Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 207 - 104: Pay More

Chapter 207: Chapter 104: Pay More

"Master Qian seemed to be aware that his stance was too firm, and immediately explained, "In recent days, my Qianhe Sect has been relying heavily on your prestigious sect and life has been much better. If Mr. Zheng wants to enquire about other matters, I would speak. But this matter really isn’t something that can be revealed at will."

Zheng Fa nodded lightly, not taking offence in his heart.

Inviting someone over was essentially seeking advice, and it was normal for the other party to refuse to disclose certain things due to sect obligations.

"Master Qian, the cooperation between our two sects has been pleasant recently. My Jiushan Sect disciples are also very fond of the Yellow Rice... I am interested in purchasing some other Spirit Plants and spirit grain."

"...Well, that’s great!" Master Qian happily exclaimed, "Don’t just look at our sect for the Yellow Rice, although it’s unique to our sect, we also cultivate other Spirit Plants."

Zheng Fa smiled without saying a word.

But he watched as the joy on Master Qian’s face slowly turned into a bitter expression.

"Do you mean..."

Zheng Fa nodded.

His intention was simple—I’ll pay more!

Buying more spirit grain and Spirit Plants wasn’t just an impulsive thought from Zheng Fa. Now that the Thunder Pool workshop was benefiting from its location, earning more than the Jiushan Sect workshop, it was time to diversify the ’vegetable basket project’ as well.

But whether these orders would go to Qianhe Sect obviously depended on their attitude.

Master Qian was no fool, and it seemed he quickly grasped the unspoken intention behind Zheng Fa’s words.

His expression changed rapidly, and after a long internal struggle, he finally clenched his teeth and said, "This... still is not possible."

Zheng Fa listened as he continued, "Master Zheng, I won’t lie to you. Earning more Spirit Stones from Jiushan Sect can only benefit me."

That was probably true.

Master Qian had previously managed Qianhe Sect’s workshop and had always played the role of the sect’s moneybag.

His status in the sect now was likely highly linked to the orders from Jiushan Sect.

"But if I disclose everything, then..." Master Qian revealed a bitter smile, "How would I be any different from a sect traitor?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel some respect.

When he had first met this man, he always felt that he was somewhat slick, but now he was showing a side that made Zheng Fa see him in a new light.

"Since Master Qian you are unwilling, then let’s pretend I never mentioned it."

Zheng Fa did not press the matter and simply said with a smile.

"Alright then... about that Yellow Rice..."

"Business as usual." Zheng Fa, seeing that he seemed worried about offending him, also said with a smile, "I am already grateful for Master Qian sparing your time to come here."

Master Qian took a good look at him, noticed his sincere tone, and breathed a sigh of relief, getting ready to bid farewell to Zheng Fa.

Before leaving, he seemed somewhat reluctant, and asked again, "Then...about the other spirit grain..."

"I didn’t just invite you alone, Master Qian. The Hundred Immortals Alliance is nearby, and there is another sect that specializes in the cultivation of Spirit Plants..."

Master Qian’s face froze.

"Xuandao Sect?"

"Yes."

Zheng Fa nodded with a smiling face, seemingly unaware that Qianhe Sect and the Xuandao Sect were archenemies.

"...What good things can they have?" Master Qian didn’t leave, and not only did he not leave, but he also stood in place, indignantly said, "Their stuff, which one isn’t inferior to our Qianhe?"

"Hmm hmm."

Zheng Fa agreed upon hearing this.

"Then... Maybe..." Master Qian shamelessly suggested.

"Oh, they are probably more generous than you guys."

Zheng Fa’s words left Master Qian speechless, and he didn’t even feel like Zheng Fa was trying to scare him.

The Xuandao Sect was doing worse than Qianhe Sect before—at least Qianhe had the unique Yellow Rice, while Xuandao had nothing.

So, faced with a big order and the temptation to cozy up to the mighty Jiushan Sect.

It was very likely that Xuandao would truly offer anything!

"Actually... there’s something I can tell you," after fluctuating emotions, Master Qian finally stammeringly opened up, "The relationship between Heavenly Thunder and Spirit Plants... if it really comes down to it, consists of two words."

"Which two words?"

"Timing!"

"For instance, gourd and fruit-type Spirit Plants like Green Spirit Fruit must be sown during the season of Jingzhe when the spring thunder first blooms, especially if watered with Spring Dew Talisman, they will grow very well."

"The summer thunder of Xiaoshu is most suitable for the growth of Spirit Plants, and sometimes without summer thunder, many Spirit Plants might even lack Spiritual Energy."

Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned, as this sounded similar to a problem he was currently facing.

"Thunder in autumn and winter also have their respective functions. Spirit Farmers already have many Secret Techniques that involve how to nurture Spirit Plants with thunderstorms." Once Master Qian began speaking, he didn’t hold back any longer, and even revealed several elementary Secret Techniques to Zheng Fa.

Grateful after listening to his explanation, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but worry for him, "Master Qian, having disclosed this, won’t you face punishment upon returning to Qianhe Sect?"

"That won’t happen!"

Master Qian waved his hand nonchalantly.

Zheng Fa felt somewhat relieved, then listened to Master Qian who said, "I haven’t disclosed Qianhe Sect’s Secret Techniques!"

"Ah? What about those earlier ones...?"

"They are from Xuandao Sect," Master Qian candidly revealed.

"..."

This man is quite... promising!

"Those orders..." Master Qian, seeing Zheng Fa silent, asked tentatively.

"Send over some of the Spirit Plants you specialize in, and let..." Zheng Fa glanced at Yuan, and addressed her, "let Miss Yuan evaluate them."

"I am Sister Zhang’s junior brother, Sister Zhang can’t be defeated, stay calm!" Watching the grateful Master Qian walk away, Miss Yuan repeated softly to herself.

"..."

...

Modern.

Nursing home.

"Mrs. Tian, I looked up some materials and found a theory suggesting that the key to the growth of Spirit Plants lies in thunder and lightning."

"Thunder and lightning?"

Mrs. Tian furrowed her brows, looking puzzled.

Zheng Fa provided a brief explanation of Master Qian’s version of the Xuandao Sect’s Secret Technique.

"Different periods of thunder and lightning?" Upon hearing this, Mrs. Tian fell into thought then slowly nodded: "That’s not impossible."

Zheng Fa’s eyes lit up, listening to Mrs. Tian’s ideas.

"For plants, thunder and lightning are an important source of nitrogen fertilizer," Mrs. Tian mused as she shared her thoughts.

Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

He was aware of this fact, but it wasn’t enough to resolve Zheng Fa’s confusion: "Our nursing home is not short on nitrogen fertilizer."

If it were just about the presence of nitrogen, Zheng Fa and his team would have cultivated these Spirit Plants long ago.

"Yes, there’s also the well-known Miller-Urey experiment," Mrs. Tian continued: "They simulated the early Earth’s atmosphere and used electric arcs to mimic lightning, producing several amino acids."

"Amino acids? The origin of life?"

"Just a hypothesis, but it does suggest that thunder and lightning could be related to life."

Zheng Fa couldn’t help but think of descriptions from the Xuanwei classics regarding Thunder Skills — the Power of Life and Death.

Which seemed particularly accurate in this context.

"Mrs. Tian, do you mean ... thunder and lightning might produce some special substances under a spiritual energy environment, which in turn affect the creation of Spirit Plants?"

"Yes, that’s one hypothesis," Mrs. Tian slowly nodded, then steered towards another direction: "Another possibility I can think of is the magnetic field generated by lightning."

"Magnetic field?"

"This is a relatively new research area, just hang on."

Mrs. Tian went back to her own room and, after a while, came back with a tablet computer.

"Take a look, these are several papers."

She pointed at the documents on the tablet and explained one by one:

"This paper used cancer cells as material and observed them in different magnetic fields. It found that low-strength magnetic fields promote the development of cancer cells, while high-strength magnetic fields inhibit it."

"This one used Arabidopsis as its material and studied the static magnetic field’s effects on its growth and development. They found that the treatment with a 6000 gauss magnetic field significantly promoted the growth of the main root of Arabidopsis. Further research showed that the magnetic field promoted the transport of auxins in the root tip cells, causing cells in the meristematic tissue to divide faster and increase in number."

"And this paper studied the effects of magnetic fields on the growth of the Enoki mushroom’s mycelium. This indicates that the magnetic field not only affects the growth of plants but may also have an impact on other organisms, including fungi."

Zheng Fa skimmed through the papers Mrs. Tian presented, gradually grasping Mrs. Tian’s point.

"Teacher, are you saying that the magnetic fields produced by lightning affect the growth of plants themselves, and might even induce evolution?"

"Yes, this seems most probable to me."

Mrs. Tian nodded affirmatively.

Zheng Fa knew that at this point, the discussion between them was just based on conjectures.

To truly understand whether thunder and lightning could generate Spirit Plants, more experiments and data were needed.

Suddenly, he realized he had not seen Old Man Bai.

The old man had been clinging to Mrs. Tian recently.

"Where are Mr. Bai and Tang Lingwu?"

"Them? Just ahead," Mrs. Tian explained: "Tang Lingwu’s father introduced a chef from a high-end Beijing restaurant, who is currently preparing a meal upfront, and it seems they’ve spent quite a bit of money."

"Cooking?"

"Yes, highly professional. They brought all of their cookware; we just provide the ingredients."

Zheng Fa was stunned.

Weren’t they planning to sell vegetables?

Why did they invite someone to cook?

He headed to the main building of the nursing home, and sure enough, in the kitchen of the first-floor restaurant, several unfamiliar men were busily working up a storm.

Old Man Bai and Tang Lingwu were gathered in the dining area talking about something.

"Mr. Bai?" He approached the two and saw Tang Lingwu waving at him: "Come over, we’ll be eating soon."

"What’s this about bringing someone in to cook?"

"That... Well, that’s Ling Wu’s bright idea," chuckled Old Man Bai, whispering, "If we want to sell vegetables, mere talk won’t suffice — we’d owe favors. That’s no way to do business."

Zheng Fa started to understand.

He glanced at Tang Lingwu, who had a smile beaming across her face, not revealing the slightest hint that she was quite the angler.

In the kitchen, Zheng Fa watched a man who appeared to be the head chef finish preparing a plate of green vegetables, his face showing a hint of disdain — presumably thinking the ingredients were too simple.

He involuntarily popped a piece into his mouth.

...And there you have it, he got hooked!

The head chef looked at his own hands and then at the pots and pans he brought, seemingly puzzled by his unintentional grand advancement to being unbeatable in the world.

After frying a few more dishes, he understood.

Once the meal was ready, the head chef didn’t leave but instead intercepted Old Man Bai, who had his fill, probably thinking this oldest man was the person in charge of the nursing home.

The sound of their tug-of-war conversation drifted over.

"It’s not easy to explain, this is a secret of our institution."

"I understand, I’ll pay extra!" The head chef said with determination: "This meal is on me in honor of the gentlemen here!"

"..."