Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 295 - 181: The Difficulty of the Golden Core, Ancestral Fusion

Chapter 295: Chapter 181: The Difficulty of the Golden Core, Ancestral Fusion

Zheng Fa’s first encounter with the Secret Technique "Yin Yang Union" left him somewhat incredulous—

The principle behind this technique, as summarized by Zheng Fa, involves the following process:

Heat certain gases into a plasma state using high-energy rays.

Constrain the motion of this plasma using a magnetic field.

Then, wait for the bangs!

Isn’t this...just a magnetic confinement nuclear fusion device?

Of course, since Zheng Fa’s Spiritual Power and Divine Soul are limited, the particle stream he can heat and capture is minuscule, and the energy is not as tremendous—or rather, not as imposing as the term "nuclear fusion" sounds.

But it is still nuclear fusion!

So when Zhang said that the "Yin Yang Union" was a type of simulation of the Golden Core, Zheng Fa confirmed—Golden Core is likely a kind of nuclear reaction device.

As for Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha, if based on Zheng Fa’s guess, it probably relates to light nuclear particles and heavy nuclear particles, which means it likely involves nuclear fuels like uranium, plutonium, deuterium, or tritium.

The problem is...

Zheng Fa even doubted his own speculation earlier, as the Xuanwei Realm’s cultivation technology seems a bit too advanced.

He looked at Yuan, wishing he could hide the book in front of her—this would be a huge mess if the bird learned too much.

Honestly, there are too many problems here.

Zheng Fa looked towards Zhang.

Zhang’s eyebrows twitched, her face unexpectedly showing a forewarned yet valorously sacrificial expression as she said, "Ask away."

Then Sister, don’t blame me, your junior, for being impolite!

"Sister, based on my speculation, Golden Cores should produce an extremely large amount of energy... Where does this energy go?"

Despite its strength, the Golden Core doesn’t seem as powerful as Zheng Fa imagined, according to Yuan’s performance.

Hearing this, Zhang looked puzzled at Zheng Fa and frowned, "Do you mean that Golden Core cultivators should be stronger than they appear?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

Zhang thought for a while and said, "Although there is a difference in the quality of Golden Cores in the Xuanwei Realm, in reality, the combat power of Golden Core cultivators is all on one level..."

Zheng Fa paused, understanding what Zhang meant—Golden Core cultivators, that’s their capability...

Right!

This world does not have the mass-energy equivalence formula.

To Xuanwei cultivators, the strength exhibited by Golden Core cultivators is quite normal.

"However... I also have a feeling about the energy you mentioned."

Zhang suddenly seemed to think of something and spoke,

"Do you still remember the Lifebound Magical Treasure method by Tianhe Venerable?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

"The Lifebound Magical Treasure, besides requiring various spiritual materials, also needs to be nurtured within the Golden Core."

"So Sister, are you saying that energy is used for Artifact Refining?"

"At least it has been so since Tianhe Venerable invented the method of Lifebound Magical Treasure."

Zheng Fa suddenly understood—this matched another of his doubts.

Fusion and fission both yield certain products, and generally, due to the factor of binding energy, iron is considered the end-point of fusion and fission.

Theoretically, fusion reactions beyond iron would be endothermic.

Looking at it this way, could Tianhe Venerable’s method of Lifebound Magical Treasure even produce metal by itself?

He’s practically a great environmental warrior...

"Since you’re asking about alchemy, you must be thinking of Core Formation," Zhang observed his puzzled expression and said, "I don’t know how much you understand about Golden Core, I can only share my thoughts on Core Formation."

Zheng Fa nodded gratefully.

He knew Zhang probably felt she couldn’t answer some of his questions, so she decided to disclose everything she knew, hoping it would help him.

"Golden Core, there’s a saying of achieving the Core without regrets... do you know why it’s said so?"

Zheng Fa shook his head.

Zhang pointed to Yuan’s Golden Core.

That Golden Core shone brilliantly, with constant and intense changes happening inside it.

"Because the changes inside cannot be stopped."

Suddenly, Zheng Fa understood Zhang’s point.

Xuanwei cultivators do not know what nuclear fusion or nuclear fission is.

But what they know is, once the reaction in a Golden Core starts, it’s so fierce that they can hardly stop it.

"So, before you form your Core,you must understand how you want to form it."

"What kind of Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha you want to collect."

Zhang’s expression was very serious:

"Our Jiushan Sect has twelve different Golden Core Skills, each with its own characteristics, requiring different Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha, you can take a look at all of them."

"As for the Dragon-Tiger Golden Core that I cultivate, it is formed by collecting Innate Yan Yang Qi and Mysterious Ice Netherworld Evil, which is one of the top Golden Core choices within the Jiushan Sect."

Zheng Fa then asked, "How are Golden Cores classified into grades?"

"Top-grade Golden Cores are pure and flawless; low-grade Golden Cores, contaminated and impure."

"Impurities?"

Zheng Fa suddenly understood.

"Exactly," Zhang said. "The less impurities there are, the higher the quality of the Golden Core, and the greater the possibility of advancing to Nascent Soul in the future."

Zheng Fa nodded gently.

Seeing Zheng Fa’s somewhat enlightened expression, Zhang’s face became serious: "Do you know how long it took me to form my Core?"

Zheng Fa shook his head.

"It took me just over a year to reach Foundation Establishment, and about ten years to get to the late stage of Foundation Establishment stage, but from late Foundation Establishment to Core Formation, it took almost seventy years."

"I understand now..."

Zhang meant to illustrate the complexity of Core Formation.

"Core Formation is a painstaking process," Zhang instructed. "How the Golden Core is structured, how the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha energies are selected, how much is collected each time—all of these require gradual experimentation and careful thoughts."

After bidding farewell to Zhang, he was still thinking about what Zhang had said.

Zhang was quite candid, seemingly eager to teach him, but his doubts were greater than before.

Zhang probably couldn’t answer his questions anymore.

But that’s okay.

Someone else might.

...

Modern times, nursing home.

Now there were many new plants in the fields of the nursing home—due to Elder Hou’s idea, the authorities collected many seeds, which were planted in the nursing home, hoping to cultivate new Spirit Plants.

There was no one else around the field.

Even Elder Hou wouldn’t come to the backyard at night.

They left this time to the five residents of the nursing home.

"Golden Core... is it a reactor?"

Hearing Zheng Fa’s explanation, Old Man Bai’s mouth opened wide, his expression shocked.

The others also had numb expressions.

Obviously, they found the idea absurd.

Zheng Fa nodded and said, "But there is one issue... why is fission necessary?"

This question cannot be asked to Zhang... Zhang probably wouldn’t understand.

Simply put, the Golden Core being a sun Zheng Fa had never been so perplexed... the sun only involves fusion.

On the side, Tang Mudao nodded and said, "Indeed, if it’s only a large amount of energy needed, one type of reaction would suffice."

Zheng Fa asked another question: "What exactly is the relationship between Spiritual Energy and energy?"

This was Zheng Fa’s doubt about the nature of Spiritual Energy:

From his past cultivation experiences, cultivators only need to accumulate Spiritual Power to control the elements of the universe—a question about where the energy to control through Spiritual Energy comes from had crossed his mind, but with his level of cultivation, he had no way to explore this.

Unexpectedly, Golden Cores are involved in nuclear reactions—meaning, at the Golden Core stage, cultivators are not only accumulating Spiritual Power, but also trying to generate a vast amount of energy themselves.

This energy doesn’t seem to be useful...

If after Tianhe Venerable, cultivators used it to practice their Lifebound Magical Treasures, what about the cultivators before him?

What happened to the energy generated by their Golden Cores?

This question could only be understood by modern people.

These two issues perplexed Old Man Bai and the others.

Zheng Fa considered for a moment, then took out his phone and called Group Leader Yang.

"Hello? Mr. Zheng?"

"Group Leader Yang, could you please invite two people familiar with nuclear engineering over..."

If the Golden Core is likened to a nuclear reactor, even with both fusion and fission reactions.

Then Golden Core can almost be seen as an extremely precise engineering design...

Speaking of engineering design.

Better to find engineers!

After a moment of hesitation, the voice on the other end spoke,

"Mr. Zheng... these experts all have security clearances, even in your case, I need to apply... may I ask, what you need them for..."

"Nothing much, I have a traditional fusion technique passed down from my cultivation lineage, and I want them to check if it’s genuine."

"..."

Silence fell on the other end.