Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 197 - 97 Rewards and Punishments

Chapter 197: Chapter 97 Rewards and Punishments

Zheng Fa activated his Void Spirit Eye and looked towards the wheat seedlings.

Winter wheat is generally harvested at the end of May or the beginning of June the following year. The wheat seedlings have just sprouted and, according to Mrs. Tian, they are just entering the tillering stage.

However, the branches and leaves are much more luxuriant than before.

Probably due to the nourishment of spiritual energy, these wheat seedlings are growing well, with straight stems and green, oily leaves.

But through the perspective of the Void Spirit Eye, there is no spiritual energy flowing within these wheat seedlings.

He shook his head towards Mrs. Tian and the two of them, saying, "Spirit Plants should inherently have the capacity to contain spiritual energy, but these wheat seedlings have not yet shown this capability."

Mrs. Tian and Old Man Bai exchanged a glance, their faces somewhat worried: "We don’t know if there will be any changes in the future, but we may have to prepare for the worst."

The worst preparation means that these wheat crops are not Spirit Plants.

A thought flickered through Zheng Fa’s mind, and an Evergreen Talisman fell into the wheat field.

The Evergreen Talisman disintegrated into golden fragments, scattering amongst the wheat seedlings like fireworks.

The wheat was still young and tender.

But as soon as the Evergreen Talisman fell, it began to grow wildly—shooting joints and ears, blooming and filling grains, with the seeds slowly hardening, and the color turning from green to yellow.

"Matured... it matured?"

Next to the wheat field, Mrs. Tian adjusted her glasses, looked down at the wheat field hastily ripened by the Evergreen Talisman, then turned back to Zheng Fa as if she couldn’t believe what she had seen, and looked down at the wheat seedlings in front of her again.

She seemed a bit skeptical and directly picked a bunch of wheat spikes, kneading the grains with her fingertips and looked at them closely.

After a good while, she put down the wheat spikes in her hand, her gaze looking at Zheng Fa with a hint of complexity.

"Mrs. Tian?"

"It really has matured and the grain is larger than I’ve studied before." Mrs. Tian’s eyes held a trace of awe: "Is this... truly an Immortal Law?"

Zheng Fa had not expected the Evergreen Talisman to be so useful.

Although he had condensed this Primordial Talisman a long time ago, he had never used it due to the lack of progress in the agricultural studies at the nursing home.

The range of the Evergreen Talisman was not large, approximately a two-meter by two-meter patch of land.

But all the wheat seedlings within this plot had matured!

Upon second thought, Zheng Fa began to understand the issue:

After his Foundation Establishment, his Divine Sense had improved further, and according to Zhang, although his Divine Sense was not at the Golden Core Stage, it was at the level of the late Foundation Establishment.

Now using the Primordial Talisman from the "Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method," one could even say its effect was that of a top Xuan-grade talisman.

"...I’ve told you long ago, combining cultivation with agriculture has great potential!" Old Man Bai spoke proudly, as if the maturation of the wheat field were his achievement.

Mrs. Tian glanced at Zheng Fa, then at the wheat spikes in her hand, her face suddenly breaking into a broad smile: "I can hardly tell if I’m really alive or not."

"Ah?"

"What’s the difference between this place and heaven for me?"

...

After Mrs. Tian’s excitement subsided, Zheng Fa and the others started to study the newly matured wheat.

As expected, although they grew well, none of them could be considered Spirit Plants—the wheat did not contain spiritual energy within them.

"From the current situation, there are two possibilities," said Mrs. Tian:

"First, not every plant can become a Spirit Plant; it might require some special varieties."

"Quite possible."

Zheng Fa thought of the Xuanwei Realm. There were also many types of plants there, but only a small portion could really be called Spirit Plants.

"The problem of species is actually easy to solve, just conduct more experiments. The other possibility is a bit more troublesome," Mrs. Tian continued: "The growth of Spirit Plants might need some special environment."

"Special environment?"

"What I mean is, a normal spiritual energy environment may not be sufficient to cultivate Spirit Plants." Mrs. Tian frowned, slowly continuing: "I’ve actually planted more than one variety of winter wheat, Jinhuan, Changhuan, and also some other varieties of winter wheat."

Zheng Fa understood Mrs. Tian’s meaning.

Many varieties had been planted.

But none showed signs of becoming Spirit Plants.

Of course, it’s possible these wheat varieties were just not suitable.

But it’s also possible—that the current environment couldn’t produce Spirit Plants.

"This is also one of my hypotheses," Mrs. Tian consoled: "The problem of species is really easy to solve; we just need to buy more plant varieties to plant."

"Yes."

"Now that you have such a way to hasten maturation, we can completely undertake high-frequency experiments." Mrs. Tian looked at Zheng Fa, her eyes shining: "As for whether it’s the varieties that fell short, we’ll know after trying."

"That won’t work, he can only use a Spirit Talisman three times in a short period," grumbled Old Man Bai from the side.

"Is that so?" Mrs. Tian seemed a bit disappointed, but then said, "Three times is still okay, as long as we’re thorough."

"Not just three times." Zheng Fa explained: "Nowadays, one of my Spirit Talismans... I should be able to use it about seventeen or eighteen times."

After Foundation Establishment, the Foundation of the Primordial Talisman seemed to have stabilized and would no longer vanish after using a Primordial Talisman three times.

On the other hand, using a Spirit Talisman now consumed the Spiritual Power within his body.

He still needed to preserve ample Spiritual Power for running the Spirit Mountain Technique.

Seventeen or eighteen times were a relatively safe number of uses.

"Hmm?" Old Man Bai blinked: "What changed?"

"I established my Foundation." Zheng Fa explained.

"Foundation Establishment!" Old Man Bai exclaimed: "Isn’t cultivation supposed to get harder as one progresses? How come you’re advancing faster! I haven’t even reached the second level of Qi Refining, and you’ve already established your Foundation?"

Zheng Fa found it difficult to explain this matter.

Their progress, Old Man Bai included, was indeed not fast, even considered slow when compared to Jiushan Sect disciples of the same aptitude.

On one hand, Old Man Bai’s aptitude was not good, at most on the level he was at in the beginning.

On the other hand, the spiritual energy supply from Zheng Fa at this retirement home is a bit thin.

And on top of that, the Xuanwei Realm does have spirit grain to consume.

Take Tang Lingwu, for example, she’s probably a Single Spirit Root talent, but now, after over two months of cultivation, she hasn’t broken through to Qi Cultivation Second Level.

"Thank goodness, I have Ling Wu accompanying me..." Old Man Bai as if thought of Tang Lingwu too, consoled himself.

Zheng Fa’s expression suddenly turned strange as he looked towards the house leaning against the cliffside.

Today, Tang Lingwu has not come out at all; he was already a bit puzzled, and now it seems...

A tiny vortex of spiritual energy appeared in the sky.

"This is..."

"Um, it looks like Tang Lingwu probably won’t be able to accompany you anymore."

Old Man Bai looked at the vortex, his face gradually darkening.

...

"Zheng Fa! I’ve reached Qi Cultivation Second Level!"

Tang Lingwu dashed out of her room, reported her good news to Zheng Fa, the first thing she did was to share her joy.

"I saw that," Zheng Fa said with a smile.

"Then... then can I try the Wind Control Skill?"

Tang Lingwu asked tentatively.

Zheng Fa was stunned; he hadn’t expected her first thought after breaking through to Qi Cultivation Second Level to be this.

He looked at the apprehensive Tang Lingwu and sighed softly in his heart—this girl seems to be especially curious about spells that grant the ability to fly because of her past experiences.

It seems these spells mean a sense of freedom in Tang Lingwu’s heart.

She had previously begged Zheng Fa to teach her the Wind Control Skill.

But Zheng Fa had not agreed to her trying this spell—mainly because the Spirit Eye spell consumed less, while the Wind Control Skill had a much larger consumption, and Tang Lingwu was only at Qi Refining First Level before.

Unexpectedly, Tang Lingwu had always had this on her mind, even having an attitude of striving for a breakthrough just for this spell.

"You can try..."

"Hold on! A full-grown person flying up into the sky," Old Man Bai interjected, "the villages below might see."

Tang Lingwu obediently nodded, "I’ll take a walk further into the forest in a couple of days."

But the smile on her face dimmed a little.

"There’s no need," Zheng Fa said with a smile, "how can everything be hidden from others, I have a solution."

Tang Lingwu’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Zheng Fa.

The solution Zheng Fa mentioned was of course the Mirage Talisman—this Spirit Talisman was originally condensed for their convenience in action.

Now it can also be considered an experiment.

Zheng Fa had Old Man Bai and the others stand outside the retirement home’s entrance.

The Mirage Talisman in his hand flew into the void, and the sunlight in front of the retirement home trembled subtly, as if nothing had changed.

Once the Spirit Talisman took effect, he nodded at Tang Lingwu.

With her eyes closed, Tang Lingwu seemed to be operating the Wind Control Skill.

Gradually, her body lifted like willow catkins taken by the wind, and Zheng Fa, on the ground, watched her closely to prevent any accidents.

At first, Tang Lingwu seem a bit clumsy and even let out some startled cries.

But then those cries turned into happy sighs and girlish giggles.

When she landed on the ground, her cheeks were flushed, and she looked incredibly happy.

"No more spiritual power..."

Tang Lingwu’s tone held a hint of longing.

After a while, Old Man Bai and the others returned from outside.

"Done flying?"

"Hm?"

"Tsk tsk..." Old Man Bai’s tone held a touch of admiration, "I really couldn’t see anything, we were right at the entrance, and we couldn’t even tell there was someone here."

Hearing this, Tang Lingwu became even more elated.

"Then I want to try again tomorrow!"

"You can try," Old Man Bai’s tone was somewhat odd, "but next time don’t wear a skirt."

"..."

"You two are really good at this; some people see nothing, some people see everything," Old Man Bai said, glancing at Tang Lingwu who was covering her skirt with a red face, and then at Zheng Fa, with a tone of disdain, "No wonder you told us to leave!"

"..."

Zheng Fa didn’t know what to say in the face of Old Man Bai’s sarcasm and mockery.

"What, you don’t want to go outside?" Mrs. Tian’s voice carried a chilly undertone, "Then what do you want to do here?"

"..."

...

Tang Lingwu really became a bit fascinated with flying.

Every day she wanted to fly a lap, yes, while wearing pants.

Two days later, Zheng Fa suddenly saw several large trucks enter the retirement home.

"What’s this?"

"It’s agricultural laboratory equipment that Tang Lingwu bought, oh, and seeds, collected from all over the country," Old Man Bai explained with an odd tone, "She specifically had people looking everywhere to buy these."

"Why buy them all of a sudden?"

"You’ve been taking good care of her; the little rich lady has been having fun these past few days and got a bit carried away," Old Man Bai sneered, "You could consider it a kind of... well, a reward."

"..."