Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 555 Chaotic Japan, Spiritual Fundamental Energy

Zheng Fa did want to talk to Fusangmu.

If one wishes to attain immortality, one must inevitably encounter the Fusang Tree.

The Jade Dragon Lord said a lot, but Zheng Fa summarized it in his heart into just one sentence: "The Loose Immortal is the only true self."

The process of attaining immortality through cultivation proves this point:
The first priority is to annihilate the inner demons of all beings and transcend them from all realms.

Secondly, one must be completely unified within oneself.

As for the rest, they are minor details.

Senior Sister Zhang could see clearly that the Fusang Tree and Zheng Fa were never one.

Without dealing with the Fusang tree, Zheng Fa would never have been able to pursue that one and only.

He glanced at the Fusang tree. This spiritual root had no leaves and a rough appearance, showing no sign of the high status that the Jade Dragon Lord had mentioned.

But Zheng Fa cares a lot about this.

He has always been self-aware, knowing that his rapid progress is due to a multitude of factors, including opportunity, temperament, and mindset, none of which can be lacking.

But to be honest, throughout history, there have been countless people who have had great opportunities, great perseverance, and great wisdom.

Even if he were placed among them, he probably wouldn't stand out too much.

Leaving aside others, let's just talk about Lu Yao—how can your hundred years of arduous cultivation compare to someone else's three lifetimes of accumulation?

Therefore, if you want your cultivation to keep up with the changes in the Xuanwei Realm, you can't waste any opportunity.

It should be noted that the Jade Dragon Lord asserted that the Fusang Wood might even be of a higher rank than the Dragon Ancestor.

If one can truly integrate it into oneself and transform it into one's foundation, it will be of great significance to Zheng Fa and the Jiushan Sect.

To fuse with the Fusang wood, one must understand the condition of this spiritual root in order to find a way. Ideally, one should be able to communicate with the Fusang wood.

comminicate……

Zheng Fa looked at the Fusang tree with a hint of helplessness in his eyes. The Fusang tree seemed to sense something as well, its branches trembling slightly as if it were innocent.

In the past few days, he has been using his divine soul to nurture the Fusang tree, trying to establish a bond with this spiritual root, which was also suggested by the Jade Dragon Lord.

Simply put, it means treating the other party as a magical artifact to refine.

This idea is indeed the right one; at least, most cultivators in the Xuanwei realm would probably do the same in this situation.

Therefore, he spent several days and nights staring at this thing in the nursing home, and what was the result?

My head hurts!
……

"You mean, the Fusang tree is reacting to your soul, but in a very chaotic way?"

After understanding what Zheng Fa was doing, Old Man Bai also found it interesting and asked with great interest.

They were sitting by the landscaped lake in the front yard of the nursing home. There were rattan chairs by the lake, and Tang Lingwu and her group were sitting in one of them, along with some scholars from the nursing home.

Over the years, this scene has happened countless times.

It's not that we always talk about cultivation; most of the time, we just chat about the situation in the confederation, the changes in the research institute, and some interesting research.

The people who come are uncertain, but Zheng Fa and his group will always be there.

Speaking of which, the Confederation Research Institute has been recruiting new students in batches—decades have passed since the Confederation was founded.

Time flies, and when Zheng Fa looked at Old Man Bai and the others, he felt that they hadn't changed much. Xiao Lingwu's face was still a little chubby, full of collagen, and her eyes were clear and pure, just like when they first met.

Even their personality hasn't changed much.

In recent years, people have gradually stopped coming down the mountain. They spend more time cultivating and researching, feeling as if a day in the mountains is equivalent to a thousand years in the world.

Even the old man with the white hair who loved to show off in front of people has been going down the mountain less and less, mostly for official business.

Regarding this, Old Man Bai privately lamented to Zheng Fa: Every time he went down the mountain, he made a big fuss. Those old friends and relatives, if they had no chance, would have already returned to the earth, leaving only sorrow. If they had a chance, their attitude would be both attentive and distant. At first it was okay, but later it felt meaningless.

On the contrary, the relationships among the people in the nursing home have become increasingly close.

In this group of people, Zheng Fa could clearly see why cultivators valued fellow cultivators so much—as time passed, the ties of the mortal world would slowly break.

Therefore, even without discussing cultivation, Zheng Fa and his companions would still hold regular gatherings, primarily to alleviate the loneliness on their cultivation journey.

"What are you thinking about?"

Old Man Bai was a little puzzled when he saw that he didn't speak.

"Teacher Bai, you're going into seclusion this month, right? Are you confident?"

The old man smirked and said arrogantly, "Do you know what the fortune teller says?"

"How to say?"

"I am destined to achieve great things later in life!"

A late bloomer?

"The fortune teller you mentioned..." Zheng Fa glanced at Tang Mu.

“It’s me.” Tang Mudao nodded, then added, “I was just kidding.”

The old man blinked: "...Fake?"

“Really.” Tang Mudao chuckled. “Your fate doesn’t need to be calculated. It’s just that you met Zheng Fa too late. If you had met Zheng Fa earlier, you would have been a young hero.”

"...That makes a lot of sense."

"Furthermore, considering your previous qualifications, it's hard to say whether you're destined for greatness, but you're definitely a late bloomer."

"You just reached the Nascent Soul stage too!"

The only thing that hasn't changed about Old Man Bai and the others is their appearance, but their cultivation has improved considerably over the years:

Tang Lingwu has the best aptitude. She has no shortage of spiritual materials and spiritual energy in the modern world, and she has just recently advanced to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Old Man Bai is still in the late stage of the Golden Core realm, but his cultivation is profound, and he will soon reach the Nascent Soul stage.

Teacher Tian is in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Tang Mudao was also in the early stage of Nascent Soul, half a year earlier than Old Man Bai—after all, Old Man Bai had been delayed for a while due to his aptitude.

Even among the many scholars trained by the nursing home, two of the most qualified have already achieved Nascent Soul stage.

There are eight hundred more at the Golden Core stage—after all, they are the essence of a world, with extremely high knowledge and cultivation. As long as they solve the problems of aptitude and spiritual materials, their cultivation will be no slower than that of the Nine Mountains Sect disciples. Given time, they might even surpass the Nine Mountains Sect.

Seeing the old man muttering something incomprehensible like "Don't bully the poor and old," the air in the nursing home was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Zheng Fa tapped his right index finger lightly on the rattan chair, knowing that these people were deliberately trying to amuse him, and shook his head, saying:
"This hibiscus tree seems to have sentience, but it's better if it doesn't."

"The last time I communicated with it, although I didn't understand what it was trying to express, the two of us got along fairly well. The next time, it was like this thing didn't recognize me."

"forgetful?"

“Hmm.” Zheng Fa nodded. “That’s fine, but it seems to have a bit of a split personality.”

"Schizophrenia?"

"Sometimes, the mind of this Fusang tree seems to be that of an unparalleled demon, shouting and killing me."

"Sometimes, this thing is like a wise and sage, with a mysterious aura, saying that he wants to enlighten me, but he himself is a lunatic!"

Everyone was speechless. Being enlightened by a lunatic was no different from going to see a doctor for hair loss and getting a bald spot.
The situation with Fusang Wood and the Trapped Immortal Sword is not quite the same.

Despite its seemingly madness, the Immortal Sword can still communicate and even has a clear consciousness—simply put, it knows it's sick.

Zheng Fa suspected that the Fusang tree itself didn't even know what it was doing.

"But this thing has an extremely high status. The longer I'm in contact with it, the more I'm affected. My soul feels like it's being torn apart."

"What should I do?"

Old Man Bai couldn't help but look at Teacher Tian, ​​since the hibiscus tree seemed to be a plant, and Teacher Tian was more of a professional in this area.

But Teacher Tian frowned, seemingly finding the hibiscus tree troublesome as well.

Zheng Fa also discovered this problem in the Xuanwei Realm, and even the Jade Dragon Lord didn't have a good solution, since the Fusang Wood was essentially stronger than the Jade Dragon Lord.

Zheng Fa was at the Gesang nursing home because he wanted to change the experimental environment, control variables, and see if soul communication could be effective.

It seems unlikely now. "Teacher Tian, ​​I have an idea."

Before Teacher Tian could speak, Zheng Fa proposed an idea.

"Ok?"

"I'm wondering if treating hibiscus as an ordinary plant would be effective."

"Ordinary plant?"

"Yes, the Fusang tree is a spiritual root and has intelligence, but now it seems that it is better not to have it."

"You mean to explore the biological instincts of the Fusang tree?"

Zheng Fa nodded slightly: "Just like people have unconscious subconsciousness, the consciousness on the surface of the Fusang tree is chaotic, but its instincts as a plant should still exist, otherwise it cannot be called a living thing."

Teacher Tian's eyes lit up: "So, it's indeed possible to bypass the divine soul and study the Fusang tree—and even try many experiments related to plant consciousness."

"I lack knowledge about plant experiments, so I'll have to ask Professor Tian and the College of Agriculture for help in this regard."

Seeing Professor Tian and several botanists from the agricultural college nod, Zheng Fa then looked at the hibiscus tree beside him—

Since you don't understand metaphysics, I'll just say I know a little bit about science.

……

In the preaching hall, Zheng Fa sat on the platform and preached again.

The preacher was still him, but the listeners had changed considerably.

The first group of scholars who heard the teachings have already gone to spiritual centers around the world to preside over laboratories.

Those who remained in the lecture hall were all newly recruited students in recent years. Although the people had changed, their gazes toward Zheng Fa had become even more fervent.

In recent years, the trend of cultivating Taoism has become increasingly popular, and the research institute has gradually begun to influence all walks of life. Although Zheng Fa rarely leaves Hongshan, his status has become increasingly unapproachable.

The most recent batches of students have grown up hearing the name Zheng Fa and worship him as a god.

They were much more fervent than the scholars before them.

As Zheng Fa spoke of the "Huang Ting Jing," he sensed the thoughts of these people and felt somewhat helpless—this was not something he did intentionally, and he didn't even think it was particularly good, but the accumulated influence was beyond his control.

In fact, his purpose in preaching, besides cultivating students, was more about perfecting the "Huang Ting Jing".

Over the years, the Huangting Jing has undergone at least a million revisions, and even major version iterations have numbered in the thousands.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to impress Lord Shuyulong.

This time, the preaching hall was filled with more people and equipment than usual.

A hibiscus tree stands beside Zheng Fa, and various testing instruments are mounted on the platform.

The simplest are temperature sensors, optical sensors, and so on.

There are also devices for collecting air components, such as aura measuring instruments.

There were even cameras recording the changes in the runes surrounding the Fusang tree...

A variety of instruments, hundreds of them, surrounded the Fusang tree, not missing any changes in its spiritual root.

This is one of the various experiments conducted on the hibiscus tree, and it is also the most promising one.

The various data and materials collected here will be processed in the laboratory and then sent to the back of Hongshan Mountain.

In a cave behind Hongshan Mountain, Tang Lingwu looked at the dozens of screens in front of her and asked a staff member beside her, "Any results yet?"

"Yes, Heluo has already provided an analysis."

Tang Lingwu nodded gently.

Heluo is a supercomputer designed by the research institute itself—powered by external alchemy and based on the Nine Chapters of the Alchemy, with everything from the operating system written in-house.

Even the various key components were obtained by the academy through the transformation of spiritual materials.

In this way, compared to the previous supercomputers, Heluo has an extremely strong ability to analyze knowledge of immortality, and its computing performance is far superior.

Right now, Zheng Fa can even preach while waiting for Tang Lingwu to provide real-time analysis from the back mountain.

The Heluo Supercomputing System was not a task assigned by Zheng Fa; rather, it was something that Tang Lingwu and her team created themselves.

Xuanwei's Nine Chapters Calculation Array and the modern Heluo Supercomputing System, although both are based on the Nine Chapters Calculation Symbols, are actually quite different—one is more inclined towards array formations, while the other is based on the modern supercomputing architecture. Even their areas of expertise are significantly different.

Although the basic knowledge of the modern world and the Nine Mountains Realm is becoming increasingly similar, the different people have ultimately led to different outcomes.

Zheng Fa was also happy to see this happen. If the two sides were exactly the same, then there would be no need for the Confederation Research Institute in the modern world.

Tang Lingwu tapped her finger on the screen, looking at the analysis file.

"The hibiscus tree is sensitive to changes in the environment and the emergence of life forms."

"But its most intense reaction occurs when the dean is lecturing."

Tang Lingwu paused and looked at the chart beside her.

As the document states, the hibiscus tree reacted most strongly when Zheng Fa was explaining the *Huang Ting Jing*:
The temperature curve rises and falls erratically, forming steep mountain peaks.

Along with it, the optical sensor also transmitted a similar record.

Tang Lingwu flipped through the records and began to transmit her voice to Zheng Fa.

“When you were explaining the ‘Red Sky Jade Book,’ the Fusang tree was most active and its changes were most regular.”

In the preaching hall, Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

This is in line with expectations.

After all, the Fusang Tree and Haori Mountain are closely connected, and the "Red Cloud Jade Book" is the most fundamental cultivation method of Haori Mountain.

It reacts to it, which is perfectly normal.

"Also, it will react if you practice yang-type spells, especially fire spells."

This was not unexpected.

Fusang wood is inherently a highly yang spiritual root, and it excels in fire magic.

Zheng Fa felt somewhat disappointed—not that there were no results, but that at first glance, these results seemed to offer no help in fusing the Fusang wood.

Then, Tang Lingwu's voice transmission seemed somewhat puzzled: "Besides that, there is another very peculiar phenomenon."

"what?"

"It seems to react particularly strongly to a few words, more so than ever before."

"How many words?"

Zheng Fa perked up and quickly asked, "What character?"

"land."

"land……"

Zheng Fa frowned. Was this related to Lu Yao?

"Nine."

"Nine……"

“Radiance”.

"Yao?"

Zheng Fa paused, looked at the Fusang tree, and suddenly spoke: "Nine Luminaries Heaven".

"Fusang didn't react at all, no, she reacted very strongly!"

In the telepathic transmission, Tang Lingwu's voice was very excited.

"I saw."

Beside Zheng Fa, the hibiscus tree suddenly shone brightly, its branches swaying and shooting upwards, almost breaking through the roof of the preaching hall, as if it were about to fly away.

(End of this chapter)