Chapter 252: Their Own Efforts (4K)

Sitting in the quiet meditation room for cultivation, Zheng Fa looked at the jade slip in his hand.

He had always known that although he was not a fool, compared to the outstanding figures of the Xuanwei Realm, he could not claim to have surpassed them.

Today, Senior Uncle Huang had verified his thoughts—

The three Nascent Souls of the previous generation of the Jiushan Sect had each comprehended the Linking Talisman, the Talisman Array, and the Method of Momentary Fragrance; in a sense, none of them were simple.

Zheng Fa had originally thought his Master was the strongest, while Senior Uncle Huang appeared to be the weakest among them.

He had originally felt this was normal, after all, she was the youngest of the three Nascent Souls.

Regarding the Method of Linking Talismans, Zheng Fa had seen Senior Uncle Pang use it; this technique likely played with the sequence of time—similar to a serial mode, one talisman following another, ultimately greatly strengthening the spell's power.

The Method of Talisman Arrays seemed even more advanced to Zheng Fa; this thing was more like a parallel instruction set—that is, multiple talismans operating independently, yet their effects could cooperate to complete a grand task.

But Senior Uncle Huang's Method of Momentary Fragrance truly opened his eyes; this was completely black technology.

Senior Uncle Huang belonged to those who truly feared no death; she treated her own life as nothing—Zheng Fa could be certain that experimenting to discover this technique was a matter of nine deaths and one life, plus good luck.

This made Zheng Fa alert once again in his heart—one must never underestimate any high-level cultivator of the Xuanwei Realm.

Yet even these three people could not walk the path of Soul Transformation; the difficulty of Soul Transformation can be imagined.

This greatly diminished his confidence in Senior Sister Zhang's ability to awaken the Ancestor.

On the other hand, this also made Zheng Fa understand that Soul Transformation was probably more difficult to deal with than he thought; moreover, what the Jiushan Sect now had to face were two Soul Transformations.

The Method of Momentary Fragrance held higher reference value than the two secret techniques of Linking Talismans and Talisman Arrays.

This thing was almost equivalent to forcibly achieving Soul Transformation.

Zheng Fa was now deeply contemplating the Method of Momentary Fragrance, hoping to offer some help to Senior Sister Zhang.

The voice of Xiao Yuying came from outside the door: "I have arrived."

He stood up, walked out the door, and saw Xiao Yuying standing in the courtyard, looking at him, her gaze full of entanglement and helplessness.

It was clear she had come somewhat unwillingly...

Zheng Fa had spoken those words to her three days ago; given Xiao Yuying's speed as a Nascent Soul True Person, three days was truly a bit slow—it was visible that she had hesitated in coming.

"Xiao Xiao Xianzi..."

Zheng Fa bowed with clasped hands.

"Your Jiushan Sect's base here is quite empty," Xiao Yuying pouted, her tone unable to hold back some complaint.

Zheng Fa smiled, understanding her meaning.

Everyone from the Jiushan Sect had run away completely, yet Zheng Fa had tricked her here; it sounded very much like he wanted her to take the blame.

Seeing him smile, Xiao Yuying was even more furious, snorting, "I just felt your words were somewhat interesting; as for whether I really want to get involved in this matter... I haven't decided!"

Seeing her complaining tone, Zheng Fa also smiled, not taking it to heart.

Now that the Jiushan Sect faced a great calamity, her not wanting to come was normal—however, he also did not feel he had trapped Xiao Yuying.

"Xiao Xiao Xianzi, if you are unwilling to come, I do not force you."

Zheng Fa's words left Xiao Yuying speechless, yet she could say nothing, feeling only that Zheng Fa had seen through her little thoughts—truly detestable!

"Junior Brother Zheng! That thing of yours is truly amazing; I woke up and I'm already at the Mid-Stage of Jin Dan!" Outside the door came Yuan Shijie's cheerful shout, "What's going on? Everyone here is gone? Where is Senior Sister Zhang?"

While speaking, Yuan Shijie burst in.

As soon as she entered, she saw Xiao Yuying and Zheng Fa standing together, Xiao Yuying's face showing both shame and anger, yet helpless against Zheng Fa.

She paused, her face dazed as she said, "Junior Brother Zheng, could it be... you two made Senior Sister Zhang angry and leave?"

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"Why didn't Senior Sister wait for me?"

Yuan Shijie's eyes were red, and she sniffed as she spoke.

Beside her, Xiao Yuying's face also showed some admiration: "I had never heard of Zhang Wuyi before; she advances without retreating. After meeting her these few times, I thought she was indulging in a soft bed and had lost her former sharpness..."

Hm?

Who are you calling a soft bed?

"I must go back and find Senior Sister Zhang!"

"Senior Sister Yuan! Senior Sister Zhang went back to awaken the Jiushan Ancestor; what are you going back for?" Zheng Fa spoke up.

"..."

"Then what can I do..." Yuan Shijie didn't finish her sentence, but Zheng Fa understood her meaning.

Seeing his Master, Senior Uncle Pang, and Senior Sister Zhang trapped in a desperate situation, it was impossible not to feel anxious in the heart...

Moreover, each of these three could be called the backbone of the Jiushan Sect; if they died, the days of the Jiushan Sect in the future would not be easy either.

"Senior Sister Yuan, I want you to stay and help me!"

Looking at Senior Sister Yuan's unwilling face, Zheng Fa said solemnly.

"Help you?"

"Yes! I must accumulate more Heaven Merit Points until I can control the Heaven Stele, only then is there hope to lend a hand to save Senior Sister and the others."

Zheng Fa understood in his heart that with his cultivation so low, this was the only way he could help.

Senior Sister Yuan sniffed again and nodded lightly.

Beside them, Xiao Yuying watched this scene and suddenly spoke: "What did you want me to help you with before?"

"Hm?"

"I agree."

Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Yuying in surprise; she turned her head and said, "Let's be clear first: I will not fight to the death for your Jiushan Sect; if a Soul Transformation truly comes, I have my own way to escape."

Looking at her somewhat insincere face, Zheng Fa clasped his hands and bowed lightly to her.

……

Outside the Heavenly Stele Realm, two people still accompanied Zheng Fa.

Only one of them had changed from Shijie Zhang to Huang Shushu.

Just as Zheng Fa had said, controlling the Heavenly Stele now was the thing that could help Shijie Zhang the most.

Now that Shijie Zhang was gone, one of the main forces for obtaining Heavenly Merit was missing; Zheng Fa could only entrust the task to Huang Shushu.

Huang Shushu did not hesitate at all and simply agreed.

After all, her nature was cold and aloof; she was not very familiar with Zheng Fa or Yuanshijie. Walking through Lei Chi together, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward, and they remained silent the whole way.

When they reached the halfway point, Huang Shushu suddenly took out several letters and handed them to Zheng Fa, saying with a tone of embarrassment, "Help me look; is there any room for improvement in the wording of these letters?"

Zheng Fa was stunned for a moment. He took the letters in his hand and looked them over, discovering they were all requests for aid that Huang Shushu had written to other sects.

Some were addressed to other sects within the Baixian Alliance.

Some were addressed to immortal sects outside the Baixian Alliance.

Some were even addressed to certain individuals within the Weiwuda Sect.

The tone in the letters was gentle, even humble; it did not seem like Huang Shushu's style. In Zheng Fa's view, Huang Shushu was quite proud by nature, caring for no one except Shijie Zhang; she could be described as looking down on everyone else.

He had also never heard that Huang Shushu had any friends outside the sect.

"This is..."

"In my early years of wandering, I did come to know a few people..." Huang Shushu pursed her lips and said, "I am not very good at making friends; I do not have the all-around charm of Shushu Pang like you do."

"Some of the people in here can only be said to have met me once."

Zheng Fa looked at these letters again.

Suddenly, he understood Huang Shushu's meaning.

"Shushu..."

He could not help but speak up.

"Do not use that tone," Huang Shushu smiled. "My disciple is almost dying. As her Shizun, if I cannot help in other ways, can I not even beg for help?"

"..."

"It is just that I do not care about my face; I only regret that I do not have the connections of Shushu Pang and those others... I do not know which of these people still remember me."

Zheng Fa shook his head; he did not think Shushu Pang would be much better than Huang Shushu in this situation... he still remembered the various things from last time in his heart.

Entering the Heavenly Stele Realm, the three of them did not stop. Except for using Spirit Wood Lightning to try to cultivate spiritual plants in Banshan City a few times, Zheng Fa almost spent all his time rushing around his own sealed land.

Yuanshijie and Huang Shushu were even busier. The group worked for a month and earned more than twenty thousand Heavenly Merit points again.

"According to the points required for the previous upgrade of the seal, the next upgrade should require one hundred thousand points of Heavenly Merit; I have already earned about eighty thousand points," Zheng Fa calculated and said to the two of them, "I just do not know how many more upgrades are needed to control the Heavenly Stele..."

Neither Yuanshijie nor Huang Shushu spoke; they both just had exhausted expressions on their faces.

"Shijie, you two go rest first."

He could not help but advise them.

"Shidi Zheng... our cultivation is even higher than yours; do you not look at what shape you are in now?"

Yuanshijie suddenly said.

Zheng Fa fell silent. Inside the Heavenly Stele Realm, to use a few more techniques of Lightning Art, he had almost consumed every drop of his spiritual power; the mental exhaustion was imaginable.

Xiao Yuying was startled by the three of them:

"You three..."

"Let Xiao Xianzi laugh at us..."

Xiao Yuying nodded; her eyes seemed to hold some understanding. She then asked Zheng Fa, "You said you wanted me to wait here for you; what is the matter?"

"This is the place where I want Xiao Xianzi to help me."

Zheng Fa was extremely tired at this moment and did not delay. He simply tapped the golden seal before him; a soft wind supported the four of them and carried them toward the Lu Yaoyuan.

The Lu Yaoyuan was the same as before.

But Xiao Yuying felt somewhat dazzled and entranced. She looked at the golden bell buzzing in the sky, watching the sun, moon, and stars rotating around the golden bell, her eyes full of longing.

"Xiao Xianzi?"

Zheng Fa was a bit puzzled.

"A Cave Heaven Spiritual Treasure..." Xiao Yuying murmured.

"Hmm?"

"I knew long ago that there should be such a Spiritual Treasure in the Heavenly Stele Realm..." Xiao Yuying withdrew her gaze and looked at Zheng Fa, saying, "My Shizun told me that holding a Cave Heaven Spiritual Treasure allows one to escape the depletion of spiritual qi—I have just never encountered such a treasure before."

Zheng Fa was stunned and turned his head to look at the golden bell—was this thing so valuable?

"Do you think I would come to the Heavenly Stele for no reason?"

"If this Lei Chi did not have such a treasure to support it, how could it stop the Great Zizaimo Mo Sect?"

Xiao Yuying seemed to see the confusion on his face and spoke up.

Zheng Fa was not happy though—

The more precious this thing was, the higher the difficulty seemed to be for him to truly control the Heavenly Stele Realm.

Seeming to understand his thoughts, Xiao Yuying also withdrew her gaze, looked at Zheng Fa, and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Zheng Fa put away his worries in his heart; thinking too much now was useless; he just needed to get to work.

"In the rotation of the sun and moon, there are twenty-four nodes that might have some special changes."

"Special changes?"

Zheng Fa did not know how strong Xiao Yuying's sensitivity to electromagnetic fields was. He thought for a moment and struck out a bolt of Spirit Wood Lightning.

"This is..."

"Xianzi, do you have any sensation regarding this Lightning Art?"

Xiao Yuying furrowed her brow, seeming to understand Zheng Fa's meaning, and suddenly extended her right hand.

This Bai Xi palm slowly turned a pale blue; the meridians beneath the skin took on a hint of purple, with faint sparks of lightning flickering within.

"Try again?"

Another Spirit Wood Lightning was cast out.

Correspondingly, a faint electric current arose within the meridians of Xiao Yuying's right hand.

Zheng Fa's expression brightened, yet he spoke no more, simply switching to a Spirit Wood Lightning of a different frequency.

Another faint electric current arose.

Zheng Fa asked, "Xiao Xianzi, can you perceive the difference between these two Lightning Methods?"

His tone held a slight tremor of unease.

This concerned the precision of Xiao Yuying's electromagnetic laboratory.

When measured by modern standards, both of these Spirit Wood Lightnings demanded extremely high instrument precision.

"Yes." Xiao Yuying nodded, saying, "Though subtle, the distinction in intensity between the two is quite clear..."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa turned to look at Huang Shishu and Yuan Shijie beside him.

Their faces bore only bewilderment, or rather, a single sentence: Where is it clear...

Yuan Ci Orbital Body truly cheats!

"Xiao Xianzi, you only need to stand among those spirit plants and see if any changes corresponding to these two Spirit Wood Lightnings occur."

Zheng Fa's method's idea was very simple.

To verify whether the Spirit Wood Lightning is correct, one only needs to match the twenty-four changes in this medicinal garden with the eight Spirit Wood Lightnings Zheng Fa has now researched.

Only this verification in the Heavenly Stele Realm can rely on Xiao Xianzi...

Anyone else lacks this ability.

Half an shichen later, Xiao Yuying said to Zheng Fa with certainty, "Of your eight Spirit Wood Lightnings, I can sense corresponding changes in the medicinal garden for six, but there should be none for two."

Zheng Fa nodded silently.

This was not unexpected—seven of these eight Spirit Wood Lightnings were generated by a computer, so having errors was not strange.

This was also why Zheng Fa had to ask Xiao Xianzi for help.

"Two Spirit Wood Lightnings have problems?"

In the Nursing Home, hearing Zheng Fa say this, Tang Lingwu thought for a moment and said, "Mainly because we can only rely on comparison; if the data has even a slight error, it will affect our results."

Tang Mudao beside him also nodded, saying, "The raw data is not necessarily accurate; we receive too many electromagnetic waves daily—and these fluctuations are too slight."

"From an information theory perspective, the noise is too great."

Zheng Fa also understood that finding six Spirit Wood Lightnings was already very fortunate, but...

"There is something I wish to ask everyone..."

He fell silent for a while, then spoke to the people in the Nursing Home; seeing him thus, the others' expressions grew grave.

"For this month, I must... find the electromagnetic waves corresponding to the remaining eighteen Spirit Wood Lightnings... no, for safety's sake, for each Spirit Wood Lightning, it is best to select several alternative special electromagnetic waves."

This was something he had just thought of.

He feared not having too many special electromagnetic waves; with Xiao Xianzi, he had a way to eliminate them.

He feared having too few, unable to even make a selection.

"This matter is extremely important to me."

After Zheng Fa finished speaking, Bai Lao and the others exchanged glances but said nothing.

Yet Bai Lao spoke: "If this matter is so important, I have a thought..."

"Hmm?"

"We should show the outside world some of our value."