In the days that followed, Wang Qi accessed the secret land where Gou Dabao was located through the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm three times in total. Each time, he entered through a secret route. Out of curiosity, Wang Qi once thought of tracing his access path to locate the calculator within the secret land and then find where Gou Dabao was. However, he quickly discovered that the route was protected by the highest level of encryption methods. If Wang Qi attempted to hack in, he would surely be caught by Feng Luoyi.

When Wang Qi saw Gou Dabao for the fourth time, it had been just over half a month since he first saw him. However, during this half month, Gou Dabao had already completed wasted effort and Foundation Establishment.

It was precisely the Bronze Immortal Fairy Foundation of the second grade, based on the Yao Ding Calculating Scripture and constructed on the foundation of Turing machine theory.

At the same time, he had cultivated the Heavenly Calculation Atlas to a considerable realm. Although the Magic Foundation was not established, strands of Heavenly Calculation Qi Veins had already penetrated his cells, reconstructing meridians outside the Extraordinary Meridians and the twelve standard meridians, forming their own cycle.

Banished Immortals are perfect in their control of mana. Ordinary cultivators are simply no match for them. Their spiritual senses are also sharper and stronger than ordinary cultivators. Since the main part of their thinking process is not the apparent "personality," but the inner Immortal consciousness, for Banished Immortals, "personality" is merely a "shadow." As long as the inner Immortal consciousness is not distorted, even if the outer "aspect" is destroyed, it can be instantly restored. Therefore, the rule that "the higher the mana, the stronger the Heart Demon" does not apply to them. At the beginning of cultivation, ordinary cultivators cannot compare with Banished Immortals.

Speaking of this advancement speed, if it weren't for Mi's help in exploiting loopholes, and if he weren't already crazy enough, Wang Qi would have had to honestly adhere to the "six-year Foundation Establishment" time limit.

This is something to be envious of but cannot be attained by envy.

Seeing Gou Dabao's progress, Wang Qi could not help but exclaim, "Impressive."

"That's quite ordinary." Unexpectedly, even the disinterested Gou Dabao responded. He looked at Wang Qi, eyes shimmering with an inexplicable light, "I heard from those people that you are, in fact, a Banished Immortal too?"

Wang Qi frowned, "Who told you that?"

The secrecy level of this bizarre place is extremely high, and the illusion realm is self-contained, not directly connected to the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm, leaving only a few winding transition lines for reporting experimental progress. Wang Qi truly did not think that Gou Dabao could obtain external information through the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm.

Gou Dabao said, "Just a few… a few of the old guys here. One of them heard that you are also a Banished Immortal and said they wanted to see what kind of person you are, being able, as a Banished Immortal, to accomplish in a few years what a Modern Cultivator could not achieve in a lifetime."

"They actually told you this? I really didn't expect it. I thought they would be colder towards you."

"You know, this place is right within the attack range of a Carefree Practitioner of the Heavenly Sword Palace. And the Heavenly Sword aimed at here is much more powerful than what you could see in Shenzhou. One sword stroke can annihilate everything. Those who are willing to stay here with me are not really Demon People." Gou Dabao stared at Wang Qi, "Or should I say it's about you. I feel that you do resemble one."

Wang Qi sighed, "Actually… it's just a misdiagnosis. I just resemble a Banished Immortal in some aspects."

"I see." The divine light in Gou Dabao's eyes dimmed slightly, "Initially, I truly thought you were like a Banished Immortal. Your aura… you really have that aura… just very faint."

"Aura..." Wang Qi chuckled. Currently, with the Unity of Magic and Self, his inner thoughts could directly manifest as external aura. And the Dataized Cultivation Method could project this aura in its entirety through the Ten Thousand Immortals Illusion Realm, "The sense of detachment from the mortal world?"

"Indeed." Gou Dabao gave Wang Qi a deep look, "It seems you also have a past that is hard to look back on…"

"I don't really think it matters." Wang Qi said flatly, "To be honest, anyone who could be called a 'genius' has this kind of psychology more or less. For instance, Taiyi Heavenly Venerable mentioned that he had a feeling of loneliness more than once as if isolated from the world."

"There are different kinds of detachment and loneliness." Gou Dabao said, "Taiyi Heavenly Venerable and other genius figures feel detached from others simply because the world cannot keep up with them anymore. They always hope for a fellow traveler, hoping not to be alone in their path. But I am different. I have this feeling for no reason. I don't even hope anyone can break this barrier and be in the same world as me."

Wang Qi was startled, "Is that what you think?"

Gou Dabao nodded and then shook his head, "This is 'his' thought. 'He' thinks that, so I can only feel that way."

After saying these, Gou Dabao turned to Wang Qi and said, "And you, although you have such aura, it is actually very faint. All your negative emotions are overshadowed by a rising sense of determination. Though your Xinling has not reached perfection, it is no longer bewildered. If you were to find inspiration and achieve enlightenment, you might instantly become a Buddha. Even if you really were like me, just a Banished Immortal, you could still continue forward."

Wang Qi shook his head, "My cultivation does not emphasize that."

"Yes, I forgot." Gou Dabao shook his head, "But that being said, this is not really a method of cultivation, but just a form of expression. It doesn't contradict the essence of your Modern Immortal Path either—regardless of how I appear, I actually have a good grasp of this aspect. Of course, it's thanks to 'his' blessing."

Wang Qi was concerned about a certain question, "By the way, you've been emphasizing 'he' just now…"

"I don't want to admit that I am 'him,' so I repeatedly mention it verbally." Gou Dabao said calmly, "I don't have much ability. The only thing I can boast about is this little perseverance."

Gou Dabao, the Banished Immortal, always appeared dejected and silent before, not speaking unless necessary. Aside from essential matters, he rarely spoke to Wang Qi. Unexpectedly, now he seemed willing to say a few more words to Wang Qi due to Wang Qi's Banished Immortal status. Wang Qi saw this as an opportunity and added a few questions on the spot: "Gou Dabao, I have a few questions here that I hope you can answer for me."

"Oh." Gou Dabao nodded, still looking disinterested: "Ask away."

"In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle in the Modern Cultivation Method?" Wang Qi carefully chose his words and asked this question: "Although I've received reports saying you believe they are... uh, that they are without any spirituality and nonsense, I want to know what kind of feeling that precisely is."

"It's not what I think, it's what 'he' thinks." Gou Dabao seemed particularly concerned with this matter, pointing to his own chest to correct Wang Qi, then continued, "When you say 'specifically'... just how specific do you want to get?"

"How specific... let's say, regarding the 'Yao Ding Calculating Scripture'." Wang Qi thought for a moment and said.

"Yao Ding Calculating Scripture..." Gou Dabao first furrowed his brows, then said, "'In his' perception, it should be the worst method of cultivation. Mechanical, rigid, completely lacking in spirituality."

"Mechanical and rigid? Lacking in spirituality?" Wang Qi frowned: "Do you mean it has fewer variations? Then what about the more popular 'Yibi Calculation Scripture' of the Wanfa Sect?"

"Yibi Calculation Scripture? Ridiculous nonsense."

Wang Qi scratched his head: "Could you specifically explain why it is ridiculous nonsense?"

Gou Dabao said: "'He' doesn't understand why you delve into 'self-evident' questions, or why you develop peculiar, meaningless concepts for such self-evident issues."

"Meaningless?" Wang Qi was puzzled: "But those law gates have indeed become usable laws?"

"But 'he' believes that what truly supports those laws is not your void, tangled concepts but something else."

Wang Qi lowered his head in contemplation: "It seems that there really is a significant ideological divide here."

"To be specific... let's take, for instance, the statement from the Yibi Calculation Scripture's 'On Illusion Chapter'." Gou Dabao said, "'Pretend two numbers, make them into a quotient, and they square to two'... It's the opening and essential point of the On Illusion Chapter. What reasoning is behind this step? What is the significance of an imaginary pronouncement?"

Wang Qi scratched his face: "This... this is obviously meaningful..."

The Yibi Calculation Scripture's 'On Illusion Chapter' is about proving irrational numbers. When applied to cultivation, it embodies a 'false yet existent' Martial Arts True Intent. Ancient Mathematicians used the method of contradiction to prove irrational numbers. In Earthly terms, it can be restated like this—"Assume two numbers p and q, whose ratio square is namely, so (p/q)^2=2, hence p^2=2q^2. This implies p^2 is even, so p is certainly an even number. There must be an integer x so that p=2x..."

And this entire process, from beginning to conclusion, is all imaginary, all illusory, all fallacious. Yet, does it point to the answer to a practical problem?

How tangled and absurd is this?

"If this is meaningless, then wouldn't 'the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides' not hold true anymore?" Wang Qi retorted to Gou Dabao.

"The Pythagorean theorem... isn't it something self-evident?"

Wang Qi slapped his forehead. He understood now. This guy's attitude towards arithmetic is probably like this. He likes to skip explanations, completing processes through experience and intuition to reach the result. For them, the explanation is simply— 'Infinite Heavenly Venerable! It's done, my Daoist friend, take a good look.' [Look! This thing is already done!]

But for a mathematician, such thinking is simply unforgivable.

Suddenly, a strange thought flashed through Wang Qi's mind: "Hey there."

"Hmm?"

"As of now, the actual decisions made by your body are still guided by your subjective will, right? That Immortal, seems more like a set of rules. As long as you don't cross a certain standard, you hardly feel the Immortal consciousness within you?"

Gou Dabao hesitantly nodded.

"In other words, if I can inspire you to have some new ideas that don't contradict the Immortal's concepts, then, you might be able to glimpse the true marvels of the Wanfa Sect's cultivation methods!"