"That's called Gu Chang... truly remarkable."
This is Old Man Bai's evaluation after reading " Study of the Neural Connections of Spirit Roots ".
That's truly remarkable.
If the problem of Spirit Root is a global challenge, then Gu Chang has practically pioneered a new solution, and most importantly, this solution has an extremely high probability of success.
Even though the paper was not yet perfect, the Old Man Bai could naturally see the extraordinary talent it revealed.
"Much smarter than you were back then."
Old Man Bai closed his paper, glanced sideways at Zheng Fa, and suddenly started to criticize.
"Teacher, you're right." Zheng Fa didn't take it seriously and even smiled proudly.
Standing next to the two, Tang Lingwu's cheeks puffed out slightly, looking even more indignant than Zheng Fa. She snatched the paper from the Old Man Bai's hand and buried herself in finding fault.
Half an hour later, Tang Lingwu raised her head, her tone slightly dejected. "So amazing..."
He looks deeply affected.
"It's impressive. It's not easy to come up with this idea, but what's even more remarkable is... his Partitioning Method. That thing is incredibly ingenious."
The Old Man Bai nodded and sighed.
Zheng Fa felt the same way.
The so-called Partitioning Method is Gu Chang the idea of dividing the human nervous system. The human nervous system is extremely complex and interconnected. How to divide it into small structures and then perform Topology transformations is a huge challenge.
Gu Chang solved the problem based on intuition; not only that, he also summarized a set of rules.
To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, in the Mathematics competitions Tang Lingwu participated in before, the solution to most geometry problems required drawing auxiliary lines.
Zheng Fa had done some of these before, and some of them were truly ingenious. He couldn't have come up with them without looking at the answers, and most test takers couldn't have mastered them without extensive training.
The human nervous system is far more complex than a geometry problem, and Topology transformations are not so intuitive; the difficulty is incomparable.
Gu Chang's move wasn't just some divine touch; to be honest, it was at least the Thousand-Hand Guanyin.
Tang Lingwu, a former competition participant, naturally admitted defeat upon seeing this.
This is why, after much deliberation, Zheng Fa still decided to take Gu Chang under his wing.
Leaving aside the contributions of this student's thesis to the Nine Mountains Realm and the Modern World.
In terms of talent alone, there is no one else like him in the Nine Mountains Realm.
This talent is truly invaluable to Zheng Fa and the Nine Mountains Realm.
Even if he were just crippled, or even dead, he would still try to see if he could be saved.
"Is Gu Chang now your eldest disciple?" Old Man Bai turned his head and asked curiously, "Then you'd better teach him well."
Zheng Fa suddenly smiled mischievously, "Teacher~"
The Old Man Bai's hair stood on end, and he immediately became alert. "What?"
"He's my disciple, so isn't he your grand-disciple?"
Old Man Bai remained unmoved. "... Stop trying to build rapport, get to the point."
"This disciple is so talented, I'm afraid I'll hold him back. Why don't you put in a little extra effort and give him some guidance on a regular basis?"
"..."
Old Man Bai stared blankly at Zheng Fa for a long time before finally cursing:
"I've never even taken care of my own grandson! You expect me to take care of your apprentice? Are you going to teach your disciples by sponging off your parents?"
"Mooching off one's parents" sounds terrible; I relied on crowdfunding.
He didn't have the time, and he didn't want to waste Gu Chang's talent.
But he doesn't have much time, and there are too many people.
Call for reinforcements!
It wasn't just the Old Man Bai.
He plans to recruit all the other top Mathematics experts from this Nursing Home.
Although we can't meet in person to provide guidance, with Zheng Fa acting as an intermediary, forming a teaching advisory group and organizing joint teaching from both sides shouldn't be a big problem.
In this way, Gu Chang relies on Mu Qingyan for cultivation and modern methods for research.
Who wouldn't claim to have taught well?
To be honest, Zheng Fa felt lucky for Gu Chang —who else but himself could provide him with such a nurturing environment?
If we were to say what the biggest reason was for Zheng Fa to finally accept Gu Chang, it would be that he had the resources and confidence to not let this genius go to waste.
The Old Man Bai grumbled and cursed, but there was no anger on his face; on the contrary, he seemed quite interested.
Encountering such a talented student did indeed ignite a desire in him to become a teacher.
not to mention...
"Teacher, to solve the problem of Spirit Root, I'm afraid we still have to rely on Gu Chang."
Upon hearing this, the Old Man Bai, who was struggling with his cultivation due to his poor Spirit Root aptitude, immediately showed a look of being manipulated.
He hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "I'll teach you!"
Seeing the expected smile on Zheng Fa's face, the Old Man Bai said irritably, "You certainly treat your disciple well."
Zheng Fa smiled.
His dedication to Gu Chang stemmed from the fact that talent was rare, and Gu Chang's growth would greatly benefit him.
Investing in talent is definitely not a losing proposition.
Such top-tier talent deserves all the attention it deserves.
on the other hand...
"Because I also have a dedicated teacher."
Old Man Bai was taken aback, then he understood. He grinned, but his face was tense, as if he was trying to hold it in, but in the end he couldn't hold it in anymore.
He forced a laugh so hard his eyes disappeared.
Tang Lingwu watched from the side, her eyes filled with pity— Zheng Fa's words had so easily coaxed Teacher Bai into this state; she was terrified of being bitten to death.
"The data verification is almost complete."
Tang Lingwu, carrying her tablet, led Professor Tian to Zheng Fa.
The Study of the Neural Connections of Spirit Roots is only half complete, and its biggest deficiency is the lack of data.
Both the experimental data and the data processing were very crude.
On the one hand, Gu Chang's sample size was too small—it consisted only of himself.
On the other hand, he was ultimately processing the data on his own, which was neither detailed nor accurate.
It can only be described as a qualitative analysis; it hasn't reached the quantitative level yet.
"We conducted tests on the people in the Nursing Home and compared their neural structure with their Spirit Root composition, and found a very high correlation." Tang Lingwu pointed to the charts on the tablet.
" Gu Chang's paper contains some data errors, probably because his understanding of neural structure is not very precise."
"But overall, from the Attendant Deity structure, it is possible to explain Spirit Root."
Zheng Fa nodded and looked at Team Leader Yang, who was standing to the side.
"Next, we plan to conduct human experiments." Team Leader Yang understood what he wanted to ask and answered simply, "The death row inmates are ready."
Human trials are necessary. Correlation does not always imply causation. Of course, this matter can be handled by Team Leader Yang without much trouble.
"Based on the current data, although there are some details that need improvement, the theoretical direction should be sound," Professor Tian continued. " The Spirit Root should be a macroscopic manifestation of the microscopic structure of the nervous system."
There was a hint of joy on everyone's faces.
The importance of Spirit Root is undeniable, and their significance is even greater in modern times.
"The problem now is, how do we modify our Spirit Root?"
This is actually more difficult.
Transforming Spirit Root means transforming one's neural structure.
The Xuanwei Realm doesn't understand nerves, so naturally they can't be relied upon.
In modern times, there is another kind of difficulty.
"There is some relevant research in this area, but it's all very cutting-edge, and some are even just theoretical."
Professor Tian seemed to have been prepared, and spoke fluently and confidently.
"I've asked some people in the Nursing Home who work in medicine and biology, and I have a general understanding of the current situation."
"Inducing neural growth generally includes drug therapy, physical therapy, surgical intervention, bioengineering technology, and emerging gene and cell therapies."
"Medications go without saying, and physical therapy generally involves electrical stimulation and repetitive functional training."
Zheng Fa raised an eyebrow. "Electrical stimulation?"
"Yes, electrical stimulation can stimulate the regeneration of specific synapses," Professor Tian added with a smile. "There's been a lot of research in this area, and it's quite effective."
This makes things much simpler.
Thunder Method is the ace profession of the Nine Mountains Realm.
Electroconvulsive therapy has a very bright future in the Nine Mountains Realm.
"Surgery, biomaterials, and stem cell therapy are all used extensively and have shown some effectiveness. The problem is... none of them are sufficient to complete this scale of neural reconstruction."
Professor Tian's expression was somewhat helpless as he said this, "I asked those scholars, and they said that the nervous system itself is extremely intricate, and we don't understand it well enough, let alone modify it at will."
"The Spirit Root involves too many and too complex nerves, making such a large-scale modification extremely difficult... They don't even have a clue how to do it."
Hearing this, Zheng Fa wasn't too disappointed.
He himself was aware of this matter.
The matter of Spirit Root was fraught with difficulties, something he had anticipated and even planned to address:
" Professor Tian, what about the spirit medicine?"
" spirit medicine?"
Professor Tian paused for a moment, then her expression suddenly lit up.
I understand Zheng Fa's meaning.
Ultimately, modern biology has encountered a bottleneck in this area, and it is simply too difficult to make a breakthrough in a short period of time.
But they can still rely on Immortal Way techniques.
"The life force provided by the spirit medicine, and the precise control of electricity by Thunder Method, might offer a glimmer of hope."
Professor Tian nodded at first, then her face fell, and she even looked somewhat ashamed.
" spirit medicine... to be honest, our research on spirit medicine is progressing slowly," said Professor Tian, who was in charge of this area, his expression quite somber. "It's much slower than other projects."
This is not Professor Tian being unduly modest.
Research into spirit medicine has indeed slowed down considerably.
On the one hand, Zheng Dharma Aspect less concerned about this aspect:
Having spirit medicine is certainly good, but not having them hasn't really affected the development of the Nursing Home.
On the other hand, drug development itself is a high-investment, long-cycle process.
The five spirit medicine grown in the Nursing Home have not yet been fully understood.
They can eat, but the problem is, neither Zheng Fa nor Professor Tian wants to stop at just eating.
Simply put, we need to figure out the principles and effects of these spirit medicine, otherwise these technologies will be impossible to use in the Nine Mountains Realm.
But now, with the problem of Spirit Root, the importance of spirit medicine has risen to another level.
"How about we visit a few more research institutes?"
Tang Lingwu suggested.
"That's possible..."
The previous two national-level research projects yielded good results, and Zheng Fa naturally had high expectations.
Unexpectedly, Professor Tian shook her head with a wry smile:
"There's little hope that this will produce immediate results."
"Um?"
"The best people in this field in China are basically all in Nursing Home..." Professor Tian said helplessly, looking at Zheng Fa. "This is different from mechanical engineering and software development; we really don't have much experience in these areas in China."
This is not because Professor Tian is pessimistic.
The previous method was very helpful in completing projects, but it would definitely be much less effective in developing new technologies.
To put it simply, one is an old technology, and the other is a new field; their research paths and methods are very different.
Zheng Fa keenly noticed a word: "Domestic?"
"Yes, the cutting-edge research and top scholars in this field are all abroad," Professor Tian said softly. "Of course, the biggest reason is that we didn't keep up in the early years. Although there has been some progress in recent years, we still can't compare to their technological accumulation."
"It's possible to continue relying on yourself, but the timeframe... is hard to say."
At this point, Professor Tian also shut her mouth.
She clearly understood that this involved not only the current issue but also the future of the Nursing Home.
In the backyard, Old Man Bai, Tang Mudao, Professor Tian, and Tang Lingwu gathered together, with Team Leader Yang also among them, discussing this important matter.
"Bringing in foreign scholars?" Old Man Bai asked in surprise. "Old Tang, you've been abroad for a long time, what's your opinion?"
"Unbelievable." Tang Mudao said without hesitation, "Regardless of anything else, their ideas and philosophies are completely different."
"Of course, we're not afraid."
I'm really not afraid.
For Zheng Fa, staying in China was more about habit and certain people.
On the other hand, it's also because it facilitates communication.
But to be honest, he's only half a modern person; to say he cares too much about these things isn't really true.
Moreover, with his current strength, he is even more indifferent to these things.
Previously, we didn't consider it, mainly because we had enough talent in China. Bringing in foreign talent would present some communication barriers—not to mention, how they would learn those Cultivation Method and understand meridians would be a problem.
Too lazy to bother.
But what Professor Tian said also makes sense.
Moreover, ever since the Fusang Wood Dao Fruit transformed into the Dao Ancestor Dao Fruit, Zheng Fa had a thought:
With over a billion people in China, his base is naturally substantial, but with billions of people worldwide, his Dao Ancestor Dao Fruit likely also contributes to this cause.
For him, spreading his teachings throughout the world was an inevitable thing.
He looked at Team Leader Yang with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Of course, we'll leave this to you, Dean." Team Leader Yang immediately understood his look and shook his head, saying, "We've already gained the upper hand, and the higher-ups understand that too."
"Some people now say that this is the first Immortal Way Revolution world, and that the country is fortunate to be able to take the lead."
"I still have some confidence."
That's a beautifully said statement, and it certainly makes sense.
This analogy compares the emergence of Zheng Fa to several Industrial Revolution, each of which gave rise to a hegemonic Industrial Revolution, and this time was no exception.
This kind of change might be even more drastic, and its impact on the world might be even more profound...
Zheng Fa understood that, from Team Leader Yang's perspective, he would naturally try to present things in a positive light, but he didn't really care much about dissenting voices.
Upon hearing Team Leader Yang's statement, Old Man Bai nodded repeatedly, then asked, "Speaking of which, haven't there been any reactions overseas?"
"We've been so open and aboveboard."
"Nobody wants that satellite?"
Team Leader Yang's expression was also strange upon hearing this. "No."
"So they don't want the satellites?" the Old Man Bai continued, "And they're not interested in cultivating immortality either?"
"That's interesting." Team Leader Yang shook his head. "They seem to have figured out the director's personality and have been applying to organize some kind of academic exchange. They probably want to visit the Nursing Home."
"An application?" The Old Man Bai looked extremely surprised. "So polite?"
Team Leader Yang laughed and said, "Leaving aside the dean's intimidating power, just look at our country's strength now. Even if they wanted to be impolite, they couldn't, right?"
Zheng Fa was also aware of this matter.
He was extremely busy before and didn't have any particular needs, so he just left these applications aside.
Now we can consider it.
"Team Leader Yang, what are your thoughts?"
Zheng Fa turned to ask Team Leader Yang, since none of the people in this group had experience with this kind of thing before, so he naturally had to ask the most professional.
Team Leader Yang had worked abroad for many years and had the most experience in this area.
Seeing Zheng Fa's trust in her so much, Team Leader Yang's expression showed some joy. After a moment's thought, she said:
"Recruiting foreign talent will definitely be useful to you, Dean, but how to do it requires careful consideration."
"Tell me about it?"
Zheng Fa asked with interest.
"First of all, let's be clear: with the strength of our Nursing Home, we are not afraid of those with ulterior motives." Team Leader Yang unconsciously emphasized the word "our."
"Not only that, there's also the Great Dream Talisman," Tang Lingwu interjected. "These are minor matters, no need to worry about them."
"Since there's no risk, let's think about maximizing the benefits," Team Leader Yang nodded and analyzed. "Simply put, it's about how to attract the best talent."
That makes some sense.
To reiterate, Zheng Fa doesn't lack manpower.
He was even unable to support so many cultivators due to the limitations of his cultivation level.
Even assuming there's a shortage of research workers, there are plenty of them in China; there's no need for this kind of trouble.
The goal of bringing in foreign scholars is to select the very best.
"So what?"
The Old Man Bai listened with great interest and asked curiously.
"I was thinking, how about getting a Immortal Cultivation Visa?"
"..."
Everyone was stunned. The word was a bit strange, but they understood it immediately.
"The visa requirements are actually quite simple: abundant academic achievements, ranking among the best in the academic world." At this point, Team Leader Yang glanced at Team Leader Tian and added, "Or, you need to possess some key technologies, such as the patents held by pharmaceutical companies."
"Only in this way can I obtain the visa to enter the Nursing Home and study the Immortal Way."
"Our Nursing Home doesn't lack talent, so frankly, we don't need anyone who isn't top-tier."
"Human nature is inherently selfish, so setting higher standards will encourage them to bring out their best technology... We can even allocate only a small number of visas per batch, based on academic standing and technical value."
Tang Mudao listened, stunned, and asked blankly, "Why does this sound so familiar?"
"How can we acquire top talent and technology from various countries at low cost..." Team Leader Yang chuckled, "Shouldn't we learn from the Summit Nation?"
This method is simple, but it sounds effective.
After pondering for a moment, Zheng Fa simply said, "Let's give it a try! We'll start with this Spirit Root research, bringing in talent from fields like medicine and biology. If it's effective, we can expand the scope of recruitment later."
Team Leader Yang immediately stood up and said to Zheng Fa, "Then I'll go and contact the relevant personnel to draft the regulations."
Watching her leave, the Old Man Bai suddenly sighed, "Are Nursing Home residency permits becoming more and more valuable?"
"..."
"It seems we've created... a Celestial Empire?"
(End of this chapter)