Chapter 216
“Whether they are immortals or deities,” Sister Zhang speculated, “if they were the ones who created this second type of sub-symbol, then they… might no longer exist, at least not in a way that affects our world.”
Zheng Fa nodded slowly.
The group exchanged glances, a hint of comfort on their faces, even though Sister Zhang's words were merely conjecture.
But it was better to think that the powerful had perished than to have them watching over them.
As they stepped out of the grand hall, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but look up at the sky once more.
The sky was a deep blue, the sunlight bright yet gentle.
Turning his head, he saw that Sister Zhang and the others were also gazing at the sky. He knew they were all silently asking the same question:
“Above the dome, who writes the world?”
……
In modern times.
“You mean, the second type of sub-symbol doesn’t refer to the material itself, but to… some immortal or deity?”
In the nursing home, Old Bai’s eyes widened in disbelief as he listened to Zheng Fa.
“It's possible,” Zheng Fa replied, nodding. “We’ve been unable to find a pattern for the other two types of sub-symbols, perhaps because they don’t represent a specific material, but rather a certain existence.”
“Wait a minute, let me think this through,” Old Bai furrowed his brow. “Spiritual energy can control matter, right?”
“Exactly.”
“So you’re telling me that one type of sub-symbol isn’t natural, but created by someone—no, by some existence that established certain rules?”
“Right.”
“Then…” Old Bai shrank back a little. “What does that make us? Bacteria in a petri dish?”
Zheng Fa shook his head. “I thought the same at first, but then… I had another idea.”
There were actually two points that kept Zheng Fa from despairing:
First, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor.
If the rumors were true, then the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor should be from the Xuanwei Realm. The fact that he could create his own sub-symbols suggested something important:
Cultivators do not merely follow the rules set by others; as their cultivation level rises, they can create their own rules.
These two concepts are fundamentally different.
Laboratory mice could never transform into the scientists conducting the experiments.
At least for now, it seemed that the path of cultivation did not exclude the possibility of becoming a rule-maker.
The second point was the current situation in the Tianbei Realm.
As Sister Zhang said, if the so-called immortals and deities are the rule-makers, then their fall from grace in the Divine Hall suggests that they might be in trouble themselves.
At the very least, they can no longer influence the Tianbei Realm.
The Xuanwei Realm now appeared to be at a higher “level” than the Tianbei Realm, seemingly more resistant to influence, and it didn’t even have the title of “deity.”
If we consider modern times, it’s even more peculiar; without Zheng Fa, modernity wouldn’t even have spiritual energy.
“What’s on your mind?”
“I was thinking, if we view the world like Tang Lingwu sees it—as a computer—then these spiritual symbols seem more like programs written by humans?” Zheng Fa summarized the current situation. “These programs still exist, but it’s uncertain whether the original programmers are still around.”
“Even how to use these programs, or whether they’re useful, is something we need to explore.”
As Zheng Fa spoke, he felt a strange sense of irony—this really was a trademark.
The others nodded in agreement.
This perspective made them feel a bit better.
“So, you’re saying,” Old Bai said, dazed, “that I, a cultivator, have suddenly become a programmer?”
“Not just that,” Tang Lingwu’s expression turned sour. “It’s more like being a programmer faced with a mountain of legacy code left by predecessors, with no comments to guide you.”
“……”
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 207: Advertisement
In the nursing home, Tang Lingwu’s computer was whirring and panting, the fan roaring, before finally settling down.
Once the computer quieted, the group gathered around the screen. After a few clicks of the mouse, Tang Lingwu began to explain:
“Following the idea that the second type of sub-symbol corresponds to a certain programmer… no, a certain existence, I’ll tentatively call it the Divine Name Sub-symbol. If we categorize the previously discovered symbols based on the different Divine Name Sub-symbols…” As she scrolled through the results, she continued, “We can see that there are actually thousands of these Divine Name Sub-symbols—this is still without inputting more symbol diagrams.”
“This means that countless powerful beings might have written their own rules?”
“Countless might be an exaggeration, but there are indeed quite a few,” Tang Lingwu nodded, clicking on the keyboard. “However, further research shows that the number of symbol diagrams corresponding to each Divine Name Sub-symbol varies.”
“If we look at a dozen or so Divine Name Sub-symbols, they account for eighty percent of all symbol diagrams.”
“If we consider the three hundred or so Divine Name Sub-symbols, they nearly account for ninety-nine point nine percent of all Divine Name Sub-symbols.”
“If we treat the entire symbol diagram system as a project,” Tang Lingwu concluded, “there are about a dozen individuals who contributed eighty percent of the code… they are the backbone of the project.”
As she spoke, Tang Lingwu’s expression was slightly deflated. “I just don’t know what this discovery is good for…”
“It’s useful,” Zheng Fa analyzed. “Let’s make a reasonable assumption: the more powerful the being, the more rules they can write for the world. This suggests…”
“There are about a dozen extremely powerful existences among those who created the symbol diagrams.” Zheng Fa continued slowly, “They are the strongest, and the spiritual symbols they created are the most complete—if we study the last type of sub-symbol, we might as well pick one from among them to research.”
Tang Lingwu and Old Bai nodded gently.
“And… them.” Zheng Fa looked at the dozen or so Divine Name Sub-symbols, his tone slightly speculative. “These might just relate to the secret of transformation into a deity.”
“Transformation into a deity?”
Zheng Fa shook his head gently, not explaining further to Old Bai and the others.
……
The Divine Name Sub-symbols felt too distant for Zheng Fa and the others.
For now, their research focus remained on the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder.
“Zheng Fa, come take a look,” Old Bai beckoned. “Lingwu and I simulated a few Heavenly Tribulation Thunder elemental symbols on the computer.”
Zheng Fa walked over at the call, and ten symbol diagrams appeared on the screen.
If the cultivators who entered the Tianbei Realm saw this scene, they would likely have their hearts shattered.
After all, transforming a spell into a symbol method typically requires a long time, often needing hundreds of generations to experiment bit by bit.
Once they found usable symbol diagrams, converting them into elemental symbols would take who knows how long.
Moreover, they didn’t even know how the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder was generated.
Yet Zheng Fa and the others were already able to create perfect elemental symbols…
When Zheng Fa and the others not only deciphered the three types of sub-symbols but also nearly figured out the Divine Name Sub-symbols and the Five Elements Sub-symbols, deducing the spiritual symbols for the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder became relatively simple.
To put it in an inappropriate analogy, while they were still trying to create fire by rubbing sticks together, Zheng Fa was already close to inventing a lighter…
“Look, we tried using the Five Elements Sub-symbols,” Old Bai pointed at the screen. “Plus the Yin-Yang configuration, that’s about ten types.”
Zheng Fa nodded, committing these ten symbol diagrams to memory.
After all, modernity lacked the materials to create spiritual symbols, so which type of Heavenly Tribulation symbol was correct would have to be tested in the Xuanwei Realm.
Finding the correct symbol diagram for the Heavenly Tribulation from among the ten would be too easy…
“By the way, later, you need to protect me.”
“Protect you?”
“I’m about to break through!”
Zheng Fa was taken aback, looking at Old Bai. When Tang Lingwu broke through to the second layer of Qi Refinement, it had given this old man quite a shock—was it really that effective?
“My ‘Five Thunder Law Body’ is about to break through to the physical stage!”
Old Bai said proudly.
“…You really are working hard.”
This was much faster than Old Bai’s previous breakthroughs.
This old man seemed to still be mumbling about that dream of rotating magnetic fields and punching stars.
Zheng Fa thought for a moment…
Given the current situation, it really didn’t seem like a dream…
…… The next morning, Zheng Fa was disturbed from his meditation by a rumbling sound. He stepped outside and saw two excavators working in the yard.
He wasn’t surprised.
Ever since the nursing home started selling vegetables for profit, Zheng Fa had asked Tang Lingwu to contact a construction team to prepare for building two laboratories.
One for Teacher Tian’s agricultural experiments.
The other was a physics lab, or rather, an electromagnetism lab.
As the excavators worked, Zheng Fa found himself inexplicably drawn to the scene, standing by and watching for quite a while.
“I don’t know what’s so interesting about it… Old Bai was the same this morning, squatting by and watching for half the day, saying he wanted to learn how to operate an excavator,” Teacher Tian couldn’t help but comment.
“Hard to explain…” Zheng Fa scratched his head. “I guess… it’s just in the genes.”
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