Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 349 - 213 Network Design, Archaeological Preparation_3

Chapter 349: Chapter 213 Network Design, Archaeological Preparation_3

"This secret realm, it should be related to Tianhe Venerable..."

"Wait, elaborate, why do you think this?"

Zheng Fa directly interrupted her, asking.

"..." Mu Qingyan hesitated, thinking to herself: In her previous life, everyone said so!

"What I mean is, is there something inside, or information, that makes you think it was left by Tianhe Venerable?"

"Oh!" Mu Qingyan understood, "To my knowledge, there should be Tianhe Venerable’s legacy inside, along with some items marked with Tianhe Venerable’s imprint."

Zheng Fa nodded, then continued to ask:

"Alright, next question, what might be gained in this secret realm?"

"...Besides that legacy, there seem to be two magical treasures..."

"What about the architectural structure inside the secret realm, do you understand it?"

"There is... The secret realm seems to be a large lake, and inside the lake there is an island..."

"What possible dangers? Prohibitions?"

"...Many, there is a prohibition in the lake... It seems to be an array, which can obscure the senses of cultivators..."

Zheng Fa nodded, looked at Xiao Yuying and asked: "Fairy Xiao, in your opinion, what kind of Enchanting Soul Formation was popular during that era? Are there any common measures?"

Xiao Yuying gradually understood what Zheng Fa was up to, she thought for a long time before saying: "Honestly, Tianhe Venerable was such a person, his methods are beyond my imagination, but indeed, there were some commonly used arrays during that era..."

After she explained a few array types, she added: "Later, with their development, some Enchanting Soul Formations also had common solutions..."

After listening to her explanations, Zheng Fa looked at several Supreme Elders.

Elder Yuan spoke: "If that’s the case, I do have some talisman formation skills, the effect should be greater than the general spells."

Master Pang said: "Void Spirit Eye also has some effects."

Junior Master Huang... Junior Master Huang did not speak, appearing somewhat out of place.

Zheng Fa saw that Zhang took note of their discussions, then turned to Mu Qingyan and asked: "Anything else?"

During the discussion, two hours passed.

Mu Qingyan, after all, had only heard about this secret realm, and the information that came out later was true or false, somewhat incomplete.

Nevertheless, Zhang still recorded a thick stack of documents.

Everyone looked at her recorded documents and discovered that the cover was inscribed by Zheng Fa: "Tianhe No. 1 Secret Realm Archaeological Preparations"

Xiao Yuying paused, browsed through these documents, and found that each restriction and each danger Mu Qingyan mentioned, Zhang Wuyi had recorded various conjectures and corresponding methods.

Some of these solutions were mentioned by her.

Some were provided by Elder Yuan and others.

Others, were conjectured by Zhang Wuyi herself.

The initial Enchanting Soul Formation eventually evolved into over twenty sets of corresponding preparations.

She couldn’t help but look up at Zheng Fa, somewhat astounded, and said: "You’re being too thorough..."

Zheng Fa’s smile stiffened.

"What are you thinking?" Xiao Yuying asked curiously.

What was he thinking?

What era was it, and archaeology still needed just one person?

In the Xuanwei Realm, due to the special nature of secret realms, cultivators usually fought alone—even in temporarily formed teams, distributions of loot often led to falling out.

On one hand, Zheng Fa cooperated only with people he relatively trusted.

On the other hand, he relied on the cooperation contracts for archaeology.

In Zheng Fa’s view, cultivators may live long, but it was hard to say they were all-rounders—like Xiao Yuying, she didn’t understand much about Artifact Refining or Alchemy, and her knowledge of arrays was also relatively superficial.

Ultimately, the knowledge in cultivation was profoundly intricate, even seemingly endless.

That is to say—even among high-cultivation cultivators, there was significant room for cooperation.

In fact, these cultivators probably were not unaware of this point, but they were not as committed to it as Zheng Fa.

"Fairy Xiao, I have divided this archaeological project into three parts:"

"The first part, as you can see, involves gathering information, preparing plans, etc..."

"The second part, of course, is to explore the secret realm—at that time, Fairy Xiao, you will lead a team to explore the secret realm, while Jiushan Sect will provide you with more technical support..."

"Technical support?"

Xiao Yuying didn’t understand.

"What I mean is, for example, if you encounter any prohibitions in the secret realm that you can’t resolve, I will think of solutions together with Master and others."

Simply put, Zheng Fa considered the team led by Xiao Yuying as the frontline.

And Jiushan Sect also has a staff department.

Just as Zheng Fa mentioned, aside from wanting to acquire resources from the secret realm, he also intends to train these disciples of Jiushan Sect.

Thus, he is viewing this matter with a mindset akin to warfare.

Xiao Yuying also understood.

She opened her mouth, a sentence remaining unspoken—Is there such an affluent war in the world?

Zheng Fa continued:

"The final step is analysis, which you, Fairy, can also discern the effectiveness from our previous archaeological reports..."

Listening, Xiao Yuying’s expression grew increasingly complex.

"Fairy Xiao?"

"..."

"I finally understand what those cultivators who encountered me in the secret realm were thinking..."

"What?" Zheng Fa asked curiously.

"Maybe we should go home..."

Xiao Yuying could clearly perceive the power of this approach—Even if she encountered this strategy, she would feel utterly hopeless.

She is talented, but Zheng Fa’s method of gathering a large group of Nascent Souls and being thoroughly prepared is a bit too much.

Xiao Yuying felt more and more despondent...

Ah?

Wait, am I on his side?

Then it’s fine...

...

"Not fair...isn’t this going too far?" Xiao Yuying glared, looking at Zheng Fa, pointing at the illusion before her: "What is this drill?"

In the illusion, it depicted the island as described by Mu Qingyan, with all its restrictions intact—just less powerful.

This place, one of the Heavenly Palace Nine Islands, had always been of little use, and now Zheng Fa was using it for drills—or rather, as a simulation copy.

Essentially, this was akin to the "Great Dao Competition" game they developed earlier, but the environment was changed to the secret realm, and the goal was not to battle each other, but to explore the secret realm.

Hence, this island is now called Struggle Immortal Island.

"We need to familiarize the disciples with the contingency plans..."

Zheng Fa explained, after all, various plans only exist on paper, but mastering spells ultimately requires more than just theory.

Xiao Yuying was left speechless, looking at Zheng Fa, unable to utter a word.

"Why do I feel... that exploring secret realms in the future won’t be thrilling at all?"

"Fairy Xiao, I don’t want thrills..."

Xiao Yuying saw Zheng Fa pointing towards a nearby cliff facing the illusion.

On the cliff, there were lines carved by Elder Yuan in blue:

"Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime."

These simple words made everyone instantly understand Zheng Fa’s concept.

Xiao Yuying then heard Zheng Fa say: "Fairy Xiao, I don’t want the disciples I painstakingly nurtured to die in secret realms due to ignorance and lack of preparation, seeking thrills..."

To be honest, only after becoming the sect leader did he realize how many resources a good disciple consumes.

I’ve changed so many systems, employed these teachers, and put in so much effort to train the disciples... How could I just let them die carelessly?

"..."

Mu Qingyan stood behind him, her eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but look up at the other disciples, who seemed to have a warmth on their faces.

Even Xiao Yuying sighed and said, "Jiushan Sect has you as a Sect Leader..."

She didn’t continue, but everyone understood the praise in her words.

"Oh, right, those of you participating in the drill..." Zheng Fa suddenly seemed to think of something, looked at Mu Qingyan and others, and said: "After the drill, remember to write a summary, three thousand words should suffice."

"Sect Leader...is there just one drill?"

Mu Qingyan couldn’t help but speak out, others might not know, but she was aware that they had discussed a thick pile of contingency plans...

"What do you think?"

Zheng Fa smiled amiably.

"Having you as a Sect Leader is somewhat unlucky..."

Xiao Yuying abruptly changed her tone.

Mu Qingyan and the others nodded somberly.