Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 168 - 68 Map

Chapter 168: Chapter 68 Map

"Afterwards, you should keep an eye on the Spirit Manipulation Sect."

The day after Master Ling left, Zheng Fa heard Master Pang say this.

He looked up and saw Master Pang looking at him.

"Junior Master?"

"The Hundred Immortals Alliance... is far from being monolithic." Master Pang simply said, "Each of the nine major sects has its own plans, and I’ve always suspected that several sects are influenced by other powers behind the scenes."

"Yes."

Zheng Fa could understand the hidden meaning in Master Pang’s words.

The nature of the Hundred Immortals Alliance inherently has disunity.

"That Mystic Turtle Master claimed that Nephew Zhang bullied his disciple, but it was just an excuse." Master Pang continued, "Even within the Hundred Immortals Alliance, many do not wish to see another Nephew Zhang emerge."

"..."

"I am telling you this to remind you to not only be cautious of Demon Sect disciples in the Thunder Pool but also be wary of some of our own."

"Disciple understands."

"When necessary, strike first."

"..."

"Keep a pleasant demeanor on the surface, but be surreptitious in your actions."

"..."

"If you can strike covertly, do not do it openly. If someone else can do it, don’t you step in, understand?"

"..."

Zheng Fa looked at Master Pang, who was always calm and persuasive, then recalled his effusive demeanor towards Master Ling.

He couldn’t help but admire once again that his master made a wise decision by having Master Pang come along.

...

As they passed by more and more Immortal Sects.

The entourage following Five Dragons Heavenly Palace grew larger and larger.

In the evening, their traveling lights on the road appeared like a grand and magnificent meteor shower from afar.

During the day, the convergence of thousands of magic lights was as dazzling as daylight.

This indicated how many cultivators were gathering at the Thunder Pool.

Accompanying were also four more Nascent Soul real people. Whether familiar or not, Master Pang showed everyone due respect, even to the previously met Master Ling, being very polite in conversation.

Perfectly aligning with what he had taught Zheng Fa.

"Several of these Nascent Soul real people here represent half of the upper echelons of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, and they all agree with your proposition of establishing an exclusive market."

One day, after a banquet with Nascent Soul attendees, Master Pang returned and cheerfully told Zheng Fa.

"Junior Master truly knows how to win people over."

"It’s mainly because they don’t care much about it," Master Pang gestured dismissively. "It’s our turf after all. We are letting them come to realize it, they have to give us some face."

Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

"Of course, to get them to commit to jointly protecting the market, we need to leave a share of the shops for them, or they won’t be willing to put in the effort."

"That’s necessary."

...

By the time Zheng Fa and the others reached Taiyang County, half a month had passed.

"The Thunder Pool has arrived!"

There was an excited shout from a senior disciple in the hall.

Zheng Fa also looked outside.

Even from the sky, the Thunder Pool was vast and boundless.

At a glance, one couldn’t see its edges.

What surprised him even more was that it truly was a pool.

Or rather, a huge, endless pit that seemed bottomless—with tumultuous purplish-blue surging within it.

Like an ocean filled with ink.

On closer inspection, the purplish blue wasn’t water, but swirling and entwining lightning.

Five Dragons Heavenly Palace slowly descended near the banks of Thunder Pool, where many were already waiting.

Leading them was Master Huang, followed by some disciples from the market who had accompanied Zhang previously.

Although she was recalled by the Sect Leader.

These market disciples would not return. On one hand, they were familiar with Taiyang County, and on the other hand, they knew the workings of the market.

It was ideal to have them assist in establishing a new market here.

Thus, these days, Master Huang had been waiting here, ready to hand things over to Master Pang.

Thinking of Master Pang’s teachings.

Thinking of the relationship between these two.

And seeing the clearly impatient expression on Junior Master Huang’s face.

Zheng Fa reasonably suspected—there was a third reason why Master Pang took a detour.

Zheng Fa carefully observed these disciples; they bore no apparent injuries, but their expressions were downcast, and it seemed many were missing.

What puzzled Zheng Fa was the way Master Huang looked at him, as if bearing some resentment.

Shouldn’t you be glaring at Master Pang?

...

Since they were to plan the new market, Zheng Fa went with Yang, a disciple who had arrived earlier and was familiar to the Thunder Pool area, to familiarize with the surroundings and find a suitable segment.

Yang was an enforcement disciple in the previous market and also familiar with Zheng Fa.

"Brother Yang, where are the other senior disciples?"

"Some are healing, some..."

He didn’t say, and Zheng Fa didn’t ask further.

The two walked along Thunder Pool’s shore, listening to the continuous sounds of thunder and lightning, momentarily at a loss for words.

Until a mortal appeared before them.

He knelt by the edge of Thunder Pool, gazing blankly inside, seemingly lost in thoughts.

"Brother Yang, who is this?"

"A mortal who originally lived inside."

"Lived inside?"

"Junior Brother Zheng, do you know what it looks like when a spirit cave erupts?"

Suddenly, Brother Yang asked.

"Please enlighten me, senior brother."

"This entire Thunder Pool, to say at least within a thousand miles... originally, it was a plain, even had a county town."

Zheng Fa was startled.

"Overnight, the ground collapsed, and on opening their eyes, there was thunder light everywhere," Yang briefly described the scene: "He’s lucky."

"..."

"At least he survived."

"Then why does he..."

Zheng Fa took another look at the man.

"Home gone, fields gone, relatives gone, nowhere to go."

...

In the distance, streaks of light flew in.

More cultivators had arrived.

Within a short time, there were already thousands of cultivators gathered here.

All of them heard that the Heavenly Stele was here and came seeking opportunities.

They walked up to the mortal and looked towards the Thunder Pool as well.

However, the mortal’s gaze resembled that of someone staring into a boundless purgatory.

Whereas their faces were filled with longing and excitement.

Zheng Fa did not know what to feel at the moment, only involuntarily recalling the Brother Zhuang he saw when he first joined the Immortal Sect.

"Brother, there was a Brother Zhuang in the Talisman Magic Pavilion, how is he now?"

"Do you know him?" Brother Yang was surprised, then recalled, "He should be dead."

"Dead."

"Yes, he didn’t come out from the Thunder Pool... and no one went to search for him."

"..."

"Except for Sister Zhang, he had little to do with others, and Sister Zhang wasn’t there..."

Brother Yang explained.

"..."

Zheng Fa returned to the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace.

He sat at his desk, holding a pen, slowly writing on the paper.

He started with the patterns of talismanic diagrams from Old Man Bai.

And continued all the way to the laws of the Three Child Talismans.

He even finished writing Tang Lingwu’s speculation.

He then wrote a lot of his own thoughts about talismanic Dao and cultivation.

In essence, he wrote down everything he had learned.

He was always aware that some things he couldn’t protect at his current cultivation level—they required stronger strength and a higher status.

It was evident in the research of talismans, the resistance met when rashly proposing new things.

But now he had written these things down.

On one hand, since Sister Zhang was gone and he had no one to discuss with, many things had to be figured out on his own, and the process of writing them down was also a form of summary and self-study.

But the main reason was that today’s event was somewhat shocking to him, as if he felt the fragility of life.

He suddenly had a thought—

Although he had pursued cultivation, the situation in the Xuanwei Realm was getting worse.

If something really happened to him, he hoped to leave something behind for the Xuanwei Realm.

With that thought, he gently stopped writing and chuckled at himself.

Wasn’t this the same mindset Old Man Bai had when he wrote that textbook?

This old man, chuckling, had almost brainwashed himself.

"Zheng, what are you writing?"

Master Pang suddenly walked in and looked curiously at his contemplative appearance.

"Nothing much." Zheng Fa shook his head and put the papers on the desk into the Storage Bag, which he had been keeping inside the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace recently; it contained all his belongings and secret manuals, usually not taken out.

Mainly because he was worried about being looted after death.

The Five Dragons Heavenly Palace had restrictions, and apart from Master Pang, other people could hardly enter Zheng Fa’s room unnoticed.

As for Master Pang...

Well, Zheng Fa trusted his character.

Master Pang looked at him suspiciously for a while, seemingly suspicious and somewhat curious to see.

"Not showing me?"

"If I am unfortunate to die and Sister Zhang hasn’t returned, these will be entrusted to you, Uncle."

"Die?"

Master Pang’s brows furrowed, and his expression changed.

...

At night, Zheng Fa was cultivating the Five Thunders Body with a Xuanlei Stone.

Master Huang suddenly arrived.

She didn’t disturb Zheng Fa, just stood in front of his room and patiently waited.

When Zheng Fa noticed her standing at the doorway, it was already very late into the night.

"Junior Master?"

Master Huang gave him a look and suddenly threw a jade tube.

Zheng Fa caught it subconsciously.

"What is this?"

"This is a map of the Thunder Pool left by my disciple," Master Huang said with a slight pout: "She’s indeed kind, leaving nothing for me, her Master, but specially had her disciples leave this for you."

...

Now, Zheng Fazheng understood why previously Master Huang seemed a bit displeased with him.

Jealousy!

"What are these maps?"

"My disciple knew you were cultivating the Five Thunders Body and needed Heavenly Thunder for body refinement, so she specifically found several suitable places for you."

Zheng Fa’s fingers tightened around the jade tube.

"Sister Zhang, she..."

"She should be alright." Master Huang took out a jade pendant from her bosom, no, half a jade pendant, which still shone with a silver light.

"If she were really dead, this light would fade, and the pendant would turn dark."

No wonder Master Huang’s mood was relatively stable.

Master Huang also threw the jade pendant to Zheng Fa.

"This..."

"If you see this pendant, you know she is still alive, don’t act rashly, don’t do anything foolish."

"...Foolish?" Zheng Fa looked puzzled.

"You might want to burn that will."

Zheng Fa slowly turned around, looking at the Storage Bag on the bed.

"She once mentioned you to me, thought about giving her Nascent Soul resources to you."

"..."

"I didn’t agree."

"You did the right thing, Junior Master."

Zheng Fa spoke softly.

"Now, if she really is gone, those resources should indeed be given to you," Master Huang suddenly said.

"Ah?"

"I agree with the two of you."

"?"

Zheng Fa slowly widened his eyes.