Chapter 622
After a whole morning of lecturing on "Fu Tu Tuo Po" (符图拓扑), Zheng Fa had filled the book with dense annotations, nearly every page marked.
Some notes pointed out that the proofs were not concise or clear enough.
Others highlighted issues with the application of theorems, leading to errors in the simplification of several diagrams, which even the old man Bai had overlooked.
Most importantly, some inferences lacked depth and had room for further exploration.
The previous work on the Nine Mountains' talisman path was, in fact, built upon the combined efforts of Bai, Zheng Fa, and Senior Sister Zhang.
The wisdom of the three was ultimately limited, and many areas were only superficially touched upon.
Now, presenting this material to the group had sparked a flurry of creative ideas among them.
Some of these ideas even enlightened Zheng Fa, igniting a desire within him to delve deeper into research.
There was even a pleasant surprise: among this group, there was no shortage of textbook authors.
When they read "Fu Tu Tuo Po," they unconsciously applied their own writing experiences, pondering how to edit the book and arrange the chapters in a more logical and scientific manner.
Zheng Fa quietly noted these thoughts in his mind.
One could say that after a morning of class, this group might have learned something.
But the one who gained the most was actually Zheng Fa, the teacher.
---
Two months later.
"Does anyone have any questions?"
In the lecture hall, Zheng Fa closed the "Zhen Fa Tong Lu" (阵法通路) in his hands and asked.
Silence filled the room.
Team Leader Yang felt like crying.
She had a million questions!
Because Zheng Fa wanted to quickly cover the material, the pace of the lectures had been rapid over the past two months, and Yang had completely fallen behind.
But she didn’t dare to speak up; she could only work hard in private, yet her limited knowledge kept her increasingly distant from the others.
With so much she didn’t understand, she didn’t even know where to start asking.
It wasn’t just her; she knew that about thirty percent of the people in the lecture hall were struggling to keep up with the Dean's pace.
Yet, whether out of insecurity, fear, or a reluctance to waste the Dean's time, no one dared to speak.
Zheng Fa scanned the crowd, nodded slightly, and said, "Since there are no questions, today’s lecture is over."
Team Leader Yang stood up, cupped her hands in salute to Zheng Fa, her face a mask of worry, thinking to herself that tonight would be another sleepless night.
"Those whose names I call, stay behind."
Yang didn’t even lift her head; in the past, the extra sessions had never included her and her group of 'fools.'
But the next moment, her name echoed in the lecture hall.
Yang shot up, her eyes wide with surprise, seeing that some of the other attendees who were also struggling had been called to stay.
Dazed, she sat back down on the mat, looking at Zheng Fa, her expression still one of disbelief.
"I'll start again from 'Fu Tu Tuo Po' for you all."
Another round?
Just for them?
Yang's heart trembled; she felt the Dean's painstaking efforts, teaching without discrimination.
Her eyes stung with tears, and she quickly perked up her ears to listen.
As Zheng Fa spoke, he glanced at her, surprised: she didn’t understand this?
He drew a question mark in the margins of "Fu Tu Tuo Po," planning to write the derivation process of this section in a more straightforward manner.
A good textbook should be able to explain complex concepts in simple terms.
The depth could be handled by those esteemed professors and academicians.
But simplicity…
Zheng Fa looked at the densely packed question marks on the page, then at the crowd before him, reflecting that every mind has its own utility.
If he hadn’t specifically taught this group, he wouldn’t have realized that within those short three pages of the textbook, there were actually eight unsolved mysteries of the world.
---
Chapter 447: The Formation of the Array, the Evolution of the Jade Tablet
The sun rose from the eastern side of Hongshan, and the dew on the grass reflected tiny shards of light in the sunlight.
Zheng Fa's voice flowed steadily in the lecture hall, like a gentle morning breeze.
The audience sat in complete silence.
Birds perched under the eaves flitted about, yet they too were quiet, seemingly listening intently.
This series of lectures had been ongoing for nearly half a year.
Zheng Fa had covered everything from the textbook, including talisman arrays and the myriad arts of cultivation.
He had also selected five complete sets of Five Elements techniques, detailing everything from Qi training to Golden Core, with utmost precision.
Since Zheng Fa had held extra sessions for Team Leader Yang and others who were initially struggling, most of the attendees now either felt entranced or had a good grasp of the material.
Even Team Leader Yang found herself occasionally drifting off; she lifted her head and stole a glance at Zheng Fa, looking out the window beside her.
The sun was just right outside, and a beam of light streamed through the glass, spilling onto the floor of the lecture hall.
Hmm?
Why did that beam of light seem to flicker, almost like it was blinking?
Such subtle changes might go unnoticed by ordinary people, but Team Leader Yang, now at the second level of Qi training, had keen eyesight.
She focused for a moment and suddenly noticed Zheng Fa glance her way, prompting her to sit up straight and listen attentively.
Zheng Fa chuckled inwardly; Team Leader Yang was quite observant.
If she were outside the window, she would have realized that the flickering light came from the Fusang tree in the sun.
This spiritual root was currently expanding and contracting, as if it were breathing.
As the Fusang tree changed, a gentle warmth surged within Zheng Fa, accompanied by a slight itch.
His physical body was growing stronger with each passing moment, fueled by this indescribable sensation.
---
He had only recently discovered this:
After half a year of lecturing, the Fusang tree had become much more active compared to its initial state.
Perhaps it was due to the small number of listeners or their relative weakness; the changes were particularly subtle.
Even as the host of the Fusang tree, it took Zheng Fa several months to notice a hint of difference.
If he had to quantify this change, he estimated that the Fusang tree had grown by less than one-thousandth over the past six months.
Meanwhile, his physical body had likely strengthened by about ten percent.
At first, he was puzzled, but later he formed a rough hypothesis:
With his understanding of the three paths of Dao fruit, Zheng Fa had gained more insight into the Fusang tree.
The Dao fruit of the Fusang tree seemed to lean more towards the path of the demonic body.
This idea was not without basis; the demon race relied on bloodline inheritance, which aligned with the path of the demonic body.
The Great Freedom Demon Sovereign's "Ten Thousand Demons True Explanation" also followed the path of the body.
The ancient demon sovereign corresponding to the Fusang tree likely had a close connection to the demonic body path.
Thus, the growth of the Fusang tree would feedback into Zheng Fa's physical body, or rather, lead to its evolution.
Zheng Fa was now akin to a special practitioner of the demonic body.
---
With the danger of Haori Mountain looming, Zheng Fa took stock of the situation: in the current Nine Mountains realm, there were only three things capable of dealing with Dao fruit practitioners:
The Qingping Sword, the Fusang tree, and the Qingjing Bamboo.
Combined, these three gave him a bit of confidence against the scattered immortal surnamed Yang from Haori Mountain.
But whether he could withstand a true immortal was something Zheng Fa had no certainty about.
Not to mention that Haori Mountain had three Dao fruits.
Even if he advanced to the Transformation stage, it wouldn’t be of much use.
He still needed to dig deeper into the potential of these three treasures of Dao fruit rank.
Among the three, the Fusang tree and Qingjing Bamboo were both newly sprouted, merely seedlings, far from maturity.
Thus, the strongest was actually the Qingping Sword, yet this treasure had the least room for improvement.
The Qingjing Bamboo was already the weakest and was only growing slowly along with the Nine Mountains realm.
Moreover, it would be difficult for Senior Sister Zhang to wield the Qingjing Bamboo effectively.
The greatest hope lay solely with the Fusang tree.
Zheng Fa had spent half a year lecturing, not only to perfect the textbook but also to find ways to advance the Fusang tree.
The good news was that he seemed to have found the right method.
The bad news was that this little progress was far from enough.
Zheng Fa had a fairly accurate assessment of his and the Fusang tree's strength:
Without the Qingping Sword, relying solely on the Fusang tree, he was likely somewhere between the Dao fruit and the corpse transformation stage:
In simple terms, he could defeat any non-Dao fruit practitioner through the absolute suppression of Dao fruit.
But when facing a true Dao fruit, he would only be on the receiving end—
The Fusang tree was strong, but Zheng Fa was weak.
Whether in terms of magical power, physical body, or spirit, he couldn’t unleash the true power of this thing.
More importantly, this thing had just been born… to put it diplomatically, the future was promising.
Currently, this little progress was far from allowing him to surpass that boundary.
---
Of course, Zheng Fa wouldn’t stake his life on a mere seedling.
As the saying goes, it’s better to create than to buy, and better to buy than to steal.
Just because his Fusang tree was lacking didn’t mean his Xianjian (陷仙剑) was.
By his estimation, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor was at most a true immortal, yet hadn’t they thrived for many years?
Table of Contents
