Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 164 - 64 Not Bad

Chapter 164: Chapter 64 Not Bad

Zhang looked at each other with Lin Bufan and Han Qi, their gaze on Zheng Fa in the study filled with concern.

"The young master hasn’t come out yet?"

"Hmm, he’s been in closed-door training for three days," Lin Bufan shook his head, "not stepping outside."

"About Sister Zhang’s matter... sigh, I’m off to take over the watch at the workshop." Han Qi shook his head as if he had some understanding of Zheng Fa’s choice, "Try to persuade the young master not to be too impatient."

...

In the study, Zheng Fa’s divine sense was immersed within his dantian.

On the seventh petal of the Twin Lotus Platform in his dantian, a new Primordial Talisman had appeared — the Thunder Rope Talisman.

This was a rather obscure type of Primordial Talisman, to say the least. Thunder Talismans, in general, were quite obscure because they were extremely unstable, something not many dared to tinker with.

Originally, he had been hesitating about what Primordial Talisman the seventh talismanic diagram should condense.

Following the order of the Yin Yang Five Elements, the talismanic diagram he should have formed this time would belong to the Yang Gold Element.

Such talismanic diagrams were usually inclined towards offense and defense.

What Zheng Fa needed most, however, were ones for healing and illusion techniques.

Therefore, Zheng Fa had hesitated for a long time over this talismanic diagram — just a few days ago, he had almost decided on the Golden Armor Talisman.

After all, in terms of offensive power, he had the Frost Blade Talisman.

For traveling quickly, he had the Raising Cloud Talisman.

This time, choosing a defensive Spirit Talisman could be seen as perfecting his combat system.

But just yesterday, he changed his mind and chose the Thunder Rope Talisman instead.

The function of this Spirit Talisman was, as the name suggests, to summon a chain made of lightning, primarily to restrain the opponent’s movements and paralyze them.

The Frost Blade Talisman was more for killing the enemy.

While the Thunder Rope Talisman was more for trapping enemies, which also constituted a perfection of his combat style.

Of course, the main reason he chose the Thunder Rope Talisman was to prepare for going to the Thunder Pool.

Zheng Fa tended towards going to the Thunder Pool as soon as possible.

On the one hand, of course, it was for Sister Zhang.

On the other, he couldn’t avoid it.

The Jiushan Sect was now up against the Great Freedom Demon Sect, and the conflict was uncertain in duration. As one of the most well-known geniuses of the Jiushan Sect, he could hardly stand aside.

Sooner or later, he would have to face the enemies from the Great Freedom Demon Sect. Or rather, he had already encountered them, like Lin Bufan, and also like Chen Ting.

He considered himself someone who didn’t particularly enjoy conflicts with others, but at this moment, it wasn’t up for his liking.

Since there was a fight to be had, Zheng Fa naturally preferred to choose the battleground most suited to him —

The safest would, of course, be within the Jiushan Sect.

But even they were not fools.

The second option would be the Thunder Pool. He wanted to visit the Thunder Pool not only to cultivate the Five Thunders Dharma Body and the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method but also to familiarize himself with the Great Freedom Demon Sect — consider it a training exercise.

Now the Sect Leader forbade him from leaving the sect, and he could understand the concern behind it.

For him, there was only one way to achieve the best of both worlds — to cultivate like his life depended on it!

If the Sect Leader wanted him to reach a great accomplishment in the Five Thunders Dharma Body before leaving, then he would reach the fourth layer as soon as possible!

Zheng Fa picked up the Xuanlei Stone that Sister Zhang had given him.

He had always been careful with this Xuanlei Stone, having used it only two or three times.

But he was no longer holding back.

Thunder Light flowed from the Xuanlei Stone into his dantian, causing his entire body to tremble slightly and his skin to turn bright red. His teeth chattered as if the bones throughout his body were jumping around uncontrollably.

He was for the first time undergoing the Bone Forging cultivation of the third layer of the Five Thunders Dharma Body.

Zheng Fa could feel that the intensity of the electrical current was much stronger than before, even multiple times more potent, emerging from the Xuanlei Stone.

Only with such force could the electricity penetrate his flesh and temper his bones.

What surprised Zheng Fa was that not only were his bones strengthening, but his flesh was also slowly being fortified.

It wasn’t long before.

The black color on the Xuanlei Stone in his hands gradually faded to snow white. With a gentle squeeze, the Xuanlei Stone shattered into a pile of debris.

Zheng Fa stood up without surprise.

Although he had been conserving its use, the Heavenly Thunder Power needed for a single Bone Forging session was indeed not small, and thus consuming a Xuanlei Stone in one cultivation session was normal.

While the workshop had few Xuanlei Stones, it wasn’t completely without them.

Currently, he still had some savings. If he really wanted to buy, getting a few more wouldn’t be too burdensome — but just a few probably wouldn’t be enough. Even considering modern time, to cultivate the Five Thunders Dharma Body to the fourth layer in a short period, he would need many more Xuanlei Stones.

Zheng Fa had already made up his mind:

Sister Yuan is rather foolish... no, generous.

Borrowing some from her first shouldn’t be a big problem.

Just as he thought of Sister Yuan, Yuan’s voice came through: "Junior Brother Zheng!"

"Is Junior Brother Zheng still in closed-door training?"

Outside the door, Sister Yuan was talking to Lin Bufan.

"Yes."

"What should we do?" Sister Yuan’s voice sounded anxious and concerned.

"Sister?"

Zheng Fa opened the door of the study, and as soon as he stepped out, he saw Sister Yuan pacing with a frown.

"What’s wrong?"

"The workshop... it’s not looking good."

"Not looking good?"

"The matter with Sister Zhang has spread..."

...

Han Qi and the others slowly walked through the bustling market.

The workshop today felt particularly alien to them.

The atmosphere of the marketplace was chaotic and desperate.

Some shops had closed their doors with signs of fighting at the entrance, looking messy and chaotic.

About half of the stalls in the market were empty, sparse enough to chill one’s heart.

The faces of the customers moving through the workshop were fraught with unease and urgency.

The stands selling Spirit Talismans.

The stores selling spirit grain.

Even those shops selling elixirs and Magic Artifacts that were usually deserted due to their high prices were now crowded with people.

Everyone acted as though they were trying to exhaust all their wealth, as if there would be no tomorrow — pure madness.

"The news of Sister Zhang’s disappearance has spread, and this time many brothers from the workshop have gone... reported to have suffered many losses," said the tall and thin Han Qi, who had inquired about the situation, returning with a somber expression, "and the workshop is in turmoil."

"They say that the sect is selecting Foundation Establishment and Qi Cultivation disciples to go to the Thunder Pool, suspecting they’re being sent to their deaths."

Han Qi nodded slightly; he understood what the skinny tall fellow meant.

Whether buying various supplies or not setting up a stall for business.

In fact, it’s for one reason—preparing for battle.

"Isn’t the Thunder Pool relatively safe for the lower-ranking disciples? Don’t they know?" Han Qi asked.

"They know, Yuan explained, but they don’t believe it," the skinny tall fellow replied: "They’re afraid it’s an excuse to send them to their deaths."

Han Qi shook his head.

Frankly, he understood these disciples.

They couldn’t resist because the order came from two Nascent Souls.

That’s why they were so desperate.

"Brother, do you believe it?" the skinny tall guy suddenly asked Han Qi.

After being silent for a long time, Han Qi finally smiled bitterly.

If it hadn’t been Zheng Fa who said this, he wouldn’t have believed this claim either.

"Everyone knows that the Spiritual Mechanism is weakening; it’s inevitable," the skinny tall guy said after a moment of silence.

Han Qi was speechless and understood the skinny tall guy’s meaning. The panic in the workshop was not just the Jiushan Sect’s lower-ranking disciples’ distrust towards the higher echelons.

It was also a fear of the impending chaos.

The three of them were very busy today.

As workshop enforcement disciples, their primary responsibility was to maintain order in the workshop.

Yet, today, everyone in Jiushan Sect was as sensitive as a Thunder Talisman, ready to explode with the slightest nudge.

Often, fights would break out over a few harsh words.

In just two hours, Han Qi and his companions had already stopped three conflicts.

As time went by, the anger in everyone’s hearts grew, and some even started fighting in the workshop.

This scene made Han Qi and the others worry deeply.

Just then, as if some news had spread from outside the workshop, the customers and stall owners began whispering to each other, showing smiles.

This news was like a spring breeze, immediately calming the previously tense atmosphere in the workshop.

"What’s the good news?"

Han Qi walked over and inquired from a stall owner nearby.

"Don’t you know? Yuan passed the message that Zheng Fa said he would go to the Thunder Pool in at least half a month and at most one month."

Han Qi was silent.

"If he goes, naturally, we will be at ease."

Seeing the crowd relieved as if a burden had been lifted, cheerfully and peacefully doing business like any other day.

The skinny tall guy was taken aback: "Yuan explained all morning, and we also said it nearly a hundred times before, yet that’s not worth one sentence from Master Zheng?"

Han Qi pursed his lips and sighed: "His one sentence is stronger than anything else."

"That’s Master Zheng; if anyone is to die, it won’t be him."

"Come here to me."

Zheng Fa heard his own master’s voice.

When he arrived at the thatched cottage, the Sect Leader was standing outside the cottage, looking at him with a cold face.

"Master."

Zheng Fa silently greeted respectfully.

"Do you still acknowledge me as your master?"

"Disciple dares not forget."

"Then why don’t you obey the master’s order?"

"Master, I’m preparing to cultivate the Five Thunders Dharma Body to the blood-changing stage, which will be perfect for advancing in the Thunder Pool," Zheng Fa explained his reason: "Then, I will need the Thunder Pool to cultivate the Five Thunders Dharma Body."

"Half a month to a month, you intend to cultivate to blood-changing?"

"Disciple plans to use the Xuanlei Stone."

"Where did you get so many?"

"If I don’t have enough Spirit Stones, I’ll borrow them from Yuan."

Zheng Fa’s previous frequency of going to the modern era was not fixed; sometimes, because of critical moments in his cultivation, he would only go once a month.

But these days, he’s planning to go every seven days.

To make the most of modern electricity for cultivating the Five Thunders Dharma Body.

He wouldn’t waste time in this world either. Although Xuanlei Stone was expensive, now at a critical moment, he wasn’t planning on being stingy.

The Sect Leader looked at him, sneered and then tossed a Storage Bag to Zheng Fa.

"Master?"

"Inside are some leftover Xuanlei Stones from my past," the Sect Leader said coldly.

Zheng Fa opened the Storage Bag to find dozens of black Xuanlei Stones.

"Master, you had so many left?"

Zheng Fa was somewhat incredulous as he looked at his master.

"Xuanlei Stones were plentiful in the past!"

"That was tens of thousands of years ago... Master, you managed to keep them for so long?"

Zheng Fa said, half moved and half mockingly.

"Can’t I bet that these things would appreciate in value?"

"..."

"Just say they didn’t appreciate, right!" The Sect Leader huffed, then waved his hand as if shooing someone away: "Disciples are all debts! Now scram!"

Watching Zheng Fa walk away, Master Pang emerged from the thatched cottage.

"Your disciple is not bad; we will feel at ease handing over Jiushan Sect to him in the future."

"Yeah, he’s good, has prestige, and remembers kindness," the Sect Leader sighed: "Just disobedient."

"Give him to me if he’s no good!"

"Wishful thinking!"

The Sect Leader glared at Master Pang, and after a long time, he spoke again: "But I can let him take care of you in your old age."

"..."

"You lend me some Spirit Stones, and it’s a deal."

"Do I look like that foolish bird?" Master Pang huffed: "I’m a Nascent Soul; why would I need someone to take care of me in old age!"