Chen Feng, Wang Qi, and Chen Youjia—these three people are the entire core members of Wang Qi's "Dataized Cultivation Method Research Group." At this stage, Wang Qi has only chosen Chen Feng and Chen Youjia to help.

Of course, Wang Qi has a few other people he could choose. However, perfecting and promoting the dataized cultivation method isn't the only thing that needs to be done in this direction. For example, Su Junyu has also joined Wang Qi's plan, but he has other things to do.

Moreover, in some sense, these two guys and Wang Qi belong to a "nest of snakes and rats," a "complicit in mischief" relationship. In certain aspects, their integrity, long since smashed to pieces along with the Old Divine Capital by the Heavenly Sword, now experiments "in the shadows." Wang Qi also knows that he doesn't fear encountering "internal" resistance.

—Of course, Chen Feng wouldn't admit to it. He still thinks he is the conscience of this group.

"'Atypical Marginal Disorder'? This name is quite a mouthful." Wang Qi asked, "Is there any particular significance?"

"Gou Dabao is currently the only Banished Immortal willing to cooperate with us on 'this level'." Chen Feng flipped through the data: "In other words, the many phenomena appearing in him are one-of-a-kind, with no other case for reference."

"I think there should be quite a few Banished Immortals who develop resistance to their past lives. Don't they willingly let their present selves be swallowed by the past lives? Or is there any other inside story?" Wang Qi asked in some confusion.

"Note that it's 'this level'." Chen Feng opened the last page of the report, then tossed the entire data aside, saying, "According to the data just now… only he is willing to use himself as an empirical living being."

"Indeed… not every person would choose to do this." Chen Youjia was speaking, her eyes glancing at Wang Qi.

Wang Qi was sitting upright, feigning ignorance of the deep meaning in the girl's gaze. He didn't really think this data was absolutely true. At least, the part stating "only one" was arguable. According to what Wang Qi knows, if a sample is marked as "unique," "hard to obtain again," then destructive research on such samples would be prohibited.

Wang Qi's cultivation method actually carries some risk. If this truly is the only Banished Immortal willing to cooperate fully, then Feng Luoyi's application on his behalf undoubtedly would be singularly restrictive.

—However, this specific information is top-secret, so this approach is reasonable.

Regarding Chen Youjia's words, Chen Feng shook his head and said, "Not exactly. Honestly, Banished Immortals having resistance towards their past lives is not rare. But according to Gou Dabao's account, the main reason those Banished Immortals truly refuse to cooperate with the Immortal Alliance is ultimately 'mistrust'—they simply don't trust the Immortal Alliance."

"'Mistrust'?"

"Ultimately, it boils down to 'alienation'." Chen Feng said, "They won't have lofty expectations of others, won't categorize others together with themselves in 'the same group' or 'the same camp'. They don't believe the Immortal Alliance is on their side and might instinctively feel that the Alliance would merely exploit them. Under such a premise, they would conclude that collaborating with the Alliance is dangerous. This sense isn't introduced into the Banished Immortal's consciousness as 'a mere thought,' but rather interferes with the Banished Immortal's judgment in forms of Immortal Remnant Soul, hence it can't be removed by unconventional means."

Under such a perspective, Banished Immortals are understandably reluctant to open their souls to the Immortal Alliance. Before the Modern Immortal Path emerged, cultivators wouldn't lightly lower their guard to another cultivator, let alone open their souls for research.

Actually, Gou Dabao did not make the "becoming an Immortal Alliance experimental subject" decision through careful consideration. At the time, he was only in his teens and hadn't thought it through thoroughly. He was merely acting completely contrary to his "immortal instincts." When his immortal instincts told him not to, he deliberately did.

For some reason, when Wang Qi heard the word "alienation," he vaguely felt a bit uneasy. Without showing any disturbance, he changed the topic, and asked, "Then are those Banished Immortals willing to be just swallowed like this?"

The life span at the Golden Core Stage ranges from five hundred to eight hundred years. For those Banished Immortals, even if they slowly wait until dying of old age, they still have eight hundred years of life. Moreover, with the income of a Golden Core Cultivator, they can definitely live a good life for a few hundred years. But joining the Immortal Alliance's research, maybe one wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

Chen Youjia frowned: "Passive resistance?"

"Passive resistance." Chen Feng nodded: "Also, passive resistance has a benefit, which is that it won't provoke the backlash of the Immortal Remnant Soul's thoughts."

Immortals are beings of undying and indestructible bodies and completely open systems, whose life does not decay as time passes. Even if a Banished Immortal doesn't cultivate and dies of natural old age after exhausting their life span, the residual soul will just reincarnate. It's impossible for every Banished Immortal encountered by a residual soul to be so peculiar, unwilling to cultivate, preferring to die of old age rather than becoming another person. A fragment of an Immortal's strength cannot just have one sliver. As long as there is one consciousness on this planet that once again transforms into an Immortal, then the surplus of consciousness will merely be a matter of time.

And to counteract the Immortal remnant consciousness, even trying to find ways to completely eliminate the Immortal Remnant Soul is utterly contrary to the Immortal's instincts, akin to self-harm for the Immortal. In this case, the innate resistance faced by Banished Immortals would be amplified many times over. Like Gou Dabao, "Upper Pure Spirit Treasure" and "Yuqing Primordial" fiercely clashed, causing even personality separation.

"Could this also be the reason they can't achieve Primordial Spirit?" Wang Qi speculated: "To the Immortal Remnant Soul, achieving Primordial Spirit conflicts with their original systems of cultivation, making it a 'harmful' act for Immortals."

"I'll just reiterate Gou Dabao's own feelings here." Chen Feng cleared his throat: "His original words were… 'To me, your cultivation method is like a plate of good meat placed on the edge of a cesspit. Rationally, it's not hard to know it's delicious, edible. But you can't enjoy it without feeling nauseated at the same time.'"

"Uh… ugh…" When Chen Feng was halfway through speaking, Chen Youjia almost vomited. Wang Qi sighed, "Truly remarkable resistance."

At this moment, a sword hanging in Wang Qi's living room as decoration suddenly trembled, and said, "Futile resistance."

"What do you think, esteemed Sword Spirit senior?" Chen Youjia asked. She and Chen Feng have already greeted Yue Luo Liu Li. However, they still don't know Yue Luo Liu Li's identity. And after seeing Wang Qi often ask Yue Luo Liu Li about the matter of Banished Immortals, they assumed Yue Luo Liu Li was a Magic Artifact created by ancient seniors, specifically used to battle Banished Immortals—Chen Feng could even imagine a "Weapon Introduction" of over a thousand words.

"The Undying Beast is not simple, as rebirth from a drop of blood is mere triviality. To them, just a sliver of Mana can accommodate complete 'memory' and 'self'. However, this 'self' has nowhere to 'operate,' cannot act, can only 'hibernate.' Only when the thinking organs of Parasitic Beasts grow powerful enough do the slain Undying Beast gradually awaken." Yue Luo Liu Li said, "And for the Undying Beast, Mana is also a thinking organ. The reason Parasitic Beasts plunder the remnants of Undying Beasts from others is to expedite the awakening of Immortal consciousness."

"Even if parts are lost, the Undying Beast would awaken, at most after some delay, that's all. The only way to deal with Parasitic Beasts is complete extermination."

Immortals are Immortals. Their will far exceeds the capacity of mortals' brains and souls to bear. Furthermore, the residual soul isn't complete in the first place and can't act as a genuine thinking organ, so it can only exist as subconsciousness.

Chen Feng exclaimed, "Such a powerful Immortal can actually be killed?"

"They would certainly die. Otherwise, why do you think they reincarnate in the form of residual souls?" Yue Luo Liu Li retorted, "Did they grow hungry after absorbing too much spiritual energy?"

"In any case, we've understood the matter to this extent." Wang Qi stood up and said, "In the next day or two, I'll have further contact with him to determine his current mindset. Chen Feng, draft a list of questions that need to be asked. Then, this meeting is adjourned."

Chen Feng and Chen Youjia nodded, then stood and left. Chen Feng had other work with Ai Qinglan, and he was also working on the ongoing development of the Divine Tao-Human Dao Law. Helping Wang Qi was already squeezing time out of his busy schedule. And Chen Youjia also needed half a month to a month to consolidate her newly broken realm. They both had things to do, so they quickly left.

No one noticed those faint wrinkles on Wang Qi's forehead.

"Alienation…" Wang Qi stood alone, his brows gradually furrowing. He pressed his chest, asking himself, "Honestly speaking, apart from not having Immortal Remnant Soul, what's the difference between me and a Banished Immortal?"

Wang Qi's soul is a bit stronger than others. But that's just because he knew how to think as soon as he was born. His soul was gradually trained in the long-term thinking, not due to the innate talent like Banished Immortals, born strong.

However, from some other perspectives, he's more like a Banished Immortal than Banished Immortals themselves. Many Banished Immortals laboriously cultivate just to awaken the Immortal consciousness within them, yet Wang Qi's mind already harbored an "awareness" not belonging to himself. Then, regarding this world, towards his current life's alienation, he is just like a Banished Immortal.

The difference is, for Banished Immortals, the alienation towards this life exists in their subconscious. While Wang Qi consciously holds a notion of "I do not belong to this world."

"So… maybe my state from a few years ago is the norm for Banished Immortals?"

This doubt Wang Qi has never been resolved. The Immortal Alliance doesn't have much data on this matter, and it's difficult to inquire other Banished Immortals.

This issue could only remain an issue then.