Chapter 256
Most of the children in Banshan City either help their families cook or follow them up the mountains and down to the rivers.
Zhang Shijie, however, understood the world a bit better than Yuan Shijie. She spoke up, “It’s still because there’s not enough food.”
Zheng Fa nodded in agreement.
To have some people work full-time, there simply had to be enough food.
The yield of edible mushrooms exceeded Zheng Fa's expectations, but it was still limited and certainly not a staple.
Any development plan must be based on the premise of having enough to eat—
This, again, relied on the domestication of crops and the cultivation of spiritual plants.
Zheng Fa took a relaxed view: “Let’s take it slow. As the saying goes, it takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred years to nurture people. Education and farming are not things that can be rushed.”
Yuan Shijie, with a hint of disdain in her tone, remarked, “These kids are so clueless…”
Even Zheng Fa had to shake his head at that.
He didn’t expect any geniuses among these few hundred children…
But honestly, it was a bit much for them to elevate Xiao Qing to the status of a genius.
Zhang Shijie, however, was more understanding:
“It’s not entirely their fault. First, they’ve never been to school.”
“Second, they don’t understand the benefits of education.”
“With no foundation and no goals, it’s naturally hard for them to make progress.” Zhang Shijie paused, glancing at Xiao Qing outside the temple, “But this girl, despite her poor foundation, is earnest.”
Xiao Qing was holding a book in one hand and a stick in the other, scribbling in the mud in front of the temple.
Among all the “students,” she was the most diligent.
At least she was the only one reviewing after class.
Her brow was furrowed, clearly puzzled, as she pondered deeply.
Seemingly unable to figure it out, she tossed the dry branch aside, pouted, and squatted down, staring blankly at the ground, almost in despair.
After a moment, Zheng Fa called out, “Xiao Qing.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you planted those beans yet?”
Zheng Fa asked.
Previously, he had researched a type of spiritual wood thunder in the modern world that could produce a kind of bean in the Tianbei realm.
He had instructed Xiao Qing to clear a piece of land specifically for this.
“Done!”
“From now on, these beans will be used as rewards.”
Xiao Qing asked, confused, “Rewards?”
Zheng Fa explained, “For the children who study well.”
In essence, it was just a tangible scholarship.
He wouldn’t distribute ordinary crops, as those were the essentials for most people’s survival.
But the yield of spiritual plants was relatively scarce, and not everyone could have them.
When Zhang Shijie mentioned that these children had no aspirations for learning, he thought of this.
Xiao Qing clearly understood.
“Then…”
She hesitated.
“Hmm?”
“Will I get some?”
“Of course!”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qing eagerly picked up the stick again.
Seeing her enthusiasm, Zhang Shijie’s tone turned a bit strange: “Zheng Shidi, you always have some wonderfully useful ideas.”
This time, Zheng Fa didn’t take credit; he simply smiled and said, “It’s not that others can’t think of it; it’s just that no one in the Xuanwei realm is willing to invest in education like this.”
Zhang Shijie fell silent.
This was obvious; not to mention anything else, even the spiritual plants of Jiushan Sect were not enough to feed them, let alone these children without any cultivation.
Yuan Shijie, hearing this, seemed to have an epiphany and suddenly spoke up:
“Zheng Shidi, actually, I love learning too!”
“Shijie…” Zheng Fa was somewhat speechless, “At least find someone who can read…”
“Of course, I need to be able to compete with someone who can read…”
……
Zheng Fa led the two Shijies toward the Baibao Hall.
Inside, there were originally four or five cultivators exchanging spiritual materials, all looking excited and discussing among themselves.
But when Zheng Fa stepped into the hall, those cultivators exchanged glances and, without a word, turned to leave, their smiles polite yet distant, even tinged with a hint of fear.
It was as if they were unwilling to stay in the Baibao Hall.
Yuan Shijie curiously asked, “Zheng Shidi, are they afraid of you?”
“Yuan Shijie, if you had a hundred shi of Huangya rice, would you be happy?”
“Of course!”
“But then you suddenly meet someone who has ten thousand shi. Would you still be that happy?”
Yuan Shijie paused, suddenly realizing, “Out of sight, out of mind!”
Zheng Fa nodded, feeling a bit of admiration—this group was quite clever to leave; otherwise, he feared their resolve might crumble…
In previous visits to Tianbei, Zheng Fa could still say he was self-sufficient.
This time was different; he had brought two Shijies with him!
The twenty thousand Tian Gong in the copper seal was the best tribute to the two Shijies!
Previously, he had only earned a little over ten thousand Tian Gong, but with the two Shijies’ slight contributions, they had given him a super boost…
Of course, this was partly due to his research on the two types of thunder techniques: Tianjie Lei and Yunyu Lei, but he could also see the effort and dedication of the two Shijies.
“Shijie, what do you want?” Zheng Fa asked, feeling a bit shy as he turned back.
According to Zheng Fa’s calculations, about twenty thousand of those Tian Gong were due to Zhang Shijie’s efforts, while Yuan Shijie probably only accounted for a fraction, and Zheng Fa…
Well, he was likely just a tiny fraction of a fraction.
Mainly because he had focused most of his energy on educating the children, and the only source of Tian Gong he had was probably from the spiritual plant beans produced by the spiritual wood thunder.
Zhang Shijie shook her head, saying, “These spiritual materials are of no use to me.”
Zheng Fa pursed his lips; in the Xuanwei realm, who would complain about having too many spiritual materials?
Yuan Shijie, on the other hand, seemed eager not to be polite with Zheng Fa. She excitedly scribbled on the jade tablet, stopping to swallow hard when she spotted some rare spiritual fruit…
She didn’t just look once; she flipped back and forth, seemingly conflicted.
Zheng Fa waited patiently for her to make her selection.
After a while, Yuan Shijie put down her finger and declared, “I’m ready!”
“Hmm, Shijie, which ones do you want?”
“I’m not choosing anything.”
“…”
“I just want to look! Just looking is enough!” Yuan Shijie said defiantly, “I’ve never been here before; I’m curious, just having some fun!”
“…”
Zheng Fa looked at the somewhat dim jade tablet, as if he could hear it scolding Yuan Shijie for being a slacker.
Watching the two Shijies who wouldn’t even spend a single Tian Gong, Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment and began to select from the jade tablet.
Twenty thousand Tian Gong was indeed a bit much… even Zheng Fa took quite a while.
What puzzled Zheng Fa was that after the jade tablet flickered a few times, it didn’t yield any spiritual materials!
“What’s going on?” Yuan Shijie scratched her head, “Did I break it? Is it angry?”
Zheng Fa was also a bit confused, but the next moment, he saw a burst of silver-white light suddenly emerge from his copper seal, and he realized—this thing was about to upgrade!
Sure enough, that silver-white light pulled the three of them toward the main hall, which opened of its own accord, slowly closing behind them.
This time, the hall was bright and spacious.
Inside, it was large, and after the nine-level golden jade steps, there was a high platform, on which stood the tombstone Zheng Fa had seen last time.
However, what Zheng Fa hadn’t seen last time were the twenty-four low tables, arranged in pairs, with cushions behind them.
“Is this the place for the twenty-four deities in that side hall?”
Zhang Shijie looked around thoughtfully.
Zheng Fa nodded and added, “It’s clear that while the master of this hall has a hierarchy with these twenty-four, he treats them with great respect.”
“So, they were the ones skimming our Tian Gong?”
Yuan Shijie interjected.
Zheng Fa shook his head, looking at the copper seal that was still shining brightly.
A splash of silver spread like ink in water, gradually overtaking the previously somewhat dull copper color.
When the seal transformed entirely into a silver appearance, a voice echoed in the main hall:
“After the end of the Dharma era, the heavenly court was covered in dust, the celestial emperor lost his position, and all paths collapsed.”
“Now, with the Thunder God Zheng Fa, with thirty thousand Tian Gong, I bestow upon you a silver seal to walk the heavenly palace. I hope you assist the Heavenly Lord in rebuilding the heavenly court and reestablishing the heavenly path.”
Zheng Fa glanced at Zhang Shijie; there was quite a bit of information in those words…
As the voice faded, the evolved silver seal bumped into Zheng Fa, and the three of them were involuntarily propelled out of the hall.
“What is this…”
Standing outside the hall, he looked around.
The heavenly palace in the Tianbei realm originally consisted of three grand halls, and beyond that was a vast emptiness, shrouded in white mist, where nothing could be seen.
Some had curiously explored, only to find that after walking three zhang into the white mist, they would unknowingly return to the starting point, unable to delve deeper.
But now, it had changed.
The three grand halls where Zheng Fa stood still resembled isolated islands in the white mist, but the mist no longer felt empty—there seemed to be several other islands, faintly visible within the fog.
“Is this what it means to walk the heavenly palace?”
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