Big Data Cultivation - Chapter 286

Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Blow it up casually

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Young Master Yu of the Yu Family showed quite the aptitude for learning technological knowledge and quickly figured out how to drive the farm machinery.

She even had the mind to try it herself.

However, her sister, Yu Changqing, ruthlessly quashed that idea—Divine Doctor Feng is willing to teach you, and that in itself is already your good fortune, yet you still wish to drive? If you damaged such a wondrous thing, who would bear the responsibility?

To the native people of this plane, the farm machinery was not only capable of moving on its own but had another miraculous feature—it could generate electricity.

Feng Jun had not brought along a generator during this trip, but ever since Young Master Yu got used to electric lighting, she found the light from fires and torches quite unbearable, yearning for Feng Jun to start up the farm machinery at night and hook up light bulbs for illumination.

The old saying really rang true: it is easy to go from frugality to luxury but difficult to return to frugality from luxury.

Seeing Young Master Yu and others hauling electric wires, Feng Jun finally had the chance to glance at Magistrate Han, “Magistrate Han has come? Such a rare visitor.”

Magistrate Han rubbed his hands together and stamped his feet, smiling as he spoke, “The weather is indeed exceptionally cold, especially outdoors. Tents are utterly useless.”

Feng Jun knew he was making an ostentatious display of hardship and couldn’t be bothered to argue, “I heard you’ve been waiting for half the day. Is there something you needed?”

“I have yet to congratulate you on advancing to the Innate realm,” Magistrate Han straightened his clothes and formally bowed three times, “I have been an official here for many years, and it is the first time someone under my rule has broken through to the Innate realm. I, too, feel greatly honored.”

These words were a standard way of testing the waters, all this talk of “under my rule” and “feeling greatly honored” was all part of the routine.

Feng Jun was not sensitive to such things, and he laughed it off with a wave of his hand, “It’s just a minor advancement to Innate, nothing worthy of congratulations. On the contrary, the destruction of a room has forced the Magistrate to suffer the cold outdoors, and for that, I am truly sorry.”

An advancement to Innate is nothing? Young Master Yu, Lang Zhen, Tian Lewen, and others who had grown accustomed to his bravado, were already immune to such statements.

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Magistrate Han, however, solemnly replied, “If enduring a day of cold could result in an Innate advancement, I would rather brave the cold every day.”

“Ha ha,” chuckled Feng Jun indifferently, “In a few days, some friends will be coming to join in the festivity. If the Magistrate has the time, you’re welcome to join and help showcase the educational achievements of your county.”

That’s how one should deal with polite exchanges: when respect is given, they will certainly provide a ladder in return. That is what makes everyone happy. Waiting pettily for the other party to speak up first could lead to being seen as arrogant, which isn’t much fun at all.

Magistrate Han was grinning from ear to ear, feeling that the day’s hardships were well worth it as the other party had already paved the way without him needing to say anything.

At that moment, he even felt a bit indignant—damn it… who said that the Divine Doctor Feng was difficult to talk to? He was actually quite approachable.

Then, seizing the opportunity, he warmly expressed, “The Divine Doctor’s breakthrough to the Innate realm is a result of your own hard cultivation; I truly shouldn’t take any credit for it. However, since you chose this place for your breakthrough, that is a kind of destiny…”

Pausing for a moment, he continued slowly, “Since the Divine Doctor appreciates the scenery of Mount Zhige, why not take residence here? I would be glad to offer every assistance and create a wonderful tale.”

Feng Jun stared at him for three to four seconds before bursting into laughter, “That sounds good. Magistrate Han, I’ve heard recently that you have set up roadblocks to keep out idlers. Since you have shown such great favor, how could I not comply?”

Magistrate Han grew even more delighted, “Since that’s the case, may I ask when the celebration will be held?”

“I can’t set a date yet,” Feng Jun seriously replied, “I have yet to fully adapt to the Innate Qi, often struggling to control my strength, and the buildings are still under repair… it will take at least seven or eight days.”

Magistrate Han’s eyes darted around as he tentatively asked, “Then when should I send someone to collect the invitation?”

“Why would we ever trouble the Magistrate to send for it?” Feng Jun laughed heartily, as everyone knows how to say the right things, “Once I’ve set a date, it will be delivered to the county government office… though I might not be able to go in person.”

“Of course,” Magistrate Han replied with a smile, nodding, “The Divine Doctor has just entered the Innate realm and must be busy with many matters, sending someone will suffice…”

And so the evening passed, and early the next morning, Magistrate Han left the camp, while Feng Jun chose a new hollow in the mountains, driving the farm machinery over with a rattling noise.

Then, once again, he left the others behind and made his way into the hills.

Every day, they followed the Divine Doctor from place to place, not knowing what he was doing, just sitting idly and staying alert for explosions that might come at any moment.

Brother Bao chose a wind-sheltered corner in the hollow and had someone dig out a cave about four or five square meters in size. Lighting a fire, he warmed himself lazily by the flames while idly speaking, “Lone Wolf, got any bets going today on how many times the Divine Doctor will explode?”

“I don’t gamble,” Lang Zhen replied curtly, “The last time wasn’t about gambling; it was about making money!”

“Betting on the number of explosions?” Young Master Yu sneered, “That’s not very creative. It’s better to bet on odd or even.”

“Actually, odd or even is also hard to tally,” Brother Bao chuckled, “Sometimes the Divine Doctor’s explosions are so minor you can’t tell if it was one or two. Better to bet on the total number of big explosions.”

Defining whether an explosion was big or small was purely subjective without a standard measure, and they were simply bored, so they agreed that an explosion could be considered big if it was felt as a threat from a mile away.

But by the end of the day, there were only occasional small explosions and no big ones at all.

Brother Bao was thrilled, unable to conceal his grin, “Hey, not a single one, and zero is even, right?”

“What’s the rush?” Young Master Yu rolled her eyes in exasperation, “It’s not dark yet, if he explodes once, then I win.”

She wasn’t too concerned about the meager stakes of the bet; what mattered was the embarrassment of losing.

No sooner had she spoken, someone approached from a distance—it was Feng Jun returning.

The corner of Young Master Yu’s mouth twitched, and he couldn’t be bothered to greet the other party anymore; losing like this felt truly unjust.

It was Brother Bao who greeted him, “Divine Doctor, didn’t set off a big one today?”

Feng Jun glanced at him, speaking without expression, “I also can’t control the energy, whether it’s big or small, who can say for sure?”

Obviously, those words were nonsense, but no one present dared to point that out, not even Yu Changqing.

It was clear to everyone that the Divine Doctor seemed to be in a low mood today.

As for Brother Bao, the typical carefree type, he turned to Young Master Yu to collect the gambling bet.

Today, Feng Jun chose a location without any Spirit Stones on purpose.

In three days, he had made a big show of mining Spirit Stones twice in a row, and if he kept doing so, he felt that an accident was very likely—after all, there’s no wall that doesn’t leak air.

That’s why he had long since planned to set up a couple of fake targets, so if anyone decided to investigate the matter closely, it would confuse them.

Since these were fake targets, he naturally didn’t want to use too much explosive; he had already used more than two tonnes out of a total hundred tonnes, and while there was still plenty left, he needed to be frugal.

In short, it was about blurring the line between reality and falsehood, mixing the real and the fake.

Today he only set up six explosive packs, weighing one to two kilograms each, detonating one occasionally just to make some noise.

His main goal today, in fact, was to peel off a piece of Spirit Stone.

The storeroom in the Earth Realm was too cramped, and the leftover rubble from peeling was difficult to deal with, so he brought a Spirit Stone back to process.

To prevent the leakage of Spiritual Energy, when he peeled, he was extremely careful, slowly layer by layer.

This task reminded him of gambling on stones on Earth, which was also done in this manner.

From morning till dusk, he reduced the size from four cubic meters to about two, becoming even more careful as he progressed.

However, as things go in the world, despite his caution while slicing off a thin piece, the stone split along its veins, bringing off a sizeable chunk.

Then he felt it, trouble! A faint hint of Spiritual Energy seemed to start seeping out.

The energy was incredibly weak; if not for the highly sensitive reaction of the Stone Ring, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

But he couldn’t count on others being unable to detect it, especially since among the large group nearby, there was a genuine Cultivator.

So he brought the Spirit Stone back to the storeroom in the Earth Realm.

This time, the peeling wasn’t particularly successful; although the Spirit Stone contained a good amount of Spiritual Energy, he estimated that even with its current leak rate, it would take three to five years to deplete. Yet, for Feng Jun, who harbored a slight obsession with perfection, the feeling was truly uncomfortable.

With the remaining two pieces, he was absolutely determined not to make a similar mistake again.

What was more disconcerting to him was that the Spirit Stone had started to leak Spiritual Energy even when it was only two cubic meters in size; the shielding capacity of the stone’s shell was just too poor.

He could hardly imagine walking into a shop with a two cubic meter stone in his hand and saying, “Here, I’ll buy a Spirit Valley’s worth of Spirit Stone.”

He couldn’t stand this kind of second-dimensional Cultivation style.

So, it was perfectly normal to see him with an expressionless face.

Feng Jun also didn’t explain to anyone why he was in a bad mood; Sister Hong once said that those in higher positions should be cautious in their actions, as failing to gauge the measure could easily lead to “alienation from afar or disrespect up close.”

Upon returning to his lodgings, the first thing he did was eat—he hadn’t eaten all day.

Waiting for him to wolf down his food, Yu Changqing approached and asked softly, “How much longer do we have to stay outside?”

Seeing a High-Rank Martial Warrior from the Yu Family approach the Divine Doctor and speak softly, others couldn’t help feeling a bit odd: With so many martial masters around, none dared to disturb the Divine Doctor, yet you’re quite bold.

But nobody dared to underestimate this person; everyone knew that the man who stayed with Young Master Yu in the Divine Doctor’s residency was him, and even the Yu Family, not lacking in martial masters, somehow couldn’t edge out this mere Martial Artist, which definitely had its reasons.

Moreover, by now, people had noticed that this man was in disguise, not showing his true appearance.

A person with such a high level of mystery approaching the Divine Doctor for a conversation was a bit peculiar, but not unacceptable to the crowd.

Feng Jun considered that he had been out for four days, and his Innate Qi was actually quite stable now; perhaps… it was time to go back?

As he was pondering, a rider on a fast horse approached from the distance, a warrior from the Tian Family. He shouted loudly, “I have a message for the Divine Doctor, an invitation from the office of the Prefectural Governor.”

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