Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 120 - 99: Respect the Elderly and Cherish the Young III (Third Update)

"Ha, pretending to be mysterious, trying to buy time, I want to see what tricks you have up your sleeve... huh?" Li Minxing watched from the side, full of impatience, assuming Wang Jiu was just putting on an act. The longer he waited, the more impatient he became, so he walked over to stop this pointless waste of time.

However, the moment he got closer and actually saw the problem, he was instantly stunned.

The problem described a classic scenario where two Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators, Zhao and Shang, due to emotional issues, engaged in a life-and-death duel in the Nine Heavens Gang Wind Layer. The question detailed the background and strength of the two cultivators and the complex and ever-changing battlefield environment. It then required answers to three questions: Who was the ultimate winner? What was the key move? If the loser could only change one variable, which change could allow them to turn the tables?

This type of problem is not uncommon. Nowadays, when families and sects train new talent, they reinforce their theoretical knowledge repeatedly before arranging various practically applicable problems for cultivators to practice in order to improve their practical application skills. The elders present had all done such applied problems in their youth, and among them were quite a few who were masters at solving such problems. The only issue was...

None had ever seen such a complex and realistic problem.

Ordinary applied problems were nothing more than: Every time Xiao Ming circulates True Essence, he can transform the Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind into 5 units of True Essence. Every time he refines Sword Qi, he can transform 8 units of True Essence into 2 units of Sword Qi. Now, Xiao Ming has 50 units of True Essence in his body. When will his True Essence be exhausted if he circulates True Essence and refines Sword Qi at the same time...

But the problem Wang Jiu designed used thousands of words just to describe the cultivation technique characteristics of Zhao and Shang, and even required illustrations to explain particular details. The environmental features were even more complex. The Nine Heavens Gang Wind Layer, alongside the Underground Netherworld, has been one of the unsolved mysteries in the Immortal Cultivation Realm for thousands of years. Even a team led by the Saint Sect failed to truly explore and understand its mysteries, the complexity being mind-boggling.

However, within such a complex problem lay an invisible magic. After just a moment of looking, Li Minxing found himself absorbed, trying to simulate in his mind the characters and scenarios described in the problem. Moments later, two blurry figures slowly appeared in his mind, each holding an Immortal Treasure, confronting each other menacingly. But when Li Minxing tried to continue his deduction, he suddenly felt a sharp pain, and the scene in his mind receded like a tide, leaving a deep sense of fatigue and headache.

Li Minxing suddenly realized that his Primordial Spirit was overloaded.

The problem Wang Jiu designed was about a battle between Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators, the realm closest to the pinnacle of the Immortal Dao within the Immortal Cultivation Realm. Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators are extremely powerful and complex, like a complete micro-world unto themselves. Even with a Primordial Spirit as strong as a Mountain-Overturning Realm cultivator, forcefully simulating two Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators was too demanding.

Yet the scene etched into his mind in that instant was so alluring that he was intoxicated.

Li Minxing's intoxicated demeanor immediately aroused the curiosity of the other elders, who all came over to examine the problem, and one by one were drawn in by the problem's text, starting to attempt to deduce the trajectory of the battle between the two Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators.

Of course, no one could make sense of it. A red-bearded elder even had a nosebleed while looking at it, hurriedly wiping his nose with a handkerchief and cursing in dizziness, "I think this is just a prank!"

As soon as he spoke, he was shushed with a deluge of criticism from his more seasoned senior elders standing beside him, "If you can't understand, don't speak nonsense. This problem is very profound, the design of the two Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators is spot on, and the combination of their cultivation techniques has its subtleties, definitely not whimsical... it even seems as though it truly happened."

"In the history of our Xiangzhou Continent, no Heaven Shattering Realm cultivator has emerged, and how could a young man from the Cloud Surge Realm know about the matters of the Heaven Shattering Realm?"

The red-bearded elder's questioning words were barely finished before being firmly suppressed by the elders with both visible and invisible force.

This uneducated red-beard is truly incorrigible. Even if no one in present-day Xiangzhou can advance to the Heaven Shattering Realm, hasn't he ever seen a pig run, even if he has never eaten pork? Especially those who self-proclaim as masters deeply studying the theory, isn't it their habit to watch pigs run to imagine and deduce the taste of pork? What the Heaven Shattering Realm should be like, and how it differs from several realms below it, are issues many theoretical masters have repeatedly deduced, and there have long been many agreed-upon opinions.

And in Wang Jiu's problem text, the description of the Heaven Shattering Realm cultivators was truly a breath of fresh air!

Yet just as the elders focused their attention back on the problem, a chubby cultivator suddenly rushed in panic to the entrance of the Sword Cave.

The cultivator seemed just in his early twenties—though a cultivator's physical age is definitely unreliable. From his cultivation level, although he had reached the Mountain Shifting Realm and his foundation was steady, he completely lacked the sharp and enterprising spirit a young master cultivator should have. The chubby cultivator muttered incessantly as he ran, "Life is truly impossible to live, even eating a piece of fried chicken gets me chased eight hundred miles... why did my old man find me such a match back then!?"

Before finishing his words, the chubby cultivator caught sight of the Elder Council within the Sword Cave out of the corner of his eye, and immediately had a doomsday expression on his face.

"No way, even in this remote wilderness..." The chubby man swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "Uncles and uncles-in-law, I was just joking, I love Yan'Er more than my own life, please do not misunderstand my momentary slip of the tongue..."

Before he could finish, several Great Immortal Techniques directly blasted him away. Fortunately, the chubby cultivator's cultivation was high enough, and he was unharmed by the elders' Immortal Techniques, instead using the force of the explosion to float far away, searching for the next possible hiding spot.

In the end, a heavenly thunderbolt struck him half to death in mid-air.

"Ha, thought you got away, hiding in your own yard playing hide and seek, are you underestimating the Zhao Family's Celestial Eye Technique? Alright, neglecting practice, sneaking garbage food, disturbing the Inner Sect's cultivation, insulting the Zhao Family's cultivation techniques, Li Kongcheng, you truly are disappointing."

"I was wrong, I was really wrong..."

——

On the other side, the old men in the Sword Cave were blowing their beards and glaring at the open door of the Sword Cave, complaining that their precious time was wasted by a mysterious fat guy.

"Seal the door, so that no idle people come to interfere."

"Exactly, let me show you a unique secret art, acquired during my three years of secluded cultivation in Heaven-Reaching City. It will surely open your eyes."

Shortly after, a dazzling golden door appeared at the entrance of the Sword Cave, half-virtual and half-real, with countless mysterious patterns emerging on it.

As soon as the Immortal Technique was completed, someone praised it, but soon someone else snorted, "Making it so dazzling and obvious, are you afraid people won't realize there's something up here? No matter how sturdy your Ten Celestial Sects door is, can it withstand the prying eyes of so many idle people in the courtyard? Not to mention the Zhao family's girl from the third house could blow this door apart with one punch!"

The old man who placed the door was about to reason with the skeptic, but upon hearing the words 'Zhao family girl,' he immediately put down his flag and ceased fire. She was a warrior with strength rivaling Li Fengyun; blowing apart the Ten Celestial Sects door was indeed a high-probability event...

"So instead of drawing attention, why not do the opposite and conceal this place. Hardly anyone comes to the Sword Cave usually, and that dead fat guy sought refuge here first after being caught. If we just obscure this place, it will be foolproof."

"Foolproof, my ass. A perfectly fine Sword Cave entrance, adding a magic spell to conceal it is like announcing 'no silver here.' It's best to use the Heart Demon Induction Skill to make people subconsciously not want to come near this place."

"In the eyes of an expert, isn't that also 'no silver here'? It's best to go a step further, make a disguise near the Sword Cave, and then use Induction Skill to attract others' attention, then it will be foolproof." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Makes sense, makes sense."

The 33 old idle fish busily worked together and soon set up a grand-scale Immortal Technique Array to ensure they wouldn't be disturbed in the Sword Cave. During this process, the idle fish showcased their Divine Techniques and vied for supremacy, yet none suggested relocating to solve the problem elsewhere...

And once the Immortal Technique Array was completed, the old idle fish celebrated, and the Sword Cave plunged once more into long silence. These old idle fish, mostly because of their advanced age and weakening vitality, had no opportunity for breakthroughs in Immortal Dao Cultivation in this lifetime. So they liked to exert their remaining heat and delve into Immortal Cultivation Theory. And it was hard for those researching theory not to be attracted by this enigmatic application problem posed by Wang Jiu.

——

Uncertain how much time had passed when an old and weary voice spoke up.

"I seem to have deduced, these two Immortal Venerables battling, it should be the Zhao-named Immortal Venerable who is slightly superior in strength."

No sooner had the words fallen than someone retorted.

"Shouyi, you're just senile, evaluating Cultivators' strength superficially. The Zhao-named Immortal Venerable surely has a slightly higher True Essence Realm, and the 127 Cultivation Techniques they practice are more combat-oriented. But if you carefully compute the Cultivation System of the Shang-named Immortal Venerable, you will find her true expertise lies in mathematics. Such a person is very strong in complex environmental combat abilities, not calculable by ordinary formulas."

"You're the confused one, do you think I wouldn't understand such a simple principle? However, no matter how complex the environment, its effect on Heaven Shattering Realm Cultivators is limited…"

"Your environmental impact calculation formula only applies to Cultivators below Earth Split Realm; how can it be used in Heaven Shattering Realm battles?"

"Of course, I've optimized the formula…"

In a moment, the old men were embroiled in a heated argument, 32 people with almost 32 different answers, and no one could convince another.

"Forget it, let's not waste too much time arguing. Since everyone has reached their own answers, let's directly find that young guy to announce the correct answer."

"That's also true."

However, just then, the old men suddenly realized a problem.

"...Where's that guy named Wang Jiu? Hey, Li Chaolu is also missing!?"

"Damn, they slipped away while we were distracted!? So despicable and shameless, hurry and bring him back!"