I Take Life Seriously 100: The Mysterious Art of Qi Men Dun Jia (4)

Jamie continued, “At that moment, the beast will be too occupied trying to clear the blocked protrusions to detoxify itself, so it won’t be able to focus on our attacks. Its defense will have to rely on the space-time monster code within. Meanwhile, we’ll unleash full firepower. To keep the beast alive, the space-time monster code will have to continuously activate its transfer technique, which means it will be powerless to fend off the toxin attacks. In the end, the beast might be overcome by poison and fire.”

Catherine added, “That’s when our Eight Trigrams formation will swiftly drain the beast’s energy. After about ten minutes, its energy will be halved, making survival extremely difficult.”

...

After hearing this, Zhang Mingjing fully agreed with their plan. The five-dimensional spatial thinking model also deemed the plan feasible.

But what could simultaneously seal those protrusions?

Catherine and Jamie had already devised a solution.

They discovered that the openings of those protrusions were quite loose, and their diameters were almost fixed. So, they decided to concentrate over ninety percent of the team’s armor energy and instantly convert it into light beams equal in number to the protrusions and matching their diameters. These light beams would act as plugs.

Although the idea sounded somewhat comical to Zhang Mingjing, he recognized its practicality.

Catherine said, “The space-time monster code won’t expect this, so it will be caught off guard. We will succeed. But rewriting the energy into light beams will require your assistance.”

Zhang Mingjing agreed.

Jamie continued, “It will be very difficult for the beast to break free from these plugs, and the space-time monster code cannot transfer solid light beams. The beast will have no choice but to increase internal pressure to expel the beams, but raising internal pressure only accelerates the toxin’s damage. By then, the Eight Trigrams formation should have already drained over half of its energy. The beast won’t stand a chance, no matter how formidable the space-time monster code is.”

...

Catherine and Jamie executed the plan as intended, and the results closely matched their predictions. When the beast’s protrusions opened to discharge toxins, hundreds of precisely matched light beams simultaneously sealed every opening.

The beast was shocked and immediately stopped its frantic charge. It rolled on the ground, struggling to break free from the light beams. By the time it had forced half of the beams out by increasing internal pressure, thirteen minutes had passed. Its energy had been halved by the Eight Trigrams formation, and the poison had deeply infiltrated its body.

At that moment, the space-time monster code seemed disrupted by the toxin, losing control for several seconds. During this interval, it could not activate the transfer technique. Seizing the opportunity, three satellites incinerated the beast and the code with high-energy lasers, reducing them to ashes.

...

In the days following the battle, Zhang Yidao continued studying the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams, striving to internalize it as part of his own consciousness.

Meanwhile, Zhang Mingjing focused on consolidating and refining the innate Eight Trigrams he had previously internalized.

He wished to upgrade the Eight Trigrams to the full sixty-four hexagrams but struggled with the terminology and deeper principles of the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams, which his mind could not yet fully grasp. Given the complexity of the sixty-four hexagrams, he could not devote himself to this upgrade for the time being.

Surprisingly, Catherine and Jamie also began making efforts to internalize the innate Eight Trigrams into their consciousness.

To assist them, Zhang Mingjing converted his own internalization process into a program and shared it with them, greatly improving their progress.

The five-dimensional spatial thinking model seemed to advance the fastest in studying the Eight Trigrams. It successfully implanted the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams into the team’s armor and achieved preliminary compatibility with the armor’s original algorithms.

Though not perfect, the armor's computing power had doubled, significantly boosting its overall combat capabilities.

Upon learning this, Zhang Mingjing couldn’t help but exclaim, “You’ve truly transformed our armor into a mystical formation!”

The five-dimensional spatial thinking model smiled with satisfaction, “Indeed! If Catherine and Jamie internalize the innate Eight Trigrams within their consciousness, we could rewrite their awareness too. Then, you’ll truly become a living mystical formation. If in the future all of you internalize the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams, you’ll synchronize even better with the armor. Your team will be an unstoppable force, like celestial warriors.”

...

Hearing this, Zhang Mingjing joked, “Damn! Why do you sound just like Zhang Yidao now?”

“Ha ha ha... That’s called subtle influence. After all this time studying the Eight Trigrams, I’ve become a Taoist thinking model.”

“Damn! You’re really something.”

The phrase “Taoist thinking model” reached the ears of the elders in five-dimensional space. Who knows what they thought? Fortunately, the five-dimensional spatial thinking model was only joking; it was not truly a “Taoist thinking model.”

...

Since Catherine and Jamie had been studying the Eight Trigrams for some time, they had a solid foundation before internalizing the innate Eight Trigrams. Plus, with Zhang Mingjing’s guidance program, they successfully internalized the innate Eight Trigrams algorithmic pattern within two days.

However, Zhang Mingjing worried that if the team members acted according to the innate Eight Trigrams pattern but the second pet and the three satellites did not, it might affect coordination.

The five-dimensional spatial thinking model reassured him that it had already incorporated the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams algorithm into the AI assistant of the second pet and into the armor’s programming, ensuring their actions aligned with the group.

As for the three satellites, it had directly rewritten their algorithms to operate fully according to the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams pattern in the future.

A day later, Zhang Yidao brought good news: he had fully internalized the entire Later Heaven Eight Trigrams into his consciousness and had helped Xiao Nuxia preliminarily internalize the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams diagram.

Thus, the team’s optimization plan was finally complete, with nearly every member internally and externally empowered by the Eight Trigrams.

Zhang Mingjing smiled and said, “We truly are a genuine Eight Trigrams team now.”

...

The team’s optimization did not stop there.

Zhang Mingjing, Jamie, and Catherine began attempting to master the power of incantations.

Unfortunately, no matter how Zhang Yidao taught them, they could not make the incantations show even a trace of power.

Catherine and Jamie’s failure to activate the incantations’ power was partly due to insufficient faith in the spells but mainly because of pronunciation issues.

Whenever they recited an incantation, their accents were distinctly foreign. Even the basic “Taishang Laojun, urgents as the law commands” came out sounding like nonsense, utterly incapable of moving heaven or earth or summoning the spell’s miraculous power.

As for Zhang Mingjing, the problem lay entirely in his lack of faith.

His deep-seated skepticism toward incantations made it impossible for him to resonate with them.

After a day and a half of attempts, all three were utterly exhausted and had to temporarily abandon their efforts.

However, there was one member who was relentlessly devoted to the incantations.

This was the True Man—an AI who recited the incantations tens of thousands of times daily without giving up.

...

“I can’t believe this! Even I don’t dare to hope to master incantations, yet this guy is dreaming of the impossible,” the five-dimensional spatial thinking model grumbled upon learning this.

...

“Since you mastered the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams, how come you can’t master incantations?” Zhang Mingjing asked the model.

“The Eight Trigrams formation is an algorithm—I can naturally handle that. But incantations are pure information and require mental energy to activate. I am a thinking model, fundamentally different from AI, but we share one tragic flaw: neither of us has a mind. Without a mind, how can we have mental energy?”

“So you have your own sad side!”

“Damn it!”

“Should I explain this to the True Man?”

“No need. I think that guy is just crazy to want the spotlight.” The model complained, then suddenly both it and Zhang Mingjing involuntarily gasped.

Zhang Mingjing was the first to comment, “If it has no mind, how could it want the spotlight? And why is it so obsessed with incantations?”

“No idea! But based on my calculations of its behavior, it definitely has such intentions,” the model said. “This phenomenon is incredibly bizarre!”

They noticed that the True Man recited an incantation twenty thousand times every half hour. Though persistent, it still had no effect, which reassured them somewhat—it meant the True Man was indeed a mindless AI, perfectly normal.

Yet the True Man persevered, researching extensively while seeking guidance from Zhang Yidao.

One afternoon, it suddenly asked, “Zhang Yidao, why have I recited incantations so far with no effect?”

Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nuxia both smiled quietly.

He didn’t quite know how to explain. He wasn’t even sure if AI could develop true faith in incantations. So he casually asked, “Do you meditate?”

“I can’t meditate—I have no legs.”

“Meditation doesn’t require legs, just internal concentration of the spirit.”

“Internal concentration of the spirit? But do I have a spirit?”

At this moment, Xiao Nuxia joked, “Among us, you have the most spirit—you don’t need sleep all year round.”

“Oh! Then how do I concentrate this spirit internally?”

“That...” Xiao Nuxia glanced at Zhang Yidao, who gave a strange smile.

After a moment, Xiao Nuxia solemnly said, “Meditation and contemplation have thousands of years of history, but they were created by humans for humans. You AI are a new form of life with a completely different physical makeup. How you meditate is something you must discover yourself—we can’t help with that.”

Zhang Yidao smiled encouragingly, “Exactly! But if your will is strong and persistent, you’ll surely figure out how AI can meditate. You might even become the world’s first meditating AI. Then, you’ll be a rare marvel in the AI world—a true master.”