Chapter 239
“Actually, I’ve been thinking…” Zheng Fa suddenly said, “Whether it’s the talismans, our meridians, or even spells—they’re all essentially traces of spiritual energy. To transform into a spiritual plant, it probably also requires these traces of spiritual energy.”
“Are you saying this is the ‘meridian’ of a spiritual plant?”
The old man Bai immediately understood Zheng Fa’s meaning.
“Yes, but I don’t know why it exists in the form of cellular tissue,” Zheng Fa nodded.
Rubbing his chin, the old man Bai suddenly said, “Zheng Fa, didn’t I mention before that you should go to the Medical School of Jingcheng University…”
Zheng Fa paused, looking at the old man Bai. “You want to take a look at our cellular structure?”
“Exactly! It’s better to slice ourselves than let outsiders do it, right?” The old man Bai pointed to the lab. “We have all the equipment we need. It’s time for us to contribute to the science of immortality!”
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and then asked, “Teacher Tian?”
“Hold on, I need to check the materials and see the experimental protocols,” Teacher Tian shook his head and sighed. “I’m just a farmer; I’ve never conducted human experiments.”
(End of this chapter)
---
Chapter 226: Death is Not to be Regretted
“I could tell at a glance that you’re not human!”
The old man Bai glared at the cell images on the computer screen, pointing at Zheng Fa and shouting.
Zheng Fa opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but he didn’t know how to respond.
On the screen, the skin cells of four individuals were lined up.
Tang Lingwu and the others looked just like ordinary humans.
But Zheng Fa—his cells contained a completely different cellular structure!
“Can we magnify it?”
Zheng Fa asked Teacher Tian.
He wanted to see what this thing growing inside him really was.
Teacher Tian shook his head.
The old man Bai furrowed his brows at the screen, dropping the jokes and simply saying, “Why haven’t we changed, but you have? And why does it resemble the structure in the pea seedling cells so much?”
Zheng Fa shook his head.
Initially, he thought it might be due to his status as a transmigrator, suggesting a difference between beings from two worlds.
But as the old man Bai pointed out—there were similar things in the pea seedlings.
Pea seedlings are a modern variety.
That pretty much ruled out that theory.
Another possibility was Zheng Fa’s cultivation level; the old man Bai and the others were still in the Qi Refining stage, while he had already established his foundation.
Perhaps this change occurred after establishing the foundation.
But the pea seedlings had only a weak trace of spiritual energy, no intelligence, and no cultivation, yet they had already developed this structure.
The idea that this was related to cultivation didn’t seem to hold water either.
“Zheng Fa, has your cultivation level changed recently?”
Tang Lingwu suddenly asked.
“Changed?”
Zheng Fa didn’t understand what she meant.
Tang Lingwu dashed out of the lab and returned with a tablet, pointing at the symbols on it. “You know, I’ve been using the Spiritual Eye Technique to collect the symbols from the spiritual energy in the nursing home for the study of the Sanzi Talisman.”
Zheng Fa nodded.
“In the past couple of days, I found that the spiritual energy in the nursing home has added hundreds of new symbols!”
“Added?”
“Yes, we collected thousands of divine name symbols back then—but these hundreds of new symbols have never been recorded in my database.”
“…”
Zheng Fa looked at the tablet.
Sure enough, among these hundreds of symbols, the divine name symbols were all the same but felt unfamiliar.
“Hundreds of new symbols is quite a lot!” Tang Lingwu continued, “We can’t just ignore them.”
“Newly appeared?” The old man Bai also leaned in, looking for a while before saying, “I’ve never seen them either.”
Zheng Fa understood what Tang Lingwu was implying: “Are you saying that the appearance of this pea seedling might be related to these hundreds of new spiritual symbols?”
Tang Lingwu nodded gently. “But I’m not sure.”
Zheng Fa’s mind stirred, and his consciousness sank into his dantian.
The biggest change he had experienced recently was this Fusang tree.
If the Qingyang Dao Body was indeed related to the so-called Dong Wang Gong, it might have some connection to spiritual plants—after all, it had the title of the Wood Lord.
His expression turned a bit strange.
Could it be that this thing had some quirks?
Back then, he had cursed the Qingyang Dao Body and ended up with a Fusang tree.
Now, after cursing the Fusang tree for being useless, he could actually stimulate the growth of a spiritual plant?
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and silently cursed:
“Damn tree, why can’t you let someone transform into a deity in a day and ascend in three days?”
The Fusang tree shook three times—Zheng Fa felt as if it was cursing him back, and quite crudely too.
---
In the Xuanwei Realm.
Most of the disciples of the Jiushan Sect now lived near the Thunder Pool—if anything happened, they could quickly dive into the pool.
Zheng Fa’s courtyard was among them, right next to Senior Sister Zhang’s, with Uncle Huang’s courtyard nearby.
Without the Wulong Tiangong, Senior Sister Zhang didn’t want Zheng Fa living too far from her.
After all, the formations in the Thunder Pool market were quite basic, and safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
These days had been relatively peaceful; the capture of the square-faced young man didn’t seem to have alarmed the demon clan. With Senior Sister Zhang and Uncle Huang, both of whom were in the Nascent Soul stage, ordinary people wouldn’t dare to provoke them.
Zheng Fa walked into Senior Sister Zhang’s courtyard, holding a few books.
Uncle Huang was also there; she and Senior Sister Zhang each had a table, chatting away.
Senior Sister Zhang held a cup of clear tea.
Uncle Huang had a tall green porcelain bottle in her hand.
The rich aroma of wine wafted from the bottle, hitting Zheng Fa’s nose.
Zheng Fa couldn’t help but glance at Uncle Huang. In his memory, she often had a cold expression, her brows neutral, and when she looked at people, it felt as if she regarded them as invisible.
He didn’t even remember if he had ever seen her smile.
But in front of Senior Sister Zhang, Uncle Huang had changed completely.
Zheng Fa hesitated a bit; he hadn’t expected Uncle Huang to be there.
Uncle Huang lounged on the low table, with wine stains at the corners of her mouth, her eyes sparkling with warmth.
When Zheng Fa entered, she seemed indifferent, sipping her wine as if she didn’t see him.
“Senior Sister?”
Senior Sister Zhang’s eyes lit up as she looked at the books in Zheng Fa’s hands, eagerly asking, “What do you have there?”
Zheng Fa spread the books out in front of Senior Sister Zhang.
“‘Coding.’”
“‘From Gate Circuits to Logical Computation.’”
“‘Principles of Neural Networks.’”
These books were what Zheng Fa had asked Tang Lingwu about.
Senior Sister Zhang was struggling with her research on the composite symbols of the Mountain River True Form Symbol, and her biggest problem was understanding why changes in circuits could produce intelligence.
Zheng Fa had some knowledge in this area.
But Senior Sister Zhang was already a mature Nascent Soul cultivator; why couldn’t she learn to evolve into a computer on her own?
Senior Sister Zhang gently flipped through a few pages, her eyelids twitching slightly. She stole a glance at Uncle Huang before saying to Zheng Fa, “I’ll read this and then come find you.”
Zheng Fa nodded and cupped his hands in farewell to Uncle Huang.
Uncle Huang didn’t look up. It wasn’t until Zheng Fa walked away that she turned to Senior Sister Zhang and said, “What, can’t I see it?”
“Master…”
Senior Sister Zhang felt a bit embarrassed.
She wasn’t foolish; if she had doubts about topology, seeing these books made it clear that Zheng Fa’s knowledge came from somewhere else, at least not something a Nascent Soul cultivator could master.
“I’m your master; you’re hiding things from me?”
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head. “Master, if it were anything else, I wouldn’t hide it from you, but this might concern Zheng Shidi’s secrets.”
“...Who doesn’t have a secret?” Uncle Huang shook her head. “If he doesn’t hide things from you, then your feelings for him won’t be wasted.”
Senior Sister Zhang smiled slightly, gently stroking the book cover.
“You…” Uncle Huang sighed, “He’s only at the Foundation Establishment stage. If anything happens in the future… think about the kind of life I’ve lived these years.”
Senior Sister Zhang bit her lip, remaining silent.
“I don’t want you to end up like me… There’s a saying in the mundane world: deep feelings don’t last.”
“Disciple… is willing to accept it,” Senior Sister Zhang lowered her gaze, looking at the few books in front of her.
“...How did I end up with a disciple more stubborn than I am!”
“Master, I have one more request.”
“No need to say it; I’ll definitely protect your Zheng Shidi! If he dies, Jiushan Sect will have one less of me!” Uncle Huang gritted her teeth, “What kind of karma have I created!”
---
Outside the Heavenly Stele.
“Brother Yan?” Looking at Yan Wushuang in front of him, Zheng Fa felt a bit unrecognizable.
Mainly because Yan Wushuang had changed his attire.
He was no longer in his usual crane cloak but had switched to a simple white Daoist robe.
An even bigger change was in his demeanor.
The playful glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by a sense of calm.
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