Chapter 165
Everyone preferred to use talismans, magical tools, formations, and various other means.
After all, people tend to take the easy way out.
Or rather, they are good at making use of external resources.
It’s not that spells aren’t marvelous; it’s just that, aside from a few unique techniques, most spells consume a lot of spiritual energy without delivering commensurate power.
By leveraging talismans or magical tools, cultivators can harness greater forces of nature with less spiritual energy.
But that doesn’t mean the Xuanwei Realm lacks spells; on the contrary, every sect preserves its own lineage of spells.
On one hand, spells are the root of many things; for instance, many talismans are closely related to spells.
On the other hand, it’s a response to the decline of spiritual energy and the depletion of spiritual materials.
In the end, it’s likely that they will have to rely on spells to clash.
The current predicament of the nursing home is that it is inherently a place of dwindling spiritual energy.
Thus, Zheng Fa could only rummage through the scripture repository and find a few spells for the two old men.
The Spirit Eye Technique—essentially the spell version of the Spirit Eye Talisman.
When Zheng Fa first saw the symbols in the void, it was because Senior Sister Zhang had stuck a Spirit Eye Talisman on him.
He hoped that the two old men would learn this first, so they could observe the symbols and see if they could make any new discoveries.
“Spirit Eye Technique…” The old man stroked the booklet, his eyes gleaming with eagerness. “If I master this spell, how many layers can I see…?”
“...How many layers?”
“Like… how many layers can I see through?”
Tang Lingwu silently covered her upper body and took a few steps back.
“Wait, I haven’t even practiced this yet! Why are you guarding against me? You should be wary of Zheng Fa; he’s definitely practiced it!”
Upon hearing this, Tang Lingwu seemed to find it reasonable and stepped away from Zheng Fa.
“I haven’t practiced it.”
Tang Lingwu let out a sigh of relief.
“The Spirit Eye Technique can only see spiritual energy,” Zheng Fa explained.
“Can’t see through?”
“Right.”
The old man pouted, seemingly a bit disappointed, and his enthusiasm waned considerably. “What’s the point then? You cultivators are nice people, but you’re so concerned about privacy.”
Tang Lingwu, however, was quite pleased and a bit shy, taking a few steps closer to Zheng Fa.
She recalled her own “洞虚灵眼” (Dongxu Spirit Eye) and the few secret techniques passed down by Uncle Pang.
Zheng Fa suddenly felt a bit embarrassed…
…
The old man could only sulk while practicing and learning the Spirit Eye Technique with Tang Lingwu.
Suddenly, Zheng Fa’s phone, which he had left on a distant table, rang.
He opened his eyes, slowly putting away the “Spirit Mountain Technique,” while Tang Lingwu and the old man had to pause their practice.
Zheng Fa picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID.
“Old Chen?”
Zheng Fa raised an eyebrow, unsure why he was calling.
“Teacher Chen?”
“Hello? Zheng Fa, have you checked your scores yet?”
“No.”
Zheng Fa suddenly realized that it was the day the college entrance exam results were released.
He had almost forgotten about it.
“No?” Old Chen’s tone was initially surprised, but then excitement took over. “You don’t need to check; I know!”
“Okay.”
Zheng Fa waited for Old Chen to tell him.
…
In Qingshui High School, Old Chen stood in the office, holding his phone with a hint of excitement.
He wasn’t alone in the office.
There were two school leaders and two representatives from the education department.
“You scored… the top in the city…” The word “top” hung on his lips, unspoken.
In recent years, there have been regulations against publicizing rankings, let alone announcing the top scorer.
It would be one thing to discuss it privately, but in front of the leaders, Old Chen felt he should maintain some decorum.
…
On the phone, Zheng Fa heard Old Chen stammering for a while before saying:
“You scored a… rank that’s hard to say!”
“?”
(End of this chapter)
---
Chapter 165: The Journey Begins
“Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram?”
Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu exchanged glances, both seeing confusion on each other’s faces.
Wait, shouldn’t your big dream talisman have worn off by now?
Seeing their expressions, the old man smirked, sat back in his chair, and leaned back, balancing precariously on two chair legs, his chin tilted up—
He said nothing, but it was as if he had already said all the arrogant things he wanted to.
“From now on, remember the classics of our sect clearly. This master comprehended the Dao in a dream, gaining insight into the essence of Yin and Yang.”
“...Grandpa Bai!”
Tang Lingwu, noticing his teasing demeanor, playfully chided him in a low voice.
The old man glanced at her and beckoned to the two of them.
“Want to know?”
“Mm!”
“Give me your hands.”
Tang Lingwu looked a bit puzzled but obediently extended her right hand.
The old man then turned to Zheng Fa and said, “Yours too.”
Zheng Fa, equally confused, extended his right hand.
“Switch to your left hand.”
The old man pressed Zheng Fa’s left hand against Tang Lingwu’s right hand, palms facing each other, fingers aligned, with no gap between them.
Tang Lingwu’s face flushed instantly, her earlobes seeming to heat up.
But Zheng Fa appeared somewhat dazed.
“This is Yin and Yang.”
The old man spoke in a tone reminiscent of giving a speech on a podium in his dream.
“...Handedness?”
“Exactly!”
The old man released their hands and looked at Zheng Fa. “The most significant difference in the Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram is handedness.”
Zheng Fa pondered the Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram in his mind.
It really was!
The old man continued muttering, “I know this thing, but I wasn’t studying it before… If I hadn’t seen my own hands while looking at those talismans in my dream, I wouldn’t have thought of this.”
Zheng Fa nodded slightly.
Handedness isn’t a particularly important concept in topology—or rather, it’s something Zheng Fa hasn’t encountered much, only seen in knot theory.
“The Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram is that simple?”
Tang Lingwu, standing nearby, voiced her confusion.
Zheng Fa understood why she thought it was simple—handedness is a very intuitive concept.
In simple terms, your left and right hands seem identical, but in three-dimensional space, no matter how you translate or rotate your left hand, it can never become your right hand.
This property of spatial configuration is what we call handedness.
Naturally, handedness can be divided into left-handedness and right-handedness.
Zheng Fa recalled that the Yang Talisman Diagram corresponds to left-handedness, while the Yin Talisman Diagram corresponds to right-handedness.
“Not simple,” Zheng Fa shook his head. “This is just the spatial relationship of the talismans…”
The old man smiled, nodding gently. “Right, that’s the surface—handedness isn’t studied much in our mathematics. As far as I know, the most research in this area is done in biology and chemistry.”
“Chiral molecules exhibit different properties.”
“I don’t know if they’ve explained this, but what I do know is… we don’t understand why the Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram exhibits different effects and properties due to handedness.”
Zheng Fa agreed, “And there’s another issue…”
He exchanged glances with the old man and said in unison, “Yin and Yang give rise to each other.”
At this point, the old man grimaced, seemingly a bit troubled. “You see, chiral objects cannot coincide in three-dimensional space, so you could say they are completely different entities, but Yin and Yang giving rise to each other… that indicates they are connected…”
…
In the Xuanwei Realm.
Zheng Fa sat on the couch, his consciousness focused on the Yuanfu Dao Foundation within him.
This Yuanfu Dao Foundation still resembled two lotus flowers connected at the base.
Handedness configuration.
Yin and Yang giving rise to each other.
With a thought, Zheng Fa made the lotus platform, which had its petals facing down, gently shatter and disappear.
But the next moment, golden threads slowly sprouted from the base of the remaining lotus platform, and soon, the lotus platform began to reappear.
This was what Senior Sister Zhang referred to as Yin and Yang giving rise to each other.
However, Zheng Fa’s eyes widened as he looked at the reappearing lotus platform.
Previously, he thought these golden threads were the roots of the lotus platform.
But this time, he saw clearly that these golden threads were actually tiny arcs—more like ripples emanating from the base of the lotus platform!
“Mirror image?”
A thought emerged in Zheng Fa’s mind.
The reflection of your right hand in a mirror is actually your left hand.
So the mirror image of the Yang Talisman is the Yin Talisman.
The essence of Yin and Yang giving rise to each other—could it actually be mutual mirroring?
Or could it be that the lotus platform below is actually the reflection of the lotus platform above?
…
Zheng Fa currently lacked the ability to verify this hypothesis—without Senior Sister Zhang around, he truly had few means to test it.
Thinking of Senior Sister Zhang, he picked up the Xuanlei Stone and began practicing the “Five Thunder Body Technique.”
The bones within him were now covered with a faint golden membrane, a sign that he had mastered the “Five Thunder Body Technique” to a significant degree.
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