Qitian reached out with his spiritual consciousness, eager to reconnect with the mysterious tome that had changed his fate.
But the moment his awareness made contact with the Book of Stories, he slammed into an invisible barrier that might as well have been forged from solid steel.
Pain shot through his consciousness like lightning. He pushed harder, drawing on reserves of mental strength that had once allowed him to solve theorems that left Nobel laureates weeping in frustration.
Nothing. The resistive force remained absolute, unmovable, completely impenetrable no matter how hard he strained against it.
'Damn it.'
Qitian pulled back, his spiritual form aching from the failed attempt. Sweat beaded on his forehead in the physical world as he processed this unexpected development.
'It seems the Book of Stories has somehow upgraded since coming to this world and now I can't freely use it like before.'
That was... problematic. In his previous life, the book had been responsive, almost eager to share its secrets once activated by his blood. He'd spent countless hours poring over its pages, cross-referencing its predictions with his own research, desperately searching for any hint of how to escape his dying universe.
Now it sat in his soul space like a locked vault, taunting him with its presence while refusing access.
'Then again, I wonder what level of power I need to peer through its pages,' Dao Qitian thought, studying the golden radiance that seemed to pulse with each failed attempt to approach it.
Maybe the book's security had always been there, dormant until he achieved sufficient cultivation base to handle its true contents. Or perhaps something about this world's spiritual laws had triggered defensive mechanisms he'd never encountered before.
Either way, pressing the issue right now would only waste energy he couldn't afford to lose.
After a while, he shifted his focus elsewhere—to the crystalline archive that contained all of humanity's accumulated knowledge. These shelves responded to his touch immediately, flooding his consciousness with familiar formulas and theories and discoveries that felt like coming home after a long journey.
His mind was already racing with ideas on how to forge a path of his own.
Traditional cultivation followed rigid patterns established by ancient masters. Breathing techniques passed down through millennia. Combat forms that emphasized raw spiritual power over tactical innovation. Pill refinement recipes that treated alchemy like mystical art rather than applied chemistry.
'But what if I approach this differently?'
Qitian's consciousness danced between the knowledge shelves, pulling fragments of quantum theory and materials science and computational mathematics. Ideas sparked and merged like colliding particles in a supercollider.
'Since I was able to succeed with Quantum Soul Encoding, and input knowledge into something as mysterious as the human soul...'
His thoughts paused there, struck by the implications. He'd successfully merged advanced technology with mystical concepts during his reincarnation. The boundary between science and cultivation might not be as absolute as either side believed.
'Is it possible to modify my soul?'
The question sent excitement shooting through his entire being. Cultivation typically focused on strengthening the soul through external methods—absorbing spiritual energy, consuming miraculous pills, practicing ancient techniques that gradually enhanced one's foundation.
But what if he could edit his soul directly? Rewrite its fundamental structure using principles from quantum information theory?
'Can I forge my soul and give it the abilities of an infinite Quantum Computer with such computational abilities that what the cultivation world calls comprehension would simply be instant analysis and interpretation of data?'
Qitian thought more about this concept, and the more he explored its ramifications, the more excited he felt. Cultivation breakthroughs required profound understanding of abstract concepts—the nature of heaven and earth, the flow of spiritual energy, the deeper mysteries of existence itself. Most practitioners spent decades meditating on single insights, gradually building comprehension through painful trial and error.
But if his soul could process information like an advanced quantum computer...
'I could analyze cultivation techniques in real-time. Optimize spiritual energy flows using computational modeling. Treat the entire cultivation process like one massive data analysis problem.'
His excitement built to almost dangerous levels before rational thought finally reasserted itself.
He cooled down and forced himself to think more carefully. 'But considering the effect of concepts like Heavenly Laws and the Dao, there are different fundamental laws in operation here. After all, soul visualization isn't a thing in my past life.'
That was the crucial variable he kept forgetting. This reality operated on principles that his original universe had never possessed. Spiritual energy. Divine laws that transcended physics. Mystical forces that could reshape matter through willpower alone.
He couldn't just copy-paste scientific methods into a cultivation framework and expect perfect results. Some adaptation would be necessary. Some compromise between hard science and mystical practice.
'But there will definitely be countless places where the knowledge I carry can be cross-intersected.'
Cross-pollination between fields had always been his specialty. Taking concepts from quantum mechanics and applying them to consciousness studies. Using nano-engineering principles to solve computational bottlenecks. Finding unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated disciplines.
'Maybe I can use array inscriptions as programming languages to do what I desire?'
Now that was an intriguing possibility. Cultivation arrays were essentially magical circuits—complex patterns that channeled and directed spiritual energy according to specific rules. But from a computational perspective, they functioned almost exactly like programming code. Input parameters, processing logic, output effects.
'Or my knowledge of nanotechnology and material science engineering will definitely be applicable to artifact refinement...'
His thoughts began spiraling into increasingly ambitious possibilities.
'Maybe I can forge a nanotech suit of armor... name it the Quantum Armor or something... maybe forge an artifact spirit which will just be a form of AI with actual consciousness which at its highest level can live independently as a life of its own.'
Ideas cascaded through his mind like a waterfall of theoretical breakthroughs. Self-repairing cultivation equipment using programmable matter. Spiritual formations that operated like quantum processors. Artificial intelligences powered by soul fragments that could think and grow and evolve.
Each concept spawned three more, creating an exponential explosion of innovation that made his consciousness buzz with anticipation.
But then reality crashed back down around him.
"No need to get ahead of myself."
Qitian forced his racing thoughts to slow down, applying the same mental discipline that had once let him solve twelve-dimensional field equations in his head. Dreaming about quantum armor and AI artifact spirits was pointless when he couldn't even control his spiritual energy properly yet.
First things first. Foundation before innovation. Master the basics before attempting to revolutionize an entire reality.
"The most important thing for me now is the Martial Soul Awakening. But before that, I can only wait till tomorrow to retrieve my origin clan identity jade token. It might contain a surprise."