I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 62 – Research

For Zheng Fa, cultivating the Lingshan Method wasn’t about making money or gaining status—it was about research.

It wasn’t just about the fact that the Lingshan Method could create a spiritual energy environment.

Even the process of practicing the method itself was something Zheng Fa viewed as a critical experiment.

Right now, he felt as if the two Awakening Talismans had linked him to Hong Mountain, forming a massive energy cycle.

The spiritual power in his dantian flowed out through this invisible connection, merging into Hong Mountain’s spiritual veins. Then, through those same veins, it returned to his dantian once again.

When the energy left his body, the refined spiritual power he had painstakingly cultivated was dense and heavy, almost like liquid mercury.

But when it flowed back into him, it had transformed into cloud-like spiritual energy—or in other words, it had reverted to pure spiritual qi.

Zheng Fa carefully observed the entire process.

But for someone like Zheng Fa, who had been educated in modern science, there was always that one extra question—

Why does spiritual qi transform into spiritual power?

And more importantly—what is the fundamental difference between them?

He had already formed a basic hypothesis, which could be represented by a simple equation:

Spiritual Power = Spiritual Qi + Soul Influence + Meridians' Energy Path

This wasn’t even a theory, just a simplified summary of the cultivation process.

Essentially, in the Xuanyi Realm, cultivation was simply:

Absorbing spiritual qi

Guiding it through specific meridians using the soul’s influence

Storing the refined energy within the body

This seemed obvious, but Zheng Fa believed that understanding this process in depth was crucial.

If he could fully grasp the mechanism behind it, then he would essentially have insight into all cultivation techniques in the Xuanyi Realm.

And if he pushed this research even further…

Perhaps he could create an entirely new cultivation method tailored specifically for himself—

Just like how discovering electromagnetic induction eventually led to the invention of generators.

Now, practicing the Lingshan Method was a way to test his theory.

By observing the reverse transformation—from spiritual power back to spiritual qi—he could verify whether his hypothesis was partially correct.

To his surprise, the results supported his theory.

The spiritual qi forming in his dantian was now completely uncontrollable, no longer responding to his soul's influence like spiritual power did.

In other words—spiritual qi lacked the influence of the soul.

This meant his hypothesis was at least partially valid.

Additionally, through the Lingshan Method, Zheng Fa derived another equation:

Spiritual Qi = Spiritual Power - Soul Influence + Spiritual Veins' Energy Path

His eyes flashed with excitement.

Even though this was just a small confirmation of a simple theory, making such progress right at the start of his Lingshan Method training still thrilled him. Ɽ𝙖𝐍ɵ𝐁ÊŠ

—

"What's going on? Did it work?"

Old Bai, seeing the smile on Zheng Fa’s face, immediately asked.

For him, whether or not Zheng Fa succeeded in practicing the Lingshan Method was a huge deal.

Zheng Fa’s eyes glowed silver as he examined his surroundings.

In essence, within the Lingshan Method, his role was similar to that of a power source, while Hong Mountain acted like a massive circuit board—

It converted his spiritual power into spiritual qi.

But since he was only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, the amount of spiritual qi produced was extremely thin, covering a radius of only ten meters.

This was normal.

According to the Lingshan Method’s teachings, a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator could only generate enough spiritual qi for a few people to practice—

And even then, those people would only be able to reach the first level of Qi Refining.

But for now, that was enough to help Old Bai and Tang Lingwu get started.

"You guys don't feel anything different?" Zheng Fa asked.

Old Bai looked around blankly and shook his head. "Nothing seems different."

"There's definitely a change," Tang Lingwu suddenly spoke up. "My phone lost signal just now… and now it’s completely shut off."

Zheng Fa was stunned. He quickly pulled out his own phone.

Its screen was black. It had apparently crashed due to some unknown error.

He looked over at Old Bai.

Old Bai also checked his phone, then shook his head.

"Does this mean… spiritual qi interferes with electronics?" Zheng Fa frowned.

"Not just interference," Old Bai corrected. "If it were just interference, we'd still see weird signal issues—but this is full shutdown. The spiritual qi must have disrupted the internal circuits."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa couldn't help but think back to a previous curiosity of his.@@novelbin@@

In the Xuanyi Realm, mathematics was strangely advanced—possibly because it wasn’t intuitive in a world dominated by cultivation.

But electromagnetic induction, on the other hand, was incredibly intuitive—especially for lightning cultivators.

They had extreme sensitivity to electrical energy and could generate high-voltage currents at will.

Even if by accident, any lightning cultivator standing near a metal object and releasing energy should have noticed metal becoming magnetized.

Now, it seemed that spiritual qi might be the reason this never happened.

Thinking about it, Zheng Fa suddenly recalled Senior Brother Zhuang's theory—

That spiritual qi was actually a "poison" to the world.

Now, that idea sounded strangely plausible.

Of course, even if Xuanyi Realm cultivators eventually discovered this phenomenon, would it lead to an energy revolution?

Zheng Fa highly doubted it.

Spiritual qi was just too useful.

—

"This might actually be a good thing," Old Bai mused.

"At least now, we don’t have to worry about anyone using electronic devices to spy on us."

Zheng Fa nodded.

Seeing the anticipation in Old Bai’s expression, he knew the old man was getting impatient.

He turned and headed back to his room, opening his suitcase and pulling out five books.

Crimson Sky Technique (Fire)

Azure Water Technique (Water)

Everlasting Spring Art (Wood)

Gengjin Metal Technique (Metal)

Yellow Earth Art (Earth)

These were beginner cultivation manuals from Jiushan Sect, each corresponding to one of the five elements.

For Old Bai and Tang Lingwu, this was their first step into the world of cultivation.

The first priority in choosing a cultivation technique for Old Bai and Tang Lingwu was safety.

It had to be a technique with detailed annotations, one that was so well-documented and stable that even if they tried, it would be nearly impossible for them to go astray in their cultivation.

"What are these?" Old Bai asked, flipping through the books.

"Try them one by one," Zheng Fa said. "Whichever technique you can cultivate the fastest, that’s the one you’ll use."

This was a crude method, but since Zheng Fa didn’t have a way to test their spiritual roots, it was the best option available.

—The struggles of being a Daoist pioneer in the modern world.

In some ways, the modern era was like an enhanced version of the Xuanyi Realm during a spiritual decline—

No spiritual plants.
No spirit stones.
No standard cultivation tools that the Xuanyi Realm took for granted.

But on the bright side, developing a brand-new cultivation system from scratch would allow Zheng Fa to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental nature of cultivation itself.

To this day, Zheng Fa still wasn’t entirely sure what spiritual roots actually were.

He had a theory—based on what he had observed about spiritual qi transforming into spiritual power.

Two factors seemed to determine the process:

The soul’s influence.

The specific meridian pathways that guided spiritual qi.

If that was the case, then spiritual roots were probably related to these energy pathways in some way.

But what exactly was the connection? He needed more evidence.

—

Old Bai and Tang Lingwu exchanged glances and each picked a book.

Old Bai chose Yellow Earth Art.

Tang Lingwu picked Everlasting Spring Art.

They skimmed through their chosen manuals, their expressions soon turning into deep frowns.

These were cultivation techniques from the Xuanyi Realm—completely different from anything modern people had ever encountered.

Many of the concepts were utterly foreign to them.

"This is… complicated," Tang Lingwu muttered.

"I’ll teach you," Zheng Fa reassured them. "The beginning is always the hardest."

He had already expected this issue.

Sitting down in front of them, he carefully took both books and began explaining each section in detail.

Fortunately, both of them had previously practiced Linghe Body, so they had at least some foundation.

But even then, there were still many technical terms that had to be broken down and explained.

Since this was their first attempt at real cultivation, Zheng Fa was extremely patient, meticulously guiding them through every step.

—

What surprised him, however—

Old Bai seemed to have some prior experience.

He understood cultivation terminology remarkably well.

Terms like meridians, meditation, breath circulation, and sitting posture—he was already familiar with them all.

"Am I stupid?" Tang Lingwu looked at Zheng Fa with a bit of frustration.

Zheng Fa shook his head.

He was just as confused.

Tang Lingwu was definitely not stupid. When Zheng Fa had first learned these things, his progress wasn’t much better than hers.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at Old Bai, now deep in thought.

"Old Bai," Zheng Fa said slowly. "What have you been reading lately?"

"…Ahem."

Old Bai scratched his head, looking a little sheepish.

"I, uh… bought a few Daoist scriptures and read through them."

Tang Lingwu stared at Old Bai in disbelief.

Her expression was almost identical to how Wang Chen used to look at Zheng Fa—

You’re grinding this hard?!

—

Once they actually started cultivating, Zheng Fa became even more certain—

Old Bai had definitely practiced something before.

His meditation posture was perfect.

He also entered a deep cultivation state far faster than Tang Lingwu.

Tang Lingwu, meanwhile, was starting to feel a little anxious.

Old Bai, sensing this, offered some encouragement.

"Don’t worry! Once I figure this out, I’ll teach you all my tricks!"

—

Zheng Fa’s strategy was simple—

Each of them would test all five techniques, and he would use Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes to observe their spiritual qi absorption rates.

This way, he could determine which technique worked best for each of them.

To his relief, both of them were able to absorb spiritual qi successfully.

This meant they both had spiritual roots.

But from what Zheng Fa could tell, spiritual roots weren’t simply a yes-or-no trait.

It was a matter of quality rather than existence.

—

After testing all five techniques, the results were clear:

Old Bai was best suited for Yellow Earth Art, absorbing the most spiritual qi with it.

Tang Lingwu had exceptional compatibility with Everlasting Spring Art.

And when Zheng Fa said exceptional, he meant exceptional.

Watching Tang Lingwu’s absorption rate, Zheng Fa glanced at Old Bai with a knowing look.

Based on her speed—Tang Lingwu might have a single spiritual root.

Which meant she was a genius.

—

As Old Bai and Tang Lingwu fully immersed themselves in cultivation, Zheng Fa kept a close watch on them.

This was their first time—if anything went wrong, he had to intervene immediately.

A while later, Old Bai slowly opened his eyes.

His face was filled with excitement as he turned to Zheng Fa.

"Zheng Fa, I tried all five, and Yellow Earth Art is definitely the best fit! I think I’ve already managed to refine a bit of spiritual qi!"

Zheng Fa held up a hand, signaling for him to be quiet.

He pointed at Tang Lingwu.

A tiny spiritual qi vortex was forming over her head—

She was already advancing to the next stage.

Old Bai froze, then turned to look at Tang Lingwu.

His expression shifted.

It was the exact same look Wang Chen used to give Zheng Fa—

Why the hell is she this talented?!

—

Xuanyi Realm.

Zheng Fa had just finished writing down his observations about the Lingshan Method and its implications.

Just as he was reviewing his notes, Senior Sister Yuan suddenly burst into the room.

"Zheng Junior Brother!"

Her face was pale with shock.

"Uncle-Master Huang just sent word—Changchun Sect has been wiped out!"

"Senior Sister Zhang has gone missing, and the surviving disciples were ambushed!"