While everyone in Luochen Sword Palace was speculating about Ru Tianqi's attitude towards Xia Li, and whether it would trigger power shifts within the palace, Ru Tianqi had already entered his quiet room—or rather, Wang Qi's new base.

Undoubtedly, this place had become Wang Qi's territory.

The place had changed significantly. Wang Qi, without hesitation, took what he needed from the treasured heavenly materials stored by Ru Tianqi to transform the quiet room. He shifted his cultivation method to the Heavenly Entropy Technique and raised the temperature to the maximum limit a Core Formation Stage could endure. Many metal refining materials melted into a viscous liquid with a simple turn of his hand, which he then drew into fine threads to lay across the floor and walls. In addition, numerous jade refining materials were connected to those metal threads.

Ru Tianqi noticed that the portion of metal refining materials Wang Qi took seemed to lean towards the Thunder Attribute, while the jade stones he took were mostly of Yin Yang Balance Attribute.

The entire wall was crafted to resemble a star map, with countless jade fragments the size of Go pieces flickering unpredictably.

If another Earth person were here, they'd be surprised. The setup Wang Qi created resembled an integrated circuit board.

This was Wang Qi using the Yin Yang Transformation within jade clips to recreate the structure of a computer from Earth.

This structure also contained the thoughts of Earth mathematicians on computers and was similar yet different to Shenzhou's calculators. Wang Qi planned to contemplate this structure whenever he had the time, as a way to lighten his mood.

This would also greatly aid him in perfecting the Virtual and Real Two-Phase Other Chapter.

Seeing Ru Tianqi enter, Wang Qi proactively greeted, "Yo!"

Ru Tianqi said, "I have done as you instructed. As per the agreement, quickly 'cure the spell' for me."

The mechanism Wang Qi set within Ru Tianqi worked like this. There was a countdown mechanism within Ru Tianqi. When this countdown reached zero, the lethal Divine Plague Curse Technique would activate within him. Each time Wang Qi issued a command to Ru Tianqi, the countdown would reset.

In other words, every half day, Ru Tianqi was continually approaching death. Only Wang Qi's command could pull him back. Otherwise, he'd be beyond saving.

"Understood, understood." Wang Qi lightly patted Ru Tianqi's shoulder, "Alright."

Ru Tianqi was startled, "That's it?"

"That's it." Wang Qi explained, "Actually, me patting you a couple of times is just to give you face, to signify 'I've cured you'. As long as you stay inside the Tai Chu Sword God Array, I don't even need to touch you to cure the spell."

Ru Tianqi's face darkened, "So, as long as I remain inside this formation, my life and death are in your hands, right?"

"It seems so." Wang Qi's expression clearly said, "You only realize now," as he nodded, "By the way, I just added a new restriction. If you step out of the Tai Chu Sword God Array, you might die as well. So, if you plan to go out, please notify me, or you might die."

A flicker of anger flashed across Ru Tianqi's face, "You... actually imposed a new restriction on me!"

"Apologies, until my safety is assured, I don't want to entrust my safety to your temperament," Wang Qi said, "If you suddenly get hot-headed and decide to sacrifice yourself for righteousness, wouldn't I be in a very bad spot?"

"You..." Ru Tianqi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then said, "I understand..."

Wang Qi nodded and didn't ask further, going straight to the point, "About that Mathematics Scripture I implanted in your mind, what are your thoughts on it now?"

Due to the Divine Plague Curse Technique, the Nine Chapters Mathematics Scripture was essentially looping within Ru Tianqi's mind. The Nine Chapters Mathematics Scripture was a distraction for Ru Tianqi, limiting his ability to display his cultivation, yet it was genuinely a Mathematics Scripture, a cultivation method of the Wanfa Sect.

For Ru Tianqi, it was undoubtedly a torment. However, it was also silently forcing him to consider these issues, to contemplate this kind of Modern Cultivation Method.

"I've seen people from the Heavenly Mechanism Sect use similar cultivation methods and have some understanding. Just getting started isn't an issue, but..." Ru Tianqi hesitated, "I can't delve deeply..."

The Heavenly Mechanism Sect shares origins with one of the ancient sects from which Wanfa Sect derived. Only when several sects merged into one did some members reject new ideas, causing a split. They also have their own Nine Chapters Mathematics Scripture heritage.

Wang Qi pondered, "The Nine Chapters Mathematics Scripture is already the oldest heritage of Wanfa Sect, revised only from the Ancient Method Cultivation Method version... You still don't get it?"

Ru Tianqi shook his head and replied, "Some parts are inexplicably abstruse, while others... feel unbearably straightforward."

"Simplicity is the way, the Way is in everyday life." Wang Qi searched through his Storage Bag for a while and then tossed a notebook to Ru Tianqi, "Take this for now, it should be enough to guide you into the basics."

Ru Tianqi was surprised, "This is..."

"A mathematics primer even an Ancient Method Practitioner can understand." Having said that, Wang Qi waved his hand, gesturing for Ru Tianqi to find somewhere to sit.

Ru Tianqi huddled in a corner of the quiet room and then opened the booklet. Before long, his eyes widened in amazement, "It's actually... it can actually be like this!"

This notebook was the one Wang Qi used to guide Gou Dabao in the past. Considering it might be needed for this task, Wang Qi had brought it with him.

The depth of this book is actually not as profound as a textbook. However, it discusses mathematics from a speculative perspective, following the thinking of medieval mathematicians, bringing mathematics to the level of "thought" and "mystical thought".

Nonetheless, the role of a book is more to inspire others—especially teenagers still in their immature phase, and middle-aged enthusiasts of immature ideas—to develop an interest in mathematics. It cannot truly improve one's mathematical level or cultivate mathematical thinking.

The only way to learn mathematics is to practice solving problems.

For the Ancient Method Practitioner, the role of this book is to dispel their prejudice against mathematics, letting them understand that mathematics is not merely mechanical but can also be spiritual and profound.

If this book can spark their interest in mathematics and encourage them to actively find problems to solve, they might have the chance to become an arithmetician. But just looking at this book… it's doubtful if they could even transition to become a Modern Cultivator.

As Ru Tianqi looked at this book, he felt his long-held beliefs being challenged. He had no idea that even the self-evident axiom "one plus one equals two" could be discussed in such depth!

He took a deep breath, mustering the courage to ask Wang Qi, "Mr. Wang?"

"Hmm?"

"Who wrote this book? Which great sage among the medieval mathematical sects? Or is it one of those founders from the Near Ancient period's Wanfa Sect?"

"Me."

The simple word left Ru Tianqi astonished.

—Which Carefree Level figure of the Wanfa Sect is this young disciple under? How could someone so young write this heavenly book that points directly to the Great Dao?

At that moment, two more books flew over to Ru Tianqi. Wang Qi said, "These are elementary textbooks and Immortal Institute textbooks, they complement my book wonderfully…"

"Wonderfully…" Ru Tianqi received the books but didn't quite understand what Wang Qi was saying, yet he still picked up an elementary textbook to contrast with Wang Qi's notes.

As he read, he found it immensely interesting.

Wang Qi wasn't very concerned about how Ru Tianqi was doing now. Although he had some curiosity about the technology of transitioning from Ancient Methods to Modern Cultivation Methods, it didn't hold much significance for him. For him, this was just a strategic move. If successful, it could deepen his understanding of cultivation methods and incorporate it into the Virtual and Real Two-Phase Other Chapter. If not, no matter.

His main focus now was still on the "Virtual Divine Country."

The "Virtual Divine Country" was intended to confuse the Holy Emperor Venerable, although how it would do so remains unknown. In Wang Qi's plan, this is also a crucial path for his exploration of cultivation methods.

"My next step in cultivation should be to integrate myself into a network, connecting to the 'internet' of the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm and constructing a local network centered on myself using calculators and ordinary magic artifacts."

"My cultivation method should have more functions… no, my ultimate goal should be 'whatever the network can do, I can do'…"

"The reason the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm is so powerful is due to two reasons. First, its 'hardware' is strong enough, with the main server being the immortal artifact level calculator 'Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm.'"

"The other reason is that its internal protocols are complete and powerful enough…"

"For me, the 'real form' of cultivation is provided by the 'computational ability' of the Xiangyu Heavenly Position Technique. This relates to my understanding of the Xiangyu Heavenly Position Technique and my cultivation level."

"And various 'protocols' are my 'virtual form' cultivation method… it's not just my 'virtual form' cultivation. The true nature of network protocols is 'a set of rules, standards, or conventions established to exchange data in computer networks,' an ability for interaction… Besides being my own cultivation method, it is also the 'rules' for my interaction with the outside world…"

"Internal and external interactions? Bridging the inside and outside? Transforming oneself into an open system on the information level?"

While thinking, Wang Qi's fingers danced, like moving on invisible strings, weaving an exhilarating symphony.

Wang Qi's consciousness began to extend into the Tai Chu Sword God Array. The unfamiliar hardware basis made him quite uncomfortable.

However, this made him think.

"The last time I lost to the Holy Emperor Venerable was because my abilities were not compatible with his divine country, and I had to forcibly change his divine country… but on careful thought, it's as if there are two systems with completely different character sets between us. If a protocol exists that could… no, wait, there's a problem with this idea. The Holy Emperor Venerable himself doesn't even know what character set his laws are represented as after being digitalized… how on earth am I supposed to convert them…"

"Cellular automata and Turing machines are mathematically equivalent, should I explore in this direction? Using cellular automata to transform the divine country environment…"

"But if I transform the Tai Chu Sword God Array into my 'local network' and learn the Holy Emperor Venerable's method to integrate it into my own body…"

One innovative idea after another emerged.