I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 97: The Reward

Zheng Fa activated his Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes and gazed at the young wheat plants.

Normally, winter wheat wouldn’t be harvested until late May or early June of the following year. At this stage, the seedlings had only just entered the tillering phase.

However, compared to ordinary wheat, these seedlings were growing far more vigorously.

Perhaps due to the nourishment of spiritual energy, the wheat stalks were tall and upright, their leaves a lush green.

Yet, under the perspective of the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes, there was no spiritual energy flowing within them.

Zheng Fa shook his head at Teacher Tian and Old Man Bai. “Spiritual plants should have the ability to contain spiritual energy. These wheat plants haven’t shown that trait yet.”

Teacher Tian and Old Man Bai exchanged glances, both looking a bit troubled. “We don’t know if that will change over time, but we might need to prepare for the worst.”

The worst-case scenario—these wheat plants were not spiritual plants at all.

The talisman shattered into golden fragments, scattering like fireworks over the wheat seedlings.

At first, the wheat plants remained unchanged.

But then, as the golden light settled, they suddenly began to grow at an astonishing rate.

The stalks stretched taller, their nodes extending, spikes forming, flowers blooming, and grains swelling and hardening. The color of the wheat slowly shifted from green to golden.

“…Matured?”

Teacher Tian adjusted her glasses and stared down at the ripened wheat field, then turned to Zheng Fa, as if unable to believe her own eyes.

She bent down and plucked a wheat spike, rubbing the grains free with her fingertips, then held them up for a closer inspection.

After a long moment, she finally set the wheat down and looked at Zheng Fa with a complicated expression.

“Teacher Tian?”

“It’s really mature. I researched this wheat variety before—the grains aren’t normally this large.” Her eyes carried a trace of awe. “This… is this what immortality is?”

Zheng Fa hadn’t expected the Longevity Talisman to be this effective.

Although he had refined this Yuan Talisman long ago, he had never used it before, as the agricultural research at the nursing home had never advanced enough to warrant it.

The talisman’s effective range wasn’t very large—only about two meters by two meters.

Yet within this area, every wheat plant had fully matured!

Thinking about it, Zheng Fa began to understand why.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, his divine sense had significantly improved. According to Senior Sister Zhang, while he hadn’t reached the level of a Golden Core cultivator, his divine sense was already at the late-stage Foundation Establishment level.

Now, when he used the Yuan Talismans from the Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Technique, their effects were comparable to top-tier Mysterious-Grade talismans.

“…I told you long ago—combining cultivation with agriculture has great potential!” Old Man Bai said proudly, as if this successful harvest were entirely his achievement.

Teacher Tian glanced at Zheng Fa, then at the wheat in her hands. Suddenly, a bright smile spread across her face.

“I almost can’t believe I’m not dead.”

“Huh?”

“To me, how is this place any different from heaven?”

…

After her excitement subsided, Zheng Fa and the others continued studying the newly ripened wheat.

As expected, despite its impressive growth, the wheat still couldn’t be classified as a spiritual plant—it contained no spiritual energy.

“Based on what we’ve observed so far, there are two possible explanations,” Teacher Tian said.

“First, not all plants can become spiritual plants. Only specific varieties may have that potential.”

“That’s very possible.”

Zheng Fa recalled the Xuanyi Realm. That world contained many plant species, but only a small fraction were considered true spiritual plants.

“The issue of varieties can be solved easily with more experiments. The second possibility is more complicated.” Teacher Tian continued, “Spiritual plants may require special environmental conditions to grow.”

“Special environment?”

“I mean, an ordinary spiritual energy environment might not be enough to cultivate spiritual plants.” She furrowed her brows. “I didn’t just plant one variety of winter wheat—I planted multiple types, including Jinhan, Changhan, and several others.”

Zheng Fa immediately understood her point.

She had already used a diverse selection of wheat varieties.

And yet, none of them had developed into spiritual plants.

It was possible that none of these varieties were suitable.

But it was also possible… that this environment simply couldn’t produce spiritual plants.

“This is just my hypothesis,” Teacher Tian reassured. “The issue of plant varieties can be resolved by simply growing more types.”

“Right.”

“And since you have a way to accelerate growth, we can conduct high-frequency experiments.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Zheng Fa. “If it’s just a matter of finding the right variety, we’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“No, he can only use that talisman three times in a short period.”

Old Man Bai muttered from the side.

“Only three times?” Teacher Tian seemed a bit disappointed, but quickly added, “Even three times is enough, as long as we use them efficiently.”

“It’s not just three times.” Zheng Fa corrected, “Now, I should be able to use it seventeen or eighteen times.”

Since reaching Foundation Establishment, his Yuan Talisman Foundation had stabilized, and he no longer faced the issue of a talisman disappearing after three uses.

However, using the talisman still drained his internal spiritual energy.

He needed to conserve enough energy to maintain the Lingshan Method.

Seventeen or eighteen times was the safe limit.

“…Huh?” Old Man Bai blinked. “How did that change?”

“I reached Foundation Establishment.”

Zheng Fa explained.

“Foundation Establishment!?” Old Man Bai exclaimed. “I thought cultivation was supposed to get harder the further you go! How are you advancing so fast? I’m still stuck at the second level of Qi Refining, and you’ve already reached Foundation Establishment?”

Zheng Fa had no good way to explain that.

“……”

Old Man Bai and the others were progressing rather slowly in cultivation—compared to disciples with the same aptitude at Jiushan Sect, they were downright sluggish.

One reason was that Old Man Bai’s talent wasn’t particularly outstanding; at most, he was only at a beginner level.

Another factor was that the nursing home’s spiritual energy relied entirely on Zheng Fa’s supply, making it rather thin.

On top of that, the Xuanyi Realm at least had spirit grain to supplement cultivation.

Take Tang Lingwu, for example—she seemed to have the potential of a single spiritual root, but after more than two months of cultivation, she still hadn’t broken through to the second level of Qi Refining.

“Well, at least Lingwu is keeping me company…” Old Man Bai sighed, seemingly trying to comfort himself.

Zheng Fa’s expression turned a bit strange as he glanced toward the house against the mountainside.

Tang Lingwu hadn’t come out at all today, which had already made him somewhat suspicious.

And now…

A small vortex of spiritual energy had appeared in the sky.

“This is…”

“Yeah, Tang Lingwu won’t be keeping you company anymore.”

Old Man Bai’s face darkened as he stared at the vortex.

…

“Zheng Fa! I reached the second level of Qi Refining!”

Tang Lingwu burst out of the house, beaming with excitement as she rushed over to Zheng Fa, eager to share the news.

“I saw.” Zheng Fa chuckled.

“Then… does that mean I can finally try Wind-Riding Technique?”

Tang Lingwu suddenly looked nervous.

Zheng Fa was momentarily stunned—he hadn’t expected her first thought after breaking through to be about that.

Looking at her hopeful expression, he sighed inwardly.

This girl… because of her past experiences, she seemed especially fascinated by flying techniques.

Perhaps, to Tang Lingwu, such techniques symbolized freedom.

She had begged him to teach her Wind-Riding Technique before.

But Zheng Fa had always refused—mainly because Spirit Eye Technique consumed little energy, while Wind-Riding Technique required much more. And back when she was only at the first level of Qi Refining, she simply didn’t have the spiritual energy to sustain it.

Who would have thought that she had been thinking about this all along, even working so hard to break through just for this technique?

“…Alright, you can give it a try.”

“Wait! A living person flying up into the sky? The villagers below the mountain might see.”

Old Man Bai quickly stopped her.

Tang Lingwu obediently nodded. “I’ll go deeper into the forest in a couple of days then.”

But the smile on her face dimmed a little.

“No need for that.” Zheng Fa smiled. “You can’t spend your whole life hiding. I have a solution.”

Tang Lingwu’s eyes lit up as she looked at him expectantly.

The solution, of course, was the Mirage Talisman.

This talisman had originally been created for their convenience in situations like this.

Now was a good chance to test it out.

Zheng Fa had Old Man Bai and Teacher Tian stand outside the nursing home’s entrance.

As the Mirage Talisman activated, it floated into the air, causing the sunlight in front of the nursing home to shimmer slightly.

It seemed like nothing had changed at all.

Once the talisman’s effects were in place, Zheng Fa nodded at Tang Lingwu.

She closed her eyes and started channeling Wind-Riding Technique.

Slowly, her body became as light as a feather, rising gently into the air.

Zheng Fa kept a close watch on her from below, ready to intervene if anything went wrong.

At first, Tang Lingwu was clumsy, occasionally letting out startled yelps.

But soon, those yelps turned into delighted gasps and soft laughter.

When she finally landed, her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

“I ran out of spiritual energy…”

Her tone was filled with longing, as if she still wanted to continue.

A while later, Old Man Bai and Teacher Tian returned from outside.

“Done flying?”

“Hm?”

“Tsk tsk…” Old Man Bai sounded a little impressed. “I saw absolutely nothing. We were standing right at the entrance, and we didn’t even notice anyone was inside.”

Tang Lingwu’s excitement grew even more.

“Then I want to try again tomorrow!”

“Go ahead.” Old Man Bai’s expression turned a little strange. “Just don’t wear a skirt next time.”

“……”

“You two really figured things out, huh? Some people saw nothing at all, while some saw everything.”

Old Man Bai glanced at Tang Lingwu, who was now blushing furiously as she clutched the hem of her skirt.

Then, he shifted his gaze to Zheng Fa with a look of disdain.

“No wonder you sent us outside!”

“……”

Zheng Fa didn’t even know what to say to that.

“Oh? So you’re saying you don’t want to go outside next time?” Teacher Tian’s voice carried a chilling undertone. “Then what exactly do you want to do?”

“……”

…

Tang Lingwu had completely fallen in love with flying.

Every day, she insisted on soaring around the area—this time, wearing pants.

Two days later, several large trucks suddenly pulled into the nursing home.

“…What’s this?”

“Tang Lingwu ordered agricultural lab equipment,” Old Man Bai replied, his tone odd. “Oh, and seeds—collected from all over the country.”

“She ordered all this so suddenly?”

“Well, you treated her well. The little rich girl had fun these past few days and got carried away.”

Old Man Bai smirked.

“You could think of it as… hmm, a reward.”