Chapter 62: Time to Calculate! |
A certain reader: Since it's a modern soul, shouldn't the differences between levels be summarized with data? No matter how much of a genius someone is, fighting across realms still needs to be logical.
Answer: First, it can be quantified with data. However, some readers have already expressed their dislike for the supplementary explanations regarding logical consistency that were previously included in the book.
Therefore, when I updated yesterday, I only briefly explained it at the end of Chapter 59. I didn't provide a data-driven explanation because I was too lazy to calculate it in such detail. But since you asked, I will calculate it properly.
Second, I explicitly replied in the comments section to a reader who thought cross-realm fighting was illogical. In magical combat, apart from one's cultivation base, one also relies on secret legacies.
The quality of secret legacies among low-level cultivators varies greatly, and this is the core reason why cross-realm fighting is possible. But high-level cultivators have lived for a long time.
They already possess all the various secret legacies they should have, so the gap in strength narrows, making it much harder to fight across realms. This is also a normal manifestation of logical consistency.
Alright, having answered your question, let's start calculating! It is a known fact that Wang Xianzhou's cultivation base is at the Qi Refining stage.
Considering his persona as a magical combat master and his cultivation at the Peak Qi Condensation realm, when his cultivation base is converted into magical combat strength, his base strength stat is 10 (the absolute ceiling of the Qi Refining stage, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to pass the magical combat selection to become an Immortal Alliance Emissary). Wang Xianzhou attempted to reach the Foundation Establishment realm four times but failed each time.
However, this process of striving for Foundation Establishment allowed his spiritual energy to gradually stand head and shoulders above other Qi Refining cultivators.
14.641 2 (Wang Clan secret legacy spells) 1.5 (custom magical artifacts) * 1.25 (high-grade talismans) = 54.90375. Note that these subsequent multipliers decrease proportionally in order to account for the marginal utility of these influencing factors.
In some traditional cultivation novels, multipliers ignore marginal utility and are mindlessly stacked, resulting in tens of thousands of times amplification. I disagree with that approach.
Considering the fantasy background of xianxia novels, that style of writing isn't wrong, and my style isn't wrong either. Nobody is wrong.
It's just that creative writing is highly subjective, and I chose to factor in the problem of marginal utility. Wang Xianzhou once joined the Red Lantern Illumination Sect and learned the secret legacy spells of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, one of the Ten Sects.
Later, he joined the Immortal Alliance and learned the Immortal Alliance's secret legacy spells and their unique, top-tier killing moves for the Qi Refining stage, such as [Mind-Shocking Spike, etc.] (As a ceiling-level faction, the upper limit for cultivators under the Immortal Alliance is relatively higher at different stages—note that a high upper limit does not mean everyone within it can reach a strength that touches that limit.)
54.90375 1.125 1.0625 * 1.03125 = 67.678. Roughly calculated, Wang Xianzhou's strength would be around sixty-eight.
Taking the cultivation base stat for Qi Induction cultivators as 0 to 1.
Taking the cultivation base stat for Qi Refining cultivators as 1 to 10.
Taking the cultivation base stat for Foundation Establishment cultivators as 30 to 100.
Taking the lowest value of the Foundation Establishment cultivator's cultivation base stat, which is 30.
Applying a 75% conversion rate from cultivation base to magical combat strength, this Foundation Establishment cultivator's base magical combat strength would be 22.5.
For Qi Condensation Slaying Foundation Establishment, they are definitely killing a relatively weak Foundation Establishment cultivator (and for my example, I didn't even use the absolute weakest one; the only thing I weakened was their conversion rate, and I still gave them 75%).
A weaker Foundation Establishment cultivator has secret legacies, but they aren't good enough. They might have joined a major sect, but they have to start out doing menial labor and cannot immediately obtain the major sect's Foundation Establishment secret legacy methods.
Even if their magical artifacts and spiritual artifacts are fairly decent, they also have talismans along with a life-saving trump card.
22.5 1.75 (secret legacies) 1.263 (major sect secret legacies) 1.188 (magical artifacts and spiritual artifacts) 1.094 (high-grade talismans) * 1.047 (trump card) = 67.6713. Even when I used a Foundation Establishment cultivator who isn't particularly weak, Wang Xianzhou's final value is still higher than theirs.
These kinds of Foundation Establishment cultivators are definitely not rare in this book's worldview. Take Wu Jinyan as an example: if he reached the Foundation Establishment realm, he absolutely wouldn't possess such a high final magical combat strength value.
For Wang Xianzhou in his peak state, killing Wu Jinyan—who would only be a few years into the Foundation Establishment realm—would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken. Low-level cultivators do not have long lifespans.
Many haven't joined a major sect system, so their own methods have flaws. After reaching Foundation Establishment, they need to play catch-up, and this process is yet another way for the major sects to further exploit these Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Of course, being exploited is also a form of value (I am merely explaining the concept, which doesn't mean I strongly agree with it, but regardless of whether I agree or not, many of these things are simply happening).
In short, as a magical combat genius of the Wang Clan, an Immortal Alliance Emissary, and an Inner Gate Disciple of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, Wang Xianzhou's journey of cultivation has allowed his strength to reach a certain pinnacle within the Qi Refining stage.
Therefore, when encountering certain Foundation Establishment cultivators, he truly can achieve cross-realm kills within the power system settings of this book.
Comments 1