Chapter 288
The sound of the bell rang out from the medicinal garden, echoing throughout the heavenly palace, and then drifting down to the mortal realm.
“Look!”
Suddenly, Xiao Qing heard a series of gasps behind her. She frowned, feeling a bit annoyed—making noise in the temple was rather disrespectful to Lord Thunder!
But when she turned around, her mouth fell open in astonishment.
In the sky, a colossal ethereal figure appeared, its face obscured, holding a golden bell that rang out with a resounding chime.
With each toll, the birds in the sky scattered in fright, the clouds dissipated, and beams of light began to shine from all directions, converging beneath the feet of that divine figure.
Xiao Qing looked up and saw a beam of light shining down from the top of her own temple.
Within that beam, the rice seeds on the offering table seemed to be drawn by some unseen force, slowly rising into the air and falling into the golden bell.
“Lord Thunder…”
Xiao Qing stood there in a daze, finally recognizing the identity of the divine figure, tears streaming down her cheeks without her knowing why.
The crowd also knelt to the ground.
Not just the people of Ban Mountain City, but all mortals bowed their heads to the heavens.
Many, many people were in tears…
For them, it represented the suffering of countless generations, the hopes of many for the divine…
Today, they finally saw hope, tangible and real.
…
Zheng Fa looked at the dozens of new varieties of rice in the medicinal garden, shaking his head as he turned to the flying sword, a hint of admiration in his eyes.
The Sun-Moon Bell had sustained some damage in its battle with the flying sword, but more importantly, it had revealed the secrets of the medicinal garden to Zheng Fa—
He had always wondered where the spiritual plant seeds in this garden came from, how they seemed inexhaustible.
But with his previous abilities, he could never see through it.
However, during the battle between the Sun-Moon Bell and the flying sword, things changed. Perhaps it was unable to hide its secrets, and Zheng Fa discovered that the Sun-Moon Bell was actually collecting spiritual plants from the mortal realm at regular intervals!
The previous divine civilization… was likely built upon the harvesting of the Sun-Moon Bell.
(End of this chapter)
**Chapter 268: Breeding Seeds**
The tips of the flying immortal brushes touched the stamens of each rice plant, collecting the pollen before transferring it to the pistils of another rice plant.
Zheng Fa nodded.
The sun and moon on the Sun-Moon Bell began to rotate once more.
In the blink of an eye, a year passed in the rice fields.
The rice plants matured, and Senior Sister Zhang collected the seeds from these plants to replant in the fields.
In the medicinal garden, the expressions of Qian Zhenren and the others were somewhat dazed.
It seemed they finally understood what Zheng Fa and the others were doing.
This breeding experiment was, in essence, no different from modern practices.
First, they used various collected wild rice as parent plants, crossbreeding them to cultivate the first generation of offspring.
From the first generation, they selected seeds that were plump and had higher yields, continuing generations of self-pollination, backcrossing, and selection.
Until they found the most stable and suitable rice variety for the Jiushan Realm.
In principle, there was no difference from modern methods.
But with the Sun-Moon Bell, it became far more convenient.
It’s worth noting that cultivating a new rice variety in modern times could take decades.
Yet at this moment, Zheng Fa had completed this breeding in just a little over ten days of effort.
In the rice field, only one variety of rice remained.
The rice ears were heavy, even bending the stalks and leaves of the plants.
Qian Zhenren stared at this scene in bewilderment, rubbing his eyes.
He glanced at Zheng Fa, seemingly unable to resist walking toward the rice field.
Zheng Fa did not stop him; this was not just about breeding, but also an education for Qian Zhenren and the others—at the very least, they needed to understand the value of those agricultural texts.
“This…” Qian Zhenren held the plump rice grains, as if trying to confirm whether this scene was real.
After all, he had truly examined the records on breeding from the Qianhe Sect.
Cultivators live long lives and often witness the birth of new varieties—but almost no one had considered the fundamental principles behind it.
Thus, Qian Zhenren understood the significance of this—having a stable method for cultivating new varieties was a secret technique that had been out of reach for the Qianhe Sect!
What Zheng Fa accomplished was nearly unprecedented in the Xuanwei Realm…
Most importantly…
“So simple?”
Recalling the operations of Zheng Fa and Zhang Wuyi just moments ago, he seemed to grasp it, yet still found it hard to believe.
“Qian Zhenren, if you’ve understood those few books, some things won’t be difficult,” Zheng Fa said softly.
“Those few books?”
Qian Zhenren was taken aback, looking into Zheng Fa’s eyes.
Zheng Fa smiled and said, “Of course, this is just the simplest application of the knowledge in those books… If we delve deeper, what we can achieve will naturally be much more.”
Breeding this rice variety was indeed quite basic.
Zheng Fa’s next goal was to cultivate spiritual grains suitable for the Jiushan Realm…
“More…”
Qian Zhenren repeated in a daze.
…
On the way back, Qian Zhenren remained silent for a long time.
It seemed he was deep in thought.
The other disciples were also quiet.
Finally, Qian Zhenren spoke, “If any of you wish to leave the Jiushan Realm, let me know, and I will seek Zheng Zhenren’s permission.”
“... Master?”
“But for those who choose to stay in the Jiushan Realm, there’s no need to mention any distinctions between insiders and outsiders, nor should you think of holding back,” Qian Zhenren said to several disciples. “As Zheng Zhenren said, today is merely a small trial of the knowledge in those books.”
“Ask yourselves, in the past at the Qianhe Sect, would anyone have so easily taught you such techniques?”
“…”
“In the face of such techniques, what am I, and what are you? What is even the Qianhe Sect?” Qian Zhenren’s tone grew increasingly serious. “I know you’ve faced some grievances; if you have any complaints, tell me, and I will speak to Zheng Zhenren.”
The disciple who had previously suggested holding back stammered, “Master…”
“I’m not forcing you…” Seeing the unease on his disciples’ faces, Qian Zhenren continued, “Zheng Zhenren has asked us to teach agricultural knowledge to our disciples, but the knowledge he has given us is far more profound than that of the Qianhe Sect.”
“Is this greed for our secret techniques?”
“…”
“This is an opportunity for us! If we become teachers to those disciples, will we still be treated as outsiders?”
“If you wish to stay, then do not hide anything…”
Seeing that they seemed to understand, Qian Zhenren nodded, “Go back and study those few books more. If you don’t understand something, come to me. If I don’t know, I’ll ask Zheng Zhenren…”
Upon hearing their master say this, all the disciples nodded in agreement.
As they left Qian Zhenren’s residence, they began to whisper among themselves:
“This… why do I feel like our master has become a different person?”
“Exactly, before, our master was always so calculating; how has he become so selfless? It doesn’t even seem like him anymore.”
“…” A female disciple remarked, “I feel like our master is now more like Zheng Zhenren.”
Hearing this, everyone began to recall and couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
…
Looking at the rice field before them, Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang both wore smiles.
“The sect leader sent word that there are over three hundred thousand mortals preparing to migrate to the Jiushan Realm…” Senior Sister Zhang said, “I was worried about how to support these people.”
“Three hundred thousand isn’t too many,” Zheng Fa pondered, “Considering the previous population under the Jiushan Sect’s rule, those willing to enter the Jiushan Realm probably don’t even make up one percent…”
The Jiushan Realm covers a vast area.
Moreover, although the Xuanwei Realm’s agriculture is relatively backward, the presence of spiritual energy means that food production isn’t too low.
The population previously ruled by the Jiushan Sect was likely around twenty to thirty million…
This is comparable to the current total population of mortals in the Jiushan Realm.
That said, the number of people willing to migrate with the Jiushan Sect is indeed a bit low—
This was not unexpected for Zheng Fa, as the Jiushan Sect had little to boast about in terms of benevolence…
Coupled with the notorious reputation of the Great Freedom Demon Sect, it had only circulated among the immortal sects:
Before entering the immortal sect, Zheng Fa had never even heard of that name.
In an agricultural society, people are often reluctant to leave their homes…
Zheng Fa estimated that among these three hundred thousand, most were likely related to past disciples of the Jiushan Sect.
“Junior brother, you probably only care about two people, right…”
Senior Sister Zhang suddenly said.
Zheng Fa smiled, his expression filled with anticipation—his mother and sister were coming.
(End of this chapter)
**Chapter 269: The New Favorite of the Jiushan Sect**
**Chapter 269: The New Favorite of the Jiushan Sect**
In Jingzhou City.
“Shan’er,” Zheng’s mother called out, “Come here quickly, your brother has received another letter!”
In the courtyard, Zheng Fa’s younger sister, Zheng Shan, dashed outside.
“Miss,” Huang Yu stood at the door, smiling as he looked at her, “Have you finished the assignments the young master gave you?”
“…”
Zheng Shan glanced at the sky outside, her gaze reluctant, as if bidding farewell to her happiness. She lowered her head and slowly walked back into the courtyard.
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