Gu Tao really found it difficult to associate the guy who never stopped talking about the glory of the Dao with the nerd who sat in front of the computer all day, a major spender in games for the first half of the month and surviving on instant noodles for the second half.
But, oddly enough, they were indeed the same person. Although the dorkiness was an act, his addiction to the net was not. Just half an hour after speaking with Gu Tao about restoring the glory of the Dao, he had to hurriedly log into the game because his guild was fighting for a world boss. Once the headphones were on, he was utterly absorbed.
"First team, go left, don't let other guilds get close, enable 'all members' mode. Second team, prepare to take turns being corpses, third team, engage the enemy! Go go go! Quick, if we don't beat it in ten minutes, it'll go berserk and smash us three times, the main tank won't be able to hold up!"
He was babbling frantically into the mic, while Gu Tao sat in the nearby chair, looking at the beginner's cultivation book that Xin Chen had just tossed to him. And truth be told... although this thing was written by ancient people who were technologically behind, it was still incomprehensible. All that talk about essence, qi, and spirit made no sense at all.
Could this be more complicated than hyperspace quantum theory? Definitely not, but due to cultural differences, Gu Tao found it difficult. He could understand the most complex mechanical engineering manuals and assist great scientists with space experiments, but when it came to this kind of thing, he was really struggling.
"Are you telling me the beginner's version is this hard?" Gu Tao threw the book onto the counter and asked, "Are you deliberately making this difficult for me?"
"Junior Brother, what did you say?"
Xin Chen took off his headphones, with a face full of joy from divvying up the spoils, his tone much more frivolous, looking extremely irritating.
"I'm asking, is this thing really that difficult?"
"This is an enlightenment book," Xin Chen looked at Gu Tao's face with disdain. "You're telling me it's difficult? What did you say before? You're a scientist, right?"
"Yeah, I am a scientist."
"Heh."
Xin Chen's contemptuous laugh made veins pop on Gu Tao's forehead, but he helplessly picked up the book again. "Then tell me, what does 'qi becomes the void' mean?"
Xin Chen didn't even look up: "'Qi becomes the void' means that a person's breath seems as if it doesn't exist. With every inhalation and exhalation, it subtly aligns with their inner breath. Someone with a lengthy inner breath can stand right next to you, and you won't even sense their presence."
Gu Tao looked at Xin Chen skeptically and actually closed his eyes...
Logically, if there was someone in the room, as long as one wasn't too dull, they would sense their presence. But, the moment Gu Tao closed his eyes, he really couldn't sense the guy beside him playing the game. Aside from the click-clack of the keyboard, there was no sense of his breath. However, when the scanner was turned on, it would clearly show him sitting there. It was quite magical.
"Fine, fine, you're impressive. Then tell me, what is 'qi manifests form'?"
Gu Tao seemed to be picking at flaws on purpose, but Xin Chen explained without a trace of impatience: "'Qi manifests form' means that a person's external breath can be felt even with your eyes closed."
"Isn't this a contradiction?" Gu Tao slammed the book down. "Are you kidding me?"
"Ha ha."
Xin Chen laughed loudly and exited the game: "The Dao is a school that follows the heart's desire. It doesn't strive to change the sky or the earth; from beginning to end, it's only about changing oneself. It's about unleashing one's potential to the utmost, perfectly controlling one's body. If you want it to have form, it has form; if you want it to be without state, it's without state. Your hands, eyes, mouth, nose, brain, and even all limbs and bones, meridians, and skeleton obey your commands. The Dao doesn't contend with heaven, earth, or others, only with oneself. I am both fortune and disaster, I am both auspicious and ominous, I am the world, I am all things. The Dao doesn't cultivate virtue, past or future lives, celestial ways, or mundane desires. It cultivates an unashamed ease and will, cool, right?"
Gu Tao rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment: "It does sound pretty cool."
"Knowing it's cool and you're still not studying!" Xin Chen suddenly turned stern, glaring: "I don't ask you to understand, just memorize it first."
"Hey!" Gu Tao pointed at Xin Chen: "That's too much."
"If you don't memorize the three chapters by this afternoon, no food for you." Xin Chen's eyebrows arched, lovely as ever: "I know what you're thinking, and I won't eat either. If you starve, I'll starve with you. As your mentor accepting an apprentice, the older brother takes punishment along with his younger brother's mistakes."
So he had to memorize, what else could he do? He had already boarded the thief ship, and it seemed pretty cool too.
In fact, similar enhancement theories existed on his mother planet. The man who came up with the enhancement plans was Gu Tao's mentor, but later, the Ethics Committee shut it down, saying that they wouldn't allow the mysteries of life to be unraveled.
The data on life enhancement had been destroyed, but Gu Tao had secretly copied a large part of it. Even though it was incomplete research, it was clear that if research continued in this direction, human individuals could be nearly infinitely strengthened.
Take the brain, for example. Although the simulation experiments showed that humans would die on the spot if their brain usage exceeded forty percent, no one but he and his teacher knew what state a person's brain would be using forty percent. The energy burst at that instant could power a gravity engine for twelve universal times, whereas the technology of his mother planet could only enable a gravity engine to run for seven universal times due to controllable energy release.
Therefore, Xin Chen's theory really sparked Gu Tao's interest, so no matter how lazy he felt about chatting with his cheap senior brother, he moved a chair to the doorway, put on the study scanner, and began to memorize the tedious book.
Focusing on something is always the most efficient way, and with the help of high-tech, Gu Tao almost finished memorizing the whole book in one morning. He didn't understand many parts, but it was like a top student tackling math problems. Not finding the answers on his own was excruciating, so, in the end, he just took out paper and pen and attempted to unravel those enigmas using mathematical methods.
He was so immersed that he forgot about time. By noon, Xin Chen brought over food, looking at his junior brother who was completely submerged in his own world. He flashed a radiant smile that could make any man want to kiss him, and placed the bowl of unbelievably lavish rice covered with toppings beside Gu Tao.
"Junior Brother, time to eat."
"Annoying beep." Gu Tao frowned, "I'm about to unlock this formula."
Instead of getting angry at being scolded, Xin Chen breathed a sigh of relief, tiptoed back to his seat, opened a jar, and retrieved a box wrapped in golden silk. Opening the box, he revealed a mirror adorned with precious gems.
"Taixu Mirror, let's check out my precious Junior Brother's inner energy."
After pointing the mirror at Gu Tao, it worked like a special X-ray machine, scanning his body clearly and revealing a faint blue line circulating along his inner energy pathways.
"Ancestors above." Xin Chen put the mirror away, his hands forming a gesture, "Our lineage has hope."
Although Xin Chen's inner energy was thousands and millions of times greater than Gu Tao's, it's worth noting that even him, also known as a genius reincarnation of a calamity star, took seven months from initiation to develop inner energy, and that too was with the help of precious natural materials and drilling through blessed lands. But this beloved Junior Brother of his... using his weird methods, he had somehow managed to develop inner energy while doing homework, transcending the term genius; it was more on the level of a great founder of the Dao.
By the time Gu Tao, dizzy from low blood sugar, finally lifted his head from his work, he noticed a bowl of rice that had gone cold beside him. Without caring whether it was tasty or not, he picked it up and began eating voraciously.
Almost done eating, he realized that it was nearing dusk and the sky was already dimming.
"Junior Brother, you must be starving."
Just as Gu Tao felt one bowl wasn't enough, Xin Chen brought out another big bowl, and not just of rice and dishes but also a big bowl of yellow, oily soup.
"Slow down, slow down. It's hot."
Xin Chen watched his precious Junior Brother devour his food like a pig at a trough, a smile on his face.
This wasn't because Gu Tao couldn't handle being hungry. In fact, the operation of inner energy was highly energy-consuming. Normally, three cycles a day were the limit for someone with newly developed inner energy. Any more could lead to fainting. But this freakish Junior Brother had it running all day. Initially, Xin Chen kept an eye on him, but later he noticed this kid seemed to have some special skill. Whenever his body was nearly at its limit, a burst of energy would flow into him...
"Holy crap!" Gu Tao suddenly shouted while eating, then raised his hand, "Where's my emergency nutrient solution?"
Xin Chen was taken aback, "What?"
"See this?" Gu Tao pointed at a square patch on his left arm, where a needle was pointing at a red line, "This contains high-energy nutrient solution. If I'm trapped somewhere, it can supply energy and oxygen for more than fifteen days, until Satania finds me. But it's gone now... This thing is precious, one less every time I use it, and I still haven't found a substitute on Earth."
So that's how it was... Xin Chen finally understood how this guy always had energy to spare; it was all thanks to external help. But it didn't matter. Regardless of external or internal power, his gains in one day were undeniably equivalent to several years for others.
But Xin Chen didn't celebrate too soon. Even the most gifted individuals find that cultivation, just like dieting, slows down after rapid initial progress – some are just particularly fast. But later on, it gets increasingly slow, and without the right opportunity, some might be unable to break through no matter their talent. Few were like Xin Chen, who broke through to become an Earth Immortal at such a young age.
"I'm heartbroken." Gu Tao removed the patch and held it in his hand, mourning over it for a long time with heavy sighs.
Xin Chen came over and patted Gu Tao's shoulder, "By the way, why don't you show your big brother what those aliens are like?"
"Do you think they're computers? I am an alien, and you've seen me already."
"That's not what I mean..." Xin Chen was taken aback, giving an awkward smile, "I mean your base, your secret base."
"Perfect timing." Gu Tao stood up, "I'll also take you for a test while we're at it."
"What test?"
"Personal energy detection, a full-body check." Gu Tao looked Xin Chen up and down, "Dare to have a fight with me?"
"You?" Xin Chen looked incredulously at Gu Tao, then picked up a loose pebble from the ground, gave it a gentle squeeze, and it instantly turned to powder.
Gu Tao smirked, flipped his palm over, and his entire hand was covered with a layer of metallic skeleton, then he picked up a larger stone and gave it a gentle squeeze...
"Anything you can do, technology can match."
At the end of the day, Gu Tao finally scored a point.