One after another, every person, upon receiving the longsword, couldn’t help but use their true qi to try it out, and the spirit sword did not disappoint anyone—its sharpness made everyone’s heart race.

Finally, the last longsword landed in Chad Brooks’s hands.

Among everyone, he was not only the youngest, but his true qi cultivation was also the weakest. Although, thanks to David Brooks’s care, no one bullied him, the result of ranking by seniority among the disciples was predictable.

Carefully taking the longsword, Chad Brooks took a deep breath and channeled a wisp of true qi into it.

However, unlike his senior brothers, he did not pour all his true qi in to test the sword’s power, but instead used his true qi to explore the mysterious changes in the spirit patterns.

As the true qi entered, the spirit patterns immediately began to flow, gathering his true qi toward the critical point at the sword tip.

In the blink of an eye, the true qi had already coursed through the entire sword, and at the tip, the sword light once again burst forth, a foot long.

Chad Brooks’s expression changed slightly. Perhaps because of the presence of Emily Brooks in his mind, he felt something unusual.

It was as if these spirit patterns had undergone some kind of mutation.

When they were first inscribed, they were nothing but dead matter, but after being infused with spirit, they seemed to come alive. It was as if what he held in his hand was not a cold longsword, but a living creature.

The feeling was so sudden and intense that he shivered involuntarily.

The white light at the sword tip suddenly vanished. Chad Brooks was momentarily stunned, only then realizing that the true qi in his dantian was nearly exhausted.

He was shocked—so much true qi was required to activate the power of the spirit sword.

Fortunately, he was now at the second level of true qi. If he were still at the first level, he might not have been able to produce even the first wisp of white light.

However, even the second level of true qi was the lowest among the group, and the others’ faces all showed, intentionally or not, a trace of disdain.

David Brooks sighed quietly to himself, thinking, Big brother, my nephew really isn’t suited for martial arts...

Chapter 011: Division

A figure was running along the somewhat rugged mountain path, and before long, arrived at the abandoned blacksmith shop at the top of the slope.

Chad Brooks was gasping for breath, his heart beating at least twice as fast as usual.

“You should calm down.” The voice of Emily Brooks sounded in his mind: “Such agitation is not good for your body.”

“I know.” Chad Brooks waved his hand forcefully, not caring whether Emily Brooks could see it or not, and said urgently, “But I can’t control it.” He took a deep breath and said, “Spirit infusion, spirit infusion... Heh, Emily Brooks, did you feel it? The spirit patterns on that longsword seemed to come alive.”

“Of course, I felt it.” Emily Brooks’s voice was calm and even: “But I’m sorry, I must correct your grammatical error.”

“What?” Chad Brooks asked in surprise.

“Those spirit patterns did not come alive.”

Chad Brooks slapped his forehead in frustration and said, “I know they don’t have life, they can’t possibly have life. But... it’s a feeling, you know?” Shaking his head, he wailed inwardly—he was actually discussing feelings with an artificial intelligence. Had he gone mad?

However, Emily Brooks’s next words shocked him.

“Although these spirit patterns do not have life now, that may not be the case in the future,” Emily Brooks said quietly.

“What?” This time, Chad Brooks was truly astonished. He said, “Can life be born from these spirit patterns?”

“Yes, because they are just like me.” Emily Brooks’s voice, for once, carried a hint of gravity: “Since I was able to develop true intelligence and consciousness, so can they.”

Chad Brooks’s expression became rather strange. “You mean, after spirit infusion, those spirit patterns become intelligent programs?”

“Something like that. Spirit patterns combined with spirit infusion are probably this world’s equivalent of computers and programs.” After a moment of silence, Emily Brooks finally gave his conclusion.

Chad Brooks was dumbfounded for a long while, his mind in chaos. He felt that either he had gone mad, or Emily Brooks had.

“Emily Brooks, this world is completely different from ours.” He steadied himself and said earnestly, “There are no such things as computers here.”

“I know. I’m just saying, spirit patterns combined with spirit infusion are equivalent to hardware and software.” Emily Brooks emphasized.

“Hardware and software, huh.” Chad Brooks murmured, and suddenly a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

Inscribing spirit patterns on weapons was the most basic hardware, and the process of spirit infusion was like installing software into the hardware, allowing the hardware to function as it should.

From this perspective, the combination of spirit patterns and spirit infusion was indeed equivalent to computers and programs from his previous life.