I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 401Book 2: : Flaws in the Divine Path, the Mortal-Shedding Thunder Pool
Vol 2 Chapter 401: Flaws in the Divine Path, the Mortal-Shedding Thunder Pool
Spiritual Root Growth Hormone.
This was the name given by the people at the Agricultural Institute to the effective ingredient in that green solution.
"Based on human trials, a 10.8% concentration of the Spiritual Root Growth Hormone solution maximally promotes the growth of corresponding nerves," Tang Lingwu said like a little secretary, holding the experimental report and addressing everyone.
Old Man Bai sat nearby, pursing his lips, listening attentively without missing a single word.
Zheng Fa was also flipping through the experimental report, reading slowly: "Extracted from a mixture of Star Moon Sunflower and Dot Star Branch..."
"It acts on scar tissue and provides the appropriate environment for nerve growth."
"Out of ten people, eight showed over 100% nerve growth in their spiritual roots, while the other two had growth exceeding 80%."
...
"What about the yield?"
Zheng Fa turned to ask Teacher Tian.
"The yield is very low," Teacher Tian shook her head. "These two spiritual plants are ones we painstakingly cultivated, so they are naturally not high-yield."
"Perhaps due to their age, the amount of Spiritual Root Growth Hormone that can be extracted is also limited."
Though somewhat disappointed, Zheng Fa was not too discouraged.
"Low yield means we can continue cultivating new varieties," Zheng Fa told Teacher Tian. "Our current recruitment of graduate students is aimed at bringing in talent for the Agricultural Institute."
"This kind of spiritual medicine is a breakthrough from zero to one."
When he said this, Zheng Fa’s tone was filled with barely contained excitement.
The emergence of Spiritual Root Growth Hormone, whether in the modern era or in the Xuanyi Realm, was unprecedented, and it meant a great deal to Zheng Fa.
Finding the Spiritual Root Growth Hormone was already a victory.
As for issues of production and capacity...
He had opened the mountain gate wide and recruited so many talents. Surely it wasn’t because the nursing home had too few people to care for.
Zheng Fa glanced around and saw Old Man Bai staring at him anxiously. Knowing he was worried, Zheng Fa hesitated briefly but still said:
"Contact Team Leader Yang to conduct two more rounds of human trials with larger sample sizes, and see if there are any side effects."
Old Man Bai was momentarily stunned but then smiled faintly, saying nothing.
...
The experimental results had yet to come out, but the research institute’s entrance examination was already underway.
Zheng Fa brought Tang Lingwu to the capital city and looked at a middle school.
This middle school was one of the test centers for the exam.
The entire street was very quiet, with three police cars parked at the entrance and four yellow barricades standing at both ends of the road.
To prevent accidents, several disciples from the martial arts school were waiting under the teaching building.
The official exam started at nine o’clock, but many people had arrived before seven.
The examinees were of all ages.
Some stood at the entrance in a daze, some held reference materials muttering to themselves.
Others, either overly confident or careless, gathered together whispering and laughing.
This scene inexplicably felt familiar to Zheng Fa, who turned to look at Tang Lingwu.
The swirling hem of her qipao rose into his mind again.
Tang Lingwu seemed to notice his gaze and glanced up at him.
Suddenly, she spread her arms and rose onto her toes.
Her skirt fluttered.
Just like yesterday.
Although they used secret methods to hide their faces, several examinees passing by the street corner still stared in amazement.
Even though there were no ugly women in cultivation, and beauties were as numerous as fish in the Xuanyi Realm, the Tang Lingwu in front of him still made Zheng Fa irresistibly captivated and enchanted.
...
This exam actually had very few admission slots:
Only ten thousand in total, half of which were reserved for the Agricultural and Pharmaceutical Institutes.
Firstly, the main purpose of this recruitment was the cultivation and development of various spiritual medicines.
Secondly, Zheng Fa had long realized that when spiritual energy was relatively abundant, spirit materials and spiritual medicines were the foundation of cultivation civilization.
If this was not developed, everything else would face obstacles.
Not to mention, the original talisman paper for the most basic spiritual talismans required a kind of spiritual bamboo.
This spiritual bamboo was abundant in Xuanyi but had yet to be discovered in the modern era.
Therefore, Rainbow Mountain had no talisman path at all.
Alchemy, artifact forging, and formation techniques were naturally out of the question.
The ten thousand slots were fiercely competitive.
Not just anyone could take the exam;over the past six months, Team Leader Yang had already done a round of filtering:
Simply put, multiple preliminary tests were conducted covering university-level knowledge in various subjects.
Anyone who wanted to participate in this exam had to at least pass one preliminary test.
This was mainly because Zheng Fa did not restrict candidates by age;not to mention thirty-five, even those over sixty with ability could take the test.
It could almost be called a nationwide exam.
There were too many candidates, so pre-selection was necessary.
Even so, the number of candidates who made it to the final exam exceeded ten million.
More importantly, the significance of this exam was so great that Zheng Fa could not trust others blindly:
Even though cooperation with the government had been good, he did not believe everyone would behave justly when faced with the temptation of cultivation.
Dispatching martial arts school disciples here, and Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu personally inspecting, were both for one word—fairness.
...
Two months after the exam.
Old Man Bai carried a book and left the nursing home, walking towards the back of Rainbow Mountain, entering the square courtyard, and turning into a room.
Inside the room sat a dense crowd of students, both old and young.
His expression momentarily faltered, almost feeling like he had returned to fifty years ago.
He climbed the podium, slightly regaining his composure, gently placing the book on the desk, and smiled:
"Hello, students."
"First, congratulations on becoming the first cohort of graduate students at the Confederation Research Institute."
He paused, looking at the stirred students below with a hint of pride.
"For the next two years, you will study the fundamentals of the Immortal Dao at the Rainbow Mountain main institute."
"And I will be your professor of talismanic diagrams. My surname is Bai;you may call me Teacher Bai."
After speaking, Old Man Bai pointed to the book in front of him and smiled: "The first name on the cover of this 'Talismanic Diagram Topology' is mine."
The room immediately fell silent.
Seeing their reverent expressions, Old Man Bai suddenly added:
"Oh, right, I have double spiritual roots."
...
"Where has Zheng Fa gone?"
Lady Nishang suddenly asked Zhenren Qian, but her gaze was fixed on Senior Sister Zhang.
Recently, Zheng Fa had been visiting her occasionally to discuss cooperation among the three sects.
However, he had rarely appeared in the past two months.
Instead, it was Master Zhang who had been coming over now and then to fulfill her host duties.
Senior Sister Zhang did not hide this: "Brother, he is at a critical stage of research and really cannot break away. Please understand."
Lady Nishang shook her head but understood Senior Sister Zhang’s special status and did not feel slighted, only curious about what Zheng Fa was doing. She asked:
"A research project?" She immediately realized she had misspoken and added, "Excuse me for being presumptuous."
Senior Sister Zhang smiled: "This matter also involves the power of Yaochi."
"Oh?"
"If it weren't for the few spiritual plants you gave us, this research would have taken much longer."
Lady Nishang grew even more curious but said no more, only sighing: "Still, it’s nothing special."
"The cooperation hasn’t been finalized, yet you could provide several spiritual plants in advance. Yaochi’s gratitude to Jiushan Sect is deeply engraved in our hearts," Senior Sister Zhang said earnestly.
Zhenren Qian nodded as well.
Lady Nishang was magnanimous. Although the trade route matter was not fully settled, she had also contributed several spiritual plants that could repair spiritual roots, enabling Jiushan Sect’s spiritual root modification technology to make major breakthroughs.
Unexpectedly, Lady Nishang smiled shyly, her expression somewhat dejected: "Actually, I have some selfish reasons."
Senior Sister Zhang said nothing, only looking at Lady Nishang as if she had long expected this.
"You probably guessed it too;there are some divisions within Yaochi regarding this matter."
Senior Sister Zhang nodded slightly and said:
"We knew this months ago, even before it was settled... We never wanted internal strife in Yaochi to reach this point."
Lady Nishang sighed: "I knew I couldn’t hide it from you."
Zhenren Qian was stunned: "This is clearly good for Yaochi. Why are there disagreements?"
"It’s good for Yaochi, but not for some individuals."
Lady Nishang was silent for a moment, then bit her lip and revealed some truth:
"Master Zhang, I dare say I am willing to cooperate with your sect. Those few spiritual plants are my sincerity."
"But now Yaochi has fallen into chaos. Even if I am willing alone, there is nothing I can do."
Senior Sister Zhang understood.
If Lady Nishang could not represent Yaochi, then among the three-party cooperation, she was vaguely the weakest.
No wonder her attitude was much lower than before.
It could even be said she treated this trade route as a lifeline.
Seeing Lady Nishang slightly nervous, Senior Sister Zhang suddenly smiled: "Brother said this."
"Hmm?"
"He said that Lady Nishang has helped Jiushan Sect a lot and is our friend."
...
Lady Nishang could never have imagined that Zheng Fa had implicitly promised support without fully understanding Yaochi’s internal affairs.
But Senior Sister Zhang understood that Zheng Fa was not acting rashly.
Now it seemed that if Yaochi had factions, Lady Nishang’s faction was relatively friendly to Jiushan Sect.
The other faction was uncertain.
Not to mention the trade route had many benefits for Jiushan Sect.
Combined with some calculations by Senior Sister Zhang, Zheng Fa had this idea of supporting Lady Nishang.
Lady Nishang’s expression shifted repeatedly, then she bitterly laughed: "I originally thought I was here to help you."
"But unexpectedly..."
Senior Sister Zhang also smiled.
In terms of strength, Lady Nishang alone was not weaker than Jiushan Sect.
But the trade route in the Eastern and Western Continents meant too much to Yaochi.
Since it came up, Lady Nishang was frank and revealed things even many Yaochi disciples did not know: "Actually, this time coming to the Eastern Continent, I also intended to ask Taishang Dao for help."
"Ask for help?"
Senior Sister Zhang was slightly shocked. She hadn’t wanted Lady Nishang to say even those two words, which meant Yaochi’s situation was not good.
"To be honest, this is actually a problem with the Divine Path’s foundation."
"Divine Path..."
"Your Jiushan Sect also follows the Divine Path now." Lady Nishang, unaware of the secrets of the Yellow Court Scripture, naturally misunderstood and said, "In the future, you may have the same trouble."
"When we were weak, the Divine Path was naturally a ladder to ascend to heaven, but now it has become a cage."
"A cage?"
"Divine Path cultivators at the Dao Fruit stage will ultimately be restrained by mundane distractions," Lady Nishang’s tone carried deep despair. "They cannot transcend."
Senior Sister Zhang understood immediately. If not for the One Qi Transforming the Three Purities, even Brother would have difficulty escaping this fate.
She also sympathized with Lady Nishang’s despair.
Though at first, cultivators might indulge in the speed of Divine Path cultivation, in the end, they would face the fate of the Heavenly Venerate.
Even if not that, Dao Fruit cultivators were still bound by mundane attachments and lacked freedom.
"Although Yaochi has various secret methods to suppress these worldly desires, it cannot escape the Divine Path."
"The Heavenly Dao governs every sip and bite like this."
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head.
"Precisely so. When we were weak, we gained endless benefits from the Divine Path, so it must have these constraints now, but... we are still unwilling."
Senior Sister Zhang nodded.
This was human nature.
Xuanyi’s Immortal Dao had always made up for deficiencies with excess.
But the Divine Path was rare in that it took away the excess and failed to supplement the deficiency—it nearly turned Divine Path cultivators into servants of the mundane world.
It was bearable when cultivators were weak.
For true immortals like Lady Nishang, it was naturally intolerable.
"Actually, if it were only this, Yaochi would not have internal strife," Lady Nishang continued. "But Divine Path cultivators constantly teeter on the edge of losing themselves."
Senior Sister Zhang looked at Lady Nishang curiously, seemingly thinking she was quite normal.
"Yaochi has stood for so many years because of its secret methods, which are stronger than ordinary Divine Path cultivators."
"But even so, it cannot avoid being exploited."
Senior Sister Zhang squinted: "Leiyin Temple?"
Lady Nishang nodded lightly.
"Yaochi now has two true immortals residing in the world, one is me, and the other is the Lady Celestial."
"Lady Celestial?"
"Lady Celestial," Lady Nishang whispered, "Originally, her title was Hundred Flowers Lady Celestial..."
"Originally?" Senior Sister Zhang found this increasingly strange.
"Now she calls herself... the Blissful Lady Celestial."
...
"Blissful Lady Celestial?"
Zheng Fa stepped out of the courtyard, looking at Mu Qingyan and Gu Chang preparing nearby, curious as well:
"What does that title mean?"
Senior Sister Zhang’s expression was also strange: "According to Lady Nishang, it was changed by her followers themselves."
Zheng Fa was stunned for a moment but immediately understood: "Her followers are having problems?"
"Yes, it is said that Leiyin Temple used some method to corrupt them, so that all beings wholeheartedly turned the Hundred Flowers Lady Celestial into the Blissful Lady Celestial. Since then, the Blissful Lady Celestial has subtly revered Leiyin Temple."
"This is why she opposes the cooperation among the three sects."
Zheng Fa felt a toothache hearing this.
They could do something like this?
Zheng Fa now understood this was a form of losing oneself.
But Leiyin Temple was cunning, using the power of incense fire to turn a Dao Fruit cultivator’s personality upside down from the bottom up.
This was extremely complicated, and Zheng Fa could not figure out how they managed it.
No wonder Lady Nishang was so desperate about the Divine Path method.
Previously, when he heard that the Divine Path was a cage, Zheng Fa had not taken it seriously.
The Divine Path was a relatively strict system, and Lady Nishang was actually a beneficiary of it.
You can’t become strong and then call the system bad—like eating your meal and then complaining about it after.
But hearing the fate of the Blissful Lady Celestial, Zheng Fa felt uneasy and puzzled:
Leiyin Temple does all this mischief, so what is Taishang Dao doing?
He shook his head, dismissing the distractions, and asked again: "After such a tribulation, is the Blissful Lady Celestial stronger than Lady Nishang?"
"At first, no. But with Leiyin Temple behind her, Lady Nishang was powerless," Senior Sister Zhang explained. "But now, Lady Nishang is indeed at a disadvantage."
"Hmm?"
"The Blissful Lady Celestial’s followers are extremely fanatical. According to Lady Nishang, she seems to have some special spiritual medicines that can plunge all her followers into a state of bliss."
"...
"Combined with Leiyin Temple’s help, the Blissful Lady Celestial’s power is growing. If not for the caution that Yaochi’s jellyfish... would cause, Yaochi might have already been turned upside down."
"Yaochi’s jellyfish?"
"Yaochi’s founder is at least at the Golden Immortal cultivation stage."
Zheng Fa pondered the information brought by Senior Sister Zhang.
Simply put, the Divine Path requires believers to have faith in you.
Believers are not fools;they must gain some benefits, at least to seek happiness and prosperity.
Traditional Divine Path cultivators, including Zheng Fa, were still quite honest, hoping to genuinely bring welfare to believers.
But the Blissful Lady Celestial exploited a loophole.
That spiritual medicine already sounded improper.
Yet it actually worked.
It might even be the strongest method in battle...
"Brother? How should we respond?"
Zheng Fa knew what Senior Sister Zhang was asking.
No wonder Lady Nishang listened so much to Taishang Dao. When Ancestor Xuanding sent a message, she came immediately.
Clearly, she had no choice but to seek help from Taishang Dao.
Now that she saw the value of the Eastern and Western Continental trade routes, especially for her, she was so excited that she even took the initiative to offer spiritual medicines as goodwill.
"We must cooperate..." Zheng Fa thought long and hard, growing even more wary of Leiyin Temple. "This thorn, planted in the Western Continent, has value."
To be honest, if Yaochi were destroyed by Leiyin Temple, the Hundred Immortals Alliance would be the one to face them directly.
It was better to let Yaochi bear the burden.
"And the Divine Path method..." Senior Sister Zhang frowned. "No wonder it’s declining."
The Divine Path method’s flaws were fully exposed in the Blissful Lady Celestial incident.
Yaochi was still the leader of the Divine Path method, and their true immortals were like this. The difficulty other Divine Path cultivators faced was imaginable.
"Senior Sister." Zheng Fa looked at Gu Chang and Mu Qingyan approaching, and seeing Gu Chang’s excited expression, he said softly, "Since the Yellow Court Scripture, we have embarked on an unprecedented new path."
"The Divine Path method, or Yang Spirit, Dharmakaya, even the Heavenly River Method... none of them is without problems."
Senior Sister Zhang understood Zheng Fa’s meaning.
If not for these problems, Jiushan Sect would not be what it was today.
"The innovation of the Xuanyi Divine Path method may need to start from our Jiushan Sect," Zheng Fa pointed crookedly at Gu Chang, "starting with him."
"Gu Chang, are you ready?"
Gu Chang stood before Zheng Fa.
Mu Qingyan handed him a bottle of Spiritual Root Growth Hormone.
Gu Chang opened the bottle cap, drank the solution in one gulp, knelt on the ground, and bowed his head without a word.
Zheng Fa smiled gently, stretched out his palm, and placed it on Gu Chang’s head.
Lightning flashed.
Ten days later, in the Jiushan Realm, the Sun and Moon Bell suddenly roared.
All beings in heaven and earth looked up.
A golden crow pulled a divine chariot, on which sat a purple divine figure holding the Sun and Moon Bell that trembled slightly.
This divine figure was naturally Zheng Fa’s Yang Spirit body.
As the bell’s sound faded, Zheng Fa pointed at the Sun and Moon Bell. The noise was even louder than before, echoing through heaven and earth:
"From today onward, the Jiushan Realm shall have the Transcendence Purification Pool!"
With his words, tens of thousands of thunderbolts descended on the Sun and Moon Bell, converging into a thunder pool!
Some Jiushan disciples naturally remembered that this thunder pool was originally a divine ability of the Sun and Moon Bell, powerful enough to suppress Nascent Soul cultivators.
But for some unknown reason, this thunder pool now fell into the realm.
And it was called the Transcendence Purification Pool by the Sect Leader.
