Wang Qi aimlessly strolled down the street.
Half an hour ago, he had been excitedly preparing to find a library or the like, obtain some paper and pens, and translate the scribblings of the Daoist of Uncertainty into the mathematical language he was more familiar with. He had also hoped to borrow some books to help him analyze the manuscript.
However, he quickly became greatly disappointed—Xinyue City did indeed have a Guardian Room, but it was not open to the public.
Upon hearing that the historian of the Guardian Room was a Cultivator in the Nirvana Period, Wang Qi didn't even entertain the idea of sneaking in.
"It seems the Immortal Alliance's system isn't as enlightened as I had imagined. At the very least, the closure of the library indicates that they have a very strict control over knowledge," Wang Qi pondered. "This is quite unfavorable for scientific research."
And Xinyue, as the location of the Immortal Alliance Main Temple, was already considered the largest Immortal City. If there was no publicly accessible Guardian Room here, then it was likely that none would exist throughout the whole of Shenzhou.
Seeing this, Zhen Chan suggested, "Why not try staying at an inn?"
Wang Qi jumped at the suggestion, responding with a strange smile, "Oh man, old man, you're actually suggesting I use a girl's card to check into a hotel!"
The suggestion had a slightly sleazy ring to it.
Zhen Chan did not understand the issue, "Is there a problem?"
Wang Qi shook his head. It seemed like the Earth People wouldn't grasp the implied meaning in his words. He thought for a moment before rejecting the idea, "Doing so would likely raise unnecessary suspicion when I return with the receipt—why would I need to stay at a hotel for no reason?"
"What should we do then?"
"Let's keep looking around. I mainly want to see how far the Modern System's laws have developed and analyze how the Immortal Alliance conducts its affairs."
Although Cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Early Stage had weak mana, incapable of supporting powerful laws, their physical constitution was still far superior to that of Mortals. Wang Qi walked around for a long time without feeling tired.
Zhen Chan was initially amazed at the prosperity of Xinyue, but gradually, he too began to have doubts, "Kid, there's definitely something odd here. Have you noticed that there's no trade in Cultivation Techniques or spells?"
Wang Qi nodded, "Yeah. There are Alchemy Rooms, but they only sell elixirs and materials, no Alchemy Formulas. I fear the Artifact Refining Pavilion might not have Artifact Refining Blueprints either. There are a few bookstores, but they mainly sell Cultivators' cultivation experiences, without involving any specific spells—the bestsellers seem to actually be biographies and novels!"
"It seems the Immortal Alliance strictly limits the exchange of knowledge," Zhen Chan said with some confusion. "If the Modern System is truly based on a summary of the laws of Heaven and Earth, why would they abolish the exchanges that existed in ancient times?"
The situation was indeed more suspicious than expected. Wang Qi analyzed the circumstances. Such a degree of restriction was far beyond the explanation of "technically-minded men lacking management skills."
Could it be the Immortal Alliance's adherence to "intellectual property" had reached a pathological extent?
That wasn't quite right either. Let alone that after the establishment of an intellectual property system, paid sharing of knowledge was the best win-win model. Speaking of the Immortal Alliance's own members, it's unlikely that all of them would be so insistent.
For example, the great Mathematician Laplace on Earth, who had an extreme lack of copyright awareness, not only regularly used others' academic results without attribution, but he would also occasionally offer his own academic achievements to newcomers in the field to publish under their own names.
According to that mysterious correspondence, the Shenzhou Carefree Practitioner "reincarnated Bai Ze" Apuna should also possess similar traits!
After ruling out all the wrong answers, the most improbable hypothesis seemed to become the only possibility!
Wang Qi frowned, "An external enemy... old man, should we still consider joining the Immortal Alliance?"
Zhen Chan replied, "With such peace here, even if there are external threats, they probably would only be a problem hundreds or thousands of years from now, or they may only target High Order Cultivators. If you truly wish to practice the Modern System, then you have no choice but to join the Immortal Alliance."
Wang Qi stroked his chin, not directly responding, but changed the subject, "What do you think, how does today's technology compare to ten thousand years ago?"
"Greatly surpassed, and many elixirs tend to be unified and standardized, the same goes for Magic Artifacts."
So they put in effort into widespread technological standardization? Wang Qi looked around, puzzled.
At that moment, a commotion erupted ahead.
"What's going on?" Wang Qi wondered.
Zhen Chan assessed, "There are no mana waves carrying killing intent, no danger."
Hearing that there was no danger, Wang Qi proceeded forward, motivated by the spirit of enjoying a spectacle.
The source of the commotion was a trading company. The entire Xinyue Inner City was bustling with people coming and going, but compared to this trading company, it seemed like most of the other shops might as well be deserted.
"What the hell is selling so well..." Wang Qi fought his way through the crowded throng. Then, he looked up and saw a signboard on the trading company with the words "Grand Trading Company" written on it.
Wang Qi, curious, tugged at the clothing of a Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator nearby and asked, "Excuse me, what are they selling here to attract such a crowd?"
The man, hearing this, became enraged, "You kid, you come to cut in line without knowing what's going on here?"
Wang Qi replied, "Just curious."
That Qi Cultivation Cultivator said, "Today is the day the new Indeterminate Card packs are released! Who knows how many people have been waiting for this day!"
Wang Qi's mouth twitched: "New card packs..."
The Cultivator spoke with full earnestness: "Mmm-mmm, the theme is about demons descending to the mortal realm in the light of the moon..."
Wang Qi's mouth kept twitching: "So much for sticking to reality..."
Upon further inquiry, it turned out that this trading company was the only legal distributor for Indeterminate Cards, and their methods of gouging money were incredibly sophisticated.
The basic Indeterminate Card pack used by Wang Qi came with one Modern Cultivator passerby A Cultivator Card and the majority of common Modern spells and Magic Artifacts. Cards with a rarity level above five—that is, those representing advanced spells and Magic Artifacts in reality—were all hidden in various other card packs distributed at random. On the birthdays of certain esteemed seniors, limited edition character-themed Cultivator Cards would be released. Furthermore, every so often, Grand Trading Company would launch theme booster packs, and each theme represented an Ancient Method technique that had once enjoyed a period of popularity!
As it turns out, according to the Lu Renjia weighted algorithm, Ancient Methods didn't have spells with a weight above four, except for the well-known Immortal Artifacts, and there were few Magic Artifacts with a weight above seven. However, thanks to eighty thousand years of accumulation in Ancient Methods, even if only one inventive spell out of a thousand caught the eye of Modern Cultivators, many excellent spells would eventually be incorporated into the Modern System.
These booster packs not only greatly enhanced the playability of the game but also provided numerous Modern Cultivators with unexpected inspiration. It was for this reason that the game had taken the path of the Immortal Dao by storm, creating a love-hate relationship amongst countless players.
As he watched the fervently excited Cultivators, Wang Qi silently covered his face, with the criticisms "Cults are terrifying" and "Hardcore fans are disgusting" looping continuously in his mind.
"Cultists and fanatics of Aji and battleships... I'd better just go... Huh?"
Suddenly, a fierce surge of mana fluctuations came from inside "Shengdaxiang."
The onset of the mana fluctuations was extremely abrupt, and very soon, an intense murderous intent burst forth!
"What the hell is happening?" Wang Qi urgently grabbed someone nearby to ask.
The Cultivator replied nonchalantly: "Probably someone drew a card with a rarity above seven. It's time to burn!"
Holy shit, cults are scary!
At that moment, an uproar came from ahead.
"He's just a shill! He's trying to scam us into spending money!"
"Bullshit! I genuinely pulled a miracle!"
"Ten plus one card pack, four rares!"
"Definitely a shill!"
"You're the shill! Your whole family are shills!"
"Leave the card!"
"Burn! Burn!"
"We can't be friends anymore!"
"Burn, burn, burn!"
"Burn!"
"Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn! Burn!"
At first, you could make out a young voice arguing with a Cultivator who had a face as dark as a Kunlun Slave. But as the crowd's voices merged into one cry of "Burn," the killer intent in the air finally boiled over!
Next, Wang Qi saw several Cultivators in front of him as if they had been knocked aside, scattering to either side. Then, everything went dark before Wang Qi's eyes as he saw a Blue-Clothed Cultivator flash by like a shadow in front of him!
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded. Under Wang Qi's gaze, the Blue-Clothed Cultivator took a step, twisted his waist, and exerted strength in an impossible manner, whirling towards Wang Qi like lightning. And with a surge of mana, a dark afterimage separated from the Blue-Clothed Cultivator's body, flying out in the direction the Blue-Clothed Cultivator initially was heading.
If not for the perfect distance and angle, Wang Qi wouldn't have been able to see this at all. He quickly figured out what was happening and, feeling a bit playful, thought of calling out to the chasers behind to reveal the Blue-Clothed Person's whereabouts. However, the Blue-Clothed Person moved even faster, circling to his rear. Then, Wang Qi just felt a numbness at a vital point on his back, as he was subdued by the Blue-Clothed Cultivator!
Damn it!
Wang Qi watch angrily as the crowd chasing after the lucky individual passed by in front of him.
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Sorry, dear readers, I was too hyped today, there's only one update.
I will make up for it with a three-part update within the week.