Book 2: Chapter 187: Microscopic World, Jiushan Paradise |
Vol 2 Chapter 187: Microscopic World, Jiushan Paradise
"This... doesn’t really show anything."
Staring at the Xuanlei Stone under the microscopic formation, Martial Uncle Pang frowned.
That wasn’t surprising.
The microscopic formation wasn’t more precise than the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes, so just relying on it, the three of them hadn’t discovered anything new.
Zheng Fa said nothing, but his eyes began to glow silver—he had known the limitations of the microscopic formation all along. This attempt was merely to see if it could work in tandem with the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes.
The Xuanlei Stone shifted once again, revealing a new scene.
He seemed to be seeing a tiny universe, dotted with starlike clusters and swirling purple, chaotic clouds.
Useful!
Actually, he hadn’t been sure before, because the limitations of an optical microscope didn’t come from the material, but from the nature of light—put simply, light diffracts when it encounters objects at very small scales.
In other words, if the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes operated on the same principle as an optical microscope, they wouldn’t be able to bypass that limit either.
But now it seemed the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes didn’t work that way.
Looking at those nebula-like clusters in the “void,” Zheng Fa couldn’t help but smile.
"Hmm?"
Seeing his expression, Senior Sister Zhang and Martial Uncle Pang exchanged a glance, then activated their Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes to look at the Xuanlei Stone.
"This…"
Martial Uncle Pang looked stunned.
"Martial Uncle has never seen this kind of phenomenon?"
Zheng Fa asked curiously.
There were countless great cultivators in the Xuanyi Realm—Zheng Fa highly suspected this microscopic world wasn’t a secret to them.
Martial Uncle Pang shook his head, sighing a little, "My cultivation’s limited, I really haven’t… What exactly is this?"
Zheng Fa also shook his head.
If this were in the modern world, he might have guessed they were molecules or something—but the Xuanlei Stone was different. In those misty areas of the nebulae, there was dense spiritual energy!
Zheng Fa’s thoughts stirred. He reached out and gestured toward the outside.
There was a pile of stones outside the room—used by the disciples for recent construction.
A white stone flew into Zheng Fa’s hand. He placed it under the microscopic formation. Comparing it with the Xuanlei Stone’s microscopic structure, the conclusion became clear—
"The difference between spiritual materials and non-spiritual materials is whether these ‘cloud clusters’ contain spiritual energy? And this spiritual energy is fixed?"
Martial Uncle Pang frowned.
Zheng Fa nodded, a look of realization and confusion on his face.
It was normal for spiritual materials to contain spiritual energy, but this observation made something else clear to Zheng Fa—it seemed there might be so-called spiritual energy molecules? Or spiritual energy atoms?
Martial Uncle Pang had used a perfect word—fixed.
Spiritual energy was called “energy” because of its volatile, ever-changing nature.
But the energy in these nebulae was extremely stable, with no signs of movement—which made Zheng Fa curious: what kept the energy gathered in these clusters, preventing it from dispersing?
The effects of the microscopic formation and the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes couldn’t be fully stacked.
He tried to see the details within the “cloud clusters,” but couldn’t quite manage it.
Zheng Fa then tried studying the bronze coffin they had captured earlier and the blood-colored flying sword that had belonged to the Ancestor of the Blood River—both showed similar spiritual energy cloud structures.
Just arranged more regularly, and more densely.
"The size of these three types of cloud clusters and the amount of spiritual energy they contain differ greatly," Zheng Fa summarized, "but the bronze coffin and the flying sword seem to have some similarities."
Both Martial Uncle Pang and Senior Sister Zhang nodded.
"The cloud clusters in the bronze coffin have less spiritual energy, and the flying sword a bit more," Senior Sister Zhang said, "but they seem to come from the same source."
"They both belonged to people from the Great Freedom Demonic Sect, so the similarity makes sense…" Martial Uncle Pang frowned, "Shame we can’t see the details."
"Now there’s a question…"
After thinking for a while, Zheng Fa suddenly spoke.
Martial Uncle Pang twitched his lips but perked up to listen.
"Are the types of these spiritual energy cloud clusters infinite…"
"What difference does that make?"
Martial Uncle Pang looked puzzled.
Zheng Fa shook his head.
Of course, Martial Uncle Pang and the others wouldn’t understand the difference—but Zheng Fa had a thought he couldn’t confirm—
If the types of these clusters were limited, he’d suspect they leaned toward the atomic level, since atoms in the material world are finite in number.
If they were infinite… then they’d lean toward molecules.
"That’s simple enough," Senior Sister Zhang spoke, "There are plenty of spiritual materials in Jiushan Realm. If we study enough of them, we’ll know whether they’re infinite or not."
Zheng Fa nodded.
Martial Uncle Pang suddenly started laughing, excitedly saying, "Leave this to me!"
"Hmm?"
Martial Uncle Pang looked at the microscopic formation in front of him, his tone full of joy: "This microscopic formation could be considered a secret art branch of my Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes…"
"And it’s so simple."
"Once I figure it out, my Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes might reach a new level."
"Then I’ll leave it to you, Martial Uncle."
Zheng Fa felt happy too—Martial Uncle Pang was the one he had in mind to carry the “microscope” torch. If he could evolve the technique on his own, all the better.
Martial Uncle Pang was still muttering with excitement:
"It’s not just spiritual materials—we should look at magic tools too…"
"And those spiritual plants in the medicine garden—I want to see them too!"
"You go handle your business. Your master’s been nagging you about the Sect Master Ceremony every day… and you keep putting it off."
"I’m waiting for Yan Wushuang and the others—they’re almost here."
His master had been wanting to pass down the title for a while, but the Sect Master Ceremony wasn’t so simple.
Though the Jiushan Sect now lived in peace in their own realm, the ceremony still needed to invite a few outsiders to attend—to formally notify them and let everyone bear witness: the new head of Jiushan Sect was surnamed Zheng.
Don’t look for the wrong guy.
Zheng Fa didn’t need to worry about the guests his master invited.
But he had invited a few people himself—literally just a few.
One was Yan Wushuang, since he still wanted to do business with him in the future.
One was Xiao Yuying, who had helped Jiushan Sect before—it was only right to invite her.
As for the rest, Zheng Fa had also sent a letter to the Seventh Young Master, though the latter hadn’t replied last time—he wasn’t sure if he’d get a response this time.
There were no others besides these three.
It wasn’t that Zheng Fa was being aloof—first, he truly wasn’t good at handling social affairs; second, the Sect Master Ceremony was being held within Jiushan Realm. Allowing outsiders to enter Jiushan Realm meant their lives and deaths were entirely in Zheng Fa’s hands. Apart from these few people, Zheng Fa figured no one else would be willing to take that risk.
...
When Yan Wushuang received the message, the Sunset Sword Immortal Elder Han was standing beside him. The two true disciples from Haori Mountain and the Supreme Dao were already gone.
"What is it? Another message from your father?"
"No, it’s from Brother Zheng." When Yan Wushuang received the message talisman and took a look, he couldn’t hide his surprise. He actually exclaimed, "Brother Zheng is becoming Sect Master?"
"Hmm?"
Elder Han was also stunned.
He thought for a moment and said, "Zheng Fa—could it be he reached the Golden Core stage?"
As soon as he said that, he recalled the spiritual presence on the message talisman just now and shook his head in denial: "No, the divine soul is indeed unusually powerful, no weaker than Golden Core, but there’s no real change from before."
Yan Wushuang nodded at his words. The two of them exchanged glances, both finding it rather unbelievable.
"The former Sect Master of Jiushan Sect is really carefree… Zheng Fa is only at Foundation Establishment, yet they’re letting him take over."
"It’s not hard to understand, though. Jiushan Realm is under Zheng Fa’s control now… It’s just a bit soon." Elder Han nodded. "He sent a message inviting you to attend the Sect Master Ceremony?"
Yan Wushuang nodded.
Elder Han wasn’t surprised and simply brought up another topic: "So your father’s asking you to return—what do you think?"
Yan Wushuang looked a little dazed.
"He said this place is dangerous now, and those two companions of mine were also summoned back."
The two of them were concealed outside a small mortal city.
There used to be a small market under the city walls, but now no one came by.
Looking out from the market, it was desolate farmland. It should’ve been harvest season, but there were no farmers, no crops.
Only clumps of weeds swayed in the wind.
"The Great Freedom Demonic Sect…" Elder Han said quietly, "They were holding back hard in the hidden realm."
Yan Wushuang looked back and saw one or two disciples from the Great Freedom Demonic Sect leaning against the city gate, laughing and chatting without a care, their faces full of smugness.
Looking further into the city,
the shops lining the streets were all open, but there were no customers—only people wearing the Demonic Sect’s robes wandered about, seemingly shopping. But judging by the shopkeepers’ expressions, they probably didn’t dare ask for money.
Whether they were even willing to keep their shops open was questionable.
"Why is the Great Freedom Demonic Sect like this?"
Seeing such bleak scenes, and recalling all the tragic things he’d heard along the way, Yan Wushuang couldn’t help but ask.
To be fair, Immortal Sects weren’t kind to mortals, but they didn’t take everything—put simply, their attitude was one of aloof indifference.
"Too many people," Elder Han gave an unexpected answer.
"Too many people?"
"There’s no fundamental difference in how Immortal Sects and Demonic Sects treat mortals..." Elder Han’s words stunned Yan Wushuang a bit, as he continued, "But their scale is vastly different."
"Our Immortal Sect disciples are carefully chosen, mostly with good talent. Mortal things don’t help cultivation much, so we don’t pay them much attention."
"But Demonic Sect techniques… are bound by bloodlines. The more offspring you have, the higher the chance a genius will appear."
Yan Wushuang suddenly understood: "But the resources for cultivation remain limited, so most people in the Demonic Sects never get a chance to cultivate—and yet, they’re inherently superior."
"Exactly." Elder Han smiled. "If you claim everyone in the Demonic Sect is born evil, I’d say that’s not necessarily true. Are all the people in the Immortal Sects saints?"
Yan Wushuang nodded. He knew Elder Han had always harbored some resentment toward the Immortal Sects—but on the other hand, what he said was true.
"But the Demonic Sects do plunder more viciously, and are crueler to mortals. Apart from some cultivation methods requiring killing, I believe the true reason is the sheer difference in scale."
"Look at the Great Freedom Demonic Sect—the hidden realm had billions of people. After emerging, every one of them thinks they’re superior—if they don’t squeeze the land dry, how are they supposed to survive?"
Yan Wushuang fell into thought, and as he looked again at the sights before him, he felt a strange sense of realization.
"So you must understand, the Demonic Sect is naturally despised, but becoming the leader of a faction isn’t easy. Good and evil alone can’t define a sect."
"I still say, there’s no great difference between Immortal Sects and Demonic Sects."
Yan Wushuang knew Elder Han was deliberately trying to teach him something, and he nodded: "Disciple understands."
As they talked, they made their way toward Jiushan Realm.
Elder Han seemed full of thoughts, using everything they saw along the way to educate Yan Wushuang.
They saw refugees with sallow faces.
People trading dignity for food.
People trading their bodies for food.
People… trading their wives and children for food.
They even witnessed things that Yan Wushuang could no longer bear to ignore—which led to him being hunted by the Great Freedom Demonic Sect.
With Elder Han protecting him, he was fine, but his eyes now held a certain sadness, and his face showed a touch of cold fury.
"Now you understand why your father told you to go back?"
Seeing this, Elder Han chuckled softly.
Yan Wushuang nodded.
"This is just the beginning, isn’t it?"
Elder Han agreed:
"Of course. The Hundred Immortals Alliance retreated quickly, and the Great Freedom Demonic Sect barely had to lift a finger. Things are still relatively tame for now."
"But the Immortal Sects and Demonic Sects can’t stay peaceful forever."
"Once war breaks out, things could get even worse for these people."
"The Demonic Sect exploits them—if the Immortal Sects panic, they won’t hold back either."
Yan Wushuang didn’t reply—he simply kept intervening more frequently along the way.
With Elder Han by his side, he was never in danger, but the road was full of turbulence.
When they finally neared Jiushan Realm, they stopped drawing attention, not wanting to cause trouble for Zheng Fa.
In a range of mountains, Yan Wushuang released a spirit talisman shaped like a paper kite, and a gateway appeared before the two of them.
Martial Uncle Pang stepped out from the gate and said apologetically, "Martial Nephew Zheng is currently receiving Zhenren Tongming, so I was sent to greet you both. Please come in!"
Yan Wushuang and Elder Han both nodded—Zhenren Tongming had reached Soul Formation, so of course, he was more honored.
The two followed Martial Uncle Pang into the Heavenly Palace.
As soon as Yan Wushuang entered, he began looking around eagerly.
The Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace resembled a courtyard with three layers.
The outermost consisted of three islands, with Heavenly Palace Island at the center, connected by rainbow bridges to the medicine garden and an island designated to become a marketplace in the future.
Disciples called these the Outer Three Islands.
In the middle, there were three more islands. Letu Island was the largest and also the central one.
It was connected to Seeking Immortality Island and Ten Thousand Immortals Island, which served as the residential areas for disciples and Nascent Soul cultivators, respectively.
These were the Middle Three Islands.
Of the three innermost islands, two were the ones Zheng Fa valued most.
Economic Development Island was designated as the future industrial production zone.
University Island was where the classrooms and laboratories were located.
As for the last island, Zheng Fa hadn’t planned its use yet.
These made up the Inner Three Islands.
The central axis ran from Heavenly Palace Island, through Letu Island, to University Island.
Martial Uncle Pang and the others were walking this route.
Yan Wushuang looked around curiously. Though he had been to the Heavenly Palace before, he hadn’t seen these islands, so everything felt new.
Martial Uncle Pang naturally gave an introduction along the way.
"Heavenly Palace Island just now is mainly overseen by the Administrative Hall."
"We’ve arrived at Letu Island," Martial Uncle Pang said. "Letu Island is mostly populated by mortals—the ones who came with us into Jiushan Realm."
Yan Wushuang and Elder Han turned to look.
Letu Island was now partially developed.
The three hundred thousand people had formed four to five hundred villages, scattered throughout the island.
The village houses were all newly built. For the sake of convenience, they looked pretty much the same—white walls, black-tiled small courtyards, neat and orderly, clustered row by row.
From within the villages, the sound of children reading aloud could be faintly heard.
"What’s this…"
"Martial Nephew Zheng’s idea—he’s pushing some sort of compulsory education… says that all school-aged children must study. These mortals were already knowledgeable enough to follow us here, so naturally they welcomed it."
Elder Han nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
Yan Wushuang didn’t think much of it—only the hostility on his face seemed to have quietly faded a little.
Outside the village, many farmers were heading into the fields with hoes over their shoulders, their wives beside them.
The newly planted rice seedlings were already sprouting some green.
As the group walked a bit further and passed another village, it seemed the children had just been let out of school. Some of the more sensible ones ran to bring food to their parents. Laughter and cheerful voices filled the fields.
Yan Wushuang and Elder Han unconsciously slowed their steps.
What surprised them even more was the presence of cultivators moving among the fields, surrounded by farmers who appeared to be asking questions—without fear.
The cultivator didn’t look particularly friendly, but answered every question. Upon closer listening, it turned out he was guiding the farmers on how to farm.
If the farmers asked him to visit their homes to help, he would pause a moment and reply that he had time in a few days.
"This…"
Even Elder Han was stunned by the sight.
"This too is Martial Nephew Zheng’s idea—he called it an Agricultural Guidance Center. People can earn contribution points from it, and surprisingly, everyone’s really into it."
Seeing they were still confused, Martial Uncle Pang smiled and added, "Honestly, we don’t really understand it either—Martial Nephew Zheng is always saying things like ‘cultivation is not such a shallow thing…’"
Elder Han and Yan Wushuang were still baffled.
"Martial Nephew Zheng also said that we immortals are fundamentally rooted in the mortal world. If mortals venerate cultivators, then cultivators have a duty to help mortals."
"It’s all a bunch of unheard-of logic… We can’t really argue against it either."
Martial Uncle Pang muttered.
Yan Wushuang glanced at Elder Han, then looked at the distant cultivator surrounded by villagers—clearly uncomfortable, yet still doing his best—and his mind filled with memories of the things he had seen in the outside world.
He stayed silent for a long time.
Until they arrived at University Island.
On University Island, Zheng Fa was standing with the Sect Master, Senior Sister Zhang, and others, receiving Zhenren Tongming.
Zhenren Tongming had brought quite a few people.
Most of them were Nascent Soul cultivators, but one among them stood out for behaving very strangely. He wasn’t old, his cultivation wasn’t high, just Qi Refining, yet he stood quite close to the front.
He kept his head down, seemingly not daring to look up in the presence of so many powerful figures.
But he couldn’t help himself, and kept sneaking glances—at Zheng Fa.
"I hear this disciple from Qingmu Sect has quite a connection with you…"
Zhenren Tongming seemed to remember something and pointed at the person.
Zheng Fa looked at the hunched, awkward Seventh Young Master in front of him, startled and delighted—he’d been sending messages to him all this time and hadn’t expected that Zhenren Tongming would actually bring him along.
He couldn’t help but smile, "This is an old friend of mine. I’d been worried about him recently."
"Sect Master Zheng need not worry. Qingmu Sect was in the middle of relocating not long ago, so it’s normal for communication to be spotty."
The Seventh Young Master blinked at the words "Sect Master Zheng" and stared at Zheng Fa with a dazed expression—
Like he was dreaming.