Chapter 181: Experiment (3K6)

Modern era, nursing home.

A long table stood before Zheng Fa and the others.

Several small items sat on the long table:

A strong magnet.

A few wires.

An ammeter.

A movable track.

Zheng Fa connected the wires to the ammeter.

He placed the magnet on the track, positioned beneath the wires.

Any student who normally graduated junior high would know: what he was now replicating was Faraday's experiment on electromagnetic induction—why replicate this thing? Mainly because the equipment was cheap and easy to buy; he simply found a hardware store and gathered everything needed.

Earlier, when he first began cultivating the Lingshan Method, they discovered their phones had all stopped working.

At that time, a hypothesis arose—spiritual energy interferes with circuits.

As for whether the hypothesis was accurate, or exactly what kind of interference occurred,

they knew nothing.

Now, this counted as a kind of verification of that hypothesis.

Zheng Fa nodded to Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu held the strong magnet, moving it quickly along the track; the ammeter's needle spun rapidly—this indicated that due to the changing magnetic field, an electric current had been generated in the wires.

This phenomenon did not surprise the group.

"Magnetism generating electricity, first experiment: no spiritual energy environment, weak current produced."

Beside them, Bai Lao held a small notebook, muttering as he wrote.

"Now I will activate the Lingshan Method," Zheng Fa said softly.

The others nodded in turn.

Two golden Spirit-Activating Talismans in Zheng Fa's hands flew toward the sky; thin spiritual energy slowly formed around his body, enveloping the equipment on the long table.

He then gave Shen Shi Yi to Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu moved the magnet in her hand quickly, just as before.

This time, the ammeter's needle remained motionless.

"Second experiment: spiritual energy environment present, no current in the wires."

Bai Lao recorded this result, muttering aloud: "So spiritual energy interferes with electromagnetic induction."

"Interference... does it mean suppression?"

Zheng Fa murmured.

This meant that in a spiritual energy environment, modern electromagnetic theory was practically useless.

"No!"

Suddenly, Tang Lingwu let out a soft exclamation.

"Hmm?"

Everyone turned to look at her; they saw her pointing at the ammeter.

"Just now, I didn't move the magnet, but the ammeter's needle suddenly moved!"

Zheng Fa and the others froze, then all looked at that ammeter.

After a long while, the needle on the instrument panel showed no change at all; even Tang Lingwu began to feel unsure:

"Did I just see things?"

Bai Lao also shook his head and said, "Not necessarily seeing things; perhaps this ammeter is cheap goods, not very stable."

Just then, the ammeter's needle twitched several times as if gone mad.

The amplitude of this twitching was so violent that instability alone could not explain it.

"This..."

Bai Lao opened his mouth, somewhat bewildered.

"Spiritual energy... can generate current out of thin air?" Zheng Fa's tone held some speculation: "Or does spiritual energy control the directional flow of electrons?"

Another thought occurred to Zheng Fa—

Or perhaps this is the true nature of the Thunder Method?

Unfortunately, this twitching soon vanished as well.

Afterwards, the ammeter would twitch several times only after intervals; each time, the duration and amplitude differed.

No pattern could be discerned at all.

It was filled with randomness.

After the four discussed for a while, they could only reach a very vague conclusion—

Spiritual energy interferes with electromagnetic induction, yet can also generate current out of thin air; this led them to a hypothesis:

The failure of electromagnetic theory in a spiritual energy environment is not because electromagnetic laws cease to exist, but because the influence of spiritual energy is added—therefore, electromagnetic theory in a spiritual energy environment may require considering an additional variable.

After tidying up the long table, the group arranged four reclining chairs, leaned them against the open space before the house, lay down in a row, and gazed upward at the starry sky in the mountains.

The ammeter's needle seemed to still sway in everyone's minds, leaving them speechless for a time.

After a long while, Bai Lao finally sighed:

"Spiritual energy can control electric current... if we truly figure this thing out, we will truly become immortals."

Zheng Fa also nodded involuntarily; the experiment was simple, but electromagnetism was not simple.

As one of the four fundamental interactions.

If one could truly use spiritual qi to manipulate electromagnetic forces—in the modern era, that would be enough to be called an immortal or a god.

But Zheng Fa also knew that matters were not so simple.

Nowadays, what they had did not even qualify as a qualitative experiment; there were still many problems.

Yet, just these few experiments were enough to set several people's minds wandering.

"Zheng Fa, come to think of it, you said the Five Elements sub-charms are the material basis of the charm foundation, and the other two types of sub-charms likely require the interaction between spiritual qi and other matter—does this interaction also include this phenomenon?"

Bai Lao suddenly remembered.

"Yes." Zheng Fa had also thought of this: "The Five Elements sub-charms are essentially spiritual qi in nature; since spiritual power can generate electric current, the Five Elements sub-charms, when combined with the other two types of sub-charms, should be able to as well—even, I think this is the essence of Thunder Arts."

This was also one of the reasons he wanted to conduct this experiment—two of the sub-charms represented the interaction between spiritual qi and matter.

Therefore, he had to identify this interaction.

Judging from current results, at least regarding electrons, spiritual qi did have some effect.

After thinking for a while, Bai Lao suddenly said: "Come to think of it, if the Five Elements sub-charms are the material basis, then in what structure do they exist?"

"Structure?"

Zheng Fa paused, recalling the five-colored hair ribbon atop Senior Sister Zhang's Nascent Soul.

"Ring-shaped?"

Since the Five Elements sub-charms connected head to tail themselves, a ring shape was the most natural assumption.

"Then how do you explain the mutual generation of Yin and Yang?"

"Mirror images..."

"Where is the mirror?"

Bai Lao's series of questions left Zheng Fa bewildered.

But he had to admit these were questions he had never pondered deeply.

How the mirror images of the Five Elements sub-charms were produced had actually always been vague to him.

Bai Lao turned his head to look at him and said: "Zheng Fa, I am very proud to have a student like you."

"Teacher Bai?"

"You are good; you know how to learn and know how to use experiments for research, but—there is another most important principle in scholarship."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa became serious.

"Ask; keep asking relentlessly." Bai Lao looked up at the starry sky, as if carelessly: "Sometimes, questions are more important than effort, and also more important than answers."

"Yes." Zheng Fa was convinced from the bottom of his heart.

Slap!

The sound of a palm strike came.

"Ouch! Xiao Tian, what are you doing!" Bai Lao cried out miserably.

"If you have words for the child, speak them properly! Speak human language!" Teacher Tian's rebuke arrived in bad temper: "Showing off, are you!"

"It's just that the atmosphere reached this point!" Bai Lao's tone sounded a bit aggrieved.

Xuanwei Realm.

The five-colored colored clouds above Lei Chi grew increasingly dense, even appearing to condense into a vast expanse of colored glazed glass.

Everyone knew that Senior Sister Zhang's Nascent Soul formation had reached a critical juncture.

In the market town, the number of customers coming and going had decreased significantly.

Most disciples of the Jiushan Sect had withdrawn back into the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace and no longer went out.

"Zheng Shidi." As Zheng Fa walked toward his room, senior brothers occasionally greeted him; although their faces bore smiles, their expressions contained uncontrollable fear.

He had just reached the doorway of his room.

When he saw a somewhat familiar person waiting for him.

"Sun Zi?"

Zheng Fa looked at this person with some surprise.

Sun Daoyu was a disciple of Senior Uncle Pang, possessed Foundation Establishment cultivation, and had always been relied on by Senior Uncle Pang.

He did not know what matter had brought him to seek himself out today.

"Zheng Shidi." Sun Daoyu cupped his fists to salute him, then spoke plainly: "I have come today with one request."

"Sun Zi is too polite." Zheng Fa said in surprise: "Is there anything I can help with?"

Sun Daoyu took out a storage bag from his sleeve.

"This is..."

Zheng Fa made a guess.

"Inside are some of my usual savings; if... if I fail to survive this time, please take them back and give them to Junior Brother Zhou, asking him to pass them to my family; his character is the one I trust most."

Zheng Fa did not speak, and only after a long while did he open his mouth to ask: "Why give them to me?"

"Junior Brother..." Sun Daoyu smiled lightly: "My master has always prioritized the Jiushan Sect."

"In his heart, compared to us disciples, you are the one who cannot die."

"If we say who among us is most likely to survive, it can only be you."

Zheng Fa remained silent, nor did he deny his words, simply taking the storage bag from his hand.

Watching Sun Daoyu's retreating figure, Zheng Fa slowly entered the room, took out three Condensing Yuan Pills, swallowed them, and began to refine the final Yang Yuanfu.

Actually, he had never decided what to refine for the tenth Yang Fire-elemental spirit charm.

But now he already had an idea—the Mirage Charm.

As the name suggests, this was also an illusion charm.

If one follows Zheng Fa's speculation about spirit talismans, this illusion talisman likely generates illusions by manipulating light.

He had previously considered this spirit talisman:

Mainly to better conceal the secrets of the retirement home.

But he had also thought it somewhat redundant.

Today he made up his mind—he believed this illusion talisman might prove crucial in this coming battle.

Soon, the Yang Yuanfu of the Shenlou Fu appeared atop Zheng Fa's lotus platform within his body; he gazed at these ten Yang Yuanfu:

The yin Five Elements talismans were the Zhengli Wuying Fu, Shuangren Fu, Yangshen Fu, Changqing Fu, and Ju Xia Fu.

The yang Five Elements talismans were the Qiling Fu, Dameng Fu, Lei Suofu, Taiyi Fu, and Shenlou Fu.

These ten Yang Yuanfu were imprinted on the petals, with the five-element subsidiary talismans each connected into a single whole.

Zhang Shijie has now separated the five-element subsidiary talismans from the other two types of subsidiary talismans, and seems to have found a certain path forward.

He couldn't help but recall Bai Lao's question—why do the five-element subsidiary talismans produce the phenomenon of yin-yang mutual generation?

Or rather, what is that "mirror"?

Zheng Fa had a feeling—this was the final step toward perfecting the "Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method."

A chiral object in three-dimensional space cannot undergo chiral inversion through rigid transformation.

It can only be achieved by invoking higher dimensions.

The problem is, higher dimensions are far too complex for Zheng Fa—even for all scientists in the world—this concept seems to exist only in models.

This is why Bai Lao could only pose the question but could not devise an answer.

After thinking for a while, he still had no clarity, so he simply set the matter aside and headed toward Master Pang's hall.

With the great battle imminent, Zheng Fa had several questions he wished to ask Master Pang.

But he was still several zhang away from the hall.

Loud revelry and drinking noises came from within.

Zheng Fa was stunned—right now, at this moment, could Master Pang still be hosting guests?

He walked to the door and peered inside, discovering that Master Pang was not entertaining strangers.

They were precisely the several True Persons he had encountered on the road during his visit to Lei Chi Market.

For instance, the Xuangu Shangren of the Yuling Sect was also seated there.

Though Zheng Fa did not recognize the others, their effortless demeanor among these True Persons suggested they too were at the Nascent Soul realm.

As he wondered, he heard Master Pang loudly declare: "The Zizaimo Sect now watches us with hungry eyes; I am truly grateful you all came to lend aid! Let me toast you once more!"

With that, Master Pang drained his cup in one gulp, his face flushed with drunkenness, as if he had already consumed much.

Those seated all cheered.

Someone even spoke of how every last disciple of the Zizaimo Sect deserved to be slain.

The atmosphere was lively.

Only then did Zheng Fa understand—this gathering was entirely composed of the Nascent Soul great cultivators Master Pang had invited to assist.

A rough count revealed as many as seven or eight of them.

He was deeply awed—Master Pang's reputation as the Jiushan Sect's socialite was no empty title.

At this critical moment, he had managed to summon so many allies.

Seeing Master Pang occupied, Zheng Fa returned to his room.

The revelry in the hall seemed to last all night; when Zheng Fa went to check in the morning, Master Pang sat in the hall, looking weary.

True Persons certainly wouldn't tire from one night's drinking, but the current situation had drained Master Pang's every ounce of strength.

"Master Pang?"

Master Pang's gaze was still clear—clearer even than during the feast.

He looked at Zheng Fa and shook his head: "You cannot stay here."

"... Huh?"

"Last night, when I hosted these people, one of them had a furtive expression—he harbors treacherous schemes." Master Pang said gravely: "You must leave."

"Master Pang, aren't they here to lend aid?"

"Hmph… do you think my band of rogues are the kind to bring charcoal in the snow?" Master Pang chuckled lightly: "What kind of people they are—I know better than anyone."