"Hoo! Ha!" Ai Qinglan exhaled and shouted, delivering a punch. Her great power, many times the total of those at the same stage, transformed into a wave of gang qi, like a Giant Spirit God Axe, splitting open a huge gap in the sea!

However, this seemingly victorious strike failed to hit any target.

Opposite her, Wang Qi's figure constantly flickered in space, his movement defying three-dimensional logic entirely. Sometimes he moved following high-dimensional trajectories using Xiangyu Travel, sometimes he warped space with the Curved Sky Ruler, and sometimes he transformed himself into a quantum-like existence using the Unpredictable Body Technique.

This was the third time in half a month that they sparred with each other.

It's akin to scientists on Earth who like to exercise before or after work. Appropriate exercise can improve one's mental state and invigorate one's thinking. For cultivators, this level of sparring is considered a "fun" exercise.

Additionally, Wang Qi also needs to explore his cultivation abilities. For him, this is part of cultivation development.

Nevertheless, neither Wang Qi nor Ai Qinglan can easily find opponents who allow them to fight with abandon. They are both "freaks" within the Golden Core Stage. One possesses mana several times greater than that stage's ordinary cultivators, output akin to Primordial Spirit, the most exquisite bloodline divine powers, and the ability to rapidly evolve; the other has achieved Unity of My Method, possessing control comparable to the Primordial Spirit Stage, with several divine skills inconceivable to ordinary cultivators. They aren't on the same level as regular Golden Core Cultivators at all.

However, the Primordial Spirit Heaven Barrier remains the Primordial Spirit Heaven Barrier, and no matter how defiant they are, there's no way to cross the threshold to challenge Primordial Spirit Cultivators [of course, if Wang Qi employs the Heart Demon Curse and Divine Plague Curse Law, it's another matter].

In terms of actual combat power, Su Junyu and Chen Feng aren't much inferior to these two freaks, and in some specialized domains, they surpass the two. Nonetheless, Ai Qinglan and Wang Qi's cultivation is extraordinarily unique.

Wang Qi's cultivation perfectly restrains both Su Junyu and Chen Feng. Su Junyu also cultivates the Dataized Cultivation Method, similar to Wang Qi. Such restraint among peers is particularly severe; a higher level can completely suppress the other. Meanwhile, Unity of My Method counters Chen Feng's various illusion techniques.

Regarding Ai Qinglan, regardless of the opponent, she can swiftly evolve a specially targeted method. Unless an opponent can instantly defeat her in the first encounter, she becomes increasingly formidable, and her divine skills increasingly targeted. In the end, only Wang Qi, who has accomplished Unity of Magic and Self, his body is capable of infinitely generating myriad phenomena and divine skills, can engage Ai Qinglan repeatedly without falling behind.

Yet, Wang Qi is merely "not restrained." Up to now, his combat power remains slightly inferior to Ai Qinglan's.

Ai Qinglan's Protective Gang Qi has two layers. The outer layer, "Longevity Meridian Gang," is a resilient gang qi created by intertwining endless Heavenly Calculation Power into double helix qi veins. Ordinary Sword Qi cannot penetrate it. Any mana contacting it will provoke changes in the qi veins, causing the gang qi to evolve and become specifically targeted against certain mana. The outer layer is also an aggressive Absolute Skill, "Defeat Sword Gang." This is a peculiar law gate Ai Qinglan comprehended from the Tianling Ridge's Absolute Skill "Defeat Finger Sword," targeting cellular decay at the bloodline level, capable of causing parts of the body to decay and rot upon slight contact. The most malevolent aspect of this law is that using strong qi and blood or life force to resist, preserving the affected cells, causes those cells to become "out of control after receiving the decay command," triggering so-called "cancer mutation."

If one doesn't resist, the defeat decay force drives straight in, harming as much as the opponent desires. If resisted, one's own mana within the body provokes cancer mutation, leading to terrifying changes.

This is the advanced version of the Poison Finger.

Wang Qi's figure swayed in the void, preventing Ai Qinglan from grasping his trajectory. While to Wang Qi, Ai Qinglan resembles a porcupine he dares not touch, conversely, to Ai Qinglan, Wang Qi is like an eel—slippery and elusive, impossible to catch.

This gives Wang Qi a slim chance of victory.

With a flash, he crossed behind Ai Qinglan and struck with the Silent Annihilation Sky Burning Palm. The Power of Negative Entropy neutralized the power of the Heavenly Entropy Technique, scattering the Defeat Sword Gang like a candle flame in the wind; the Longevity Meridian Gang flickered violently, constantly transforming its core. Ai Qinglan's body surface even showed a faint Life Flame, barely maintaining the invincibility of the Longevity Meridian Gang.

This is the moment when Ai Qinglan's defense is most vulnerable!

"Opportunity!" Wang Qi flashed again, striking from an extremely tricky angle. This strike wasn't a three-dimensional trajectory, so no matter how keen Ai Qinglan's perception and rapid her reaction, there was no way she could avoid being hit before it landed.

Because the movement principles within were different.

But then, an accident occurred.

Wang Qi's palm was unexpectedly blocked by a fist.

"This is..." Wang Qi hesitated, Ai Qinglan's triumphant smile entering his view. He didn't know exactly what error allowed Ai Qinglan to intercept his punch.

But he knew what to do in this circumstance.

That is... to exert force!

"Ha!"

"Ah!"

The air was filled with countless explosive sounds. Even the gaseous atmosphere couldn't withstand the aftermath of their clash of fists. Within a second, Wang Qi's mana changed countless times, yet each time his mana shifted, Ai Qinglan's fist power would correspondingly change. Although this change mostly lagged half a step behind Wang Qi's shifts, it was steadfast and resilient, growing stronger when encountering strength!

Wang Qi originally thought that his current skills had already exhausted all the "subtleties" in the world. However, with this punch, he was surprised to find that in terms of "subtlety," Ai Qinglan was actually not inferior to him. Very quickly, Wang Qi couldn't withstand the force of the punch and was knocked into the sea by Ai Qinglan.

This is the true essence of evolution.

Ai Qinglan stretched her muscles: "Ah, occasionally it's necessary to come out for some exercise! These past few days lying on the empirical platform, my waist is almost stiff to death."

Wang Qi emerged from the sea, spitting out seawater from his mouth. Without the Heart Demon Curse and the Divine Plague Curse, and without using the Indeterminate Cause Sword, which he himself couldn't control as a guaranteed killing sword, he was indeed inferior to Ai Qinglan. He flew off the sea surface, then evaporated the seawater on his body, and expelled the salt from his body. Wang Qi flew in front of Ai Qinglan, complaining: "Senior Sister, you actually used the Defeat Finger Sword against me while fighting? That's too unreasonable, right? I'm carrying the Life Flame, if I got hit, it would be fatal!"

In the world, injuries and diseases heal faster the stronger the vitality. But there are some injuries that are the opposite. The cancerous changes caused by the Defeat Finger Sword, the Defeated Decay Force, will devour the recipient's vitality, and cannot be resisted by vitality.

"What does it matter?" Ai Qinglan was indifferent: "I didn't use the Defeat Finger Sword for the last strike."

Wang Qi couldn't restrain his curiosity and asked: "Senior Sister, how exactly did you see through me?"

Ai Qinglan pointed to a spot slightly below her eyes on her face: "Look closely." Wang Qi was puzzled. Suddenly, his pupils contracted. Because he saw silver lines appearing below Ai Qinglan's eyes, like scars or tattoos.

But they weren't.

Mystical Thought Body. It was the Mystical Thought Body created through the Transformation Technique.

Just now, Ai Qinglan reversed part of her physical body into the Mystical Thought Body, enhancing her computing power. Wang Qi's last strike was not seen through, but "calculated."

Wang Qi's move itself had no possibility of being seen through; the correct Breaking Technique had to be calculated.

"Amazing." Wang Qi could only express his amazement.

Wang Qi then remembered, Ai Qinglan's foundation in mathematics was not weak. She even had considerable insight into the Path of Materiality and Heavenly Material Circulation. However, she did not choose the Wanfa Sect's cultivation method, so her computing power and speed couldn't be compared with Wang Qi. Yet, the divine skill of transformation allowed her to use her physical body to make up for this shortcoming.

Ai Qinglan wiped her face again, and the silver lines on her face instantly disappeared. The Mystical Thought Body within her body also returned to normal. She reached out and patted Wang Qi's back: "Not bad, not bad, very impressive. Junior Brother, you can actually fight back and forth with me now, that's remarkable."

"Senior Sister, you are the one. Next time, I'll just use the Mysterious Uncertainty Sword."

As usual, after finishing her exercise, Ai Qinglan headed to her Empirical Department. Now she wished she could treat one second as two, and she could only squeeze out two hours a day to relax, fearing that under high tension, she might make key data errors, which would not only make her a laughingstock but also nullify all her previous efforts.

However, Wang Qi called out to Ai Qinglan: "Senior Sister, wait a minute. I've recently encountered a problem and would like to ask for your advice."

Ai Qinglan frowned: "You kid, didn't drag Xiao Feng into some trouble again, did you?"

"How could that be? Even if the Heavenly Sword is needed to clear the scene, it's not going to blow up Langde... pfft pfft pfft, it's nothing to do with that, okay." Wang Qi shook his head and asked his question: "Senior Sister, do you think mathematics has aesthetic appeal?"

Ai Qinglan flicked her hair: "Well, I think it does?"

"Then, do you know how to share this aesthetic appeal with others? Or..." Wang Qi thought for a moment: "How do you share the beauty of the path you pursue with someone who understands nothing?"

"Huh?"

"Like your parents, for example? I remember Chen Feng said that both your and his parents are mortals. Can you convey to them what you think in your mind?"

Ai Qinglan widened her eyes: "What kind of madness is this?"

"It's not madness; it's part of my recent project."

Or rather, it's a new probe by Wang Qi.

Since Gou Dabao was preconceived by immortals to believe that the path of mathematics has no spirituality, Wang Qi decided to change his approach and first let Gou Dabao's superficial personality become aware of the beauty in mathematics, realize the spirituality and wisdom contained in mathematics, and then talk about other things.