I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 364Book 2: : Educational Crowdfunding, Immortal Cultivation Visa
Vol 2 Chapter 364: Educational Crowdfunding, Immortal Cultivation Visa
“This guy called Gu Chang... extraordinary.”
This was Old Bai’s comment after reading the “An Examination of the Relationship Between Spiritual Roots and Nerves.”
Indeed, extraordinary.
If the spiritual root problem was a world-level challenge, Gu Chang had almost pioneered a new solution, and the most crucial part was that this solution had a very high probability of success.
Even though the paper was incomplete, the remarkable talent revealed within was something Old Bai naturally recognized.
“Much smarter than you were back then.”
Old Bai closed the paper, glanced sideways at Zheng Fa, and suddenly teased him.
“Teacher, you’re right.” Zheng Fa didn’t take it seriously and smiled proudly.
Standing beside them, Tang Lingwu’s cheeks puffed slightly, looking even more displeased than Zheng Fa. She snatched the paper from Old Bai and began scrutinizing it.
After half an hour, Tang Lingwu raised her head with a slightly frustrated tone: “So impressive…”
She looked deeply struck. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
“Impressive indeed. Coming up with this idea itself is no small feat, but the most remarkable part is his segmentation method. That thing is incredibly ingenious.”
Old Bai nodded in admiration.
Zheng Fa also felt the same.
The so-called segmentation method referred to Gu Chang’s approach to dividing human nerves—the human nervous system is extremely complex and interconnected. How to split it into smaller structures and then perform topological transformations was a massive challenge.
Gu Chang solved it relying purely on intuition. Not only that, he also summarized a set of principles.
An imperfect analogy would be Tang Lingwu’s previous math competitions, where most geometry problems required auxiliary lines to solve.
Zheng Fa had done some before, some truly godlike moves—without looking at the answers, it was impossible to figure out. Most contestants couldn’t master it without extensive training.
Human nerves were far more complex than geometry problems, and topological transformations were far less intuitive, making the difficulty incomparable.
Gu Chang’s achievement wasn’t just a godlike move;to put it bluntly, it was like the Thousand-Hand Avalokiteshvara.
Tang Lingwu, a former competitor, naturally bowed in respect after seeing it.
This was why Zheng Fa, after much thought, accepted Gu Chang as his disciple.
Not to mention the contributions this paper could bring to the Jiushan Realm and the modern world.
Just considering this talent alone, there was no one else like him in the Jiushan Realm.
Such talent was precious to Zheng Fa and the Jiushan Realm.
Even if Gu Chang were useless or dead, Zheng Fa would still try to save him.
“Is Gu Chang your senior disciple now?” Old Bai turned and asked curiously. “Then you must teach him well.”
Zheng Fa suddenly smiled mischievously: “Teacher~”
Old Bai’s body hairs stood on end and immediately grew alert: “What?”
“He’s my disciple, so isn’t he your grand-disciple?”
Old Bai remained unmoved: “...Don’t pull strings. Speak if you have something to say.”
“This disciple is so talented, I’m afraid I might hold him back. How about you put in some effort? Guide him sometimes?”
“...”
Old Bai stared at Zheng Fa blankly for a long while, then cursed:
“I haven’t even raised my own grandson! You want me to raise your grand-disciple? You rely on sucking off your elders to teach your disciples?”
“Sucking off elders” sounded harsh, but he relied on crowdfunding.
He didn’t have time and didn’t want to hold back Gu Chang’s talent.
His time was limited, but he had many people.
Recruit!
Not just Old Bai.
He planned to bring in other math experts from the nursing home.
Though they couldn’t meet in person for guidance, with Zheng Fa as the intermediary to form a teaching advisory group and conduct joint classes between two realms, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
𝑅ÂƝỒBĚs̩
This way, Gu Chang’s cultivation would rely on Mu Qingyan, and research would rely on the modern world.
Who wouldn’t say they had excellent teaching methods?
To be honest, Zheng Fa felt lucky for Gu Chang—besides himself, who else could provide such an environment?
If the biggest reason Zheng Fa accepted Gu Chang as a disciple was what? It was because he had resources and confidence and wouldn’t let this genius be buried.
Old Bai cursed and grumbled, but there wasn’t much anger on his face;on the contrary, he looked quite interested.
Encountering such a talented student, he was indeed stimulated with a desire to teach.
Moreover...
“Teacher, if the spiritual root problem is to be solved, it will probably fall on Gu Chang.”
Old Bai, who had struggled with poor spiritual root aptitude and cultivation, immediately showed a resigned expression upon hearing this.
He held back for a moment before saying: “I’ll teach!”
Seeing Zheng Fa’s expected smile, Old Bai spoke grumpily: “You really care about your disciples.”
Zheng Fa smiled.
His dedication to Gu Chang was partly because talent was rare. If Gu Chang grew well, it would benefit him greatly.
Investing in talent was definitely not a loss.
This kind of top-tier talent deserved all the attention.
On the other hand...
“Because I also have a dedicated teacher.”
Old Bai was stunned, then understood. His mouth twitched, his face tightened as if trying to hold back, but he couldn’t resist.
He grinned with his eyes nearly closed.
Tang Lingwu watched from the side with pity—just one sentence from Zheng Fa had Old Bai laughing like that, afraid of being drained to death.
...
“The data verification is almost complete.”
Tang Lingwu eagerly carried a tablet, accompanied by Teacher Tian, and found Zheng Fa.
The “An Examination of the Relationship Between Spiritual Roots and Nerves” was only half finished, with the biggest flaw being data.
Both the experimental data and data processing were very rough.
On one hand, Gu Chang’s sample size was too small—only himself.
On the other hand, he processed the data alone, so it wasn’t detailed or precise.
It could only be called qualitative analysis, not quantitative.
“We tested the nursing home residents, comparing their nerve composition and spiritual roots, and found a very high correlation,” Tang Lingwu pointed at the charts on the tablet.
“Gu Chang’s paper has some data errors, probably because his understanding of nerve structure wasn’t precise enough.”
“But overall, from the nerve structure perspective, it can explain spiritual roots.”
Zheng Fa nodded and looked at Team Leader Yang standing nearby.
“Next, we plan to do human experiments.” Team Leader Yang understood what he wanted to ask and answered directly, “The death row prisoners are ready.”
Human experiments were necessary. Correlation sometimes did not mean causation. Since Team Leader Yang was in charge, it wasn’t a big problem.
“Based on current data, although some details need improvement, the theoretical direction should be correct,” Teacher Tian added. “Spiritual roots should be a macroscopic manifestation of microscopic nerve structures.”
Everyone’s expressions showed some joy.
The importance of spiritual roots was undeniable, and its significance to the modern world was even greater.
“The current problem is how to remodel spiritual roots.”
This was actually even harder.
Remodeling spiritual roots meant remodeling nerve structures.
The Xuanyi Realm didn’t understand nerves and naturally couldn’t be relied on.
In the modern world, there was another difficulty.
“There are actually some relevant studies in this area, but all are very cutting-edge, some even theoretical.”
Teacher Tian seemed prepared and spoke at length.
“I asked some medical and biological experts in the nursing home and learned about the current situation:
Inducing nerve growth roughly includes drug therapy, physical therapy, surgical intervention, bioengineering, and emerging gene and cell therapies.”
“Drugs are obvious. Physical therapy usually uses electrical stimulation and repetitive functional training.”
Zheng Fa raised his brow: “Electrical stimulation?”
“Yes, electrical stimulation can promote regeneration of specific synapses.” Teacher Tian smiled, “There’s a lot of research on this, and it’s quite effective.”
This made things much simpler.
Lei Fa (Thunder Method) was Jiushan Realm’s ace specialty.
Electrotherapy had a very bright future in the Jiushan Realm.
“Surgery, biomaterials, and stem cell therapies are also widely used and somewhat effective. The problem is... none of these are sufficient for such large-scale nerve remodeling.”
Teacher Tian looked helpless, “I asked scholars, and they said the nervous system itself is extremely delicate, and our understanding is insufficient, let alone casual remodeling.”
“Spiritual roots involve too many complicated nerves. Such large-scale remodeling is extremely difficult... they have no clue either.”
Hearing this, Zheng Fa wasn’t too disappointed.
He had already anticipated the difficulty of solving the spiritual root problem and even had plans:
“Teacher Tian, what about collaborating with spiritual medicines?”
“Spiritual medicines?”
Teacher Tian paused, then her expression brightened.
She understood Zheng Fa’s meaning.
Ultimately, modern biology had reached a bottleneck here, and breakthroughs in the short term were very difficult.
But they still had immortal cultivation methods.
“The vitality provided by spiritual medicines and Lei Fa’s precise control over currents might bring hope.”
Teacher Tian first nodded, then frowned with a hint of shame:
“As for spiritual medicines, our research progress is slow.” Teacher Tian was responsible for this area and looked quite gloomy. “Compared to other projects, we’re much slower.”
This wasn’t Teacher Tian being self-deprecating.
Research on spiritual medicines was indeed far behind.
On one hand, it was because Zheng Fa didn’t pay much attention to it:
Spiritual medicines were good to have but not critical to the nursing home’s development.
On the other hand, drug development itself was high-investment and long-cycle work.
The nursing home had cultivated five types of spiritual medicines but hadn’t thoroughly researched them.
They could be consumed, but Zheng Fa and Teacher Tian didn’t want to stop there.
Simply put, they needed to understand the principles behind these medicines, otherwise the technology couldn’t be applied in the Jiushan Realm.
But now, with the spiritual root problem, the importance of spiritual medicines rose to a new level.
“How about we visit some more research institutes?”
Tang Lingwu suggested.
“That could work...”
The results of two previous nationwide research efforts were good, so Zheng Fa was naturally hopeful.
But Teacher Tian shook her head with a wry smile:
“This matter isn’t likely to see immediate results.”
“Hm?”
“The top experts in this field are basically all in the nursing home...” Teacher Tian looked at Zheng Fa helplessly. “This is different from mechanical engineering or software development;our country really lacks accumulation here.”
This wasn’t pessimism from Teacher Tian.
The previous approach helped complete projects but wasn’t suitable for new technology development.
Simply put, one was old technology, the other was a new field, with very different research paths and methods.
Zheng Fa keenly caught a word: “Domestic?”
“Yes. The cutting-edge research and top scholars in this field are abroad,” Teacher Tian said softly. “Of course, the main reason is that we didn’t keep up years ago. Although there has been development in recent years, it still can’t compare with their technical accumulation.”
“If we continue relying on ourselves, it’s possible, but the timeline... is uncertain.”
Teacher Tian then fell silent.
Obviously, she understood this issue was not only about the topic but also about the nursing home’s future.
...
In the backyard, Old Bai, Tang Mu Dao, Teacher Tian, Tang Lingwu, and Team Leader Yang gathered to discuss this major matter.
“Invite foreign scholars?” Old Bai asked in surprise, “Old Tang, you’ve been abroad a long time, what do you think?”
“Untrustworthy.” Tang Mu Dao didn’t even think and answered directly, “No matter what, their ideas and philosophies are completely different.”
“Of course, we’re not afraid.”
Indeed not afraid.
For Zheng Fa, staying domestic was more out of habit and some people.
On the other hand, it was easier for communication.
But frankly, he was only half modern. He didn’t really care about these things.
Moreover, with his current strength, he was even more indifferent.
Before, the main reason for not considering it was that domestic talent was sufficient. Introducing foreigners would cause communication barriers—how would they learn cultivation methods and understand meridians? It was troublesome.
But Teacher Tian’s words made sense.
Besides, ever since the Fusang Wood Dao Fruit became the Dao Ancestor Dao Fruit, Zheng Fa had an idea:
With over a billion people in the country as his base, the world’s billions might also benefit the Dao Ancestor Dao Fruit.
For him, spreading the Dao worldwide was inevitable.
He looked at Team Leader Yang with some curiosity.
“Of course, this matter is still up to you, director.” Team Leader Yang immediately understood his gaze and shook her head. “We’ve already taken the lead. The higher-ups understand.”
“Some say this is the first immortal cultivation revolution. It’s a great fortune for the country to take the lead.”
“We do have some confidence.”
This statement was quite eloquent and insightful.
It compared Zheng Fa’s emergence to several industrial revolutions, where each birthed a dominant country, and this time was no exception.
The transformation was even more intense, likely changing the world more thoroughly...
Zheng Fa understood that from Team Leader Yang’s perspective, she naturally wanted to see things positively, but he didn’t care much about dissenting voices.
Team Leader Yang’s remarks made Old Bai nod repeatedly, then he asked, “Speaking of which, did foreign countries have any reaction?”
“We’re so open and aboveboard.”
“Did no one want the satellite?”
Team Leader Yang’s expression became strange: “No.”
“Not wanting the satellite is one thing?” Old Bai asked, “They aren’t interested in cultivation?”
“They are interested,” Team Leader Yang shook her head, “but they seem to understand the director’s personality and have been applying for academic exchanges. Probably just wanting to visit the nursing home.”
“Applying?” Old Bai looked extremely surprised, “That polite?”
Team Leader Yang smiled, “Not to mention the director’s deterrent power, our country’s strength now means even if they wanted to be impolite, they can’t.”
Zheng Fa knew this as well.
He had been busy and had no special needs, so he ignored these applications.
Now he could consider them.
“Team Leader Yang, what do you think?”
Zheng Fa turned to Yang, asking the most experienced person since none of the others had handled such matters.
Team Leader Yang had worked abroad for many years and had the most experience in this area.
Seeing Zheng Fa’s trust, Yang smiled slightly, thought for a moment, then said:
“Introducing foreign talent will definitely help you, director, but how to introduce them requires consideration.”
“Go on?” Zheng Fa asked interestedly.
“First, make one thing clear: with our nursing home’s strength, we’re not afraid of ill-intentioned people.” Yang emphasized the “our” unconsciously.
“Not only that, there’s the Great Dream Talisman.” Tang Lingwu interrupted, “That’s a minor issue, no need to worry.”
“Since there’s no risk, let’s think about maximizing benefits.” Yang nodded and analyzed, “Simply put, how to attract the top talents.”
That made sense.
As always, Zheng Fa was not short of people.
Because of cultivation limits, he couldn’t support too many cultivators.
Even if he lacked research workers, there were plenty domestically, so it wasn’t that complicated.
Introducing foreign scholars targeted the absolute top tier.
“So?”
Old Bai listened with great interest and asked curiously.
“I was thinking, why not create an Immortal Cultivation Visa?”
“...”
Everyone was stunned. The term sounded strange but immediately made sense.
“The visa requirements would be simple: rich academic achievements, top of their fields.” Yang looked at Teacher Tian and added, “Or possessing key technologies, like those pharmaceutical patents.”
“That’s how they get the visa to enter the nursing home and learn the immortal Dao.”
“Our nursing home isn’t short on talent. Honestly, if they aren’t the top, we don’t need them.”
“Since human nature is selfish, the requirements must be high so they’re willing to offer their best tech... We can even limit the number of visas, issuing them based on academic status and technological value.”
Tang Mu Dao was dazed: “This sounds so familiar.”
“Low-cost harvesting of top talents and technologies worldwide...” Yang laughed, “We have to learn from the Summit Nation, right?”
This method was simple but sounded effective.
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and decisively said, “Let’s try! Start with spiritual root research by introducing talents in medicine and biology. If effective, we can expand later.”
Team Leader Yang immediately stood and said to Zheng Fa, “I’ll contact people and draft regulations.”
As she left, Old Bai suddenly sighed, “Nursing home residency is getting more valuable?”
“...”
“Looks like we’re building... an Immortal Dynasty Superpower?”
