Chapter 144: Clueless About Science

Chen Xiyi stared at the meatball covered in growing arms, his expression growing grave.

“This isn’t right,” he muttered with frustration as he watched the squirming mass before him. “Based on my idea, the arms shouldn’t grow like this.”

His original plan was to create a body modification featuring extendable arms. The principle seemed simple: new arms would sprout from the five fingers, and then from the fingers of those new arms, even more arms would grow, creating a potentially infinite chain.

This way, a single hand could act like many hands.

But now, he realized he had thought too simply. The arms had grown, and there were quite a number of them. The problem was their location. Instead of sprouting from fingers, they were growing all over the body.

“The two types of Qi, Yang Qi and Human Qi, have strong control over the physical body,” Chen Xiyi remarked, putting down the vessel in his hand. At his gesture, a shadow puppet stepped forward to dispose of the failed experiment.

“It’s clear,” he concluded, “there are significant risks involved in directly enhancing the body. I need to consider my next steps carefully.”

Chen Xiyi shook his head and stretched slightly.

He didn’t understand science. But as a Qi Refiner, he understood Qi Mechanisms.

Humans possess Human Qi. Everyone has it. It resembles the combined entity of essence (Jing), energy (Qi), and spirit (Shen)- the three life treasures. However, the Qi and Shen aspects are nearly imperceptible in ordinary people. Only Qi Refiners can stimulate them using their Primordial Spirit. This Human Qi is mostly composed of Jing – essence – the physical body itself.

Yang Qi, however, had a very broad range of effects. It was the most suitable Qi to pair with and enhance Human Qi.

Therefore, strengthening and modifying one’s own body by using Yang Qi to amplify Human Qi was entirely feasible.

During the experiments, apart from Yang Qi, Vitality Qi (Xue Qi) also worked, even yielding potentially better results.

Its compatibility, however, wasn’t great. Chen Xiyi had tried it. Replacing Yang Qi with Vitality Qi caused drastic bodily changes and carried a significant risk of inducing madness or loss of reason.

After forcibly improving it, combat power did soar dramatically, even manifesting abilities akin to intimidation. But it wasn’t sustainable. It seemed to drain the subject’s life force rapidly; they died shortly after testing began.

“With this in mind,” Chen Xiyi sighed as he looked at his notes, “The direction for my research on Innate Gang Qi needs to change.”

Innate Gang Qi was an innate divine ability born from the fusion of the Formless Astral Energy technique and the White Cloud Method. Using Yang Qi and Yin Qi as its foundation, it underwent modifications to evolve into this powerful ability.

It not only combined the strengths of the two source techniques but also compensated for their flaws.

While its predecessor, Unseen Astral Energy (Formless Gang Qi), primarily consumed souls and spirits, now, Innate Gang Qi took things further – it consumed the physical body too.

The result was that his Primordial Spirit could process the acquired nourishment resources while simultaneously triggering a synchronized evolution of his own body.

Previous abilities gained through consumption, like immense strength and imperviousness to weapons, were now directly integrated into his physical self. He could feel himself growing stronger, bone and muscle.

It even enhanced the physical attributes of his shadow puppet minions.

Moreover, since Innate Gang Qi was fused with him intrinsically, he could wield its abilities with far greater ease and instinct, enabling flexible combat whether at range or up close.

When Unseen Astral Energy and the White Cloud Method were still mere techniques, they were like external armor or an exoskeleton. Now, Innate Gang Qi, as an innate divine ability, was fundamentally a part of Chen Xiyi. The difference was immense.

Even the best-fitting armor can’t compare to the natural feeling of one’s own body.

Furthermore, upon becoming an innate divine ability, Innate Gang Qi integrated into his ‘System’. His System was no longer version 2.0; Chen Xiyi had upgraded it to 9.0.

After extensive testing, refinement, and optimization, the current System surpassed Chen Xiyi himself in terms of precision. It could handle multi-threaded operations, monitor his physical data, Qi Mechanism, Primordial Spirit, and provide auxiliary control, granting him unparalleled command over his own state.

It could even assist him with basic analytical calculations, such as generating topographical maps or interpreting Geomancy (Feng Shui) Qi readings.

Regarding combat, Chen Xiyi previously relied solely on a random fighting style.

Now, with the aid of the System and his proficiency in the Six Arts, he could wield his Alloy Firearm to perform precise headshots on enemies, maximizing the doubled damage from his ‘Precision Enchantment’. This replaced his previous total dependence on the Home Game combat system for aiming calibration. That old calibration helped him hit, but not necessarily strike vital points.

His two innate divine abilities functioned in synergy – one focused outward, the other inward.

The current version of the System (9.0) lacked further room for improvement, barring new knowledge. This would require access to a modern world or a world inhabited by constructs like weapon spirits or tower spirits. Alternatively, gaining insights from other Qi Refiners might suffice, but obtaining such knowledge was arguably harder than hoping for the right next “game world.”

While the System’s advancement stalled at 9.0 due to insufficient foundational knowledge, there was still significant potential for evolution within Innate Gang Qi itself.

Both avenues for enhancement – strengthening the shadow puppets and augmenting his own body – remained open, each representing a major research direction.

The Primordial Spirit and the physical body had always been the core targets for Chen Xiyi’s enhancement efforts using Innate Gang Qi.

Primordial Spirit development faced fewer hurdles. After all, his research in this field built upon the substantial achievements and vast body of knowledge accumulated by predecessors, granting him a significant advantage.

The physical body, however, was different. Qi Refiners had long abandoned the body. While some research existed, it was minimal and underdeveloped.

Therefore, he had to blaze his own trail.

Admittedly, since developing Innate Gang Qi, his physical condition was already far superior to a Corpse Demon. Yet, such comparisons were ultimately meaningless.

Against lower-tier entities, he might stand near the peak of the food chain. But compared to actual Qi Refiners? They could destroy something like him with a mere thought, without needing to look.

Monsters and demons might seem formidable to ordinary humans, but what were they really?

Merely “seasonings” reformed from Qi Mechanisms by the entity Ji Shan. Their apparent strength was just an incidental side effect.

As a Qi Refiner, Chen Xiyi knew comparing himself to mere “seasonings” was pointless; his true benchmark had to be fellow Qi Refiners.

“If direct modifications to the physical body aren’t possible,” he reasoned, “then the alternative is to find an indirect approach, layering passive enhancements.”

Chen Xiyi understood that the compatibility between the physical body and Qi Mechanisms was abysmally low. Otherwise, why would other Qi Refiners entirely forsake physical enhancement to specialize exclusively in Primordial Spirit cultivation?

Within the Qi Refiner system, the body could be reinforced using talismans, spells, and even ritual implements. However, its potential had a hard limit. Compared to the near-infinite potential of the Primordial Spirit, the difference was like heaven and earth.

A body reinforced to its pinnacle might become impervious to blades, spears, or even cannons, akin to powerful demons or undead… and that was it.

The Primordial Spirit, on the other hand, possessed theoretically boundless growth potential within the Qi Refiner system. Even Ji Shan himself hadn’t encountered its ceiling yet.

Essentially, Qi Refiners transcended humanity. Humans have limits; breaking through meant shedding humanity.

From the moment one became a Qi Refiner, the transformation towards non-humanity began, culminating in the complete formation of abilities like “Qi Manipulation and Spirit Wandering”. Then, the Primordial Spirit became the true self; the physical body became nothing more than an optional vessel.

This fundamental reality was why Qi Refiners abandoned research on the physical body, pouring all their focus into the Primordial Spirit. Continued body research might yield results, but the return on such massive investment would be negligible – far better to dedicate that time to their spiritual core.

Furthermore, at their current level, most Qi Refiners utterly lacked any need for their physical vessel; their Primordial Spirit vastly surpassed its frailty.

But Chen Xiyi needed his body. Because he was the Player, not a conventional resident of this reality.

So, his only hope lay in seeking alternative paths to enhancement.

For instance, integrating diverse Qi Mechanisms into the framework of Innate Gang Qi. After all, one of Innate Gang Qi’s core foundations was simulating a Corpse Body. Incorporating other Qi types, followed by optimization, could gradually enhance it and even unlock new functions.

The other approach involved incorporating structural forms.

He could reference the spell-derived innate abilities described in the “Cloud Seal and Dao Scripts” to create secondary innate abilities derived from Innate Gang Qi. For example, deriving a secondary “Immense Strength” ability. While some foundational strength was innate to Gang Qi, amplifying it further could achieve a multiplicative effect, becoming drastically stronger.

Beyond deriving abilities from Cloud Seal/Spiritual Scripts, he could integrate effects from various spells and talismans he had long coveted, like the “Golden-Steel Method of Spiritual Energy” or the “Pure Yang Unified Golden Light Talisman.” If he could permanently solidify these effects as passive boons within Innate Gang Qi, its capabilities would surge dramatically.

Another concept he deeply coveted were the “Soul Arrays” within the Soul Returns to One Realm inheritance. These could serve as a blueprint for Innate Gang Qi to develop area-of-effect capabilities. This was especially fitting since Chen Xiyi planned to enhance Gang Qi with more Qi Mechanisms, and arrays relied on precisely that as their foundational elements.

Similarly, the “Dragon-Settling Nine Chapters” technique, which granted an environmental advantage, could be amplified by layering countless Soul Arrays derived from Soul Returns to One Realm. This would effectively make everywhere he tread his personal domain.

The pinnacle scenario involved Innate Gang Qi integrating effects from Soul Returns to One Realm, Dragon-Settling Nine Chapters, cloud/mist manipulation, and his shadow puppets, creating a seamless, synergistic battlefield. Overseen by the System, it could function with near-perfect coordination, drastically reducing the need for Chen Xiyi to intervene personally.

Chen Xiyi’s own level of precision simply couldn’t match the mechanical exactitude of the System. The System existed precisely to handle these operational complexities, freeing Chen Xiyi to dedicate himself to research and fundamental improvement.

“Within the Qi Refiner system, the potential for physical body progress seems severely limited, almost non-existent,” Chen Xiyi mused aloud. “After all, we’re Qi Refiners, not Body Refining cultivators. But if we cultivate the Primordial Spirit, shouldn’t we be called Spirit Refiners?”

He paused. “Oh. Right. Qi Refiners form their Primordial Spirit through cultivating Qi Mechanisms.” He felt slightly foolish. The very foundation module was Zhou Tian Qi Circulation – “Qi Circulation”. Naturally, they were called Qi Refiners.

“So then,” he refocused, rubbing his temples, “Step one must be to collect every type of Qi Mechanism under heaven… Dammit. That’s… that’s not a small project. That’s a colossal undertaking.”

Looking over his preliminary plan, a wave of helplessness washed over him. This collection was the absolute bedrock for all future upgrades.

The potential of Innate Gang Qi was vast, but its prerequisites were daunting. He couldn’t conjure these changes from thin air; he needed diverse Qi Mechanisms as raw materials.

Soul Arrays, for instance, required specific Qi samples to model, solidify, and later repair and optimize.

Spells also possessed intrinsic Qi-based structures. Chen Xiyi didn’t need vast quantities; a single strand of each Qi Mechanism as a “mother sample” would suffice. He could then replicate and cultivate more from that sample within his own framework.

But the current reality was stark: he possessed not a single one of these required mother strands.

“There are ways to avoid traveling everywhere personally, of course,” Chen Xiyi pondered. “But that inevitably leads to… owing favors.”

The solution was straightforward: seek out Ji Shan. What would be a monumental, time-consuming effort for Chen Xiyi would likely be a trivial task for Ji Shan.

“Owing a favor it is, then,” he decided with a shrug. “It’s not like I’m guaranteed to return it anyway. Collecting everything myself? When would that ever get finished?” The sheer diversity of Qi Mechanisms in the world meant individual collection could stretch on forever.

Since he had immediate access to a vastly superior method, why not use it? Letting it go to waste wouldn’t bear fruit; it would only cause frustration later.

Chen Xiyi nodded firmly. His course of action was clear.