Once the evening class ended, Wang Qi walked over to the utmost northern side of the Immortal Institute. Asking another freshman for directions, he arrived at the refining workshop.
Xiang Qi was getting her materials in order when, stunned, this junior brother of hers came to visit on his own. “Wang Qi? Why are you here?”
The reaction Wang Qi got after revealing his purpose was the same as Mao Zimiao and Wang Zhenqi’s, “A thousand? Why not just rob people instead?”
Wang Qi shrugged. “Think I can with my cultivation?”
“True. Wait, is that your plan when you’re strong enough?”
Wang Qi offered no comment.
Xiang Qi held her head and said, “It costs as much merits to refine a vital magic treasure in the Golden Core realm. Just what could’ve caught your eye?”
“Books.”
Wang Qi replied, seeing no point in hiding.
Xiang Qi looked doubtful. “Since when did the library have such expensive books?”Wang Qi shared the whole story. “As I was meditating last night, a senior popped out of the blue and said I was to his liking, so he gave me a list. The ring grandpa said the senior was an Unfettered, called Hilbert.”
“Hilbert?” Xiang Qi frowned. “Arbiter of Arithmetic Hilbert?”
Wang Qi nodded. Xiang Qi touched his shoulder, staring him right in the eye. She cracked up, “Arbiter of Arithmetic Hilbert, ha-ha-ha. You’re saying he helped you, ha-ha-ha!”
Wang Qi shrugged even as the girl was laughing to tears. He bet anyone would hreact the same if the average high school student said he got a Nobel Prize winner for a tutor back on Earth.
Xiang Qi laughed for a while. “That’s the funniest thing I heard this month. But I don’t think you crossed half the Immortal Institute just so you could crack jokes. Now spill it, why are you here?”
Wang Qi was grave. Xiang Qi calmed down at his face. “You actually came here to tell me jokes?”
Wang Qi’s serious face cracked. “For crying out loud, you only see me as a funny guy? The thought of coming here beyond making jokes never occurred to you?”
Xiang Qi’s eyes went wide. “For real? Arbiter of Arithmetic guided you?”
“Didn’t I say that already? What’s with that delayed reaction?”
Xiang Qi placed her hand on his head, pushing in her spiritual power. “You haven’t gone crazy while cultivating, and I can confirm that neither have I. Was all you said true?”
Wang Qi facepalmed, “Your lame reaction got me good, Senior Sister.”
Xiang Qi spoke awkwardly, “Sorry, it’s just this news. You really got Arbiter of Arithmetic’s guidance?”
Wang Qi shook his head. “I can’t confirm it. The senior called himself Hilbert.”
Xiang Qi paced around, looking excited. “You got the Arbiter of Arithmetic’s guidance! You got his guidance!”
She looked truly happy for her friend.
Wang Qi was puzzled. “It’s not like you’ve been sponsored to Eminence, so why the sudden joy?”
Xiang Qi’s joy vanished. “Good, you’re neither cocky nor rash. However, don’t underestimate Arbiter of Arithmetics’ guidance. The laws of the world are the root of all arts. Countless seniors wasted their time being stuck at some point because their arithmetic level didn’t match the path they took. Under Arbiter of Arithmetic’s guidance, you can avoid all those detours.”
Wang Qi said, “Senior only showed me the way while I will be walking it myself.”
He’d known from his past life what mathematical tools he needed for that kind of research and didn’t find this kind of guidance as rare as the rest.
That wasn’t to say Hilbert’s books were useless. Wang Qi wasn’t accustomed to this world’s books. Hilbert sure was sharp, recommending the books he needed most and saving him a lot of time.
Xiang Qi appreciated him for his reaction, praising it as well. Wang Qi was nice enough to accept it, but then his face fell. “Guidance is nice and all, but I’m broke!”
Xiang Qi pondered, “This has to be a lengthy process. Why not wait for now, unti-, why are you looking at me like that?”
At her sudden vigilant tone, Wang Qi sighed, “Won’t you pitch in even a little bit?”
Xiang Qi whipped her head around in a definitive no. “Absolutely not. Once I finish teaching this year’s disciples, I have to return to my sect and prepare for Golden Core. It took me no little effort to earn what I have. And you have the heart to ask me to give up my vital magic treasure to help you?”
The vital magic treasure scaled with the user’s cultivation. The sooner one got it, the better. Furthermore, the vital magic treasure was tied to a cultivator’s prospects of reaching Primordial Spirit. There was no room for error.
No matter how brazen, Wang Qi couldn’t ask others to stake their futures on him. He had no choice but to seek others’ help.
Xiang Qi saw his intent and shook her head. “Speaking of merits, most Secular disciples are in a bind like you. They could only offer you around fifteen at most. The situation only gets better at Eminence.”
Wang Qi asked, “Has Brother Su always been liberal with his money?”
“Having a spirit pool holding millions of stones in spiritual energy does not equal being rich in merits.” Xiang Qi shook her head. “Going by the current exchange rate, one merit is valued at around two thousand stones of spiritual energy, but the Immortal Alliance won’t let you exchange them. You can be roaming the streets all you want, but that won’t guarantee you’ll find one to make the exchange either, not even by offering ten times that.”
Zhen Chanzi gasped, butting in, “Two thousand for just one merit, twenty thousand even? Isn’t this too much of a difference? A Qi Refining cultivator only has a couple tens of thousand spirit stones worth of spiritual energy.”
Xiang Qi rolled her eyes at this hick and asked, “What use does spiritual energy have?”
“To cut down…” Zhen Chanzi jerked to a halt.
The ancient system needed spirit stones to absorb their spiritual energy for cultivation. It was the only value these stones had in the cultivation world.
In regards to modern cultivation, however, the breath of the world supplied one with all the spiritual energy one needed. It was like plucking the purest and ripest spiritual energy. They didn’t even care about spirit stones.
Zhen Chanzi wasn’t ready to give up his old world view just yet. “Spiritual energy can be used in arrays, refining, and alchemy. Saving a cultivator’s spiritual power helps increase the time of cultivation.”
Wang Qi shook his head. “Old man, the modern system emphasizes the mind first and foremost. They held back from cultivating in the Secular period so they could maintain a firm mind. There’s no point in saving time.”
The spirit stones were akin to ancient cultivators’ bread and butter.
In modern cultivation, spiritual energy was like hydroelectric power, making things far more convenient but not a necessity.
In the present immortal cultivation world, buying anything with merits in the Immortal Alliance made merits the true wealth for any cultivator.
Wang Qi was struck by a quirky thought: [Have you ever seen people going around selling hydroelectric power on the streets?]
Xiang Qi explained, “A hundred years ago, the Immortal Alliance learned how to harvest spiritual energy from the breath of the world. The only reason commerce with spiritual energy is still around is to avoid the collapse of society.”
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