Chapter 456: Half a Chapter of Essay, 1 Dead End
Chapter 456: Half a Paper, a Dead End
The interview went very quickly.
There was a rectangular wooden table in the classroom. Zheng Fa, Senior Sister Zhang and Xiao Yuying were sitting behind the table, sorting out the interview materials of several previous disciples.
"Junior brother, do you have a disciple in mind?"
Senior Sister Zhang suddenly asked.
Xiao Yuying on the side also looked over with curiosity in her eyes.
Zheng Fa flipped through the dozen or so resumes of his disciples, thought for a moment, and said frankly, "Mu Qingyan."
"Why?"
"She has the most solid foundation and a mature character." Zheng Fa explained to the two of them, "For at least the next ten years, I won't have much time in the Nine Mountains Realm, and even less time for my disciples. I'm afraid that I'll delay the development of other disciples."
"Mu Qingyan is better."
Xiao Yuying's eyes changed immediately - I haven't even entered the sect yet, and you're already thinking about slacking off?
Lazy indeed.
Mu Qingyan is a "reborn person" to a great extent. She has perhaps more life experience than Zheng Fa and has strong self-management skills.
Even because she felt a strong sense of crisis about the future, Mu Qingyan worked terribly hard.
She wanted to take me as her master, ultimately just to feel at ease.
In the entire Nine Mountains Realm, except Zheng Fa, no one else could give her a security guarantee that she could trust.
On the other hand, every Yuanying Zhenren has his own beliefs. Zheng Fa thought to himself that he could give help and advice to the other party, but Mu Qingyan probably didn't need to worry about her learning attitude, self-planning, and development direction.
For Zheng Fa, choosing Mu Qingyan is not only simple, but also a very "safe" choice:
This disciple’s Nascent Soul stage is guaranteed to be reached, and there is no upper limit.
"Mu Qingyan is indeed a good choice." Xiao Yuying thought for a while and said something else, "Let alone her qualifications, she learns very quickly in my archaeological team. If I am not here, she can manage the team very well."
"I asked her before if she wanted to choose me as her mentor, but she just wanted to become your disciple."
At this point, she looked at Zheng Fa's expression and actually felt a little jealous: "It's not just me. It seems that the head of Qingmu Sect, Song, has also asked her privately. After all, she was born in Qingmu Sect."
Zheng Fa also showed some pride on his face.
Mu Qingyan is really good.
Needless to say, she was extremely talented. The fact that she was able to achieve Nascent Soul stage as a casual cultivator in the troubled times was enough to prove her talent.
But this was not enough to impress Zheng Fa - after all, for the disciples of the Nine Mountains Realm, condensing the Nascent Soul was not as difficult as that of the other sects in the Xuanwei Realm, and the value was naturally not that high.
What impressed Zheng Fa was Mu Qingyan's self-examination and learning ability:
Many monks, especially those with higher levels of cultivation, tend to have rigid cognition. It cannot even be said that they are conceited, but it is really difficult to change their thinking patterns, especially when this thinking pattern was very successful in the past.
Mu Qingyan was different. Perhaps it was because her cultivation was only in her "dreams". Although she had the memory of her Nascent Soul stage, she was able to accept all the major courses in the Nine Mountains Realm very quickly.
He performed well in subjects such as archaeology, alchemy, and talismans.
Even some modern disciplines have achieved excellent results.
She was present in the Golden Elixir Project, the archaeological team and even the later water-based alchemy research.
He is a good student with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and labor.
Even without considering her identity as a "reborn person", she is the one with the highest overall quality and contribution to the sect among these disciples.
The three of them chatted for a while during the interview, and then they heard a gentle knock on the classroom door.
"Enter!"
A hand pushed the door open and Gu Chang walked into the classroom.
He shrugged his shoulders, walked lightly, glanced quickly at Zheng Fa and the other two, then stared at the ground without looking up again.
Seeing that it was him, Zheng Fa was stunned at first, then he laughed: "Gu Chang, right!"
"Yes?"
Hearing the smile in his voice, Gu Chang couldn't help but raise his head and bravely looked at Zheng Fa. He obviously didn't understand why Zheng Fa was laughing.
"Senior sister, do you remember this disciple? He is the first place in this Talisman Examination and the only one who got full marks!" Zheng Fa pointed at Gu Chang and said to Senior Sister Zhang and the other two. The praise in his words was almost overflowing.
Senior Sister Zhang and Xiao Yuying first looked at Zheng Fa, then looked at Gu Chang, and nodded slightly.
Seeing this, Gu Chang's shoulders relaxed slightly and his body straightened a little.
Zheng Fa flipped through Gu Chang's resume and asked, "Are you a teacher at Paradise Island now?"
"Yes."
"Very good." Zheng Fa put down his resume, raised his head and looked at Gu Chang, "Gu Chang, do you know what Zhang Taishang thinks of you?"
Gu Chang shook his head.
"She said that your talent in topology is three points better than hers."
"Disciples don't dare."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. Facts are facts." Senior Sister Zhang frowned slightly and said seriously, "I have done that test paper, and it's not that I didn't make any mistakes. I'm not as good as you."
After hearing this, Gu Chang's expression brightened. He looked at Zheng Fa with some expectation in his eyes that was hard to conceal.
Facing his gaze, Zheng Fa fell silent.
He looked at Gu Chang for a long time before he sighed, "But if you become my disciple, this talent will be wasted."
Gu Chang's expression froze and his eyes suddenly dimmed.
"I really don't have much time..."
Zheng Fa also felt helpless.
Gu Chang is almost the opposite of Mu Qingyan.
His talent for cultivation can be said to be the last among this group of disciples.
Zheng Fa did not reject the other party for this reason, but he wanted to cultivate such a genius with extremely biased academic performance, which required a lot of effort.
He was willing to teach, but to be honest, due to Gu Chang's limited qualifications, he had to race against time in his practice and study. Zheng Fa's hands-off style was a waste of this disciple's time.
Simply put, with the same progress of cultivation, a single spiritual root might only need one year, but Gu Chang would need at least ten to twenty years. How could he afford to delay?
What’s even more unfair is that… geniuses often live longer.
Gu Chang’s time is naturally more precious.
Zheng Fa looked at Gu Chang with a somewhat tangled look in his eyes. He thought for a long time and suddenly said, "Gu Chang, if you are willing to change your mentor, I can coordinate for you. Either Pang Tai Shang or Huang Tai Shang is fine."
This was already an exception, but he really valued this boy's talent and was even considering Gu Chang.
Uncle Pang has always been devoted to his disciples, and Uncle Huang's house are both good choices for Gu Chang.
In fact, the best candidate is Senior Sister Zhang...but she is already preparing for her spiritual transformation in seclusion, and no one knows when she will come out, and she doesn't have much time.
Especially considering the other party's spiritual root level, it would be a delay if he waited five years before entering the inner gate.
Gu Chang was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then he whispered: "Actually, I didn't come here to enter the inner gate."
"Ok?"
"I... I have a paper that I am halfway through writing, but I can't continue."
"paper?"
Zheng Fa was surprised and turned to look at Senior Sister Zhang and the other two. He saw that they were also surprised and obviously had not expected this.
Gu Chang nodded nervously.
"So you're here for this paper?"
"Yes, I would like to ask you for some guidance, but I have never been able to meet you... I thought that it would be wishful thinking for me to enter the inner sect with my cultivation level, so why not find a chance to show you my thesis, Master?"
"In this case, I have no regrets."
He looked at Zheng Fa nervously, and when Zheng Fa nodded, he hurriedly took out a thick stack of manuscript paper from his storage bag.
These papers are both old and new, and even have slight differences in specifications. It is obvious that this paper was not written in a day.
Zheng Fa took the paper, frowned and asked, "You have a paper, why don't you upload it to Lundao?"
Gu Chang's voice weakened again: "Disciple...can't afford the new Tongjian."
"..."
"Besides, I'm also afraid that they will laugh at me for being wishful thinking."
Zheng Fa looked at the paper on the table. Before he opened it, he heard Gu Chang say, "My wish has been fulfilled. I will take my leave now."
"What about changing mentors?"
Gu Chang stopped and said softly, "Thank you for your appreciation, Master. But besides the Master, who else would value a person with four spiritual roots?"
Zheng Fa frowned and said, "I can make sure you won't be left out."
Gu Chang lowered his head again. He looked at Zheng Fa and laughed, "Master, I have nothing else to ask for."
"..."
Zheng Fa was about to say something when he saw Gu Chang quickly walking out the door, with a look of determination written all over his back.
……
After the interview, Zheng Fa stood in his yard with a hesitant look on his face.
"Junior brother?" Senior Sister Zhang stood at the door and saw him like this. She couldn't help but be curious, "I've never seen you look like this before." Zheng Fa pointed at the manuscript on the stone table in the courtyard, his brows furrowed as if he was in a knot, and said to Senior Sister Zhang: "This paper..."
"Ok?"
"Gu Chang is a genius."
Senior Sister Zhang was even more curious after hearing this. She picked up the manuscript and started reading it. When she saw the title, she was shocked: "Spiritual root nerve relationship test? No wonder he was afraid that other disciples would say he was wishful thinking."
The study of spiritual roots is not a new topic in the Xuanwei world.
Spiritual roots are almost one of the most important qualifications for a cultivator in the early stages, and countless powerful people have explored its essence.
However, cultivators are still confused about spiritual roots and do not know why.
In the Nine Mountains Realm, Zheng Fa and other high-level officials were also at a loss as to what to do.
But now, a disciple who has reached the fifth level of Qi training has written a related paper!
How to convince people?
"Senior sister, take a look first."
Senior Sister Zhang lowered her head and began to read the paper carefully. She frowned for a while, then suddenly realized something. After half an hour, she sighed:
"I see……"
"Senior Sister, do you think it makes sense?"
"At least I can't find any fault with him." Senior Sister Zhang raised her head and looked at Zheng Fa with a complicated look in her eyes: "This Gu Chang is really a genius... What a pity."
Zheng Fa was silent. He took two steps and sat on the stone bench. His eyes fell on the manuscript paper in Senior Sister Zhang's hand, and he felt more and more regretful.
In Gu Chang's half of the paper, there is only one main argument:
Spiritual roots are determined by the human body's neural structure.
To go into more depth, Gu Chang studied all the nerves in the human body, disassembled the entire human nerves into tiny structures, and found the Five Elements Symbols among them!
His theory is simple:
The proportion of spiritual roots depends on the number of five elements symbols in these patterns.
At first hearing, Zheng Fa felt that the gap was too big, and he had never even combined the two.
But Gu Chang has an interesting statement:
"When you are meditating and regulating your breath, your consciousness is flowing through your body. It is actually the nerve currents that are moving. Isn't the path that this takes very similar to the talisman technique?"
This sentence reminded Zheng Fa of why he first learned Songhe Posture:
Why does visualization work?
At that time, he had no soul at all, but by visualizing the birdman he was able to attract spiritual energy and cultivate martial arts.
According to Gu Chang's theory, it makes sense:
He has read a modern study that showed that when people watch some sports, the nerves in the relevant parts will actually operate on their own, simulating the movement and even forming synapses.
Visualization may be a kind of watching.
The autonomous operation of the nerves is actually a form of unconscious breathing and meditation.
This also explains why everyone in Xuanwei and modern times has spiritual roots.
If this conjecture is true, then Gu Chang can be said to be the first person since ancient times to comprehend the fundamental nature of the soul!
The difficulty with spiritual roots lies in the fact that they are illusory and difficult to understand, let alone experiment or improve.
Gu Chang's half paper can be said to be a groundbreaking achievement in the field of spiritual root research!
Moreover, for Zheng Fa, the issue of spiritual roots is also extremely important:
He was not strong enough and needed to preach in modern times. The first thing he had to face was the obstacle of his spiritual roots.
Even for the Nine Mountains Realm, if the problem of spiritual roots is not resolved, the current reform will be like duckweed in the water, without any foundation at all. Zheng Fa seems to be okay, but if there is no Zheng Fa, I am afraid that people will leave and the tea will be forgotten.
The so-called material base determines the superstructure.
Spiritual roots are the greatest material foundation of a cultivator.
The significance of Gu Chang's paper to Zheng Fa cannot be overstated.
"According to his analysis, nerves with the same structure as the metal sub-symbol are mostly concentrated in the lungs, and the water sub-symbol is most likely in the kidneys... Five elements and five internal organs?" Senior Sister Zhang said in amazement, "This is excellent evidence."
The theory of the five elements and five internal organs is actually simple to explain.
Monk Xuanwei had discovered before that people with strong lungs generally have spiritual roots of the metal element, and that the kidneys have a close relationship with the water element. There is also the saying that the heart belongs to fire, the liver belongs to wood, and so on.
In the past, people only knew about this phenomenon, but they couldn't explain why it was so.
Now, using Gu Chang’s theory to explain it, it turns out to be a very complete explanation.
Therefore, Senior Sister Zhang said that this is an argument.
There are even some very reasonable arguments in this paper:
Why does everyone have the five elements spiritual roots? Because some nerves are necessary for the human body, and the five elements sub-symbols corresponding to these nerves are relatively average.
But some people have more and denser nerves than ordinary people, which manifests as dual spiritual roots or even a single spiritual root.
There are many inferences among them, which actually form a relatively complete theoretical system.
Sister Zhang gently put down the paper and said with emotion:
"Gu Chang's paper incorporates a lot of the latest knowledge in the Xuanwei world. It's not easy."
Zheng Fa nodded slightly.
Apart from anything else, the knowledge related to the nervous system was only moved to the Nine Mountains Realm on a large scale after Zheng Fa understood the "Chixiao Jade Book" and the essence of the Yang God.
Some theories have not even been included in textbooks and are only mentioned in "The Way of Immortality".
But Gu Chang has already mastered it completely and even started to innovate.
It's really not easy.
Senior Sister Zhang repeated:
"……Pity."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa also looked at the night sky above his head without saying anything.
"Such a good disciple is ruined."
Now they both understood why Gu Chang refused to become a disciple of other elders and why he said that he could not continue writing this paper.
What I just said is just theoretical knowledge, without any experimental data.
Or, it can only be said to be a guess.
If it were someone else, they might have stopped here.
But no one would have expected that Gu Chang was a madman - in order to verify his theory, he wanted to do experiments, human experiments at that.
With his cultivation, ability and financial resources, it is almost impossible for him to find experimental subjects.
But Gu Chang still has a choice: himself!
"Damage specific nerves, and then measure the changes in the spiritual roots..." Zheng Fa's tone was also a little disappointed, "How stubborn, how determined."
Senior Sister Zhang nodded gently: "Even if there are spiritual medicines to repair it, Gu Chang's body is still damaged now, and there is only a dead end ahead."
"Not to mention his future cultivation, even his life span may be..."
Zheng Fa was speechless and just looked at the paper in his hand with a gloomy expression.
……
On Paradise Island, Gu Chang's mother looked at Gu Chang who was eating dinner, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
After a long time, she finally couldn't help but said:
"take an exam……"
"My cultivation is too low, there is no hope."
Upon hearing this, Mother Gu was filled with disappointment, tears welled up in her eyes, and she was about to cry.
"When you first joined the sect, your father and I were so happy that we didn't sleep all night... Later we realized that our spiritual roots were not as good as other disciples, but we thought that after all, we were cultivating immortals, so we were stronger than before."
"Then the girl came to propose marriage. What a nice girl!" Mother Gu seemed to have been holding back for a long time. Now she heard her son fail the exam. She said it all in one breath, "But you don't want to, so don't worry. You are grown up now. I am ignorant and can't control you."
"But what kind of research are you going to do later?"
"I don't understand anything about research. I just heard that this thing is not something that ordinary disciples can achieve. With your level of cultivation, it's wishful thinking."
"You buy that journal as soon as it comes out! How much good can you do as a teacher?"
"Good deeds are fine! Why do you get hurt every day? Your mother washes your mattress and handkerchiefs for you, and you are afraid of seeing red every day!"
"The good deeds you do every month have all become medicine for your wounds and journals, and your body has become like this!"
"Mother, I don't ask you to get married, support the family, or become an immortal...Isn't it okay if I just ask you to live a hundred years?"
Gu Chang slowly put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at his mother with guilt in his eyes.
"mother."
"Please ask someone to find me a wife."
Mother Gu widened her eyes, somewhat incredulous: "Given our family's current situation, we offended someone last time, and it's not easy to find a girl with better qualifications..."
"No need, just find someone who has no experience in the industry and no background." Gu Chang said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Gu's mother looked at Gu Chang with some suspicion.
Then I heard Gu Chang laugh and say, "My son was wrong before, he was dreaming all day long. Now it's time to settle down, get married and have children, so that you can enjoy the happiness of family life... In the future, when you have grandchildren, they can accompany you."
Upon hearing this, Mother Gu smiled happily and nodded repeatedly: "Okay! Okay! I'll ask someone to help you find it!"
At this moment, she felt inadequate: "I heard that my mother's aptitude is not good, and her spiritual roots for giving birth to children are also poor. Why don't we find someone with higher aptitude? After all, you have also entered the inner sect interview, and you have some reputation in the sect!"
"No, mother doesn't need to worry about the spiritual roots."
Mother Gu became more and more confused, and then she heard Gu Chang whisper, "I left a gift for the child."
"where?"
"Master."
(End of this chapter)