Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 920 - 6: Scheming and Conflict

[Alliance Hierarch Exceptional Update 5/5]

After leaving the room, Wang Qi first came to the entrance of the Jiazi Pavilion, looked around with an expressionless face, giving no hint of his thoughts.

In reality, at this moment, Wang Qi was in a phase where his disguise could easily be seen through.

He replicated some characteristics of the Xiangyu Heavenly Position Technique within himself. Although on the surface his cultivation still resembled the Great Freedom Brushing Heart Mysterious Truth, a high-level cultivator could easily detect the differences in his body with a simple wrist touch.

However, this was a risk that had to be taken.

Under the enhancement of the Xiangyu Heavenly Position Technique, every detail that Wang Qi's eyes scanned was imprinted in his mind, then abstracted and projected onto a virtual high-dimensional coordinate system for calculation using special algorithms.

Wang Qi merely stood there for a few seconds, seemingly familiarizing himself with the terrain. In fact, he had already noted everything around that could possibly be used for an array and quickly deduced the potential formations that might exist there.

"Too little information. Just looking at the shape of this building, it could support dozens of different forbidden techniques and formations in cooperation," he thought.

Wang Qi then turned back for another look before continuing forward.

His eyes and even the spiritual sense he inadvertently spread out recorded everything around and incorporated it into his calculations. Wang Qi gradually eliminated some possibilities, thereby estimating Luochen Sword Palace's defensive capabilities, its internal surveillance strength, the difficulty of usurping control of the formation, and the feasibility of relying on Luochen Sword Palace's Mountain Protection Array to hold out for aid at the last moment.

The formation was a vast subject; every pillar, every decorative stone, every paving stone in Luochen Sword Palace could potentially be part of this formation or even a node.

To a Modern Cultivator, this was an application of topology.

"Better than I imagined," Wang Qi thought, "Luochen Sword Palace doesn't have excessive surveillance at every step... It makes sense. They are sword cultivators. No matter how much their swordsmanship emphasizes agility and changes, they are ultimately sword cultivators."

"However, you must also be careful not to leave any clues these days. Regardless of Modern Cultivation Method or other magic tools, do not reveal them," Zhen Chan warned.

"I'm not stupid," Wang Qi replied, looking up at the main hall of Luochen Sword Palace, "What do you think the success rate would be if I sneaked in there now and used the Heart Demon Curse and Divine Plague Curse Technique to eliminate Luochen Sword Palace's Great Elder?"

Even with their precautions, they would only guard against the standards of a 'Golden Core early-stage spy.' However, Wang Qi's true combat power could not be summarized by such a mere stage. In fact, as long as Wang Qi could touch the injured Great Elder, he could end the battle immediately.

Though he lost the fastest mana recovery speed prized by Modern Cultivators due to severing his connection with Heaven and Earth, and the continuous simulation of the Great Freedom Brushing Heart Mysterious Truth occupied much of his computational power, even without Yue Luo's and Liu Li's help, he still couldn't easily defeat a Nascent Soul. Yet, the Divine Plague Curse Technique was as innate to him as an ability and could still be used.

Zhen Chan stopped Wang Qi from this reckless idea, saying, "Don't be impulsive. If I'm not mistaken, the defensive forbidden array here wouldn't be able to stop Holy Emperor Venerable's spiritual sense from penetrating. Otherwise, it wouldn't have gone unnoticed by Lian Yichen's soul lamp. If you attack Luochen Sword Palace's Great Elder, you must use your full strength. But if you use your full strength, your next opponent can only be Holy Emperor Venerable."

"True," Wang Qi nodded in agreement, "It seems the time isn't right yet."

Zhen Chan continued, "Actually, you might as well start with the Heart Demon Curse."

"The Heart Demon Great Curse Memory style is evidently a Spirit Rhinoceros Bottle. And the artifact connected to the memory body has distinct calculator characteristics. Don't take it out before confirming the attitude of the people here towards Modern Magic Tools."

If such a thing, capable of causing a world-ending calamity, were accidentally obtained by an Ancient Method Practitioner, the Heavenly Sword would certainly be the first to strike.

"Just now, did you do something to that martial cultivation kid in the Heavenly Book Tower?"

"Oh?" Wang Qi asked curiously, "I thought I was very discreet. Even if you're sharing my vision, you wouldn't easily spot it."

Zhen Chan replied, "Tsk, knowing your nature, if you didn't do anything to that little ghost in the Heavenly Book Tower, you wouldn't have let them go that easily. What exactly did you do?"

"Oh, I implanted a strand of mana in him, nothing special, it just records information. What he sees, hears, and feels over this period will be recorded by this strand of mana. Next time I encounter him, I can reclaim this mana and read the recorded information," Wang Qi explained.

This was also one of the clever uses of the Heavenly Calculation Atlas' "Accumulated Spirit Rhinoceros" characteristic.

Evolution is the constant accumulation of genetic information, eliminating harmful information through natural selection.

"So, you can still use the Divine Plague Curse Technique?"

"This is my most fundamental ability. However, under limited computational power, I can't form a particularly powerful Divine Plague Curse," Wang Qi stated.

"Can't form a significantly powerful Divine Plague Curse?" Zhen Chan, now acting as a strategist, inquired about the details: "Can you currently use something with destructive power?"

"Oh, I misspoke. It should be 'controllable and powerful.' If uncontrollability wasn't an issue, I could cause all cultivators below the Divine Separation Stage to lose combat power temporarily," Wang Qi clarified, "but that's meaningless. The Divine Plague Curse Technique is powerful and hard to resist, but its transmissibility isn't strong. Without the Spreading method of the Heart Demon Curse, it doesn't have great destructive power. Our ultimate target is Holy Emperor Venerable. Exposing ourselves before reaching him and alerting him would be bad."

"Then, how about trying it on the low-level disciples of Luochen Sword Palace first?"

"Meaningless."

"Just a casual game?"

"Casual, my ass. If there's time for this, we might as well think about how to seize this array."

"Seize the array? Without relying on the Heart Demon Great Curse, what will you use? The Divine Plague Curse Technique doesn't have the property of corrupting all things!"

One mad plan after another was proposed and then rejected in the discussion between Wang Qi and Zhen Chan.

Perhaps too focused on the surroundings, Wang Qi didn't notice the low-level disciples passing by. He didn't notice the extreme hostility from the Luochen Sword Palace disciples around him; it was ready to explode with a mere touch.

"That guy, he's the disciple of Elder Lian, the traitor?"

"Golden Core? Who knows how many heavenly treasures he's consumed."

"What face does he even have to come here?"

The person who incited this malice was a middle-aged Golden Core late-stage cultivator.

A sword tapped the ground next to Wang Qi's foot. Wang Qi stopped and looked at the Golden Core cultivator blocking him, puzzled.

"Xia Li... Junior Brother?" The big man smiled naively: "New here?"

Wang Qi nodded, puzzled.

"I'm of the same generation as you, called Song Zhongqiao." The big man said to Wang Qi: "I have a weakness; I like to duel with swords. I heard, Junior Brother, you have extraordinary talent, so I want to duel with you."

Looking at the malice in those small eyes, Wang Qi felt his intelligence was being insulted.

This reason, could it be any less sincere? Do you think everyone has zero emotional intelligence?

However...

This is clearly giving Wang Qi a chance to justifiably use the Divine Plague Curse Technique!

Even if he hadn't planned to cast the Divine Plague Curse on others now... should he treat it as an experiment with the new spell?

A peculiar smile immediately emerged on Wang Qi's face: "Alright..."

"Hold it!" Just then, a voice called out. Lian Xingling hastily intervened between the two, using her body to block Wang Qi—in reality, blocking Wang Qi's gaze towards Song Zhongqiao.

Upon seeing Song Zhongqiao provoking Wang Qi, Lian Xingling's heart skipped a beat.

What was Wang Qi here for this time? To eradicate the Ancient Method Practitioners! The Immortal Alliance intended to protect all Ancient Method Practitioners below the Golden Core stage, but there were no specific requirements. Wang Qi killing all the Golden Core stage cultivators wasn't a problem. In this situation, disciples below the Golden Core stage couldn't curry favor with Wang Qi quickly enough! Why would they provoke him?

If this Killing God was in a good mood, perhaps he might even let Luochen Sword Palace disciples off the hook, leaving some incense fire for Luochen Sword Palace. Even if they switch to Modern Cultivation later, it wouldn't end the lineage.

But... but why provoke him?

In her heart, she wished she could beat Song Zhongqiao black and blue. But this expression appeared to the other party as undeniable favoritism. The middle-aged man's face revealed an ambiguous smile: "Oh? Does Junior Sister Lian have an opinion on this duel?"

"Opinion..." Naturally, Lian Xingling couldn't say, "This is for your own good, for Luochen Sword Palace." So she said, "You... you're bullying with strength! Why would a Golden Core late-stage challenge a Golden Core early-stage? Just using cultivation to bully others!"

Even as she said this, Lian Xingling felt a bit depressed: Bullying with strength... Damn it, this guy defeated a Divine Separation stage during the Foundation Establishment stage! The so-called levels, combat power, in this little guy's eyes, are clearly crap.

"Heh heh heh, it seems Junior Sister Lian doesn't want me to duel Junior Brother Xia, eh?" Song Zhongqiao laughed while aiming his words at Wang Qi behind Lian Xingling: "Junior Brother Xia, what about you, huh? Always being protected by a woman, what does that make you? This woman doesn't even have cultivation much higher than yours..."

Wang Qi placed a hand on Lian Xingling's shoulder—this action alone made Lian Xingling shiver and nearly kneel in plea—sidestepped Lian Xingling, and looked at the big man, saying, "I'm not quite sure why you're provoking me. However, I'm someone who hates trouble. To avoid trouble, I won't hold back..."

"Oh?" At first, Song Zhongqiao thought he misheard. He hesitated for a second or two, then burst into laughter: "You're saying... you won't hold back? Ahaha? Since you're so amusing, Junior Brother Xia, I won't cripple you, just give you a light injury—by the way, if you want to know why, blame it on your cheap master!"

"Too much nonsense!" Wang Qi's hand on Lian Xingling's shoulder suddenly exerted force, using her as a pivot to step and turn, punching out.