Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 239 - 132: Death is Insignificant

Chapter 239: Chapter 132: Death is Insignificant

"I knew at first glance you’re not human!"

Old Man Bai looked at the cell diagram on the computer screen and shouted at Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but didn’t know how to argue against it.

On the screen, the skin cells of four people were lined up.

Tang Lingwu and the other two seemed no different from ordinary humans.

Only Zheng Fa’s cells contained a cluster of completely different cell structures!

"Can it be magnified?"

Zheng Fa asked Mrs. Tian.

He wanted to see what exactly this thing growing inside him was.

Mrs. Tian shook her head.

Old Man Bai frowned at the screen, not joking around but instead said, "Why is it that there’s no change in the rest of us, and only you have one? And it’s so similar to the structure in those pea shoot cells?"

Zheng Fa shook his head.

The initial guess that came to his mind was, naturally, that he was after all a transmigrator, and this might be due to the differences between the life forms of two worlds.

But like Old Man Bai said—those pea shoots also contained something similar.

And those pea shoots were a modern variety.

This more or less ruled out that guess.

Another possibility was the issue with Zheng Fa’s cultivation. Old Man Bai and the others were still in the Qi Refinement Realm, while he had already reached Foundation Establishment.

Maybe this kind of change occurred after establishing one’s foundation.

But pea shoots barely contain a trace of Spiritual Energy, have no spiritual wisdom, let alone any cultivation, yet they’ve already developed this kind of structure.

The idea that this thing was related to cultivation didn’t seem to hold water either.

"Zheng Fa, has there been any change in your cultivation recently?"

Tang Lingwu suddenly asked.

"Change?"

Zheng Fa didn’t understand what Tang Lingwu meant.

Tang Lingwu dashed out of the lab, grabbed a tablet, and returned, pointing at the talismanic diagram on it: "You know, in order to study the Three Child Talismans, I’ve been using the Spirit Eye technique to collect the talisman diagrams from the nursing home’s Spiritual Energy."

Zheng Fa nodded.

"Just these past few days, I’ve found hundreds more types of talisman diagrams in the nursing home’s Spiritual Energy!"

"More?"

"Yes, at that time we collected several thousand God Name Sub-characters—but among these few hundred talisman diagrams, there were God Name Sub-characters that weren’t recorded in my database."

"..."

Zheng Fa looked towards the tablet.

Indeed, the God Name Sub-characters in these few hundred talisman diagrams were all the same but very unfamiliar.

"Hundreds of talisman diagrams is already a lot!" Tang Lingwu said again. "It’s impossible we didn’t collect them."

"Newly appeared?" Old Man Bai also came over, looked at it for a while, and then said, "I’ve never seen these either."

Zheng Fa understood what Tang Lingwu meant: "Are you saying that the appearance of these pea shoots might be related to these several hundred new Spirit Talismans?"

Tang Lingwu nodded lightly: "I’m not certain though."

However, Zheng Fa had a thought and his Divine Sense sank into his Dantian.

The biggest change he had recently was the growth of the Fusang Wood.

Green Yang Dao Body, If it really related to the so-called East King, probably really might have some connections with Spirit Plants—after all, the other was also known by the alias Wood Father.

His expression became a bit odd.

Perhaps this thing had some sort of quirk.

Originally, after cursing the Green Yang Dao Body, the Fusang Wood appeared.

Now after muttering that the Fusang Wood was useless, could it induce the growth of Spirit Plants?

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, and cursed in his heart:

"Damned wood, why can’t you let someone achieve Divinity Transformation in one day and ascend in three?"

The Fusang Wood shuttered three times—Zheng Fa always felt it was cursing him back, and very dirtily at that.

...

Xuanwei Realm.

Nowadays, most of the Jiushan Sect disciples’ houses were located around the Thunder Pool—if there were changes, a group could directly dive into it.

Zheng Fa’s courtyard was also among them, right next to Sister Zhang’s, and Junior Master Huang’s courtyard was nearby too.

Without the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace, Zhang didn’t want Zheng Fa to live too far away from her.

After all, the Array of the workshop by the Thunder Pool was very basic, and its security couldn’t be ensured.

These days had been peaceful; the capture of the square-faced young man didn’t seem to upset the Demon Race, and with both Sister Zhang and Junior Master Huang, two Nascent Souls on guard, nobody dared to provoke them.

Zheng Fa carried several books into Sister Zhang’s courtyard.

Junior Master Huang was also there, and she was chatting with Sister Zhang, each with an end table in front of them.

Sister Zhang held a cup of clear tea in her hand.

And Junior Master Huang held a tall celadon bottle.

The rich aroma of wine that emanated from the mouth of the bottle rushed into Zheng Fa’s nose.

Zheng Fa gave Junior Master Huang an extra glance—he remembered Junior Master Huang usually had a cold face, a plain look in her eyes, and when she looked at you, it was like she saw nothing at all.

He couldn’t even recall if he had seen her smile.

But in front of Sister Zhang, Junior Master Huang changed.

Zheng Fa hesitated slightly; he hadn’t expected Junior Master Huang to also be there.

Junior Master Huang leaned against the low table, with some wine stains at the corner of her mouth, her eyebrows revealing a spring-like warmth, her eyes shimmering.

She didn’t seem to care about Zheng Fa’s entrance and just drank her wine as if she hadn’t seen him.

"Sister?"

Sister Zhang’s eyes lit up, looking at the books in Zheng Fa’s hands with anticipation: "What are you carrying?"

Zheng Fa spread the books in front of Sister Zhang.

"Code."

"From Gate Circuits to Logic Computation."

"Principles of Neural Networks."

These books were what Zheng Fa had asked from Tang Lingwu.

Sister Zhang’s research on the compound talismanic diagrams of the Mountain and River True Form Talisman was not going well, the biggest problem being—she found it hard to understand why the changes in circuits could produce intelligence.

Zheng Fa, although he had some understanding of this.

But Sister Zhang was already a mature Nascent Soul, so why couldn’t she evolve into a computer on her own?

Sister Zhang flipped through a few pages lightly, her eyelids twitched, she stole a glance at Junior Master Huang and then said to Zheng Fa: "I will come to find you after I’ve read them."

Zheng Fa nodded in response, offered his farewells to Junior Master Huang with folded hands.

Junior Master Huang did not look up.

It wasn’t until Zheng Fa had left that Junior Master Huang turned and said to Sister Zhang, "What’s the matter, can’t you show it to me?"

"Master..."

Sister Zhang felt a little embarrassed.

She wasn’t foolish—if she had only been somewhat suspicious upon seeing the topology,

then upon seeing those books, she would have realized that much of Zheng Fa’s knowledge came from another source, certainly not something a Nascent Soul true being could master.

"Am I not your Master? Are you also going to hide things from me?"

Sister Zhang shook her head and said, "Master, if it were anything else, I would naturally not hide it from you, but this might concern Zheng Junior Brother’s secret."

"...Everyone has secrets." Junior Master Huang shook his head and said, "If he didn’t hide things from you, those sentiments of yours would not be wasted."

Sister Zhang let out a slight smile and gently touched the cover of the books.

"You..." Junior Master Huang sighed, "He’s only at Foundation Establishment; if something happens in the future... Think about the kind of life I have been living these years."

Sister Zhang pressed her lips together and said nothing.

"As your master, I don’t want you to end up like me... there is a saying in the mundane world, ’Deep love does not last.’"

"Disciple... is content with that fate." Sister Zhang lowered her eyes and turned her gaze to the few books before her.

"...How did I end up with a disciple more stubborn than me!"

"Master, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask of you."

"You don’t have to say it; I will definitely protect your Zheng Junior Brother! If he dies, Jiushan Sect will have to deal with me!" Junior Master Huang gritted his teeth, "What sins have I committed!"

...

Outside the Heavenly Stele.

"Mr. Yan?" Zheng Fa felt a bit doubtful as he faced Yan Wushuang.

Mainly because Yan Wushuang had changed his attire.

He was no longer in the familiar crane robe but had switched to a simple white Taoist robe.

Even greater was the change in his demeanor.

There was no more of the frivolity of the past in his eyes, replaced instead with a sense of tranquility.

Yan Wushuang glanced back at Chu Tianque and Xue True Inheritor, then suddenly pulled Zheng Fa several steps away, throwing out a few sound-isolating Spirit Talismans, as if he had something to say to Zheng Fa.

"Mr. Zheng, I’ve thought it through."

"Huh?"

Zheng Fa was a little puzzled.

"I wish to inherit the ancestral master’s legacy, to sweep clean the universe and restore order from chaos!"

"Hang on..." Zheng Fa reaching out to stop him, reflecting for a moment before speaking, "Tianhe Sect, betrayed the Tianhe Venerable."

"Right."

"Your father, the Tianhe Sect Leader."

"Yes."

"So you’re thinking of killing your dad?"

"That’s... not necessarily."

"You’re really considering it?"

Upon seeing Zheng Fa ask in such a manner, Yan Wushuang’s face turned bitter, "Actually, I just want to reform Tianhe Sect. If my father is willing to join me, then of course that would be great..."

"Mr. Zheng, you don’t know. Since I was young, I have always been proud to be a descendant of the ancestral master."

Yan Wushuang’s voice was full of weariness.

"And then Elder Han tells me our Tianhe Sect are traitors..."

"So before..." Zheng Fa recalled the previous time when Yan Wushuang did not come to the Heavenly Stele.

"I won’t hide it from you, Mr. Zheng; before, I even considered taking my own life."

"..."

Zheng Fa also felt some sympathy—this was the drawback of Tianhe Sect’s educational model.

Every disciple of Tianhe Sect found it difficult not to take pride in the Tianhe Venerable.

But once they learned the truth—well, that would completely shatter their world view.

"However, Elder Han kept persuading me, and I’ve thought it through!" Yan Wushuang’s tone became spirited again, "If the predecessors of Tianhe Sect were wrong, then I will make it right!"

"The ancestral master’s will has been forgotten, I will carry it forward!"

"I also want to reform Tianhe Sect, study new methods afresh, and forge a new path for the Xuanwei Realm."

Listening to him, Zheng Fa repeatedly nodded his head, praising, "Mr. Yan, your words are so inspiring, I can hardly help but..."

"Then come with me."

"Huh?"

Zheng Fa closed his mouth and his face was filled with composure.

"I’ve thought about it, we can’t publicize this matter at the start, but I happen to have a small organization, along with some friendly allies. We’ll work subtly, seeking the ancestral master’s legacy on one hand, and like-minded individuals on the other."

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, and realized his meaning was—

To transform his organization from a fanatical interest group into a vanguard for a suicidal mission?

"Mr. Zheng, you’re the first one I came to!"

Yan Wushuang looked at Zheng Fa with full sincerity.

"I have just one question."

"Go ahead."

"How many teachers—no, Divine Transformations—do you have?"

"None."

"How many Nascent Souls?"

"Also none..."

Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment, then asked further, "How many people do you have now?"

"Including you, there will be two!"

"Farewell!"

To be honest, although there were differences in details, Zheng Fa and Yan Wushuang’s ideas were not entirely without common ground.

At least they were on the same side!

But this Yan Wushuang...

Should Tianhe Sect come after him,

Upon seeing Yan Wushuang they might just say a few words: The Sect Leader’s son could still be saved and brought back for proper guidance.

But upon seeing Zheng Fa, they would likely say—

A heathen unworthy of life!

...