Chapter 427
In the future, it might be possible to share some insights with the outside world, allowing the disciples of Jiushan to broaden their horizons.
He pondered for a moment before entering the forum again.
As soon as he logged in, he noticed someone had sent him a private message from the backend. To his surprise, the sender was none other than the previous hater of Zheng Fa—the fan from Tianhe.
This person was far more stubborn than he was, having engaged in a fierce battle in the threads. However, ultimately, he was outnumbered and likely sought Zheng Fa out now for some camaraderie.
"Dao friend, it's so hard to speak the truth in this forum!"
Zheng Fa chuckled lightly, feeling the need to defend those disciples: "They don't mean any harm."
While he had some concerns about the thoughts of these disciples, he also understood that it was a form of respect they held for him...
"I know! Sigh, this place is actually quite good. You can speak your mind, and no one knows who anyone is." The other person replied, adding, "Usually, I'm constrained by... I don't dare say much, but with this forum, I can say whatever I want. It's quite liberating."
No wonder you're so chatty.
But this was also one of the reasons he insisted on remaining anonymous.
Once you put on a disguise, who knows if the netizens are human or demon? It’s not like you can just say whatever you want.
As long as it’s not too anti-establishment or anti-human, he wouldn’t interfere.
Unexpectedly, the other person seemed to have found a kindred spirit and sent another message: "Actually, Zheng... the Sect Leader is really great. Not to mention anything else, this forum is quite nice."
The tone of this person's comment about him had a somewhat condescending air.
"Too bad there’s only one such forum..." the person lamented, "I can only hang around here."
No wonder so many people are criticizing you, yet you’re still tirelessly surfing the web.
However, the atmosphere in the Jiushan forum was still relatively good; after all, it was still somewhat niche, and such group attacks had only happened once so far.
So, it seemed like the victims were just the two of them...
No wonder this person felt so close to him.
"Do you also admire the Tianhe Zunzhang?"
Seeing that he hadn’t replied, the other person changed the subject, clearly eager for online friendship...
"The Tianhe Zunzhang deserves the respect of the world."
Zheng Fa replied. He didn’t know enough about that period of history to say whether he liked the Tianhe Zunzhang or not.
But the Zunzhang's achievements and some of his philosophies were certainly worthy of respect.
"Exactly!" The person seemed delighted that Zheng Fa finally responded. "The world doesn’t understand the Tianhe Zunzhang; the current evaluations of him don’t even reflect a third of his accomplishments!"
This person was indeed a fan of Tianhe.
Zheng Fa replied, "So, Dao friend, you know quite a bit about him?"
"I wouldn’t say I know everything, but I know more than most."
Xie Qingxue withdrew her consciousness from the Tongjian and turned to see Yan Wushuang looking puzzled.
"What’s wrong?"
"Senior Sister... aren’t you angry anymore?"
Xie Qingxue snorted lightly and said, "The world is ignorant; it’s not worth my anger. Why should I be upset?"
"Then what about you now…"
"There are still some clear-headed and humble people in the Jiushan realm."
After saying that, Xie Qingxue waved her hand at Yan Wushuang and buried herself back into the Tongjian, clearly uninterested in her junior brother.
As soon as she entered the forum, she saw a message from Zheng Fa:
"I’m very interested in the Tianhe Zunzhang but don’t know much about him. Why don’t you tell me about it?"
Xie Qingxue hesitated for a moment before replying:
"I don’t know much else... but when it comes to the Tianhe Sword Dao, it’s far stronger than what the world thinks—no, a hundred times stronger!"
Zheng Fa was taken aback.
He had sensed something before, but now he was even more certain—this person didn’t seem to be a disciple of Jiushan.
Objectively speaking, Jiushan disciples didn’t have this level of insight.
There was only one copy of the Tongjian that had leaked...
Yan Wushuang?
Yan Wushuang wasn’t this chatty...
Could it be other disciples from the Tianhe Sect?
He had never been to the Taishang Dao’s base and didn’t know how many people had come from there; all he knew were Yan Wushuang and that Xie Qingxue.
His curiosity grew, and he asked, "What was the original Tianhe Sword Dao like?"
"…The original Tianhe Sword Dao was the ancestor of all sword arts. Before the Tianhe Zunzhang, swords were merely common tools, but after him, the sword art became a great path."
This person was revealing quite a bit of information.
He continued, "Why was it able to achieve this?"
"Because the Tianhe Sword Dao is not just a set of sword techniques; it encompasses everything, changing endlessly, even allowing one sword to give rise to myriad laws—this is just the beginning."
"Change is the essence of the Tianhe Sword Dao!"
"The world speaks of sword arts, only looking at the sword and not the path, which is like seeing only a leaf and missing the forest."
"The current method of sword energy transforming into a rainbow is merely a minor path."
That was quite a bold statement.
The sword energy transforming into a rainbow was the Tianhe Sect's signature skill, renowned for its immense power and subtlety.
"Is it really that powerful?"
"Of course!" The person seemed worried Zheng Fa wouldn’t believe him and added, "The texts I’ve read are absolutely true!"
At this point, Zheng Fa was already beginning to suspect the identity of this person and asked:
"What does the true Tianhe Sword Dao entail?"
But the other side seemed to realize something. After a long pause, they replied, "I don’t know much more; I can only say it relates to the strongest Golden Core methods throughout history..."
And then there was no further response.
Xie Qingxue stared at Yan Wushuang, frowning as she asked, "Are you saying that this Tongjian, aside from giving it to you, Zheng Fa hasn’t shared it with anyone else?"
"No!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Qingxue quickly pressed, "Who else knows about your possession of the Tongjian?"
Yan Wushuang thought for a moment and said, "At that time, it should have only been me and Zheng Fa; he’s not one to gossip."
"That’s a relief..." Xie Qingxue nodded slightly. "If this person isn’t Zheng Fa, he probably wouldn’t guess who I am."
"What if he is Zheng Fa?"
"If he is Zheng Fa... then shouldn’t he be helping others criticize me?" Xie Qingxue shot him a glare. "Those disciples all say this person must be someone dissatisfied with Zheng Fa in the Jiushan Sect!"
Yan Wushuang was taken aback and nodded.
"Senior Sister, you didn’t expose any secrets of the sect, did you?"
Yan Wushuang suddenly widened his eyes and asked, feeling a surge of joy. "Senior Sister, you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, are you also spilling the beans?"
"Do I look like you?" Xie Qingxue snorted and said, "I just don’t want to say too much and expose my identity."
"This topic is hard to continue."
She glanced at the Tongjian and confidently said, "These few sentences aren’t secrets in the sect, are they?"
"Who could deduce our sect’s ultimate techniques from these few words?"
"By the way, if anyone asks in the future, just say this person is you."
"…Senior Sister?"
"The transformation of the divine cannot be insulted lightly..." Xie Qingxue fixed her gaze on Yan Wushuang and said, "With so many people criticizing me, you wouldn’t want me to storm into the Jiushan realm, would you?"
At first, Yan Wushuang thought there was some logic to it, but then he realized... so I can be criticized, but not her?
Xie Qingxue dismissed her junior brother and resumed playing with the Tongjian, not particularly concerned about the few words exchanged earlier—who could really deduce the Nine Turns Golden Core method from it?
If that were the case, the Tianhe Sect would have been useless all these years.
All her ancestors had lived in vain!
...
Zheng Fa set down the Zao Hua Yu Die, not particularly worried about the Tongjian falling into Xie Qingxue's hands.
When he initially gave it to Yan Wushuang, he had considered this risk and thus set up a coded channel.
From Xie Qingxue's enthusiasm for this thing, it seemed the Tongjian indeed had some market potential; it might even be used to generate revenue...
Recently, the idea of earning spirit stones had been circling in his mind.
Sister Zhang made a valid point; the Jiushan realm’s connection to the world required even more resources.
The Jiushan Sect's model must consume more than other sects.
Aside from self-development, they could only generate revenue.
Currently, Zheng Fa was pinning his hopes on the Golden Core project and the spirit material manufacturing that stemmed from it.
He stepped toward the laboratory.
Madam Xuanhua was leading the disciples of the Golden Core project in various external alchemy preparations—
On one hand, they aimed to refine simplified external elixirs.
With the Jiushan realm connecting the immortal and mortal worlds, they needed to promote new crops to develop the mortal realm.
On the other hand, they needed to provide sufficient energy.
The demand for simplified external elixirs was immense.
On the other hand, as Zheng Fa had thought, Madam Xuanhua was now also focusing on spirit material refinement.
She seemed eager to find Zheng Fa, and upon seeing him, said, "Sect Leader, I have an idea."
"What is it?"
Madam Xuanhua rummaged through her storage bag and pulled out a cloud-like substance.
"What is this?"
"This is called Shenlongxi, and it’s also a type of spirit material."
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