"And... learn from Zhang Chulan."
Zhang Lingyu looked troubled.
He truly couldn't pick up that Shameless Lotus attitude.
"I'm not telling you to learn his shamelessness; what I want you to learn is his cunning, his knack for handling things smoothly. Chulan has been on his own since he was a child, like a weed, rolling around in the cracks for over ten years, and he's still doing well. You can't get that kind of life experience on the mountain. You need to learn how to engage with the world first, before you can truly transcend it. Otherwise, with your personality, even with your senior brothers protecting you, you'll suffer greatly sooner or later."
Zhang Zhiwei took off his headphones and said to his white-haired disciple.
"Thank you, Master, for your concern, but it's fine. If I suffer, then I suffer. All this disciple seeks is to quietly live out my days with you here on Longhu Mountain."
Zhang Lingyu smiled slightly.
"If I tell you to go, you go! Why so many excuses, you child?"
Zhang Zhiwei rolled his eyes, looking at the expression on his disciple's face, and said impatiently.
In the Capital City, within a high-security villa complex.
Qingshui looked at the message from Zhang Zhiwei, then put his phone away.
Zhang Lingyu would arrive here in a few days to deliver the Scripture of the Grand Zhengyi Alliance and Might.
From this point on, it already delved into a relatively advanced realm of Talisman techniques, capable of drawing Talismans up to the fourth rank.
In the current Anomalous Human World, the most powerful Talisman masters could only draw second-rank Talismans, and might only manage a few in their entire lives, or even just one or two. Third-rank Talisman masters could be counted on one hand.
As for first-rank Talisman masters, there were none in the current Anomalous Human World, but first-rank Talismans did exist.
These were left behind by great figures who had left a resounding reputation in history, each considered a top-tier individual of their era, such as Zhang Daoling, the founder of the Celestial Master's Mansion and the first Heavenly Master, or the Three Mao Patriarchs of Maoshan, and the Tang Dynasty Daoist Grandmaster Ye Fashan.
Thanks to the Book of Altos he obtained while incarnated in the Marvel world, Qingshui could also significantly boost and inspire his Talisman studies through the knowledge of Rune magic. Even the sixth-rank Talismans he drew were no less powerful than some high-tier Talismans.
After finishing the tasks at hand, Qingshui thought for a moment, confirmed there was nothing else urgent to do in the short term, and was about to begin cultivating when his phone rang again.
The caller's identity was quite extraordinary.
Ms. Tu, the first Chinese scientist to win a Nobel Prize in the natural sciences.
The elderly lady was 84 this year and had just received the award last year.
"Senior Tu."
"Professor Zhuo, I hope it's alright for an old woman like me to call you that?"
"Not at all, Senior Tu, you're too kind."
"Being kind is only right. I only learned about your achievements from the news. My old colleagues and sisters all say that in the future, medical schools should erect a golden statue of you to honor you."
"You flatter me. What achievements could Regeneration Serum possibly have? We still need to see in the future. But Artemisinin has already, directly or indirectly, saved hundreds of millions of lives. If anyone deserves a golden statue first, it should be you right now."
Qingshui exchanged a few pleasantries, momentarily unsure what the other party meant by this call.
The two had no previous connection.
"Chen-Ning Yang also called me just now."
"Hmm?"
Why was Chen-Ning Yang involved?
"He asked me if I had used up my Nobel Prize nomination slots for this year. I told him I had three slots, and one was still left. Luckily, one was left.
He replied that he was also lucky he hadn't nominated anyone yet."
Once a Nobel Prize nomination is submitted, it cannot, in principle, be modified.
As Nobel laureates, Tu Youyou and Chen-Ning Yang had lifelong eligibility to nominate others, able to nominate one to three candidates each year.
She didn't mention Qingshui's name, nor anyone else's, because Nobel Prize nominations are not actually allowed to be openly discussed. However, the meaning of her words was clear.
She and Chen-Ning Yang intended to nominate Qingshui.
"You two, are you planning to nominate me?"
"We can't not nominate you. If this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine isn't given to you, then our two medals won't hold much weight."
Tu Youyou spoke her true feelings, though her tone was lighthearted.
If this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine wasn't awarded to Qingshui, it would be a huge blow to the social credibility of the Nobel Prize.
When an achievement like Regeneration Serum, which rewrites the history of human medicine, emerges, if the Nobel Committee dared to ignore it due to political factors like ideology, it was likely that all of Stockholm would be drowned in akademics' spittle.
They probably had to beg Qingshui to accept the Nobel Prize this time.
All living Nobel laureates might now, like Tu and Yang, hope that Qingshui would receive the Nobel Prize.
Otherwise, it would mean that the awards they had received in the past held no value.
Because fairness and justice could not be achieved.
Qingshui replied:
"You're too kind, senior. If that award really is given to me, then I'll accept it."
"Alright, if that award isn't given to you, I'll return my medal, certificate, and prize money on the spot. You go on with your busy work; this old woman is going to have dinner now."
The phone hung up, emitting a series of beeps.
Qingshui blinked and stretched.
He wasn't that concerned about the Nobel Prize anymore.
His achievements and value had reached a point where they couldn't be measured by the Nobel Prize or any other award.
Einstein received the Nobel Prize for the photoelectric effect, not for relativity, but that didn't stop people from considering relativity his greatest achievement and the greatest scientific breakthrough of the twentieth century.
It was only because of the limitations of the era that the Nobel Prize committee couldn't verify the correctness of relativity while Einstein was alive, which prevented them from awarding him.
But Regeneration Serum was different from relativity.
It genuinely allowed disabled people to regrow limbs.
And it had been verified with no obvious side effects.
This meant it couldn't become a blemish on the Nobel Prize, unlike Moniz's lobotomy.
Whether the Nobel Prize would be awarded to him was not in question.
Unless they wanted to ruin a reputation built up over hundreds of years.
Nobel Prize nominations run from January to September, with announcements in October and the awards ceremony in December.
And now was the last month for nominations.
Less than a month left.
Opening his laptop and checking the progress of the molecular processing equipment sent by Meng Xuan via email, Qingshui suddenly smiled.
Counting the time, he estimated he could probably get the Arc Reactor out within this month.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was already reserved, so at this point, if he brought out controllable nuclear fusion technology, specifically cold nuclear fusion, which was miniaturizable and magical, how would the Nobel Committee respond?
Would they give him another Nobel Prize in Physics?
...
...
The next day.
"Oh my goodness, this lab is truly impressive."
Wang Ye, with his backpack on, looked around Qingshui's lab like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden.
"I say, Daoist Wang, you came from the bathhouse next door after all. You shouldn't be unfamiliar with high-spec labs, should you? Liao Fan joined this lab with me back then, and he wasn't as surprised as you are."
Yan Qiu, wearing a white lab coat, led Wang Ye into the lab and asked curiously.
She was one of the Mohist Sect disciples who had participated in the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony with Qingshui. She was a doctor and lecturer at Jinling University and had worked there previously, but now she had joined Qingshui's team.
Also joining Qingshui's team was Liao Fan, who had also participated in the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony.
This outstanding junior from the Mohist Sect, who had made it to the top sixteen, also came from Bathhouse University. He was previously an assistant researcher in a lab there and had now transferred.
With Qingshui leading the projects, he was expected to be promoted to associate senior professional title within a year or two.
As for Yan Qiu, she had also contributed to the development of Regeneration Serum. With this experience, and having published enough papers to meet the requirements, an associate senior professional title was already a sure thing for her.
And the boss of this lab, Qingshui himself, had already been promoted from associate senior to full senior and had been rated as an outstanding young talent—the academician title would only be available after the list of new academicians was announced.
It's worth mentioning that Old Meng is also expected to be stably selected as an academician in this batch.
"Oh, Sister Yan, I'm a math major. We math majors are all poor! What kind of fancy labs could we have? At best, a broken computer, maybe two abacuses, a compass, and a ruler. The rest is just pens and paper. How impressive could that be?
Just the walls in your lab here would be enough for ten years' worth of consumables for the teaching lab I used during my undergraduate studies."
Wang Ye said, spreading his hands.
(As shown in the picture, Wang Ye was admitted to Tsinghua University's School of Sciences after Wang Weiguo specified a professional scope.
Below is a screenshot from Tsinghua's official website, showing the majors in the School of Sciences.
Considering that Wang Ye is a sorcerer and has a high talent for Qimen Dunjia, it implies that his math skills are likely very strong. Therefore, the author speculates that Daoist Wang probably majored in mathematics.)
"A math major, then you'll probably work with Liao Fan and the others later, using mathematical tools to improve algorithms or something. They're short on people for data processing for their topological models."
Yan Qiu thought for a moment and said.
Wang Ye: "Topology? I just barely passed that course back then. If I don't do well, you all will have to guide me."
"What course did you not just barely pass? This is your transcript pulled from your academic affairs office. You can precisely control your scores to sixty points in every subject. You're quite something, kid."
Qingshui walked out from the corner of the hallway, hands in his pockets.
He happened to hear that remark.
Behind Qingshui was a tall girl with glasses, who looked like a top student, holding a stack of documents. The one on top was Wang Ye's transcript.
Wang Ye felt this young woman looked familiar.
He remembered.
After he defeated Zhuge Qing, he was chased and beaten by a group of women who kept shouting things like, "Ah Qing is the Dao, Ah Qing is the truth."
"You're... that girl from Longhu Mountain last time? Zhijinhua?"
"That's right, that's right, Daoist Wang, you can just call me Hua'er or A-Hua. All my friends call me that."
Zhijinhua nodded at Wang Ye.
She was renowned for her high intelligence, practically a human computer. She had just finished her master's degree and successfully passed her doctoral entrance exams. She had thought about sending her resume to Qingshui's side as a trial, and she was successfully admitted to pursue her doctorate there.
"Alright, none of you need to call me Daoist. I've already renounced that title. Just call me Wang Ye."
Wang Ye responded with a smile.
"Alright, since you all know each other anyway, that saves us the trouble of introductions. Yan Qiu, take A-Hua to retrieve this period's analysis data, then organize it and send it to my email. Wang Ye, come to my office with me."
Qingshui waved at Wang Ye, signaling him to follow.
One minute later.
"There's tea here, and the water just boiled. You can brew it yourself."
Qingshui plopped down onto his office chair, opening his computer while speaking to Wang Ye.
"Oh! You even have Da Hong Pao from Wuyi Mountain here?"
"Yes, someone gave it to my grandmaster, and I brought back two packets. It tastes quite good."
"Then your grandmaster must be heartbroken. This is from the six mother trees in Jiulongke. A few years ago, my father only managed to bid for a small amount at an auction for six million yuan. This stuff is out of production now, and the mother trees are forbidden from being harvested. The price is probably even more expensive than it was back then."
Qingshui opened a document and looked at Wang Ye.
"Your father invested a lot of money here with me. I accepted it, not because I lack money – I truly don't lack money now. In terms of wealth, I actually have more than your father. In terms of resources and talent I can mobilize, I also have more than your father.
Ten billion yuan is really not much. There are many people outside who want to invest, but only a few can actually get in."
Wang Ye's hand, holding the tea spoon, hovered in mid-air.
He was very smart and immediately understood Qingshui's meaning.
"You mean... this 'great Buddha' of yours is here for me?
My father's actions merely gave you an excuse, a reasonable opportunity to send me here. What you truly care about is me, just like everyone else, you value the Wind-Rear Strange Gate that I possess."
"No, no, you're only half right. Perhaps a little more than half, but not entirely."
Qingshui lightly tapped the solid wood desk with his index finger.
"I am indeed curious about the Wind-Rear Strange Gate, but I also know how difficult and dangerous Qimen Dunjia is to master. Therefore, I won't force the even more dangerous Wind-Rear Strange Gate out of you.
If I were to force it..."
Qingshui shook his finger, then, as if sensing something, turned his head towards a certain direction outside the window.
On a tree directly opposite the building downstairs, a bird was perched, its head turned towards them, tilting its head as it preened its feathers.
Qingshui turned back to Wang Ye and continued:
"You sorcerers should have some kind of eavesdropping spell, right? Sensing air vibrations and actively collecting sounds within a certain range into your ears – which spell is that?"
"Yes, there is such a spell; it's the Xun Character's Wind-Listening Chant. Are you suspecting someone nearby is eavesdropping on our conversation? If someone is trying to listen in on our conversation here, then the central palace's range should be limited to..."
Wang Ye reached out, intending to activate Wind-Rear Strange Gate on the spot to counter-capture them.
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