"Should we hold off on publishing the paper for now?"
Gu Chang hesitated for a long time before speaking.
Zheng Fa was somewhat surprised, looking at his eldest disciple.
"If the other disciples find out about this... I'm afraid they're too hopeful."
Zheng Fa was taken aback, and then saw a hint of sadness in Gu Chang's expression. "This disciple was almost driven mad, and his physical body was damaged. This is undoubtedly due to the suffering he endured from his Spirit Root. The other senior brothers should be in a similar situation."
"Why not publish the findings after we've made some progress..."
"So that they don't get their hopes up for nothing."
Zheng Fa nodded inwardly at these words.
The Spirit Root Modification is enough to drive most of the Nine Mountains disciples mad.
This is indeed no small matter, and Gu Chang's considerations make some sense.
Judging from his tone, he was probably both afraid of putting too much pressure on himself from public opinion and also afraid that some of the Nine Mountains disciples would do something reckless and follow in his footsteps, which showed a certain degree of kindness.
It was clear that he was still very concerned about his No-Spirit Root.
Seeing Gu Chang's complicated expression, Zheng Fa's palm lit up with starlight, which condensed in the air to form a light curtain.
On the left side of the light screen is a transparent human body, with nerves and meridians drawn inside.
On the right are some texts, containing treatment suggestions and ideas for Spirit Root Modification.
"Master, this is..."
Gu Chang looked at the chaotic nerves on the light screen, his eyes showing some understanding, but his lips trembled slightly, as if he could hardly believe his own guess.
"This is the treatment plan I've drafted for you. The main idea is to use Thunder Method as the primary method, supplemented by spirit medicine..."
" Thunder Method is easy to handle, but the spirit medicine still require careful research."
Zheng Fa looked at Gu Chang and explained carefully:
"But the chances are pretty good, so you don't need to be too anxious..."
"... yes!"
Gu Chang stared at the dense text on the screen for a long time before finally managing to utter only the word "yes".
Mu Qingyan lowered her eyes slightly, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.
The master had planned so much for her senior brother; when she became a disciple, she didn't actually ask for much—after all, she could also Nascent Soul Formation stage by following the proper steps.
All she wanted was a place to rest in peace.
But seeing how much his master cared for his senior brother, and comparing it to his own situation, how could he not feel a sense of inadequacy?
Zheng Fa then said to Gu Chang, "Besides this, there is much else you need to learn, including neuroscience, biology, and Talisman Diagram Topology. Here is a reading list; go and read it first."
"After reading it, it would be best if you could write a few review articles for me."
Gu Chang cupped his hands and said, "This disciple will certainly do his best!"
Mu Qingyan increasingly felt that her senior brother was the disciple that their master cared about most, and that she was really just an extra.
Although writing a review is a headache just thinking about it, being taught step by step by her master... she really envied it.
Didn't you see how quickly my senior brother agreed?
Forget it, I am Nascent Soul cultivator reborn, having endured countless hardships, my Dao heart is as hard as iron, I don't care...
" Qingyan."
"Master?"
Mu Qingyan looked up and saw Zheng Fa staring at her, and she was bewildered.
" Qingyan, is there anything you'd like to learn?"
"Ah?"
"Now that you've become my disciple, I naturally have to teach you something." Zheng Fa frowned, seemingly troubled. "But you're different from your senior brother. Your senior brother's talent is obvious, but you excel in many things..."
Mu Qingyan was stunned.
She is different from Gu Chang; Gu Chang is really somewhat unbalanced in his studies.
Regardless of his aptitude, his performance in subjects other than Talisman Dao was mediocre.
In terms of temperament, Zheng Fa could also sense that this disciple was somewhat self-conscious and often worried about gains and losses.
Although he is called the senior brother, he is actually more like Mu Qingyan brother.
Mu Qingyan, however, was different:
She performs well in many subjects.
He was also adept at interpersonal relationships, had a firm will, and was highly respected within the archaeological team.
Given her own experience, it wouldn't be ideal for her to personally guide Gu Chang like she does.
Why not just let Mu Qingyan decide?
He might not be able to teach the Three Thousand Great Daos, but with a little effort, he could probably gather three thousand academicians.
Although he did value Gu Chang more, he had long intended to take Mu Qingyan into his fold, so he naturally wouldn't just use this disciple as a tool.
Mu Qingyan was stunned for a long time before she seemed to wake up from a dream and said, "Let me choose?"
"You can choose for yourself. Of course, you don't need to feel pressured. If you feel you want to learn something else later, you can switch." Zheng Fa's tone was very patient. "Just tell me what you most want to learn right now."
Mu Qingyan felt a sudden pang of envy in the way her senior brother Gu Chang looked at her.
She also envied herself.
Let alone the fact that she only lived two lifetimes, even throughout history, what master would grant such freedom and tolerance to their disciple?
How could Master not value himself?
On the contrary, they value it too much...
Mu Qingyan was incredibly sweet as she looked up and declared loudly, "... This disciple is most skilled in Dao of Alchemy!"
Whether it's Secret Method from memory or a relic, there will always come a day when it runs out of use.
If we were to talk about what she was best at in her previous life, it would actually be the Dao of Alchemy from the Azure Wood Sect. It was precisely through this that she gradually achieved the Nascent Soul.
" The Dao of Alchemy?"
What a coincidence!
Zheng Fa was also thinking about how to bring modern pharmaceutical concepts here.
Compared to the others, Mu Qingyan's talent and status truly make her the most suitable.
Even after Zheng Fa had walked quite a distance, Mu Qingyan remained silent. Gu Chang, however, laughed and teased her, "Aren't you upset now?"
"Senior brother!"
"I heard you say that you put in just as much effort as I did to become a disciple of our master, yet you used to look down on me like I didn't exist," Gu Chang said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to Mu Qingyan's reproach. "And now?"
Mu Qingyan didn't speak, but stopped and turned to look at her master's courtyard.
There is a peach tree by the courtyard wall. It has only been three years, but it is already lush and full of peach blossoms. It will surely bear a lot of fruit in the future.
Senior Sister Zhang slowly walked out of her courtyard gate, watched the two figures disappear into the horizon, shook her head, and walked into Zheng Fa.
"Your two disciples would probably be willing to die for you now."
"Why would I want them dead?" Zheng Fa asked in surprise. "Besides, isn't this something a normal teacher should do?"
Is this normal?
Seeing the matter-of-fact look on her junior brother's face, Senior Sister Zhang was momentarily bewildered.
She had never understood where her junior brother's claim of "normal" came from.
However, in the Xuanwei Realm, whether a junior brother becomes the Sect Leader or the master, his actions are extremely abnormal.
Some people are truly willing to sacrifice their lives for this abnormality.
She thought for a moment, then put that aside and explained her purpose, "Junior brother, I'm preparing to go into seclusion."
" Spirit Transformation?"
"Hmm, my spiritual energy accumulation is almost complete," Senior Sister Zhang sighed. "If the Nine Mountains Realm weren't becoming increasingly abundant in spiritual materials, I wouldn't have progressed so quickly."
It must be admitted that those who benefited the most from the wealth of the Nine Mountains Realm were still high-ranking figures like Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang.
They are certainly busy, but they also accumulate the most Merit and are never hesitant to exchange for various spiritual materials.
The Nine Mountains Realm is a force comparable to the Five Sects. With its productivity, the wealth of the Nine Mountains Realm Hundred Immortals Alliance, and the support of Vast Sun Mountain and the Supreme Dao, it would be very easy to raise a few Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators.
Moreover, there are benefits to Senior Sister Zhang's dual cultivation with Zheng Fa. Senior Sister Zhang's nascent Nascent Soul has been refined again, and she has also entered the realm of the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend Transformation. Her cultivation is not much slower than Zheng Fa's.
Senior Sister Zhang instructed:
"The affairs of the General Affairs Hall are now under the responsibility of Nine-Chapter Calculation Spirit. I have also assigned certain tasks to my disciples. As for their future training, my master will take care of that."
Zheng Fa was taken aback.
You rely on your parents to teach students? You truly are worthy of being my senior sister!
"I've also explained things to Junior Sister Yuan and the others. The Spirit Transformation can't be delayed any longer."
Senior Sister Zhang's urgency is probably due to the Immortal-Trapping Sword.
In any case, Vast Sun Mountain only gave them eighteen or nineteen years.
After Senior Sister Spirit Transformation, although her raw strength couldn't match that of Dao Fruit cultivator, her endurance in wielding the Pure Tranquility Bamboo was incomparable.
"Senior sister..."
Zheng Fa felt a pang of reluctance.
Once one officially begins the Spirit Transformation, it's difficult to interrupt them—for example, the Old Yuan seems to have entered a crucial stage and is now truly in seclusion.
No one dared to shout.
From the moment I joined the sect, Senior Sister Zhang stayed by my side and provided me with a great deal of help.
Now that he's gone into seclusion, it's likely we won't see each other for many years.
Even those who cultivate themselves cannot remain completely unmoved by worldly affairs.
"Junior brother." Senior Sister Zhang looked at Zheng Fa with eyes as clear as water, and cast Method Formula with her hands, completely obscuring the inside and outside of the courtyard.
"Um?"
I only have five days.
The peach tree beside the courtyard wall suddenly trembled violently, and peach blossoms fell one by one, scattering spring colors across the courtyard.
My senior sister is truly heartless.
She has a strong sense of time; if she says five days, she means five days. She puts on her skirt and runs off without wasting a moment.
But Zheng Fa also understood that the pressure from Vast Sun Mountain was simply too great.
He and Senior Sister Zhang conducted several deductions, and the best outcome was that he would obtain the Immortal-Trapping Sword, destroy the Spirit Vein of Vast Sun Mountain, and cause Vast Sun Mountain to suffer a double loss—however, this would also have many consequences.
In terms of raw power, the Nine Mountains Sect is probably no match for the Vast Sun Mountain.
When Vast Sun Mountain retaliates, the pressure on the Nine Mountains Sect will be immense.
Senior Sister's obsession with reaching the Spirit Transformation stemmed, partly from her desire to increase her cultivation and accumulate more trump cards for the Nine Mountains Sect.
On the other hand, it also meant to Spirit Transformation the way for Zheng Fa to become a deity.
Zheng Fa now possesses four Cultivation Method capable of Spirit Transformation: the Scarlet Firmament Jade Register, the Immortal-Trapping Sword Canon, and the Great Freedom True Method and the Myriad Demon True Exposition from the Great Freedom Devil Ancestor.
Each one is a top-tier divine skill or secret technique in the Xuanwei Realm.
However, Zheng Fa was quite ambitious and looked down on these four Cultivation Method. He was also wary of other Dao Fruit, so he only wanted to learn from their ideas and study the method that was most suitable for himself.
Senior Sister Zhang's Nine-Chapter Calculation Formation originated from the < Scarlet Firmament Jade Register >, and can be considered one of her research achievements.
Senior Sister Zhang Zhang's Spirit Transformation is also an experiment in exploring the principles of Cultivation Method.
But to be honest, the increase in strength brought to the Nine Mountains Realm from Nascent Soul to Spirit Transformation is not significant.
Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang are alright—they can at least improve their endurance a little. However, the other Spirit Transformation don't have as much impact on the outcome of the battle.
The only things truly capable of dealing with Dao Fruit are those few treasures:
The Immortal-Trapping Sword, the Fusang Wood, the Pure Tranquility Bamboo, the Green Duckweed Sword, and now the Myriad Demon Banner, which can only be considered an incomplete Dao Fruit.
No matter how much internal potential is tapped, that's about all there is to it.
To have a greater chance of success, we can only see if there are any external factors...
Thinking of this, he looked down at a deep blue pearl on his chest— the Canghai Pearl.
This was left by Xiao Yuying with Zheng Fa to save his life.
Judging from the initial wariness of Sect Master Yan towards Xiao Yuying and Xiao Yuying's own confidence, Xiao Yuying's master behind the Canghai Pearl is probably at least Loose Immortal.
"I'm afraid there's only one chance at most..."
He had a good relationship with Xiao Yuying, but had never met her master.
Moreover, he now has an unconscious wariness towards any Dao Fruit.
It's a pleasant surprise that Master Xiao Yuying could help the Nine Mountains Sect even once.
Besides these, there is only one external force that can truly be relied upon—
Tianhe Sect!
Although their goals differ, they likely share the same enemy.
Zheng Fa walked out of the courtyard and looked in the direction of the Tianhe Sect, wondering how far the Sect Leader's rebellion had progressed...
Ideally, we should destroy Vast Sun Mountain.
If all else fails, attracting two or three Dao Fruit from Vast Sun Mountain would still be a significant help to the Nine Mountains Sect.
" Zheng Fa?" Uncle-Master Pang's voice came from behind him. "What are you doing standing here?"
"Nothing, did my uncle need something from me?"
There's a storybook you should read.
"Storybooks?"
Zheng Fa was taken aback, then looked at Uncle-Master Pang with a strange expression.
Since the release of the New-Style Comprehensive Mirror, the novels on the Nine Mountains Entertainment app have attracted many cultivators.
They not only read, they also wrote.
Within a month of the New-Style Comprehensive Mirror being released, over a hundred more storybooks were published.
Zheng Fa was actually happy to see it happen.
Most cultivators live too long, and some are simply too bored, creating a huge shortage of entertainment options.
Reading or writing novels helps pass the time, boosts consumption, and also contributes to the Nine Mountains Sect.
Zheng Fa doesn't pay much attention to it.
These stories, if placed in modern times, would only be considered early online novels. Although they were influenced by Zheng Fa's " Nine Mountains Immortal Path," they were already quite different from the stories in the Xuanwei Realm.
But for Zheng Fa, it was still too rough and too naive.
But look, Uncle-Master Pang!
The more naive he is, the more he loves him!
This senior apprentice has been reportedly carrying around a Comprehensive Mirror novel, the Zizhi Tongjian, whenever he goes out, and he never lets go of it; he's clearly addicted to the internet.
Is this a book recommendation?
"Uncle-Master? Did you see some interesting storybook?"
"A good storybook?" Uncle-Master Pang was taken aback, then his expression became somewhat strange. "It is good, but..."
"Um?"
You'll see when you see it.
The Creation Jade Disc leaped out from Zheng Fa's Mud Pill Palace.
He opened Nine Mountains Entertainment and then clicked on the storybook interface.
"Take a look at the leaderboard."
Zheng Fa tapped again, opening the storybook ranking list.
The number one book on the list is still Zheng Fa's " Nine Mountains Immortal Path ".
The second place went to a newcomer – < The Tianhe's Immortal Cultivation Chronicle >.
"..."
Zheng Fa turned to look at Uncle-Master Pang, his eyes questioning.
Uncle-Master Pang nodded and said, "This is the one. This book appeared in the Comprehensive Mirror half a month ago. It doesn't have many words yet, but more and more people are reading it these past few days..."
Does the Xuanwei Realm still have such talent?
So everyone knows to use fan fiction to ride the wave of popularity now?
Venerable Tianhe is quite popular among the disciples of the Nine Mountains.
Zheng Fa also became interested and opened the storybook to read it.
Then... he understood why Uncle-Master Pang had come looking for him.
"... This doesn't seem to be made up?"
Uncle-Master Pang also looked a bit pained. "I asked Fairy Xie, and she said that two or three out of ten things written inside match what she knows..."
"She doesn't know the exact percentage, but it looks pretty real."
"..."
Zheng Fa stared at the storybook, speechless for a long time, clearly conflicted.
He thought it was fan fiction.
It turns out that what they wrote was a biography?
Zheng Fa read through " The Tianhe's Immortal Cultivation Chronicle " again, paying particular attention to the names of people, places, and sects.
Writing a biography is fine.
Writing a biography of Venerable Tianhe would be a huge problem; it's something that could cause a major upheaval.
This story is probably only in its early stages; the protagonist, Venerable Tianhe, is only at the Nascent Soul, but characters from other sects besides the Tianhe Sect, such as the Supreme Dao and the Four Sects of Xuanwei, have already appeared.
Yes, they're all villains.
They are being brutally beaten by Venerable Tianhe in turn.
Zheng Fa knew the disciple from Vast Sun Mountain; his surname was Lu, and he was considered an elder in his clan, someone with a proper name and surname, so it matched.
Even more outrageous is that this story states that Venerable Tianhe created the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method during his Golden Core Stage.
" Zheng Fa, this storybook still doesn't have many secrets up to this point... but it's hard to say what will happen later."
Uncle-Master Pang said softly.
This is also Zheng Fa's concern:
Don't be fooled by Zheng Fa's criticism of Vast Sun Mountain in " Nine Mountains Immortal Path "; that's because the two factions are sworn enemies, and he even felt that his criticism was too mild.
But even if the author dared to write " The Tianhe's Immortal Cultivation Chronicle," he wouldn't dare to publish it!
Those who know these secrets are definitely not insignificant figures. They wrote them down without a care, perhaps unafraid of trouble from the Five Sects, and maybe the Five Sects won't even be able to find them.
But everyone knows that the Comprehensive Mirror Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government) belongs to the Nine Mountains Sect...
The Hundred Immortals Alliance can't escape!
To deal with Vast Sun Mountain, Zheng Fa had to be very careful, even considering Dao Fruit that were completely unrelated.
If this person were to continue writing, Five Sects's reaction would be predictable—you say the story is all made up, but whether it's true or not, do you think Five Sects himself wouldn't know?
"What to do?"
Uncle-Master Pang came to see Zheng Fa, naturally because he had figured out the danger involved.
Zheng Fa looked at the Creation Jade Disc and sighed inwardly:
Back when I was reading the novel, I criticized the platform.
Today, I have become a platform!
Watching Zheng Fa tap his finger twice, and < The Tianhe's Immortal Cultivation Chronicle > disappeared from the rankings without a trace, Uncle-Master Pang blinked and asked in astonishment, "That's it? Who is this person?"
Zheng Fa made another mark on the Creation Jade Disc, wanting to inquire about the author's origins.
As a result, they couldn't sense where the other party's Comprehensive Mirror was, let alone figure out who the other party was.
"We can't find anything, so he must be a powerful figure..." Zheng Fa said to his Uncle-Master Pang.
Uncle-Master Pang nodded, then sighed, "Actually, I quite enjoy watching it."
Zheng Fa also felt it was a pity; if this book hadn't been deleted, the popularity of the Comprehensive Mirror would have reached even greater heights—who doesn't love reading some unofficial history?
It's not the unofficial history that's scary, it's the unofficial history that's true.
The Nine Mountains Sect truly couldn't withstand it.
A day later, Zheng Fa was bewildered as he watched the endless Communication Talisman that looked exactly like spam text messages.
Where are my storybooks?
What did you do?
"I'm busy right now and can't go to the Nine Mountains Realm! If you don't give me an explanation, I will definitely come to you in the future to demand an explanation!"
Zheng Fa recognized that aura—wasn't that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor?
So you were the author of that banned book?
Seeing the words "coming to seek advice," Zheng Fa felt a little regretful:
No wonder no one in the Xuanwei Realm runs a platform; if you dare to censor, some ruthless authors will really dare to punch you with an iron fist.
The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor might actually be able to enter the Nine Mountains Realm and cause trouble...
The Heavenly Venerable died a terrible death.
(End of this chapter)