Book 2: Chapter 183: Too Much of an Internal Cycle |
Vol 2 Chapter 183: Too Much of an Internal Cycle
Zheng Fa didn’t have time to play God—he was currently acting as Tang Lingwu’s protector while she attempted to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
It had taken her nearly a year to reach the fourth level, a pace that was neither fast nor slow.
Compared to Zheng Fa, who had reached Foundation Establishment in under a year, Tang Lingwu naturally couldn’t keep up.
But compared to people like Han Qi, she was actually quite fast—after all, she had a Single Spiritual Root.
And considering the limited spiritual energy at the nursing home—Tang Lingwu’s effort was clear to see.
Among the few people in the nursing home, Zheng Fa actually had the most confidence in Tang Lingwu:
Her simple mindset due to a privileged upbringing, her high aptitude, and how quickly she learned—if she were in the Xuanyi Realm, she’d make Martial Uncle Pang drool.
Right now, she was also the first to break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining.
...
Team Leader Yang reminded the two men behind her, “The fact that you’re here shows the higher-ups trust you. On the other hand, it’s also your opportunity.”
The two exchanged glances, nodded, and looked a bit tense.
They’d been discussing this back and forth the whole way, and the more they talked, the more uneasy they felt.
Just the idea of cultivation was already intimidating.
Now there was something called nuclear fusion involved.
Science and superstition both blossoming—it was like leaving no room for faith at all.
And with Team Leader Yang repeatedly stressing things, the two naturally felt even more nervous.
“Don’t be so tense, that Director Zheng isn’t actually the difficult type,” Yang said with a smile, trying to comfort them. “I’m just saying—try your best to help answer some of his questions.”
The two exchanged another glance, both realizing—this was probably a political mission... the higher-ups clearly took this guy very seriously.
Their faces grew even more strained.
After a while, the younger one asked, “Director Yang, do you think... I could learn cultivation?”
Yang glanced back at him and saw that the middle-aged man beside him also looked somewhat hopeful.
She nodded to both of them.
“So what do I have to do?” the young man’s eyes lit up as he asked eagerly. “Test my aptitude? A trial to test my character? Some kind of fateful opportunity?”
“Write a research paper.”
“?”
“Not joking. You know Elder Hou? He wrote a paper outlining agronomy under spiritual energy conditions. He’s currently practicing some kind of Farmer’s Stance.”
As she spoke, Yang’s expression even showed a hint of envy.
But Tang Mu Dao had also mentioned that they were still refining the contribution system—her role, though lacking in research output, counted as liaison.
Getting her name added as third or fourth co-author in the future wasn’t out of the question.
Bit by bit, even academic slackers had a shot!
...
Zheng Fa stood at the entrance of the nursing home’s main building, waiting for the three of them.
“Mr. Zheng!”
Yang saw that he’d come to greet them personally and couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows slightly.
She was now certain—Zheng Fa really had a thing for academic types.
Last time Elder Hou came by, Zheng Fa had gone all the way out to the gate to welcome him.
She never got that kind of treatment.
She mentally noted this down, planning to add it to Zheng Fa’s intelligence file later.
The higher-ups’ attention to Zheng Fa was more outrageous than anyone imagined.
His file grew thicker by the day.
What annoyed Yang most was that even Zheng Fa’s old test papers had been collected and analyzed by a bunch of people.
They said a person’s handwriting reflected their character, and you could understand someone’s personality from their papers.
She didn’t buy into that completely.
But some of the analysis, Yang had to admit, made a lot of sense—
Zheng Fa was someone who disliked trouble, valued relationships, and had a deep passion for knowledge.
In some ways, he was simpler and easier to work with than any of her previous targets.
These days, she even found it really comfortable working around Zheng Fa—
He had a good temperament, and her position was crucial. A single word from her could cause ripples up and down the system.
How could she describe this feeling... like being the right hand of someone just one step from absolute power?
So, whether for personal or official reasons, she didn’t want to make Zheng Fa unhappy.
Thinking of that, she felt a surge of regret—
Who would’ve thought the high school romance, skipped classes, and unfinished homework from back then...
Would turn into a sharp arrow more than a decade later.
One that cost her Zheng Fa’s favor...
...
With the three’s arrival, the Foundation Establishment Pill Engineering Seminar at the nursing home officially began in the main conference room.
The two newcomers sat down and stared at the PPT projected at the far end of the room, which was titled “Analysis of Twelve Foundation Establishment Pill Structures”...
They were already overwhelmed.
Wait—cultivation had gotten this modern?
Zheng Fa glanced at the two and began explaining the key concepts, logic, and considerations of the twelve types of Foundation Establishment Pills.
Of course, the most important part was translating the original cultivation terminology into something the people in the room could actually understand.
“Out of these twelve Foundation Establishment Pills, I know the composition of eight.”
That information came from interviews Zheng Fa had conducted with four Nascent Soul cultivators and over ten Foundation Establishment disciples in the Jiushan Realm.
He had studied the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend energies inside these cultivators. Though he lacked modern technology to test them, with the use of Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes and some basic density analysis, he could confirm a few prior theories:
Heavenly Gang Qi was indeed made of lighter atomic nuclei.
While Earthly Fiend Qi consisted of very heavy ones.
On top of that, he’d consulted his master and others about the operational process of Foundation Establishment Pills.
His master’s Divine Thunder Pill confirmed something for him—the process of forming a pill indeed involved both fusion and fission.
It’s just that everyone’s pill produced different byproducts, likely due to differences in cultivation methods.
If he tried explaining Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Qi, or spiritual energy circulation, these two probably wouldn’t understand a thing.
But after translation efforts with Old Bai and others, he’d even drawn several pill process diagrams.
The two finally understood—and this had become one of Old Bai and the others’ main roles: essentially a translation team.
After finishing, Zheng Fa looked at the two expectantly.
“Director Zheng,” the middle-aged man thought for a bit before saying, “I don’t have a definitive answer to your question yet—but I think you already know, hydrogen bombs also involve both fusion and fission.”
Zheng Fa nodded.
They’d actually suspected that long ago.
But deep down, Zheng Fa didn’t fully agree with the explanation—
Sure, hydrogen bombs needed fission to power fusion, but from the process diagrams, it looked like spiritual energy could manage the fusion process on its own, without needing fission as an energy source.
That’s exactly how Yin-Yang Fusion worked.
On the other hand, Zheng Fa had always felt—cultivators didn’t form a Foundation Establishment Pill just to generate energy.
At that moment, the young man beside them spoke up.
“I was thinking, Director Zheng, you mentioned not understanding why the pill needs to produce energy—well, what if it’s for matter? From what I can see in these diagrams, the particles produced vary quite a bit, there seem to be differences.”
“Matter?”
Zheng Fa blinked.
Then suddenly turned to Tang Mu Dao.
Tang Mu Dao slapped his thigh, full of self-reproach. “I can’t believe I got stuck in the controlled nuclear fusion mindset too! Isn’t this cosmology? This kind of thing can produce all sorts of particles!”
Zheng Fa shook his head as well. The moment he saw fusion, he had thought of nuclear reactors—but in truth—this was exactly how the universe came into being.
In the early universe, it all began as a quark soup, fusing together step by step, until all sorts of matter were created.
In other words, through this most fundamental reaction, one could generate an entire universe!
Old Bai caught on too, and summarized, “So what you’re saying is, the Foundation Establishment Pill is actually a particle generator?”
Tang Mu Dao nodded. “That would also explain why there are two modes of reaction—materials with an atomic mass greater than iron are hard to synthesize through fusion. It’s easier to produce them via fission.”
“So—why is the pill producing matter?” Old Bai frowned.
“It probably has to do with the idea of forming a Nascent Soul...” Zheng Fa said, thinking out loud. “I just didn’t expect that in this so-called transformation into a Nascent Soul, even the particles would be self-generated...”
It was honestly ridiculous.
He knew the Xuanyi Realm ran on a kind of small-scale economy, priding itself on self-sufficiency—but this? Having to produce even that on your own—this was way too much internal cycling.
Then again, this might also be the reason why a cultivator undergoes a fundamental transformation starting at the Nascent Soul stage.
The new particles produced by the Foundation Establishment Pill form the Nascent Soul, and could even become the vessel for reaching Soul Formation later on—a true evolution of the essence of life.
“What’s your name?”
Looking at the young man who now seemed a bit dazed, Zheng Fa asked kindly.
The young man looked up, staring blankly at Zheng Fa, then glanced at Team Leader Yang beside him, who wore an envious expression.
Had he... just received a stroke of Heavenly Favor?