Chapter 264
“This matter... I actually have a rather...” Zheng Fa hesitated as he spoke, his confidence wavering, “a rather fanciful idea.”
“What idea?”
Seeing his uncertainty, the other four couldn’t help but become curious.
Zheng Fa usually had many thoughts, but he had never hesitated like this before.
In fact, he had this idea in front of Senior Sister Zhang, but she probably wouldn’t understand it, so he didn’t mention it.
“You all know that when we cultivate, we mainly consider two things— the concentration of spiritual energy and the cultivation method.”
Old Bai blinked, as if he suddenly understood what Zheng Fa meant: “Are you saying that plants transforming into spiritual plants is also a kind of cultivation process?”
“Exactly. To be more precise, it’s a kind of passive cultivation process,” Zheng Fa said softly. “The concentration of spiritual energy is a given; it’s a necessary condition for cultivation.”
“But if we consider the changes in spiritual wood thunder and the solar terms as changes in the electromagnetic field…”
Zheng Fa continued softly:
“Our human bodies are too complex, so our sensitivity to solar terms might not be that strong, but some plants could be more sensitive…”
“And the changes in the external magnetic field lead to changes in the internal bioelectric currents of these plants. Teacher Tian, our thoughts are actually related to neural currents or brain waves. Therefore— I boldly hypothesize that these changes in bioelectric currents are, in fact, a form of primitive thought, or perhaps a kind of cultivation method…”
Teacher Tian furrowed his brow slightly: “Are you saying that the twenty-four solar terms in a year actually represent twenty-four changes in ‘thought processes,’ similar to how we control spiritual energy during cultivation?”
“Exactly!” Zheng Fa smiled. “We have the concept of the Great Cycle in cultivation, but in reality, the twenty-four solar terms are also natural cyclical changes, occurring year after year, twenty-four times each year.”
“This…” Old Bai understood now, “You mean that spiritual plants are actually plants that can cultivate? But this cultivation process can be seen as unconscious, influenced by the heavens and earth?”
Zheng Fa nodded, looking at the others.
He wasn’t very confident about this hypothesis—after all, there was no concrete evidence to support it.
“This could explain many phenomena…” Teacher Tian spoke up, “For instance, the discussions about spiritual fields and spiritual veins in this secret method actually provide a better cultivation environment for spiritual plants…”
“For example, why spiritual plants don’t seem to care much about other material conditions aside from the spiritual energy—this is similar to us humans, who can also survive without food after cultivation.”
“On the other hand, it explains why we’ve only managed to cultivate pea sprouts as a spiritual plant.”
Teacher Tian continued:
“First, this cultivation process itself is a journey. For instance, we need to at least circulate a Great Cycle for spiritual energy to gather in the dantian, while those plants might need several different combinations of spiritual wood thunder to generate a spiritual energy structure in their cells. Pea sprouts, being able to change with just one type of spiritual wood thunder, are probably quite rare.”
“Second, perhaps the concentration of spiritual energy in our nursing home isn’t sufficient.”
“Actually, there’s one more thing: some plants might not be able to grow into spiritual plants at all,” Old Bai interjected. “This is akin to the portion of humanity that lacks the aptitude.”
“I just don’t know how to verify this hypothesis…” Tang Lingwu spoke up from the side.
“There is a way, though. The concentration of spiritual energy is limited by the Ling Mountain Law, and we can’t enhance it,” Zheng Fa pondered for a moment and said, “But we can simulate the changes in the magnetic field in a laboratory.”
As soon as he said this, the others understood.
“Right!” Teacher Tian nodded. “As long as we know how the magnetic field changes on the ground during the twenty-four solar terms… then we can simulate it.”
However, Old Bai wasn’t very optimistic.
“Spiritual energy requires time to cultivate… it’s hard to expect effective results from a short-term simulation…”
Zheng Fa felt a bit helpless.
At that moment, he really missed that big bell…
“If it works, at least we can verify Zheng Fa’s idea about the connection between spiritual wood thunder and the twenty-four solar terms,” Teacher Tian shook his head. “Even if we can’t produce spiritual plants, we can still observe the changes in spiritual energy.”
“I think we shouldn’t have such high expectations…” Old Bai still opposed. “We’ve been farming for almost half a year now, and if we’re talking about solar terms, we’ve probably gone through more than a dozen, yet we haven’t seen any spiritual plants.”
That was a fair point.
Zheng Fa had never been very confident about this idea, and Old Bai’s words made him feel there was some truth to it.
Seeing everyone fall silent, Old Bai seemed to realize he had dampened the mood and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to try, but I think if this theory is correct, we probably won’t be able to cultivate any spiritual plants in the short term…”
“Cultivation takes time…”
He glanced at Zheng Fa and added, “Have you encountered something?”
Zheng Fa was taken aback; he then understood why the usually optimistic Old Bai would say such things.
To be honest, the current situation was putting a lot of pressure on Jiushan Sect. Tongming Shangren might not truly alleviate the crisis facing Jiushan Sect—he naturally wanted to take control of the Tianbei Realm.
His urgency regarding spiritual wood thunder was indeed growing.
Old Bai continued, “We still need to conduct experiments, but what I mean is, don’t hold too much hope…”
Suddenly, Teacher Tian also understood: “Yes, spiritual plants need time to grow, and they also require the corresponding concentration of spiritual energy. More importantly, not every type of plant can be cultivated into a spiritual plant…”
Zheng Fa nodded gently, knowing this was Old Bai’s reminder.
“But how do we know the strength of the electromagnetic field on the ground during the solar terms?” Tang Lingwu raised an important question.
Zheng Fa was taken aback; indeed—this data was so obscure that it didn’t even need to be looked up…
Beside them, Tang Muda thought for a moment and suddenly said, “I might have a way to figure this out!”
**Chapter 246: Experimental Techniques**
He said this quite loudly.
Teacher Tian shot him a glance, but there was still a hint of a smile in her eyes. She thought for a moment and said, “How about we each make a request?”
“That’s a good idea!”
Old Bai agreed.
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said, “Something easy.”
He still wanted everyone to relax a bit.
Tang Lingwu also pondered for a while and said, “Something that doesn’t require much brainpower.”
It was clear that she was genuinely tired after these past few days.
Old Bai chuckled, “Something domestic! I don’t want to hear any foreign languages!”
Teacher Tian thought for a moment and said, “Then something related to cultivation… more relatable.”
Everyone turned their gaze to Tang Muda, who pursed his lips and said with a serious face, “Lovers should not have a good death…”
“…”
In the end, everyone looked at the familiar figure of Jiu Shu on the screen and felt that what they had been thinking before didn’t seem to match this at all.
But as they watched, it actually looked quite good…
Everyone’s mood lightened.
Zheng Fa glanced at Tang Lingwu and found her completely absorbed in the scene, feeling quite satisfied.
Old Bai suddenly asked Tang Muda, “Muda, I heard before that you have some tricks for conducting experiments… with a high success rate.”
Teacher Tian nodded in agreement, looking at Tang Muda with a hint of envy.
Zheng Fa also turned to look at Tang Muda.
Only after starting to study spiritual wood thunder did he realize that experiments—especially agricultural ones—were heavily reliant on luck, and if there were any techniques, he would be eager to learn.
Tang Muda was slightly taken aback, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his face.
It seemed he had something he found hard to say.
Seeing him like this, Zheng Fa said, “If you don’t want to share, that’s fine too.”
Tang Muda shook his head and smiled, “Well… how should I put it? It’s not really a secret, it’s just… a bit embarrassing in front of you all.”
“Embarrassing?”
Tang Muda explained, “My experimental technique is—him!”
He pointed at Jiu Shu on the screen.
“Ah?”
“When I first went abroad, I was unfamiliar with the place,” Tang Muda continued. “There was a time when I struggled, unable to find work or resources—at that time, I heard about a teacher who really liked our country’s traditional culture. So, I bought a costume just like the one in this movie and told him I could perform rituals! It would increase the success rate of experiments.”
“Are you scamming people?” Old Bai realized.
Tang Muda laughed, “Not really; they’re not fools. They just thought I was a bit interesting and gave me a chance, accepting me as a doctoral student.”
“Later, as we got to know each other better and joked around, this rumor spread,” Tang Muda shook his head. “Sometimes, to lighten the mood, I’d wear that outfit and put on a show… it was just for fun.”
He summarized, “In research, all success comes from perseverance; you can’t rush it. There’s no real trick.”
This Tang Muda…
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