Book 2: Chapter 236: Reverse Engineering, The Truth of the Wood Element
Vol 2 Chapter 236: Reverse Engineering, The Truth of the Wood Element
Zheng Fa looked over the jade slip in his hand again, his expression focused, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Old Yuan and the other both noticed that Zheng Fa was deeply interested in this immortal formation method.
The two exchanged a glance and burst out laughing, their eyes filled with pride.
“How is it?”
Old Yuan asked.
“With this immortal formation method...” Zheng Fa looked up and said generously, “Master, Martial Uncle, you both deserve to be enshrined in the Hall of Esteemed Sages.”
“Pah!” Old Yuan waved his hand and said, “What are the two of us doing competing with those disciples?”
“Exactly!” Martial Uncle Pang nodded.
“Though it’s true that your Martial Uncle and I haven’t studied any secret techniques together in all these years, which is rather moving.” “Indeed, you were the one who taught me talisman techniques back then, Senior Brother. In a flash, it’s been thousands of years…”
“This immortal formation method was just a sudden flash of insight. Compared to the bond between us as brothers, it’s nothing, nothing at all.”
“You’re absolutely right… hmm?”
Martial Uncle Pang looked suspiciously at his senior brother.
“Oh, and your Martial Uncle contributed some insignificant bit too.”
“…You bastard, Yuan!”
Zheng Fa: …No wonder you two haven’t worked together for thousands of years.
But from Master’s joke, he could tell that their relationship had genuinely improved.
Especially his Master—after stepping down from the sect leader position, he had become livelier, more carefree in his speech, and in doing so, many rifts among the older generation had healed without anyone realizing.
Seeing Zheng Fa smile at them, Old Yuan added:
“The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor’s cultivation is beyond our grasp, but with this immortal formation method, we won’t be your burden in the future. If anyone dares to bully Jiushan Sect, we’ll show them what united strength really looks like!”
Zheng Fa felt a warm glow in his heart.
The immortal formation method was derived from talisman formations, but because of the talisman and spell integration in the Xuanyi Realm, it was essentially two sides of the same coin. That’s why it could use people as substitutes for talismans. ṙ𝘈ℕо𝐛ЕS
From what Master said, he now understood why the two elders had worked on this—
First, of course, was Zheng Fa’s dedication to promoting knowledge sharing among Jiushan Realm cultivators, bridging many gaps in understanding.
Previously, Old Yuan mastered talisman formations, while Martial Uncle Pang was skilled in the Linked Talisman technique. They both knew of each other’s talents, but since these were secret arts, they weren’t easily shared—only passed to personal disciples.
After entering Jiushan Realm, following Zheng Fa’s ideals, both started teaching their techniques openly on University Island, and naturally didn’t hide anything from each other anymore.
Over time, mutual insights were bound to emerge.
This immortal formation technique not only bore the marks of talisman formation and Linked Talisman techniques, but also subtly reflected Senior Sister Zhang’s spiritual energy circuit concepts. It could truly be considered a representative work of Jiushan Talisman Dao.
Looking at the two elders, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride—these two achieved Nascent Soul cultivation, and their talent and perception were top-tier. Sometimes, it’s not aptitude that limits growth, but bad luck.
And sometimes, it’s the system—hoarding one's own knowledge does even more harm to geniuses.
Even Zhou Qianyuan had gained insights;
these two elders were more talented and experienced than him. Under Jiushan Realm’s current system, their resurgence wasn’t all that surprising.
What warmed him the most was the sincerity of the two elders.
Presenting this formation method now was likely, just as Old Yuan said—
They just wanted to help a little.
Old Yuan put on a carefree look and said, “It was just a random epiphany. What’s with that face?”
“Click…”
“……”
Old Yuan turned to look at Martial Uncle Pang, who was making a weird face.
“Martial Uncle?”
Zheng Fa also looked at Martial Uncle Pang.
“This immortal formation method, we indeed had the idea long ago.” Martial Uncle Pang glanced at Old Yuan and said, “But in the past half-month, someone’s been dragging me to study it every day, not even taking a break.”
“Once he figured something out, he just waited here like a puppy.”
Zheng Fa turned his gaze to Old Yuan, only to see him pretending to be busy and already walking away.
He couldn’t help but chuckle, then looked at Martial Uncle Pang still standing beside him, and after some thought, said, “Martial Uncle Pang, please select disciples from your branch to oversee the practice of the immortal formation method.”
Though the core of the method was Old Yuan’s talisman formation, the backbone of the formation relied on Martial Uncle Pang’s Linked Talisman technique—in simple terms, the disciples were divided into several, even dozens of small groups, each with its own tasks.
Each group had to include disciples trained in the Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes to observe spiritual energy fluctuations and, using the principles of Linked Talismans, direct their group’s spellcasting at the right time.
Only then could it be called coordination.
This was a bit like Zheng Fa’s operations during the Golden Core Project. Most likely, Old Yuan and the other drew inspiration from that.
Martial Uncle Pang smiled and nodded. Naturally, he was happy—
With the release of this immortal formation method, the importance of his disciples to Jiushan Realm increased once again.
Zheng Fa was just as pleased:
The immortal formation method might not mean much for now—it was just a kind gesture from Old Yuan. After all, facing the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor, this method offered little actual help.
What Zheng Fa valued was its compatibility with Jiushan Sect—this style of battle formation was highly suitable for the current state of Jiushan Realm:
Winning with numbers, the weak overcoming the strong, relying on solid organization and training to gain the upper hand in spell duels.
Zheng Fa had always had one concern—after settling in Jiushan Realm, life had grown relatively peaceful. Not just him, but every Jiushan disciple’s mindset had inevitably changed somewhat.
In the chaotic Xuanyi Realm, cultivators constantly faced battles, their combat techniques growing ever more refined.
This was evident during the Hundred Immortals Conference—disciples of the Hundred Immortals Alliance all had wildly diverse and brilliant dueling techniques that amazed Zheng Fa.
Jiushan disciples had undeniably fallen behind.
This was a flaw in Jiushan’s system, one Zheng Fa was always aware of. He had tried to use simulation training to make up for it, but it was never quite real—the mindset just wasn’t the same.
But now, the immortal formation method changed everything. It provided Zheng Fa a way to compensate for individual shortcomings with collective discipline.
It was akin to the difference between champion warriors and modern warfare in another world.
Because the power gaps among Xuanyi Realm cultivators were too vast…
Faction conflicts leaned more toward champion duels.
But with this immortal formation method, it was different.
Though the formation method had limits, and quite a few constraints, the concept of pooling collective strength to challenge stronger foes aligned closely with Zheng Fa’s vision for Jiushan Realm.
One day, the name “Ten Thousand Immortals Island” must live up to itself…
Zheng Fa looked at Old Yuan’s retreating figure, thinking:
A considerate Master like this… really ought to reach Soul Formation.
Though he didn’t envy Xiao Yuying for being the daughter of a Soul Formation cultivator,
The desire to see one's Master achieve greatness burned especially strong right now.
……
Second-generation cultivator Xiao Yuying saw Zheng Fa walking into her courtyard with a smile and couldn’t help but ask curiously,
“What’s got you so happy?”
Xiao Yuying lived next to Madam Xuanhua. As soon as Zheng Fa arrived, Madam Xuanhua came over too, her face full of concern.
That day, when the Ancestor of the Blood River was subdued, the two of them didn’t go, so naturally they didn’t know that the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor had taken a great interest in Zheng Fa.
But the matter of the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor planning to descend in Chen Prefecture’s Linchen was critical to the broader situation in the Xuanyi Realm—Zheng Fa didn’t keep it from them either.
So when Zheng Fa arrived, Xiao Yuying and Madam Xuanhua both looked very concerned—after all, it was a huge matter.
They hadn’t expected Zheng Fa to be smiling so happily, looking as if he wasn’t worried at all.
“Mm, my master has improved greatly under my guidance—I’m deeply gratified.”
Zheng Fa said with a smile.
Xiao Yuying and Madam Xuanhua exchanged a glance, only feeling utterly confused, even getting the sense that Zheng Fa might be so stressed he’d gone a little mad.
Zheng Fa put away the jade slip in his hand and turned to Xiao Yuying, saying, “Fairy Xiao, regarding the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor’s impending descent—what’s your take on it?”
“Best if we can stop it,” Xiao Yuying said directly, “My master once said that back in the day, the Tianhe Venerable killed several Demon Ancestors—among them was the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor… the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor surely isn’t coming with good intentions.”
Zheng Fa’s expression betrayed his shock—this was no small thing:
The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor was once killed by the Tianhe Venerable, and now he was about to come back to life… that alone was shocking.
Thinking about it, it made sense—based on what the Ancestor of the Blood River said, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor had been in deep slumber all this time, so even if not dead, he was probably gravely wounded?
What surprised him even more was that Xiao Yuying’s master actually knew about this—and from the sound of it, her master seemed very familiar with both the Tianhe Venerable and the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor…
Fairy Xiao, your background is seriously insane, huh?
As for Xiao Yuying’s concerns, Zheng Fa could understand—being killed by the Tianhe Venerable, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor would surely want revenge, and might have been nursing that rage for ages.
“So in that case, the Tianhe Sect must be the most anxious one.”
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said softly.
Though it seemed like the Tianhe Sect had betrayed the Tianhe Venerable, they still carried the Tianhe name—no one dared bet on the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor being reasonable.
What’s more, if the Demon Ancestor descended, he’d likely wreak havoc on the current order—as one of the Five Great Sects of Xuanyi, the Tianhe Sect was definitely on the opposing side.
“I’ve heard that the first one Zhenren Chengkong wrote to was the Tianhe Sect.”
After hearing Xiao Yuying say this, Zheng Fa set the matter aside for now, cupped his hands toward her, and said, “Fairy Xiao, I have a favor to ask.”
Xiao Yuying’s eyes landed on Zheng Fa, waiting for him to speak.
“Fairy Xiao, you know that after forming my Core, I need to forge my own Life-bound Treasure… I already have a clear plan for what powers this treasure should have—I just haven’t figured out how to design it.”
“What can I do to help you?”
“I’ve long heard that Fairy Xiao, you own a vast collection of treasures.”
Zheng Fa pursed his lips slightly, looking a bit embarrassed.
But at this point, the matter had become extremely urgent—he had to settle on his treasure’s form and begin the refinement process as soon as possible, striving for a breakthrough.
Among the crucial steps, aside from grasping the essence of the Five Element Spiritual Materials, was figuring out how to design the treasure.
Xiao Yuying was straightforward—her right-hand jade bracelet flashed with white light, and a red-walled, golden-tiled palace appeared above Zheng Fa’s head.
Zheng Fa looked up and couldn’t help but feel his breath catch.
This thing… was a treasure too?
“This is where I store my treasures.”
“An entire palace?”
Zheng Fa’s eyes widened.
Hearing that, Xiao Yuying gently shook her head, and Zheng Fa let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“This one’s for storing offensive treasures.”
“…What about the others?”
“For defensive treasures, there’s another palace.”
“As for other strange and unique artifacts, I’ve got a separate room for those too.”
Zheng Fa took a deep breath, suddenly understanding why everyone found Xiao Yuying so annoying—who wouldn’t feel bitter hearing something like that?
An ordinary cultivator would be thrilled just to have one Life-bound Treasure.
But Xiao Yuying? She basically ran a treasure museum?
But thinking of her Primordial Magnetic Dao Body… and her background… maybe it wasn’t so surprising after all.
Still, under the palace’s glowing treasure light, Xiao Yuying’s face looked especially striking…
Perhaps noticing Zheng Fa’s envy, Xiao Yuying said, “Having many treasures naturally has its advantages, but one’s divine soul and mana are limited. On a normal day, I rarely use more than three treasures.”
“These are just ones I didn’t have time to sell, or thought were interesting and didn’t want to sell.”
“Sometimes I have so many treasures I don’t even know where to store them.”
…Our Jiushan Realm’s got plenty of space!
Zheng Fa resisted the urge to speak and followed Xiao Yuying as they flew into the palace.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw that the three palace walls were completely covered in treasures—one wall lined with flying swords, another with blades, spears, axes, and halberds, and the last with spirit flags, black banners, and other common tools.
In the center of the room were several raised platforms.
On them sat jade seals, jade rings, gold hairpins—every item neatly categorized and all-encompassing.
Xiao Yuying looked at Zheng Fa, seeming curious as to why he wanted to examine these treasures.
Zheng Fa took a deep breath and fired a beam of Five Elements Divine Light at one of the flying swords on the wall.
As the light swept over it, the sword’s basic structure instantly surfaced in his divine soul—especially the flow paths of the spiritual energy, which appeared crystal clear.
He pondered it carefully for a moment, then formed hand seals rapidly, and a light screen appeared in front of the three of them.
“This is…”
Xiao Yuying couldn’t make it out, but Madam Xuanhua instantly understood…
“This is what I sensed from inside the treasure—its general spiritual materials, and the flow pattern of its spiritual energy.”
Madam Xuanhua turned and stared at Zheng Fa for a long time before turning back to the image on the screen.
Seeing her so engrossed, Zheng Fa chuckled to himself—Five Elements Divine Light could scan the internal structure of a treasure, but that didn’t mean he could actually understand it. At best, he could identify the function of each energy circuit—but how it meshed with the spiritual materials? That part he had no clue.
In Jiushan Sect, the only one who might really understand that… was Madam Xuanhua right in front of him.
What Zheng Fa wanted to do now… was reverse engineering:
He would handle the scanning, and Madam Xuanhua would do the analysis—until they could recreate these treasures from scratch.
A glint of sharp light flashed in Xiao Yuying’s eyes, and she suddenly asked, “Innate Divine Ability?”
“……”
Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Yuying, speechless—How do you know that too?
“My master told me,” Xiao Yuying explained. She thought for a moment, then added, “My master also said that innate divine abilities are granted when a cultivator comprehends part of the Heavenly Dao and resonates with Heaven and Earth.”
“Each innate divine ability is only granted once.”
Zheng Fa listened, a realization dawning on him—but more confusion too. How did Xiao Yuying know that innate abilities were granted only once?
And—Heavenly Dao?
Did the Xuanyi Realm really have such a thing?
Then Xiao Yuying said again, “Back then, the Tianhe Venerable tried to guide his disciples to awaken innate divine abilities, but not one of them could receive another gift from the Heavenly Dao—that’s where this theory came from.”
“……”
Zheng Fa furrowed his brow slightly. Xiao Yuying’s words today gave him a sudden suspicion—
Could it be that Xiao Yuying’s master… had actually met the Tianhe Venerable?
How old is she exactly?
…That’s just terrifying.
Noticing his unsettled expression, Xiao Yuying added, “My master stopped getting involved in the affairs of the Xuanyi Realm long ago… taking me as a disciple was an accident.”
As for what kind of accident, she clearly didn’t want to elaborate.
Zheng Fa didn’t press further, instead turning to look at Madam Xuanhua, who was still visibly excited.
“Madam? Did you notice anything?”
“This sword must have been crafted by a lightning-path cultivator. Some of its features are quite similar to thunder-type treasures I know.”
Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Yuying and saw her nod. “That’s why I kept this treasure—it suits me.”
Hearing that, Zheng Fa knew Madam Xuanhua’s analysis was accurate, and he took out a jade slip to record the findings.
Madam Xuanhua then pointed to the patterns on the flying sword and talked for a long time. Some parts she could more or less understand, while others she wasn’t so sure about.
After she finished, Xiao Yuying would add a few comments here and there. She more or less knew what each treasure did, enough to verify Madam Xuanhua’s guesses.
After analyzing one flying sword, Zheng Fa used the Five Elements Divine Light to scan another. To their surprise—there was a feature in the previous sword that even Madam Xuanhua couldn’t identify.
But that same structure appeared in this second sword too. Comparing the two, and aligning the similar traits of their abilities, they actually managed to solve that little mystery—
In other words, even if there were parts Madam Xuanhua didn’t understand, by comparing similar treasures, they could still make an educated guess.
This made Madam Xuanhua even more excited.
“Scan!”
“Another one!”
“Already worn out?”
Even Zheng Fa hadn’t expected it—Xiao Yuying had so many treasures that using Five Elements Divine Light had actually drained all his spiritual power…
As he worked on recovering, he looked over the patterns and similarities they’d noted down:
Everything he had just scanned were offensive treasures—mostly made of tough materials, so metal-element spiritual materials were dominant, with other elements only appearing as accents.
Some had nothing but metal-element materials.
But the spiritual energy within those materials formed talisman-like structures, giving the treasures spell-like abilities.
What Zheng Fa now needed to understand was: how does the arrangement of spiritual materials generate corresponding energy circuits?
“So, metal-element spiritual materials are used to increase a treasure’s hardness, and the corresponding spiritual circuits are what grant it magical abilities?”
After hearing Zheng Fa’s thoughts, Madam Xuanhua summarized.
Zheng Fa nodded slightly and said, “For ordinary treasures, that’s likely the case.”
“Ordinary treasures?”
“Ordinary treasures have simple circuits, usually just one or a few abilities. These so-called spiritual circuits are essentially just talisman diagrams,” Zheng Fa explained. “But Life-bound Treasures, or Soul Formation-level spirit treasures, are different.”
“How so?”
Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then spoke, “Life-bound Spirit Treasures have far more complex energy circuits—not only that, they contain all five elements.”
“All five elements?”
“Yes. I’ve seen Senior Sister Zhang’s Flying Immortal Brush, and I’ve tried scanning the Ancestor of the Blood River’s flying sword… I found five-element materials in both.”
“Even…”
Zheng Fa’s tone, rarely, hesitated.
“Even what?”
Xiao Yuying and Madam Xuanhua both looked at Zheng Fa, puzzled. They heard him say in a very small voice:
“Even the spiritual circuits in Life-bound Treasures… appear in pairs.”
“In pairs?”
Seeing Zheng Fa’s strange expression, neither Xiao Yuying nor Madam Xuanhua could understand why this pairing of spiritual circuits would make him so hesitant.
This… was something only Old Bai and the others would understand.
……
“In pairs?”
Old Bai hadn’t reacted yet, but Teacher Tian furrowed his brow beside him, surprised, “You mean, a double-helix structure?”
“Yes…”
Zheng Fa drew out the spiritual energy circuit from the Flying Immortal Brush on a diagram and said, “I used to have no idea what the wood-element spiritual material would look like… but now I suspect that the energy bonds it forms are similar to the hydrogen bonds connecting a DNA double helix.”
Old Bai and the others still hadn’t reacted, but proper college student Tang Lingwu slapped her forehead and exclaimed, “Only that kind of structure would best allow self-replication—which ties directly to the generative nature of the wood element…”
“Like how cells replicate—one becomes two, two become four…”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but laugh, “Then doesn’t that mean we’ve fully understood the nature of the Five Elemental spiritual materials? You can start designing your Life-bound Treasure now!”
Tang Lingwu wasn’t wrong—Zheng Fa had gathered plenty of spiritual circuit structures and designs from Xiao Yuying’s treasures, and had also formed a preliminary understanding of the essence of the Five Element materials. There was no obstacle now to designing his own treasure.
But Zheng Fa and the others, including Old Bai, didn’t laugh.
“Zheng Fa?”
Tang Lingwu looked at them, puzzled.
Then Zheng Fa said, “It’s just… too similar…”
He knew there was a connection between the modern world and the Xuanyi Realm.
But now that the wood-element spiritual material’s energy key turned out to mirror the structure of DNA’s double helix… it plunged Zheng Fa into deeper doubt.
The energy keys for metal, water, fire, and earth were common enough in the material world. But only this structure—so close to a miracle of life—was associated with the wood element.
It was, as he said, too similar.
So similar that, from what he’d already seen on the Flying Immortal Brush, he didn’t even dare to confirm what he was thinking.