If he really was a System player, Wang Qi firmly believed he would have reached the Golden Core Stage by now, at least the Mid-Stage Golden Core. If the system also released some tasks, such as "Survive the attack of an Ancient Method Practitioner," or "Kill a certain number of red-named cultivators," he might have equipped himself in purple gear already, and his cultivation might have reached the Late Stage Golden Core.

Unfortunately, he had not yet reached the stage of "creating something out of nothing," so he naturally couldn't add an experience bar for himself or infuse himself with the mana needed for leveling up.

"You should get a lot of experience points for killing above your level, but because I didn't create a leveling system in time, it was wasted..." Wang Qi muttered to himself, as if just given a bit more time, he could actually make it happen.

Beside him and Mao Zimiao, many Ancient Method Practitioners had already fallen, with about thirty percent of them being at the Golden Core Stage.

"Xiao Qi... you're being too arrogant..." Mao Zimiao was already terrified. Normal cultivators wouldn't carry a Restraint Magic Tool when they go out, so most of the cultivators around them were currently unrestrained. In other words, they could erupt into violence at any moment if they wanted to. Although Wang Qi had subdued these people with an unheard-of spell technique, the feeling was like being with a lion that had been anesthetized; even though you know it won't resist, you still feel afraid.

"It's okay, it's okay." Wang Qi's hands danced in the void, as if he was coding—which, well, he actually was.

"We clearly have time to find a place to hide now..."

Wang Qi stopped his current task and smiled at Mao Zimiao, "Azimiao, that's the limits of your thinking. Now, our enemies are hidden, yet likely stronger than us, so we should retreat first, right?"

Mao Zimiao nodded blankly, "Gather information, expand advantage..."

Isn't that how it's done?

Wang Qi gave Mao Zimiao a knock on the head with a chop of his hand, "Not necessarily. As long as we quickly grow enough in battle to surpass our opponents, no information will be useful anymore."

But Mao Zimiao was confused. Cultivating one's character and one's life could not be separated. There were not a few instances where, due to a rapid increase in cultivation and a transformation of soul quality, one's temperament changed drastically. In her view, a rapid increase in power in a short time didn't seem like a good thing.

In the midst of their conversation, another Ancient Method Practitioner had traced the remnants of the battle to their location. All the combat had ended in an extremely short amount of time, and the power of the Heart Demon Curse was hard to detect, meaning an Ancient Method Practitioner in such a short time still hadn't realized how fearsome his opponent was. And each clash that released slight mana waves was like a taunt across the entire map.

However, this time the Golden Core Cultivator was much more alert. After seeing many comrades fallen on the ground, he immediately realized that the opponent was formidable. His first reaction was to retreat and at the same time, crack a Communication Magic Artifact at his waist, calling for reinforcements from high-order cultivators underground.

His body wrapped in Sword Qi, he slashed through winds and shattered clouds, ignoring air resistance. In an instant, he had fled a hundred zhang away. But just then, something that defied logic and challenged limits occurred. Somewhere at his side floated a figure serene as a spirit, nonchalantly walking past him. His desperately fast escaping speed couldn't surpass the opponent's casually strolling pace!

Wang Qi softly raised two fingers, leisurely charging up. This process was incredibly slow, yet the Golden Core Cultivator couldn't react in time. Wang Qi lifted the Cave Heaven Comparison Ruler and, in a Devil-Piercing Light Killing Cannon stance, shot the Five Affliction Total Curse curse light into the opponent's chest. The curse light forcefully entered the opponent's body. Then, Wang Qi once again deployed the Cave Heaven Comparison Ruler, overlapping his figure with the opponent's without any interaction. The Golden Core Cultivator surged a few hundred zhang further before the Heart Demon Curse took effect. Through the Heart Demon Network, Wang Qi directly infused various dark illusions into his brain, causing him to fall into despair and lose the ability to move. Blue curse light gushed from his body, quickly corrupting his Magic Artifacts. The Treasure Mirror in his hand, carrying his Storage Bag, came before Wang Qi.

Wang Qi, as if he had mastered the routine, opened the bag and took out all the Magic Artifacts and Talismans, contaminating them with the Heart Demon Curse together. Then, he spent a few more minutes selecting Cultivation Techniques, advanced healing Elixirs, and precious spiritual materials, transferring them to several Storage Bags. The remaining Spirit Stones and ordinary Elixirs were left in place.

The Immortal Dao Burning Book List began to record the new Cultivation Items Wang Qi had seized. This included the Ancient Method Cultivation Methods as well as those people's Cultivation notes and experiences. Jarvis, based on various information provided by Little Yin, began to analyze the opponents' strengths and weaknesses, formulating Breaking Techniques.

The new Magic Artifacts also obediently circled around Wang Qi a few times before fading into the void. By now, despite appearing empty-handed, Wang Qi already had over three hundred Magic Artifacts hidden around him, including more than a dozen Lifebound Magical Treasures of Golden Core Cultivators.

After a while, Wang Qi took out a Primordial Qi Pill from one of the newly seized Storage Bags. This was a commonly used elixir by Ancient Method Practitioners. In the End of Law Era, with the scarcity of Spiritual Energy, normal meditation was hardly sufficient for cultivators' needs, making something like the Primordial Qi Pill, which aided in cultivation, very popular. But in the Modern Method, by integrating into the Heaven and Earth system and directly drawing Outer Heaven Spiritual Energy, they instead worried about having too much Spiritual Energy, and Primordial Qi Pills had long been extinct. Wang Qi gently squeezed the pill, the blue Spirit Light swirling around it like a grindstone. Then, a pile of spiritless residue fell to the ground, while a strand of Primordial Qi followed the Xinling Network system and settled onto a Magic Artifact.

"Refining finished, teacher."

Jarvis's prompt sounded.

"Meow? It's done?" Mao Zimiao looked around, "Xiao Qi, what did you refine?"

"Magic Artifact." Wang Qi beckoned with his hand, and a long sword automatically flew into his hand. That was the Lifebound Magical Treasure of the Unrivaled Sword Sect's Golden Core, Fu Yunzi. Among the many Magic Artifacts, it was this item and a few Heavenly Book Scrolls of disciples from the Heavenly Book Tower that caught Wang Qi's eye.

"Just developed, a Divine Skill that directly disperses the power of elixirs and the Spiritual Energy of Spirit Stones. Then, I collided it with the automatic refining function of the Heart Demon Curse Network."

Azimiao said in amazement, "Xiao Qi, when did you learn this?"

"Just now," Wang Qi pulled out a Storage Bag, poured out all the elixirs and Spirit Stones inside, and then completely dispersed them. A torrent of Primordial Qi twined around a long sword, three Heavenly Books, a vestment robe, and a tower. Countless new Talismans were generated. Those were design schemes provided by the Artifact Spirit of the Immortal Dao Burning Book List. Perhaps this would damage the further advancement of these Magic Artifacts or cause conflicts with their original Spirit Prohibitions, but Wang Qi didn't care.

Azimiao swallowed quietly. She seemed to understand what it meant to "grow stronger than your opponent."

After experiencing Divine Capital, Wang Qi's understanding of combat had undergone a new change. Many people treated Cultivation and Combat as online games, leveling up, acquiring new skills, and obtaining equipment. But in his view, this could also be seen as a real-time strategy game. It was like playing Red Alert, starting only with an armed base vehicle. No matter how well you built your base or how high you climbed with technology this round, you couldn't carry those over to the next game. But it didn't matter, in the next game you would have another armed base vehicle, and you would also carry over "experience" and "strategy."

For Wang Qi, the Heart Demon Great Curse Memory and his various abilities were his "armed base vehicle," and the new things developed in each Combat were his "experience" and "tactics." In the battle that just established his Foundation, he created a cohort of Demon Soldiers with the Life Flame and Emperor's Liquid; in the battle at Divine Capital, he used the Heart Demon Network and the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm to elevate himself to a level comparable to Divine Separation. Whether it was Demon Soldiers or the arbitrary use of power from the entire Heart Demon Network, Wang Qi couldn't carry those to the next Combat. However, he had mastered the Divine Skill of creating Demon Soldiers and the technology of setting up the Heart Demon Network. Given time, he could still create an army and demonstrate the strength of the Divine Separation Stage or even the Body Integration Realm.

Even though he was still just at Foundation Establishment.

He said, "becoming stronger than the opponent in a short period of time," and he meant it.

Azimiao sighed softly, "A few days ago, Xiao Qi, you didn't know any of this, right?"

Wang Qi seemed to have hit a strange switch, tapping his chest proudly and saying, "The current me is more evolved than the me from a minute ago, each rotation allows me to advance a little further, that is the essence of Life Beings, that is the root of lineage!"

Azimiao said in confusion, "If it were Senior Sister Ai, maybe she would understand... but I really don't get it, meow!"

Wang Qi shook his head, "Let me put it this way, before setting out to sea, I had completed a transformation, a significant breakthrough. This breakthrough has changed me completely..."

Azimiao asked doubtfully, "Was it a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment?"

Wang Qi smiled disdainfully, "Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation—anyone can pass through them; how could that be called a 'breakthrough'? Of course, that indeed is a transformation of the essence of life, but it's not the same kind of transformation I'm talking about."

"Meow... still don't understand..."

"Under equivalent conditions, an Ancient Golden Core cannot defeat a Modern Golden Core; a thousand years ago, a Modern Golden Core could definitely not defeat a Modern Golden Core of today." Wang Qi said, "From Ancient Golden Core to Modern Golden Core, this is a 'breakthrough' and 'transformation' on a technical level. Of course, I don't dare say that the breakthroughs I've made are equivalent to the birth of Modern methods, but they won't be much weaker."

Azimiao frowned, "Xiao Qi, can you give a specific example... how strong are you now, meow?"

"I'm getting stronger every minute, every second," Wang Qi tapped his temple, "Around twenty threads are maintained in my brain, ten of which are learning various kinds of knowledge, and ten constantly using the Wanxiang Diagram to compile Divine Skill Path Ranks. Old Jia and Little Yin are also helping me with this project. With every new Path Rank that emerges, Old Jia's records will have another Divine Skill, ready to be integrated into me at any time, and the Wanxiang Diagram will also be perfected, greatly accelerating the speed at which I create my own Divine Skills. Moreover, there's a team of Wanfa Sect Cultivators thousands of miles away helping me with this. Their efforts will also translate into my strength."

"Now, it's as if others and Magic Artifacts are helping me train, leaving me with time to either contemplate the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth or casually enjoy the various aspects of life, completing the task of Refining Heart." Wang Qi finally concluded, "In my view, a Cultivator's cultivation is divided into 'Dao' and 'Skill.' In your eyes, you have to slowly train both 'Dao' and 'Skill' yourself, but I'm at a different level. I can utilize the power of others and Outer Objects to complete 'Skill,' while focusing freely on Seeking Dao. Then, my thoughts on 'Dao' will reflect on 'Skill'."

Finally, Wang Qi added in his mind—the ultimate version called "Don't think bookworms only love, chat, game, read novels; in fact, they work harder than you and their learning posture is even more correct."

At that moment, a powerful Spirit Pressure descended. It felt completely different from before. Azimiao exclaimed, "Nascent Soul..."

Wang Qi disdainfully glanced in that direction, "Mongrel."

He had reached a level of boredom. These words seemed like some sort of command, as immediately hundreds of Magical Treasures appeared around him. The Thousand Illusion Divine Spell laid a splendid background effect on those Magical Treasures.

Another grand Cosplay.(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly passes, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)