NOVPUBBreath in—breath out—breath in—breath out—
Relax the muscles, ease the spirit, empty the Xinling, close off the five senses, and let the Xinling settle into an expanse of utter silence.
Then, find something to think about.
This was actually a very strange situation. Wang Qi was thinking, but didn't know what to think about.
Strange...
This emotion arose within Wang Qi's heart, and then began to expand gradually. Thinking centered around this emotion began.
Eventually, Wang Qi "thought" of a phrase,
"This really is a strange state..."
Wang Qi thought to himself, and then his consciousness was violently ejected from the darkness and returned to his body.
Wang Qi shook his head and sighed, "Still not working."
This was his third day practicing the Soul Forging Skill given to him by Chen Feng.
Just as Chen Feng had said, this Soul Forging Skill was very ordinary in every aspect. It was not quick to learn, nor did it make the soul as sturdy as copper walls and iron ramparts, immune to Divine Soul attacks, nor did it allow a person to go through Li Rongpei without sleep or rest without feeling tired.
Its only characteristic was to strengthen the Soul Power. Besides that, it had no effect on the soul—it didn't even endow the soul with any special properties. Because of this, its compatibility was very high. Even for someone like Wang Qi, who had studied countless mental methods, it was possible to practice without the need to adjust his own cultivation system.
After just three days of practice, Wang Qi felt his spirit becoming fuller, feeling a strength unlike mana accumulating in his body.
Wang Qi opened his eyes and saw that Chen Feng and Chen Youjia were sitting across from each other, drinking tea. Chen Youjia would take a sip of tea and then pick up a piece of teacake from the table and stuff it into his mouth. Meanwhile, Chen Feng was looking at Wang Qi with a strange expression, completely forgetting the existence of the teacup in his hand.
Wang Qi unceremoniously grabbed a piece of teacake in front of Chen Youjia and asked, "What's up?"
Chen Feng shook his head, "Nothing, it's just that this is my first time seeing someone pick up the Soul Forging Skill from the Qujianji this quickly."
Wang Qi was a bit puzzled, "It's not Visualization of love and beauty, so why such a literary name?"
And it has such an imposing feel to it, right! Other than Heavenly Song, I haven't seen a more literary name! 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Chen Feng considered for a moment and asked, "You know the meaning of 'Spiritual Treasure', right? In the discussions about human hearts, it is generally meant to refer to 'self', the 'self' that we can be aware of, that we can grasp."
"Have you ever thought about where the 'Spiritual Treasure' or 'self' comes from?"
Wang Qi replied, "I myself tend to favor this explanation—the Spirit Sense forms an organic whole in the form of Negative Entropy, but how it forms specifically, I'm not clear."
Chen Feng held up a finger, "Then listen to my view. Thoughts, your thoughts, and any other thoughts, are actually the synthesis of those competing neural subprocesses and soul functions. It's not a single-layer concept, but something that's composed of multiple layers."
"There might even be aspects of 'Primordial' and 'Dao Morality' in it," Wang Qi said.
"I know, that's what I was about to get to," Chen Feng pressed his hand downward. "So, which part exactly is the 'Spiritual Treasure'? A senior from the Wanfa Sect, who holds the Heavenly Position Demon Flute Carefree level, put forth an interesting theory—that this 'Spiritual Treasure' is for storage purposes; it's entirely empty inside, unrelated to memory, unrelated to knowledge. The Spirit Sense that constitutes 'character' is no more than a troupe following a script and singing inside."
Wang Qi frowned. He felt he had heard a similar theory on Earth, but he couldn't quite remember the specifics.
In fact, this is a very famous concept in philosophy and psychology, the Cartesian Theater—an inner chamber of consciousness and thought. It's within this theater that the various threads essential for a certain thought are gathered together, interwoven, and transformed in an appropriate manner. This theater is a relic of mind-body dualism; in Wang Qi's era, this kind of discourse had already been discarded by modern philosophical instruments, but it still subtly rooted itself in human thought about consciousness—human thought patterns innately predisposed the brain to believe in the existence of the Cartesian Theater.
But soon, Wang Qi understood Chen Feng's purpose in mentioning this philosophical theory. He asked, "I seem to have forgotten the knowledge I learned, forgot the purpose of things... unrelated to memory, unrelated to emotions?"
"Because this pattern of thought and that 'troupe' theory are rather similar, this is why it's called the 'Qujianji,'" Chen Feng said. "It's quite similar to the original meditation methods, suppressing the brain's thought process, forcing the soul to be active. Only, this is more extreme; it directly shuts down certain functions of the brain, allowing you only to think with your soul."
"What about past memories then?"
"The soul does not undertake the function of 'memory' because it is unstable and unsuitable for memory. Because the soul and the brain interact a lot on a daily basis, many memories have backups in the soul, but once they are materialized, the soul will lose a large amount of memory. This only changes after reaching the Nascent Soul or Primordial Spirit stages," Chen Feng explained. "Memory is accomplished by the brain, and this is the same for most of the Demon Clan. Lower life beings without brains and insects with very small brains rely on the soul for memory from the start—this makes it difficult for them to have Spirit Awakening, but once they do, their souls become exceedingly powerful."
So, setting the Blade Queen as a master of spirit strength was based on scientific evidence...
Wang Qi first made a quip in his mind, then began pondering another question that seemed more philosophical.
How exactly did I come to this world?
The physical laws of the previous cosmic system ruled out the existence of 'souls,' and Shenzhou's theories have proven that the organ known as the soul is not suitable for storing memory.
So, it's certain that I didn't 'soul travel' to Shenzhou.
Could it be that I am actually a native of Shenzhou, and then I acquired the memory of an Earth scientist, resulting in "Wang Qi's Cartesian Theater" being entirely filled with the repertoire of an Earth scientist, leading to a cognitive error?
Wang Qi was somewhat headache-ridden by this music of thoughts. It seemed to lean toward purely philosophical sophistry again.
Seeing that he was seriously contemplating, Chen Feng asked, "Now that I've explained the principle to you, you should have some idea, right? About why you were so quick to pick this up."
Wang Qi now understood the true principle of the Soul Forging Skill—emptying the Cartesian Theater, then "writing" the script oneself, enhancing the "writer's" "abilities."
In fact, he had engaged in similar thoughts—back in Dabai Village, his soul had been disrupted by the Entropy-increasing Demon, his memories a chaos, unreliable. At that time, it was by clinging to that last bit of clarity that he reshaped his logic.
This was too much like the approach of the "Qujianji."
It was because he had this experience that he was able to pick it up so quickly.
Watching Chen Feng's curious gaze, Wang Qi could only smile bitterly and shake his head. This matter was a secret of the Immortal Alliance, and speaking carelessly could attract a Carefree Level being to silence him; he really couldn't tell.
Chen Feng glanced at the sky, "Alright, the lunch break is over. Follow me to the Empirical Department for half an hour of validation, then come back and process data with your junior sister."
Upon hearing this, Wang Qi let out a groan, "Boss, deduct a bit from my monthly salary... I really don't want to do validations! Especially not for the Life Path!"
"You've already taken an advance, so don't even think about making that request!"
