first tried adding a thousand more symbols to the Qi-gathering array. I succeeded, but the result was… disappointing. The array only reached the Qi-gathering level of a Qi Condensing perfection stage cultivator. It still didn't step into Foundation Establishment.
Maybe it was because my path of arrays wasn't deep enough yet. Or maybe my experience was too shallow.
No matter how talented someone is, raw talent can't replace experience without actual hard work.
I compressed the formation even further, pushing symbol after symbol, folding structures, tightening loops, and reinforcing the flow until the formula was on the edge of collapsing. I finally reached a number that was infinitely close to Foundation Establishment level—almost, but not fully.
So I tried something unusual.
I added every decimal correction I could think of, pushing compression and efficiency to the limit. After countless adjustments, the final number I got was:
1250.521
This represented a Qi-gathering efficiency equivalent to a normal Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Perfect.
With this array, I could gather Qi for my techniques at the same rate as hundreds or even thousands of early-stage Foundation Establishments.
Feeling satisfied, I went to check on Feng Xinyi, who was making the same array on her side.
But when I looked at her result… I froze.
Her number wasn't close to mine.
Her number was:
6252.605
Five times the value of mine.
Yet the Qi-gathering effect was the same: Foundation Establishment speed.
It made no sense.
There was no reason for her array to compute such a large number if the final result matched mine. The math didn't match the output. There was no logical path from my formula to hers. For a moment my mind raced, searching for an explanation.
The only possibility I could think of was this:
She was absorbing five times more Qi from the environment for the same amount of raw Qi.
Not slower cultivation.
Not inefficiency.
Just… a different requirement.
Almost like her Qi foundation demanded more energy to achieve the same output.
At first, this sounded like a weakness.
But Feng Xinyi's cultivation speed completely destroyed that idea. There was no way someone cultivating five times slower could reach Core Formation Great Circle in under twenty years, especially using a planetary cultivation path on Velora.
So I ran a test.
"Xinyi, start cultivating," I told her.
She didn't know why, but she obeyed without arguing. I watched carefully.
And then I understood.
She wasn't cultivating slowly at all.
Her Qi absorption speed was five times faster than mine. The reason she needed five units of Qi for every unit of raw Qi wasn't because she was inefficient—it was because her entire cultivation framework was built differently.
Her body pulled in more Qi.
Her foundation demanded more Qi.
Her system processed more Qi.
She was converting Qi normally… she just needed more of it.
My mind immediately connected this to something from my past life:
custom-tiered number systems.
They were common in game design. Numbers didn't represent direct value—they represented tier multipliers or hidden scaling rules.
For example:
P = 1
MegaP = 5
UltraP = 25
The number didn't represent raw power by itself, it represented the tier of power being processed.
This meant Feng Xinyi wasn't "wasting" five times more Qi.
She was simply using a higher tier of Qi foundation, something more advanced than standard system logic could explain.
But I still didn't know why she had this tier.
Or what it meant.
Still… it was interesting to learn that parts of this cultivation world followed systems that behaved very similar to human-made logic from my previous life. That meant I could potentially create…
I stopped myself.
Focus on the array.
Theories could wait.
We spent four more hours working on the formation. If this was earlier, it would've been impossible to complete something so massive so quickly. But after progressing in our path of arrays, the construction flowed naturally.
Even then, I only completed around 40% of the entire array.
The remaining 60%?
All done by Feng Xinyi.
Her hands moved automatically, faster than mine, more precise than mine.
And the strange part was… the uniqueness of her Qi made everything she touched integrate more efficiently into the formation structure.
Was this a side effect of her 5× absorption system?
I didn't know yet.
But it was definitely not normal.
At last, the entire massive formation—pull arrays, compression fields, Qi funnels, and killing mechanism nodes—was complete. We stood in the center, surrounded by the glowing structure that covered the entire level.
"Ready?" I asked.
She nodded.
I channeled my Qi into the formation.
Dark violet lines lit up across the ground, spreading like veins across the entire level.
Every spirit beast instantly felt the pressure.
The pull arrays activated, dragging them toward the center. No matter how they resisted, the force was absolute. They could only be pulled forward.
After a while, thousands of beasts reached the core—a giant circle of interlinked symbols.
One by one, they fell inside.
The circle didn't kill them.
It merely trapped them.
What came next… horrified even them.
A giant beam of light formed above the circle as the killing system activated.
"T.N V1 activated."
"Target Level: Multiple Level 3."
"User Level: ???"
"No User Level found. Following Rule 21: If no user exists, use external force."
"Searching for external force…"
"External Force Found."
"External Force: 1000+ arrays."
"External Force Level: Proto-5."
"Energy level is high. Following Rule 5: If energy is sufficient, activate all techniques."
The beam descended without mercy.
Every beast trapped inside the formation was torn apart instantly.
T.N V1 had entered full power mode.
And everything inside the array… died.