Chapter 238: The Dao Is Not Lightly Transmitted; Hearts and Minds Aligned

"Zheng Fa, what do you say? Stay or leave?"

Bai Lao asked Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa paused to think. He now did have a little more understanding of Tang Mutao... but it still wasn't enough to give him sufficient trust in Tang Mutao.

"Teacher Bai, I have an idea..."

"Mm?"

"We need to improve the immortal technique teaching system of the nursing home."

Zheng Fa's words made the three of them slowly nod, as if they had been thinking the same thing.

Earlier, when Bai Lao had mentioned inner and outer disciples, the idea had already formed in Zheng Fa's mind.

The nursing home hadn't had such a system before, mainly because the four of them got along fairly harmoniously—there really hadn't been much need.

But since the nursing home was going to gradually open up, they were bound to run into people with relatively complicated personalities like Tang Mutao...

Zheng Fa couldn't build deep feelings with every single person, and feelings alone couldn't sustain an organization.

"A system..." Bai Lao thought for a moment and said, "A system is a good thing, but which direction should we head in?"

Tian Laoshi and Tang Lingwu also looked at him curiously.

"My current idea is an academic-results points system."

"... It really is a research-type nursing home!"

Zheng Fa nodded and said:

"Cultivation techniques, the spiritual materials researched in the future, spells—I hope we can set a corresponding point value for all of them..."

"The evaluation of academic results, I plan to leave to the four of us..."

The three of them understood—Zheng Fa must have had this idea for a while.

"Sounds good to me, no problems." Tang Lingwu nodded lightly and said.

"Even if there are problems, it doesn't matter." Bai Lao was more easygoing. "We're just starting out. If there are problems, we can just fix them."

The first floor of the nursing home's main building.

Tang Mutao sat restlessly, waiting for Zheng Fa and the others' final decision.

Seeing Zheng Fa walk out, he gazed at Zheng Fa eagerly and said, "Immortal..."

"Professor Tang, just call me Zheng Fa." Zheng Fa cut off what the other man was about to say and said, "Regarding your request."

Tang Mutao's eyes burned with eagerness.

"We can let you enter the nursing home."

"Thank you, Immortal! No, no—thank you, Zheng Fa..."

Tang Mutao looked extremely agitated. His knees bent, as if he wanted to kneel to Zheng Fa again.

This time Zheng Fa was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and stopped him.

"It's just... regarding the Dao technique inheritance you want, there isn't any for now."

Zheng Fa continued.

The fervor on Tang Mutao's face froze slightly, but he immediately nodded hard: "I understand! I understand! The Dao is not lightly transmitted—one must be tested!"

"Even learning crosstalk requires years of serving tea and running errands!"

That slightly round face was full of obedience.

"As long as you can understand..."

"I can understand, of course I can understand!" Tang Mutao slapped his chest with a thundering thump and said,

"Just tell me what you need me to do!"

"Working like an ox or a horse, being a slave or a servant—no problem!"

Zheng Fa was silent for a moment, then said: "... I order you to study hard."

"Huh?"

"What he means is, you have to first study some preparatory knowledge for immortal techniques, then produce some research results, and then you'll be able to receive immortal technique inheritance and cultivate the Dao to become an immortal."

Bai Lao briefly explained Zheng Fa's academic-results points system to him.

The more Tang Mutao listened, the stranger his expression became. He couldn't help but summarize: "Cultivating immortality relies on papers too? I'm almost sixty—do I have to go get a doctorate now?"

"Well, it's cultivating immortality—you can't die anyway, so why not study..."

Bai Lao said.

Tang Mutao looked toward the nursing home's entrance, as if searching for some plaque.

"What are you looking at?"

"This place of ours... isn't it the Jingcheng University Department of Immortal Cultivation?"

"... That isn't quite right, but it's very accurate!"

"What has Professor Tang been up to lately?"

"What could he be up to?" Bai Lao thought for a moment and said, "He had people install the medical equipment, then went back to resign, saying he wanted to focus on cultivating immortality."

Tian Laoshi asked: "Zheng Fa, you're just going to let him run around out there?"

It was obvious she wasn't entirely at ease with this person either.

"Not to mention he hasn't learned a single cultivation technique yet—even if he had... they don't have spiritual Qi."

Zheng Fa shook his head and said.

The fact that he could now control the source of spiritual Qi was also a very important reason he was able to take things one step at a time.

Tian Laoshi nodded, then said: "Still, his enthusiasm for studying really is quite high. He came to me for a lot of materials on spiritual plant cultivation."

"He asked me for talisman diagrams and the like too."

Bai Lao stroked his chin, recalling: "He even came to me to ask about some topology problems."

Zheng Fa nodded.

The academic points system seemed to have greatly stimulated Tang Mudao's research enthusiasm.

A sudden screech of brakes came from outside the nursing home; the few of them turned their heads and saw a familiar SUV parked at the door.

Tang Mudo rushed down from the car in his usual hurried manner.

Running as he spoke, "I've got it! I've got it!" Seeing him about to fall, Zheng Fa waved a hand and spiritual energy held his body steady.

"Speak slowly — what did you think of?"

"I figured out how to measure the magnetic field of sprouting pea seedlings!"

Zheng Fa's spirits lifted and he said, "Tell me!"

"I've read your previous records — you started from the spell side, right?"

"Right."

"Then why don't we start from the pea seedling itself?"

Zheng Fa understood what he meant.

"You mean, measure the magnetic field around the pea seedling before and after it becomes a spiritual plant?"

"Exactly!"

"We discussed this point long ago." Zheng Fa shook his head gently. "It's not very feasible… mainly because within the range of spiritual energy, magnetic field sensing goes haywire — you can't measure it in real time."

"I've thought about that!" Tang Mudo said. "We just need to place the electromagnetic receiving device a bit farther away."

Zheng Fa had a vague idea as soon as he heard it.

"Professor Tang, please elaborate."

"You should know that one of our main jobs as astronomers is to receive electromagnetic wave signals from the universe, and use calculation methods to judge the energy strength and distance of the source of the electromagnetic waves, while ruling out interference from other irrelevant signals."

Tang Mudo opened his own laptop, on which he had drawn an array diagram.

"Look — with this kind of array, five magnetic field sensors arranged at specific angles and distances, even if we're not near the pea seedling, we can still calculate the magnetic field around it from the electromagnetic signals we receive."

"If we use more magnetic field sensors, the information will be even more accurate."

Zheng Fa and Bai Lao exchanged a glance — both had the same thought: this could work!

……

"It's calculated!"

Tang Lingwu cheered and said to Zheng Fa, "At the moment the pea seedling generated spiritual energy, the electromagnetic field around it had a small change — look!"

Zheng Fa looked at the computer in front of him.

Sure enough, this magnetic field wasn't strong to begin with, and the magnitude of change was also very small — if the measurement method hadn't been relatively ingenious, Zheng Fa and the others would probably have had a hard time detecting such a small magnetic field change.

With the magnetic field change data, what followed was fairly simple.

"The first form, Spirit-Wood Thunder…" Zheng Fa looked at the talisman diagram before him, but his expression was not relaxed. "I wonder if this form of thunder magic can only be used to make peas sprout…"

"Pea Thunder Magic?" Bai Lao beside him also pursed his lips. "It does sound a bit ugly."

Beside them, Tang Mudo asked a little nervously, "Does mine count as an academic result that can be exchanged for points?"

"Of course!" Zheng Fa smiled and had Tang Lingwu open the points exchange list they had just drafted.

"The points for developing Spirit-Wood Thunder… this! We previously set it at one hundred."

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said, "Although Spirit-Wood Thunder is only a beginning, because this is a pioneering idea, I think we can add points at our discretion—what do you think?"

Bai Lao said, "Fine."

They all knew that Tang Mudo's main contribution was not the invention of Spirit-Wood Thunder, but this method of measuring electromagnetic changes.

"Then one hundred it is?"

Zheng Fa glanced over — neither Bai Lao nor the other two had any objections.

"One hundred points… what do you want to exchange for?"

Zheng Fa asked Tang Mudo.

Tang Mudo looked at the items on the list — there were some cultivation technique portions for the Qi Refining stage, some thunder-system body-tempering methods, and the rest were entry-level martial arts like "Spirit Crane Body."

He rubbed his hands together and suddenly asked, "What does Professor Bai study?"

"Why are you asking him?"

"Whatever he studies, I'll study — safe!"

Zheng Fa looked at Tang Mudo in confusion, not understanding why the man said that.

"Back then, when our teacher got arrested, he was the fastest runner…" Tang Mudo laughed. "Professor Bai is afraid of death… no, I mean, cautious by nature — he's my role model!"

"……"

Xuanwei Realm.

Zheng Fa walked toward the Heavenly Stele with Zhang Shijie and Yuan Shijie, discussing the arrangements after entering the Heavenly Stele as they walked.

"Junior Brother, you mean… you want to run a school inside the Heavenly Stele Realm?"

Zhang Shijie frowned, seemingly not quite understanding Zheng Fa's idea.

Zheng Fa nodded.

This was an idea he had after establishing the system at the nursing home.

"Is there a need for that?"

Even Zhang Shijie didn't quite agree at this point — like many others, she treated the Heavenly Stele Realm as a resource collection point, and even when Zheng Fa said he wanted to make the Heavenly Stele Realm the base of Jiushan Sect, she hadn't thought much of it.

Jiushan Sect had never run any school within its own jurisdiction.

"Senior Sister, I've been thinking — why did Tianhe Zunzhe fail."

"You said it yourself, so you must gather the wisdom of the many."

"Exactly! But talents do not spring from cracks in the stone; only education can cultivate the people we need."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shijie slowly shook her head: "The Xuanwei Realm has so many sects, yet it has never lacked geniuses..."

"No, they may be our partners, but... they are ultimately different."

"Different?"

"Shijie, I just asked you why Tianhe Zunzhe failed. Actually, I believe there is another reason..."

"Hmm?"

"The people around him were mostly practitioners of the old methods... and it was only at the critical moment that they betrayed him."

"What do you intend to do?"

Zhang Shijie asked.

"The ideas of cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm are likely hard to change, but the people in the Heavenly Stele Realm are like blank sheets of paper..." Zheng Fa slowly spoke his own idea, "I hope to educate them to be devoted to Jiushan, support the new methods, and be determined to research..."

"Comrades!"

(End of this chapter)