I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 353Book 2: : Formation Completed, Jade Slip Evolved
Vol 2 Chapter 353: Formation Completed, Jade Slip Evolved
The morning sun rose from the eastern side of Rainbow Mountain, its light reflecting off dewdrops on the grass blades in scattered sparkles. Zheng Fa's voice flowed steadily through the lecture hall like a morning breeze. The audience sat in complete silence. Even the birds lingering under the eaves remained unusually quiet, as if attentively listening to the lecture.
This series of lectures had now lasted nearly six months. Starting from the foundational textbooks, Zheng Fa covered everything from talismans and elixirs to formations and artifacts - the complete spectrum of cultivation arts. Regarding cultivation methods, he had selected five comprehensive Five Elements techniques, explaining them in meticulous detail from the Qi Refining stage all the way to Golden Core.
Since Zheng Fa had given supplementary lessons to people like Team Leader Yang who initially struggled to keep up, most attendees now grasped the content thoroughly, if not completely entranced. Team Leader Yang even had spare attention to let her mind wander. She lifted her head to sneak a glance at Zheng Fa before turning toward the window beside her.
Outside, sunlight streamed through the glass, casting a beam onto the lecture hall floor. Wait—why did the light seem to flicker, brightening and dimming intermittently? Ordinary people might miss such subtle changes, but Team Leader Yang, now at the second level of Qi Refinement, possessed sharpened vision. After observing for a while, she suddenly noticed Zheng Fa deliberately glancing her way and immediately straightened up, pretending to focus attentively.
Zheng Fa chuckled inwardly at Team Leader Yang's perceptiveness. Had she stood outside, she would have realized the flickering originated from the Fusang Wood within the sun. This spiritual root rhythmically expanded and contracted as if breathing. With each pulse, faint warm currents tingled through Zheng Fa's body, making his flesh grow stronger with every passing moment.
...
He had only discovered this phenomenon two days prior. After half a year of lecturing, the Fusang Wood had become noticeably more active than before. Perhaps because the audience remained small and relatively weak, the changes were extremely subtle. Even as its host, Zheng Fa needed months to detect anything unusual. Quantifying the progress, he estimated the Fusang Wood had grown less than one-thousandth over six months, while his physical body had strengthened by roughly ten percent.
Initially puzzled, Zheng Fa gradually formed a hypothesis. His deepening understanding of the three Dao Fruit techniques provided insights into the Fusang Wood's nature. The Fusang Wood Dao Fruit likely aligned more with the demonic Dharmakaya path—a reasonable deduction since both demonic cultivation and the Fusang Wood's inherited bloodline powers followed similar principles. The Great Freedom Demon Emperor's "Ten Thousand Demons True Explanation" also pursued the Dharmakaya path, suggesting the ancient demon emperor associated with Fusang Wood had cultivated similarly. Therefore, the Fusang Wood's growth fed back into Zheng Fa's physical body—an evolution of sorts. Presently, Zheng Fa essentially functioned as a unique Dharmakaya cultivator.
...
With Haori Mountain's threat looming, Zheng Fa assessed Jiushan Realm's defensive capabilities. Only three items could potentially counter Dao Fruit cultivators: the Qingping Sword, Fusang Wood, and Tranquility Bamboo. Combined, they might stand a chance against Haori Mountain's wandering immortal surnamed Yang. But facing a true immortal? Zheng Fa remained uncertain, let alone contending with Haori Mountain's three Dao Fruits. Even advancing to Nascent Soul wouldn't significantly change the equation. The key lay in maximizing these three Dao Fruit-level treasures.
Among them, both Fusang Wood and Tranquility Bamboo were mere saplings, far from maturity. That left the Qingping Sword as the strongest, yet with the least room for improvement. The Tranquility Bamboo, already the weakest, grew slowly alongside Jiushan Realm. Moreover, Senior Sister Zhang found manipulating it exceptionally difficult. Only the Fusang Wood held real promise.
Zheng Fa's six-month lecture series served dual purposes: refining teaching materials and discovering methods to accelerate the Fusang Wood's growth. The good news—he'd found an effective approach. The bad news—the progress remained woefully insufficient.
Zheng Fa accurately gauged his and the Fusang Wood's combined strength: without the Qingping Sword, relying solely on the Fusang Wood placed him above Corpse Liberation cultivators but below true Dao Fruit masters. In simpler terms, he could overpower any non-Dao Fruit cultivator through absolute Dao Fruit suppression, yet remained utterly outmatched against genuine Dao Fruit opponents—the Fusang Wood might be formidable, but Zheng Fa himself was weak. Whether regarding spiritual energy, physical body, or soul strength, he couldn't unleash its full potential. More importantly, the Fusang Wood had only just been born—optimistically speaking, its potential remained untapped. Current improvements couldn't possibly bridge that gap.
...
Naturally, Zheng Fa wouldn't stake his survival entirely on a sapling. As the saying goes, building is harder than buying, and buying is harder than stealing. If his Fusang Wood fell short, perhaps his Trapping Immortal Sword wouldn't. By his estimates, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor had operated at no more than true immortal level for years—why couldn't he?
...
As the day's lecture concluded, Zheng Fa sat cross-legged on his cushion, watching over a thousand disciples bow respectfully before filing out of the hall. Anticipation flickered in his eyes. Dao Fruit advancement depended on audience quantity and quality. A thousand disciples weren't enough. What about a hundred million? A billion? A thousand Qi Refinement cultivators paled beside a thousand Golden Core experts. While Rainbow Mountain's spiritual energy currently couldn't sustain so many Golden Core cultivators, Zheng Fa's own cultivation would inevitably progress. Today, the Trapping Immortal Sword might appear stronger—but that strength belonged to Tianhe Venerable. The Fusang Wood's growth potential represented Zheng Fa's true personal power.
...
"The calculation formation is nearly complete!" Tang Lingwu burst from her room to announce the good news as soon as Zheng Fa returned to the retirement home.
"Really?" Zheng Fa's face lit up with joy. Perfecting the Nine Chapters Calculation Array had proven extraordinarily difficult. Initially, he'd assumed everything was ready except for a programmer. Later, he realized the "Vermilion Heaven Jade Manual" resembled neural networks, drastically differing from modern computer architecture. They ultimately had to abandon contemporary computing structures and redesign an entirely new hardware system. Finally, they consulted biologists specializing in neuroscience... The project ballooned, undergoing two complete overhauls—from hardware to programming language, everything followed revolutionary new concepts.
Tang Lingwu hadn't attended lectures for two months, spending most time on forums. Completing such an enormous project in merely six months owed to four words: national-scale resources. The three elderly scholars gathered around Zheng Fa as they all crowded into Tang Lingwu's room.
Her computer screen displayed the forum interface. Zheng Fa noticed she was browsing a post titled "Nine Chapters Calculation Rune Language Design Specifications."
"We redesigned the calculation formation language, calling it Nine Chapters Calculation Runes," Tang Lingwu explained proudly. "It includes basic data structures, statement types, plus commonly used libraries and modules. The most important and challenging part was this—the strong artificial intelligence algorithm designed based on the Vermilion Heaven Jade Manual's principles." She paused meaningfully. "Or perhaps, this might be the first true intelligent lifeform we've created."
Indeed, the Nine Chapters Calculation Array's intelligence now surpassed any modern AI algorithm. While the Vermilion Heaven Jade Manual's creators might not have known the term "artificial intelligence," their neural network-inspired techniques directly replicated human intellect. Thanks to cultivators' extraordinary observational abilities, the Xuanyi Realm had surpassed modern achievements in this aspect.
"So you've created a virtual person?" the elderly scholar surnamed Bai summarized.
"Essentially," Tang Lingwu nodded before adding, "Following your instructions, we only implemented basic data storage and computation functions."
Zheng Fa nodded approvingly. "Safety first." As he read through the post, he remarked, "Initially, the Nine Chapters Calculation Array will serve purely computational purposes." His caution stemmed from lingering wariness toward the Vermilion Heaven Jade Manual—even though they'd only borrowed concepts rather than copying techniques directly, he feared hidden traps. Additionally, Zheng Fa maintained healthy skepticism toward true artificial intelligence. The initial system would merely assist in governing Jiushan Realm with strictly limited permissions—no attack spells or similar functions. Practical constraints also applied: such features consumed prohibitive amounts of spirit stones... far beyond the Jiushan Sect's means. Even the current enhanced version required five to six times more spirit stones than before.
Tang Lingwu nodded understandingly before sighing. "Pity I'll never see the completed formation." The elderly Bai also looked disappointed. The modern world lacked sufficient spiritual materials and spirit stones, making the Nine Chapters Calculation Array's physical implementation impossible. After months of effort, all designs remained theoretical.
"I can't show you the complete system," Zheng Fa smiled, producing the Creation Jade Slip with a flash of light. "But we can test some algorithms."
"The Creation Jade Slip?" Tang Lingwu examined it curiously.
As Zheng Fa concentrated, talismanic diagrams flowed across the jade slip's surface, displaying Nine Chapters Calculation Runes. "I originally designed this to function as a server... but without proper algorithms, it could only host the forum with limited functionality." Zheng Fa had held high expectations for the Creation Jade Slip, yet its capabilities stopped at the Jiushan Forum—partly due to his cultivation level, but primarily because functional algorithms were lacking. Now, the Nine Chapters Calculation Runes filled that gap.
"I lack the cultivation to support strong AI—my spiritual energy falls short. But other algorithms still prove immensely helpful."
"What kind of help?"
Zheng Fa tapped the jade slip, projecting a light screen displaying densely packed files—revised textbooks, recorded modern scientific knowledge, and Xuanyi Realm cultivation methods. The elderly Bai watched eagerly as Zheng Fa explained, "I instructed the Creation Jade Slip to label Nine Chapters Calculation Runes with Five Elements attributes based on talismanic diagram topology."
His finger touched the screen, shattering the display into darkness before new streams of talismanic diagrams emerged. Soon, a new document appeared classifying hundreds of Nine Chapters Calculation Runes into five elemental categories.
"Now I'm having it organize common spiritual material structures," Zheng Fa continued. Another document materialized.
The elderly Bai understood. "Similar to computer functions now?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
"Essentially," Zheng Fa confirmed. "Limited cultivation prevents matching the Nine Chapters Calculation Array's processing power. We can only implement relatively simple algorithms—no strong AI—but it's already far more useful than before." Pointing at the new files, he added, "For example, this spiritual material structure analysis greatly assists my Heavenly and Earthly Fiend Transformations technique." The knowledge required for Heavenly and Earthly Fiend Transformations posed tremendous mental challenges—now the enhanced Creation Jade Slip...
"So you've basically installed a computer in your brain?" the elderly Bai muttered.
Zheng Fa smiled. Essentially true—but not entirely. Previously, the Creation Jade Slip's limited algorithms forced Zheng Fa to manually process most information, with nearly all operations requiring personal attention. Adding new features would have demanded excessive effort. Now with improved algorithms, previously unfeasible ideas became possible.
The elderly Bai remarked enviously, "If I'd had this during school, I'd have become a legendary genius!"
...
Another lecture concluded. Team Leader Yang descended the mountain amidst the crowd, noticing Professor Wu ahead with several students whispering among themselves. Nothing unusual—except their expressions showed something strikingly familiar: the shaken, discouraged look of people confronting intellectual superiority. Normally, that expression belonged on her face...
Curious, she edged closer to eavesdrop.
"The dean was pretending all along?" Dean? Wasn't that Zheng Fa? Pretending? Perplexed, she listened intently.
"Must be. When I first heard his lectures, I thought he only had high school biology knowledge..." Professor Wu specialized in macromolecules, as did his students.
"These past six months made me realize—the dean seems to know everything I know..." "Sometimes he explains concepts exactly how I'd phrase them!"
Professor Wu nodded agreement. "I noticed that too, initially dismissing it as coincidence. But two days ago, when he consulted me about a research problem... I discovered something astonishing. The dean possesses profound knowledge across all biological fields. He casually references cutting-edge research, even obscure books—apparently having read and memorized them thoroughly. And I'm not alone—physics colleagues report similar experiences."
Team Leader Yang listened dumbfounded as the students pressed, "Then why did he previously appear so..."
After thoughtful silence, Professor Wu murmured, "Either his learning capacity is extraordinary... or he was deliberately simplifying—dumbing down for our sake."
"Dumbing down?" The students' expressions became indescribable. But Team Leader Yang understood completely—such considerate condescension from geniuses stung even more painfully. She'd assumed people like Professor Wu would never experience this—yet the dean had enlightened them overnight!
Professor Wu turned and noticed Team Leader Yang, his eyes reflecting shattered dismay. That look—she recognized it instantly and felt inexplicably irritated: Are you that ashamed to share my intellectual level?
...
Outside the lecture hall, twilight approached. Zheng Fa abruptly stopped his cultivation explanations, surveying the audience. Confused disciples exchanged glances.
"This lecture series concludes today." Team Leader Yang and others suppressed their surprise, silently awaiting Zheng Fa's words.
"You are this world's first cultivators." His gaze swept across them. "I hold... perhaps excessive expectations for you."
The disciples unconsciously straightened postures, listening intently.
"I chose you because you contributed to the retirement home. Naturally, those who helped establish our foundation deserve first cultivation opportunities." Zheng Fa paused meaningfully. "But that's not the whole reason—not even close."
Team Leader Yang grasped his implication. While they'd contributed, were their efforts truly worth Zheng Fa's exhaustive teachings? Even she—who worked diligently for the retirement home—admitted others might have striven harder given the chance.
"I selected you primarily because most possess sufficient intelligence, talent, and capability. Mastering this knowledge enables you to produce exceptional results—whether researching cultivation's fundamental nature, nurturing spiritual plants, or creating new techniques." Zheng Fa glanced at Team Leader Yang and added, "Even those unsuited for research can develop new martial arts or improve the retirement home's operations."
His expression turned stern. "I chose you expecting you to create greater value for the retirement home—to contribute meaningfully to the path of immortality. Not to become aloof immortals lording over mortals. Not to stagnate complacently or selfishly hoard advantages. I value wisdom not because it elevates individuals, but because it propels civilization forward. This... is the mission I entrust to you."
Zheng Fa paused, eyes shining with hope. Transforming the modern world into his dao sanctuary presented numerous unresolved challenges. These people represented his chosen sparks of enlightenment.
"Do you understand?"
The entire hall rose and bowed. "We understand, Master!"
"Good. May these lectures mark merely the beginning—for you, for Rainbow Mountain, for this world. May your names endure in cultivation's historical records."
Team Leader Yang pressed her lips together before joining the resounding response: "Yes!"
Unbeknownst to her, history would indeed immortalize each of these thousand-plus individuals. Future textbooks would dedicate entire chapters to this lecture series, titled:
The First Lecture of the Dao Ancestor.
