Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 296 - 50: Exile, Retirement City, Out-Clan Garrison
Faced with everyone's gaze, Wang Qi sighed, "Cough cough, my name is indeed Wang Qi, a True Disciple of the Wanfa Sect."
"So you really are Wang Qi! You share the name with that True Disciple!" The crowd clearly only believed the first sentence. Seeing their reaction, Wang Qi, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Chen Jingyun hadn't stooped so low as to spread the fact that he was a Banished Immortal everywhere, and his appearance obviously hadn't been made widely known either. These were all good things.
With regard to the crowd's misunderstanding, Wang Qi was pleased to let it continue, nonchalantly picking up a cup of tea and drinking. Hou Benli, however, looked displeased and said, "You've been listening over there for quite some time, right? And sneaking peeks this way."
At that moment, Wang Qi suddenly felt the invasion of alien magic power. There was no malice in it, it could only make one uncomfortable for a moment at most, akin to the level of "give me a punch" between ordinary youths. While it was a bit overly familiar for a first meeting, it wasn't quite impolite.
Hou Benli's attitude was clear—kid, you've just arrived and you're already hitting on the girls here, not cool! How about some respect for those who came before you!
However, Hou Benli soon felt that something was amiss. No matter how much he exerted his power, Wang Qi seemed to have no reaction. On the contrary, Hou Benli's own mana began to show signs of uncontrolled behavior, flooding into Wang Qi's body as if it cost nothing.
Wang Qi used his teacup to cover the upward curl of his lips. His Divine Skills, which could be figuratively titled "Holy Light" but literally as an "external plugin," could draw from the outside "order" to strengthen himself. Even a true offensive spell, upon entering Wang Qi's body, would be absorbed by thirty percent and negated by another thirty percent, leaving only forty percent effectiveness.
Hou Benli's action was merely bumping up against Wang Qi with mana, not even amounting to an attack. And his mental method was from Tianling Ridge, which shared the same origin as the Heavenly Calculation Atlas and Holy Light. In just an instant, invisible root systems traced back through the mana flow into Hou Benli's body, siphoning his strength.
True Form Beast Scripture, his mana was quite solid.
Wang Qi even had the spare time to critique the other's mana. But he knew that continuing this way would likely end up like Ai Qinglan draining all of Yang Ziping's life force, sucking the other party dry until death. Therefore, Wang Qi used the Heavenly Entropy Technique to sever the connection of their powers, cutting off the Negative Entropy of Holy Light.
Once released, Hou Benli's mana within waned, a sense of fatigue surged, and then his neck went limp, clunking his head onto the table.
"You're strong," Hou Benli said in frustration as he got up, speaking to Wang Qi.
Watching his fellow disciple suffer a minor setback, another Tianling Ridge disciple said, "Senior Brother Wang, don't mind it. That Hou is just a bit crazy, acting on every sudden thought. Don't take it to heart."
"Everyone seems to get along quite well," Wang Qi nodded, contemplatively.
"We don't get along that well with the local cultivators, and with the burden of many tedious tasks, we can only vent to each other," Mo Zhenzhen tugged at her junior sister. "Alright, Senior Brother Wang, if you want to go to the Immortal Alliance Branch or our sect's station, you should follow us."
Wang Qi followed Mo Zhenzhen out of the teahouse, through the streets and alleys, and soon they reached the main road that ran north to south.
This hundred-step-wide Heavenly Street was paved with smooth bluestone, dazzling and blooming under the sunlight. But in Wang Qi's eyes, Divine Capital no longer held the novelty it first did.
This place seems so depressing... truly an exile...
"What's on your mind, Senior Brother Wang?" Fu Xiao turned around, noticing Wang Qi's subdued demeanor, and asked.
Wang Qi sighed, "This doesn't seem like a place for seekers of the Dao."
Seeking the Dao, or in other words, pursuing scientific research, doesn't care whether the surroundings are bustling or desolate, but a good academic environment does benefit a scholar's contemplation. However, Divine Capital...
"It really can't compare to our sect," Mo Zhenzhen said with a wry smile, continuing the conversation. "In mathematics, besides hard work, talent is paramount, followed by communication. But our station in Divine Capital... Since Divine Capital doesn't need much from Wanfa Sect, we have fewer personnel stationed here, even less than in Lower Capital."
"What do Wanfa Sect's external affair disciples usually do?" Wang Qi asked out of curiosity. Back in the Immortal Institute, he always felt that no matter what, he was at least a top-notch Inner Sect disciple, so he never considered external affairs.
Mo Zhenzhen thought for a moment and replied, "Our Wanfa Sect's mental method prioritizes calculation; to solve mathematical problems is to cultivate, as you know, right?"
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Following Mo Zhenzhen's introduction, Wang Qi gradually understood the main responsibilities of the Wanfa Sect's external affairs.
Statistics, data compilation, simple calculations... all these activities could aid a Wanfa Sect cultivator's cultivation. Although, for Wang Qi, such calculations seemed inefficient, most newly initiated Wanfa disciples were at the level of "barely passing calculus". They couldn't solve any sophisticated equations, so tasks that were not highly complex yet involved processing large volumes of data were actually more suitable for their cultivation. As a result, jobs like tax collection, census, and other Ministry of Revenue tasks were carried out by Wanfa Sect's external affairs disciples.
Similarly, each city's Tianling Ridge branch offices served as large medical facilities. Mountain River City's branch took responsibility for engineering issues. These branch offices may not have many personnel, but they were sufficient to improve the operation efficiency of the Da Lian Government by several folds. And for these Outer Disciples, the process of "serving the people" became their path for cultivation.
What's more ingenious is that there's no need to worry about these Outer Disciples shirking their duties or exploiting their positions for personal gain due to their cultivation being at stake.
"Wow, the Immortal Alliance officially doesn't manage the mortal world, but in reality, the lifelines of the mortal world are all in the hands of the Immortal Alliance," Zhen Chan marveled. "And as the mortal world thrives, so does the population. With more people, there will gradually be more Modern Cultivators..."
And there was more.
A flicker of intrigue passed through Wang Qi's eyes. This practice of establishing many branch offices could significantly speed up the collection of research materials. For instance, Tianling Ridge branch offices running hospitals would greatly increase the chances of encountering unique biological samples. An example on Earth would be the famous HeLa cells, which a doctor obtained from one of his patients. With Wanfa Sect's century-long records on national welfare, developing a few theories in social science would not be difficult for the dedicated.
Seeing that Wang Qi remained silent, Mo Zhenzhen comforted him, "Actually, Divine Capital has its perks too; at least, it's very comfortable to live here."
"A capital city suited for retirement, I'm aware," Wang Qi said, squinting, enjoying the breeze in the air. "The wind here is quite pleasant."
"Since the decision was made from the start to treat it as a place for retirement, naturally the best location was chosen," Mo Zhenzhen agreed. "It's not far from the East Sea. In ancient times, this place was known as the battlefield where the Great Mahayana of the Human and Demon Clans clashed, with flat terrain and sea breezes all year round."
Wang Qi sighed, "Indeed, it's not so bad."
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This chapter is the third update for yesterday; today's update will come later.
