Chapter 198: Pay More

Sensing his tone had been too firm, Qian True Person immediately explained: "These past days, our Qianhe Sect have benefited greatly from your sect's support. If you wished to ask about other matters, I'd gladly tell you. But this one truly cannot be disclosed lightly."

Zheng Fa nodded slightly, not feeling angry at all.

When one invites another for counsel, it's understood that the other may be bound by sect obligations to withhold information.

"Qian True Person, our two sects collaborated well recently. Your Huangya rice is greatly favored by our Jiushan Sect disciples… I'd like to purchase more other spiritual plants and grains."

"... hat would be wonderful!" Qian True Person exclaimed happily. "Though our sect is only famous for Huangya rice, that's only because it's unique to us—we grow many other spiritual plants too."

Zheng Fa smiled but said nothing.

He merely watched as Qian True Person's joy slowly faded into a frown.

"Are you implying...?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

His meaning was simple—he was willing to pay more.

Buying more spiritual grains and plants wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment idea; with its geographical advantage, Lei Chi Market now earned more than Jiushan Sect's market, so the Vegetable Basket Project needed proper expansion.

But whether these orders went to Qianhe Sect depended entirely on their attitude.

Qian True Person wasn't foolish—he instantly grasped Zheng Fa's unspoken intent.

His expression shifted rapidly; after long hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said: "This... still won't work."

Zheng Fa listened as he continued: "Zheng True Person, I won't hide it from you—earning more spirit stones from Jiushan Sect benefits me alone."

This was likely the truth.

Qian True Person had previously overseen Qianhe Sect's market, always acting as the sect's purse-bearer.

His current status within the sect was almost certainly tied to Jiushan Sect's orders.

"But if I revealed everything..." Qian True Person offered a bitter smile. "What's the difference between me and a traitor?"

Zheng Fa couldn't help but feel a touch of respect.

When he first met this man, he'd thought him slippery and untrustworthy; now, he was seeing him in a new light.

"Since Qian True Person refuses, I'll pretend I never mentioned it."

Zheng Fa didn't press him, only smiled.

"Then... the Huangya rice..."

"Everything as before," Zheng Fa said, seeing Qian True Person worried he'd taken offense. "Qian True Person, your coming here is already a favor I'm grateful for."

Qian True Person studied him for a moment, hearing his sincere tone, then exhaled softly and prepared to take his leave.

Before leaving, he seemed reluctant and asked again: "What about... other spiritual grains...?"

"I didn't just come to you, Qian True Person. My Baixian Alliance has another sect nearby skilled in spiritual plant cultivation..."

Qian True Person froze.

"Xuan Dao Men?"

"Yes."

Zheng Fa nodded with a smile, as if utterly unaware that Qianhe Sect and Xuan Dao Men were bitter rivals.

"... hat good could they possibly have?" Qian True Person didn't move—he stood there, scowling. "Their pitiful crops? We Qianhe Sect have better ones in every category."

"Mm-hmm."

Zheng Fa agreed.

"Then... perhaps..." Qian True Person said, brazenly.

"Oh, they're probably more generous."

Zheng Fa's single sentence left Qian True Person speechless—he didn't even feel Zheng Fa was bluffing.

Xuan Dao Men had fared worse than Qianhe Sect before—they had no unique crop like Huangya rice.

Thus, faced with a large order and the lure of aligning with Jiushan Sect...

Xuan Dao Men might very well spill everything.

"Well... it's not entirely unsayable," Qian True Person said after much hesitation, his voice hesitant. "The connection between thunder and spiritual plants boils down to two words."

"Which two?"

"Timing!"

"For fruit-bearing plants, like Biling fruit, you must sow them at Jingzhe, when the first spring thunder breaks. If irrigated with Spring Dew Talismans, they grow exceptionally well."

"Summer thunder at Xiaoshu is ideal for spiritual plant growth. Without it, many plants simply won't develop spiritual energy."

Zheng Fa paused, struck—this sounded eerily like his own current problem.

"Autumn and winter thunder each have their own roles. Spiritual farmers have many secret methods for using rain and thunder to nourish plants." Once he started, Qian True Person no longer held back—he even shared a few basic secret techniques with Zheng Fa.

After listening, Zheng Fa felt grateful—and worried: "Qian True Person, if you return to Qianhe Sect and they find out you told me this... will you be punished?"

"No!"

Qian True Person waved his hand dismissively.

Zheng Fa felt slightly reassured—until Qian True Person added: "I didn't reveal any of Qianhe Sect's secret methods!"

"Huh? Then those earlier details..."

"All of them are from Xuan Dao Men," Qian True Person admitted frankly.

"..."

"Forget about them being generous," Qian True Person smiled. "I'll be generous on their behalf."

"..."

This man... has real potential.

"Those orders..." Qian True Person asked cautiously, seeing Zheng Fa silent.

"Send me some of your specialty spiritual plants," Zheng Fa said, glancing at Yuan Shijie beside him. "Let Yuan Shijie taste them first."

"Brother is Zhang Shijie's, Zhang Shijie is unbeatable, stay calm!" Yuan Shijie murmured quietly as Qian True Person bowed profusely and walked away.

"..."

Modern day.

Nursing home.

"Teacher Tian, I've researched some materials. There's a theory that the key to spiritual plant growth lies in lightning."

"Lightning?"

Teacher Tian frowned, looking puzzled.

Zheng Fa summarized Qian True Person's version of Xuan Dao Men's secret methods.

"Lightning at different seasons?" Teacher Tian thought for a moment, then nodded. "That's not impossible."

Zheng Fa's eyes lit up as he listened to Teacher Tian's thoughts.

"For plants, lightning is a vital source of nitrogen fertilizer," Teacher Tian mused aloud.

Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

He knew this—but it didn't resolve his doubt: "Our nursing home doesn't lack nitrogen fertilizer."

If spiritual plants depended only on the presence or absence of nitrogen, they'd have been cultivated long ago.

"Yes, there's also the famous Miller-Urey experiment," Teacher Tian continued. "They simulated early atmospheric conditions and used electric arcs to mimic lightning, producing several amino acids."

"Amino acids? Origin of life?"

"Just a hypothesis—but it suggests lightning may be linked to life itself."

Zheng Fa recalled the Xuanyi Canon's description of thunder arts—power of creation and destruction.

In this experiment, it seemed remarkably accurate.

"Teacher Tian, are you suggesting that under spiritual energy conditions, lightning might generate special substances that influence spiritual plant development?"

"Yes, that's one hypothesis," Teacher Tian nodded slowly, then shifted direction. "Another possibility I can think of is lightning's magnetic field effects."

"Magnetic field?"

"It's a relatively new research direction. Wait a moment."

Teacher Tian returned to his room, then came back holding a tablet computer.

"Take a look—these are several papers."

She pointed to the documents on the screen and explained one by one:

"This paper used cancer cells as material, placing them in different magnetic fields. It found low-intensity magnetic fields promoted cancer cell development, while high-intensity fields suppressed it."

"This one studied the effect of static magnetic fields on Arabidopsis growth. It found a 6000-gauss magnetic field significantly promoted the growth of the main root. Further studies showed the magnetic field enhanced auxin transport in root tip cells, accelerating cell division and increasing cell count in the meristem."

"And this one examined magnetic field effects on the mycelial growth of enoki mushrooms. It shows magnetic fields don't just affect plants—they may influence fungi and other organisms too."

Zheng Fa flipped through each paper Teacher Tian provided, slowly understanding her point.

"Teacher, are you suggesting lightning-generated magnetic fields might influence plant growth—or even drive evolution?"

"Yes. That's what I believe is most likely."

Teacher Tian nodded.

Zheng Fa knew they'd reached only two hypotheses.

To truly determine whether lightning could generate spiritual plants, more experiments and data were needed.

He suddenly realized he hadn't seen Old White.

The old man had been clinging to Teacher Tian lately.

"Where are Old White and Tang Lingwumin?"

"Them? Up front," Teacher Tian explained. "Tang Lingwumin's father introduced a top chef from a high-end restaurant in Jingcheng—he's cooking right now. It cost quite a bit."

"Cooking?"

"Yeah, I'm a pro—bring all the pots, pans, bowls, and utensils myself. You just supply the ingredients."

Zheng Fa froze.

Weren't they planning to sell vegetables?

Why hire someone to cook?

He walked toward the main building of the nursing home—and sure enough, in the kitchen of the first-floor dining hall, several unfamiliar men were working feverishly.

Bai Lao and Tang Lingwumin were gathered together in the dining hall, talking.

"Bai Lao?" He walked toward them and saw Tang Lingwumin waving him over: "Hurry up, dinner will be ready soon."

"Why hire someone to cook?"

"This?... It's all Lingwumin's clever idea," Bai Lao chuckled, lowering his voice. "If we just talk about selling vegetables, we're left begging for favors—it's not real business."

Zheng Fa began to understand.

He glanced at Tang Lingwumin; the girl wore a cheerful smile, giving not the slightest hint she was a fisherwoman.

In the kitchen, Zheng Fa watched what looked like the head chef finish a dish of greens, his expression slightly dismissive—probably thinking the ingredients too plain.

He automatically shoved a piece into his mouth.

... ingo!

The head chef stared at his hands, then around at all the pots and pans he'd brought, as if bewildered by some sudden, accidental surge in his cultivation to unmatched mastery.

After cooking a few more dishes, he understood.

After the meal was done, the head chef didn't leave. Instead, he smiled and blocked Bai Lao, who had finished eating, assuming the oldest man was the head of the nursing home.

A tugging argument reached their ears.

"This isn't something I can explain—it's a secret of our home."

"I understand—I'll pay more!" the head chef said firmly. "This meal is on me, old brother!"

"..."