Chapter 255

Watching the black sedan gradually disappear beyond Hongshan, Tang Lingwumin said:

"You talked for half an hour—that's enough?"

Zheng Fa smiled and turned to Tang Lingwumin: "She's just a representative for some people; she can't decide anything. Our demands are simple—what else is there to say?"

"Keep them at a distance—it's better for us, and it puts them at ease."

Tang Lingwumin didn't quite understand this.

But the other few people with some experience nodded.

The old white-haired man beside them scratched his head and joked: "I've really come up in the world… Back then, when people of this rank came to Beijing University, I had to stand in line and clap like a fool."

…

Two days after Yang Ju left, Zheng Fa sharply sensed the changes below the mountain—

In the village below, many well-trained strangers arrived; they relocated the nearby villagers, as if taking over the entire village.

Gradually, vehicles from outside could no longer enter.

It seemed the nursing home and the outside world had been deliberately isolated.

"This is troublesome," the old white-haired man frowned. "Are they spying on us?"

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't think they mean harm—they just want to isolate us from the outside world."

He could tell that much.

When Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwumin went down the mountain to the school, the group let them come and go freely.

But anyone from outside trying to enter the Hongshan area would be stopped.

"..." The old white-haired man still looked gloomy—he was a sociable man who had made many friends in the village, and now they were all gone.

Zheng Fa also felt uneasy. The next moment, Tang Lingwumin's phone rang.

"My dad's calling!"

Tang Lingwumin startled, her face tinged with fear—afraid of dragging her family into trouble.

Zheng Fa slightly frowned.

"Hello? Dad? I'm fine?"

As she spoke, her fear gradually faded, replaced by confusion.

"What? Someone gave you projects? Big shots?"

"Saying it's because of me?"

"What? I'm not dating anyone! Yeah, I know—I'll ask!"

After hanging up, Tang Lingwumin's expression was hard to read.

"What happened?"

"My dad says he suddenly got several major projects… says he met some high-level officials he'd never even seen before—they were incredibly warm."

"Is this… afraid of offending us?"

The old white-haired man stared, looking at Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa felt the same.

"My dad even asked if I'd hooked up with some big shot from Beijing…" Tang Lingwumin continued, her tone growing irritated, "Some multi-generational thing…"

The old white-haired man grinned: "Multi-generational? First-generation immortal!"

Tang Lingwumin thought for a moment, then said hesitantly: "My dad wants to come to Beijing to visit us… He's really scared this time."

The old white-haired man chuckled: "Wait, your dad's only coming now? Why didn't he come before?"

"My mom stopped him…" Tang Lingwumin said, slightly embarrassed. "I asked her to."

The old white-haired man shook his head: "Your dad's pretty obedient."

"... y mom said if he doesn't listen, she'll get sick to make him listen…"

Tang Lingwumin said, then suddenly looked at Zheng Fa: "This time… I don't think Mom can stop him."

Zheng Fa was stunned—had Tang Lingwumin been keeping his secret all along?

"Welcome your father," he smiled at Tang Lingwumin. "It makes no sense for outsiders to know what we're doing while your father doesn't."

…

After a while, the old white-haired man's phone rang too.

Zheng Fa and the others exchanged glances—they all understood.

Sure enough, after hanging up, the old white-haired man fell silent for a long time before speaking: "My daughter says she's being transferred to Beijing… says both her and her husband's jobs are settled, and they can pick any position—they're all good ones."

Zheng Fa calculated.

He himself had no close relatives—only distant cousins, and after his parents passed, contact ended.

Tang Mudao had never married.

Teacher Tian had only one mother, too old to move.

So… if they wanted to show goodwill, they had to start with the relatives of the old white-haired man and Tang Lingwumin.

"We haven't even become immortals yet," the old white-haired man continued. "And already the chickens and dogs ascend to heaven?"

Teacher Tian chuckled: "This is real achievement…"

…

Another week passed before Yang Ju returned to the nursing home.

This time, her smile was genuinely warm.

"Mr. Zheng! I must sincerely thank you!" Zheng Fa was startled as Yang Ju continued: "The peas you gave us—we ran animal experiments right away…"

Zheng Fa listened as she went on.

"The results are astonishing! According to our observations, these peas can sustain biological vital signs for long periods—extremely useful for high-intensity surgeries, especially extracorporeal procedures!"

She paused, then said:

"There's an elderly man—you've probably heard his name." She whispered a name.

Zheng Fa nodded—he'd seen it in textbooks…

"The man's heart had been failing for years; he needed constant extracorporeal surgery, and no one dared operate because of his age…" Yang Ju's tone carried a hint of admiration. "Originally, we didn't dare ask anyone else. But he himself decided—he was already near death, so why not volunteer?"

"The results were excellent!"

The peas weren't particularly powerful spiritual plants—after all, Zheng Fa's current ability to generate spiritual energy was limited.

But to modern people, they were miraculous.

"So what's going on with the commotion below the mountain?"

The old white-haired man asked.

He still couldn't let it go.

"This is mainly for confidentiality," Yang Ju explained apologetically. "This mountain sits here… and lately, more tourists have been coming. There's a risk of rumors leaking."

"I'm here this time to discuss the cooperation we mentioned earlier."

Zheng Fa nodded without expression.

"To be honest, this matter... has too much impact," Yang Ju said, a faint bitter smile on her face. "Mr. Zheng, you may be the greatest opportunity we've had in a thousand years—but on the other hand, we must tread carefully."

"First, I'm here as a formal invitation… Some people wish to visit you. Of course, if you don't wish to meet them, we'll respect that."

"Second, I'm here to inform you of my new position—our internal coordination team has been formed, and I now serve as its leader. If you have another candidate in mind, we'll consider it."

"This coordination team can also be called the service team—any request you have, as long as it doesn't harm national interests, we'll fulfill it. Whatever research you need, we'll mobilize all resources to support you."

"Third, we're seeking your opinion—above, there's an intention to designate the area around Hongshan as a nature reserve, to prevent outsiders from disturbing the nursing home. But in reality…"

Yang Ju handed over a document.

Zheng Fa took it and opened it—his eyes widened in surprise. The document placed a large surrounding area of Hongshan under the nursing home's ownership.

It had the feel of private land.

"What is this?"

"The people below the mountain were only there to reduce your troubles. Now, this entire area is yours—meaning, if you're uncomfortable, you can order them to leave."

"Mr. Zheng, we have only one principle—maintain communication, express goodwill, eliminate misunderstandings."

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said:

"All this doesn't matter. I have only one question."

"Mr. Zheng, please ask."

"What do you want?"

Yang Ju blinked, then laughed bitterly: "Mr. Zheng, don't you understand? The only thing we care about is—"

"Hmm?"

"What you want."

…

Zheng Fa flipped through the materials Yang Ju—no, Yang Zuzhang—had given him.

What he valued most was the information on Lingmu Lei—sure enough, after cooperating with the authorities, research on Lingmu Lei faced no more obstacles.

The special electromagnetic waves of the other eighteen solar terms were all listed, each with three or four alternative waveforms.

The project to build advanced artificial intelligence using circuits still had few results—mainly because advanced AI algorithms were highly diverse.

There were simply too many options.

According to Yang Zuzhang, they were collaborating with major universities and research institutes to select the most refined few solutions.

Teacher Tian flipped through the documents and smiled: "This proposal is interesting."

"Hmm?"

Zheng Fa looked up at Teacher Tian, who said, "They've probably seen the benefits of spiritual plants and are now even more eager than we are—they want to cooperate with us… mainly by providing the seeds, while we try cultivating the spiritual plants, after which they conduct various researches."

Zheng Fa was indifferent.

If his guess about the nature of spiritual plants is correct—then whoever controls the modern source of spiritual energy essentially controls the output of spiritual plants.

This cooperation brings only benefits, no drawbacks, to him.

Teacher Tian knew this too; she flipped through the documents and added, "But this is interesting… since we can use the Evergreen Talisman to rapidly mature ordinary crops, they want us to assist with agricultural breeding experiments…"

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Cooperation benefits both sides, so naturally we can agree—but we require all experimental data and research reports."

For him, since he was already cooperating with the authorities, there was no need to hide anything—

but he must understand all relevant technologies and data, to eventually serve the Heaven Stele Realm and even the Xuanwei Realm.

In the end, they were hungry for spiritual energy.

He was hungry for those big shots too.

No one was really at a disadvantage.

…

In the Heaven Stele Realm.

This time, too, Teacher Huang and Senior Sister Yuan accompanied him to gather Heaven Merit points.

After a month of hard work, they had gathered over twenty thousand points.

If the goal was ten thousand points to upgrade the Golden Seal by one level, their Heaven Merit points should be sufficient for now.

"Senior Sister Zhang still hasn't sent word…"

On the way to the Hundred Treasures Hall, Senior Sister Yuan suddenly sighed.

Zheng Fa and Teacher Huang both wore grim expressions—if Senior Sister Zhang had succeeded, the emergence of a new Soul Transformation cultivator would surely have stirred some commotion…

(End of Chapter)