Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 1086 - 169: Memory, Human Dao, Past Washed Away

"Good person..."

Including those Immortal Alliance Dark Department grandmasters, everyone from the bottom of their hearts felt absurd.

The grandmasters of the Immortal Alliance Dark Department are all ones who do "dirty work," yet seldom have they seen something like this... how should one put it, such large-scale attacks on intelligent life is something the Immortal Alliance has hardly encountered a few times.

This has already reached the level of "war."

Fan Zhongxing was exasperated: "You dare call yourself a good person? How many people have you killed?"

"I haven't calculated exactly, let me see..." Wang Qi counted on his fingers: "The death toll from the Reincarnation System is over a hundred, less than four hundred... oh, two hundred seventy-five people, thanks, Old Jia. Following that, those I personally eliminated... the woman who died during my first confrontation with the Holy Emperor Venerable must have been from the Karma Fire Divine Lotus Sect, and then her master counts too? Although I believe that was the Holy Emperor Venerable who killed them... One died when the test loser ate dust, then was eliminated, um, um, and oh, right, that 'Heaven and Earth Have Righteousness' evil path old ghost. Three from the Ruyi Daoist School can be attributed to me, but how can Guan Wuji be blamed on me? That was definitely the Holy Emperor Venerable's doing..."

Finally, Wang Qi said: "All things considered, only three or four hundred deaths can be directly attributed to me, but that time when the Holy Emperor Venerable killed tens of thousands... The main person responsible for their deaths was the Holy Emperor Venerable!"

Fan Zhongxing was upset: "The ones I've seen, the ones who died in the Reincarnation World are more than just these few..."

"Oh, I almost forgot if you didn't mention it." Wang Qi pulled a pouch from his waist: "I have some more here."

Liu Huantang took the pouch and checked it: "These are several hundreds more..."

"Claimed dead publicly." Wang Qi shrugged: "In summary, the Ancient Method Practitioners I personally eliminated are quite few — if you insist on counting those killed by the Holy Emperor Venerable on me, then it's as if I exchanged approximately ten thousand casualties to seize Spirit Phoenix Island. No Heavenly Sword Envoy could have done it better than me, unless they were a Carefree Stage Cultivator."

Fan Zhongxing pointed at the surrounding people, yelling: "What about these people? Them? Yes, I admit, many of them are scum, and deserve to die. But, have you considered that among them there might be good people as well? They're now practically dead!"

Wang Qi shrugged: "I don't consider it."

"You..."

"If dozens of Void Refining period Heavenly Sword Envoys charged in, would the aftermath of their battle with the Holy Emperor Venerable differentiate which cultivators should live and which should die?" Wang Qi said: "Same principle applies. I am risking my life fighting the Holy Emperor Venerable, and if the battle affects you, it's fortunate if you come out alive."

Fan Zhongxing helplessly lowered his head: "This..." He struggled internally for a long time, then said: "You indeed make valid points, yet emotionally I can't accept it."

He was also one of the "ordinary Ancient Method Practitioners," the only difference being the false identity of a "Reincarnator."

"Sympathy" is an important part of the human clan's mental activity.

Wang Qi patted his shoulder: "Kid, I've already let you reform and rebuild your life without holding grudges — what more do you want?"

"Wh..."

Fan Zhongxing had more to ask, but Wang Qi had already walked past him and looked around. He found Jia Chenglie's family leaning against a corner of the wall, along with some low-level Cultivators seen in the Heavenly Book Tower Xinglin Building, and said: "Elder Xu is quite nostalgic, isn't he?"

This was clearly Xu Xueqing's doing.

Xu Xueqing snorted: "For my own future, I sold them, yet they remained loyal to me. Within my capacity, I will take responsibility."

"Actually, there's no need." Wang Qi pointed at Jia Chenglie: "Can I borrow him?"

Xu Xueqing frowned: "What are you up to again?"

Wang Qi walked to Jia Chenglie's side and snapped his fingers. Jia Chenglie moved slightly. Wang Qi shouted loudly in front of him: "Xia Li, Xia Li, Xia Li, Xia Li, Xia Li, Xia Li."

The name seemed to trigger Jia Chenglie, awakening some "memories." Hate filled his expression. However, he appeared to forget how to control his face, all his facial features scrunched up. Then, he shook his head in confusion and cried like a baby.

Disturbingly, his limbs flailed like a baby's. Yet he seemed to entirely forget how to command his arms and legs, slapping his head with a hand. The force he used was at a Golden Core level, strong enough to crush his own forehead. Seeing that he was about to die by his own hand, Wang Qi seized his wrist.

Both had cultivation levels of Golden Core, but their actual power was worlds apart. Jia Chenglie immediately became immobilized.

After his wrist was grabbed, Jia Chenglie seemed scared and started to sob.

Xu Xueqing was shocked: "He seems to... still remember 'Xia Li' as his enemy?"

"He remembers everything; he just can't comprehend his own memories." Wang Qi looked around: "You might have misunderstood my explanation about Holy Emperor Venerable, thinking I used the same method on him. You've wronged an innocent person!"

Fan Zhongxing was stunned: "So you are..."

"Let's start with a brief explanation. The classification of human memory." Wang Qi cleared his throat and began to speak eloquently: "Human memory arises from the dynamic changes in the connections between nerve cells, at least for low-level cultivators. High-level cultivators below the Divine Separation Stage repeat this process in the solidified spiritual power organs that have fused with the soul. And these memories are not like diaries arranged in a chronological 'day one,' 'day two.' Before time, they are classified by 'format.' Knowledge and experiential memories are different."

"Generally, by content, memory can be divided into several categories: knowledge memory [Earth calls it 'semantic memory'], situational memory, physical body memory [Earth calls it 'procedural memory'], automatic memory, emotional memory, etc."

"Moreover, by 'content,' human memory can be divided into declarative and non-declarative memory. The former can be expressed in words, while the latter cannot."

If one insists on analogizing, human memory can indeed be considered as a large application program, appearing as one entity, but running countless files inside.

Wang Qi pointed to his brain: "Simply put, the spell I constructed destroyed all non-declarative memories, retained declarative memory, and then focused on destroying the knowledge memory within declarative memory."

A Grandmaster probably from Tianling Ridge clicked his tongue: "That's quite ruthless..."

The majority of human memory is non-declarative. Non-declarative physical body memory and emotional memory account for the vast majority. Emotional memory, when triggered, even takes precedence over any other type of memory.

It is precisely because of the high priority of emotional memory that people are extremely prone to irrational behavior when dominated by emotions. The vast non-declarative memory makes concepts like "feelings" and "mystical thoughts" always popular.

This is determined by human consciousness.

Wang Qi concluded: "In simple terms, they remember every experience—the details of every day since birth are remembered clearly. However, they cannot understand these memories themselves, so the memories cannot be recalled."

The analogy remains "game-like." Wang Qi's behavior is akin to deleting all the obscurely impressive files like PdxConnect.dll, checksum_manifest, anomaly_failures, story_events from a game folder, leaving behind only the game's runtime and copious CGs, story texts, and so on.

Human memory is holistic, making it challenging to delete a portion of memory without disrupting its integrity.

These individuals' memories of languages, characters, logical thinking, and even other knowledge were entirely deleted by Wang Qi, rendering them unable to comprehend their own memories.

Jia Chenglie remembers 'Xia Li' as 'the enemy,' but he doesn't understand the concept of 'enemy.' His emotional memory of his resentment towards Xia Li is also gone, leading to his expression of 'confusion.'

Other Ancient Method Practitioners also recognize their parents, friends, teachers, sects, and all social relationships, but they cannot comprehend the significance of these relations, leading to their social relationships collapsing and Spirit Phoenix Island's Human Dao crumbling.

Furthermore, because their physical body memory was erased, the circuits controlling 'movement' haven't regenerated, making them unable to command their own limbs, akin to newborns. A newborn's slap doesn't plaster their face. Given that the lowest cultivation level here is Qi Cultivation Stage, sealing all these individuals' mana is the safest approach.

Wang Qi casually sealed Jia Chenglie's mana, suppressing his acupoints and making him stiff: "You need extensive early childhood education, starting with mnemonic learning content like 三字经 and 千字文. Since they all have enough situational memory, they're small geniuses by preschool standards, advancing swiftly. Eventually, those leftover memories can be recalled. If willing, they can even reorganize social relationships—for example, you could choose to stay at Ruyi Daoist School. Just without the Ancient Method Cultivation Method."

"Moreover, since their emotional memories have been erased, enemies meeting won't be filled with rage—perhaps they might exchange a few words out of 'morality,' but there won't be life-or-death encounters. Friendships born from mutual interests can be rebuilt—how was it said? 'Creating new memories together'? That's probably the idea."

——washing away the past...

For some reason, Fan Zhongxing suddenly thought of this phrase.

Half a bowl of Mengpo Soup, wiping away yesterday's various hatreds, and then proceeding with familiar people towards an entirely new tomorrow together... They will develop new personalities and have more hopeful lives.

Tears flowed uncontrollably. He wiped his eyes vigorously but didn't quite want to thank Wang Qi, so he bowed.

"Kid, listen carefully, I've told you many stories before; these stories may be false, but the underlying logic is true, else no one would be engrossed. You should extract true elements from those false ones, preserving truth through fiction." Wang Qi leaned back against the city wall: "As for everything else—Ignorant masses, whether you want it or not, whether you accept it or not, regardless if you think the process met your expectations, I've brought you more material abundance, a potential for longevity, full lives, and free thought. Whether you desire it or not, just take your anger towards me and enjoy the beautiful life I've gifted you—anyway, whatever follows isn't my concern."