Exploring Immortality Cultivation

Xin Mountain's North Slope, the trial ground.

Wang Qi faced a gargantuan centipede. This late stage Spirit Awakening demon creature was six meters long and half a meter wide, truly a frightening sight. Its head was black, its back armor vivid red, while the dozens of pairs of venomous fangs on its sides were a variegated black and white—clearly indicating that the poison was not weak.

Generally speaking, poisonous beings are physically weak. After expressing their venom talent, they rely on it for both offense and foraging, removing the need for a strong body. However, the phenomenon of demonization doesn't seem to follow this principle. After the centipede demonized, not only was its venom stronger, but its armored plating was exceedingly tough; even ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators couldn't penetrate its defense.

However, Wang Qi had his methods.

After confronting this demon creature for a moment, Wang Qi swung the talisman artifact in his hand. Every new disciple at the Immortal Institute, after choosing an Absolute Skill, can freely select a low-grade talismanic-level magic artifact. His vestment robe and Flying Sword were destroyed in the battle with the Entropy-increasing Demon, so this talisman artifact was the only one he had left.

The talisman artifact in his hand was wrapped in a ball of purple electric energy. The sword aura carried this energy, slashing towards the centipede's back. A faint trace of the blade lingered in the air, illuminated by the purple light. The talisman artifact collided with the demon's carapace, emitting a dull thud, yet it failed to penetrate.

The centipede brandished its fangs in a counterattack, but Wang Qi was already using the force of the recoil to retreat with his blade. The centipede struck at empty air, rising on its hind legs, swinging its venomous claws in an attempt to attack Wang Qi.

But, following the trajectory of the first strike, Wang Qi preemptively delivered a second cut.

Puff!

The second strike was significantly more powerful than the first, managing to open a small gash in the centipede's abdomen. Transparent blood sprayed out but was completely evaporated by Wang Qi's electric energy. Enraged beyond measure, the centipede shook its head and body, trying to attack Wang Qi. Utilizing the Book of Geometry, Wang Qi dodged the demon creature's offensive moves, then delivered a third cut.

The strength from the first two slashes seemed to accumulate into the third, making the purple light on the blade somewhat blinding.

Crack! The centipede's tough back armor was shattered in one spot.

Wang Qi, using the force of the backlash, drew back the sword, then lightning-fast, delivered a fourth cut, severing several of the centipede's legs.

The fifth cut, the sixth, the seventh…

With each consecutive strike, Wang Qi's blows increased in strength as their power stacked upon each other, the electric energy growing stronger with each slash! By the ninth cut, the sword aura was buzzing with a terrifying ball of purple lightning. Under the sweeping sword aura, the centipede was cleaved in two!

The young man, having delivered this strike, looked upon his handiwork and nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad. Consecutively delivering nine strikes in one breath, building upon each previous cut, each one stronger than the last—I've mastered 'Thunderstorm Shattering the Heavens' completely."

His tone was indifferent, exuding the air of a confident genius.

Zhen Chan could not help but express mixed emotions, "Which tale spun from the storybooks is this technique from? The variations of the Thunder Sound Chord Saber Technique can be stacked indefinitely. You don't need to fixate on the 'nine cuts' number, do you? And why waste energy changing the lightning's color to purple in your Heavenly Song?"

Wang Qi curled his lip, "That's a matter of sentiment!"

If it's called "Thunderstorm Shattering the Heavens", how could he use blue or silver electric light? After all, color is but a matter of light frequency. The Heavenly Song's electromagnetic light and heat are sublime, changing the color is just a matter of moments.

Shenzhou doesn't have the Pseudo Unlimited Flow System, so Wang Qi certainly couldn't exchange for moves from the comics. The "Thunderstorm Shattering the Heavens" he had just performed was an application of the Thunder Sound Chord Saber Technique.

The absolute skills of the Wanfa Sect typically possess dual aspects, both offensive and defensive. Offensively, one technique can derive myriad techniques, while defensively, one technique can break myriad techniques. For instance, Wang Qi's selection of the Little Return Rule Saber Technique, when used offensively, becomes the Bai Ze True Formation Slash, with sword auras crisscrossing and linking into battle formations; when used defensively, it becomes Bai Ze's Formation Breaking Slash, a single slash that can dismantle all battle formations in the world. The Thunder Sound Chord Saber Technique follows the same principle.

The fundamental principle behind the Thunder Sound Chord Saber Technique is the Fourier Expansion. This algorithm can transform any periodic function into a variant of trigonometric functions. If the technique is used to break myriad techniques, it utilizes "chords" to catch a glimpse of the inherent Circulation within spells and mana, treating them as if they were strings, breaking them with a single slash; if used to derive myriad techniques, it harnesses "thunder sound," symbolized by electromagnetic and sound waves, to harness any law that contains the concept of "waves," ensuring that the peaks of the waves align to double its power.

Wang Qi just now had used a knockoff version of "Thunderstorm Shattering the Heavens" in exactly this fashion.

After the centipede had been slain, several cultivators dressed as Immortal Alliance staff entered to tidy up the arena. Another cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage came over to take Wang Qi's Immortal Registration Token to update his merit points.

This was a unique benefit available to newly admitted disciples: combat trials. As long as they could defeat demon creatures in the arena, they could gain merit points.

When the person in charge of the Immortal Alliance returned the Immortal Registration Token, he did so with a pained expression, "Junior Brother Wang, this really isn't how you should be killing trial demon beasts. If you carry on like this every day, Xinyue Immortal Institute will sooner or later have to suspend the combat trials for new disciples."

Wang Qi replied, "Don't say that. Look around; there are cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage and Qi Storage Demon Beasts sparring too."

The official responded with a pained face, "They're spending money to test their skills against the demon beasts."

Wang Qi laughed heartily, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Senior Brother, don't bully your Junior Brother for not understanding the Immortal Alliance's procedures."

Since the establishment of the Immortal Alliance, animals were not allowed to metamorphose into spirits without permission. If beasts born outside of protected areas unfortunately turned into spirits and were discovered, the laws of the Immortal Alliance were no joke. The Security Guardians would assess the beings that had undergone demonization outside the protected areas: the docile and non-violent ones would be brought back for education, while the wild and untameable ones would be killed on the spot or captured alive. The demon creatures captured alive, a small portion would be sent to Tianling Ridge if deemed valuable for research, while the majority would be sent to places like this, effectively being used as advanced punching bags.

The person in charge of the trial zone sighed, "If these demon creatures weren't chopped to death, they could be raised until the Qi Storage Stage and then sold at a good price..."

Wang Qi shook his Immortal Registration Token, "Hey, hey, Senior Brother, my plan for today isn't finished yet, can I have a few more?"

Soon, the clearing of the arena was completed. A cage was brought to the side of the field containing a bear demon.

A blinding light and an indistinct roar soon filled the trial grounds, "Heavenly Crystal Sword Technique, First Form, Radiance of All Beings... Followed by the Second Form, Lightning Flash, Thunder Rumble!"

The cultivators who heard the roar all turned to look, wondering where this odd name "Heavenly Crystal Sword Technique" came from, which sect or which Great Power would give such a name to their martial arts.

What they couldn't hear, however, was Zhen Chan's powerless complaint, "This is clearly a saber technique..."

After bullying the lesser creatures, Wang Qi braced against the biting cold wind as he hurried towards the Immortal Institute. It was already December, and although Wang Qi was protected by mana, he still felt the chill of the wind piercing to the bone.

Three months had flown by in the blink of an eye.

In these three months, Wang Qi's life had been uneventful. By October, he had easily defeated another Foundation Establishment Stage Teaching Assistant who was intentionally holding back and lacked the will to fight, and mastered Bai Ze's Formation Breaking Slash. The two saber techniques he possessed were derived from Laplace Expansion and Fourier Expansion, both of which he was extremely familiar with in his past life. Once he passed the initial two stages of framework construction for the saber technique, he could master the subsequent content without any hindrance. To rapidly increase his strength, he had devoted nearly all his spare time in the past three months to practicing his saber.

After getting a grip on the saber techniques, he would go to the main trial area every day to refine his techniques against demon beasts and at the same time, rack up merit points.

As for the monthly test, which other new disciples regarded as incredibly important... sorry, in the eyes of a true academic master, what's a test to worry about?