Chapter 469 Applying Knowledge to Other Cases, Ancestral Craftsmanship
People will do anything to cultivate immortality...
A truck slowly drove into the Nursing Home gate. The tailgate was lowered, and a stone tablet about half a person's height was carefully moved to the ground by the workers.
Along with the stone tablet came a half-meter square iron box, which contained samples of newly discovered spiritual materials from that island nation.
In truth, these spiritual materials are what Zheng Fa actually wants.
The stone tablet was something they insisted on sending to Immortal Zheng for a look, showing great sincerity, and they even paid for the shipping themselves.
Zheng Fa opened the iron box, inside which were several tightly sealed metal cans. He then opened the cans, and a puff of white smoke suddenly billowed out.
As the white smoke dissipated, the spiritual materials inside revealed their true nature:
It was a silvery-black liquid, thick like mercury, yet icy cold—the white smoke was the escaping chill.
Zheng Fa recognized it at a glance:
" Dark Nether Baleful Intent, the lowest quality kind."
Dark Nether Baleful Intent is a type of Earthly Baleful Qi, not particularly precious, but abundant in the seabed.
The Dark Nether Baleful Intent discovered this time has a spirit level of only single digits—this indicates that its purity is low and it contains many impurities. In the Xuanwei Realm, it wouldn't fetch a high price, and no one would even want it.
In the Modern World, however, this is a novelty.
Old Man Bai was naturally curious; he stretched out his finger, as if wanting to touch it.
" Teacher Bai... this stuff is harmful to the physical body." Zheng Fa said helplessly, seeing his restless movements, " Earthly Baleful Qi is somewhat toxic to the human body."
Upon hearing this, Professor Tian glared fiercely at Old Man Bai.
Old Man Bai's fingers stiffened slightly, and he muttered softly, "Scientific research... scientific research requires a spirit of dedication; how can you be afraid of this or that?"
Upon hearing this, Professor Tian gritted her teeth and twisted his waist.
Although he had mastered the Five-Thunder Dharma Form, Old Man Bai clearly couldn't withstand Professor Tian's thunderous wrath. He grimaced but dared not utter a sound.
You're not afraid of poisoning, but it's obvious you're quite afraid of your wife.
In fact, Professor Tian's cultivation level has now surpassed that of this old man.
No wonder this old man has been talking about Spirit Root every day lately; his aptitude is low, and he's almost lost his status in the family.
However, Zheng Fa could understand the old man's curiosity:
The Xuanwei cultivators disliked this thing.
The Nursing Home, which desperately sought out spiritual materials, regarded them as a treasure.
"Converting spiritual materials isn't technically difficult for us," Tang Lingwu said, leaning closer to look at the Dark Nether Baleful Intent in the jar. "We already have Pill Cauldron; with a little modification, it should be usable. As for cultivation..."
She thought for a moment, then counted on her fingers and said, "Our Nursing Home has five Foundation Establishment cultivators, plus me, a Golden Core cultivator. Even if you, Zheng Fa, are busy, that's enough."
Zheng Fa nodded upon hearing this.
Unless the spiritual materials are extremely rare and precious, the spiritual material transformation project can generally be overseen by one Golden Core disciple.
In the Nursing Home, besides the Old Man Bai, there were two other people with good aptitude who had also Foundation Establishment.
If we add in those scholars who Qi Refinement Realm, with a little training, converting some simple spiritual materials wouldn't be too difficult.
"Can we start crafting Law Artifact now?"
The Old Man Bai's tone was filled with longing.
Even Professor Tian looked somewhat expectant.
Zheng Fa turned to Team Leader Yang, who had come with the truck, and asked, "How's the production of this Dark Nether Baleful Intent?"
"Not many, but from our observation, it seems to be increasing. However, because it's underwater and this stuff is poisonous, it's actually quite difficult to mine." Team Leader Yang frowned, then added, "As you know, Dean, if there's too much Spiritual Qi, many electronic devices won't work properly... Even these few cans took a tremendous amount of effort to get them up here."
It's growing, which is normal.
The creation of spiritual materials requires both a suitable environment and Spiritual Qi.
The Sea Region where the Dark Nether Baleful Intent is located probably already met the environmental requirements, and with the addition of the Fusang Wood bringing Spiritual Qi to the Modern World, the Dark Nether Baleful Intent naturally came into being.
Even though this Sha Qi is not of high quality now, its quality may improve over time, or when Spiritual Qi is abundant.
Tang Lingwu immediately said, "Should I go?"
She was Golden Core cultivator, so she naturally had no fear of this Dark Nether Baleful Intent.
Going to mine wouldn't really be a problem—the problem is she's too busy, and Zheng Fa isn't willing to let her travel so much.
What about Nezha?
Upon hearing Zheng Fa's words, Old Man Bai slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's right! That big toy, isn't it coming in handy now?"
Team Leader Yang nodded and said, "With the current output, going once a month is enough."
The Old Man Bai suddenly asked, " Zheng Fa, what are your plans for using this spiritual material?"
"Too few, and the quality is too low..." Zheng Fa shook his head slightly. "Making External Core is impossible; we can only make the simplest Law Artifact."
"It's not enough to help Lingwu condense her Life-bound Dharma Treasure."
The quantity and quality of these Dark Nether Baleful Intent are both poor.
Even with the conversion of spiritual materials, the amount of things that can be produced is limited. Of course, for Nursing Home, it is still a breakthrough from zero.
A hint of disappointment appeared on their faces.
Zheng Fa laughed and said, "The significance of this Dark Nether Baleful Intent is that it proves that spiritual materials can be generated naturally. If it doesn't work now, it will work in the future... Moreover, when the Fusang Wood evolves further or I Spirit Transformation, there might be some changes."
After reaching the Spirit Transformation, the Spiritual Qi of Rainbow Mountain should see a significant boost.
"As for this Dark Nether Baleful Intent... let the scholars in Rainbow Mountain play with it."
"Play? How do we play?"
Old Man Bai was stunned, then heard Zheng Fa say, "Why don't we hold a competition for the design of magical Law Artifact?"
Old Man Bai and the others looked at each other, finding the conversation quite interesting.
"You want to see what tricks they can pull?"
Zheng Fa smiled and nodded.
He had this idea for two reasons. First, the Dark Nether Baleful Intent was indeed too rare and of poor quality, and its usefulness was limited, so it was not of much significance to him. Letting these scholars mess with it would not cause him any loss.
Secondly, it still has the same purpose: to borrow brains.
The weapon-forging style of the Nine Mountains Sect has undergone certain changes due to Madam Xuanhua's learning of modern knowledge, especially mechanical structures, and has become somewhat different from that of the Xuanwei Realm:
For example, various types of Divine Firmament Flying Vessel.
Overall, however, it still leans towards the ideas of the Xuanwei Realm.
That's normal; after all, she's a cultivator who grew up in the Xuanwei Realm.
But the people in the Nursing Home are different. The concepts they learned from childhood and the various novels and comics they read as they grew up made their thinking very different from Madam Xuanhua's.
Zheng Fa entrusted the Dark Nether Baleful Intent to them to "play with" because he wanted to see what kind of novel ideas they could come up with by letting their minds wander, and whether they would bring him any surprises.
If he were to say something and the people at the Nursing Home were to do it, it would be a waste of their wisdom and would not align with Zheng Fa's original intention in establishing the Nursing Home.
Perhaps we should give them some freedom to express themselves.
Seeing the Old Man Bai's still somewhat puzzled expression, Zheng Fa smiled and explained:
" Teacher Bai, I'm teaching you the Immortal Way, not so that you'll blindly follow me."
" Nursing Home is, after all, a research institution."
"It's best to let Hundred Flowers, so that everyone can give full play to their strengths."
Old Man Bai understood. He glanced towards Rainbow Mountain, seemingly looking at the laboratories, and smiled:
"They're even using the rare and precious spiritual materials they've managed to acquire to cultivate them... no wonder so many people want to come here."
Upon hearing this, Team Leader Yang suddenly pointed to the stone tablet and said, "What should we do with this? I see they're really eager to come over there."
The group looked at the stone tablet and saw that it had two sections of text written on it, one at the top and one at the bottom. The upper part was in classical Chinese, and the lower part was probably in a local language. The inscription also had wear marks, which showed that it was very well done and even looked quite professional.
The only weird thing is that the word "Zheng" is very clear...
The Old Man Bai shook his head and sighed, "Foreigners aren't stupid either; this is a golden fortuitous opportunity cultivation."
A few years ago, it would have been understandable that foreigners didn't know what cultivating immortality was.
In recent years, although Zheng Fa hasn't made any major moves, he's never hidden the fact that everyone knows becoming an immortal is desirable.
What are their requirements?
Team Leader Yang suppressed a laugh, "Recognizing one's ancestors and returning to one's roots."
"No, do they really think anyone believes that?"
"They know it's fake, we know it's fake, even the whole world knows it's fake," Team Leader Yang glanced at Zheng Fa, "But if the dean says it's true, then it's true."
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and then said, "These are minor matters; you can decide for yourselves. I'll offer at most two conditions:"
"Dean, please speak."
"One option is to exchange spiritual materials for food. They can also receive a share of products from the Nine Mountains Grain Company, and even the Nine Mountains Pharmaceutical Company in the future."
"One of them, if they pass the exam when the Nursing Home recruits graduate students, can also get into the Nursing Home."
Simply put, Zheng Fa transplanted half of the Hundred Immortals Alliance model to this place.
This is, of course, because Zheng Fa regards the entire Modern World as his Dao Field, and he is going to cultivate these people eventually. It doesn't matter if it's sooner or later, as long as they are smart enough, it's all fine.
On the other hand, he was also too lazy to go through the hassle; he viewed the Nursing Home as a research institution.
Let the authorities handle the rest.
What he wanted was just this little bit of spiritual material—or rather, he valued the Sea Region that could generate Dark Nether Baleful Intent more.
Upon hearing this, Team Leader Yang's face was full of confidence. "With these two conditions, things will be much easier to discuss."
The Old Man Bai asked, "How do they plan to negotiate?"
Team Leader Yang laughed and pointed at the stone tablet, "Isn't this... unable to refuse such hospitality, blood is thicker than water?"
Old Man Bai stared at the stone tablet for a long time before sighing, "You think this thing is fake? It actually works like a real thing."
Zheng Fa was taken aback, looked at the stone tablet, and his eyes gradually brightened.
"I'll create a Immortal-Trapping Sword?"
Madam Xuanhua pointed to her nose, her face showing an expression of gratitude for the Sect Leader's high regard, but also a sense of inadequacy on her part.
"It's fake, it's fake."
Zheng Fa explained, "As long as the appearance is similar and the spiritual material is roughly the same, it's fine."
Senior Sister Zhang, standing to the side, seemed to understand. "You want to create a Fake Immortal-Trapping Sword and secretly replace the original Immortal-Trapping Sword?"
Zheng Fa nodded.
He had been troubled by one thing—how to get rid of the Immortal-Trapping Sword without incurring the wrath of Vast Sun Mountain.
He was truly envious of the Immortal-Trapping Sword, a true Immortal Method.
But if Vast Sun Mountain really gets his hands on the Immortal-Trapping Sword, he'll definitely go mad.
At that time, it's hard to say who will incur more hatred from Vast Sun Mountain, him or Sect Master Yan.
" Vast Sun Mountain isn't stupid!" Madam Xuanhua muttered, still puzzled. "If I could forge a replica of the Immortal- Immortal-Trapping Sword that would be indistinguishable from the real thing, why would we need to fear them?"
Although the Heavenly Crafts Pavilion is powerful, to be honest, it's only good at crafting Law Treasure.
They don't even have the skill to refine spiritual Artifact Spirit.
Not to mention forging a true Immortal Method like the Immortal-Trapping Sword.
The spiritual materials can still solve the problem—although the spiritual materials used in the Immortal-Trapping Sword were refined by Venerable Tianhe from Xuanwei spiritual materials, all of which are extremely precious.
However, with the current resources of the Nine Mountains Realm, it's not impossible to produce something through the transformation of spiritual materials, even if it means spending a lot of money.
The problem is that the Spiritual-Energy Circuit that generates sword spirits is extremely complex.
Not to mention, True Immortal Method are of extremely high rank, and even possess some wonders that Zheng Fa and his companions are unaware of: or rather, Zheng Fa has no idea how to elevate Law Treasure to the rank of True Immortal.
Even if Madam Xuanhua was very confident, she really had no chance of creating a fake Immortal -Immortal-Trapping Sword, and even felt that Zheng Fa was trying to make things difficult for her.
Even Senior Sister Zhang frowned, seemingly thinking that Zheng Fa was indulging in wishful thinking.
"Alright, we can't replicate a True Immortal- level Immortal-Trapping Sword." Zheng Fa smiled. "Why not just replicate a broken Trapping Immortal-Trapping Sword?"
"Broken? How could the Immortal-Trapping Sword be broken..." Senior Sister Zhang was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized, " The Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array?"
Zheng Fa said confidently, "That's right. They made a mistake in operating the Heaven and Earth Divine Fiend Array, turning a perfectly good True Immortal Treasure into a Magic Weapon. What does that have to do with our Nine Mountains Sect?"
Senior Sister Zhang stared at Zheng Fa for a long time, then exchanged a glance with Madam Xuanhua before saying:
"This... sounds somewhat feasible."
Zheng Fa, however, had a clear idea. "Whether it's feasible or not, there's no harm in trying. If they can't tell, that's best. If they can, then we'll just rob them outright."
Hearing this, Senior Sister Zhang and the other woman understood that Zheng Fa was not blindly confident.
Just as Zheng Fa said:
Ultimately, the goal is to seize the Immortal-Trapping Sword.
If they can get away with it, they'll naturally profit.
If we can't hide it anymore, then we might as well have a real fight; it wouldn't be a loss.
Forgery, forging the fake Immortal-Trapping Sword, even a downgraded version of the Immortal-Trapping Sword, actually exceeded Madam Xuanhua's capabilities.
Especially since it's only three months.
"I already have the data on the structure and spiritual materials of the Immortal-Trapping Sword," Zheng Fa said to Madam Xuanhua in a weapon-refining factory.
This data comes partly from the exchange between Zheng Fa and the Immortal-Trapping Sword Spirit, and from the detection of the Positive-Negative Five-Element Divine Light; the other part, or even the majority, comes from the contributions of Vast Sun Mountain.
They wanted to forge the Immortal-Trapping Sword, so naturally they had done a lot of research on it, perhaps even researching it for hundreds of thousands of years.
These studies are naturally reflected in the Innate Divine Baleful Array.
Senior Sister Zhang Madam Xuanhua, along with over fifty Golden Core disciples, gathered in a circle, listening to his explanation.
These are all the elites of the Heavenly Crafts Pavilion, the weapon-refining talents selected by Madam Xuanhua over the past few years.
The project to replicate the Immortal-Trapping Sword was a matter of life and death for the Nine Mountains Sect, so the project team was naturally composed entirely of elite troops.
Madam Xuanhua frowned, her expression still seemingly lacking confidence, and said with a slight pursing of her lips, "Theoretically speaking, forging a Law Treasure- grade Immortal-Trapping Sword isn't difficult... but whether it can be concealed from Vast Sun Mountain is another matter."
Seeing her nervous expression, Zheng Fa laughed and said, "I'll go to Divine Fire Mountain tomorrow and ask the Immortal-Trapping Sword Spirit again to see if she has any suggestions."
"That's feasible!" Madam Xuanhua's eyes lit up. "If we could have the Immortal-Trapping Sword Spirit as an advisor, my chances would be much better."
"Not only will I hire the Immortal-Trapping Sword Spirit, but I also plan to hire an advisor."
"Who?"
Zheng Fa's palm lit up, and from the warm, jade-colored light, the Creation Jade Disc flew out, casting a screen of light.
The face of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, reflected in the light screen, also showed a somewhat bewildered expression.
"Did you need something?"
"Yes, there's something I'd like to ask the Devil Ancestor for help with."
"..."
The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor didn't speak, but just looked at him, gesturing for him to continue.
Zheng Fa explained to the Nine Mountains Sect's attempt to replicate the Immortal-Trapping Sword that the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor had attempted. The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's mouth gradually opened wide, seemingly astonished by Zheng Fa's idea.
How could you have thought of me?
Isn't it because I see you constantly talking about Venerable Tianhe?
According to the Tianhe's Immortal Cultivation Chronicle ", the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor met the Venerable Tianhe not too late.
The Four Immortal-Slayer Swords were actually forged by Venerable Tianhe after he attained enlightenment—before that, he used the Green Duckweed Sword.
Based on this speculation, it is possible that the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor even participated in the forging of the Four Immortal-Slayer Swords.
If the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor were to join, the development team for the youth version of " The Immortal-Trapping Sword" would truly be brimming with talent.
In terms of craftsmanship, Madam Xuanhua brought out the elites of the Heavenly Crafts Pavilion. They not only learned the weapon-refining Secret Method of the various sects of the Hundred Immortals Alliance and even Vast Sun Mountain, but were also proficient in Materials Studies, Talisman Dao, and even various modern knowledge—belonging to the new generation of weapon-refining talents in the Xuanwei Realm.
In terms of data, there was the self-destruction of the Immortal-Trapping Sword Spirit, the help of Vast Sun Mountain, and Zheng Fa's Positive-Negative Five-Element Divine Light.
If we add the Devil Ancestor's ancestral skills...
Essentially, this was a close collaboration between the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, Vast Sun Mountain, and the Nine Mountains Sect... except that Vast Sun Mountain was largely unaware of it.
If Madam Xuanhua weren't lacking in strength, Zheng Fa was even confident that he could forge a real one with this setup...
It can be said that in the Xuanwei Realm, only Zheng Fa and the Nine Mountains Sect have the technology, connections, and data to create a fake Immortal-Trapping Sword.
But the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor didn't seem very willing.
Why should I help you?
" Vast Sun Mountain is also an enemy of the Devil Ancestor. Weakening them would also benefit you, Devil Ancestor," Zheng Fa laughed. "Does the Devil Ancestor want Vast Sun Mountain to acquire another True Immortal Method?"
The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's expression revealed a cold sneer, "What can one more Immortal-Trapping Sword do to me?"
... Is this Devil Ancestor really that arrogant?
If you're so capable of bragging to me, then go ahead and smash Vast Sun Mountain to death!
Judging from the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor's confidence, the Immortal Immortal-Trapping Sword must indeed pose little threat to him.
Zheng Fa was silent for a moment, then spoke again:
" The Devil Ancestor has a good relationship with Venerable Tianhe?"
Why are you asking this?
"The fall of Venerable Tianhe is closely related to Vast Sun Mountain. If the Immortal-Trapping Sword were to recognize Venerable Tianhe's enemy as its master, wouldn't the Devil Ancestor care?"
"..."
"At that time, Vast Sun Mountain will wield the immortal Immortal Sword of an old friend, facing you, Devil Ancestor, to a life-or-death duel. The sword will be familiar to you, Devil Ancestor, but you will no longer recognize Devil Ancestor, nor remember Venerable Tianhe. Is this a scene you, Devil Ancestor, can bear to witness?"
"..."
"If Venerable Tianhe were aware of this, what would he think? Would he want his most precious treasure and his dearest friend to be divided into a life-or-death struggle?"
"..."
In the corner of the light screen, Sect Master Yan trembled slightly, as if he felt a sudden chill in the Sect Leader's hall.
He looked at Zheng Fa, his expression one of utter despair:
He didn't know whether the Devil Ancestor or the Immortal-Trapping Sword were alive or dead; Zheng Fa hadn't even considered his own fate.
Your words are like knives, each one stabbing into the heart of this Devil Ancestor. After you finished, you hung up the video and ran away. Where can I run to?!
Zheng Fa, seeing the Devil Ancestor's cold gaze, was not afraid:
This Devil Ancestor wants to borrow his server... He can't just lend it to him for free, can he?
"... Tell me how you want to refine it?"
Two months later, Zheng Fa held up a sword Immortal-Trapping Sword.
Judging from its appearance, this Immortal-Trapping Sword is no different from the one at Fire God Mountain.
Even the refining techniques, under the tutelage of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, still retain some of the style of the Patriarch Tianhe.
Immortal-Trapping Sword Spirit arrives, everyone has to recognize a half-brother.
The only difference is that the Spiritual-Energy Circuit within it is composed of two different styles: the upper half comes from the Cultivation Method of Vast Sun Mountain, and the lower half comes from the Tianhe Sect. At first glance, it appears to be a mixture of two styles that are in conflict with each other. This was intentional on Zheng Fa's part. They were not trying to replicate the current Immortal-Trapping Sword, but rather the Trapped Immortal-Trapping Sword that had been destroyed by the Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array. Naturally, it couldn't be exactly the same as the current Trapped Immortal-Trapping Sword, so they had to fabricate an accident scene.
Looking at the unusual patterns on the sword, Senior Sister Zhang was a little puzzled. "Junior Brother, how did you come up with this idea?"
Hmm... Inspiration from a foreign friend.
(End of this chapter)