The most important thing in life is timing; when the timing is right, everything else falls into place.
From the girl sitting in the back of the classroom when she was sixteen, to the pig that took off with the wind in the media, they all boil down to these two words.
Therefore, what Old Man Bai said about Nursing Home residency being increasingly valuable makes a lot of sense:
To be fair, while Old Man Bai's academic abilities might not be the most outstanding in the Nursing Home Nursing Home today, his status there is second to none. This is naturally because he was the first scholar Zheng Fa came into contact with, and the two established sufficient trust.
The average quality of the foreign scholars to be introduced next will inevitably be higher than that of the current group from the Nursing Home.
The threshold is getting higher and higher each time.
For example, the visa regulations issued by Team Leader Yang this time only apply to a handful of top scholars from major international research institutions and the most prominent figures in their respective disciplines.
The Neural Repair Surgery Department at the Kezhou Medical Center, Summit Nation, is one such institution.
The moment Song Cheng stepped into the medical center building, he was filled with ambition, feeling as if he were walking on a broad and promising road.
It is well known that doctors, especially neurosurgeons, belong to an extremely high-income group in the Summit Nation competition is fierce.
For him, a foreigner, the price to pay is even greater.
He graduated from a top medical university in the country.
Coming here, it's almost like starting all over again:
I need to complete many certification courses, do internships again, and pass the medical licensing exam here.
Now that he's thirty-five, while some of his classmates back home are already department heads, he's finally officially starting his own career.
But for Song Cheng, it was all worth it!
He joined a top-tier international research group!
Compared to scientific research, income, and status in the medical field, he is confident that he will catch up and surpass others, accumulating knowledge and experience before making a breakthrough, and his future is bright.
Compared to his classmates who stayed in China, he is the one climbing the peak of medicine!
He entered the building, took the elevator, and walked briskly to an office.
Song Cheng took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, looked at Professor Huntington's nameplate on the door, and carefully knocked on the door.
"Enter."
A cold voice came from inside the door.
Song Cheng felt even more nervous. Professor Huntington was known for his strict personality and his harsh treatment of his research assistants, which was also well-known in the medical center.
In earlier years, even his assistants couldn't stand it and publicly complained about the rumors surrounding him.
However, the other party was simply too skilled and had too many connections, practically ruling the entire medical center, so the complaint ultimately came to nothing.
After that, no one dared to go against Professor Huntington anymore, and he naturally became more and more unscrupulous. In fact, people in the research group would leave year after year, and there was always a shortage of people.
To be honest, if it weren't for this, he, as a foreigner, probably wouldn't have been able to get in so easily.
When he applied for this position, he met the professor twice. Each time, he had the feeling that the professor probably didn't even remember his face and was just taking him into the research group to have more tools.
After recalling his struggles and efforts over the past decade, Song Cheng gritted his teeth, gave himself a three-second pep talk, and then pushed open the door. He saw Professor Huntington sitting behind his desk, staring at the computer screen in front of him without looking up. His eyes were sunken, and his lips were thin; he looked like someone not to be trifled with.
Seemingly sensing Song Cheng's unease, Professor Huntington frowned and said, "You're wasting my time..."
"Song?"
Song Cheng felt like he had returned to his hometown and witnessed a national treasure—face-changing.
He watched as Professor Huntington's displeasure transformed into joy in two seconds, his downturned lips instantly opening into a wide, toothy grin.
"Sit!"
Professor Huntington leaped up from behind his desk, pointed to the black leather sofa in the office, and said enthusiastically.
"Professor?" Song Cheng was surprised, feeling that he didn't quite recognize Professor Huntington in front of him.
The person in front of him was vastly different from both the rumors and his own impression of the professor.
"Song, are you finding anything you're not used to here?"
Professor Huntington's next question left him speechless, as if he had misheard.
Could this solicitous manner really belong to Professor Huntington?
"I... I'm quite used to it," Song Cheng stammered. Seeing the urgency on Professor Huntington's face, and his apparent uncertainty about where to begin, he immediately understood. "Professor, is there anything I can do for you?"
Sure enough, Professor Huntington's eyes immediately lit up with admiration upon hearing this question.
"Song? Do you know that... Immortal Zheng from your country?"
The name "Immortal Zheng" was spoken in Mandarin, which sounded awkward to Song Cheng, but he still understood it:
"Of course I know."
He saw the news when it first circulated in China, but he didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just a rumor.
Later, when the world underwent a great change, he also saw strange phenomena in the sun and became somewhat convinced of its existence.
However, he needed to focus on his studies and work, and this matter was too far removed from his life. The information he received was a mix of truth and falsehood, and there were all sorts of rumors circulating online, which he couldn't quite grasp, and in fact, he knew very little about it.
"Song, do you know that Immortal Zheng, who runs a Nursing Home?"
"Know."
"That Nursing Home is hiring now."
Hiring?
Song Cheng grew increasingly puzzled, wondering why Professor Huntington had brought this up.
"We're recruiting scholars in medicine, pharmacy, and biology," Professor Huntington said, a fervent glint of bloodlust rising beneath his pale skin. "Including our neurosurgical repair!"
"..."
Song Cheng's mind was in a mess.
Is that Immortal Zheng recruiting academics?
What kind of research institution is the Nursing Home?
besides...
"Professor, you mean to..."
"I've already applied!"
Professor Huntington pointed to the computer and said quickly, "Luckily, I meet their requirements."
Song Cheng immediately sensed something was wrong. "Professor, you're going to Nursing Home? What about the research group...?"
"I'm sorry, you don't meet the requirements, but resigning is my right, right?"
The sky has fallen.
On my first day at the company, the boss ran away.
"Professor, then I will!"
"Don't get agitated." Professor Huntington gestured for him to be patient. "Song, I can give you a letter of recommendation so you can study with other professors. In fact, I'll try my best to contact people I know, regardless of which research group or whether they're professors at the medical center or not, if you're interested."
Song Cheng was even more surprised.
These conditions were indeed quite generous, and he and Professor Huntington didn't have that much of a relationship.
This was the third time the two had met, and they had only exchanged ten sentences in total.
Seemingly noticing the puzzled look on his face, Professor Huntington turned the computer screen towards Song Cheng:
"The competition for staff at the Nursing Home this time is fierce. They have a limited number of positions, and as far as I know, there are quite a few qualified people applying... I'm not the most competitive."
Song Cheng still didn't understand what Professor Huntington meant.
"I'm giving you a letter of recommendation; could you please give me one in return?"
"I?"
Song Cheng was increasingly surprised.
Professor Huntington clicked the mouse a few times, and several more web pages popped up:
"You know all of these people?"
"... know."
"Rumor has it they've already moved into Nursing Home. I hope you can introduce me to them..." Professor Huntington's smile held a hint of slyness. "I'd like to inquire about that Immortal Zheng's preferences."
"..."
Looking at the three former classmates and professors on the computer screen, Song Cheng's expression grew increasingly blank.
"Deal?"
Professor Huntington, however, grew impatient and added, "If you have any other requests, please feel free to make them."
"No..." Song Cheng sat there blankly, dejected.
"Song?"
"Professor, I'm fine."
It's really nothing serious.
However, when he had been away from his hometown for over ten years, focused on climbing the peak of medical science... the peak of medical science simply ran away and ended up back in his own hometown.
It's alright.
Zheng Fa saw Huntington holding a report as he walked into the Nursing Home with several other people, and nodded to himself in approval.
Xiao Heng is quite sensible.
He is a highly skilled neurosurgeon.
Even after entering the Nursing Home, she remained adept at social interaction. On the one hand, she diligently practiced her Mandarin, always smiling, and made a few friends in the Nursing Home. On the other hand, she worked hard to study, and before she knew it, she had become the backbone of this group of newly arrived foreign scholars.
Zheng Fa didn't pay much attention to this person's petty thoughts.
He only cares about the progress of the research.
"Dean," Huntington said in somewhat broken but still fairly fluent Mandarin, "The preliminary treatment plan has been developed."
"The biggest problem for this patient is that there is too much scar tissue in his body, which inhibits synapse growth."
Treating Gu Chang is essentially a process of recreating his Spirit Root.
The two are one; there is no need to separate them.
Therefore, this treatment plan can be described as a joint consultation by top experts from around the world, and it is of extremely high standard.
After a long period of experimentation and research, they finally came up with a feasible solution.
Scar tissue is the excessive proliferation of cells after a human injury, which can affect the regrowth of nerves.
Gu Chang's situation is just like this:
He abused his body for experiments, leaving it riddled with holes. Although he received healing spirit medicine, his nervous system could not grow normally, resulting in him becoming a person No-Spirit Root.
"Dean, you said you would primarily use electrical stimulation," Huntington explained. "We've tried using Thunder Method stimulation to stimulate specific nerve growth and have achieved good results."
"However, the problem remains... how to maintain the patient's vitality, or rather, their cell growth capacity."
The Old Man Bai nodded slightly and said, "Based on the Study of the Neural Connections of Spirit Roots, we redesigned Gu Chang's neural network, but rebuilding Spirit Root within his body is a huge undertaking."
"With current scientific methods, we cannot guarantee the safety of patients during treatment."
The project team was divided into two parts.
One part of it is the research on the Spirit Root Theory, led by the Old Man Bai, who leads a group of Mathematics to decipher the human nervous system and try to understand the relationship between the human nervous system and Spirit Root.
This can achieve the effect of creating Spirit Root.
In fact, with Gu Chang's research as a foundation, this isn't difficult.
The other part consists of Huntington and his colleagues in medicine and pharmacy, who are responsible for creating Spirit Root.
That's difficult.
If it were just a minor neurological disorder, it wouldn't be a big problem. But Spirit Root involve so many complex nerves that it's practically like creating a new human being.
"We still have to rely on the spirit medicine?"
"Regarding the spirit medicine, we have a new idea."
Professor Tian suddenly said.
"Um?"
"The successful cultivation of spirit medicine in Nursing Home these days is all fortuitous opportunity chance, and the success rate is too low... We suspect that the wrong variety is the problem."
"Variety?"
"According to your logic, without Spiritual Qi, Material Particles will degenerate... then the vegetation here is probably already unsuitable for an environment with Spiritual Qi."
Zheng Fa was slightly taken aback, but then he understood.
Regardless of the relationship between the modern world and the Xuanwei Realm, the Modern World has been devoid of Spiritual Qi for countless years.
Therefore, most of the plants that thrive in Spiritual Qi have probably become extinct long ago.
" Professor Tian, what do you mean...?"
"On the one hand, we might need to try cultivating some ancient plant seeds. On the other hand, I'm thinking... why don't you study the genomes of various Spirit Plant?"
Because Huntington and others were present, Professor Tian spoke vaguely, but Zheng Fa understood immediately.
Professor Tian's idea was. "I don't know what can be cultivated into Spirit Plant, so why don't we just let Zheng Fa search in the Nine Mountains Realm?"
Zheng Fa hadn't considered this before.
Because the plants in the Xuanwei Realm are completely different from those in modern times, the difference is much greater than that of the human body.
Finding the corresponding plant in modern times is quite difficult, and rather unrealistic.
Therefore, Zheng Fa's usual practice was to bring modern technology to the Nine Mountains Realm.
But Professor Tian's meaning was quite simple--
There may not be a corresponding plant in modern times, but couldn't we just create one using gene editing?
Given that the underlying principles are exactly the same, this idea... is actually not impossible!
If all goes well, and if the Xuanwei Realm and the Modern World truly share a common origin, then the genomes of those Spirit Plant must have existed in the Modern World.
Seeing Professor Tian's expectant expression, Zheng Fa nodded slightly.
In the Modern World, the importance of spirit medicine is increasingly evident in relation to Zheng Fa's Dao Ancestor Dao Fruit. Moreover, the Nine Mountains Realm truly possesses such technological accumulation—agronomy is a field in which the Nine Mountains Realm stands alone in its Xuanwei.
To be even more optimistic, with Spirit Plant similar to those in the Nine Mountains Realm, the benefits that modern pharmaceutical research experience would bring to the alchemy practice in the Nine Mountains Realm Dao of Alchemy would be immeasurable.
As for finding suitable medicine for Spirit Root reconstruction, that's nothing compared to that.
"You've arrived?" Seeing Gu Chang and Mu Qingyan enter the courtyard, Zheng Fa waved to them and said with a smile, "Come here."
The two walked quickly to Zheng Fa, their bodies ramrod straight.
Mu Qingyan still looked a little annoyed.
Zheng Fa observed this and smiled, " Qingyan, how is your senior brother's cultivation going?"
Mu Qingyan looked at Gu Chang, a hint of helplessness in her eyes. "Senior brother is very hardworking, but his ability to absorb Spiritual Qi is too poor..."
She couldn't continue speaking at this point.
Gu Chang, however, spoke frankly, "Master, at my current cultivation speed, let alone Foundation Establishment, even Qi Refinement Realm Perfection is just a pipe dream."
Mu Qingyan sighed inwardly.
To be honest, she couldn't help but feel a little resentful that her master had asked her to teach her eldest brother.
In terms of strength, aptitude, and relationship with his master, Gu Chang should be inferior to himself.
However, the master clearly cared more about this eldest disciple.
Moreover, she possesses the memories of Nascent Soul, and considering herself both hardworking and talented, how could she not feel proud?
Her master's favoritism towards one person over the other was naturally upsetting to her, and she even felt somewhat suicidal.
But after learning about Gu Chang's actions, she had to admit that this senior brother... was worthy of admiration.
The study of Spirit Root is of paramount importance, and with her knowledge, she was naturally well aware of this.
Not to mention the price Gu Chang paid for the research institute.
Now, Mu Qingyan calls him "Senior Brother" willingly.
Although she still felt a little resentful, feeling that her master had only accepted her because of her senior brother, which hurt her pride.
She also felt great regret for Gu Chang.
" Gu Chang, come here."
She heard her master speak to her senior brother, and then she saw her master hand a book to her senior brother.
Curious, she didn't peek over, but saw her senior brother first look down and flip through a book, then exclaim in surprise, "Is ' Study of the Neural Connections of Spirit Roots ' finished?"
Mu Qingyan was startled.
She had heard her senior mention the flaws in the paper. According to him, it would be a stroke of luck if he could see it perfected in his lifetime.
But how long has it been?
"Once you've finished writing it and are willing to publish it, you'll be the first author, and I'll give you a special issue in < Immortal Way >."
This kind of research certainly qualifies for a special issue.
Gu Chang, however, merely stared at the paper for a long time before saying, "I am ashamed. This paper is a complete transformation compared to my original half-paper; the difference is immeasurable. How could I possibly claim the title of first author?"
Mu Qingyan was even more surprised.
Then my senior brother said, "Just looking at this paper, I know that compared to Master, I am like a firefly compared to the bright moon. If it were to be published, Master's name should be before mine."
To be honest, this is not a case of Gu Chang belittling himself.
The paper underwent a major revision led by Old Man Bai and his team. Although the core arguments remained the same, the content was no longer on the same level.
Not to mention that it also incorporates the idea of Spirit Root design, which is a further step beyond Gu Chang's original thesis.
Hearing this, Mu Qingyan stared blankly at her master, mouth agape.
Senior brother spent years painstakingly working on this thesis, yet Master changed it dramatically in the short time it took to get his hands on it.
Having spent time with Gu Chang these past few days, she had come to fully understand her senior brother's talent for Talisman Dao arts, and she admitted in her heart that she was far inferior to him...
Now it seems that Master is actually better than Senior Brother?
Although the names of Old Man Bai and others had already appeared in the Hall of Worthies, it was absolutely unacceptable for them to be listed as authors on this paper:
The Talisman Dao texts in the Hall of Worthies can still be said to be works of predecessors.
However, the Spirit Root thesis can only appear now... Once the names of Old Man Bai and others are added, people will immediately know that they exist, which is too dangerous for modern times.
It was difficult to explain, so Zheng Fa simply and decisively stated, "The most important idea in this paper originated from you; there's no need to discuss it further."
Upon hearing this, Gu Chang lowered his head, seemingly somewhat moved.
Even Mu Qingyan was thrilled—solving the problem of Spirit Root, once it spread, would be enough to earn her a place in the annals of the Xuanwei Realm.
This achievement is even more important than any Cultivation Method, and the person who authored the paper will be remembered for eternity.
But if Master says to give it to your senior brother, then you give it to your senior brother. What a magnanimous heart...
I even complained about my master before, I deserve to die!
(End of this chapter)