Chapter 98: Numbness

Five volts was still too weak; Zheng Fa opened his phone and searched online for a long time.

Finally, he discovered a supreme cultivation treasure—an adjustable transformer!

After placing an order at a local shop, Zheng Fa headed out toward the classroom.

As soon as he entered, he noticed a slight change inside the classroom—right next to the door, near the blackboard, there was now a notice board with the words: "XXX days until the Gaokao!"

Tang Lingwu stood beneath the notice board, holding a stack of white cards with red numbers.

The classroom was crowded, with students gathering in twos and threes, chatting.

Yet most of their eyes kept darting toward the numbers in Tang Lingwu's hands, as if those small squares held some profound significance.

When Zheng Fa reached his seat, his close friend Wang Chen was slumped over his desk; seeing him arrive, Wang Chen didn't even offer a greeting, his expression mirroring that of most people in the room—a hint of underlying anxiety.

Tang Lingwu selected the three digits "100" and neatly placed them on the board.

Wang Chen suddenly sighed, gazing at the notice board in lament: "Suddenly, it feels so endless."

Zheng Fa looked around; most people wore expressions graver than usual, while Tang Lingwu remained composed, reading her book at her seat—Zheng Fa even recognized it; she was studying an undergraduate university mathematics course titled "Modern Algebra."

From her expression, she seemed completely unaffected by the approaching Gaokao.

"Only a hundred days left..." Wang Chen plopped down beside Zheng Fa and said, "So long! During this time, my parents are even more nervous than I am! My mom stews this and that for me every day at home, won't even turn on the TV, saying she's afraid of disturbing my studies; it's gotten to the point where I don't dare play games with the sound on!"

"The scariest part is, when she sees me playing games, she doesn't even scold me anymore; she actually says my skills are good!" A sense of happiness too heavy to bear showed on his face: "It makes me feel too ashamed to play!"

Zheng Fa said nothing, feeling as though this guy had just flaunted his situation right in his face.

"I read online that after we graduate, we'll miss these days every single day... Miss my ass!" Wang Chen muttered complaints, seemingly trying to ease the inexplicable tension in his heart: "These are the most painful days of my life, okay!"

After talking for quite a while, he still heard no response from Zheng Fa, so he couldn't help but turn his gaze toward him.

"What about you? Do you think you'll miss them?"

"Me..." Zheng Fa scanned the classroom: "I've already started missing them; yeah, I miss them seven days a week."

To be honest, the Jiushan Sect had shattered his imagination of what a celestial sect should be.

It was filled with angry low-level cultivators.

Disciples from two different factions brawling inside the Talisman and Dharma Pavilion.

Senior Brother Zhuang, who refused to cultivate, and Senior Sister Zhang, whose path forward was blocked.

All of it gave him an inexplicable sense of despair.

Looking again at this group of classmates, tense, sorrowful, and apprehensive over the Gaokao, Zheng Fa instead felt in his heart... that they were somewhat cute.

Wang Chen paused, looked at him, then glanced at Tang Lingwu's back; after a long silence, he finally said:

"... If I had someone like Tang Lingwu to miss, I'd miss them too."

Judging by his somewhat stifled expression, he probably felt that Zheng Fa had just shown off to him.

The transformer arrived quickly; the model Zheng Fa bought had an output voltage ranging from 0V to 300V, with a setting for every 30V.

He installed the transformer, held the two copper wires, and began slowly adjusting the output voltage.

At 30V, there was just a slight sensation, but it still didn't reach the intensity he experienced while cultivating with the Profound Thunder Stone in the Xuanwei Realm.

Adjusting the voltage to 60V, it was still lacking.

Until 90V—a familiar tingling numbness made his hands tremble!

The spiritual energy within his body also began to circulate spontaneously.

His skin quivered slightly, accompanied by an uncomfortable sensation that was both numb and itchy.

This was precisely the state described in the "Five Thunder Body Method" during the tempering of the skin.

It was another day to visit Bai Lao Tou's house.

As Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu walked along the road, he suddenly asked curiously, "Tang Lingwu, you don't seem nervous at all?"

Currently, apart from him, whose experiences were rather unique, Tang Lingwu was the most calm person in the entire class.

What made Zheng Fa even less able to understand was that, most of the time, Tang Lingwu wasn't studying high school textbooks but was instead learning university-level courses—

Including the audacious act of studying math during English class and doing exercises during Chinese class.

Even the teachers of various subjects turned a blind eye.

"Nervous about what?"

"The Gaokao."

Tang Lingwu seemed to understand, nodded, and said, "Didn't I tell you? I don't need to take the Gaokao."

"?"

"I've been granted admission without examination."

When Tang Lingwu said this, her expression was as casual as if she were saying, "I've already eaten."

"... Then why do you come to school?"

This time, Tang Lingwu remained silent for even longer.

Just as he thought Tang Lingwu wouldn't answer, her slightly soft voice rang out:

"I don't want to go home."

Zheng Fa turned his head to look at Tang Lingwu's face.

She turned to look at Zheng Fa, a rare trace of playful amusement appearing on her face, and opened her mouth to say:

"Just kidding. Do you know what the happiest thing is after being granted admission without examination?"

"What?"

"Sitting in the classroom, doing nothing while watching you all study hard."

"..."

Zheng Fa watched Tang Lingwu walk ahead of him, her ponytail swishing behind her as if trying to block his somewhat suspicious, probing gaze.

……

In the teaching building's office, Zheng Fa's homeroom teacher, Old Chen, watched the two figures from behind, frowning and smoking with a worried expression.

The female teacher opposite him, seeing his state, curiously followed his gaze and spotted Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu.

"You're wearing a sour face just because of these two kids?" the female teacher laughed. "Didn't the principal already praise you?"

"Praise is one thing... but it's caused them to start dating early, and I can't bring myself to say anything about it," Old Chen sighed again.

"What's wrong with early dating? Not only is Zheng Fa's grades skyrocketing because of his relationship, isn't that a good thing?" the female teacher pouted, seeming a bit jealous. "If I had a couple like that in my class, I'd be blowing my horn in the office every day to brag."

"You don't understand. The more seriously Zheng Fa takes this relationship, the more likely he is to be crushed if he gets dumped... This child has a bitter fate; I'm afraid he can't handle that blow."

"Why don't you wish them well? Who knows, maybe they'll go from school uniforms to wedding dresses; how romantic is that?"

"It won't work out." Old Chen took a deep drag of his cigarette, waited until the smoke was fully exhaled, then said, "You haven't seen Tang Lingwu's mother; she wouldn't allow her daughter to date. Before, when some boys in the class harassed Tang Lingwu, if I hadn't handled it first, her mother would have come to the school to cause a scene."

"Such strict upbringing?"

"It's not a matter of strictness..." Old Chen seemed about to speak but held back, finally forcing out a sentence: "Her mother has a bit of... a paranoid protectiveness."

The female teacher nodded, looking at the two walking further away, while a sedan followed them at a moderate distance.

She seemed to understand Old Chen's worry a bit now, smiling as she comforted him:

"Who can predict the future? Right now, these two kids are doing fine, enjoying such a sweet romance. If I weren't a teacher, I'd be shipping them every day!"

"Zheng Fa has no parents; as a teacher, I have to worry a bit..." Old Chen crushed the cigarette butt in his hand and cursed fiercely: "Damn! They're having a sweet romance, so why am I the one eating the bitterness of love?"

……

At Bai Lao's house.

Zheng Fa listened intently to Bai Lao's explanation—he felt his brain seemed a bit sharper than before.

Whether it was the effect of stepping onto the path of cultivation, or because his soul was different from ordinary people.

His thinking reaction speed and memory ability seemed a bit stronger than before.

At the very least, Zheng Fa was confident that high school exams were no longer difficult for him.

Now, listening to Bai Lao's lessons, he could quickly catch up with the knowledge points the other person was teaching—

Hmm, he had escaped the state of listening to heavenly scriptures.

Bai Lao also noticed his change; instead of being happy, he frowned and looked at Zheng Fa: "You're improving quite fast; have you been studying topology recently?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

He could basically complete the high school curriculum just by learning in class.

His spare time, including part of the time in the Xuanwei Realm, was all devoted to topology.

"This won't do." Unexpectedly, Bai Lao's face darkened: "You don't have many days left until the college entrance exam. Whether it's topology or martial arts, you should prioritize the college entrance exam first."

Zheng Fa did not refute; he naturally had his own plans, but he didn't want to argue.

But he knew Bai Lao meant well.

Besides, he hadn't figured out how to explain it yet—

Should he shout that he was cultivating immortality?

Zheng Fa still didn't know how to bring it up; the Lingshan Method could only be cultivated at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

Actually, there was no need to rush.

Bai Lao seemed to see that he had his own plans, so his words became sharper: "Don't be like Tang Lingwu; she could go to Jingcheng University already, can you! Focus on the college entrance exam first... otherwise, if she goes to Jingcheng University and you fail the exam, I'll see how you cry then!"

"I understand."

Hearing him say this, Zheng Fa became a bit more serious, after all, the old man was worrying for him.

After Bai Lao finished teaching, Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu prepared to take their leave. The two tidied up the draft papers and books on the table together, and their fingers accidentally touched—

Tang Lingwu's body shuddered, and the books and papers in her hand scattered onto the table like snowflakes.

"What's wrong?"

"Numb."

Tang Lingwu looked at Zheng Fa and said softly.

Zheng Fa was stunned and looked at his own hand.

These past few days, while cultivating the Five Thunder Body, he had felt slight changes in his body, even some sparks of electricity within his spiritual power—this was probably the beginning of skin tempering, and he still couldn't fully control this electrical power.

But he really didn't know he was carrying an electric charge.

"Numb?"

Bai Lao frowned, looking at Zheng Fa, then at Tang Lingwu: "Static electricity?"

Tang Lingwu shook her head: "Numbier than static electricity."

She cautiously extended her finger and tapped the back of Zheng Fa's hand—she shuddered again.

"It feels like... being electrocuted."

"Tsk! You young people." Bai Lao snorted: "It's just static electricity, yet you say electrocuted! Why not say your heart is fluttering like a startled deer and your delicate body is trembling?"

Imitating Tang Lingwu, he extended his hand and touched the back of Zheng Fa's hand, then trembled and fell silent.

"Numb?"

Tang Lingwu glanced sideways at the old man.

"Numb."

Bai Lao nodded foolishly, looking at his own fingers, then at Zheng Fa, a trace of deep confusion appearing on his face.

"Old deer fluttering, broken body trembling?"

"……"

……

"Are you saying you practiced a... Wu Gong?" Old Bai frowned, looking at Zheng Fa with great curiosity: "That's quite miraculous!"

"Wasn't the previous Wu Gong miraculous?" Zheng Fa was stunned; he had thought his performance was quite obvious.

"... I just felt something was off, but calling it exercise is fine, and how can one be sure?" Old Bai scratched his head and said: "Turning a person into an electric baton is still a bit too unscientific."

"..."

"Zheng Fa, I know a path where you can skip the college entrance exam and go straight to Jingcheng University!"

"Ah?"

"The Medical School of Jingcheng University welcomes you!"

"Wait a moment, elder... this path, am I to be a student, or a specimen?"