Chapter 245: Spiritual Energy Circuitry, Qianhe Suffers Disaster

Zheng Fa felt that Master Huang had misunderstood something… this was still purely speculative!

He explained to Master Huang: "Master, the Nascent Soul inheritance is probably not this simple… we've merely synthesized various pieces of information to form a possible hypothesis."

"It's more plausible that the Xuanwei Realm cultivators preserved part of the Tianhe New Method—Tongming Shangren told Master Pang that a cultivator's core magic treasure can evolve into a core spiritual treasure, and the method for core magic treasures was originally created by the Tianhe Sovereign. There must be some connection between the two."

Master Huang frowned, then suddenly said: "So the key to Nascent Soul embodiment—or the crux of it—is whether the cultivator's core magic treasure can ascend into a core spiritual treasure, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you've already figured out how to advance your magic treasure, haven't you?"

"That… is true."

Master Huang nodded and said: "Then what exactly have you created if not a Nascent Soul inheritance?"

That didn't sound wrong either…

"Master, our research on the spiritual energy circuitry has barely begun," Zheng Fa corrected. "The relationship between spiritual energy circuitry and spiritual awareness—I've only proposed a hypothesis. Sister Zhang hasn't yet…"

Sister Zhang suddenly spoke: "I've made some progress."

"Huh?"

"I can now use spiritual energy circuitry to perform simple calculations."

"…"

Zheng Fa knew full well that Sister Zhang was exceptionally gifted.

Of course, he also knew the most important factor was that modern theories had developed to a relatively mature stage—Sister Zhang truly stood on the shoulders of giants.

But this was too fast!

Sister Zhang's robes fluttered, her entire body glowing translucent, with dense spiritual energy circuits shimmering within her.

"What is this?"

"An adder—or rather, a full adder."

"Huh?"

"The binary system you gave me—I found it fascinating," Sister Zhang said, her eyes brightening. "At first, I didn't understand the concept of a switch. Then I realized: why not use yin and yang as switches? Yin represents 'on,' yang represents 'off.' Each opening and closing of the switch is a mirror transformation."

Master Huang, beside them, sneered and glanced at Zheng Fa, as if thinking Zheng Fa had given an unusually good gift.

"With that idea, I developed this spiritual energy circuitry."

"Look—spiritual power enters through these two paths, representing one plus one. Finally, this Ri-Yao rune lights up, indicating the result is two…"

"Look, when spiritual energy flows through these two paths, it represents one plus one; eventually, the Solar Symbol will light up, indicating the result is two..."

Sister Zhang… had truly become a sentient computer!

Beside them, Master Huang suddenly frowned: "This is what you've been staying up all night reading about?"

Beside him, Master Huang suddenly frowned and said, "This is what you've been staying up all night studying these days?"

"When I came to talk to you, you always said you were busy… spending every day staring at those few old books… I've been at Lei Chi Market for days now—how many words have you spoken to me?"

As Master Huang spoke, her gaze shifted sideways toward Zheng Fa.

It was the kind of anger a mother feels when her son grows up and her little coat lets in the wind.

"Cough," Zheng Fa quickly changed the subject. "Sister, this can hardly be called a spirit rune anymore, can it?"

Seeing Sister Zhang's adder, he understood the difference between these circuits and spirit runes—【35】 The simplest explanation is that this is a circuit, and a circuit doesn't necessarily carry current.

He saw Zhang Shijie's so-called adder and understood the difference between these circuits and spirit talismans—

Ultimately, logic gates arise from whether or not current flows.

But spirit runes are not like that—spirit runes themselves are equivalent to current.

"Yes," Sister Zhang nodded lightly. "In a spirit rune, spiritual energy cannot be present in one circuit and absent in another. But through alchemical crafting, these circuits can be solidified, allowing spiritual energy to selectively pass through—that is indeed possible."

"Yes," Sister Zhang nodded lightly. "The spiritual energy within a talisman cannot exist in one loop but not another. However, it is indeed possible to solidify these loops through artifact-crafting techniques, allowing spiritual energy to pass selectively." "Actually, our talisman base resembles this kind of loop more closely."

Zheng Fa nodded slightly—he understood what Sister Zhang meant: the difference was whether the spiritual energy circuitry was transient or permanently solidified.

"And the Shanhe Zhenxing Rune… no one knows how it was solidified, yet it likely generated spiritual awareness."

The two discussed further, mainly pondering how to further develop Sister Zhang's "adder."

Zheng Fa was quite optimistic.

Though basic, it was extremely crucial—this device, exaggeratedly speaking, was nearly the very essence of a modern computer.

As they spoke, they turned and saw Master Huang had drifted into her own thoughts, a faint smile on her lips, clearly no longer listening.

Oddly enough, she looked much happier now.

"Huh? Finished?" Master Huang asked, noticing them staring at her. "So how do we reply to Master Pang?"

"…," Sister Zhang shook her head. "We have no new intelligence. Just inform Master Pang of what's happened recently at Lei Chi—let him rest easy."

Master Huang nodded. "Now that Tongming Shangren is willing to intervene, our Jiushan Sect may yet be saved. Your Master Pang probably won't die after all."

Zheng Fa finally understood why Master Huang had been smiling.

But he had to admit—learning that the Bai Xian Alliance's Tongming Shangren was willing to aid Jiushan Sect eased his own heart considerably.

"Huh?"

Master Huang's expression suddenly changed as she gazed into the distance.

Sister Zhang beside her also noticed something and looked up in the same direction.

Zheng Fa didn't yet know what had happened, so he extended his spiritual sense toward that direction, trying to discern the truth.

Master Huang, remembering Zheng Fa's cultivation level was far below hers, explained: "Someone is coming this way…"

"I see it—it's Qian True Person from Qianhe Sect."

Zheng Fa replied, his face grim.

Master Huang stared at him: "You're at Foundation Establishment late stage?"

"Yes…"

"Then your spiritual sense is this strong? You sensed them over a hundred li away?"

Zheng Fa heard the astonishment in her voice and bit his lip, smiling sheepishly.

…

Though startled by Zheng Fa's spiritual sense, Master Huang's brow remained furrowed—Qianhe Sect's arrival looked truly dire—

They flew in a broken flying shuttle, swaying wildly, desperately heading toward Lei Chi.

Qian True Person stood at the bow, his robes stained with blood, his face pale gold, lips blue-purple—clearly severely wounded.

Behind him were a dozen disciples, all looking anxious and fearful.

Qian True Person seemed to have come specifically for Zheng Fa—he entered the market, found the Jiushan Sect disciples there, and the group rushed toward Zheng Fa's courtyard.

Zheng Fa stepped out from Sister Zhang's courtyard to meet them.

Qian True Person saw Zheng Fa, his legs buckled, and he knelt on the ground, crying out: "Zheng True Person! Qianhe Sect has been suddenly attacked by demonic beasts!"

"I have nowhere else to turn—I've come to beg your aid!"

Zheng Fa's heart jolted at these words, and he glanced at Sister Zhang beside him.

They had known demonic beasts would strike Jiushan Sect—but they never expected Qianhe Sect to be the first victim.

(End of Chapter)