Chapter 257
As he began to grasp the situation, the silver seal flickered and pulsed, as if inviting him.
Zheng Fa touched the seal, and suddenly felt a gentle breeze rise from beneath his feet.
This wind lifted him up, carrying him toward one of the "islands."
Caught off guard, he turned his head and saw Senior Sister Zhang and another person behind him, which eased his mind a bit.
Before long, they landed on the nearest island.
“What is this…” Senior Sister Yuan’s eyes widened, a sense of wonder washing over her.
“It looks like a medicinal garden,” Senior Sister Zhang remarked.
In the center of the island stood a small, bare hill—not very tall—surrounded by various spiritual herbs.
No, it wasn’t just herbs; Zheng Fa also noticed many spiritual beasts moving about.
Everything he had seen on the jade tablet was growing here.
“So, the spiritual materials Zheng Shidi wants to exchange for all come from here?” Senior Sister Yuan scratched her head. “But these are all just seedlings…”
Zheng Fa was equally puzzled.
Though the medicinal garden was vast and filled with many types of spiritual materials, there was one thing that stood out—whether it was the materials or the beasts, they were all quite young, far from the century- or even millennium-old materials displayed on the jade tablet.
As the group pondered this, the silver seal suddenly flew above the medicinal garden, emitting a cacophony of voices:
“The immortal mushrooms bestowed by Lord Thunder God are delicious!”
“Thanks to Lord Thunder God, we caught fish again today…”
“It’s another sunny day; I feel so much better…”
“I’ll go pray at Lord Thunder God’s temple again tomorrow…”
“Good and evil will be rewarded; one must not do bad things…”
“…”
The voices were filled with gratitude, reverence, or fear directed at Zheng Fa—what surprised the three even more was that as the voices rang out, the unassuming little hill trembled gently and began to rise.
Stones and soil fell away from the hill, revealing glimmers of gold beneath.
Only then did they realize that this little hill was actually a massive golden bell, its surface seemingly engraved with patterns of the sun, moon, and stars.
The bell soared higher and grew larger, eventually enveloping the entire island.
The voices emanating from the silver seal seemed to resonate with the bell, causing it to quiver in the void.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The sound of the bell echoed in all directions.
With each toll, the sun and moon on the bell appeared to come alive, swirling around it.
With each chime, day turned to night, and the stars revolved.
With each cycle, the plants and spiritual beasts in the garden aged a year!
Not only Zheng Fa, but even Senior Sister Zhang stood there, dumbfounded by the spectacle.
“So this is how they grow…” Senior Sister Yuan murmured, as if coming to an understanding.
The so-called heavenly merit exchanged for spiritual materials was, in fact, using these “voices” from the silver seal as nourishment to activate this precious bell, thereby utilizing it to cultivate spiritual plants and beasts.
Zheng Fa gradually fell silent.
At first, he had thought this so-called heavenly merit and exchange were too abstract, even giving him a sense of playing a game.
Now he finally understood the source of this exchange.
Heavenly merit…
He recalled various texts and novels he had read in modern times—could it be the so-called incense offerings?
He glanced at Senior Sister Zhang, who was also frowning, seemingly deep in thought.
“Senior Sister?”
After a moment of silence, Senior Sister Zhang suddenly spoke, “You should remember that I told you there have been at least five instances of spiritual energy decline in the Xuanwei Realm…”
Zheng Fa was taken aback, realizing the implication behind her words.
The notion of five instances of spiritual energy decline was something Senior Sister Zhang had mentioned when they first met. At that time, she had said that the last two could be traced in history—
The fourth ended with the destruction of the world by the demonic sect.
The fifth concluded with the Celestial River Master opening the heavens with his sword.
Only the first three were untraceable.
“Are you saying this is a remnant of the first three instances of spiritual energy decline?”
Senior Sister Zhang nodded. “If there are only five, then based on the phrase about the end of the law in that grand hall, it should refer to the second or third instance…”
Zheng Fa nodded in agreement.
“Though the language in the Tianbei Realm has some accents, its grammar is quite similar to that of the Xuanwei Realm, suggesting a common origin.”
“Whether it’s the second or third…” Zheng Fa gazed at the bell in the sky, beginning to understand why Senior Sister Zhang was so troubled.
This treasure could interfere with the flow of time; Zheng Fa had never heard of such a precious item in the Xuanwei Realm…
It was evident how powerful the so-called Celestial Master was.
The problem was…
The tombstone and those twenty-four empty chairs clearly indicated that they had also failed.
(End of Chapter)
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**Chapter 241: The Oath in the Ruins**
Zheng Fa observed the growth of the spiritual plants.
Spiritual plants were different from ordinary ones—he had noticed this even in the nursing home.
For instance, the Evergreen Talisman could accelerate the growth of ordinary plants, maturing them overnight and drastically shortening the cultivation time.
But it had no effect on the spiritual pea plants he grew—Zheng Fa speculated this was because they contained spiritual energy, which created a sort of “resistance” to the talisman.
In simpler terms, the talisman’s effects were disrupted by the spiritual energy within.
He guessed that perhaps some sects had secret methods to hasten the maturity of certain spiritual plants.
But something like this golden bell, which could rapidly accelerate the growth of an entire medicinal garden’s spiritual plants and beasts—Zheng Fa had never heard of anything like it, and neither had Senior Sister Zhang.
“Time…” Senior Sister Zhang’s eyes glazed over. “That Celestial Master is probably more powerful than we imagined…”
Zheng Fa’s gaze sparkled with silver light as he studied the various spiritual plants in the garden, seemingly observing something, and did not hear Senior Sister Zhang’s murmurs.
“Shidi, what are you looking at?”
Senior Sister Zhang asked curiously.
“I’m watching the growth of spiritual energy in these plants… it’s strange…”
He had just had a thought about the Lingmu Lei (Spirit Wood Thunder).
To be more precise, he recalled his previous observations of the pea seedlings’ growth, which led him to summarize an experience with Lingmu Lei.
Under the influence of Lingmu Lei, those peas transformed from being devoid of spiritual energy to containing it—simply put, the pea seedlings underwent a mutation driven by Lingmu Lei.
Thus, he wanted to see if such mutations also existed in this medicinal garden.
To his surprise, he actually found some!
“Strange?” Senior Sister Zhang frowned, not understanding his meaning.
“Every type of spiritual plant experiences a surge of spiritual energy during each cycle of the sun and moon! This surge occurs twenty-four times in one cycle!”
Senior Sister Zhang paused for a moment, then activated her洞虚灵眼 (洞虚灵 eye) to look at the medicinal garden.
After a while, she slowly nodded.
“Indeed,” she affirmed. “Although the strength of spiritual energy produced by each plant varies, they really do change simultaneously twenty-four times with each cycle of the sun and moon?”
“Twenty-four?”
Suddenly, Senior Sister Yuan chimed in, “Aren’t there twenty-four statues in that previous temple? And those twenty-four chairs!”
Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged glances and nodded gently.
The number twenty-four was not ordinary; Senior Sister Yuan’s connection was quite natural.
However, seeing the expression on Senior Sister Zhang’s face, she suddenly asked, “You have other thoughts, don’t you?”
Zheng Fa had no intention of hiding anything from his senior sisters and replied, “Senior Sister, do you remember what Real Person Han from the Qianhe Sect said about the secret methods of spiritual farmers being related to the solar terms?”
“You mean the twenty-four solar terms?”
Zheng Fa nodded.
“Then these twenty-four figures are the deities governing the solar terms?”
“I don’t know about that,” Zheng Fa shook his head. “I just have a feeling…”
“Hmm?”
“Lingmu Lei might also have twenty-four forms…”
“Twenty-four forms? That’s a bit much…” Senior Sister Zhang frowned slightly, clearly feeling it was excessive. “You’ll have to research that.”
Indeed, Zheng Fa’s discovery of the first form of Lingmu Lei was somewhat of a fortunate coincidence.
If there were twenty-four forms, relying on luck alone would mean he wouldn’t know when he’d finish his research.
As he looked at the rapidly growing spiritual plants in the medicinal garden, a thought suddenly struck him:
If he could measure the strength of the magnetic field during the spiritual energy mutations in this medicinal garden, then twenty-four forms, or even two hundred forty forms, would be quite simple…
He just needed an electromagnetic laboratory!
Wait?
Zheng Fa suddenly glanced at Senior Sister Zhang, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Since Senior Sister Zhang could serve as a talisman laboratory.
Xiao Yuying’s Yuan Magnetic Dao Body was precisely a top-notch electromagnetic laboratory, wasn’t it?
At the very least, measuring the magnetic field strength should be a piece of cake.
But getting her to cooperate willingly, given her wealth and influence, would likely be quite challenging.
Indeed, it was hard to coax someone from a privileged background into servitude…
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