Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 231 - 124 Lost Interest

Chapter 231: Chapter 124 Lost Interest

In Half Mountain City, smoke from cooking rose from every household, and the sweet aroma of fish and meat wafted even on the breeze wafting up the mountainside.

The sounds of children’s laughter echoed from the valley to the mountaintop.

Xiaoqing hummed a tune, her face beaming with a smile as she entered the temple. She knelt on the cushion with utmost sincerity, bowing three times to the statue of the god before standing up to clean the temple, babbling on as if she was catching up with an old friend:

"Lord of Thunder God, it’s been such a long time since we’ve caught so many fish."

"We can’t finish them all! They’re preparing to smoke and preserve them."

"Our Half Mountain City hasn’t been this happy in a long time!"

"..."

It was obvious she was in high spirits, nonstop chatting away.

Xiaoqing first said that no one in the city has starved in the last two months.

Then she mentioned how just now, the neighbor’s kid gave her two sticky pieces of meat that were incredibly delicious, despite her talking all in a muddle with no main point.

Zheng Fa had been checking the Heavenly Merit points on the Sealing God Book.

In these past three days, the Heavenly Merit points had increased quite a bit, already exceeding three thousand.

One reason was his use of the "weather forecast" within the Sealing God Book, giving the valley three days of sunny weather.

Another was that Half Mountain City had truly been struggling with hunger during the first half of the month; many of the frail elderly might not have held on for much longer.

The harvest of fish and shrimp from these three days may have saved quite a few lives.

Combining both, the Heavenly Merit points increased even faster than they would from using Heavenly Tribulation Thunder to smite people.

While calculating, he was also listening to Xiaoqing’s words, feeling a bit of gratification in his heart.

Xiaoqing then continued:

"However, everyone’s afraid to eat too much. I heard from Hong that they plan to smoke the fish and ration it, so it will last for more than half a year."

Zheng Fa was taken aback and couldn’t help but think of his own cured meat at home.

Preserved during New Year’s, a strip of meat could last for half a year...

Xiaoqing kept yapping:

"They said, once it’s done, they’ll bring some to you first, Lord."

Zheng Fa didn’t quite know what to say: "Didn’t I mention that I don’t want offerings?"

"I told them that," Xiaoqing replied, somewhat frustrated. "But if not this, what else could they give?"

"..."

Outside, the sound of a multitude of footsteps could be heard.

In front of the temple door, more than a dozen people had appeared, each carrying a bamboo basket filled to the brim with dried fish.

It was unclear whether they were aware of Zheng Fa’s preference for quiet, or if they were simply worried that Xiaoqing would refuse.

The group set the baskets down, kowtowed twice in front of the temple door, and then ran off.

Not giving Xiaoqing a chance to speak.

"Lord of Thunder God..." Xiaoqing stood there, stunned, looking at the bamboo baskets on the ground with her mouth agape: "This..."

She walked over and inspected each basket of dried fish:

"They brought the biggest fish to you, Lord..."

"The fish they caught in these three days, they must have brought at least a third of it..."

"This... Lord, should I distribute these to the elders?"

Zheng Fa pondered for a moment, then said to Xiaoqing: "Take part of it to distribute to them, and the other part, I have a task I need you to do."

"What are your orders, Lord?"

"Find me a few people who are most familiar with the mushrooms in the mountains, I need to ask them some questions."

Xiaoqing left in a daze.

Zheng Fa watched her retreating figure, thinking about his own plans—to gain Heavenly Merit points, he not only had to master the remaining two Thunder Skills but also had to nurture the common people.

If it were any other cultivator, they might solely focus on working towards the Immortal Law.

But Zheng Fa had long realized that besides Immortal Law, directly developing productive forces could greatly change these people’s lives.

Even now, when he needed a large number of Heavenly Merit points, mastering the Thunder Skill, of course, was necessary.

But he didn’t intend to give up this line of thinking.

He had consulted Mrs. Tian, who knows that places like Half Mountain City, with plenty of rain, high humidity, and little sunlight, are not ideal for farming.

Moreover, Half Mountain City had such poor foundations that any high-cost industries would be hard to implement.

As for the other areas in his domain, those were even worse off than Half Mountain City.

There was one technology, however, which could be developed adaptively to the local conditions—edible mushroom farming.

Edible mushroom farming was not exactly a new technology; there are records in ancient books from the present day, although the yields were extremely low.

Soon, Xiaoqing brought in a few men from the city, experienced hands accustomed to foraging in the mountains, very familiar with the varieties and habits of the local mushrooms.

After just a couple of questions, Zheng Fa had them bring over some decaying wood with mushrooms growing on them, along with some sawdust and grass.

Xiaoqing and the others did not quite understand what Lord of Thunder God intended to do, but obediently did as they were told.

Zheng Fa considered Mrs. Tian’s words.

The biggest differences between ancient and modern edible mushroom farming technologies were two points:

One was the purification technology for mushroom strains.

The other was a sterile environment.

Without proper control of these two aspects, contaminants could arise, reducing the yield of edible mushrooms.

Zheng Fa had them place the sawdust and grass in over a dozen clay jars according to different types and set them in front of the god statue.

That was the most basic culture medium that Mrs. Tian had taught him.

Zheng Fa let Xiaoqing and the others leave first. His spiritual power moved along the pattern of Cloud Rain Thunder, emitting a beam of ultraviolet light towards the pile of ceramic pots.

Of course, Half Mountain City had no sterilization technology...

But now Cloud Rain Thunder could emit lasers!

The purification of fungal strains required more modern methods, mainly involving microscopic techniques to select the most suitable strains:

Coincidentally, Zheng Fa also had the Void Spirit Eye!

Even if contaminants appeared, Zheng Fa could eliminate them immediately.

"You lot divide these fish among yourselves, and Xiaoqing, you should avoid this place from now on."

What Zheng Fa needed to do now was to see which cultivation medium was most effective and select the highest-yielding strains.

Xiaoqing and the others left the temple in a daze.

"Xiaoqing, what does the Lord of Thunder God want to do?"

Xiaoqing too wasn’t very clear, pondering for a long time before suddenly clapping her hands and saying:

"My grandfather said, the Lord of Thunder God can consecrate!"

"Consecrate mushrooms?" the others froze: "What would that do?"

"How would I know?"

"And the light?"

"That light, mortals can’t see!"

Xiaoqing said confidently.

Not to mention that person.

Even Zheng Fa thought what she said made a lot of sense...

...

The Hundred Treasure Hall had seen an increase in cultivators these past few days.

They were looking at the spiritual materials on the Jade Stele while talking.

"If it weren’t for the Hundred Treasure Hall, where we can exchange for spiritual materials, I would have left the Heavenly Stele by now," one said.

"Isn’t that so? With those two around, is there even a place for us at the Heavenly Stele?"

"Let’s not talk about us. Have you not seen that Yan Wushuang didn’t show up this time? She must’ve been depressed by Ling Ye Fairy and Zheng Fa."

Once this was said, everyone nodded in agreement.

Those who were paying attention noticed that Yan Wushuang did not come to the Heavenly Stele at all this time.

There were rumors that Yan Wushuang had given up on the Heavenly Stele.

"What do the matters of those geniuses have to do with us? It took me several months to save up a mere hundred Heavenly Merit points," a man shook his head: "Exchanging them for a Ten-Year Purple Lightning Flower isn’t a bad deal."

"I have a bit more Heavenly Merit, saved up a hundred and twenty, enough to exchange for a piece of Thunderstruck Wood."

"Thunderstruck Wood costs quite a bit of Heavenly Merit points. If you’re looking to practice forging treasures, I can recommend this one for you, and you can save ten Heavenly Merit points."

Because there was no competitive relationship, these people got along harmoniously, discussing how to save Heavenly Merit points and exchange for more of the spiritual materials they needed.

A figure came in from outside the hall.

Everyone stopped talking and looked at the newcomer.

Who else could it be but Xiao Yuying?

Xiao Yuying did not cut in line but waited behind them, seemingly prepared to wait for them to finish their exchanges before she did hers.

But given she was of Nascent Soul cultivation and had a reputation, who would dare delay in front of her? They quickly made their exchanges and gave their spot to Xiao Yuying.

Xiao Yuying nodded at them and approached the Jade Stele, browsing the types of spiritual materials, seemingly pondering over what to exchange with her Heavenly Merit points.

The other cultivators glanced at each other and stopped, curiously observing her.

She seemed nonchalant, her finger moving over the Jade Stele, pausing now on this spiritual material, now on that one, as if she was struggling to make a choice, showing a hint of decision paralysis.

Yet her expression also showed an inexplicable sense of indulgence, as though she needed to examine each spiritual material for a long time, calculating every Heavenly Merit point meticulously.

She had many Heavenly Merit points to spend, and her decision-taking was slow, so it took a long time.

The cultivators watched on, their hearts sour—combined, they could exchange for fewer spiritual materials than half of what Xiao Yuying could...

When Zheng Fa entered the Hundred Treasure Hall, Xiao Yuying was still hesitating between two types of spiritual materials.

Zheng Fa glanced at her and then at the other cultivators, greeting them with a cupped-hand salute, and also waited behind Xiao Yuying.

Xiao Yuying’s facial expression was all too familiar to him, like a woman who had browsed through eight hundred outfits on a shopping app yet ended up buying nothing in the end.

They probably enjoyed the process...

After quite some time, Xiao Yuying couldn’t seem to decide which to exchange for and appeared a bit embarrassed. She turned around and said to Zheng Fa, "You go first."

"It’s okay, I can wait."

"I need to think a bit more," insisted Xiao Yuying: "I won’t take long."

Zheng Fa nodded gratefully at Xiao Yuying and said, "Then I will make it quick."

The people watched him approach the Jade Stele.

Zheng Fa first selected two types of spiritual materials needed to practice the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method Secret Technique.

Then, Zheng Fa flipped the Jade Stele to the first page, which listed the cheapest spiritual materials, and his finger moved up and down, not missing a single one.

He needed a large amount of spiritual materials for cultivating his Fusang Wood and the Thunder Field—he was not picky at all; whatever was in bulk and cheapest, he bought.

His actions bore the casualness of someone telling a waiter in a restaurant to fry them the whole menu.

Behind him, Xiao Yuying watched this scene, her lips gradually pursing.

The cultivators around were agape, witnessing Zheng Fa’s maneuvers, and seeing Xiao Yuying’s faced tinged with envy, they exchanged glances and suddenly felt much better inside:

We are envious, but so is Ling Ye Fairy, so doesn’t that put us on the same level as Ling Ye Fairy?

Zheng Fa quickly finished selecting spiritual materials, turned back to Xiao Yuying with a smile, and said, "I’m done with the exchange, Fairy Xiao, your turn."

Xiao Yuying glanced at him silently, and with an arbitrary tap on the Heavenly Stele, she muttered:

"Lost the mood."