Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 292 - 178: The Immortal Law Reform Starting with Thunder Skill

Chapter 292: Chapter 178: The Immortal Law Reform Starting with Thunder Skill

No matter how hard the younger sister Zheng Shan tried, the electric potential generated through friction was very minimal, invisible to the naked eye of ordinary people.

But none of those in this classroom were ordinary people.

Cultivators’ perception far exceeded that of an average person.

Moreover, many disciples had cultivated skills like the Spirit Eye Skill as found in "Void Spirit Eye."

How could they fail to see that not only did Zheng Shan lack cultivation,

but also Zheng Fa had not used any spells.

Therefore, that tiny electric spark, like a bolt of thunder, silenced the classroom of thousands.

Zheng Fa watched as Master intently stared at the silk in little sister’s hands, his expression complex—puzzled, shocked, and most of all, contemplative.

Feeling countless eyes upon her, Zheng Shan shrank her neck, appearing somewhat afraid.

Zheng Fa patted her head and said with a smile, "Don’t look at her, she doesn’t understand anything."

Little sister is merely an actor—acting according to the script.

Sect Leader shook his head and said, "If it weren’t for Junior Master Huang saying this little one has no Taoist Body..."

He paused, silent for a long moment, then continued, "So, what do you say Thunder Skill is?"

The other disciples also turned their gazes toward Zheng Fa; the scene before them had indeed overturned their cognition.

Now, Sect Leader’s doubts were the very thing they were most eager to understand.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, drew a couple of strokes in front of him, and a light screen appeared.

"Master, I believe that Thunder Skill—actually has two aspects: one is Thunder, the other is Skill."

The words "Thunder" and "Skill" appeared on the light screen.

"Thunder is a phenomenon."

As he spoke, ripples surged over the word Thunder on the light screen, turning into streaks of lightning.

Zheng Fa continued:

"Skill is a tool."

Having said that, the words Thunder and Skill on the light screen transformed into the words Phenomenon and Tool.

Upon hearing these two phrases, Zhang’s face subtly changed as if she had gained some insight.

But the rest were still somewhat confused, seemingly unable to comprehend.

Yet they also had a feeling—that what Zheng Fa had said was perhaps an unprecedented definition in the Xuanwei Realm.

Zheng Fa paused.

Then he saw a hint of urgency on his own Master’s face.

"Keep talking!"

Master Pang and Junior Master Huang glanced at him—

Wasn’t it just before that you thought your disciple was overturning the Heavenly Gang?

And now you’re listening so eagerly?

...

Seeing their confusion, Zheng Fa didn’t rush to explain but instead asked:

"Then who can tell, where do all of today’s Thunder Skills come from?"

Zhou Qianyuan hurriedly answered, "Passed down from our ancestors!"

Zheng Fa nodded, "That’s right. But how did the ancestors create these Thunder Skills?"

Everyone looked at each other, words on the tip of their tongues, yet unsure how to express them properly.

It was the Sect Leader who spoke, "Observing the ways of heaven, and executing heaven’s methods."

Zheng Fa clapped his hands and commended, "Aren’t the ways of heaven phenomena? And heaven’s methods essentially techniques?"

After hearing this, everyone felt like they understood a bit more, but also felt something was missing, and fell into deep thought.

Zheng Fa smiled and pointed at the light screen.

Suddenly, a new term appeared between Phenomenon and Tool—"Knowledge."

None of them were fools, and they quickly grasped what Zheng Fa meant, a sense of realization dawning on their faces.

Then the words on the light screen began to change again.

Finally, they coalesced into three phrases—

"Observe phenomena, derive knowledge."

"Utilize knowledge, create cultivation methods."

"Knowledge is power."

...

"Knowledge is power?" The Sect Leader murmured to himself, feeling that this statement was incredibly simple, yet as if it had thoroughly articulated the very essence of Immortal Law.

However, Master Pang furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to say, "Nephew, you say that knowledge is power, but if this knowledge depends on each individual’s observation and stems from everyone’s unique enlightenment, wouldn’t that mean that this knowledge is different for everyone?"

He said this much, and couldn’t help but glance at Zhang.

It seemed to remind him of the previous strife between the two sects.

Zheng Fa nodded and said, "This is where the ancient Immortal Law fell short—they lacked experimentation."

"Experimentation?"

"Not every enlightenment can be called knowledge," Zheng Fa thought for a moment and continued, "Hypotheses not validated by experiments can only be guesses."

Zhang stared intently at Zheng Fa, as if she knew that he had now reached the core of her own theories.

"The simplest empirical evidence is the process by which our predecessors created spells—they observed the talismanic diagrams in the air, used Spiritual Power to emulate the traces of the diagrams, and as a result, produced spell effects."

"This... is a form of fundamental empirical validation."

Upon saying this, everyone gained some understanding.

"Then by that logic, didn’t our predecessors also provide empirical evidence?"

Master Pang said with a frown.

"That’s why they created Immortal Law, but their empirical evidence often stopped there... unable to distill more fundamental knowledge."

Having said this, Zheng Fa sighed.

Traveling back and forth between the modern world and the Xuanwei Realm, he naturally had a better grasp of the differences the two worlds faced.

In his view, in terms of wisdom, ability, and insight, the cultivators of the Xuanwei Realm were no worse...

Even the Immortal Law granted these cultivators a destructive and vital force far stronger than that of modern people.

It was just that the cultivators of the Xuanwei Realm seldom sought the most fundamental questions—

What is Spiritual Energy?

Why does Immortal Law work?

What is the essence of cultivation?

They certainly had creativity, but this creativity was likely the accumulation of coincidental discoveries passed down through generations—in short, there was no systematic methodology for research.

In Zheng Fa’s view, the biggest difference between the two worlds was:

The modern world excels at understanding and transforming the world, yet that transformation is incredibly difficult; take life extension, for instance... Modern science has existed for centuries, and humanity has yet to fully break through its biological lifespan.

However, for cultivators of the Xuanwei Realm, transforming the world was too simple.

They didn’t even need to question those tedious issues—merely following the path of those who came before them in the cultivation, they naturally obtained immense power and lengthy lifespans.

This simplicity greatly suppressed many people’s spirit of exploration.

Actually, if not for the existence of the decay of Spiritual Energy, most people might not aspire for any new methods.

Zheng Fa’s fortune lay in that on one hand, he had received modern education and knew a thing or two about the methods of understanding the world.

On the other hand, he also had the opportunity to practice Immortal Law...

Today’s lesson, Zheng Fa wanted to do more than just talk about his Thunder Skill; he wanted to use the discourse on Thunder Skill to discuss methodology.

But judging from the expressions of the group of disciples, it seemed they hadn’t really understood.

He had anticipated this problem, and Zheng Fa spoke again: "For instance, when I just asked you what Thunder Skill is, your answers were essentially knowledge that seems to be the truth in the Xuanwei Realm—Thunder Skill can only be controlled by cultivators, because only by using Spiritual Power can one generate Heavenly Thunder Power."

"But the experiment my junior sister just conducted... has proven that knowledge wrong."

With this explanation, everyone started to grasp it somewhat.

"So, Thunder Skill has nothing to do with Spiritual Power?"

The Sect Leader said slowly.

"Very good, Master, you’ve managed to distill new knowledge through experimentation!" Zheng Fa praised.

The Sect Leader first grinned upon hearing this, but he quickly noticed something amiss...

He slowly withdrew his smile and looked intently at Zheng Fa.

The traitor!