Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 105 - 11 Value

Chapter 105: Chapter 11 Value

Tang Lingwu looked at Zheng Fa, her eyes filled with earnest pleading and stubbornness.

Zheng Fa slightly shook his head and said to her, "It’s not that I don’t agree, it’s just that I can’t do it right now."

Besides the "Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method," what he cared about most was actually the "Spirit Mountain Technique."

But the Spirit Mountain Technique required a minimum of the seventh level of Qi Cultivation.

In essence, the Spirit Mountain Technique is a cultivation technique for the benefit of everyone-- to enable others to pursue cultivation, the spiritual energy in your own body must be sufficiently abundant.

Only when reaching the seventh level of Qi Cultivation, one could just barely practice it.

This thing proved with facts that if you want to enlighten the whole world, you at least need to be like a Buddha...

"I have money." Tang Lingwu pointed to the bank card on the table, not expressing whether she believed him or not, but said somewhat stubbornly, "If it’s not enough, I can ask my dad for more..."

"It’s really not about money..."

"I just don’t want to be under my mom’s watch every second." Tang Lingwu suddenly said, "Even a moment of freedom, the briefest moment would satisfy me."

"..." Zheng Fa was silent for a bit before saying, "When it’s possible, I’ll help you."

Tang Lingwu stared into his eyes and slowly nodded as if she believed his promise.

The atmosphere in the room was a bit silent.

Old Man Bai, who was sitting aside, shook his head, as if to alleviate the heavy atmosphere, and spoke up, "Speaking of which, even if we don’t reveal the secrets of cultivation, this talismanic diagram can still be examined by someone who understands computers."

Zheng Fa slapped his forehead, remembering someone.

He opened his social media and searched through his contacts for a white puppy icon...

But he couldn’t find it.

Scrolling through the contacts on his phone, he finally found the name Han Xiaobai.

The person’s profile picture had changed to that of a lone wolf wandering in the desert.

"Han, are you there?"

He sent a message to the other party.

"Something up?"

The other party’s response was brief, showing no sign of impatience.

"I need to ask about something."

"Go ahead."

The person didn’t refuse.

Zheng Fa described the main ideas behind the "Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method" in simple terms.

"So you mean, you have a way to categorize those talismanic diagrams, but you don’t understand the underlying pattern?"

After talking for a while, the other party finally understood what Zheng Fa meant.

"Something like that."

Zhang had already categorized a part of the talismanic diagrams using the Yin Yang Five Elements.

But there were too many talismanic diagrams, and what she could experiment with was only a small portion.

"This isn’t easy to do, we can only try our luck—I can think of using machine learning algorithms for image recognition," the other person typed out a long string of messages: "Take the images you’ve already categorized as a training set, then let the computer summarize features and determine the types of other images."

Zheng Fa understood and got the gist of what the other person meant.

That means, if even I can’t discern the features of these talismanic diagrams, let the computer find some characteristics.

As for whether these features are correct,

that will have to be verified later.

"I can’t guarantee the accuracy though," the other person continued, "It’s kind of a dumb method."

Old Man Bai, looking at the other person’s words, nodded slowly: "It’s a method, we can analyze it afterwards."

Zheng Fa typed a few more characters: "Han, can you do this?"

"I can do it, this thing isn’t hard..."

"How much for this time?"

"I don’t want to do it, find someone else."

"?"

Seeing the other person’s straightforward refusal, Zheng Fa was taken aback.

Just as he was thinking of how to reply, a small hand suddenly reached out in front of him.

Zheng Fa looked up at Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu reached out her hand and quietly said, "Shall I?"

Zheng Fa thought about it and handed her the phone.

He saw Tang Lingwu type out four words on the phone: "Can add more money."

"I just don’t want to do it."

The other person explained.

"One thousand."

Zheng Fa extended his hand.

Wait, this kind of bidding is something I can’t handle!

"Five thousand."

"It’s really not about money!"

"Ten thousand."

Zheng Fa watched as Tang Lingwu emotionlessly raised the price, suddenly feeling a sense of awe.

Maybe I had been too loud in front of this little rich missy.

"Bro, aren’t you an orphan? Why are you treating money like it’s nothing? Were you lying to me before?" The other person seemed to be at a loss because of Tang Lingwu and sent another message: "I used to want to make money because I had a girlfriend."

"?"

Tang Lingwu was stunned for a moment, glancing at Zheng Fa, not quite understanding the logic here.

"Now that I’m single, money is bullshit!" Han Xiaobai seemed to have let it all out, candidly explaining, "Bro, although I’m poor now, I am very happy! Money is now useless to me!"

Zheng Fa remembered.

This person was willing to work previously mainly because he wanted to buy a mobile phone for his girlfriend.

It seems now, the girlfriend is gone?

"Bro, I’m now free from the four worldly desires, with few wants, and nearly ready to turn into a monk," Han Xiaobai said. "You better find someone else."

Old Man Bai, who was sitting aside, nodded and also seemed a bit contemplative, saying, "That’s why they say men should get married, huh? A man who isn’t married is just too carefree, with no motivation to work."

"""

"..."

Tang Lingwu frowned slightly, then suddenly turned on the camera and sent over a selfie.

Zheng Fa and Old Man Bai were both taken aback, not understanding what she was trying to do.

"Are you a girl?" The man on the other end was evidently shocked by Tang Lingwu’s appearance.

"I’m his girlfriend."

"...Are you trying to trick me with a random beauty’s picture from the internet?"

Tang Lingwu directly made a video call.

After a long while, the other party finally answered the video call.

In the video, there was a face with a slightly receding hairline, clearly the face of someone who had stayed up all night to the point of exhaustion – Zheng Fa now understood why the other man had such difficulties with dating.

"Holy shit!" The moment he saw Tang Lingwu, he suddenly let out a loud cry of misery: "A real person?"

"I didn’t lie to you."

"..." Seemingly rarely speaking to women, Han Xiaobai on the other side was stumbling with his words for quite a bit, then suddenly asked, "Was it also you who randomly added money just now?"

"Yes, he never tricked you before." Tang Lingwu glanced at Zheng Fa, "I’ll pay."

"...He has a girlfriend as pretty as you, and you’re still spending money to help him do stuff?" Han Xiaobai was obviously a bit overwhelmed: "Working for this sort of scumbag? Forgive me for refusing!"

"I’m letting him teach you how to date."

"I’ll do it!" Han Xiaobai quickly changed his tune: "Guaranteed fast and good!"

It was clear that he was truly eager to learn.

After hanging up the call, Tang Lingwu handed the cellphone to Zheng Fa.

Her face proudly spelled two words: Done!

Just as Zheng Fa was about to take the phone, Tang Lingwu suddenly said, "I can also help you a lot."

Zheng Fa paused, looking at Tang Lingwu, suddenly realizing why she had done this...

In Tang Lingwu’s eyes, Zheng Fa needed Old Man Bai because of his mathematical knowledge.

And compared to that, Tang Lingwu’s own mathematical prowess was indeed not very impressive.

Her actions were just to demonstrate that she really could be useful.

In truth, Tang Lingwu was overthinking it – her identity as a wealthy woman was more than enough to make Zheng Fa cave.

...

When Zheng Fa got home, he saw the variable transformer on the chair and immediately thought of the thousand-year-old purple bamboo that Sister Zhang had talked about.

Sister Zhang said it was the only one owned solely by Master Pang of the Jiushan Sect.

He was envious when he heard it at the time.

But seeing his own variable transformer purchased for less than two hundred yuan...

Hmm, whose family couldn’t afford a unique Spiritual Treasure?

Zheng Fa plugged the transformer into the power source, held the wires in his hands, and adjusted the voltage to 90V.

A familiar tingling sensation came, but Zheng Fa felt that today’s current seemed weaker; it appeared that the voltage was lower than usual.

It wasn’t until he stood in front of the mirror that he understood the reason – his Skin Tempering had succeeded!

He could clearly see that when running the Five Thunders Dharma Body, a thin film would appear on his skin, glowing with the pearly luster of white jade.

Zheng Fa brought a kitchen knife from the kitchen and swiped the blade across his finger.

The knife edge felt like it was dragging across tough cowhide; it couldn’t break the thin film on his finger.

...

In the Xuanwei Realm, Zheng Fa’s small courtyard.

Han Qi and the other two were now familiar, and after knocking on the door, they entered the yard.

Zheng Fa had just finished drawing talismans and saw them coming, so he walked out holding five Spirit Talismans.

Han Qi took the Spirit Talismans, his face full of joy: "Junior brother, can you draw five Spirit Talismans a day now?"

"Yes, I advanced to the second level of Qi Cultivation two days ago, so I have a lot more Spiritual Power than before."

Han Qi and the others exchanged glances and all saw excitement in each other’s eyes.

"Junior brother, you’re advancing faster than most Dual Spirit Roots!" Han Qi complimented.

Zheng Fa could tell that these three were genuinely happy for him – after all, if the person they aligned themselves with had good talent, their futures would be promising.

"Junior brother, this is the money from selling talismans these past two days."

Han Qi took out a Spirit Stone from his pouch and handed it to Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment but did not reach out to take it.

"Junior brother?"

"Senior brother, you can keep this Spirit Stone."

Zheng Fa said.

Han Qi’s lips quivered, his voice tinged with bitterness: "Did we do something wrong?"

"..." Zheng Fa was stunned for a moment, then explained: "You three senior brothers have been working hard for me this month; I should give you some compensation."

"Compensation?"

"Yes, I did some calculations the other day, and after deducting the cost of the stall, our Spirit Talisman business has made about eleven to twelve Spirit Stones this month, which includes the hard work of the three senior brothers."

"..." Clutching the Spirit Stone in his hand, Han Qi seemed a bit dazed. He opened his mouth and hoarsely said: "Really giving it to us?"

His two companions behind him also looked as if they had never seen the world, staring at the Spirit Stone as if in a dream.

"Senior brother, do you think it’s too little?" Zheng Fa frowned, "I’m not sure about the going rates in the Jiushan Sect, why don’t you suggest a number?"

"Not at all!" Han Qi hurriedly said, "Junior brother, you misunderstood, it’s just that... let me put it this way, we’ve served many senior brothers, done a lot of work for them, and never received any compensation!"

"...How do you senior brothers live then?" Zheng Fa’s eyes widened.

"Senior brothers depend on us, and we rely on junior brothers..."

Han Qi’s voice got fainter.

Then Zheng Fa understood; their previous approach was somewhat like those in the underworld – mostly relying on strong figures for protection fees.

No wonder when he first encountered them, they hadn’t done anything proper.

"Senior brother Han, not to mention that I am now a second-level Qi Cultivator, not like those senior brothers who could use their clout to bully others. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to, do you understand?"

"Understood, understood!" Han Qi and the others were nodding vigorously: "Who would want to commit heinous deeds if we can earn money cleanly?"

Zheng Fa nodded and asked, "Senior brothers, did you come to find me today for a specific matter? Just to bring the Spirit Stone?"

"No! Senior sister Yuan ran into us tonight and asked us to pass on a message—she wants you to prepare the ledger by tomorrow evening; Sister Zhang will be checking it."

"""