Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 591 Accounting Between Ancient and Modern Times, Nuwa Creates Humans
"Second brother, don't you value lineage highly?" Tongtian Daoist teased, "How come he's even worth your attention?"

Yuanshi Daoren glanced at him and said calmly, "I don't value one's origins, but rather the destiny bestowed by Heaven. If one possesses the Qi and fortune of Heaven and Earth, one's origins will naturally be good; this is acting in accordance with Heaven."

"That boy..."

Yuanshi's gaze fell on Zheng Fa: "Those who understand the Way of Heaven will naturally have their own destiny."

Zheng Fa was stunned by Yuanshi's gaze, wondering why this Daoist Yuanshi thought so highly of him.

Yuanshi pointed to the light screen behind Zheng Fa and laughed, "Moreover, the clan created by Junior Sister was originally favored by the destiny of heaven and earth."

Zheng Fa pondered to himself that although Yuanshi Daoren was said to have high standards in modern legends, there were quite a few human disciples among the disciples of the Chan Sect, especially the second generation and later.

Simply put, to consider the Primordial One as a racist would be to underestimate him; he was clearly an elitist.

“I think he agrees with me!” Tongtian snorted. “According to him, we need to teach without discrimination and open our gates wide to cultivate more humans, so that they can understand their true nature, increase their wisdom, and thus the Dao can progress. Not to mention, the Dao needs to… iterate, and it is most necessary to break the old and establish the new.”

Yuanshi glanced at him and said coldly, "Destroy the old and establish the new? If there is no distinction between right and wrong, wouldn't that be abandoning good and promoting evil? Which of your disciples is capable of shouldering such a heavy responsibility?"

"Second brother, what's the use if our disciple is cut from the same mold as us?"

"..."

Zheng Fa was completely dumbfounded.

At first, it seemed like they were arguing about themselves, so how did they end up arguing?

But as he listened, he began to understand.

The biggest problem with Yuanshi Tongtian lies in their educational philosophies:
Yuanshi believed that the Way of Heaven should be controlled by the most outstanding group of people, otherwise order would be lost and the world would descend into chaos.

Tongtian is different; he has a broader perspective and is relatively more energetic. He is more willing to give opportunities to those less outstanding races, believing that only in this way can they create different Daoist methods.

From this perspective, Zheng Fa leans more towards Tongtian's ideas—in the Jiushan Sect, what he put the most effort into promoting was actually just four words: educational equity.

On the other hand, Tongtian's ideas are close to... pluralism.

He believed that allowing disciples to develop their strengths was the only way to ensure that they could surpass their teachers, which was true. However, Zheng Fa did not quite agree with the fact that he was almost permissive in the process of training his disciples.

Yuanshi and Tongtian had completely different ideas and couldn't agree on anything. They were about to start arguing, but they stopped because there were guests around.

Yuanshi's expression was ashen, and Tongtian was even more furious. The two of them wouldn't look at each other, both with the backs of their heads turned away from each other. Tongtian seemed to catch a glimpse of Zheng Fa out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly said, "Who do you think is right?"

"..."

Zheng Fa looked as helpless as a child.

When I was a child, some nosy adults in the village would ask some silly questions—like whether I liked my father or my mother more, just like right now.

What does your argument have to do with me?
He looked at the goddess Nuwa, "Your Majesty, please save me!"

To everyone's surprise, the goddess Nuwa seemed quite interested, watching with a smile from the side.

The Supreme Beings and others also looked at him, seemingly waiting for an answer.

This question is bound to offend people no matter how you look at it, so it's better to just say what you truly think:
“I think there’s no problem with taking on many disciples,” Zheng Fa said slowly. “Otherwise, what advantage can the human race have?”

On the issue of popularizing education, Zheng Fa might be more steadfast, or even more radical, than Tong Tian.

Tongtian grinned and laughed.

"But on the other hand, I think that once a certain educational philosophy is established, especially in the early stages of nurturing disciples, one should not be too permissive."

Tongtian's lips curled up again as he looked at Zheng Fa and snorted, "Your answer is rather slippery."

“This is my true thought,” Zheng Fa replied. “In fact, this is also my true approach.”

Seeing his sincerity, Tongtian and the others became curious again: "The real method?"

“This is also my answer to Your Majesty’s third question,” Zheng Fa said, looking at Nuwa.

"The third question?" Tongtian looked at Nuwa and asked, "What question?"

Nuwa smiled and said, "I asked him whether creating humans was right or wrong."

"This question..." Tongtian said in surprise, "is a bit difficult."

Nuwa did not refute, but looked at Zheng Fa with some expectation in her eyes: "But you already have the answer."

Zheng Fa gently shook his head: "It's not an answer, and I can't possibly give you an answer, Your Majesty."

to be honest.

Of the three questions about Goddess Nuwa, the second one, which requires in-depth study, is why it was about the human race.

But the most difficult question to answer is actually the third one.

The right and wrong of creating humans is highly subjective; fundamentally, this issue depends solely on values.

For Zheng Fa, he certainly thought having children was a good thing.

But for Nuwa, the matter was more complicated—most importantly, Zheng Fa had no idea why the First Era had been lost to history.
Nuwa created humans to strengthen the Dao, but in the end, even the primordial world ceased to exist...

He looked at Nuwa and said, "Whether the creation of humans was right or wrong is not for me to judge, but for you, Your Majesty."

"I asked you a question, and you expect me to answer it?" Nuwa frowned slightly, seemingly displeased.

"No, it's just that I can't give you an answer."

Nuwa paused for a moment, but Zheng Fa didn't explain further. He simply pointed his finger at the light screen.

The images on the screen rotated, and suddenly blue sky and white clouds appeared. The camera panned down, revealing a split image.

On one side is a steel forest, with the outlines of skyscrapers reflected in the sky, and the city's neon lights shining brightly.

On one side are the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols, where gods come and go between immortals and mortals, and cultivators shuttle through the clouds.

"This is……"

The five sages were all somewhat curious, but Tongtian, who was quick to speak, simply asked.

“These are the two worlds I inhabit,” Zheng Fa said with a smile. “Your Majesty, my answer lies within them.”

The five saints all stared at the light screen.

To put it simply, this is a documentary.

On the one hand, Zheng Fa knew that he was not a silver-tongued person and could not pull off the sophisticated maneuver of using flowery language.

On the other hand, he knew even better that none of the six people in front of him were people who could be swayed by words.

But he had to try.

Participating in such a major project as procreation can be incredibly beneficial.

That's why he prepared another documentary—simply put, for these six people to watch directly.

Tang Lingwu appeared first, looking slightly nervous as she spoke to the camera: "Since the establishment of the Immortal Alliance, the Alliance Research Institute has recruited 30,000 researchers. This is the headquarters of the Alliance Research Institute."

Nuwa and the others couldn't quite understand what she was saying, but Zheng Fa thoughtfully added subtitles, so the people in the hall didn't seem to have much trouble understanding her. "The Immortal Alliance?" Tongtian looked at Zheng Fa with some curiosity. "Is this your organization?"

Zheng Fa nodded slightly and said, "The Immortal Alliance has not been established for more than a hundred years."

Nuwa and the others became increasingly curious. Of course, they could also see Zheng Fa's thoughts, but what if it was a hundred years?

A century is just a short nap for them.

In the video, Tang Lingwu leads the camera to a classroom in Hongshan.

The classroom was packed with people. Old Man Bai stood on the podium, spittle and talismans flying everywhere, full of passion, seemingly unaware of Tang Lingwu's arrival.

"Students, you don't need to take your books, just listen to me." The old man smirked. "These books are newly compiled, and there may be errors. If what I say is different from what you say, take mine as the standard."

Tongtian laughed heartily: "...This person is quite confident."

Tang Lingwu's weak voice came through, as if she was trying to salvage the situation: "Not every teacher in our research institute is like that."

The six saints didn't mind at all; they just listened attentively to the old man's lecture. With their cultivation levels, there was nothing they couldn't understand.

Yuanshi Daoist nodded slightly and said, "In just over a hundred years, to have such insights, this person is quite talented."

Tongtian nodded slightly: "The idea is novel; he's a promising talent."

Although Old Man Bai's talent for cultivation was lacking, his understanding of the Dao of Talismans was always top-notch. Most importantly, many of his insights were based on modern topological theories, which, while not exactly enlightening for Yuan Shi and the others, were still quite interesting.

Not to mention, Tongtian also used the word "fresh" to describe it—for beings like them, the fact that the lecture content could feel fresh was already quite remarkable.

Tang Lingwu walked through the research institute and recorded many of the institute's teaching or research processes.

Modern research institutes still focus primarily on research—to date, they do not admit undergraduate students, but instead recruit outstanding students from various universities.

Therefore, most students already possess relatively complete scientific literacy before entering graduate school.

To Yuanshi and others, this was even more interesting.

Even the usually taciturn Supreme asked, "Are these people all your newly accepted disciples?"

"Exactly."

The Supreme Lord nodded slightly, his face showing approval, and said, "They are all good."

Yuanshi chimed in, "Quick-witted, insightful, and highly perceptive..."

He paused, then added, "Better than Tongtian's messy disciples."

"Second brother!" Tongtian glared, as if about to retort.

"What? You don't think so?"

Tongtian glanced a few more times at the students discussing animatedly on the screen, then fell silent.

Zheng Fa chuckled and said, "It's not that these disciples are more outstanding than Fellow Daoist Tongtian's disciples, but rather that they have received the appropriate education."

Upon hearing this, Yuanshi glanced at Tongtian again, seemingly disappointed in him.

Zheng Fa also found it interesting. To be honest, he didn't expect these sages to be so genuine. But after thinking about it, he understood. These people were at the top of the food chain and couldn't just do whatever they wanted.
It's just that others can't see them like this.

In the video, Tang Lingwu is also introducing: "With the help of the Confederation Research Institute, the world's per capita food production and per capita electricity generation have far exceeded the needs for survival."

"Today, the Confederate education system is completely free and covers more than 97 percent of the world's population."

Although the Immortal Alliance has not been established for long, it has developed rapidly. Under the suppression of Zheng Fa's absolute military power, it can be said that it has not encountered any obstacles.

With the development of staple foods such as the Jiushan and Lingmai series, and the promotion of external energy, things are progressing almost daily.

The biggest change is actually in the modern world's education system, where universities have become part of basic education, while the Immortal Path Research Institute is the only form of higher education.

"In order to ensure that education is accessible to all," Zheng Fa explained, "this world practices a compulsory education system, where school-age children can enroll without any conditions and even receive a living allowance."

This wasn't Zheng Fa's intention, but rather driven by the interests of the various Confederate states themselves. Under the Confederation's suppression, war had disappeared, but the Confederate states were not united and were still competing—the admission rate of the Confederation Research Institute, the number of immortal talents, and the efficiency of the education system.

Initially, the confederation model was chosen mainly because Zheng Fa was impatient with dealing with mundane affairs, so he allowed each state to retain most of the power.

But now, this model of preserving nationality has given him a small surprise—countries have retained their competitive spirit and are obsessed with education and talent.

The ease of immigration within the Confederation led to fierce competition among nations for various welfare benefits; in short, they were constantly vying for people.

This has led to a rapid improvement in the quality of students at the Confederate Academy over the past fifty years, to the point that even the Primordials were satisfied.

After Tang Lingwu's scene ended, the camera switched to Mu Qingyan's face.

She flew towards an island with her camera, saying, "We're going to Wenqu Island in Taiweiyuan."

"Wenqu Island?" Yuanshi seemed intrigued. "What does that mean?"

Zheng Fa smiled without saying a word. Yuan Shi glanced at him but didn't press the matter, though his expression was somewhat displeased.

"On Wenqu Island, there is the editorial department of 'The Way of Heaven', as well as the textbook publishing house of Jiushan University, the cultivation method compilation office, and the journal editorial departments of various guilds."

Fortunately, Mu Qingyan in the picture answered his question.

"Editor?"

Tongtian suddenly realized.

"This is where the results of Taoist practices are organized."

Zheng Fa explained.

To prove the value of creating humans, frankly speaking, is to prove the human race's contribution to the iteration of Taoist principles.

The modern scenes showcase Zheng Fa's educational philosophy and the talents he has cultivated—the key point being that these talents are all human, and quite young, even those with low cultivation levels.

But in the Nine Mountains Realm, what Zheng Fa wants to showcase is the result of their creation.

"Since the establishment of Wenqu Island," Mu Qingyan continued, "the Nine Mountains Sect has created more than two thousand new cultivation methods, including three that directly lead to the Mahayana stage and seventeen that can be cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage..."

"Designed and manufactured more than 400 new magical artifacts."

"More than eighty kinds of prescriptions have been developed or improved."

"Thirteen different formations were designed."

Upon hearing this, Tongtian suddenly laughed and asked Yuanshi, "Second brother, you have high standards and are skilled in weapon crafting. I imagine your junior disciples are all quite talented and capable."

Yuanshi's face darkened, as if he had guessed what he was going to say.

"But in all these years, I haven't heard of your disciples designing any new magical weapons..."

"Your disciple has it?"

Tongtian also held back.

The hall was eerily quiet.

Those Taoist cultivators sitting at the lower end looked at the light screen, then at Zheng Fa, their heads full of question marks—wasn't this a test for him?
(End of this chapter)