all weak, then slap people's faces, that's the fun of it right?"
Zhen Chanzi immediately regretted it. He felt that having a conversation with this kid was the biggest stain of his 20,000 years of life: "This ring has the highest level of concealment technique. With your current cultivation, you might not be able to use all its abilities, but it's enough to fool those beginners who are still in the Qi Refining or Foundation Building stage."
"Do you have a money-making skill or not?"
"Money-making skill?"
"You know, stuff like refining equipment from nothing, or 100% success rate in pill refining…"
Zhen Chanzi hadn't felt like vomiting blood in thousands of years: "If I had such skills, I would've unified the Immortal Dao long ago!"
"Hah?" Wang Qi clicked his tongue, his voice full of disdain, "Not helpful at all."
Zhen Chanzi was silent for a while, then helplessly said: "I already gave you the pill refining and equipment refining methods, just learn them yourself la."
Wang Qi nodded in satisfaction, counting with his fingers, "Alright, another fun point unlocked."
"You brat, what exactly is the purpose of all these things you're doing?"
"For fun la!" Wang Qi said with a grin.
"Cultivating to the peak, ruling the Immortal Dao, being revered by the world, isn't that a fun goal? Why don't I see you pursuing that?"
Wang Qi had already started packing up his things at home, preparing for his journey. Upon hearing this, he stopped and raised his ring to his face: "World-revered? What's that to me? Can it make me money? Besides, ruling the world? Don't you think this world is so boring?"
"Boring?"
"It's like a dead pond la. According to you, the first cultivator who established the Foundation came out 80,000 years ago, and the first to ascend to immortality appeared a thousand years later. Then, 40,000 years ago, the Immortal Dao peaked, but after that, the spiritual energy started depleting, and the whole thing started to decline?"
"That's right. I was at the peak of the Great Ascension stage, but now I can no longer sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Given how quickly the energy depletion accelerated, we've probably already entered the End of the Law Era. There are probably no Grand Ascension masters left…"
"Then, in another 40,000 years, Immortal Dao will be finished? I'm left with a bunch of people who are destined to die without offspring? Just thinking about it makes me feel bored lah!"
Zhen Chanzi went silent. He himself was at the Grand Ascension level, so he understood better than anyone the flaws of the Immortal Dao. Cultivation was about seizing heaven and earth's fate to build the "true self." The spiritual essence that a cultivator seized might be a small drop in the ocean of the universe, but the earth couldn't handle endless mining by disciples and grandchildren.
"The world will eventually be exhausted by Immortal Dao cultivators. I can't change the world, nor do I care to. You know that, I hate trouble. So, whatever happens to heaven and earth, or others, it's none of my business. I only want to live a wonderful life."
After speaking, Wang Qi stopped listening to Zhen Chanzi, and started preparing for his departure.
Cultivation was about four things: law, wealth, partners, and land. What he possessed was only "law." The other three couldn't be provided by this poor village.
Since the focus of spiritual body cultivation was body refinement and didn't produce any spiritual manifestations, if a Qi Refining cultivator had a conflict with others, they were sure to die. Besides, Zhen Chanzi had made it clear that the best way to advance in the Spiritual Body stage was to go step by step without relying on pills. So, Wang Qi never bothered to look for any so-called "opportunity." But now, everything was different.
"Since I'm leaving for good, no need for the house or land… Let me sell it cheap to the villagers… Hmm, maybe three acres should be enough... The old house can go for…"
Suddenly, the jade ring trembled. Wang Qi thought it was like holding a vibrating phone: "Hey old man, why is it suddenly in vibration mode?"
"There's a cultivation aura approaching, Foundation Building stage. I'm not sure who it is, but quickly infuse your spiritual power into the ring, I'll help you hide."
Although Zhen Chanzi had perished for thousands of years and was reduced to a wisp of soul, he had once been the leader of a major sect and one of the strongest in the world. His power had reached the peak of the Grand Ascension stage, and even though his strength had greatly weakened, he still possessed many incredible abilities.
Wang Qi wasted no time and immediately infused all his spiritual power into the jade ring. A cold sensation spread from the ring throughout his body. Then, Wang Qi's body completely hid his presence, like a withered tree or a stone.
"Wait! Old man, you probably don't know much about the Immortal Dao of this era, right? Shouldn't we ask who this is?"
"Not yet. We don't know if the other party is friendly or hostile. If they have ill intentions, rushing out would be like courting death. Stay hidden!"
Zhen Chanzi's voice suddenly became serious. In his spiritual sense, the Foundation Building aura had initially headed toward the center of the village, but suddenly turned and flew straight toward them.
Three hundred meters—that was the limit of the Foundation Building stage's spiritual sense range, and it had to be someone who had specialized in divine sense techniques.
Had they been discovered? That didn't make sense. Even though Zhen Chanzi was just a wisp of soul, his divine sense could still extend more than ten miles. The moment the other party entered this range, he would've received the warning, and Wang Qi's ring would've activated. Yet, the other person was still two kilometers away when Wang Qi activated the ring. A Foundation Building expert extending their spiritual sense two kilometers? That was impossible.
But, could a Foundation Building cultivator see through the ring's concealment technique? That didn't make sense either. In the prosperous days of the Immortal Dao, no one below two major realms higher could see through this technique, let alone in this era of the End of the Law.
Suddenly, Wang Qi saw a white streak of light heading straight toward him. Zhen Chanzi's voice lowered, "Act like you know nothing."
Due to the approaching cultivator, Wang Qi didn't reply.
"Breathe in… breathe out… breathe in… breathe out… Good, don't panic… Keep a smile… Relax your face muscles, show six teeth… okay, can't do that part."
Wang Qi faced the light streak and put on what he thought was a charming smile.
"What the heck are you doing?" Zhen Chanzi sounded confused.
"Making a good first impression," Wang Qi said, forcing the words out from between his teeth.
"Idiot! You should act like you're working!"
"Nonsense! The Gathering Spirit Array in the yard isn't even packed up. Not knowing anything would be suspicious, lah!"
At that moment, the white streak of light stopped above Wang Qi's house. Liu Yang dissipated, and a girl around sixteen or seventeen years old appeared.
The girl was extremely beautiful, wearing a red dress, standing on a purple sword.
"Flying sword…"
Wang Qi couldn't help but feel a hint of admiration. In his past life, he had often fantasized about flying on a sword, traveling across the world. Although he was now in the Immortal Dao, he hadn't yet reached Foundation Building, so he couldn't control weapons.
But the girl's next words shattered his fantasy.
"Hey, the one below, yes, you, just broke through Qi Refining. Come with me."
"Eh, eh, what? Miss, what you talking about? I don't understand la!" Wang Qi denied it immediately.
The girl gave a disdainful smile: "You think your ancient relic that's been outdated for years can fool the current cultivators? Your actions that block spiritual sense are too obvious. Also, your cultivation method is thousands of years outdated."
Ah?
Wang Qi was stunned.
What the heck? This script is wrong! Didn't they say it was the End of the Law era? Didn't they say ancient methods were more authentic? How can cultivation methods be out of date? What is going on? What is happening here?
Not only Wang Qi was panicking in his heart, even Zhen Chanzi was calm but shocked.
"This girl, who is she really… what kind of terrifying treasure does she carry…"
"No… I think I know who she is now…" Wang Qi, still unfamiliar with spiritual