Applied Immortality

It was night, with few clouds blocking the shining stars above.

A teenager in Daoist robes sat behind a desk, focused on writing. He threw the brush and paper on the floor and walked outside. 

The youth came to this seaside town for Soulcare. Because he did not understand Dao, the more he trained his mind, the more depressed he became.

He couldn’t sleep tonight, so he ran off to an island to drive his frustration away. 

Calling the couple of reefs an island was an overstatement. The youth always came here to watch the sunrise.

Inspiration struck him just then. He figured that the total energy of the system should be constant. So he tried using this rule to solve the equation and find the oscillator’s energy.

The youth’s face changed radically.

The glimmer of dawn shimmered on the horizon as the sun rose from the sea, sending thousands of rays bouncing across the water and the clouds in the sky, bathing the world in its myriad hues of warm colors. From the top of the reef, the youth faced this beautiful sunrise, the blue sea stretching beyond what his gaze could grasp. It was time.

Countless types of spiritual energy converge in the air, transforming into an incomprehensible cloud with a mystical and obscure nature. The clouds faded away soon after, leaving behind strange rectangles. 

The shapes of spiritual energy fell into the youth’s body, and he became translucent, his position and speed impossible to grasp, his cultivation and state beyond what anyone could sense. 

His figure faded away, only to reappear the next instant.

He had achieved the greatest breakthrough of his life. It marked the dawn of the elusive path.

As the accompanying ancient music played, the screen turned black, and words appeared before the viewers’ eyes: Daoist Proscribe’s Biography Part I, End.

The illusion then faded away.

Wang Qi yawned, stretching and moving his stiff body from sitting. “Is this our reward for finishing the martial test earlier, a mirage play? And what’s with the topic? Lame~”

School-organized movies were just a primary school thing! On top of that, Immortal Institute ended up choosing Daoist Proscribe’s Biography to watch. It was as ‘educational’ as watching the 1911 Revolution on Earth. 

Mirage play was Divine Province’s term for using artistic illusions to narrate stories. Wang Qi saw them as holographic movies from Earth.

After defeating Wu Shiqin, he faced no other worthy opponent and dominated his martial test. Due to some disciples’ outstanding performances, the Immortal Institute decided to reward them with a visit to the upper level of Immortal Alliance headquarters, which included a viewing of a mirage play, Daoist Proscribe’s Biography Part I.

The mirage play began with Heisenberg’s youth and progressed to the eve of his entry into the Immortal Alliance, marking the dramatic ascent and establishment of the elusive path. It primarily showcased the pioneering spirit of seeking Dao, led by Quantum Grandmaster Bohr and represented by figures like Daoist Proscribe and Daoist Indisputable. The play vividly portrayed the image of a young genius, serving as a great inspiration to disciples who were not yet fully resolved to their path.

And that was exactly how it went. At least most Immortal Institute disciples had a lot to gain from it.

Like…

“Wang Qi, what’s there to complain about, wan?” Wang Zhenqi turned her teary eyes to him.

Wang Qi laughed.

As a fourteen-year-old, hormones were doing their thing. Wang Qi was not fond of the physiological reactions he had to go through because of the mirage play.

More importantly, Divine Province’s mirage play was too damn masterful. 

Divine Province invented no movie projector. The cultivators even skipped the ‘screen’ part of the technological process. The All-immortal Realm, when equipped with a broadcasting calculator, could perform a variety of functions, including mirage play. Due to high costs, mirage theaters belonged to a niche circle for their own entertainment.

Since it was for themselves, it was as high-class and stylish as possible. A story that could just as well be told simply and straightforwardly had to have narration, flashbacks, and stream of consciousness. This mirage play, in particular, had a Radiant Divinity Pavilion Eminence specially invited to make the show transmit the right mood as vividly as possible.

The induced effects left Wang Qi feeling awkward as he watched. He even felt that it was like adding illusions to a painting, which only worked to gild the lily. But looking at the others’ engrossed stares, he came to a profound discovery. 

[It’s like those fricking 3D optical illusions!]

Wang Qi had no intention of watching, but just sitting was boring to death. The one-hour-long mirage play almost had Wang Qi asleep by the end.

His attitude irked Wang Zhenqi. She wiped her teary eyes and leaned towards Mao Zimiao, sitting on her other side, to whisper.

“Is this mirage play that moving?” Wang Qi found it odd. It was just a story about some awesome genius seeking Dao, not some martyr risking life and limb to fight back against ancient cultivators and brave a new dawn for the Immortal Alliance. Why the tears?

Wang Zhenqi pouted. “You know nothing, wan! Think about the rest of the story, wan!” 

Wang Qi paused. The next part had to be Elusive Palace participating the Whill Village debate, where Supreme Lord leading Elusive Palace’s heroes had a catfight. [After that…] 

“Demonic Emperor appeared, wan! Think about it, Daoist Hai was so cute.” 

[Cute?] Wang Zhenqi did a double take.

“Then there’s Senior Pauli, the mighty and domineering senior brother. They could no longer be together, wan!”

“Eh?”

Wang Zhenqi spoke with emotion, “What could be more tragic in history than brothers turning on each other, losing their bond and trust? Especially when they made such a perfect and natural match!”

[Holy crap, girl, you just uncovered a shocking truth!]