Vol 2 Chapter 38: Learning
Over the past few days, Zheng Fa could feel the spiritual energy in his dantian gradually overflowing, a clear sign that he was about to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refinent.
Sitting on his ditation cushion, he swallowed a Condensed Essence Pill and prepared to condense his fourth sigil.
He already had a rough plan for the ten sigils he would eventually form—dividing them into three main categories:
First, there were those that ensured his own safety. For example, the first sigil he condensed, the Steadfast Shadowless Sigil, and even the second one, the Frostblade Sigil, had their uses even in modern society.
At the very least, if he wanted to carry out an assassination now, he’d be an expert—leaving no trace of the killer, nor even the murder weapon.
Perfect cris would be effortless.
The second category of sigils was ant for acquiring resources in the modern world, with the Nurturing Mind Sigil being a pri example.
The third category consisted of sigils he hadn’t condensed yet but had already planned for—sigils that could help with establishing retirent hos, building influence, and even aiding in research.
Especially since the Ling Mountain Law, which the Sect Leader had modified, required sigils in so areas.
When he thought about it, even ten sigils felt too few.
So far, the three sigils he had condensed—Steadfast Shadowless Sigil, Frostblade Sigil, and Nurturing Mind Sigil—belonged to the Yin attributes of Earth, tal, and Water, respectively.
That ant his next sigil had to be from the Yin Wood elent.
Initially, Zheng Fa had other plans, but he changed his mind at the last mont and chose a sigil called the Evergreen Sigil.
This was a sigil commonly used by spiritual farrs in the Profound Micro Realm—it had a wide range of applications, including accelerating plant growth, nourishing spiritual plants, and even healing them.
Though not particularly powerful, it was a staple sigil among spiritual farrs, known for its versatility.
Zheng Fa chose to condense this sigil not only because its attribute matched his current needs but also with long-term plans in mind—specifically, the developnt of retirent hos. He wanted to see if he could establish spiritual farmlands within them.
If he could cultivate spiritual grains and plants that didn’t exist in the modern world, even selling them at a basic level would yield trendous profits.
But the biggest reason he chose the Evergreen Sigil was actually due to the debate between Senior Sister Zhang and Uncle Pang.
Senior Sister Zhang wanted to forge a new path, creating an innovative school of sigil arts.
Zheng Fa agreed with her vision, but he wasn’t as optimistic—could sigil arts truly solve the problem of declining spiritual energy?
Even Senior Sister Zhang herself probably didn’t have that much confidence.
Choosing the Evergreen Sigil was his way of exploring another possibility—combining spiritual agriculture with modern farming techniques. If he could develop agricultural thods suited for spiritual plant cultivation, he could use them to benefit both the Nine Mountains Sect and the Profound Micro Realm.
Even if this didn’t solve the decline of spiritual energy, simply improving spiritual plant yields would already be a major boon to the sect.
Whether it would work or not, Zheng Fa wasn’t certain.
But having one more possibility was worth the effort.
Soon, the Evergreen Sigil fully condensed in his dantian, settling beside the Nurturing Mind Sigil.
As it took shape, a small vortex of spiritual energy ford above his courtyard—he had successfully broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refinent.
"Zheng Fa has broken through again."
On the Eighth Peak, Uncle Pang let out a sigh, turning to look at Zhou Qianyuan beside him.
Zhou Qianyuan’s expression was slightly stiff—he knew exactly what his master ant.
He himself had yet to reach the fifth level of Qi Refinent.
Zheng Fa’s talent was far inferior to his, yet now, he had overtaken him.
"I've been slacking off recently..." Zhou Qianyuan admitted, feeling ashad.
"This isn't entirely your fault." Uncle Pang didn’t reprimand him too harshly. "You've had a difficult ti in my tutelage lately, so it’s understandable that your mind hasn’t been on cultivation."
"These past days, you've been learning sigil arts with them during the day and studying sigil theories at night—you've barely had ti to cultivate."
Zhou Qianyuan’s expression eased slightly.
"But..." Uncle Pang continued, his tone carrying a hint of warning. "You must understand—whether it’s Zheng Fa or Senior Sister Zhang, they are the most outstanding talents of your generation in Nine Mountains Sect."
"You have their attention now because of your potential. But if you fall too far behind..."
"I understand!" Zhou Qianyuan imdiately straightened up.
"Look at Zheng Fa—you have a lot on your mind, but does he not?" Uncle Pang continued his lecture. "He has to deal with the marketplace, stage plays, and sigil arts... yet, from what I've seen, he has never slacked off in cultivation."
"Disciple..." Zhou Qianyuan felt even more ashad.
"The reason I wanted you to follow him wasn’t just to learn sigil arts," Uncle Pang said in a softer voice. "More importantly, I wanted you to see how Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang approach cultivation."
"Yes!"
"A few days ago, you ntioned that Senior Sister Zhang intends to have Zheng Fa take charge of the Sigil Arts Pavilion." Uncle Pang nodded. "Observe him carefully—see if he has the ability to win over your fellow disciples. If he does... then give him this."
He handed a jade tube to Zhou Qianyuan.
"Master?"
"Consider it my paynt for stage play tickets." Uncle Pang smirked.
"It's done!" The Sect Leader declared proudly, looking at Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang.
Zheng Fa was stunned.
That fast?!
Truly, cultivation was the greatest productive force.
"Why don’t we test it out?"
Senior Sister Yuan’s eyes lit up with excitent.
She had been intrigued by Zheng Fa’s idea ever since he first ntioned it.
Even Senior Sister Zhang looked interested.
The Sect Leader casually tossed out a dozen sigils.
Zheng Fa blinked—and found himself standing in the sa Nine Mountains Sect as before.
At that mont, he finally understood why the old man had finished so quickly.
"I based the illusion realm on Nine Mountains Sect," his master’s voice echoed in his ear. "In this realm, you retain your real cultivation, artifacts, and sigils—with one exception..."
"You won’t die."
For so reason, Zheng Fa could hear a distinct maliciousness in his master’s voice.
Half an hour later
Zheng Fa, pale-faced, stared at the three people in front of him.
The Sect Leader was smiling in satisfaction.
Senior Sister Zhang was looking at the sky.
Senior Sister Yuan was staring at the ground.
Neither of them dared to look at him.
Two Golden Core cultivators and one Nascent Soul cultivator—how was a Qi Refinent disciple like him supposed to compete?
To put it simply—
For him, it was like a peasant woman walking into Lion Cal Ridge for the third ti.
For them, it was the Three Sworn Brothers of Peach Garden fighting Lin Daiyu.
Hundreds of glorious deaths later…
And the one who went the hardest?
His own master.
"Ahem..." The Sect Leader finally felt uncomfortable under Zheng Fa’s resentful gaze and turned to Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan. "So, what do you two think?"
"It’s great."
"I think it’s excellent!"
Both of them nodded.
"No!" Zheng Fa gritted his teeth. "It needs to be changed!"
"I know you had a rough ti just now..." The Sect Leader muttered unhappily.
Clearly, he was reluctant to make any changes.
Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan exchanged glances, their expressions showing the sa thought—they both assud Zheng Fa was just complaining because his ga experience was too miserable.
"…That’s not the reason," Zheng Fa said seriously. "The entire rule system needs to be changed."
Hearing his tone, the two senior sisters straightened up a bit.
"First, there aren’t enough maps. The disciples are too familiar with Nine Mountains Sect, so this won’t test their ability to adapt to unfamiliar environnts."
Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan nodded slightly, taking his suggestion seriously.
"Second, we can’t let disciples just fight on their own," Zheng Fa continued. "We created this system not only to improve combat skills, but also to encourage teamwork. For lower-level disciples, working together greatly increases their survival rate compared to fighting solo."
"You an…" The Sect Leader was starting to understand.
"Team battles. Let them form squads and compete against each other."
Seeing that all three of them were being convinced, Zheng Fa brought up his most critical concern—
"And finally, the cost. Master, how much did it cost to set up this sigil array?"
"Fifteen Earth-grade sigils."
The Sect Leader frowned—he was clearly catching on.
"This is way too expensive," Zheng Fa said. "One trial costs more than an entire stage play… This completely goes against our goal of providing frequent training for the disciples. At that price, they might as well go out and fight for real."
"More maps, better chanics, lower costs." Zheng Fa smiled at his visibly unwilling master. "Master, this all depends on you."
It was the end of another monthly exam, and the classroom atmosphere carried an odd sense of joyful relief—
Of course, no one actually enjoyed exams.
But that brief mont of freedom afterward was sothing to savor, and even the teachers tended to ease up a little.
Zheng Fa closed his textbook, then suddenly turned to Wang Chen, who was sitting behind him.
"You got ti?"
"…Depends on what for." Wang Chen gave him a wary look.
"I want you to teach how to play video gas."
Wang Chen’s eyes widened in shock. After thinking for a mont, he asked, "What kind of gas? Tile-matching? Tadpoles Looking for Their Mom?"
"Sothing competitive—whatever’s popular right now."
In the past few years, Zheng Fa had been too focused on studying to play any gas.
Now that he wanted to improve the training simulations, he couldn’t do much about map expansion or cost reduction, but ga chanics were sothing he could study.
Hearing this, Wang Chen imdiately perked up.
He sneakily pulled out his phone from his desk drawer and grinned, "Alright, alright, let’s get started!"
Zheng Fa also took out his phone and, following Wang Chen’s instructions, downloaded several popular competitive gas.
Just as he was getting into it, a familiar voice sounded above his head.
"Zheng Fa, my mom said the expedition team has already sent back their report."
It was Tang Lingwu.
"Let’s go check with Teacher Bai later, then." Zheng Fa responded without even looking up, fully absorbed in his ga.
Tang Lingwu didn’t leave—she simply stood beside him, curiously watching his phone screen.
It was obvious that she wasn’t familiar with gas either.
Right then—
"Wang Chen! What are you doing?"
A chilling voice ca from behind Wang Chen—Mr. Chen had caught him.
Wang Chen’s hands trembled, his face full of terror as he looked up at Mr. Chen’s angry expression.
"Are you so confident in your grades that you can afford to waste ti playing gas? Are you already guaranteed a spot at a top university?"
Mr. Chen scolded him relentlessly before turning his gaze to another pair of students—
His top two students in class.
Seeing Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu huddled together, he assud they were studying.
With a face full of disappointnt, he lectured Wang Chen, "Look at Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu! Once again, they’re ranked first and second in the class!"
"What are they doing right now? Why can’t you learn from them?"
Saying this, he walked forward to take a closer look at Zheng Fa’s desk.
Then—
He saw a very familiar ga screen on Zheng Fa’s phone.
Mr. Chen’s mouth twitched.
After a brief mont of silence, he sighed and said—
"Can’t you learn from his balanced approach to work and rest?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)