Chapter 196
Now, upon hearing the words of the Canyang Sword Immortal, I couldn't help but feel a weight in my heart as I thought about the secret realm that lay right next to the Jiushan Sect.
"The reality of the Demon Sect's secret realm is hard to define," the Canyang Sword Immortal continued. "If you wish to understand it better, you might as well take a look at the Tianbei."
Tianbei.
Zheng Fa and Sister Zhang exchanged glances, both understanding each other's thoughts.
They had to check out the Tianbei.
On one hand, it seemed closely related to the Demon Sect's secret realm. On the other hand, there was the Thunder Pool.
If something were to happen at the Tianbei and the Dazizai Demon Sect lost its inhibitions and came out...
It would be better for them to know in advance so they could escape.
...
Yan Wushuang chatted with Zheng Fa for a while before leaving with the Canyang Sword Immortal.
Once they stepped out of the Thunder Pool market, both of their expressions were contemplative, as if they were puzzled.
It was the Canyang Sword Immortal who spoke first.
"You know..." he furrowed his brow and asked, "if you want to befriend someone, what's the best way to go about it?"
Yan Wushuang's expression turned a bit strange as she replied, "Old Han... you’re famous at the Tianhe Sect for looking down on everyone. At your age, isn’t it a bit late to start learning about human relationships?"
"..."
"Today, you gave Zheng a gift again."
"You also reminded him not to enter that Demon Sect's secret realm."
"You even hinted that he should go to the Tianbei." Yan Wushuang spoke faster and faster, "You’re watching Zheng's cultivation of Thunder Law, and you only mentioned the Tianbei because it would greatly benefit him, right?"
"..." The Canyang Sword Immortal stammered, "Is it that obvious?"
"… Zheng is just at the Foundation Establishment stage, and you’re being so secretive. Who wouldn’t be suspicious?" Yan Wushuang sighed, "But Old Han, I understand you; this matter can’t be rushed."
"… Huh?"
"Zheng is your descendant, right? What generation is he?" Yan Wushuang stroked her chin, feeling her deduction was quite reasonable. "Did you abandon your wife and child back then? Are you feeling guilty now?"
"…"
"But why does he have the surname Zheng?" Yan Wushuang looked at Old Han with a hint of disdain in her eyes. "Did you not even leave him a proper surname?"
"… To be his elder?" The Canyang Sword Immortal's mouth fell open. "That’s a dream I wouldn’t even dare to think of!"
"Ah?"
...
In the modern world.
Zheng Fa had just stepped out of his room when he saw Teacher Tian frowning at the previous few blades of grass.
She seemed puzzled about something.
Old Bai was beside her, keeping her company.
As Zheng Fa approached them, he saw Teacher Tian tear off a blade of grass and hand it to Old Bai.
In his mouth?
Zheng Fa watched in disbelief as Old Bai chewed on the grass a couple of times, spat it out with a "pah," and shook his head.
"Teacher Tian... what are you two doing?"
Zheng Fa asked, utterly confused.
"I'm pondering a question," Teacher Tian stood up, clapped her hands, and said with certainty, "Although the spiritual energy has made these grasses grow deep roots and lush leaves, they are worlds apart from the spiritual plants you mentioned."
"… So, this grass has no spiritual energy?"
"Exactly, and it’s not just this one; it’s all of them." She pointed at the wheat seedlings. "They’re all the same."
"Teacher Tian, I get your point, but I just have one question... why make Old Bai eat the grass to confirm if there’s spiritual energy or not?"
"… He wanted to eat it."
"Ah?"
Old Bai grinned proudly, "The grass picked by Xiao Tian is sweet!"
"…"
Zheng Fa looked at the expression on Old Bai's face, feeling as if it was written all over him:
You’ve finally met your match!
(End of this chapter)
---
Chapter 191: Rewards
Zheng Fa activated his Dongxu Spiritual Eye and focused on a patch of wheat seedlings.
Winter wheat typically wouldn’t be harvested until late May or early June of the following year, and according to Teacher Tian, these seedlings had just begun to sprout, currently entering the tillering stage.
However, their branches and leaves were much more abundant than before.
Perhaps due to the nourishment of spiritual energy, these wheat seedlings were thriving, with upright stalks and vibrant green leaves.
But through the lens of the Dongxu Spiritual Eye, he could see that there was no spiritual energy circulating within these seedlings.
He shook his head at Teacher Tian and Old Bai, saying, "Spiritual plants should have the capacity to contain spiritual energy, but these seedlings aren’t showing that yet."
Teacher Tian and Old Bai exchanged worried glances. "We don’t know if there will be any changes in the future, but we might need to prepare for the worst."
The worst-case scenario was that these wheat plants were not spiritual plants at all.
Zheng Fa felt a stir in his heart and dropped a Changqing talisman into the wheat field.
The talisman shattered into golden fragments, scattering like smoke among the wheat seedlings.
Those young wheat plants, still tender, suddenly began to grow wildly, elongating, sprouting ears, and filling out, with the grains slowly hardening and changing from green to yellow.
"Are they... ripe?"
Teacher Tian adjusted her glasses, looking down at the wheat field that had been hastened to maturity by the Changqing talisman. She turned back to Zheng Fa, seemingly in disbelief, and looked again at the seedlings in front of her.
She seemed a bit skeptical, directly plucking a bunch of wheat ears, crushing the grains with her fingertips, and examining them closely.
After a long while, she finally set down the wheat ears, her gaze on Zheng Fa filled with complexity.
"Teacher Tian?"
"They really are ripe. I’ve researched this wheat variety before, and the grains aren’t this large." Teacher Tian’s eyes held a hint of reverence. "Is this... the power of immortals?"
Zheng Fa hadn’t expected the Changqing talisman to be so effective.
Although he had long since condensed this talisman, he had never used it because the agricultural research at the nursing home had never progressed.
The Changqing talisman had a limited range, about a two-meter by two-meter patch of land.
Yet, all the wheat seedlings in this field had matured!
Thinking it over, Zheng Fa began to understand the underlying issue:
After establishing his foundation, his spiritual awareness had advanced further. According to Sister Zhang, although his spiritual awareness hadn’t reached the Golden Core stage, it was at the level of late Foundation Establishment.
Now, using the talisman from the "Talisman Path Foundation Establishment Method," it could even be said to have the effect of a top-tier mysterious talisman.
"… I’ve told you before, combining cultivation with agriculture has great potential!" Old Bai said proudly, as if the maturity of the wheat field was his achievement.
Teacher Tian glanced at Zheng Fa, then at the wheat ears in her hand, and suddenly broke into a big smile. "I didn’t even realize I might not be dead after all."
"Ah?"
"This place is no different from heaven for me!"
...
After Teacher Tian's excitement subsided, Zheng Fa and the others continued to study the newly matured wheat.
As they had expected, although the growth was impressive, they could not classify them as spiritual plants—these wheat plants contained no spiritual energy.
"Based on the current situation, there are two possibilities," Teacher Tian said:
"First, not every type of plant can become a spiritual plant; it requires some special varieties."
"That’s very likely."
Zheng Fa thought of the Xuanwei Realm, where there were many types of plants, but only a small portion could truly be called spiritual plants.
"The variety issue is easy to solve; we just need to conduct more experiments. The other possibility is more troublesome." Teacher Tian continued, "It’s possible that the growth of spiritual plants requires a special environment."
"A special environment?"
"What I mean is, perhaps an ordinary spiritual energy environment cannot cultivate spiritual plants." Teacher Tian frowned and said slowly, "I actually planted more than one type of winter wheat—Jinhan, Changhan, and several other varieties of winter wheat."
Zheng Fa understood Teacher Tian's point.
There were already many varieties planted.
But none had shown signs of becoming spiritual plants.
Of course, it was possible that this batch of wheat varieties simply wouldn’t work.
But it was also possible that the current environment couldn’t produce spiritual plants.
"This is also one of my hypotheses," Teacher Tian reassured. "The variety issue is easy to resolve; we can just buy more plants to grow."
"Right."
"Since you have such a means of hastening maturity, we can conduct frequent experiments." Teacher Tian looked at Zheng Fa, her eyes sparkling. "As for whether it’s a variety issue, we’ll find out through testing."
"That won’t work; he can only use a spiritual talisman three times in a short period."
Old Bai muttered from the side.
"Is that so?" Teacher Tian seemed a bit disappointed but added, "Three times is still fine; we can just be more precise."
"Not just three times," Zheng Fa explained. "Now, I should be able to use a single spiritual talisman about seventeen or eighteen times."
After establishing his foundation, the base of the talisman seemed to have stabilized, and he no longer faced the issue of the talisman dissipating after three uses.
However, on the other hand, using spiritual talismans would now consume the spiritual energy within him.
He still needed to reserve enough spiritual energy to operate the Ling Mountain Law.
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