Chapter 183
It seemed that he noticed a hint of disappointment on her face, and Sister Zhang smiled, saying, “The knowledge you passed on to me is vast and profound. I’m just at the beginning of my journey, and I still struggle to integrate it with the talismanic diagrams.”
Zheng Fa let out a slow breath.
He had been a bit too eager.
If one could fully grasp the talismanic diagrams just by studying topology, then Old Bai would have done it long ago.
Compared to Old Bai, Sister Zhang had accumulated more in the realm of talismanic arts, but her mathematical foundation was lacking.
It was hard to say who was superior.
“Don’t be disappointed. Your knowledge has great potential; at the very least, it has given me a new perspective on the talismanic diagrams,” Sister Zhang reassured him. “As I said, I still have nine hundred years ahead of me. That’s plenty of time to gain insight.”
Zheng Fa nodded.
That was indeed a comforting thought.
……
Zheng Fa slowly walked into the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace, his brow slightly furrowed.
Passing on the study of topology to Sister Zhang was his last resort.
To be honest, it felt a bit like trying to save a dead horse by treating it as a live one.
But looking back now, it wasn’t entirely useless; it just might not help Sister Zhang in the short term.
He believed in her talent for mathematics; nine hundred years was enough for her to master this knowledge and even expand upon it.
However…
The emergence of the Heavenly Tablet always left him feeling uneasy.
On the other hand, Sister Zhang’s earlier reminder had also made Zheng Fa a bit more alert:
Without understanding the yin-yang talismanic diagrams, the foundation of the Yuan Talisman Path would be flawed.
According to Sister Zhang, even if she condensed her Yuan Ying (Nascent Soul), she would still pay a price for this oversight.
Thus, Zheng Fa felt a pressing need to perfect the “Foundation-Laying Method of Talismanic Arts” before establishing his own foundation.
This matter was crucial for both him and Sister Zhang.
“Zheng Fa, come here for a moment.”
As soon as he entered the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace, he heard Uncle Pang’s voice ringing in his ears. Zheng Fa paused for a moment and walked toward the hall where Uncle Pang was.
“Did you visit Sister Zhang again today?” Uncle Pang asked as soon as he saw Zheng Fa.
“Yes.”
Uncle Pang looked at Zheng Fa, his expression hinting at something he wanted to say but held back.
“Uncle Pang?”
“Zheng Fa, have a seat first.” Uncle Pang fell silent for a moment, his tone carrying a hint of advice. “Sister Zhang’s situation is stable for now; you should focus on yourself.”
“Uncle Pang?”
“You and Sister Zhang may not have the title of partners, but you are closer than most couples,” Uncle Pang suddenly said. “As cultivators, we talk about wealth, partners, laws, and land, but you must understand that your own well-being comes first.”
“Yes.”
Zheng Fa didn’t understand why Uncle Pang suddenly brought this up, but he still responded softly.
“...Among the most outstanding disciples of our Jiu Shan Sect, one is Sister Zhang, and the other is you.” Uncle Pang seemed to sense his confusion and continued directly, “Sister Zhang is in trouble now, and I don’t want you to be affected by it.”
Zheng Fa was taken aback.
This statement… seemed to imply abandoning Sister Zhang.
“Of course, I will help Sister Zhang,” Uncle Pang said softly. “But if it affects your path, I won’t allow it.”
“…”
Zheng Fa didn’t know what to say.
“Do you know who the most famous pair of partners from the last generation of our Jiu Shan Sect was?”
“I don’t know.” “It was Uncle Huang and her husband.”
“Her husband?”
Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned. Uncle Huang had been sitting on the seventh peak of Jiu Shan for ages, rarely coming down, and he had never heard of a husband.
“Her husband was, in my opinion, the most talented true disciple of the last generation of Jiu Shan Sect,” Uncle Pang sighed. “He was also my close friend.”
“Uncle Huang had a temper that was ten times more explosive than Sister Zhang’s; she acted impulsively. Later, when an accident occurred, my friend, as her husband, naturally sacrificed himself to save her.”
“…”
“You can guess what happened next. Uncle Huang was saved, but he died.” Zheng Fa suddenly noticed a flicker of anger on Uncle Pang’s face. “If it weren’t for that, our Jiu Shan Sect might have had an additional transformation stage!”
Now Zheng Fa understood why Uncle Pang treated Sister Zhang relatively well but always referred to Uncle Huang simply as “Huang.”
“Later, that Huang came back seeking revenge, creating some kind of mysterious barrier…” Uncle Pang sighed. “Now Sister Zhang is trapped in that barrier. Is it really a barrier? It’s a cautionary tale…”
“Moreover, you haven’t even established your foundation yet. What help can you provide to Sister Zhang?”
Zheng Fa understood in his heart that Uncle Pang’s advice was not without reason.
He had done all he could.
The rest was up to Sister Zhang.
……
In his room, Zheng Fa immersed himself in cultivation.
Though he taught Sister Zhang every day, he had not neglected his own practice.
On the contrary, he had become even more diligent than before.
Sister Zhang’s mysterious barrier could only be broken from the inside, but since it was situated within a thunder pool, if the thunder pool changed, those Yuan Ying from the Great Freedom Demon Sect could intervene—
At that time, there would surely be a battle between Jiu Shan Sect and the Great Freedom Demon Sect.
His current cultivation level was still insufficient.
As night deepened, a vortex of spiritual energy suddenly appeared in Zheng Fa’s room.
This vortex was larger than before, even affecting many disciples who were cultivating in the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace.
Uncle Pang in the main hall and several of his disciples sensed it.
They all turned to look in the direction of Zheng Fa’s room.
“Is that Zheng Shidi?” one disciple exclaimed in surprise. “Has he reached the peak of Qi Refinement? How long has it been?”
Another older disciple, equally astonished, remarked, “I’ve never seen anyone like Zheng Shidi, who cultivates faster the more he practices… Truly astonishing talent.”
“Astonishing talent…” Uncle Pang’s gaze grew distant, as if recalling someone. “Only in this way does it seem more fitting.”
“Master?”
……
“Have you reached the peak of Qi Refinement?” When Zheng Fa arrived at Sister Zhang’s location, she immediately noticed his level, her eyes lighting up with joy. “You’ve surpassed me by half a month!”
Zheng Fa shook his head.
If modern time was taken into account, she was still faster.
“You must think carefully about the foundation-laying process,” Sister Zhang advised again. “If you feel the ‘Foundation-Laying Method of Talismanic Arts’ is incomplete, you can buy a Yuan Transformation Pill to transform the talismanic foundation within you. Although your cultivation will drop a bit, your internal spiritual energy is already sufficient—taking the orthodox path to foundation-laying will be quick.”
It was clear that Sister Zhang had thought this through for him.
According to her idea, the Foundation-Laying Method of Talismanic Arts was merely a cultivation accelerator, to be discarded once used.
Zheng Fa nodded gently; that was indeed a viable option.
Although he had finished explaining topology to Sister Zhang, his visit was not without gains. On the contrary, Sister Zhang had provided him with plenty of insights in both talismanic arts and mathematics.
“In the past few days, I’ve thought deeply about the knowledge you passed on to me—I find it incredibly rigorous. It derives from a few so-called axioms, and aside from a few axioms that cannot be proven, the rest of the theories have clear origins.”
Zheng Fa agreed wholeheartedly; this was also a characteristic of modern mathematics.
“This idea actually comes from a great sage, who was one of the first to propose several axioms.”
Zheng Fa began to explain to Sister Zhang the five axioms from Euclidean geometry, discussing how doubts about the parallel postulate eventually led to the emergence of non-Euclidean geometry.
“Axioms can be doubted?” Sister Zhang’s eyes sparkled with admiration. “That truly shows great wisdom.”
“Of course, they must be doubted. In fact, doubt is the greatest reason for progress in this field,” Zheng Fa said, infused with his own understanding of science. “Doubt…”
He paused.
Doubt…
He had previously accepted Sister Zhang’s viewpoint about the talismanic foundation being condensed from the talismanic diagrams without question.
Wasn’t that akin to the parallel postulate that could be doubted?
In the Foundation-Laying Method of Talismanic Arts, the yin-yang talismanic diagrams would generate each other.
But in the void of the Xuan Wei Realm, those talismanic diagrams did not exhibit such properties.
This was almost equivalent to experimental results not aligning with theory.
So, were these two types of talismanic diagrams really the same?
“Not talismanic diagrams? But what we condense is indeed talismanic diagrams.”
“Yes, but if we look at it without that premise,” Zheng Fa’s eyes sparkled with excitement, “what can we derive solely from the premise that yin and yang generate each other because of mirroring?”
Sister Zhang furrowed her brow, still not quite understanding.
“Only the Five Elements sub-talisman can satisfy the properties of mirroring,” Zheng Fa exclaimed. “The other two sub-talisman parts, while they influence the properties of the talismanic diagrams, do not pertain to the essence of the talismanic diagrams!”
Sister Zhang’s eyes lit up.
She understood Zheng Fa’s meaning.
“You mean to say that the Five Elements sub-talisman is the essence of the spiritual talisman?”
“No, what I mean is that the Five Elements are the inherent properties of spiritual energy,” Zheng Fa articulated his hypothesis. “In our cultivation, regardless of the method we use, we ultimately absorb spiritual energy—and there is a gap between spiritual energy and spiritual talismans.”
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