Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 169 - 69: Grades

Chapter 169: Chapter 69: Grades

The new workshop was quickly constructed.

On the third day after arriving at the Thunder Pool, Zheng Fa and Master Pang chose the location for the new workshop.

It was a small hill, which was once the site of the Chang Chun Sect, but now it was unclaimed.

The reason for selecting this place was simple—there were some remnants of a Spirit Vein here.

Although the Great Freedom Demon Sect had destroyed the Spirit Vein of the Chang Chun Sect, this branch of the Spirit Vein seemed to have been overlooked due to its sparse Spiritual Energy, thus it managed to survive.

This Spirit Vein might be stretching it for cultivation.

But setting up a few Illusion Arrays to prevent ordinary people from accidentally stumbling into the workshop was more than sufficient.

Once the location was set, the construction work was incredibly simple.

Two days later, a new workshop rose from the ground.

The new workshop was fan-shaped, with the central building being a new theater—this was primarily due to the strong demand of the Jiushan Sect disciples who worked abroad.

The inner circle had three layers of shops, mainly rented out to those from the Hundred Immortals Alliance.

Beyond that, were the stalls for the various disciples and Loose Cultivators.

The workshop had just opened, and many sects and disciples had already inquired about the rent.

In just three days, the inner three circles of shops were snatched up.

And there were few stalls left.

"How much can the Thunder Pool workshop earn in Spirit Stones in a month?"

Master Pang curiously asked Zheng Fa, who was organizing the ledger.

The Thunder Pool workshop was the name of this market, or rather, it had become the natural way to refer to it.

"Just from the rent alone, three thousand Spirit Stones a month," Zheng Fa thought for a moment.

"That’s so much more than our Jiushan workshop?"

Master Pang was aware of the income of the Jiushan workshop—an income of a little over one thousand Spirit Stones a month in rent and taxes combined.

"It can be even more."

Zheng Fa said with some confidence, looking at the tunneling light coming and going outside the workshop.

Master Pang also glanced at it and clicked his tongue lightly, "To be able to lie here and earn Spirit Stones, I don’t even want to enter the Thunder Pool anymore."

"Uncle Master, are you also going to enter the Thunder Pool? Is it for the Heavenly Stele?"

Zheng Fa couldn’t help but be a little surprised.

"What look is that in your eyes? Who doesn’t come here for the Heavenly Stele? Can’t I have some aspirations?"

"No, I mean, with the Thunder Pool restraining high-status cultivators so much, it might be a disadvantage for you to go in."

Zheng Fa explained.

"It is a bit," Master Pang also felt somewhat helpless, "but that’s the Heavenly Stele, after all."

"..."

"Do you think these people don’t know the dangers of the Thunder Pool?" Master Pang pointed at the tunneling light above, "Don’t they know that even if they see the Heavenly Stele, it’s not guaranteed they’ll gain anything?"

"..."

"Cultivators are the group of people who cherish their lives the most yet also disregard them the most." Master Pang summed up in a simple sentence, then he seemed to remember something and became somewhat serious, "You also must not underestimate those cultivators who have higher cultivation than you just because of the Thunder Pool."

"Why would Uncle Master say that?"

"Although they can’t exhibit their true cultivation in the Thunder Pool, there are still various means like Magical Treasures and puppetry in this world that are enough to be life-threatening to you."

"Yes."

Zheng Fa was startled; this was something he hadn’t considered before.

"Don’t worry, it’s probably quite difficult to use these means within the Thunder Pool. Just don’t provoke the other party too much."

"...I’ve always been kind to others!"

"If you can say that, then you’ve truly inherited what I’ve taught!"

Master Pang nodded, looking quite satisfied.

...

More and more people were coming to the workshop, and among them was a very eye-catching figure.

It was evening, and Zheng Fa and his brother Yang were patrolling the workshop, seeing if there was anything that could be improved.

Suddenly, a sound of sword whistling came from the sky.

All of them looked up, and a sword qi rainbow split the sky in two, descending right at the entrance of the workshop.

As the sword light dissipated, a young cultivator in his twenties appeared.

What surprised Zheng Fa a bit was this person’s attire—it was quite unconventional with a Star Crown and a crane robe, not quite in line with the current trends of the Xuanwei Realm.

It was Yang, beside him, who spoke, "Isn’t this a person from the Tianhe Sect?"

"The Tianhe Sect?"

Zheng Fa was also slightly surprised; the Tianhe Sect was quite well-known to him.

Tianhe Venerable.

Xuanwei Five Sects.

These eight words sufficed to describe the impact of the Tianhe Sect on the Xuanwei Realm.

"Yes, this outfit, no one else would wear it besides them."

"Why?"

"Rumor has it, this was Tianhe Venerable’s favorite attire, so the Tianhe Sect disciples love to dress this way."

I get it, professional COSER!

"And they’re quite domineering, not allowing disciples from other sects to dress this way."

...A monopolistic professional COSER!

This Tianhe Sect disciple seemed to take pride in his sect’s heritage; he ignored the whispering around him and seemed quite accustomed to it.

He walked into the workshop, didn’t even glance at the stalls selling cheap wares, and went straight to the inner shops.

This man was generous with his spending, and shortly after, he bought quite a number of Elixirs and Magical Treasures, before heading out directly.

From his arrival at the workshop to preparing to leave, it took no more than the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

It was clear that this was an impatient character.

The more he behaved this way, the more awe people watched him with—after all, he was from a prestigious sect, spending money so decisively, and the pride and impatience were apparent.

Just by hearing such, it seemed very difficult to provoke him.

As he was leaving the workshop, he happened to pass by Zheng Fa and the others.

Watching his back, Yang turned to Zheng Fa and asked, "Junior Brother Zheng, do you think he also came for the Heavenly Stele?"

Perhaps having heard the words "Heavenly Stele," the man even turned his head slightly.

"...Probably, apart from the Heavenly Stele, I can’t think of anything else that could attract such a person."

"But...doesn’t the Tianhe Sect have a Heavenly Stele for contemplation?" a young disciple who had just entered the sect frowned and asked, "Why would he travel so far? Could it be because he can’t... uh uh uh!"

Zheng Fa watched the man pause briefly, and then slowly walk away.

Yang, the senior brother, gently released his hand that was covering the disciple’s mouth and exchanged a glance with Zheng Fa—this disciple had discovered a blind spot!

But this Tianhe Sect disciple didn’t seem to be as overbearing in temperament...

...

In the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace, Zheng Fa swallowed a Yuan Condensing Pill.

After reaching the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, he could start condensing the eighth Primordial Talisman.

He had already chosen the talisman he wanted to condense this time: the Dream Charm.

This was a yang-aspected, Water Element Spirit Talisman, whose function was rather simple—it could induce dreams in people, and to a certain extent, even control the dreams of others.

However, there were also significant restrictions to this talisman.

Generally, cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage would find it challenging to manipulate the dreams of those in the Qi Cultivation phase.

But Zheng Fa intended to use this Spirit Talisman to test the nature of mortals, for which it was well suited.

The Dream Charm was quickly condensed.

Zheng Fa then picked up the Xuanlei Stone and began practicing the "Five Thunders Body."

A half Jade Pendant lay beside him, its silvery glow flashing as if offering companionship, or perhaps waiting.

...

In the modern day, within the old age home.

Zheng Fa handed a book to Old Man Bai and the others.

Three words were written on the book’s cover—"Spirit Eye Skill."

Old Man Bai glanced at the cover of the book and raised an eyebrow, "Is this... a spell?"

"Yes, it’s a spell."

Spells are actually not so popular in the Xuanwei Realm.

Everyone prefers to use Spirit Talismans, Magic Artifacts, Arrays, and various other methods.

After all, people always like to take shortcuts.

Or, to put it another way, it’s a convenience to rely on external objects.

It’s not that spells aren’t miraculous, but aside from some unique spells, general spells consume a lot of Spiritual Energy and their power isn’t that great.

With the aid of Spirit Talismans or Magic Artifacts, cultivators can leverage more of the power of heaven and earth with less spiritual power.

But this does not mean that there are no spells in the Xuanwei Realm; on the contrary, every sect preserves the inheritance of spells.

On the one hand, spells are the roots of many things, like how many Spirit Talismans are actually closely related to spells.

On the other hand, it’s to prepare for when the Spiritual Mechanism diminishes and the spiritual materials are exhausted.

In the end, spells might be all they have to rely on.

The current predicament of the old age home was that it was naturally in a state of diminished Spiritual Mechanism.

Therefore, Zheng Fa had no choice but to flip through the Scripture Pavilion and dig out some spells for Old Man Bai and the others.

The Spirit Eye Technique—essentially the spell version of the Spirit Eye Talisman.

The first time Zheng Fa saw a talismanic diagram in the void, it was because Zhang, the elder sister, had applied a Spirit Eye Talisman on him.

He wanted Old Man Bai and the others to start with this so they could observe the talismanic diagrams, to see if they could make some new discoveries.

"Spirit Eye Technique..." Old Man Bai, holding the booklet, looked eager to try, "If this spell is mastered, to what extent could one see through..."

"To what extent?"

"You know... How many layers can it penetrate?"

Tang Lingwu silently covered her upper body and stepped back a few paces.

"No, I haven’t practiced it! Why are you guarding against me? Guard against Zheng Fa, he must have practiced it!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Lingwu seemed to find it quite reasonable and also moved a few steps away from Zheng Fa.

"I haven’t practiced it."

Tang Lingwu breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Spirit Eye Technique can only see Spiritual Energy," Zheng Fa explained.

"It can’t see through objects?"

"Correct."

Old Man Bai grimaced, seemingly somewhat disappointed, and his enthusiasm visibly waned, "Then what’s the fun in that? You cultivators, although quite nice, are quite concerned about privacy."

Tang Lingwu, however, seemed quite happy, and somewhat embarrassed, took a few steps towards Zheng Fa.

She recalled her "Void Spirit Eye" and the secret techniques taught to her by Master Pang.

Zheng Fa suddenly felt a bit embarrassed...

...

Old Man Bai could only practice and study the Spirit Eye Technique dejectedly with Tang Lingwu at one side.

Suddenly, Zheng Fa’s cellphone placed on a distant table started to ring.

He opened his eyes and slowly put away the "Spirit Mountain Technique," as Tang Lingwu and the others also had to interrupt their practice.

Zheng Fa picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID.

"Mr. Chen?"

Zheng Fa raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was calling.

"Mr. Chen?"

"Hello? Zheng Fa, have you checked the results?"

"No."

Zheng Fa then realized it was the time for high school exam results to be released.

He had almost forgotten about it.

"No?" There was a bit of surprise in Mr. Chen’s voice from the other side of the phone, which was quickly replaced by intense excitement, "No need to check then, I know!"

"Alright."

Zheng Fa waited for Mr. Chen to tell him.

...

In Qingshui Middle School, Mr. Chen stood in his office, a bit excited with a phone in his hand.

He wasn’t alone in the office.

There were two school leaders and two people from the education department.

"You scored first in the city..." The words "top scholar" were at the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t say them.

There had been regulations in recent years, prohibiting the publicity of rankings, especially not the valedictorian.

If it was just mentioned in private, it wouldn’t matter, but now in front of the leaders, Mr. Chen felt he should be conscious of the rules.

...

On the phone, Zheng Fa heard Mr. Chen stumbling over his words for a long time, finally saying:

"You scored a... rank that I find hard to mention!"

"?"