Chapter 30: The Cultivator Writes Code

Boom...

Chen Chushi was speechless. He had broken through again.

He had stepped into the sixth layer of Qi Refinement!

The surge of energy he released during the breakthrough felt like a strong gust of wind to ordinary people, but to Liu Yinyun and the others, it was a typhoon...

Liu Yinyun had just finished setting up a spirit stone base station and happened to witness Chen Chushi’s breakthrough. She was stunned. Was there really such a gap in physique between people?

Despite cultivating tirelessly with the new edition of the “Qi Refinement Manual,” pushing themselves to the brink of mental collapse, only two people in the group had reached the first layer of Qi Refinement, while the rest remained at the stage of stabilizing their spiritual energy conversion. Yet, Chen Chushi’s cultivation seemed as routine as clocking in at work every day; he barely appeared to spend any time on it, and his cultivation soared like a rocket...

She walked up and saluted. “Congratulations, Mr. Chen, on yet another breakthrough!” She wasn’t sure which layer he had reached, but the aura he exuded was already terrifying.

Chen Chushi opened his eyes and smiled. “I’m just an ordinary cultivator. We’re all here to help one another—no need for formalities.”

Seeing Liu Yinyun lower her hand, he continued, “I remember someone in your team called Liu Jianghai, a computer genius. I have an unusual request: I’d like to learn some computer science from him, if possible?”

A cultivator wanting to learn computer science?

Liu Yinyun had no idea what he was planning, but she nodded. “No problem, as long as it helps you.”

She sent a message and soon Liu Jianghai arrived, having heard the situation.

Liu Jianghai was somewhat surprised, but readily agreed. “Computer science covers many fields. What do you want to learn? What’s your goal?”

Chen Chushi replied, “I want to learn programming—how to write an intelligent AI program, for example.”

Liu Jianghai understood. If he wanted to write programs, he’d have to start with programming languages. He recommended several languages developed in the Xia Kingdom and explained the strengths and weaknesses of each in detail...

After two hours, Chen Chushi had a general understanding of this world’s programming languages.

With the laptop Liu Jianghai lent him, he said, “Thank you for your explanations. I’ll take my time with the rest. You all can continue searching for spirit stone clusters and setting up base stations.”

Wait—only two hours?

Was that really enough?

Liu Jianghai was a little taken aback. He might yield before Chen Chushi’s cultivation prowess, but in the realm of computer science, he had absolute confidence.

But two hours? That seemed a bit...

Even he needed several days to gain a basic grasp of multiple programming languages.

[Dreaming of the Sensing Realm: “No way, right? A cultivation master learning computer science? This contrast is wild.”]

[Call Me Empress: “What’s wrong with learning computer science? Cultivators can study whatever they like. My husband can learn whatever he wants!”]

[Charming Chu Ci: “If a top cultivator suddenly wants to study computer science, he must have his reasons...”]

On the laptop screen, Chen Chushi was browsing through computer science material, from basic to intermediate to advanced, turning pages as rapidly as a printer spitting out paper...

Two days passed, and he spent a full forty-eight hours reading.

The computer knowledge in this world was much the same as in his own—each had its pros and cons.

After a moment’s thought, his fingers began to fly across the keyboard. Because of the camera angle, the surveillance could only catch the blur of his hands...

[Old Friends, Old City, Old Times: “He’s already coding? That’s way too fast.”]

Chen Chushi was well aware of his talent—his overall ability was exceptionally high. At least back in his lab, he had outshone everyone in all aspects! Computer science was hardly a challenge; as long as you understood the principles and experimented, mastery came easily.

In this foreign world, he had no desire to make enemies. But neither would he leave himself without any trump cards. For instance, right now, he was using the programming language from his own world...

Letter by letter, the program took shape.

Twenty-four hours later.

The AI program was complete, and after a few rounds of proofreading, it was ready.

He ran it, and a round, yellow smiling face appeared—a familiar emoji used in chats.

The little yellow face smiled and spoke using the computer’s built-in voice pack, the tone a bit unnatural: “Happy to serve you. Please issue your command!”

The little yellow face was just a program with no consciousness of its own; it would obey Chen Chushi’s instructions.

Chen Chushi said, “Upload the program to the Earth network and start intelligent learning for twenty-four hours!”

The yellow face switched to a serious expression, a red banner with the word “Strive” appeared above its head, and it raised a tiny yellow fist in earnest: “Yes, Master! Learning makes me happy, makes me strong!!!”

Its responses were set to be humorous.

Who could resist a little program that occasionally acted silly and funny?

After uploading the program to the world’s networks, Chen Chushi pondered for two hours, then resumed typing.

Two more days passed, and he wrote an expansion pack for the program, attaching it to the yellow face app. It was its expansion module! He then issued a real command: “Simulate cold weapon forging. Requirements: toughness, sharpness!”

The yellow face put on a pair of reading glasses, held a little notebook, and looked every bit the scholarly type. “Yes, Master!”

Half an hour later, the yellow face closed its notebook. “Task complete!”

A list appeared on the screen, featuring all eighteen classical weapons—swords, spears, sabers, halberds, axes, hooks, forks, and more. Under each weapon, there were detailed formulas for materials, temperature control, and other specifications...

Chen Chushi: “Locate nearby ironworking and forging shops.”

Even in an era dominated by firearms, cold weapons were still beloved by many and often fetched high prices as collectibles.

The yellow face quickly found a cold weapons forge over twenty kilometers away. Chen Chushi made his way there and found the place well-equipped, with baskets of semi-finished and finished swords...

Following the yellow face’s formula, he began forging a sword.

With the aid of magical power, his forging speed increased several times over. Soon, he produced a long sword with a gleaming, snow-bright blade. For convenience, he integrated the blade and hilt into a single piece, using no additional materials. The grip might not feel perfect, but he didn’t intend for it to be held.

Although this sword was forged following the yellow face’s simulation, its toughness and sharpness far surpassed the finest swords in the workshop by several grades. With a casual swing, the blade sliced through the bamboo targets with just a faint sense of resistance—the bamboo was instantly split in two...

He channeled magical power into the sword.

Another swing.

This time, not only was the bamboo cut, but even the wooden plank supporting the bamboo was split in half. Chen Chushi marveled at the versatility of magical power—a simple infusion could so greatly enhance a sword’s performance...

Now, it was time to try sword flight.

He released the sword, and it wobbled uncertainly in midair.

He frowned. He was merely supporting the sword with magical power. If that was all it took to control any object, this was quite different from the legendary art of sword flight. For the sake of future travel, sword flight was a must! He sat cross-legged, resting the sword across his knees, and began mentally simulating the coordination of magical power and sword.