Applied Immortality

Chapter 20: You’re Only After Our Money, You Cheater!

Wang Qi wandered about the street for a while.

Only half an hour ago, he was giddy to find a library or something to transcribe Daoist Proscribe’s works into a more familiar language to him, Earth’s math, while also taking a stab at their meanings.

Disappointment came crashing down on him soon after, as while Argent Apex had libraries or archives, they were not open to the public.

Finding that the archive’s records were for Nirvana or later cultivators, Wang Qi’s hopes of sneaking in were dashed.

“The Immortal Alliance isn’t as public as I thought. The fact that libraries are closed to the public means they have tight control over knowledge.” Wang Qi pondered, “This harms any kind of research endeavor.”

Argent Apex was the heart of the Immortal Alliance, more or less the biggest immortal city. Since the archives were closed here, they were closed across the continent.

Zhen Chanzi proposed, “Why not book a room at a tavern?”

Wang Qi flinched and gave a creepy smile, “Shit, old man, you’re saying I should get a room with a girl’s card?” 

[It sounds so obscene.]

Wang Qi shook his head. [Only Earthlings will get the euphemism.] He still denied it, “Going back with the receipt will draw unneeded suspicion. What reason would I have to stay at a tavern?” 

“What now, then?”

“Keep looking. I need to see just how developed modern cultivation is while you keep an eye out on Immortal Alliance’s customs and handling.”

An early Qi Refining cultivator had weak spiritual power and couldn’t handle strong arts, though they had tough bodies going for them, above a mortal’s. Wang Qi walked about for long and felt not the least bit tired.

Argent Apex’s flourishing state had Zhen Chanzi gapping at first, but now doubts appeared, “Kid, something doesn’t feel right. Have you noticed a lack of cultivation methods or magical arts being sold?” 

Wang Qi nodded, “I have. There are alchemy houses, but only sell pills and ingredients, not recipes. I bet the same goes for the refiners. I noticed some bookstores, but they only sell guides at most, avoiding outright magical arts, among journals and novels.”

“Immortal Alliance controls knowledge access.” Zhen Chanzi surmised, “If modern cultivation is built upon the discoveries and understandings of the laws of Dao, how could then abolish the interactions existing since the ancient times?”

[It was beyond suspicious.] Wang Qi pondered. [Scientists making for poor politicians isn’t enough to explain this degree of control.] 

[Have Immortal Alliance’s intellectual property laws gone to such extreme measures?]

[Can’t be. In intellectual property law, the ideal would be to get a share by selling those rights. It’s unlikely for all of Immortal Alliance to be so obstinate.] 

[The great mathematician Laplace, for example, was an extreme case that forgot about copyrights, who cited others without giving them credit while also giving his own research for newcomers in the academic circles to publish under their own name.]  

[Looking at the strange correlation, the Divine Province’s White Marsh Laplace should have the same trait.]

[Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.]

Wang Qi frowned, “Outside enemy… Old man, should we still join Immortal Alliance?”

Zhen Chanzi said, “With how peaceful it is, the enemy, if there ever is one, must be something in the far future, or maybe only the higher echelon knows about it. The only way to train in the modern cultivation is by joining the Immortal Alliance.”

Wang Qi rubbed his chin, changing the subject, “How do you assess the craftsmanship of today compared to ten thousand years ago?”

“Beyond exemplary, with many pills tending towards standardization and integration. Magic items are the same.”

[They put effort into popularizing technology?] Wang Qi looked around with suspicion.

There was a sudden ruckus up ahead.

“What’s going on?” Wang Qi asked.

Zhen Chanzi guessed, “There’s no sign of bloodlust, so there’s no danger.”

Wang Qi heard it was safe and went there, enjoying the bustle.

The noise came from a trading company. In Argent Apex’s inner city, people came and went, but unlike this merchant company, every other shop looked like a street stall. 

“Damn, just what got everyone in a shopping frenzy…” Wang Qi struggled through the shoving crowd. He noticed that the merchant company was called Great Fortunes.

Wang Qi asked a nearby Qi Refining cultivator, “Brother, could you tell me what it sells in there? Why are there so many people rushing to buy?”

The guy snapped, “What the hell are you even doing here if you don’t know, punk?”

Wang Qi said, “Just curious.”

The cultivator said, “Today they are selling a new expansion deck for Cultivation the Gathering. You have no idea how many of us have waited for this!”

Wang Qi smirked, “New expansion pack…”

The cultivator was thrilled, “Yep, yep, made around the theme of a moon demon falling on the mortal plane…”

Wang Qi’s mouth twitched, “Quite realistic…”

After some more questions, he found out that this company had sole rights to sell Cultivation the Gathering card packs, using top-notch marketing tactics to squeeze money.

Wang Qi played with a basic pack of Cultivation the Gathering, containing the most common and widespread modern magical arts and items. The grade 5 rarity cards meant they used real magical arts with a weight of 5. Magic items were hidden in random packs. On the birthdays of some grand people, limited edition packs were made around a certain cultivator. This merchant company would sell out themed expansion packs at intervals, regarding ancient arts that were all the rage in history. 

Going by Lu Renjia Algorithm, ancient magical arts could only have a maximum value of 4, except for the famous immortal items that could reach 7. With eighty thousand years of ancient cultivation history, even if just one out of a thousand magical arts caught the eyes of modern people, there would still be tons of good magical arts introduced in today’s system. 

These expansion packs increased the game’s replayability but gave countless modern cultivators wondrous insight as well. It was why the game became so popular, loved, and hated by countless players out there.

Wang Qi facepalmed at the zealous look on the cultivators, constantly thinking of ‘scary evil cults’ and ‘disgustingly obsessed neets.’ 

“Immortal path’s game whales… let’s just leave… Eh?”

Inside Grand Fortune, a strong spiritual power spread out. It came out of the blue and carried with it a chilling thirst for life.

“Holy crap! What’s with this development?” Wang Qi gripped his neighbor and asked.

The cultivator was calm, “Someone must’ve gotten a 7th grade rarity card or higher and they flipped!” 

[Holy shit are cults scary!]

The disturbance spread out.

“He’s only a cheater after our money!”

“Buzz off! I’m just drawing miracles!”

“Four rares in one 10-card pack!”

“He’s a plant for sure!”

“You’re the cheater here, along with your family!”

“Leave the card!”

“Fight!”

“We can’t be friends!”

“Fight, fight, fight!”

“Fight!”

“Fight~!”

There was a young voice cursing at a black guy at first, but then the crowd started roaring and was itching to battle.

Wang Qi saw some cultivators being flung back in front before his vision went black as a cultivator in blue turned into a shadow and flashed right over him.

While Wang Qi was watching, the cultivator in blue twisted around and behind Wang Qi in an impossible way. Along with spiritual power fluctuations, a black image separated from the blue cultivator and shot off in the direction the cultivator was about to leave.  

Wang Qi only got to witness this due to the distance and angle. It got to him what was happening and thought it funny to shout for the pursuing cultivators about the person in blue’s actions. But the blue-robed cultivator had circled around him faster than he could react. He then felt the back of his neck go numb. 

[Shit!]

Wang Qi cursed as he watched the chasers going after the lucky guy in the wrong direction.