Earth, Shenzhou, these were supposed to be two utterly unrelated worlds.
For example, Shenzhou's "Heavenly Order Table" and Earth's periodic table of elements are extremely similar, each consisting of seven periods and one hundred eighteen elements. Their chemical properties are also quite alike. However, as far as Wang Qi could recall, there were subtle differences between the atomic weights of the Heavenly Order Table and the periodic table. This indicated that the masses and properties of protons, neutrons, and electrons in Shenzhou differed from those on Earth.
Among these variances, the most striking difference was the physical quantity known as "spiritual energy."
In the physics of Earth, spiritual energy had no place. For those self-consistent theories that could explain all known phenomena, spiritual energy was nothing more than an unnecessary entity to be eliminated by Occam's razor.
Yet in Shenzhou, even ordinary people could feel a trace of heaven and earth's spiritual energy through Qi Cultivation Rhymes and Boxing Technique, and materials with mysterious physical properties abounded.
Just this one aspect led Wang Qi to determine that this was not the spacetime of Earth but another universe.
But...
Daoist of Uncertainty Hai Senbao, Quantum Venerable Master Bao'er, Daoist Bu Rong Po Li, Laser Lady Ma Juli, Five Sages Qian Xueshen, All Laws Crown Chen Jingyun, Sky-Splitting Sword Deng Jiaxuan, oh no, Elder Ji Turing...
These names, seemingly belonging to practitioners who had been toyed with by some Brother Tiandao, reminded Wang Qi that this world was indeed connected to Earth.
And since both worlds harbored the "logic of science," such a connection must be explorable! Perhaps his own transmigration was related to this.
The first step to probe this connection was to identify its patterns.
Wang Qi extracted all the important figures from the history of Immortal Dao and created a chronological table.
"The Ancient Method period is quite chaotic," Wang Qi shook his head. "The Primordial Heavenly Monarch Bi Gezi, who is also Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician's otherworldly analogue, is acknowledged by Immortal Dao as the progenitor of the Modern Method. This aligns with Earth's history of science. The Geometric Demon Lord Ji Midu, Archimedes's otherworldly analogue, also fits. But what about other members of the Pythagorean school? There's no record of them?"
"Then comes 'Heavenly Calculation Child' Zu Zhongzhi? Zu Chongzhi's otherworldly analogue, the true founder of the Wanfa lineage, who later integrated the legacies of Bi Gezi and Ji Midu. The only issue is that his birth precedes the founder of Mountain River City, the Earthquake Demon Lord Zhang Heng — Zu Chongzhi was from the Northern and Southern dynasties, which should be later than the Han Dynasty's Zhang Heng."
"One of the precursors to Tianling Ridge is Wanhua Valley, and its founder is Sun Simiao and Li Shizhen, from the same era... I still have the common knowledge that Sun Simiao is from the Tang Dynasty and Li Shizhen is from the Ming Dynasty..."
"Many of the Ancient Method great masters from the period of the Modern Method are analogues of Earth's scientists, but their timelines are a mess."
After coming to this conclusion, Wang Qi turned his attention to the era of the creation of the Modern Method: "This phase began with Xuanxing Temple reestablishing the celestial system and Ge Bai defecting from the Holy Infant Sect. The biggest problem lies with the Heavenly Selection God Monarch Darwin — gotta say, whoever first translated the word Darwin had talent... The surname 'Da' paired with 'Erwen', it fits seamlessly."
Heavenly Selection God Monarch Darwin, the first carefree practitioner in Shenzhou. Although there were several old members in Wanfa Sect who were originally high-order practitioners of Ancient Method and later switched to cultivation techniques to become carefree practitioners, the time at which they changed their practice was undoubtedly later than when Heavenly Selection God Monarch attained his Way.
"The Darwin on Earth was born much later than Newton, yet this Heavenly Selection God Monarch has such seniority."
Then came the era of the first genius explosion of the Modern Method.
"Newton, Boyle, Hook, Leibniz to Euler... These analogues of the corresponding geniuses from both worlds were born in a more 'orderly' manner. The convergence of history in both worlds was growing stronger."
"By the time of Old Hai, it was almost exactly like Earth's history," Wang Qi muttered to himself. "After that, the relevance of history began to diminish sharply."
If the development of this world really followed Earth's, then based on the understanding of quantum mechanics about the principle of "Schrödinger wave function collapse," Mysterious Palace should by now at least have branched into several lineages. But from what I've heard described about Mysterious Palace's spells, currently, there is only one Copenhagen School's observer theory in Shenzhou.
"Afterward, the similarity in the history of the two worlds sharply declined. Among the scientists that emerged on Earth in the sixties and seventies, few have otherworldly analogues in Shenzhou. Their theories are also rarely seen... The last practitioner to have an analogue on Earth was the Immovable Dharma King Hawking from Xuanxing Temple."
"And the beginning of it all..." Wang Qi's gaze shifted to a point on the timeline he had laid out: "The difference between Shenzhou practitioner Sommerfeld and Earth scientist Arnold Sommerfeld."
Mysterious Palace practitioner Sommerfeld was obscure in the history of Shenzhou and was only recorded for having "met with an unexpected demise, entrusting his disciples Po Li and Hai Senbao to his Senior Brother Bao'er."
The problem lies exactly beneath this "unexpected demise"!
Arnold Sommerfeld only shifted his disciples Pauli and Heisenberg to Bohr due to a normal job change. Afterward, Sommerfeld continued to teach and nurture students. Moreover, Sommerfeld himself was nominated dozens of times for the Nobel Prize in Physics, hardly someone whose significance can be glossed over.
"That is to say, compared with his Earthly counterpart, Master Sommerfeld could absolutely be considered to have died prematurely. And, the cause of his death has been omitted, there must be a huge secret hidden here."
Wang Qi rubbed his head, crushing the paper he had used to organize the time axis into a ball, "What could it be?"
According to records, by the time Sommerfeld perished he was already a Great Grandmaster in the Nirvana Stage. Given the Mysterious Palace's insanely increased difficulty level for law-breaking, Sommerfeld could not possibly be killed unless he were attacked by someone in the Mahayana Stage or a Carefree Practitioner.
Wang Qi scratched his head, pondering hard. The effect of the Thousand Plagues and Ten Thousand Poison Needle made him alternate between hot and cold, and his head ached as if it were about to split open.
Eventually, he sighed, "Forget it, if I can't figure it out for now, just let it be. Hmm, a high-level expert in the Nirvana Stage has fallen, and here I am at the Qi Cultivation Stage getting involved might be a little presumptuous."
After speaking, he grabbed the blanket, threw it over himself, and fell asleep.
Just before he fell sound asleep, a slight smile hooked at the corner of Wang Qi's mouth, "But this world, it's truly interesting!"
Wang Qi did not know that in mid-air, a pair of eyes had been watching him the whole time.
Seeing Wang Qi sound asleep, the figure of Chen Jingyun suspended in mid-air flickered. Then, a wad of paper appeared in his hand. Chen Jingyun carefully unfolded the paper with his mana, examining it closely—it was the very same paper where Wang Qi had organized the history of the Shenzhou Immortal Path and laid out the time axis!
Crossing the Universe! Chen Jingyun used the Space Traversal Technique to take this paper from Wang Qi's room without Zhen Chan noticing!
Suddenly, this Half-step Leisure Great Grandmaster's adam's apple bobbed, "He was actually paying attention to Master Sommerfeld's demise?"
The event "Sommerfeld's death" on the time axis had been heavily marked by Wang Qi.
Chen Jingyun's gaze changed, assessing Wang Qi's bedroom.
At last, he shook his head, as if persuading himself, he whispered, "It's not certain. One must not overstep boundaries."
When Wang Qi awoke again, it was already the following evening. The symptoms like the mild fever brought on by the Thousand Plagues and Ten Thousand Poison Needle had subsided, but his body still felt somewhat weak. What Wang Qi found most vexing was that his clothes and bed sheets were soaked with sweat, but since he had been brought to Xinyue by Xiang Qi and Yan Heyi while unconscious, there was no way he could have prepared a change of clothes.
Wang Qi grimaced, moving the purchase of new clothes up on his agenda.
Fortunately, he was also a cultivator, and his mana was still present. First, he looked around the room, and to his surprise, found something resembling a faucet with some Zhuanwen script on it—when he supplied it with mana, water flowed out. He rubbed his underclothes under the "faucet", dried them with mana, and then put on the Magic Robe issued by the Immortal Alliance, ensuring he looked presentable enough to go out.
At that moment, Wang Qi's stomach protested. He temporarily halted his laundry plans, deciding to go to the kitchen for some dinner instead.
The kitchen wasn't far from the dormitory, and it took Wang Qi just a few minutes to get there. The Immortal Institute's kitchen lacked the luxury of the Inner City's dining district, with its slate floors and long bench seats. The reporting period for the noble family disciples had not yet begun, and with few people coming to eat, the kitchen seemed somewhat empty.
Those entering the school now were either recommended by the lecturers for their talents or, like Wang Qi, Loose Cultivators discovered by accident. They were not well acquainted with each other, sitting sparsely in groups of threes and fives. Near the kitchen's entrance, a Blue-Clothed Cultivator sat, surrounded by a large pile of food boxes. Wang Qi, sensing that the other was about the Foundation Establishment Stage, guessed this was the cafeteria server from his past life, so he walked over. Upon seeing someone approaching, the Blue-Clothed Cultivator handed Wang Qi a food box without a word, "Remember to return the food box to the kitchen after you're done."
Wang Qi found a place to sit at random and opened the food box, instantly stunned.
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The surname 'Deng' originates from the Ji clan and is a descendant of Emperor Zhuanxu. Although rare among the Han people, it is nonetheless a surname with a long heritage.
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