Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 568 - 320: What Economics Reveals

Wang Qi's economic theory system drew on concepts and thought processes from both microeconomics and macroeconomics, yet it differed from the two.

From the perspective of individuals, it sought to explore concepts such as production, labor, and consumption, combined with Shenzhou's Immortal Dao technology, to study the economic behavior of individual producers, consumers, and market economic activities in society, as well as how the individual values of corresponding economic variables are determined.

Then, these individual behaviors were synthesized to establish an overall model, starting with each individual's behavior within the model to simulate the whole, treating all individual behavioral strategies as collective behavior, looking for the optimal pattern.

It was neither microeconomics nor could it be said to be macroeconomics.

In fact, whether it was Marx or Keynes, their original theories were impossible to be reproduced in this world.

In this world, cultivators are self-sufficient units. No matter how non-Immortal Dao technologies develop, they can never surpass the Immortal Dao itself, and cultivators always represent advanced productive forces.

At the same time, cultivators always possess the strongest military power, and the ease of forming technology black boxes means that individuals also have a chance of obtaining unparalleled strength.

The state is no longer dependent on "the people"; it is no longer a legitimate violence institution formed by the transfer of some "natural freedoms" from the masses. It is purely a violence institution, no different from a gang. The sects and noble families that actually hold ruling positions do not exist for the sake of ruling. Sects and noble families exist because collective production can improve labor efficiency and become an aid on the path of cultivators towards Immortality. The same is true for the Immortal Alliance.

The class also needs to be redefined. Within the natural system of the duality of Immortal and Mortal, Immortals do not oppress or exploit Mortals—because there is no need to. For Magic Cultivators of the Demon Path, killing and refining are not oppression but a form of "labor," a form of "production" that takes Mortals as materials. This profound class distinction is not due to property but physical laws. Cultivators only exploit the surplus value of Cultivators, while Mortals exploit Mortals.

Shenzhou and the universe where Earth resides follow different physical laws, so they have different theoretical systems, forming different technology trees, and ultimately creating different societies.

The self-sufficient natural economy and the autocracy formed by individual differences make "the union of all the world's Mortals" sound like a joke. The ruling class lacks "legitimacy" at the natural law level, and the disparate natural economy means strategies at the state and government levels all become nonsense. Even if a cultivator with the Innate Five Virtues temporarily establishes an "Earthly Divine Kingdom," it will disappear in a flash because the powerful don't last.

Indeed, the Immortal Alliance already reflects the characteristics of modern civilization. A vast and intricate theoretical system makes it impossible for a few to accomplish everything, and Modern Cultivators must engage in division of labor and cooperation. Moreover, the system created by the Yuanli Masters allows cultivators to understand each other with a common terminology, to communicate, which is the foundation of all this.

And this also gave Wang Qi a great inspiration. In this world, liberating productive forces does not mean promoting a technology, but establishing a system that can accommodate everyone and form an interconnected relationship of interests.

In the Immortal Dao Burning Book List, Wang Qi had witnessed the breakthroughs of Immortal Dao Civilization countless times. Under conditions prone to forming technology black boxes, developing technology is incredibly easy. Just considering potential productivity, the Ancient Method Immortal Path is not inferior to modern Earth. Yet, after eighty thousand years, Shenzhou's civilization still has not made an essential leap.

Perhaps after another eighty thousand years, the people of Earth might be able to roam the Star Sea. However, without the rise of Modern Cultivation, Shenzhou might not be able to break free from the planet's gravitational field even after eight hundred thousand years.

The history of Earth, the history of Shenzhou, combined with logical induction and deduction, allowed Wang Qi to see through the fog.

Of course, the version he explained to Chen Feng naturally omitted many keys, such as "Earth." This made Wang Qi's argumentation process feel a bit jumpy.

However, Chen Feng was listening with rapt attention: "Human Dao… Human Dao… This is the path of the Human Clan…"

This is the marvelous theory that can explain all social phenomena!

Wang Qi calmed him down, "Don't get excited just yet, Boss. There's still a final problem with this theory."

"The final one?"

Wang Qi held up two fingers, "First, and most importantly, everything here so far belongs to the realm of 'speculation' and 'deduction'; there is no empirical evidence, nor is there any supplementation from the phenomena of life beings, no significance of the Life Path…"

Chen Feng closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, "In terms of the Life Path, previous theoretical studies on the human heart and human nature can be referred to. In addition, we can conduct comparative studies of the behaviors of other species… Although empirical verification might not be permitted and the cycle is too long to wait for, if we can construct a spell, it could serve as a substitute."

"That's the second problem," Wang Qi lowered his second finger. "We need a real, tangible Law, not Divine Tao, but truly powerful."

"Human Dao…" Chen Feng frowned, "All our references are Divine Tao."

"Embrace Divine Tao Transformation," Wang Qi said, "No matter what kind of divine spirit it is, whether it has personality or not, it must certainly carry an organ like the Heart Demon Curse—just as animals of the Chordata phylum are sure to have a spine. This time, what we're after could be an echinoderm or a coelenterate."

"An already existent Spirit Power System, huh?" Chen Feng pondered the possibility Wang Qi brought up, "Indeed, after you summarized the laws of the Human Dao, theoretically, you should be able to predict the changes of the Human Dao and thus sense that force circulating among the people. But that's just theoretical. As for the physical nature of that force, we're still without a clue."

"I do have a bit of an idea, though," Wang Qi said.

"Oh? Let's hear it."

"Last year, when we were eradicating the cult, I did have a bit of a thought," Wang Qi continued, "Although it's not yet fully formed, I feel there's something to it."

"Firstly, last year I vaguely realized that Divine Power and the majority of Mana, at the microscopic level, still exhibit as electromagnetic interactions. However, it's difficult to explain why the connection between divine spirits and their Believers can transcend the obstructions of the Secret Realm of Cave Heaven. Therefore, I feel we can't rule out the possibility that this force might also be accompanied by Gravity capable of penetrating through multiple dimensions. It's just that at regular scales, Gravity is extremely weak, unlike the terrifying Electromagnetic Force, so it doesn't reveal itself."

"Then, this year's Quantum Electrodynamics gave me a bit of a feel from the quantum radiation. Radiation itself is the dispersal of force as Electromagnetic Waves or Particles, along with Spiritual Energy. Perhaps this kind of radiation, being too minuscule, is hidden within the background environment."

Chen Feng nodded, "That's very possible... a person's soul is highly activated Spirit Energy Field, communicating Spirit Sense through electromagnetic interactions."

"Additionally, I have another idea. A calculator merely by operating can produce effects similar to spells. However, the spell effects of the Calculator Road Rank and the spells used by Cultivators are not exactly the same; the former is purely formed by ordered system Redundancy effects, while the spells of Cultivators are results of the system's own output. If we have a crowd simulate a calculator... well, I might be thinking too much. This might require a lot of people to accomplish, maybe we can apply for such a large-scale empirical test in the next phase."

"Large-scale? How many people are you planning for?"

Wang Qi smirked, "The more the merrier, but at the very least we'd need tens of thousands."

————————————————————————————

That same night, Zhao Qingfeng, who was deep in secluded cultivation, suddenly fell into a deeply mystical state. He felt his Mana like a tide, uncontrollable, yet suddenly it became endless like the Great River, without any sign of losing control.

"An epiphany," Zhao Qingfeng told himself. Then he quickly believed in his judgment, without a doubt.

The Magic Artifact that had become one with him suddenly spewed out streams of Divine Power Essence, dovetailing with the flow of Mana.

He naturally didn't know that this was Wang Qi manipulating his Mana through the Heart Demon Curse and the Restrictions previously placed within this gem-shaped Magic Artifact. Even though this skill required the full computational power of Jarvis plus all of Wang Qi's attention, and depended on Zhao Qingfeng being unguarded. In actual combat, this was of no use. But in this situation, Wang Qi could still interfere with Zhao Qingfeng's Mana, leaving him a surprise.

Quantumization!

Back at the Immortal Institute, Wang Qi had already learned to mix "Great Discrete Coincidence" with the Heavenly Song into a single Cultivation Technique. After grasping the essence of Mysterious Palace's techniques as breaking the limitations between micro and macro scales, and encountering the world's model of Quantum Electrodynamics, Wang Qi could freely utilize both techniques!

Soon, Zhao Qingfeng felt his Mana becoming ethereal and elusive, emanating an aloof aura. He didn't know, this was the result of the Uncertainty Principle belonging to the micro-level manifesting at the macro level.

Quantum Physics, on the surface, appeared a bit mystical, so it was no surprise that Earth was filled with charlatans, shamans, and mystics wrapping themselves in this science. Without delving into its essence and considering it mathematically, one would never grasp the profound mysteries within.

This was one of the reasons why Wang Qi refined Zhao Qingfeng's Mana in this way.

"This feeling... this wondrous sensation!" Zhao Qingfeng finally sensed it. The Mana of the Great Discrete Coincidence was unfathomable on the microscopic scale. This distinct feeling, so different from the definite sensations of the Heavenly Song he had used before, was precisely what he sought.

Then, with a flash of insight, he uncontrollably formed Seal Formations with his hands and feet, stepping through the star positions. After the circulation of Mana, several Talismans formed within his Dantian. With another flash of insight, he suddenly perceived an epiphany. Two spells leaped out of his mind: one very much like Divine Tao Techniques, similar to the true Divine Tao he had seen countless times in the Immortal Dao Burning Book List. The other instructed him on how to disperse his own Mana to make contact with Believers.

Zhao Qingfeng was overjoyed; he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, sensing that invisible network in the mystery. Then, his electromagnetic Mana suddenly pierced through numerous obstacles and poured into the void.

Meanwhile, Wang Qi, monitoring everything from afar, frowned, "Could it actually be Quantum Tunneling? The reason Divine Power can't block it isn't the characteristic of Gravity ignoring all obstacles and crossing dimensions, but the Quantum Tunneling Effect?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com), and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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