Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 288 - 174 Breeding

Chapter 288: Chapter 174 Breeding

Three days later.

Master Qian, accompanied by several disciples, walked across the Rainbow Bridge, heading towards the Medicine Garden.

"Those books given by Master Zheng, have you read them?"

Master Qian seemed to recall something, asking his disciples.

The disciples looked at each other, seemingly a bit guilty.

"We have!"

"What insights do you have?"

Master Qian continued to inquire.

"..."

The disciples glanced at each other, each prompting the other with their eyes... as if urging someone to speak.

"What’s the matter? No insights at all?"

"..."

"How did I accept such dull disciples!"

"..."

"How are you supposed to teach others in the future?"

"..."

A younger disciple, who was also most favored, spoke up: "Master, whether it’s the genes or heredity discussed in the books, they are all matters unheard of by us... We truly cannot comprehend them!"

"Why not have Master teach us?"

"..."

Master Qian’s face slowly stiffened.

Watching him, the disciple’s face gradually showed a dawning realization.

"Master, you..."

"..."

"If I may say so, we might as well not read those books... We’ve grown spirit fields all our lives and still don’t understand those books, who knows if they’re correct?"

One of the disciples suddenly said, tone tinged with resentment.

"Silence!"

"Master... when did those Jiushan Sect disciples ever treat us as one of their own?"

The disciple went on.

Master Qian opened his mouth, looking at the rest of the disciples, seeing that they all had the same subtly indignant expression.

He shook his head.

He understood in his heart that they were, after all, newcomers; although the Jiushan Sect disciples didn’t exclude them completely, they seldom interacted with them.

After entering the Jiushan Realm, he and his disciples formed their own faction, maintaining a subtle divide from the other Jiushan Sect disciples...

"At least Master Zheng treats us as his own..."

"Isn’t that because of our Secret Technique... and also that he wants us to share everything we’ve learned at the Qianhe Sect with those Jiushan Sect people..."

The disciple spoke again.

"..."

"Master, if those at the Jiushan Sect learn what we know and then turn their backs on us, driving us away, what will we do? Shouldn’t we... keep something to ourselves?"

Master Qian was silent, his face betraying internal conflict.

"..."

"Master Qian, did you understand the previous books?"

Master Zheng asked upon seeing Master Qian.

Now that the Jiushan Realm needed to be built up from scratch, agriculture was the most fundamental industry, which was why Zheng Fa paid great attention to Master Qian and his disciples.

Behind Master Qian, the disciples had erratic gazes, now understanding why their own Master was so concerned about their studies...

"I... understand..."

"Really?"

Master Zheng looked at his expression, suddenly speaking up.

"..."

Master Qian, face flushed, whispered: "I am ashamed..."

"Why be ashamed?" Master Zheng unexpectedly said, "Master Qian, if you understood everything, what would be the need to read books?"

"... Ah?"

"If you don’t understand something, ask me, and if I don’t know, I’ll ask someone else... It’s such a simple matter, no need for shame or pride."

Master Zheng spoke these words while looking at the disciples behind Master Qian.

After thinking it over, considering that these men would be agriculture teachers in the future, he decided to elaborate as it concerned education.

"Gentlemen, when you become teachers and instruct disciples in the future, please remember—learning is always a process from not understanding to understanding."

"If the students have something they don’t understand, your existence has meaning."

"Never crush the students’ thirst for knowledge."

The disciples of Master Qian remained silent for a moment, glanced at the ashamed Master Qian, and realized that their own Master also thought about his earlier words.

Their expressions varied, but they all replied "Yes..."

"..."

Master Zheng did not say more, as education is an important discipline itself, and he was an outsider to it.

He led the disciples towards the Medicine Garden.

Sister Zhang was waiting in the Medicine Garden with Sister Yuan.

"Sister Zhang?"

"It’s planted."

Master Zheng looked over the Medicine Garden.

A corner of the Medicine Garden had been planted with various rice types, gathered from the mundane world.

These rice types were almost untouched by domestication.

From taste to yield, they were far from the standards of staple grains.

Zheng Fa’s goal this time was to cultivate rice varieties suitable for the Jiushan Realm using these original types.

He glanced at the Sun and Moon Clock and took out his own golden seal.

The Heavenly Merit points—also known as the incense strength—accumulated in the golden seal over the past few days surged into the Sun and Moon Clock.

With nourishment, the Sun and Moon Clock soared into the air, and time sped up over the area where the rice seeds were planted.

Since these rice plants were not Spirit Plants, they consumed very little incense strength.

The points of Heavenly Merit didn’t even change.

The rice shot up, flowering inconspicuously in dense clusters.

"Sister!"

Master Zheng suddenly called out.

Zhang had prepared in advance, and her lifebound magical treasure, the Fei Xian Pen, appeared in front of her chest. In the blink of an eye, it turned into thousands, each one dropping into the rice fields.

The tips of these Fei Xian Pens touched the stamens of each rice flower, collecting the pollen, before each pen dipped onto the pistils of another rice plant.

Zheng Fa nodded his head.

The Sun and Moon on the Sun and Moon Clock began to revolve again.

In a flash, a year had passed in the rice fields.

The rice in the field matured, and Zhang collected these rice seeds and planted them in the fields again.

In the Medicine Garden, the faces of people like Master Qian were a bit dazed.

It seemed that they understood what Zheng Fa and his group were doing.

This breeding experiment actually was not much different from modern times.

First, various collected wild rice were used as parents, crossbred with each other to cultivate the first generation of offspring.

Starting from the first generation, they began to select fully filled grains with larger yields, continuing to self-pollinate, backcross, and select.

Until they found the most stable rice seed that was also the best fit for the Jiushan Realm’s cultivation.

Compared to modern times, there was no difference in principle.

But with the Sun and Moon Clock, convenience was significantly improved.

You know, it probably takes decades in modern times to cultivate a new rice strain.

But at this time, Zheng Fa has just used about ten points of Heavenly Merit to complete this breeding.

In the rice fields, only one rice seed remained.

The rice ears were heavy, even causing the stems and leaves of the rice to bend.

Master Qian looked blankly at this scene, rubbing his eyes.

He glanced at Zheng Fa, seemingly unable to help himself from walking towards the rice field.

Zheng Fa did not stop him; besides the breeding, this was also a teaching moment for people like Master Qian—at least to let them realize the values of those agricultural books.

"This..." Master Qian pinched the full grain of rice, seemingly confirming whether the scene was real.

You know, he had really checked the Qianhe Sect’s books about breeding.

With the long lifespan of cultivators, they often see new species born—yet almost no one thought of the most fundamental principles involved.

Therefore, Master Qian understood the meaning even more—a stable method for cultivating new species was an unreachable secret technique for the old Qianhe Sect!

Even what Zheng Fa has done is almost unprecedented in the Xuanwei Realm...

The most important thing is...

"This simple?"

Remembering the operations of Zheng Fa and Zhang Wuyi just now, he seemed to understand, yet he found it hard to believe.

"Master Qian, if you’ve understood those few books, some things become not so difficult."

Zheng Fa said in a soft voice.

"Those few books?"

Master Qian was startled, looking into Zheng Fa’s eyes.

Zheng Fa smiled and said, "Of course, this is just the simplest application of the knowledge in those books... If we delve deeper, we can naturally do even more."

Cultivating this type of rice is indeed very basic.

Zheng Fa’s next goal was to cultivate spirit grain suitable for the Jiushan Realm...

"More..."

Master Qian muttered blankly.

...

Walking on the way back, Master Qian did not speak for a long time.

As if mulling over something.

The disciples also remained silent.

Finally, Master Qian spoke, "Those of you who intend to leave the Jiushan Realm, tell me, I will personally ask Master Zheng."

"...Master?"

"But if you choose to stay in the Jiushan Realm, don’t talk about insiders or outsiders anymore, and you can’t think of holding back." Master Qian told his disciples, "As Master Zheng said, today was just a slight showcase of the knowledge in those books."

"Ask yourselves, in the old Qianhe Sect, would anyone have taught you such cultivation methods so readily?"

"..."

"In the face of such cultivation methods, what am I, what are you, even what is the Qianhe Sect?" Master Qian’s tone grew more serious, "I know you’ve all suffered some grievances, tell me if you’re upset, I’ll talk to Master Zheng."

The disciple who had previously suggested holding back mumbled, "Master..."

"I’m not forcing you..." Master Qian seeing his disciples looking uneasy, spoke again, "Master Zheng wants us to teach agriculture to the disciples. In the end, the agricultural knowledge he gave us is much more profound than what Qianhe Sect had."

"Is he coveting our secret techniques?"

"..."

"This is giving us an opportunity! If we become the teachers of those disciples, will we still be regarded as outsiders?"

"If you wish to stay, then do not keep secrets anymore..."

Seeing that they seemed to understand, Master Qian finally nodded, "Go back and read those books more, if you don’t understand, come find me, if I don’t understand, we’ll ask Master Zheng..."

Hearing their master speak like this, all the disciples responded affirmatively.

After they left Master Qian’s residence, they whispered among themselves,

"This... How do I feel like our master has become a different person?"

"Really, before our master was so cunning, how could he become so selfless now? Just not like him."

"..." a female disciple said, "I feel like Master has become more like Master Zheng now."

Everyone recalled this and couldn’t help but nod their heads.

...

Looking at the rice field before them, both Zheng Fa and Zhang had smiles on their faces.

"The Sect Leader has sent a message, saying that there are as many as three hundred thousand mortals preparing to move into the Jiushan Realm..." Zhang started, "I was worried about how to support these people."

"Three hundred thousand, that’s not a lot actually." Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said, "Based on the previous Jiushan Sect’s population control, those willing to enter the Jiushan Realm probably don’t even make up one percent..."

The Jiushan Realm governs a large territory.

Moreover, although agriculture is relatively backward in the Xuanwei Realm, due to the existence of spiritual energy, the yield of crops is not very low.

The population previously governed by the Jiushan Sect is probably about twenty or thirty million...

Similar to the current total population among the Jiushan Realm’s mortals.

Considering this, the willingness to migrate with the Jiushan Sect seems a little low—

This actually wasn’t beyond Zheng Fa’s expectations, after all, the Jiushan Sect hasn’t been all that benevolent...

Plus, the notoriety of the Great Freedom Demon Sect has been mostly spreading within Immortal Sects:

Before Zheng Fa joined the Immortal Sect, he hadn’t even heard of this name.

In agricultural societies, people strongly prefer not to relocate...

According to Zheng Fa’s estimate, among these three hundred thousand people, most probably are related to Jiushan Sect disciples of various generations.

"Junior brother, you probably only care about two people, right..."

Zhang suddenly said.

Zheng Fa smiled, his expression full of anticipation—his mother and sister were coming.