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After two decades of studying the new mathematics of this world, which takes the form of holomorphic or strange repeating shapes where each number is itself a function used to create these shapes, Tian Xing still hadn't finished understanding the third number and was now trying to comprehend the fourth. This means that understanding even the simple sequence of one, two, three, up to seven in this world is extremely difficult, to the point that his hair now has a streak of white from the stress of comprehension.
He sighed, not wanting to imagine how simple addition or subtraction would be, knowing it would be very daunting. As for the method of breaking through to the first layers of the Outer Being's first stages in the Spirit Refinement realm, Tian Xing had already comprehended that long before he even arrived here. Because, to break through to the first stages of Spirit or Soul cultivation, one just needs to know what the symbol of Wuji is and can start cultivating Shen, or Spirit energy.
As for why he didn't just speed up his circulation of Shen energy, despite knowing two stages beyond the first of the Outer Being's stages, Tian Xing believed it would be dangerous and could lead him down a false path if he didn't fully understand the numbers first.
That's why, throughout his Soul cultivation, he allowed things to progress naturally without interference, like a normal baby growing step-by-step to slowly understand the world and its perspectives without being overwhelmed with information prematurely. Tian Xing took the same approach with his soul, ensuring he did not forcefully attain enlightenment by overloading it with information not yet meant to be learned.
Thus, his Spirit Awakening cultivation had not yet broken through to the first layer after all this time, unlike his Body cultivation, which had already reached the maximum of the second stage and was stepping into the third. Sighing in distress, Tian Xing acknowledged that even if he focused on circulation, he would probably only reach the first or second stages.
He didn't want to imagine how challenging it would be to reach the second realm, where understanding addition and its properties would likely be even more complex. Fortunately, he had an inkling that in the first realm, the actual number of stages was not one to ten but one to seven, similar to Body cultivation, meaning he was already halfway to completion.
With his comprehension efforts halted due to realizing his calculations were slightly off, Tian Xing opened his eyes after two decades and stood up while holding the concealed small knife Yelena in his embrace, who was still performing the Ying-Yang circulation. Here, Ying-Yang referred not to their essence produced by the lower dantian but to positive and negative charged particles exchanged throughout all of their Body, Breath, and Souls.
Seeing Yelena open her eyes, puzzled as to why they needed to stop when she saw no sign of cultivators from her sect, Tian Xing let her go to the ground and explained why they had broken cultivation early, "Master made a slight error in my calculation. Your sect members managed to locate this cave purely by luck, as there appears to be someone in the search party with a strong amount of fate."
Turning to Ying Yue, who raised an eyebrow, Tian Xing continued, "In other words, there is a protagonist with significant plot armor, similar to master's previous variant named Yoriichi. Perhaps the Dao of this world granted him that fate, or another Dao entirely might have given him a thick aura of luck. It might even be both, as it is the same Dao that makes this person a protagonist. Master isn't sure. However, what master does know is that his motivation to locate us was purely by the order of the senior disciple. This senior disciple sent him on a suicide mission to find a six-stage cultivator, which is you, Yelena, because he dislikes the fact that someone who was once an Outer Sect servant has become a cultivator."
Stunned by this revelation, Ying Yue asked her master, "Is that person the Heaven Chosen of this era, master?"
Calculating future fate and karma using the help of his daughter parameter, who could simulate infinitely, Tian Xing shook his head and replied, "Yes and no. Yes, in that he is indeed the Heaven Chosen, but no, because unlike master, he is just one of the candidates who will later compete for supremacy. The true Heaven Chosen will be selected by the Dao based on their deeds to lead this world into a different era, or, in the words of Two Doctors, to a new generation update."
Seeing Ying Yue nodding in understanding, Tian Xing then said to them both, "Come. Let's clean this place thoroughly to leave it as nothing more than a normal cave, ensuring our previous steps leave no trace. If we don't, we might be drawn into a series of events that Master doesn't wish to deal with, as it would expose my Butterfly Echoes martial arts to many under the heavens. If it were to be exposed, it could eventually be learned by those high in the sky, who might then gain an inkling of what occurred during the previous multiversal war orchestrated by your master."
Although the chance of that happening is minuscule, to the point of a googolplex of 0.00…001 percent given how vast every stage of the world is, such that a small island like Undvik has become a universe on its own that constantly grows larger due to the Bagua engine that performs Conjoin and Conjunction mechanically, a minuscule chance is still a chance in Tian Xing's eyes, no matter how small. Because if he could have the mindset that a very small number of points could manipulate the entire chessboard, someone else out there might have the same idea and mindset.
Even then if someone else with the same mindset as him has a possibility to become a threat, it is very unlikely because, first, they would need the same standing as him in terms of the Predetermination Dao to pose even a slight threat, along with a similar sequence of fortunate events.
This would mean having another person with the same level of understanding in a different type of comprehension, which, as far as he knows, Ying Yue is the highest in the Jack of All Trades Dao, and Yelena could become relatively high or even the highest in the Concealment Dao. Still, even a slight threat is a threat to his Butterfly Echoes martial arts. Therefore, it is better for him to continue taking careful and meticulous actions, lest he becomes overconfident, which could lead to his downfall.
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