Chapter 216: The Ultimate Version of Borrowing a Brain

The current Ninth Mountain Patriarch is merely a split soul, and he knows no more than this.

Probably, the original Patriarch himself didn't fully understand this body form.

After chatting a while longer and realizing the Patriarch knew no further details, Zheng Fa took his leave.

"Already leaving?" The Ninth Mountain Patriarch blinked, looking at the three of them.

"My time is limited—I still need to further contemplate the Mountain River True Form Talisman. Is there anything else, Patriarch?" Zheng Fa asked, noticing his expression.

"No, go ahead if you have things to do," the Ninth Mountain Patriarch sighed. "Everyone's so busy."

"..."

"I was hoping to hear what you've been up to outside."

The Ninth Mountain Patriarch added.

Why does this old guard sound so... lonely?

Of course—he's been trapped here at Ninth Mountain Sect.

Except for the once-a-decade Immortal Product Gathering, he has no chance to leave.

Few people come to visit him on ordinary days.

It truly feels like solitude.

As they walked up the mountain, Zheng Fa turned back—the Ninth Mountain Patriarch was still watching them from afar.

"Does the Patriarch... usually live like this, in such loneliness?"

Zheng Fa turned to ask Zhang Shijie beside him.

"How many people in our sect can even ascend to the Ninth Peak?"

Zheng Fa suddenly understood—this Ninth Peak was his own Master's territory.

"The Sect Master dislikes traveling; my Master sits alone on the Seventh Peak; Master Pang is always occupied with affairs..." Zhang Shijie continued, "Besides, the Patriarch's mind is like a child's, and others don't take him seriously."

Zheng Fa nodded.

He realized that he and Zhang Shijie were probably valued by the Patriarch simply because they could offer ideas.

"Now, what about the Patriarch's cultivation level..."

"Within the Ninth Mountain Sect's spiritual array, he possesses Nascent Soul power."

Meaning, outside the sect, he has no such strength.

"This one... is merely a split soul, with incomplete spiritual awareness and severely restricted power," Zhang Shijie glanced at the Ninth Mountain Patriarch. "He cannot cultivate, and his mind has never matured—we can do nothing."

Zheng Fa fell into thought, saying nothing more, as the group arrived at the Mountain River True Form Talisman.

Four golden, intricately complex talisman patterns hung suspended on the cliff face.

Zheng Fa knew the original Ninth Mountain Patriarch slept within them, attempting to alter his fundamental roots.

He silently gazed at the talisman patterns—as if observing, as if pondering.

Zhang Shijie stood beside him, silent.

"Young brother, what are you thinking?" Yuan Shijie, unable to wait, finally spoke up.

"Zhang Shijie, didn't you once tell me," Zheng Fa suddenly asked her, "that after reaching Nascent Soul, one uses one's own Dao body as nourishment, and future cultivation centers on the Nascent Soul?"

"Yes."

Zhang Shijie nodded.

"Do you remember what the Setting Sun Sword Immortal told us—that after Soul Transformation, cultivation moves toward becoming something other than oneself, turning into another's Dao fruit?"

"I remember."

"Then look at the Ninth Mountain Patriarch—he abandoned the Ninth Mountain spiritual vein and fused himself with this Mountain River True Form Talisman. Doesn't that resemble Soul Transformation? He discarded all non-spiritual matter, leaving only the talisman formed of spiritual energy."

Zhang Shijie was startled.

She looked up at the four golden composite talismans, murmuring: "Is this—the Dao fruit?"

"Not entirely a Dao fruit—or rather, I think the term 'Dao fruit' is too vague," Zheng Fa gazed at the Mountain River True Form Talisman and shook his head. "But if Soul Transformation beyond is another form of life, then isn't this Mountain River True Form Talisman a form of life?"

"Life..." Zhang Shijie stared blankly for a long moment, then smiled. "Zheng Shidi, after all these years, you're the first person to view the Mountain River True Form Talisman this way."

"Exactly."

"This Mountain River True Form Talisman has been here since before our Ninth Mountain Sect was founded—nearly eternal."

"It can give rise to spiritual awareness; the Patriarch's current soul sleeps within it."

"Why not call it a form of life?" Zhang Shijie looked at the Mountain River True Form Talisman, her gaze filled with reverence: "A life formed entirely of spiritual energy."

"I finally understand why you came to observe this Mountain River True Form Talisman."

Zheng Fa's return to Ninth Mountain Sect was indeed largely due to this Mountain River True Form Talisman.

People of the Xuanwei Realm are accustomed to non-human beings achieving Dao—but to Zheng Fa, this thing is non-carbon-based life!

Given how tightly connected the Xuanwei Realm is to the modern world, such an existence is even more bizarre.

The two stared at the Mountain River True Form Talisman for a long while before Zhang Shijie finally spoke: "What do you think of what the Setting Sun Sword Immortal said?"

Since the Setting Sun Sword Immortal left,

Zhang Shijie had not mentioned this topic again.

She didn't know whether she was giving him time to think—or giving herself time.

"Shijie, I intend to create a new cultivation method."

Zheng Fa spoke his decision plainly.

Whether because he didn't want to become someone else, or because of the modern world—he had no other choice.

Zhang Shijie nodded, before she could speak,

Yuan Shijie blurted out: "Young brother is right—we must create a new method!"

Zheng Fa turned to Yuan Shijie and saw her looking at him with an ingratiating expression, as if still apologizing for her earlier blatant stare.

At this moment, Zheng Fa actually understood Yuan Shijie.

Fusang Wood is supremely yang, inherently compatible with the Qingluan's nature, and in modern myths, it's even linked to the divine bird Jinwu.

Yuan Shijie's desire for him was likely a biological evolutionary instinct.

He smiled and nodded at Yuan Shijie; she immediately perked up, eyes bright. Zhang Shijie glanced at the two, said nothing, and continued: "Do you have a plan?"

"Shijie, before creating a new method, I intend to take control of the Heavenly Stele Realm."

To Zhang Shijie, Zheng Fa spoke nearly without reservation—he was cautious by nature, always preparing for the worst.

"Though my new method isn't the same as the one created by the River Heaven Venerable, we must guard against the demonic sects' persecution of geniuses—the Heavenly Stele Realm can provide us a relatively safe foundation."

Zhang Shijie nodded: "Yes—if they hunt geniuses for the sake of this new method, there may be deeper connections, and even those immortal sects may not be trustworthy."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa pressed his lips together and said:

"Shijie, this matter... may bring Ninth Mountain Sect to utter ruin."

"This has nothing to do with me," Zhang Shijie suddenly said. "Ask the Sect Master yourself."

"Mm." Zheng Fa nodded.

"Oh, tell him—I, Zhang Wuyi, support your decision."

Zhang Shijie added suddenly.

"..."

"By the way, my Master should listen to me too," Zhang Shijie added again.

"..."

Ninth Mountain Sect already had four Nascent Souls—Zheng Fa was bringing two of them to the door.

Would his Master think he was staging a coup?

"Young brother is right—I support you too!"

Yuan Shijie shouted from beside him.

Zheng Fa looked at her; she grinned triumphantly, as if she'd finally found the key to pleasing Zheng Fa.

"If the Sect Master still refuses, go ask Master Pang—would he take you as his disciple?"

"..."

"Though Master Pang values Ninth Mountain Sect above all, I'd say you've got a fifty percent chance saying that."

Zhang Shijie continued offering advice.

Zheng Fa looked down at his Daoist robe.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just feel this robe's turning a bit yellow."

"This matter must wait until the Heavenly Stele Realm truly recognizes its master before we can speak openly," Zheng Fa thought and said. "Otherwise, Ninth Mountain Sect as a whole may suffer great calamity."

Zhang Shijie nodded in approval.

"Using the Heavenly Stele Realm to guarantee our safety is feasible," she asked, "but the most important thing is the new method—do you have any ideas yet?"

This was the key.

Creating a new method isn't something you dream up on a whim.

Zheng Fa simply said he wanted to create a new method—and Zhang Shijie not laughing at him was absolute trust.

"Shijie, in the past hundreds of thousands of years of the Xuanwei Realm, no one has surpassed the River Heaven Venerable—I dare not claim I'm more gifted than he was."

Zheng Fa gazed at the Mountain River True Form Talisman and softly voiced the idea he'd been pondering these days:

"I intend to gather collective wisdom."

"Collective wisdom?" Zhang Shijie looked puzzled.

"The people of the Profound Heaven Realm number in the hundreds of millions, and their geniuses are as countless as stars," Zheng Fa said to Zhang Shijie. "Tianhe Zunzhe collected all the cultivation arts under heaven—and failed. In my view, he failed because he underestimated everyone, whether friend or foe."

"This time, I want to bring together all the enlightened minds of the world to study, refine, and ultimately forge a new path for Immortal Arts."

Zhang Shijie stared blankly at Zheng Fa.

Listening as he continued:

"To achieve this, we must first popularize foundational Immortal Arts—starting with Jiushan Sect, abandoning sectarian prejudice and the divisions between the two lineages."

"On the other hand, we must establish a system that encourages research and innovation."

"Starting with Jiushan Sect, the stronger Jiushan becomes, the more fellow cultivators we will attract—until the entire world follows."

"We need only spark a single flame; others will take up the torch and light an entire long road."

Zheng Fa understood clearly: he might achieve some results through his modern knowledge.

But true new methods would likely require the collective effort of all.

Zheng Fa called this idea the Ultimate Version of the Borrowing Minds Project—

To borrow one person's mind, the main path is to learn from that person.

To borrow the mind of an entire world, one must educate.

These two people were, in his eyes, the closest and most trusted individuals he had in the Profound Heaven Realm—he finished speaking and watched them nervously, unsure how they would react.

This had never been done before.

It even violated the customs of the Profound Heaven Realm for hundreds of thousands of years.

Moreover, with spiritual energy now declining, this idea might even be a counter-era one.

If even Zhang Shijie and Yuan Shijie could not accept it, Zheng Fa would reconsider and find another approach.

"Brother is right!" Yuan Shijie suddenly exclaimed. She paused, then emphasized: "This time, I mean it!"

Zhang Shijie remained silent for a long time.

"Sister?"

Zheng Fa looked at Zhang Shijie, wondering what she was thinking.

"Brother, I have always known you were extraordinary," Zhang Shijie suddenly said to Zheng Fa. "Ever since you entered Jiushan Sect, I have come to understand this again and again. I saw you as the most brilliant talisman master, Jiushan Sect's greatest future Sect Master, and the cultivation partner I trusted most..."

"Sister?"

"I underestimated you."

(End of Chapter)