By this point, Long Tao had become numb to the things his strange Master did or procured. However, just like watching him do things in the secret realm that he should not have been able to do, he had to consciously control the muscles of his face for it to remain unmoving.
A quasi-Divine cultivation method, on its own, would break this entire world's collective mind. After all, one needed a Divine-tier method in order to reach the Imperial Realm and though this one wasn't quite there, with some luck, it wasn't entirely impossible.
In fact, Long Tao wagered that the majority of people who broke through into the Imperial Realm in this world did so using a borderline-Divine method rather than a proper Divine one.
That was only secondary, however--after carefully reading through the entire thing, Long Tao came to very simple, albeit mind-numbing realization: by all accounts, this was a Divine-level method. In fact, in some ways it was better than the one he used to break through into the Imperial Realm in his previous life.
The only reason it likely wasn't qualified as a full Divine-tier method was that it forsook far too much in terms of cultivation speed. In fact, without any external assistance, the speed barely matched some of the top-tier Heaven cultivation methods.
While truly a major drawback, that was only if there were no other means to make up for it.
Ultimately, however, it would not be enough to break through into the Imperial Realm. While virtually all other breakthroughs could be assisted via external means--Spirit Stones, precious treasures, and all other assortment of knickknacks--the one into the Imperial Realm could not.
One had to rely entirely on their own gains and nothing else. And that was precisely why this method was likely qualified as quasi-Divine--it alone could not supply enough Qi at great enough speeds to match the requirements.
Nonetheless, knowing his Master, this was unlikely to be the 'final volume' of the method. By the time they had to worry about the Imperial Realm, they were sure to have another one far greater than this.
"... this is a quasi-Divine method," the alchemist sputtered out. It was likely that only he, Long Tao, and the new boy that joined them knew the depths of this miracle--as was evident by the kids' expressions versus the other twos.
"You can read," Master said. "I'm so proud of you."
"I--I can read, too, Master!" little Feng quickly added. "It says, it says it's called Pro--Protean Song of Eternity! Uh... Master, what does Protean mean?"
"Protean, hmm; it means that something is quick to adapt to the unexpected. That it has the kind of unmatched variety." Oh? It does?
Long Tao didn't actually know the word either--not that he would ever admit it--and judging by everyone else's expressions, nobody else knew.
"Are... are you sure you're not just making up a word?" Lao Shun questioned something that flashed through Long Tao's mind, too.
"All words are made up," his Master said with a strange bit of chagrin. "But no, I did not make that one up. Somebody else did."
"Ah, so that's why it's called that! Because of this stance explanation!" Dai Xiu spoke up. "It's so versatile that it can cover all of us despite us being so different! Hah, Master really knows what's best for us!"
"Wait, you distracted me," Lao Shun said. "Have you told anyone else about this?"
"Yes, while I was lying passed out, I had my spirit run around the entire world yelling, 'Hey, I have a quasi-Divine method! And my name is Lu Qi, and you can find me--'"
"Ugh, fine, just stop, please," the alchemist interrupted, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The existence of this thing... it cannot leave this chariot, no matter what. If it does, forget our actions back in the realm--we really will be hunted down by the entire world."
"Humph, I'd like to see them try!" Dai Xiu said. "If they hunt us, then we just have to kill enough of them until they stop!"
"..."
"The old guy is partially right, Xiu'er," Master said, prompting the alchemist's brows to dance for a bit at the 'old' part. "We needn't make purposeful troubles for ourselves. Not that I think any of you would ever share it, which is why I said he's partially right. Unlike me, who has absolute faith in you, he has doubts. Why, old Shun? Why do you have doubts?"
"Humph, yes, why?! We've been with Master long before you came!" Dai Xiu said.
"It hurts my soul that you do not trust us, Master Shun..." that was Wan Lan, who even summoned a tear for her performance.
"Think about it," Light said. "Maybe he is one of those poor men who fell in love with a woman when they were young and had their heart broken, and can now never trust again."
"... aah, I'm so sorry, old Master Shun! To think you had such a heartbreaking story!"
"Ah, it hurts my soul that you had to go through that, Master Shun..."
"I--I must never fall in love with anyone, then!" little Feng joined in. "I don't want to become like the old man Shun!"
Long Tao had long since lost the ability to fully control his laughter, but he did do his best to nuzzle himself against the corner and turn his back. However, his shoulders were likely dancing which was a dead giveaway. At the very least, he mused, he was better than the Master--who was openly being gleeful.
... protean. It really did fit the method perfectly.
The conventional wisdom--one that went so far back into the past the years ceased to have a meaning--was that every method that attempts to convey more than one path was a fool's errand. An endeavor of someone who did not understand even the minute part of Dao. Long Tao was a firm believer of it in his past life--virtually every method that was ranked as top-tier focused exclusively on one thing.
It was a Sword Method, or a Spear Method, or it was a Fire Method, or Earth Method. Once or twice, he'd come across one or two who had just about bridged the gap between two concepts, but that was the limit. Anything beyond that, and even the children wouldn't want to learn it.
By now, having spent a few years with the strange man by his side, he seldom believed in much of any 'conventional wisdom'. Enduring Eternity, already, had been flirting with that 'impossibility'; Protean Song was simply the first stamp in what will likely become the most legendary method under the heavens.
Despite that, Long Tao would not switch. Even if the method, or its eventual final iteration, could procure Emperors and Empresses by the dozens, it was still a general method. It lacked the final, perfect refinement.
Eternal Voidfiend Sutra... Long Tao still remembered the day he found it as though it were yesterday, carved into the stele in an old, otherwise empty tomb. By then, he was simply far too along on the journey to switch, but he learned and studied it as though he were practicing it.
It was the only method that he had ever seen that could be qualified as the eternally-elusive tier of 'Primordial Dao', as it was much, much better than any of the Origin-tier methods he'd studied.
The truth of it became evident to him about a month before he died and was reborn in this world--carved deeply in the elusive lessons and esoteric descriptions was the nature of its creation.
A man became a concept--ethereal and drifting--and one equaling Dao itself. Perfecting the method would mean that he would become Unbound in totality. And once he did... he might be able to meet him. The one who was said to have stared at the heart of Dao and made it his own, God-Emperor.