Chapter 76: Divine-like

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Divine-like

"Taruno, what’s going on with Yu Hongwu’s disappearance?"

Out of curiosity, Chen Qi called Taruno to ask for the details.

"Boss, I’ve been meaning to report this to you."

"Yu Hongwu vanished mysteriously the day after you left."

"Not only do the regular disciples at the martial arts hall not know his whereabouts, but even his direct disciple, Mu Wanqing, is in the dark."

"I bribed an important disciple at the hall and learned a secret from him."

"Yu Hongwu has been secretly plotting to break through to the Grandmaster realm. His disappearance is most likely related to this."

Taruno had really put his heart into this matter; he had even mapped out all of Yu Hongwu’s movements before he disappeared.

By compiling these movements, he discovered that Yu Hongwu had been repeatedly visiting a desolate mountain.

According to Taruno’s personal investigation, that’s most likely where Yu Hongwu went into seclusion to attempt his breakthrough.

It’s unclear why he had to go to such a remote place to make his attempt.

Taruno found traces of Yu Hongwu’s presence there, but no signs of a struggle.

It’s highly probable that Yu Hongwu simply left on his own, in secret.

"So it wasn’t an enemy coming to settle a score?"

"Interesting!"

Taruno’s conclusion was a bit of a surprise to Chen Qi; he had assumed Yu Hongwu had been taken out by an enemy.

That guy was hiding quite a lot when they spoke before.

"This has nothing to do with us. If the martial arts hall comes asking for help, just give them a perfunctory response."

"Keep a close eye on the Red Falcon Sect. Make sure our moles are in place so we don’t get caught up in any trouble they might cause."

Chen Qi’s relationship with the Red Falcon Sect was purely transactional; he wasn’t about to go out of his way to help them for no reason.

As for that wily old fox Yu Hongwu, it would be better if he were dead.

All of Chen Qi’s thoughts were now focused on Spirit Awakening.

Everything else had to take a backseat.

...

After giving Taruno his instructions, Chen Qi entered a state of seclusion.

He once again opened the *Comprehensive Guide to Ancient Civilization Basics* and flipped to the last page.

He hadn’t seen it for a few days, and the tadpole-like script seemed to have become more... enthusiastic.

It had become much easier to understand. Chen Qi knew in his heart this was a benefit of his explosive increase in Spirituality.

*Research and Argumentation on the Essence of Spirituality*

Chen Qi started reading from the beginning, reviewing what he already knew to discover new insights.

This time, however, the reading experience was completely different from before.

The content in the paper that had previously been deleted or concealed had miraculously appeared.

’Did I only see one-third of it last time because my Spirituality was only strong enough to see that much?’

’I thought I hadn’t finished the other two-thirds just because there was more content later on. But it’s also because I didn’t see the full version of the first part—I only read a redacted version.’

Chen Qi hadn’t expected that the remaining two-thirds he hadn’t read would actually contain the redacted parts.

He had been relentlessly roasting the person who did the "redacting," which seemed a bit unfair now.

’It wasn’t that there were redactions, but that my [Spirituality was insufficient], making me unable to comprehend it.’

’Perhaps that makes more sense.’

"Learning 15 ancient languages only meant you could read the tadpole-like script; the [diary] never mentioned to what extent you could understand it."

Well, the current Chen Qi had already far surpassed [Jomoya Chris]!

What Chen Qi didn’t know was that at the Temya Magic Academy, even after mastering 15 ancient languages, magic apprentices still needed three years of refinement to complete their Awakening.

The very act of continuously reading the tadpole-like script was a method of refining and increasing one’s Spirituality.

Although Chen Qi’s approach wasn’t exactly unorthodox, it certainly wasn’t "by the book."

This was the downside of being self-taught. The things recorded in textbooks were often not the whole story.

Much of the knowledge at the Temya Magic Academy was still passed down orally from master to disciple.

...

*[Regarding how Spirituality comes into being, and whether it is bestowed by an external source, I...]*

This was the first redacted section Chen Qi had seen last time. Now, "new content" had appeared after it.

*Regarding how Spirituality comes into being, and whether it is bestowed by an external source, I have researched and argued the doctrines of numerous schools of thought.*

*To a certain extent, Spirituality is life; the two are inextricably linked.*

*Therefore, to answer this question is essentially to answer how life came to be: through natural evolution or by an external gift.*

*On this topic, the current mainstream view is the [Creator Theory] of the [Life Sect].*

*They do not accept that life arose from natural evolution, believing instead that the Creator created life.*

*Their greatest piece of evidence is the [Mother of All Things], because this Divine Artifact can truly create life.*

*Of course, there are also many Sects that oppose this view.*

*According to chronological sequencing, the oldest life-form fossils are over a billion years old, whereas the [Mother of All Things] could not have come into existence more than a million years ago.*

*I am unable to offer a definitive statement on this matter. After all, I have only just set foot in the [Holy Sanctuary] and am still a million miles away from the [Divine-like] beings known as Perfect Life.*

*Perhaps only They know the answer!*

Chen Qi rubbed his head. The impact of this new information was a bit much.

Fortunately, his Spirituality was strong enough for him to digest and understand it all.

Chen Qi didn’t care how life and Spirituality came to be; that question was far too remote for him.

He was interested in the [Mother of All Things], the [Holy Sanctuary], and the [Divine-like].

He was interested in the former because he had mastered [Doumu’s Spiral], which was the exclusive script of the Life Sect.

And the origin of [Doumu’s Spiral] was very likely related to the [Mother of All Things].

Chen Qi was now leaning toward this view because he had truly witnessed the power of ancient scripts this time in the Chaotic City.

Compared to the unremarkable origin of [Human Fingerprints], the [Mother of All Things], a Divine Artifact, was a much better explanation for why ancient scripts possessed miraculous powers.

As for the [Holy Sanctuary] and the [Divine-like], they ignited in Chen Qi an infinite yearning for power.

’To be called a Perfect Life... I can’t even imagine what kind of existence that would be.’

...

After resting for a while to calm his surging Spirituality, Chen Qi began to read again.

After understanding and absorbing that last passage, Chen Qi’s Spirituality had surged once again.

Only magic apprentices without sufficient power had to grind out their understanding word by word. A genius like Chen Qi, with his abundant Spirituality, could just feast on it.

*[When Spirituality grows to a certain level, can it give birth to Wisdom, and what is the proportion of self-awareness versus external perception...]*

This was the second redacted section. When Chen Qi read it this time, the tadpole-like scripts welcomed him enthusiastically and gave him the answer.

*To answer this question, it is necessary to introduce the element of the [Soul]!*

*Because I come from the [Wisdom Sect]. I firmly believe that just as life is bound to Spirituality, Wisdom is bound to the Soul!*

*No matter how clever my dog is, I do not believe it possesses Wisdom. That is to say, it does not possess a [Soul].*

Reading this, Chen Qi immediately perked up.

He had always been extremely curious about the author of this paper.

For this to be designated as the introductory textbook for the Apprentice Tier by the V5-led World Government, this author must be someone whose name would be passed down for generations, a paragon for all ages.

’This is like meeting the founding master!’

Unfortunately, Chen Qi had never heard of this so-called [Wisdom Sect].

’But then again,’ he thought, ’I’ve only just entered this circle. It makes sense that I’m still so ignorant.’