Chapter 6 – My Precious Pets (Ahem… Qi Farm)
Ishita sat there, panting slightly. "Damn it… I still can't make it spin."
I smirked. "Told you it wasn't that easy."
She glared. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
I shrugged. "A little."
She rolled her eyes but then smiled. "Still… I feel like I'm close. I just need a few days to get the feel of it."
I nodded. "Good. Now, let's move on to something more… fun."
She raised an eyebrow. "Fun?"
I grinned. "Come with me. I'll introduce you to my pets."
---
The 'Pets'
Leading her outside, I took her to a small enclosed area behind my house. As we stepped closer, Ishita noticed strange, small beasts meditating in a circle.
She gasped. "Wait… they're cultivating?"
I gave her a smug look. "Yup."
She slowly walked towards them, eyes filled with curiosity. One of them—a small fox-like creature with a golden sheen—looked at her and wagged its tail. Ishita, unable to resist, reached out to pet it.
The moment her hand touched its fur, she froze.
Her eyes widened as she jerked her hand back. "W-Wait… this… this qi—"
I laughed. "Yeah, figured it out?"
She snapped her head toward me. "You… you're getting free qi from them?!"
I nodded. "Mhm."
Her mouth fell open. "Wha… HOW?!"
I casually sat on a nearby rock, watching my 'pets' meditate peacefully. "Simple. They cultivate. And when they cultivate, they absorb qi. But they can't use all of it, so a surplus builds up in the air around them. And guess who gets to enjoy that surplus?"
She clenched her fists. "You're farming qi."
I flashed a killer smile. "You got it. Welcome to my personal qi farm."
She looked between me and the beasts, her brain clearly trying to process what she just heard. Then, she did something unexpected—
She blushed.
I blinked. "Uh…? What's with the red face?"
She snapped out of it, coughed, and turned away. "N-Nothing. Just… I underestimated you. Again."
I smirked. "Get used to it."
She groaned but kept staring at the cultivating beasts with awe. "This… this changes everything. If we can scale this up, we could—"
I held up a hand. "Nope. Don't say it."
She frowned. "Say what?"
"The typical 'we could revolutionize cultivation' speech. I'm still trying to enjoy my little cheat farm here."
She chuckled, shaking her head. "Fine, fine. But still, this is incredible."
I leaned back, arms crossed. "I know."
Now, onto the next step.
As I stared at my qi-cultivating chicken, an idea struck me like a divine revelation.
Why am I even trying to FIND quantities of qi when no one in this world has ever done it?
That means… I might be the first.
And if I'm the first, then I have to MAKE it.
I narrowed my eyes at the chicken, which was casually meditating, absorbing qi with a blank expression. Something clicked in my brain.
A chicken farming qi using my technique per hour… That's my unit.
Let's call it… 1 AmanQi. Or in short… AQi.
Yes. Yes, that works.
My mind exploded with possibilities.
If I had a unit of measurement, I could quantify qi!
If I could quantify qi, I could calculate its efficiency, transfer rate, and applications!
And if I could do that… I could industrialize cultivation.
My eyes widened. "I NEED A PEN AND PAPER."
---
The Speed of Light
I turned and sprinted toward my house like my Minecraft character had been afk farming XP, only to realize a creeper was about to blow up my entire base.
I nearly broke the sound barrier.
Behind me, Ishita blinked in confusion. "W-What the—??"
I could hear her muttering, "Is this another enlightenment moment?! Should I follow him?? What if he's in danger??"
Her instincts kicked in, and she bolted after me.
---
Inside the House
I crashed into my desk, almost flipping it over. Grabbing a piece of paper and a charcoal pen, I began scribbling furiously, thinking out loud.
"Alright. The amount of qi my chicken provides per hour is 1 AmanQi.
So, I can write the formula as:
1 AQi = (Chicken Qi Surplus) ÷ (Time in Hours)
I scribbled some variations, calculating efficiency based on different types of animals and their qi output.
Ishita, who had finally caught up, burst into my room, panting.
She looked at me, covered in ink and frantically writing numbers and symbols. "Aman… what the hell are you doing??"
Without looking up, I answered, "SCIENCE."
She blinked. "What…?"
I finally looked up, eyes shining with madness. "I AM INDUSTRIALIZING CULTIVATION."
She stared at me. I stared at her.
Then she slowly backed away. "You've gone insane."
I grinned. "Oh, absolutely. But trust me, this insanity is about to change the world."
Sitting at my desk, I tapped my pen against my forehead.
Alright, I've established 1 AQi as the standard unit based on the chicken's qi farming rate.
But that's just the beginning. I have three pets--Chicken, Pig, and Fox.
If I truly want to industrialize cultivation, I need to quantify the qi output of each one and establish a clear relationship between them.
---
Step 1: Defining the Formula
From earlier observations, I already knew:
1 AQi = Chicken's qi surplus per hour
Now, I had to compare the Pig and the Fox.
Since they cultivate differently, their qi surplus won't be the same as the Chicken. But with proper measurements, I could find out how much they produce relative to 1 AQi.
After carefully observing them for a few hours and recording their qi fluctuations, I started doing the math.
---
Step 2: Solving the Math
Pig's Qi Output
After running the calculations, I found that the Pig cultivated qi at 2.2 times the rate of the Chicken.
Since we already defined 1 AQi = Chicken's surplus per hour, we replace "Chicken's surplus" with "1 AQi" in our equation:
Pig's surplus = 2.2 × Chicken's surplus
Substituting Chicken's surplus = 1 AQi, we get:
Pig's surplus = 2.2 AQi
Now, solving for 1 AQi in terms of Pig's surplus, we divide both sides by 2.2:
Pig's surplus ÷ 2.2 = 1 AQi
So, the final equation for the Pig is:
1 AQi = Pig's surplus ÷ 2.2
---
Fox's Qi Output
Substituting Chicken's surplus = 1 AQi, we get:
Fox's surplus = 1.8 AQi
Now, solving for 1 AQi in terms of Fox's surplus
1 AQi = Fox's surplus ÷ 1.8
Step 3: Understanding the Output
Now, I had a clear equation
1 AQi = Pig's surplus ÷ 2.2
1 AQi = Fox's surplus ÷ 1.8
I stared at the numbers and grinned.
This was insane.
If I could scale this, then theoretically, I could have an entire qi farm of different animals, each with a calculated efficiency.
And once I figured out qi transfer and storage, I could start creating qi batteries, qi circulation systems, and maybe even artificial qi formations.
This wasn't just cultivation anymore…
This was engineering.
Ishita squinted at the paper in my hands, her brows furrowing in visible frustration.
"What the hell are these symbols? And why do you need such a complicated calculation anyway? Isn't arithmetic just numbers?"
I froze.
Arithmetic?
...Don't tell me.
I turned my head toward her slowly. "Ishita… what kind of math do people use in this world?"
She blinked. "Math? You mean counting? We have basic calculations--addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and maybe some merchant tricks, but nothing as absurd as whatever you're doing here."
I stared at her.
So, they don't have advanced mathematics.
---
A World Without Math
I leaned back, rubbing my temples.
"This world is more primitive than I thought," I muttered.
People could shatter mountains with a flick of their fingers. They could live ten thousand years and cultivate the heavens themselves.
And yet, they didn't even know E = mc².
What's the point of living for millennia if you don't even understand the universe?
Back on Earth, someone had invented calculus from nothing. Someone had formulated relativity by sheer observation.
And here, in a world where qi was a tangible force, where energy and matter literally transformed before people's eyes, no one had ever thought to quantify it properly?
"I guess I have no choice," I sighed.
If I truly wanted to industrialize cultivation, if I wanted to build something beyond this world's imagination, I had to introduce mathematics too.
I already had Xarityan, my new standardized language.
Now, I had to bring in mathematics as well.
---
Introducing Algebra to a Cultivator
I turned to Ishita and held up the paper. "Let me explain some basic algebra to you."
She looked at me as if I had asked her to swallow a brick. "Do I have to?"
"Yes."
I walked her through basic variables, equations, and relationships between quantities.
I explained how numbers weren't just for counting but could represent entire systems, patterns, and even the way qi flows.
She yawned.
I stopped mid-sentence, staring at her blank face.
Yeah. Who the hell found algebra interesting anyway?
Even back on Earth, people hated this stuff.
I sighed, closing my notes. "Never mind. Let's sleep."
Ishita nodded immediately. "Finally."
She was right. We weren't strong enough to just pull all-nighters without consequences.
Cultivators might eventually reach the point where sleep became optional, but at our level?
Yeah, we still needed some damn rest.
—
End of chapter 6