I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 507Book 2: : Modern Experience, The Mystery of Purple Qi
Vol 2 Chapter 507 Modern Experience, The Mystery of Purple Qi
Hearing Zheng Fa's shameless flattery spoken from the bottom of his heart, Hongjun Daoist glanced at him without saying anything, then pointed at the city below and asked: "Was this built by the local humans?"
Zheng Fa nodded in affirmation.
Hongjun Daoist seemed to develop some interest and brought Zheng Fa down toward the tall buildings below.
"Dao Ancestor, let me change my appearance first," Zheng Fa said.
"Hmm?"
"I have some reputation in this place." Seeing that Hongjun Daoist seemed unfamiliar with modern times, Zheng Fa was about to explain when Hongjun Daoist suddenly extended his palm, within which a mass of chaotic energy continuously swirled.
The chaotic energy spun faster and faster, shrinking smaller and smaller until it condensed into a black dot even Zheng Fa couldn't clearly see. Then, a blinding light erupted.
Zheng Fa narrowed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he saw what seemed to be... a universe appearing in Hongjun's palm!
The singularity exploded, the earliest planets appeared, and galaxies were born.
In one spiral arm of a galaxy, on an unremarkable planet, life began to emerge.
Algae, dinosaurs, humans, civilization...
The past of the universe replayed in Hongjun Daoist's palm, and Zheng Fa even seemed to see his own face.
Clearly, no introduction from Zheng Fa was needed.
Hongjun Daoist seemed quite interested in modern life.
Zheng Fa transformed into a young man wearing modern clothing, while Hongjun didn't change his appearance, still wearing Daoist robes as the two walked beside an eight-lane road.
Their pairing was somewhat peculiar, but recently with the Immortal Dao Federation's great prosperity, more people enjoyed wearing Daoist robes, so Hongjun Daoist didn't attract much attention.
He looked around with great curiosity.
Not knowing what he intended to do, Zheng Fa also looked around. The road was bustling with continuous traffic, and occasionally one or two disk-shaped aircraft flew across the sky—these were small gadgets developed by the Federation Research Institute, essentially low-altitude electromagnetic aircraft that used the city's external pill energy sources for urban transportation.
These aircraft had low noise, high sensitivity, and faster speeds, making them very suitable for city travel. However, with limited modern spirit materials available, they were relatively expensive and only used by a few people and some special departments.
Hongjun Daoist first glanced at the cars on the street, then looked up at the aircraft flying overhead, seemingly finding it somewhat interesting as he chuckled lightly: "Quite ingenious indeed."
The two turned right from the main road into a much narrower street—this should be a food street, with restaurants on both sides. It was currently lunch hour, with the aromas of food and dishes wafting from both sides.
With one sniff, Zheng Fa knew that the rice and vegetables used in many shops came from gradual improvements by the Agriculture Academy. Unlike the aircraft, these things had always been key promotion projects of the Federation.
Hongjun Daoist glanced at him, then at the diners in the restaurants, his entire aura suddenly changing... becoming like an ordinary mortal.
He pointed to the most popular restaurant by the roadside, and Zheng Fa suddenly understood—this esteemed gentleman wanted to enjoy the mortal pleasures of food!
The two entered the restaurant and ordered a whole table of over ten signature dishes, delighting the proprietress so much her eyes disappeared into smiles as she attended to them enthusiastically.
Hongjun Daoist truly maintained his composure, picking up his chopsticks and devouring the food.
Of all those dishes, Zheng Fa only ate about one-seventh, while the remaining six-sevenths entered the old man's stomach.
This operation shocked the nearby customers into putting down their chopsticks.
Even the kitchen chef ran out, holding a rice spoon while looking at Hongjun Daoist with both joy and worry.
Joy because he seemed to have met his kindred spirit.
Worry because this kindred spirit looked quite old—could he eat himself to death?
Fortunately, Hongjun Daoist seemed fine, using a napkin to leisurely wipe his mouth while chatting with nearby diners and the chef, asking about their income, life, and other trivial matters.
These were supposed to be private matters, yet when he asked, others naturally answered without any concealment.
Only then did Zheng Fa realize that Hongjun Daoist had somehow already mastered modern language.
"Life is much better now." Seeing their lively discussion, the proprietress leaned out from behind the counter and sighed, "You young people don't know how difficult life was before." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"Take when I was little—though we had food and clothing, my grandfather was in poor health and had to go to the hospital every week. I needed money for school too. My father worked every day, yet by year's end he barely saved any money. By his thirties or forties, half his hair had turned white."
"Is it better now?"
"Of course it's better now!" The proprietress shook her head, "Though we don't have the fate to cultivate immortality, at least we're well-clothed and well-fed. My father now eats that so-called spirit grain—you old gentleman definitely wouldn't believe..."
"Believe what?"
"In his seventies or eighties, his hair has turned black again!" The proprietress chuckled, "He practices broadcast exercises at home every day, has better health than me, and runs around all day saying the world is so big..."
Hongjun Daoist glanced at Zheng Fa but didn't speak, just listened to the proprietress's endless chatter:
"I opened this shop thinking to earn some money for my two children at home." At this point, an expectant smile unconsciously appeared on her face, "Both children have good aptitude. According to their teacher, they can both strive for the Immortal Dao in the future."
After chatting a while longer, the two finally left the restaurant. Zheng Fa spoke first: "I didn't hire any plants."
Truth be told, he actually hadn't done much—at most, he had raised the floor for modern society with high-yield crops and low-cost energy, almost achieving a state where everyone was well-clothed and well-fed.
These two things weren't even entirely Zheng Fa's accomplishment. He could claim some contribution to external pills, but most credit for high-yield crops went to the Agriculture Academy.
Hongjun Daoist nodded, then suddenly said: "Your role was to ensure these people—those without the opportunity to cultivate immortality—weren't left behind."
Zheng Fa was stunned, turning to look at Hongjun. Hongjun Daoist's gaze was extremely penetrating.
Hongjun Daoist nodded to him, then continued strolling leisurely with Zheng Fa.
But Zheng Fa remained dazed.
That previous statement was quite accurate—essentially, if not for Zheng Fa's will being thus, the nursing home's products would hardly benefit the vast majority of people.
Take high-yield crops, for example—they had always been researched and promoted according to upper-level will.
For most people in the nursing home, these things were meaningless or even useless.
But what exactly was Hongjun Daoist doing?
As if hearing his doubt, Hongjun Daoist said while walking slowly: "I have some interest in this human world."
"With Dao Ancestor's omniscience and omnipotence..."
Zheng Fa was still puzzled—the scene of the universe in the palm had left an extremely deep impression on him.
Why would Hongjun Daoist bother with this incognito inspection act?
"What saints see and what mortals see are different."
Hongjun Daoist's words made Zheng Fa's heart tremble slightly—these words were quite true. Facing the same matter, different positions and identities led to different feelings. This Dao Ancestor was more hands-on than he had imagined, an experientialist.
"School?"
Wasn't this being too hands-on!
Hongjun Daoist now stood only waist-high to Zheng Fa, with a tender face but serious expression as he pointed at an elementary school and nodded gravely.
"Then... I'll find someone to handle the procedures."
"No need!"
Hongjun Daoist swaggered into the school gate, directly entering a classroom, conjuring a desk, and sitting down.
Along the way, security guards, teachers, classmates—none noticed anything unusual, as if he had always been part of the class.
It wasn't until evening that Zheng Fa received the dismissed Hongjun Daoist from the teacher.
Honestly speaking, looking at the youthful Hongjun Daoist, Zheng Fa felt considerably less pressure. In a momentary brain lapse, he even smiled and asked: "What did you learn today?"
"One math class, one language class." Hongjun Daoist glanced at him and actually answered honestly, "And one Immortal Dao ideology class."
"Oh, this one only appeared in recent years."
Zheng Fa nodded—this course essentially instilled some moral standards and Immortal Dao concepts into children.
"I know."
Zheng Fa detected something unusual in his tone and turned to look at Hongjun Daoist, who said unhurriedly: "The textbook's first chapter is called 'Dao Ancestor Descends to Mortal Realm'."
......
After a moment of silence, Zheng Fa said dryly: "I told you, Dao Ancestor, you're my role model!"
"Heh."
By the time Zheng Fa brought Hongjun around to see various places and reached Rainbow Mountain, over three months had passed.
Hongjun Daoist truly had an experiential spirit—he even found a job and worked for a day.
Later he developed some interest in computers and infiltrated the computer science department of Ren Tian University to secretly study for half a day.
Overall, not difficult to accommodate.
Except...
"So this is Dao Ancestor Zheng's place of quiet cultivation? Truly an immortal's blessed land."
Hongjun Daoist stood at the nursing home entrance, looking around with an amazed expression as he said to Zheng Fa.
What an old master of sarcasm.
Along the way, Zheng Fa had almost become numb to being called that.
Tang Lingwu came out, looking at Zheng Fa with a puzzled expression: "When did you go out?"
Zheng Fa was stunned and hadn't spoken yet when he heard Tang Lingwu look at Hongjun Daoist and ask: "Who is this?"
Zheng Fa also couldn't reveal Hongjun Daoist's real name—this name was much more famous in modern times than in the Xuanyi Realm. He could only give Tang Lingwu a meaningful look while saying: "A fellow Daoist I met."
Tang Lingwu's expression showed sudden understanding. She glanced at Hongjun Daoist a couple more times before accompanying the two into the nursing home.
These two things weren't even entirely Zheng Fa's merit. He could claim some contribution to external pills, but most credit for high-yield crops went to the Agriculture Academy.
Zheng Fa nodded lightly.
He truly didn't know what Hongjun Daoist was doing.
"Since you've taken the cushion, you're qualified to obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi."
"Dao Ancestor, this Hongmeng Purple Qi..."
"Don't want it?"
Zheng Fa silently nodded.
He truly wanted it, but the problem was Creation Daoist.
Currently, the other party was watching intently, waiting precisely for the Hongmeng Purple Qi.
With the One Qi Transforming into Three Purities method, Zheng Fa wasn't afraid of death, but who knew if the Hongmeng Purple Qi could be taken away? If it fell into Creation Daoist's hands, that would be troublesome.
This person was too dangerous, and being enemies rather than friends with the Jiushan Sect, him obtaining the Hongmeng Purple Qi would be greatly harmful to the Jiushan Sect.
Hongjun Daoist looked at him, seemingly somewhat displeased. The atmosphere between them grew somewhat heavy.
"Tea is ready!"
Tang Lingwu walked in gracefully carrying a tray. Seeming to sense the tense atmosphere, her eyes moved between the two as she asked: "Did Zheng Fa make you angry?"
Hongjun Daoist glanced at Zheng Fa.
Tang Lingwu placed a teacup by Hongjun Daoist's side, half-squatted down, opened her eyes wide and said: "Grandpa, don't mind him."
"......"
Zheng Fa was completely baffled—since when did she start calling him grandpa?
But since Hongjun didn't speak, he didn't dare say anything either.
"Zheng Fa is stupid." After saying this, Tang Lingwu even glared at Zheng Fa, seemingly somewhat resentful.
"You say he's stupid?"
"Right! Can't see anything! Always making people angry." Tang Lingwu chattered like she was tattling on him.
Zheng Fa just watched from the side.
Hongjun Daoist swept his gaze across both their faces, seemingly discerning something as he smiled and began sarcastically again: "He's already a Dao Ancestor, and you still say that about him?"
"What Dao Ancestor? He's even embarrassed about it himself." Tang Lingwu snorted disdainfully, "He often says himself that he's just lucky to have inherited some predecessors' wisdom, only wanting to carry it forward and prevent the ancient sages' learning from being obscured."
Did I say that?
Looking at Hongjun Daoist's smiling face, Zheng Fa felt certain—yes, he had said it!
Tang Lingwu was his mouthpiece!
"He really thinks that way?"
"Right." Tang Lingwu said straightforwardly, "Otherwise, being so stupid, how could so many people on Rainbow Mountain be willing to help him?"
......
"You say he's stupid every day, but I think he's quite clever."
Tang Lingwu gently glared at Zheng Fa again and said:
"Tell me, being so powerful now, he doesn't enjoy much, can't even be said to throw his weight around. On the contrary, he's busier than all of us—isn't that stupid?"
"Others cultivating immortality can't wait to shut their doors to practice, afraid others might learn from them. But him? He's afraid others can't learn enough—isn't that even more stupid?"
......
Hongjun Daoist's expression grew increasingly peculiar.
Tang Lingwu continued: "His stupidest part is his mouth. He values Rainbow Mountain extremely highly. Being able to invite you here means he must greatly respect and value you, yet before saying two sentences, he's already made you angry."
"I'm not angry." Hongjun Daoist smiled and shook his head, then glanced at Tang Lingwu, "But you're more anxious than this kid."
Tang Lingwu's face turned completely red as she lowered her head without speaking.
But Hongjun Daoist's expression when looking at her was quite gentle.
Zheng Fa watched from the side, thinking to himself that Tang Lingwu truly was an old man killer...
Hongjun Daoist looked at Zheng Fa and asked: "She says you're the stupidest, so you tell me—why don't you want the Hongmeng Purple Qi?"
Zheng Fa didn't hide it either: "I naturally want it, but if I take it and Creation Daoist snatches it away, that would be more troublesome."
"Yes."
Hongjun Daoist nodded as if understanding, confirming: "Really don't want it?"
Just as Zheng Fa was about to speak, he suddenly saw Tang Lingwu frantically signaling him with her eyes. Startled, he turned to look at Hongjun Daoist.
He saw Hongjun Daoist smiling as if watching a good show.
Zheng Fa immediately paused.
"Somewhat stupid, not as clever as the young girl." Hongjun Daoist commented lightly, "Without the Hongmeng Purple Qi, what will you use to protect this world?"
Zheng Fa's eyes widened sharply.
"You think, why was I able to come here?" Hongjun Daoist's words exploded in Zheng Fa's ears, "This place is also the Nine Luminaries Heaven."
