Chapter 125

"I want to find a mountain."

In Bai Lao's house, Zheng Fa said solemnly.

Upon hearing Zheng Fa's words, Bai Lao and the other person looked at his serious face and froze.

"Find a mountain?" Bai Lao asked, baffled: "Why are you asking me about this? Go ask a geography teacher!"

Tang Lingwu beside him also stared at Zheng Fa, seemingly not understanding what he had just said.

These two people before him were the ones who understood him best, gave him the most help, and whom he trusted the most in this modern world.

Zheng Fa would also need to explain his future plans to them.

"If you want to cultivate, you need to find a suitable mountain."

Zheng Fa explained briefly.

The "Lingshan Method" simply couldn't be explained in just a few sentences.

Bai Lao slowly furrowed his brow and muttered: "Mountain? Spiritual land? Dao hall?"

Zheng Fa nodded: "You can understand it that way."

But the spiritual energy of this spiritual land itself comes from Zheng Fa.

"Are we going to establish the Jiushan Sect? No—reopen the mountain gate?"

Bai Lao widened his eyes and exclaimed excitedly.

"... Not the Jiushan Sect. Me." Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment, then explained his own idea to them: "This isn't a sect."

"Not a sect?"

"I want to find some people like Professor Bai, scholars who will study cultivation—essentially, a cultivation laboratory."

"..." Bai Lao clicked his tongue: "Those two words together sound weird, but I get what you mean."

Tang Lingwu nodded beside him.

"So why are you telling us this today?"

Both could tell Zheng Fa wouldn't suddenly become this serious without something important to say.

"I now formally invite you both to join this laboratory."

"Hey! Don't be so serious!" Bai Lao laughed: "I thought I'd already joined—we're already on the same team, aren't we?"

Tang Lingwu nodded beside him.

"You didn't understand me." Zheng Fa said softly: "I need to find a mountain with special terrain—wherever that mountain is, that's where the laboratory will be. In other words, joining this laboratory means going there with me."

"You mean..."

Zheng Fa nodded: "For example, Professor, you might have to leave your family—at least as if you were taking a job out of town."

"For example, Tang Lingwu—if Jingcheng doesn't have a suitable mountain, you won't be able to attend Jingcheng University."

Hearing Zheng Fa's words, Bai Lao fell silent.

Zheng Fa didn't rush. This was a major life decision—for Bai Lao and the other, he hoped they would follow him.

Bai Lao not only had expertise in mathematics but could help him build the skeleton of this research institution.

He had spent his entire career working at Jingcheng University; even if he wasn't skilled in management, he understood better than Zheng Fa how to run a laboratory.

Tang Lingwu—well, her greatest current advantage was her family background.

But this girl's own efforts were enough to earn Zheng Fa's approval.

If she mastered computer science, she would be a tremendous asset.

But Zheng Fa wouldn't force them.

Even just based on their friendship, Zheng Fa was willing to respect their choices.

After a long silence, Bai Lao suddenly spoke: "Actually, if you'd really said you wanted to join the Jiushan Sect... I might have hesitated—this sounds boring."

"..."

Zheng Fa looked at him.

Bai Lao smiled warmly: "But you said 'cultivation laboratory'—now that sounds fun!"

"Do you know what the luckiest thing in science is?"

"What?" Zheng Fa asked.

"Discovering a blank field no one has ever explored—no matter what you find, you're founding a new school!" Bai Lao shouted: "Cultivation and mathematics—this completely uncharted interdisciplinary field... isn't that all mine to shape?"

As if imagining something delightful, a reckless grin appeared on Bai Lao's face.

"..."

Zheng Fa turned to Tang Lingwu beside him.

The girl had said nothing, her expression seeming detached.

Tang Lingwu looked between the two, puzzled: "Do I need to respond?"

"?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tang Lingwu frowned in surprise: "I never considered any other option!"

"Even if you can't get into university?"

"... This is cultivation!" Tang Lingwu widened her eyes: "Can't I just get a diploma online... wait, I don't even need a job—I don't need a diploma at all."

Alright, hearing Tang Lingwu say that, Zheng Fa was momentarily speechless.

Rich women are capricious.

"Besides, if I say no, my mom might disown me!" Tang Lingwu said in an odd tone.

"Your mom?"

Tang Lingwu sighed: "That soup she made—I didn't even get to taste a single spoonful."

"..."

"I even suspect that if you said you'd take me away, she'd personally pack me up for you."

"Is this... the test results out?" the old man Bai guessed from the side.

Tang Lingwu nodded.

The three exchanged glances and all laughed.

"By the way, you said you want to establish a laboratory—do you have standards for recruiting people?"

Zheng Fa pondered for a moment, then spoke: "Our advantage is, of course, cultivation—someday I might even be able to treat other illnesses."

"The condition that attracts most... patients? The elderly?"

The old man Bai understood.

"Yes, what I need are outstanding talents from various industries; such people are mostly not too young—too young and their academic foundation might not be so solid."

"On the other hand, the elderly, people like Professor Bai, may have suffered the torment of illness and fear death a bit more; our place would be even more attractive to such people."

"And one more point," Zheng Fa fell silent for a while, then voiced his final consideration: "Time reveals the heart."

"The heart?"

"If a person's reputation and public standing have been good for decades, they are generally somewhat more trustworthy," Zheng Fa explained.

This was, of course, uncertain.

But at least the probability of reliable character is higher.

Both the old man Bai and the other understood Zheng Fa's meaning—recruiting still depends on character.

"Then our laboratory must have a name, right?" the old man Bai said with great enthusiasm.

"What do you mean, elder?"

It was clear the old man already had his own idea.

"The Twilight Hermitage!" the old man Bai said loudly: "Think about it, all old academic giants, living in seclusion deep in the mountains... how fitting that name is!"

"What books do you usually read, elder..."

"Is this not good?" the old man Bai paused, then muttered: "Yes, it's a bit too Westernized; how about calling it the Great Luo Dharma Assembly? That sounds classical!"

Tang Lingwu, standing nearby, seemed to think of something and said: "Within my father's industrial chain... places where such people gather are generally called nursing homes."

"..."

Zheng Fa and the other looked at Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu blinked her eyes and said softly: "... Ecological Nursing Home? High-Intellect Elderly Ecological Nursing Home?"

"..."

"You said you want to find a mountain—what do you mean?"

The old man Bai fell silent for a long time, as if suddenly forgetting the matter of naming, then asked.

Zheng Fa took out the "Treatise on Spirit Veins" he had copied from his backpack.

In this book written by the Sect Master, he summarized the forms of spirit veins throughout the world, identified certain necessary characteristics, and stated in the "Lingshan Art" that only on mountains possessing these characteristics could the abilities of the Lingshan Art be fully realized.

"This book looks very much like some theory of dragon-seeking and gold-dividing..."

Zheng Fa could not help but suspect once again what books the old man usually read.

"This matter looks very troublesome; we have no one who understands feng shui, nor can anyone observe mountain ranges' trends."

The old man Bai flipped through the "Treatise on Spirit Veins" in his hand and sighed.

Zheng Fa also felt somewhat troubled.

It was not only troublesome in the modern world; in the Xuanwei Realm it was even more troublesome.

The Xuanwei Realm is vast beyond measure, and mountains often harbor cultivators or demonic beasts.

Completely observing mountain ranges' trends is extremely dangerous—you might just provoke someone.

Fortunately, the Jiushan Sect possesses many topographical maps of the Xuanwei Realm.

Relying on these materials, the Sect Master summarized the "Treatise on Spirit Veins" and then revised the "Lingshan Art"—according to the Sect Master, if the Jiushan Sect itself were not already a spirit vein, finding a suitable place to cultivate the Lingshan Art would also be very troublesome.

"Troublesome?" Tang Lingwu asked in confusion from the side: "Can't we just use satellite maps to find one?"

"..."

Zheng Fa and the other looked at Tang Lingwu again.

"Can't we?"

Tang Lingwu asked in a daze.

"How about you, elder, don't come after all?"

Zheng Fa always felt that the things in the old man Bai's mind often led him astray.

Even relying on satellite maps, finding a suitable place is not very easy.

But this matter is not actually that urgent.

He is currently only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining; there is still some time before he reaches the seventh layer of Qi Refining, when he can cultivate the Lingshan Art.

According to Zheng Fa's estimate, he will at least not truly cultivate to the seventh layer of Qi Refining until after the college entrance examination.

"The precision of these maps is still insufficient."

They mainly searched near Jingcheng; after looking for a long time, they did find four or five mountains that appeared to meet the requirements for spirit veins in the "Treatise on Spirit Veins."

But whether they are truly suitable still requires an on-site, firsthand look.

"Let my mother send an inspection team."

Zheng Fa paused, then looked at Tang Lingwu.

"My mother needs something from you recently," Tang Lingwu said softly: "And even if we find a mountain, how to contract it, how to build houses—my mother can help you with that too."

"... Is it really okay for you to be so disloyal to your own side?"

Watching Tang Lingwu sell out her mother so easily, Bai Lao Tou clicked his tongue in disbelief.

"Teacher, you don't understand... It wasn't me selling her; my mother is capable of selling herself," Tang Lingwu sighed helplessly. "When I came over today, my mother said to let—no, to invite Zheng Fa to our house tomorrow."

"..."

The next day, when Zheng Fa arrived at Tang Lingwu's home,

he finally understood why Tang Lingwu had spoken that way.

It was the same big-shorts-wearing driver, the same black sedan, but just as Zheng Fa was about to step out, he saw a hand already eagerly holding the car door open for him.

Zheng Fa looked up.

Aunt Ye stood before him, radiant and glowing with an extremely warm smile.

As if she had expected this, Tang Lingwu sighed and walked over to her mother's side.

Standing together, the two looked remarkably like sisters.

It was clear that Aunt Ye had been in excellent spirits this week.