Chapter 263
“I'm sorry... This is not just a calamity for the Qianhe Sect; it’s a life-and-death crisis for my Jiushan Sect as well... I can't act recklessly,” Zheng Fa said. “But I will send a message to Master Pang, asking him to inform Master Tongming.”
“Master Tongming...” A glimmer of hope flickered across Qian Zhenren's face, but he soon shook his head, looking somewhat dejected. “I fear Master Tongming won't even consider us...”
His words were self-deprecating, yet they held a grain of truth.
After pondering for a moment, Qian Zhenren suddenly knelt down, holding out a jade tube and presenting it to Zheng Fa. “This contains various secret methods for cultivating spiritual plants that I’ve developed in the Qianhe Sect. I am willing to offer it to your esteemed sect!”
“Hmm?”
Zheng Fa was taken aback, unsure of what he was trying to do.
“I only ask for a place where I and my disciples can find safety and a means to survive.”
“Are you saying...?”
“I hope your sect will take us in!”
Zheng Fa fell silent, surprised that this man would make such a request.
To be honest, he was quite interested in the Qianhe Sect's secret methods, but Qian Zhenren's request felt rather abrupt.
“Is that all you want?”
“There’s one more thing...” Qian Zhenren suddenly raised his head, looking intently at Zheng Fa. “I know you have exceptional talent, Zheng Zhenren. If you achieve great things in the future, could you take revenge for my Qianhe Sect?”
Now that sounded much more reasonable.
...
Qian Zhenren and his group were also settled near the Jiushan Sect disciples' quarters. Since they had just escaped a life-and-death situation and were still on edge, Zheng Fa simply let them stay in one courtyard together.
That night.
Qian Zhenren was healing through meditation when one of his disciples could no longer hold back and spoke up:
“Master... Are we really just giving away our secret methods like this?”
“Hmm?”
Qian Zhenren looked up at his disciple, then glanced at the others, who all wore puzzled expressions.
“Are you saying I was too generous?”
“And besides, aren’t we now part of the Jiushan Sect...?”
“Silence!” Qian Zhenren snapped, his face stern. “If you still have such thoughts, I might as well kill you myself to prevent you from bringing us harm!”
“...But...”
“What has the Jiushan Sect done to wrong us? The ones who wronged us are the demon clan!” Qian Zhenren shouted. “You’re too afraid to fight the demons, yet you blame the Jiushan Sect?”
“...But...”
“What kind of people are we? Our sect was destroyed, and we possess secret methods. Others might think we carry the treasures of our sect...”
“So, Master, you’re hiding from others for that reason?”
“Of course! I’m just a lowly Foundation Establishment cultivator; what great figures can I possibly know? Zheng Fa is already the highest branch on this tree... If you think this place is unsuitable, you’re free to leave!”
“I wouldn’t dare...”
Seeing them obedient, Qian Zhenren softened his tone a bit. “I didn’t choose this recklessly. Ever since the Jiushan Sect’s drama first emerged, I’ve been thinking...”
“...”
“At that time, I had my concerns, with the sect leader and my fellow disciples behind me...”
“...”
The disciples exchanged glances, wondering if they should be grateful to the demon clan for this situation.
“Now think about it: although we’ve lost our secret methods, we’ve transformed from people of the Qianhe Sect into members of the Jiushan Sect! Only I, your master, have this connection, and coincidentally, those demons are also the Jiushan Sect’s enemies. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy!”
After being scolded, the disciples began to understand, and one of them said, “Master, I get it. From now on, I’ll consider myself a member of the Jiushan Sect!”
“No...” Qian Zhenren’s face showed a look of disappointment. “You must act like a staunch Jiushan Sect disciple, but don’t forget to seek revenge for the Qianhe Sect. The angrier you are, the better; the more tragic, the better...”
“Master?”
“Remember, the widow who cannot forget her deceased husband is the most alluring... cough, everyone loves a person of loyalty and righteousness,” Qian Zhenren advised.
“...I’ll remember, Master!”
...
“Do you like widows?”
“Ah?”
Zheng Fa looked up abruptly. He had been discussing the newly acquired Qianhe secret methods with Senior Sister Zhang when she suddenly asked this question, leaving him bewildered.
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head and said, “That guy named Qian has some ulterior motives, but it’s nothing serious.”
Only then did Zheng Fa realize that Senior Sister Zhang was worried about that group of people.
But what did that have to do with widows?
Is there anyone still alive in the Qianhe Sect?
Do widows have money? Do they have other secret methods?
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 245: Speculations on the Nature of Spiritual Plants
Senior Sister Zhang glanced at Zheng Fa’s expression, as if sensing his joy, and asked, “Are these secret methods really that precious?”
Zheng Fa handed over the jade tube. Senior Sister Zhang scanned it with her spiritual sense, lightly furrowing her brow, her face showing two words:
“Just this?”
Zheng Fa could read the skepticism in Senior Sister Zhang’s eyes. To be honest, the methods in the Qianhe secret techniques weren’t particularly numerous—
After all, the Qianhe Sect was primarily a Golden Core sect, and their specialty was Huangya rice, so most of their secret methods revolved around its cultivation:
What spells can increase the yield of Huangya rice.
What concentration of spiritual energy is most suitable for Huangya rice growth.
From sowing to harvest, they had a complete set of cultivation methods, involving various spell choices and environmental requirements.
There were indeed methods for other spiritual plants as well.
It’s just that they lacked a systematic approach.
Senior Sister Zhang probably couldn’t understand why Zheng Fa was so happy—after all, for most people in the Xuanwei Realm, learning these things seemed to only mean they could grow Huangya rice.
Zheng Fa pointed at the jade tube and said:
“These secret methods aren’t much; they just resolved many of my doubts.”
“What doubts?”
“Since I started researching spiritual wood thunder, I’ve had a question...” Zheng Fa explained. “Senior Sister Zhang, you probably know that I’ve farmed in the fields before. For ordinary crops, generally speaking, you have to consider the right timing, location, and human effort.”
“Timing refers to the climate, location means whether your soil is fertile, and human effort is basically whether you know how to farm...”
“But the immortal methods are so miraculous... Some spells can directly make plants bloom and bear fruit, which means that spiritual energy alters these rules.”
Senior Sister Zhang frowned, looking like she didn’t quite understand what Zheng Fa was getting at.
“This leads to a problem: past agricultural experience seems to be incompatible with the cultivation of spiritual plants.”
This question was something Zheng Fa had thought of in modern times—
For example, Zheng Fa could use the Evergreen Talisman to stimulate the growth of most non-spiritual crops, leading to a phenomenon: the agricultural system in the Xuanwei Realm’s cultivation world seems not to rely on past agricultural experience because this spiritual talisman is too overpowered.
Having a powerful spiritual talisman isn’t a bad thing.
But the problem is that Zheng Fa finds it difficult to discover an effective way to cultivate spiritual plants; he can only rely on researching spiritual wood thunder and then observing.
This made his research progress very slow.
“But the Qianhe secret methods are different... They’ve given me some new questions about cultivating spiritual plants:”
“Why do the solar terms affect the production of spiritual plants?”
“Why is the concentration of spiritual energy so important?”
“The most important question is, what exactly distinguishes spiritual plants from ordinary plants?”
Senior Sister Zhang rubbed her temples, seeming a bit overwhelmed. “Junior Brother, why don’t you go talk to Yuan Shimei?”
“She’s still evolving, isn’t she? She’s asleep and can’t hear me talking, right?”
“Exactly, so why wouldn’t she get a headache from all your questions?”
...
In the modern day, at the nursing home.
“These methods...” Teacher Tian looked at the Qianhe secret methods Zheng Fa had copied down, lightly furrowing her brow before saying, “Actually, there are just two points—”
“Hmm?”
“Timing and spiritual energy.”
“For example, choosing suitable spiritual land, the best places to plant on certain spiritual veins, it all comes down to one issue—controlling the concentration of spiritual energy.”
Hearing her say this, Zheng Fa nodded slightly.
“You’re right; this is very different from our agricultural system. We often have to consider light, temperature, humidity, and nutrients in the soil... But these methods don’t seem to emphasize any of that; in the end, they just focus on these two points.”
Beside them, Old Bai nodded. “This is probably because the effect of spiritual energy is so strong that it renders all those factors secondary.”
“Then why is timing so important?” Tang Lingwu asked from the side. “Zheng Fa, you mentioned before that spiritual wood thunder might be related to the twenty-four solar terms... Why are the solar terms so crucial for spiritual plants?”
Once this was said, even Tang Muda looked a bit puzzled.
Although he had just joined the nursing home, he understood that cultivating spiritual plants was very important for both them and the nursing home—after all, being able to grow spiritual plants would significantly speed up their cultivation.
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