Book 2: Chapter 237: Treasure Design, Where the Dao Lies
Vol 2 Chapter 237: Treasure Design, Where the Dao Lies
Night at the nursing home.
Zheng Fa sat in a chair, holding a cup of tea.
The tea was Forget-Worry Tea cultivated by the nursing home—at this moment, it suited his mood quite well.
Lately, under the looming threat of the Demon Ancestor's descent in the Xuanyi Realm, Zheng Fa had indeed been under a lot of pressure.
But now that he was the ruler of Jiushan Realm, the pillar of Jiushan Sect, this pressure was something he could only bear alone, never showing it to others.
It was only here, in the nursing home, that he could find a bit of peace.
The mountain breeze was gentle, the moonlight clear, a river of stars overhead, and by his side were wise teachers and close friends.
His mood had unknowingly relaxed.
Old Bai was leaning his head, chatting with Teacher Tian, who was laughing and lightly patted him. Tang Lingwu lay in her chair, reaching out her hand, as if to touch the breeze drifting by.
Tang Mu Dao looked up at the sky, seeming full of emotion.
Zheng Fa looked at him curiously.
“Actually, DNA is a miracle, and so is the universe.” As if noticing Zheng Fa’s gaze, Tang Mu Dao spoke up. “In cosmology, there’s a very controversial theory called the Fine-Tuned Universe theory.”
“Fine-Tuned Universe?”
Hearing this, even Old Bai and the others looked over.
“You all know, some constants in the universe determine its structure and evolution, like the gravitational constant, electromagnetic constant, the mass of a proton, the ratio of dark matter to dark energy…”
Zheng Fa nodded lightly, didn’t speak, just listened to Professor Tang continue.
“On the other hand, if any of these constants varied even slightly, the universe wouldn’t exist in its current form.” At that, Tang Mu Dao turned to Zheng Fa.
“For instance, if the gravitational constant were larger, all celestial bodies would collapse;
if it were smaller, they’d drift apart—planet formation would be impossible.”
“If the electromagnetic constant were larger, chemical reactions would become extremely difficult, and complex molecules like DNA wouldn’t form at all.”
“If smaller, elements wouldn’t even exist.”
Tang Lingwu, very interested, asked softly, “Then what’s the allowable range?”
“If the electromagnetic constant changes by more than four percent, the sun would instantly explode. And the mass of the proton must be accurate to the thirty-second decimal place for any element beyond hydrogen to exist.”
Old Bai frowned as he listened. “That probability is way too small.”
Tang Mu Dao looked up at the stars, lost in thought, then said, “We currently know of about thirty-two such independent universal constants. If each one were purely coincidental, and all happened to fall within the right range…” ŖА𝐍𝔬𝔟ÈꞨ
“Yeah, nearly impossible.”
Zheng Fa began to understand what Tang Mu Dao was getting at.
“Professor Tang, are you saying…”
Tang Mu Dao shook his head, his tone dazed. “There are generally two explanations for this—the multiverse hypothesis, and intelligent design.”
“The multiverse is easy to understand—the constants really aren’t fixed, but there are infinite universes, and we just happen to be in one that works.”
Tang Lingwu grasped it: “Just like how there are near-infinite planets, but we just happen to be on one that’s habitable?”
“Pretty much.”
“Intelligent design…” Tang Mu Dao paused, his voice a bit uncertain. “It’s the idea that… maybe our universe… was designed.”
“……”
Zheng Fa understood now why Professor Tang had brought this up—the correspondences between Five Element spells and the real world, could it all have been manmade?
The similarity between DNA and wood-element techniques—was that deliberate design?
“If you asked me before, I’d say I supported the multiverse theory… but now, we do have immortals, don’t we.”
No one spoke.
They all looked up at the river of stars above.
The starry sky remained silent, yet seemed to conceal ten thousand unspoken words.
……
“So, we’ve pretty much figured out the Five Element spiritual materials.” Old Bai shook his head, as if trying to fling away thoughts he couldn’t untangle, and said, “Then what are you thinking for your Life-bound Treasure?”
Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then slowly said:
“From a materials standpoint, each element has its own traits. Metal-element materials, for instance, are like metals—strong and sharp—best suited for offensive treasures.”
This was something he’d summarized from his time in Xiao Yuying’s treasure vault.
“And what I want to make is a server-like treasure. What’s most important are three parts:”
“Information transmission.”
“Storage.”
“Computation.”
Everyone understood what he meant.
“For computation, I can rely on spiritual energy circuits. As my cultivation increases, the circuits will improve, and my computing power should also grow.”
“Right, didn’t they already design a bunch of circuit diagrams for you before?”
Old Bai remembered.
“For information transmission, I plan to use message talismans.”
The decoding of message talismans was actually the foundation of Zheng Fa’s ambition to become a server.
“But for storage…” Zheng Fa said slowly, “I’ll probably have to rely on spiritual materials.”
“What kind of material?”
Old Bai asked curiously.
“Jade!” Zheng Fa explained, “Many cultivation manuals are stored in jade slips… that relies on the properties of jade as a material.”
“What kind of properties?”
“Jade belongs to the earth element, which governs receptivity—it’s especially suited for storing information.”
Jade-based spiritual materials were fairly common in the Xuanyi Realm. Just like Zheng Fa said, jade slips were a direct application of such materials—their information-storing capacity was extremely strong, making them the perfect “hard drive” for a server.
Hearing this, everyone understood that he indeed had a solid plan.
“A server,” Old Bai leaned back and muttered, “so later on, our research and stuff can all be stored in your treasure?”
“Who knows—maybe one day that thing of yours really can hold the Three Thousand Daos…”
At that, Old Bai suddenly frowned and said, “Why does this sound kinda familiar?”
Everyone exchanged looks, unsure what he was remembering now.
“Three Thousand Daos, jade…” Old Bai racked his brain, then suddenly pulled out his phone, opened a web novel, slapped his thigh, and said, “I knew it!”
“Hmm?”
“This thing of yours—it’s literally the Jade Codex of Creation!”
“……”
Old Bai gave Zheng Fa a look like I’ve seen right through you.
Zheng Fa: …This old man really reads way too much web fiction.
But after thinking for a long while, he said again, “If there really could be a treasure capable of holding the Three Thousand Daos… then, why not?”
Old Bai was stunned, then suddenly understood—Zheng Fa truly held immense expectations for his Life-bound Treasure.
Zheng Fa, however, had fallen into his own thoughts. He didn’t dare claim to understand what the Dao truly was. Just like when he named that journal Immortal Dao, all he could really do was draw upon others’ wisdom to pursue the Dao.
After chatting for a bit, everyone returned to their rooms to cultivate.
But early the next morning, Zheng Fa’s door was knocked upon.
When he opened it, he saw Tang Lingwu standing outside, smiling brightly at him.
“What’s up?”
“Let’s go out~”
Tang Lingwu didn’t say anything else—just grabbed Zheng Fa’s arm and pulled him out of the nursing home.
Old Bai and the others watched from the courtyard as the two young ones left. They didn’t interfere—just smiled as they saw them walk off.
Zheng Fa had no idea what Tang Lingwu was up to. After thinking about it, he didn’t refuse and followed her as she hailed a cab.
The car drove from Hongshan toward the capital. Zheng Fa glanced at Tang Lingwu, but she kept her eyes on the window, clearly avoiding looking at him… acting all mysterious.
Seeing her like that, Zheng Fa stopped asking questions and let her do as she pleased.
After getting out of the car, he realized they had arrived at a school.
Judging by the students’ height, it seemed to be an elementary school.
Tang Lingwu brought Zheng Fa to stand just outside the school’s fence, as if waiting for something.
It was early morning, and the recess bell rang. Groups of students poured out of their classrooms and lined up on the playground.
The music for morning exercises started playing.
Zheng Fa began to have a suspicion. Sure enough… these students were doing the set of exercises created by Jiushan Martial Hall.
Their movements were a bit clumsy, but they were taking it seriously.
Beneath the morning sun, their uneven moves strangely gave Zheng Fa a feeling that could only be called hope.
“I don’t know what you’ve been struggling with…”
Tang Lingwu finally spoke.
Zheng Fa turned to look at her. She too was watching the students, smiling. “But whether it’s morning exercises or Jiushan No. 1, you’ve already done very well…”
She said no more after that. The two of them stood side by side, watching the students on the playground—silent, but more meaningful than a thousand words.
……
Zheng Fa’s good mood lasted for quite a few days.
“Junior Brother Zheng, why do I feel like you’ve been smiling all day today?”
Senior Sister Yuan suddenly looked at Zheng Fa curiously.
“Shouldn’t I be smiling?”
“Just a few days ago… tsk tsk.”
“You think I didn’t notice you were in a bad mood?”
Senior Sister Yuan said proudly.
“…I’m sure you didn’t notice.”
“Senior Sister Zhang told me!”
Senior Sister Yuan’s smile collapsed, and she admitted it honestly.
Tang Lingwu had made Zheng Fa realize something—maybe Jiushan Realm would one day disappear, but he had changed many things. Whether it was morning exercises or Jiushan No. 1, they were already influencing the modern world.
That’s why he felt so happy.
As the two were talking about Senior Sister Zhang, she walked in from outside and handed Zheng Fa a jade slip. “These are the commonly seen jade-type spiritual materials in the Xuanyi Realm.”
“There are also some examples of jade-type artifacts.”
“This one,” she pulled out another jade slip, “contains the spiritual energy circuits I drew based on those diagrams you gave me.”
Zheng Fa had made some relevant circuit diagrams in the modern world—much simpler than before. After all, he’d previously aimed for artificial intelligence, but this time, he just wanted to build a server…
A definite downgrade in tech.
Upgrades could come later.
Senior Sister Zhang sat down beside him and said, a bit uncertainly, “You really plan to make a Life-bound Treasure that has no offensive power and can’t defend you either?”
“…Didn’t you already know that?”
“Times have changed. The situation is different now.”
Senior Sister Zhang fell silent for a moment, then said.
Zheng Fa knew what she meant—with the threat of the Demon Ancestor looming, offensive and defensive treasures had risen in value again.
But…
“Senior Sister, this is where my Dao lies…” Zheng Fa paused and said softly, “The Demon Ancestor’s threat still isn’t enough to make me change.”
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head and didn’t try to persuade him again. “Madam Xuanhua’s already made several prototypes—she’s waiting for you to take a look.”
Zheng Fa went with Senior Sister Zhang to University Island.
On the table in Madam Xuanhua’s lab were several prototypes. Seeing Zheng Fa arrive, she pointed at them proudly.
“Based on your naming system—this is Prototype No. 1. Not enough storage capacity. I later figured out the issue was with the material—this type of jade isn’t suitable for information storage.”
“Prototype No. 2’s problem is that it’s hard to form spiritual circuits—meaning it lacks spiritual energy.”
“Prototype No. 3 doesn’t integrate well with other spiritual materials…”
Zheng Fa listened and nodded. He felt deeply grateful—Madam Xuanhua had clearly put her heart into this.
His Life-bound Treasure might’ve come from modern blueprints and concepts, but the actual crafting relied on Madam Xuanhua and Senior Sister Zhang:
Senior Sister Zhang handled the spiritual energy circuit design.
Madam Xuanhua handled the actual manufacturing tests.
“In the end, Prototype No. 4 is the best one we came up with. Spirit-Nurturing Jade performed well in information storage, spiritual energy affinity, and integration with other materials…”
Madam Xuanhua waved off his gratitude and simply pointed at the last prototype.
Zheng Fa looked at Prototype No. 4—it resembled a jade slip, though the crafting looked rather rough… understandable for a prototype.
“The best thing about Spirit-Nurturing Jade—is that it’s cheap!”
Madam Xuanhua added.
“I looked over your design. For your Life-bound Treasure to really work, it has to pair with what you call… a phone?”
When she said the word “phone,” her expression looked puzzled, as if she couldn’t understand why Zheng Fa had picked such a weird name.
“It’s just a placeholder name. I can change it,” Zheng Fa said a bit awkwardly.
Madam Xuanhua didn’t mind and said, “Although this phone is simpler than your Life-bound Treasure, it’ll still require a lot of Spirit-Nurturing Jade.”
Zheng Fa nodded lightly.
A server alone wouldn’t be enough…
Phones—or personal terminals—had to be distributed.
Otherwise, Zheng Fa becoming a server would be meaningless.
According to the Tianhe Venerable’s teachings, a Life-bound Treasure shouldn’t be forged with external spiritual materials—
Which meant Zheng Fa actually just needed to simulate the Spirit-Nurturing Jade, not use the real thing.
But the jade was still important—like Madam Xuanhua said, it could be used to make phones.
The “phone” Zheng Fa envisioned would have limited computing power, but could send and receive messages.
In other words, Zheng Fa would act as the “cloud server,” which would reduce the phones’ cost and make them easier to promote.
At this point, Madam Xuanhua sighed. “I never expected you’d manage to turn message talismans into something like this…”
Zheng Fa smiled slightly, about to say something—but suddenly stopped, raised his hand, and summoned a message talisman.
Senior Sister Zhang looked at him, only to hear Zheng Fa say with a smile, “Message from Yan Wushuang.”
“Hmm?”
“He came to Chen Prefecture with his Senior Sister…”
“Got here fast.”
Senior Sister Zhang laughed too.
Tianhe Sect moving this quickly—seemed like… they were more anxious than expected.
Being anxious is a good thing…