Exploring Immortality Cultivation

Chen Feng's breathing had become noticeably rapid.

He had learned to control his emotions at an early age. Therefore, most of the time, he was an objective Seeker of the Dao. But in this moment, it was precisely because he was objective that he couldn't detach himself.

Before him flickered a three-dimensional array. Simple rules and grids divided the small space into countless little cubes. Each cube was surrounded by twenty-six adjacent cubes. Every cube represented an individual of the Human Clan. Each person had a limited number of states—General Believer, Light believer, Devout believers, Fanatic, True Believer, Witch, Divine Spirit.

Among them, only the Divine Spirit was fixed.

Each individual could influence the twenty-six individuals around them—representing the twenty-six closest people in their interpersonal relationships. Each of these twenty-six new individuals had the chance to become believers. If a few units of time passed and the people around them had not changed, then the individual's level of devotion had a chance to decrease. Conversely, if everyone around was a believer, the chance of increasing their own devotion became much greater.

As for the rules of conversion, they were a complex set of game rules. More than a dozen steps, over a hundred scenarios, nearly ten thousand events... Each unit of time, all individuals underwent a limited selection. Jarvis' powerful computational ability was simulating "history." With the choices of countless individuals, the Divine Tao was either growing or dying out.

Chen Feng asked, "Why is it that even though the mechanisms of choice are the same, the mechanisms of judgment are the same, the situations of different Divine Tao can vary so much?"

Wang Qi propped his feet on the table and spread his hands, "I told you, this algorithm is unverified; I can't see its trends, and no one else can either—but isn't that just like history? Unpredictable."

History itself is a vast Chaos model. Even the greatest sages could only find the "inevitability within randomness," and could not precisely predict a specific time. For example, classical economists predicted economic crises, depressions, but nobody could foresee their exact timing and extent.

The inevitability of history does exist; all inevitability is the inevitability within randomness. It rolls forward, unstoppable and irreversible, but never precisely steamrolling along a straight line.

Chen Feng once again watched the evolution of the "Divine Tao" obsessively and asked, "Can you optimize this further?"

"I think it's already powerful enough, a very perfect reproduction of history," Wang Qi said while summarizing the laws reflected in the model and writing new rules based on those laws.

Wang Qi had once used the algorithm of Cellular Automata in the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm, telling Feng Luoyi that it was "an algorithm written to test the performance of calculators." He later discovered it was surprisingly useful, so he continued to use it.

Cellular Automata are not determined by strictly defined physical equations or functions but are constructed with a series of model rules. They do not have a fixed mathematical formula for their construction; the methods are complex, there are many variants, and the behavior is complicated. Thus, the system could be said to be simple, but when it becomes complex, it is especially formidable. To Wang Qi's knowledge, those who could play with Cellular Automata and specifically write a monograph on them were basically qualified to hold a tenured position in the mathematics departments of universities like Oxford or Cambridge.

As for the "precision" that Chen Feng had hoped for, that was an impossibility. This was originally a Chaos system, and even a Mathematician of Pang Jialai's level, the Mathematics Lord, could not make a chaotic model present an inevitable pattern.

Chen Feng sighed and looked towards another model that he actually didn't understand, a finite-dimensional Hilbert Space, "the teachings of the Divine Tao."

Chen Feng knew that the most valuable aspect of this model was not the questions themselves, but the approach. Wang Qi had posed 23 questions, still falling short of encapsulating all facets of the Divine Tao teachings. However, these questions were all interchangeable. For Wang Qi, it was nothing more than changing a few dimension names.

Just these two were monumental achievements.

By summarizing the laws of the teachings with Xiangyu, and then writing them in the form of a game, and integrating into the Cellular Automata model...

Chen Feng's Adam's apple moved up and down. He really wanted to pat Wang Qi on the shoulder and say, "I didn't misjudge you back then," or laugh out loud three times, grabbing this guy for a hearty drink.

But Wang Qi leisurely said, "Boss, don't get too excited too soon, I still have problems to resolve."

Chen Feng rubbed his nose to calm his emotions and said, "Go ahead."

"First of all, regarding this model of teachings, it's actually the most rudimentary and brute-force method. I've weeded out all the Mystical Thought and philosophy from the Divine Tao teachings, and I haven't systematically expounded on the Precepts—although in my view, all of this stuff is rubbish, but they are also the foundation of the Divine Tao, the components of the order of the Divine Tao, and the part that most significantly influences the believers of the Divine Tao, and cannot be overlooked. For this, I don't have a good approach yet."

"Secondly, this Cellular Automata model isolates the Divine Tao itself from the larger System of the Human Dao for individual study of the Divine Tao Sect. Note that it simulates not 'the Divine Tao,' but 'a single Divine Tao Sect.'"

On Earth, the study of religion is also divided into broad and narrow categories. Broad religion studies include evaluative judgments and normative research; they do not shy away from judging the value of religions, focusing on the authenticity and acceptability of religious experiences, propositions, and beliefs—these religious scholars are not so much scientists in the field of social sciences as they are theologians or philosophers. And someone like Wang Qi, who came from a background in mathematics and physics, would naturally disdain such approaches.

He adopted the most narrow approach. Treating Divine Tao and sects as pure systems, disregarding other factors, and depicting the structural nature of the Divine Tao in the most objective and rigorous way possible.

For Wang Qi, this method was the Righteous Path. But he also needed to remind Chen Feng that this path was not yet perfected and required other approaches to supplement it.

Chen Feng nodded, "I understand. I don't expect to analyze the entirety of Human Dao at once through this. If we could analyze one sect, then this method will always find generalization, to summarize the entire Divine Tao, then analyze laws, analyze commerce, analyze morality..."

Master of Calculation, Xi Baiche, once said, "Special issues are equally important, for they are the breakthrough to generality."

Although Wang Qi's model was not perfect and had many shortcomings, it was already providing Chen Feng with some enlightening connections. The Divine Tao Cultivation Methods, which he had previously only forced his way through without understanding, were now becoming clear in his mind.

Constructing the Divine Tao... Constructing the Divine Tao...

Chen Feng's gaze suddenly sharpened. He looked at the surveillance footage that Wang Qi had pushed aside and said, "What a pity."

"What's wrong?" Wang Qi feigned ignorance.

"This empirical evidence, it is illegal!"

Wang Qi snapped his fingers. "Jarvis, which Immortal Alliance Law have I broken?"

"For now, there is no serious crime, teacher. However, I must remind you, peering into others' cultivation methods without permission is an infringement of their rights. I do not recommend that you do this."

Wang Qi put his foot down and spread his hands. "There you go. It's a civil matter. Unless they sue, you, as a Law Enforcement Officer, can only mediate."

Chen Feng said angrily, "Stop playing dumb! You are establishing the Divine Tao, founding a Divine Sect! This is harming the interests of those eight people!"

"Anyway, their whole lives they could only be house slaves to the Divine Capital Nobles, at best, they might become hastily formed Golden Core Cultivators, not even as good as Ancient Method Foundation Establishment. Through my empirical evidence, they will surely become top Golden Core Combat Power. What's there to be dissatisfied about?" Wang Qi blinked. "As for the Divine Tao? I have established it? What a joke, Jarvis, replay the footage where I 'educated' those kids for him."

Several screens appeared in front of Chen Feng and quickly scrolled through. A trace of confusion appeared in Chen Feng's eyes. "This is..."

"No Divine Power involved, no Divine Arts set, no Divine Name proclaimed, no Manifestation," said Wang Qi. "Is this the Divine Tao?"

Chen Feng said, "But you also violated the principles of 'informed' and 'voluntary.' This principle..."

"This is a single-blind experiment; it's acceptable not to tell the full situation now, as long as one swears a Heart Demon Oath to inform them later."

Later... Hah, after they've been successfully brainwashed by you, right...

"Moreover, I will absolutely not let anything go wrong with these precious experimental subjects and samples. This experiment will last at most for a few years, and it's unlikely to harm others. Trust me, as a reward, I will make them into first-class Golden Core Cultivators. Among them, those involved in the Circle of Reason, after my modifications, might have a chance to transform into Modern Cultivators."

Chen Feng closed his eyes. "You've indeed perfectly evaded the Immortal Alliance Law... I will discuss theories with you later, but this experiment..."

I will not be a part of it.

Before Chen Feng could say the last few words, Wang Qi revealed a smile that suggested a tempting offer. "Friend, I have a great issue that will benefit the current era and glorify one for a thousand generations. Do you want a share?"

Chen Feng doubted. "What great issue? And benefits the current era, glorifies one for a thousand generations?"

"For the people to establish life, for a peace that spans all ages," Wang Qi said. "You said before, didn't you, Human Dao is a system that can attract Spiritual Energy, but within this system, the circulating Spiritual Energy does not reside in the person."

"That's correct."

"So, what if we turn this flow of Spiritual Energy into Mana, not concentrate it on individual Divine Spirits or Witches, but disperse it among all of the Human Clan?"

Chen Feng was taken aback. "Are you going to?"

"Everyone shall be an Immortal Cultivator," Wang Qi, supporting himself on the table, stood up, his face alight with excitement as he exclaimed, "Or rather, everyone as dragons, and the world in great harmony!"

The laws of heaven and earth dictate that the achievements of Immortal Dao Civilization have always been beyond the reach of mortals. This may well be considered one of the laws of heaven and earth. During the times of the Ancient Demon Clan Civilization, the Demon Clan did not regard beasts as their kind. Before and after Spirit Awakening lie two different worlds. The Human Clan, albeit slightly better, treats mortals only as a source to produce more geniuses, and perhaps also as Artifact Refining Materials and sources of Incense Fire.

Yet, heaven and earth are indifferent, people have ambitions, and I set my own path to establish the will of heaven. (To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, you're welcome to vote for it and support me on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)