Book 2: Chapter 205: The Deep Pit |
Vol 2 Chapter 205: The Deep Pit
From the research process of Golden Core Engineering, Zheng Fa could already feel it—Jiushan Sect’s foundations were really lacking.
Among the four major Immortal Arts, only talisman techniques were somewhat decent.
Artifact crafting and pill refinement? Totally blank slates.
Formation techniques were barely passable thanks to Old Yuan’s talisman-based formation methods, but that just made them amateur-level.
And as for more obscure fields of knowledge, don’t even mention them.
Back then, when Senior Sister Zhang told him the Hundred Immortals Alliance was ranked sixth in the Xuanyi Realm…
He should’ve known better than to believe anything HR said during recruitment!
Now it seemed—being sixth was about right.
Now that he was in charge of the Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa was familiar with the sect’s entire inventory.
Put simply, they weren’t short on Nascent Soul-level inheritances—but there weren’t many either.
Anything beyond that? None at all.
After all, the only predecessor who ever came close to Soul Formation, the Jiushan Ancestor, ended up successfully cultivating into an artificial idiot…
As for rare-level secret techniques like external pill methods—those were legends they’d only heard of but never seen.
Say what you will, but just Xiao Yuying alone, with all her inherited legacies and treasures, probably surpassed the whole of Jiushan Sect.
Of course, this matter needed to be discussed with Senior Sister Zhang and even his Master.
“If we want to attract someone like Xiao Yuying, we’ll need to open access to some relatively confidential research and knowledge.”
Zheng Fa said to Old Yuan and the others.
At the side, Martial Uncle Pang slowly nodded and said:
“She’s powerful, with deep connections, and definitely not lacking in treasures… we’ll probably have to offer something real…”
“Is she the only one who’ll do?” Martial Aunt Huang frowned.
Zheng Fa explained, “Not necessarily. It’s not that she’s the only option, just that—relatively speaking—I trust her abilities more. If we’re going to collaborate, why not work with the best?”
At that, even Martial Aunt Huang said no more.
Xiao Yuying’s reputation for treasure hunting was widely known—even skeptics had to admit it.
What really convinced Zheng Fa was her insights on various secret realms—he’d already noticed that this Fairy Xiao seemed well-versed in restrictions from different eras, and she had unique perspectives on many legacies. Saying it was all luck would be underestimating her.
“True, she’s so wealthy that convincing her might be difficult, but the upside is… she won’t sell out for cheap gains.”
Senior Sister Zhang seemed to have thought about this too and offered that point.
Zheng Fa nodded in agreement.
Setting aside personal feelings, Xiao Yuying really was generous—whatever the reason, generous people were usually easier to cooperate with long-term.
Hearing this, Old Yuan spoke up: “In terms of ability, character, and personality, she really is the best choice—but convincing her won’t be easy.”
Everyone looked at Zheng Fa, who said, “I’ll talk to her. This is really a win-win.”
……
“External pill method, fine—but… you want me?”
Xiao Yuying blinked after hearing Zheng Fa out, summing it up.
Ahem.
Not a bad summary—but maybe don’t summarize like that in front of Senior Sister Zhang…
Standing nearby, Senior Sister Zhang gave Zheng Fa a sideways glance but said nothing.
Zheng Fa pushed the box containing the Qingyun Immortal Fruit toward Xiao Yuying and said, “Yes. If you want to study Electromagnetism, you don’t need to give the Qingyun Immortal Fruit—just trade it for the external pill method. But the Jiushan Realm needs someone like you as an archaeology instructor.”
“Archaeology instructor?”
“I hope you’ll share your experiences, insights, and lessons learned from exploring secret realms and ancient caves.”
Xiao Yuying seemed to get the gist of it.
She didn’t say anything, as if thinking it over.
Zheng Fa continued, “This position comes with a monthly allotment of merit points, which can be exchanged for spiritual materials…”
He trailed off.
Xiao Yuying, frankly, was a very direct person.
In front of Zheng Fa, she was being polite and patiently listening to him explain the benefits of being an archaeology instructor—but the look in her eyes couldn’t hide the astonishment.
If you translated that astonishment, it would probably be:
Are you trying to kill me with the three coins in your pocket?
……
“If I don’t agree, then does that mean I can’t study Electromagnetism?”
Xiao Yuying looked conflicted.
Clearly, she wasn’t too willing—but Electromagnetism meant a lot to her.
“No… Fairy Xiao, you’ve long been a friend of Jiushan Sect—how could I force you? If you can give me two external pill methods, of course I’ll keep my promise. As long as you sign a confidentiality agreement, we can discuss the lessons.”
Zheng Fa smiled gently and kindly.
Xiao Yuying’s eyes lit up, her expression turning grateful.
Senior Sister Zhang gave her a glance, eyes filled with subtle pity.
But Xiao Yuying didn’t notice that at all. A little embarrassed, she shoved the box with the Qingyun Immortal Fruit into Zheng Fa’s arms and explained, “Actually, I don’t mind teaching. It’s not that I don’t want to stay in the Jiushan Realm—I just enjoy roaming around… I can’t sit still. But if I do stay, I’ll definitely give lectures!”
“Totally understand!”
“Here, take this fruit!” Xiao Yuying beamed even more, pulling out several more boxes from her robe to gift to Zheng Fa.
Indeed—make a rich lady happy, and you’ll get richer!
Zheng Fa refused, but Xiao Yuying wouldn’t let it go!
“Fairy Xiao, you’re too kind,” Zheng Fa said. “I happen to have a transmission recording of Electromagnetism—taught by the greatest expert in the field, pointing straight to the source of the Dao! Other than Senior Sister Zhang and me, no one’s seen it yet. Why don’t we start you off with that class?”
Xiao Yuying blinked, visibly more excited.
There was even an uncontrollable hunger in her eyes.
Seeing that, Zheng Fa said, “How about we let you study it now?”
He led her into a classroom, sent out a few talismans, and a middle-aged man appeared in front of them.
“Alright, students, please open to the chapter on Maxwell’s Equations…”
Watching Xiao Yuying lock her bright gaze on the teacher, Zheng Fa quietly closed the door behind him and waited outside.
He swore, he hadn’t exaggerated a single word—this teacher was the highest-rated Electromagnetism professor at Jingcheng University!
In other words, Zheng Fa had opened up the Jiushan Realm’s deepest knowledge on Electromagnetism just for her!
Sincere, right?
Of course…
“Fairy Xiao? How’s it going?”
An hour later, he stepped into the classroom and saw Xiao Yuying still sitting in her seat, with an expression that defied description—
She looked like someone who’d been brutally bullied by unknowable knowledge.
Her face was full of confusion and self-doubt…
“One class…” Xiao Yuying seemed to still be recovering and slowly said, “I think I understood… five sentences.”
“?”
“Since everyone’s able to sit here, we can skip this simple stuff…”
“I don’t need to solve this equation for you, right…”
“It’s easy to see that…”
“You’ve all learned this before, so I won’t go over it…”
“Class dismissed…”
The more Xiao Yuying spoke, the more her face took on an expression like she was reliving a traumatic memory: “I don’t know who he was teaching, but it definitely wasn’t me.”
After speaking, she looked at Zheng Fa, squinting her eyes, and said coldly, “Did you do that on purpose?”
“Yes!”
“……”
Xiao Yuying hadn’t expected him to actually admit it!
“Fairy Xiao, I just wanted you to realize that Electromagnetism is much harder than you thought,” Zheng Fa explained at this point.
It was perfectly normal for Xiao Yuying to not understand it.
To take this course, you had to at least know calculus, right?
“What I mean is, Fairy Xiao, if you really want to learn this subject well, it’ll probably take some time…”
Of course, maybe Xiao Yuying was a true genius, but going from virtually no knowledge of modern math to fully grasping Electromagnetism—that would still take quite a while.
Zheng Fa paused.
Smiling as he looked at Xiao Yuying.
The message was very clear—since you can’t finish it anytime soon, why not stay… and be a teacher?
Xiao Yuying opened her mouth, but couldn’t find any words to say.
After all, she had just said that she wasn’t agreeing because she didn’t want to stay in the Jiushan Realm for too long.
More importantly, what Zheng Fa was actually telling her was—Electromagnetism only cost her the price of an external pill method.
As for the other knowledge… that would cost extra!
The problem was—without that extra knowledge, she wouldn’t be able to learn Electromagnetism at all!
“Fairy Xiao, I didn’t mean to deceive you, I just wanted you to understand—this discipline is far deeper and broader than you imagined…” Zheng Fa said, seeing her expression, “What you studied before… was just scratching the surface.”
Xiao Yuying froze, and only after a long while did she frown and nod.
She understood Zheng Fa’s point—the harder it was, the more she could gain from studying Electromagnetism.
“Be an archaeology teacher… I can give it a try…” she said after a while, though her tone sounded reluctant, and she quickly added, “Once I finish learning Electromagnetism, I’m not teaching anymore…”
Zheng Fa smiled and nodded, looking completely unconcerned.
Physics—this was a deep pit that was hard to climb back out of once you fell in…
Who says… you can ever finish learning Electromagnetism?
Who says… Electromagnetism is the limit of the Dao?
The thing with Electromagnetism is, as you study it, you might just end up diving into quantum mechanics…
Too many have fallen into this pit—and Zheng Fa thought Xiao Yuying looked just like one of them.
To him, she looked like a future lifelong professor…
……
“Junior Brother, why didn’t you bring up the archaeology collaboration?”
Once Xiao Yuying left, Senior Sister Zhang asked.
Zheng Fa shook his head and said, “She’s still a bit reluctant. Bringing it up now would be pointless.”
Senior Sister Zhang heard this and nodded slowly.
Clearly, Xiao Yuying still didn’t truly want to stay in the Jiushan Realm. Bringing it up now would indeed have little effect.
“I’ll wait until she’s in a better mood to bring it up again. It’s not urgent anyway—the archaeology collaboration will have to wait until after the Golden Core Engineering project.”
Besides…
She’s not going anywhere.
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