Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 195 - 95: Making a House Call

Chapter 195: Chapter 95: Making a House Call

"Sect Sister, how is it?"

Zheng Fa asked with a bit of concern as he watched Zhang slowly open her eyes.

"The Five Elements Child Charm Ring has changed its shape, and indeed there has been some different transformation." Zhang frowned slightly, seemingly summarizing her own language: "After advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage, I have had a vague feeling."

"What kind of feeling?"

Yuan, standing nearby, pressed for an answer.

Zheng Fa was also a bit curious.

The enlightenment of a true Nascent Soul cultivator is something that others rarely get to hear.

Even Master Pang wouldn’t talk about it to his disciples—not because he is stingy, but because it serves no purpose for many disciples who wouldn’t understand, and it holds no meaning for Master Pang himself.

However, despite the considerable gap in their cultivation, Zheng Fa and Zhang have always been the only Daoist companions who can open their hearts to each other for discussion, so Zhang did not intend to hide anything from him.

"The step from Golden Core to advancing Nascent Soul," Zhang spoke softly, "is different from the previous realms. It seems like a rebirth."

"A rebirth?" Zheng Fa pondered upon hearing this and summarized, "Sect Sister, you mean the Nascent Soul is like a new body."

"Yes." Zhang glanced at him with satisfaction and said, "And I have a feeling that, in the future, my physical body will become the nourishment for the Nascent Soul, which will gradually become more tangible instead of intangible."

Zheng Fa nodded lightly.

It seems that Zhang’s feelings might be correct.

Zheng had previously heard Zhang discuss the relationship between cultivation and lifespan in the Xuanwei Realm.

Golden Core cultivators do not live beyond a thousand years.

But once one reaches the Nascent Soul Stage, the lifespan leaps to ten thousand years.

If Zheng’s guess about cultivation is correct—that cultivation is an evolution of life—then the tremendous increase in lifespan at the Nascent Soul Stage likely means that cultivators truly become a new kind of lifeform.

"Has the change in the Five Elements Child Talisman had an effect on your Nascent Soul?"

"Yes." Zhang’s eyes sparkled, as if feeling an unexpected joy, "The Nascent Soul is like a child; how it grows is truly unknown to anyone."

"Unknown?"

Zheng Fa was taken aback.

"Yes, from Nascent Soul to Divinity Transformation, there is no fixed path." Zhang explained: "I confirmed this with Master Pang. The difficulty of Divinity Transformation lies in the lack of direction—according to Master Pang, each Divinity Transformation is unique, starting from Nascent Soul, the Xuanwei Realm no longer has specific cultivation techniques available."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa also recalled his own Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method.

It appeared that it indeed only worked up until the Nascent Soul Stage.

"And after condensing your Mobius Diagram, my Nascent Soul seems to have established a connection with something." Zheng Fa listened quietly to Zhang’s words: "It feels like it’s begun to find its own direction, and is changing spontaneously."

At this point, a small sense of gratitude flickered in Zhang’s eyes as she viewed Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa could not help but smile.

Zhang did not say thanks; the two did not need these words at some unknown point in time.

"Now that you have established your Foundation, have you looked at the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method?"

"I have."

At these words, the smile on Zheng Fa’s lips slowly turned bitter.

"Sect Sister..." he asked a bit dejectedly, "isn’t this cultivation technique too expensive to maintain? Are there other options available?"

He had eagerly taken out the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method for inspection right after achieving Foundation Establishment.

After reading it, he even wanted to rename the method: the Shenxiao Burning Money True Method.

The Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method in Foundation Establishment is divided into four steps—

Thunder Breaking Field.

Nurturing Thunder Seed.

Thunder Flower.

Harvesting Thunder Fruit.

Each step requires a vast amount of spiritual materials, not limited to just Thunder-related ones.

Zheng Fa could be considered wealthy.

But the lengthy list of spiritual materials, which even he did not have the patience to finish reading, was truly daunting.

"Not just the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method, every cultivator who progresses from the Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core Stage needs numerous spiritual materials," Zhang explained, "Forming the Golden Core is actually very similar to the Alchemy Dao."

"Alchemy Dao?"

"As the body serves as the furnace, gathering various spiritual materials to condense a perfect Golden Core." Zhang looked at Zheng Fa and said, "While different cultivation techniques have their nuances, the underlying principle is the same. Otherwise, why do you think no one wants to fight to the death? The cost of nurturing a Golden Core, let alone a Nascent Soul, is extremely, extremely high."

Understanding dawned on Zheng Fa.

"An inferior cultivation technique might not necessarily need less spiritual material, but the Golden Core it forms is weaker and the power of the associated spells is also lesser..."

"Then I’ll choose the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method."

Zheng Fa instantly made his decision.

This cultivation technique seemed to offer a decent return on investment.

Zhang nodded with a smile and said, "Tell me what spiritual materials you need, and I’ll see if I have any in stock."

"I have them!"

Master Pang’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.

He walked into the room, holding a Storage Bag, and handed it to Zheng Fa.

"Master Pang? What is this..."

"I thought of you practicing the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method," Master Pang said, "so I specifically sent someone to collect these in the workshop market."

"Master Pang?"

Zheng Fa was somewhat surprised.

He glanced at Zhang, who also showed surprise in her eyes.

It seemed she had never enjoyed such treatment.

"This... doesn’t Jiushan Sect have this kind of precedent?"

"I, the Jiushan Sect, haven’t produced a Tianhe Venerable either!" Master Pang declared robustly.

"..."

"This Thunder Pool market merits your contributions! Nephew Zhang, I have decided to use a portion of the market earnings to support Zheng’s cultivation. Do you have any objections?"

Zhang smiled, evidently having no objections whatsoever.

Master Pang’s voice turned a little deeper and he whispered:

"Currently, your cultivation is too low and truly perilous." Master Pang admonished, "I am very worried."

Zhang had a strange look on her face.

It seemed that for the first time in her life, she felt she wasn’t talented enough.

Zheng Fa took the Storage Bag from Master Pang’s hands.

"Oh, right, there’s also this."

Master Pang pursed his lips and pulled out another Storage Bag from his chest.

"What is this..."

"That Yuan who, before coming, stuffed it into my hands," muttered Master Pang. "She said it contains some spiritual materials you may need and also some insights into the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’, which should be somewhat useful to you."

"Before coming?"

"That Yuan who said..." Master Pang relayed Master Zheng’s words reluctantly: "He doesn’t have much left, but all are good items. Keeping them in my possession for now so they won’t get stolen, and I’ll give them to you after you’ve reached Foundation Establishment."

"Oh, he also said that some things are not necessarily required to be practiced."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa understood that these were probably items his master wasn’t willing to sell.

He gently held the Storage Bag.

But what did it mean that they were not necessarily required to be practiced?

"Shall we open it and have a look?"

Yuan, standing beside him, curiously craned her neck over.

Zheng Fa took out the contents of the first Storage Bag.

The spiritual materials in Master Pang’s Storage Bag were abundant: Purple Lightning Lotus, Thunder Grass, Thunderbolt Vine...

These were all common thunder-type spiritual materials found in the workshop.

But they were not cheap; other than the Thunder Pool producing thunder-type materials, such a complete collection could hardly be found elsewhere.

"I’ve also looked into the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’."

Master Pang spoke up: "Most of the required spiritual materials are available in the workshops, enough to support the early stages of your cultivation. For those that are lacking, we can collect them gradually."

"Isn’t there also the Sect Leader’s Storage Bag?"

Zheng Fa opened the Storage Bag from his own master.

The spiritual materials inside were much fewer, including a jade tube.

Zheng Fa first took out the jade tube and began to examine it.

After a while, he put down the jade tube, his brow furrowed with fine wrinkles.

"Zheng Fa?"

Seeing his troubled expression, the others exchanged glances, unsure what had happened.

"My master, he gave me a tough problem," Zheng Fa thought for a long time, then said with a long sigh.

"A tough problem?" Master Pang immediately got angry when he heard this: "That Yuan! Does he only know how to trick his disciples?"

"No..." Zheng Fa shook his head: "The master gave me a secret technique not found in the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method.’"

"A secret technique?"

"Yes, apart from three exceptionally odd thunder skills, most importantly, this secret technique can improve the quality of the Golden Core."

"The ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’... it can improve the quality of the Golden Core?" Master Pang asked blankly: "Why didn’t I know about that?"

"The master said that this true method is an ancient inheritance. It was obtained by him accidentally and was not included in the Jiushan Sect’s teachings."

Hearing this, Master Pang was also surprised, apparently unaware of this.

"Not exactly," Zheng Fa explained: "To practice this secret technique, the spiritual materials needed were already hard to find in his time. Today, many types of spiritual materials are said to be extinct."

"..."

At this point, the three people present understood why Zheng Fa said it was a problem.

The thunder skills were secondary.

Improving the Golden Core’s quality was no small matter.

It could even be said to concern one’s Dao.

Zheng Fa looked at the spiritual materials in the Storage Bag sent by his master. After counting in his heart, he shook his head: "These materials are for cultivating that secret technique, and they are extremely precious even now—but not complete, many things were only collected in part by the master back then."

Zhang and the others were also helpless upon hearing this.

Materials that the Sect Leader couldn’t fully gather a thousand years ago.

Even if one was willing to spend a fortune now, they’d be difficult to buy.

"If it really doesn’t work out, you don’t have to practice this secret technique," Zheng Fa put down the jade tube and suddenly laughed, finally understanding why the master said it was not necessary to practice.

Zhang and the others nodded slightly, saying nothing.

They clearly had no solution to suggest.

...

"Yan Wushuang is visiting?"

Zheng Fa was researching the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’.

Suddenly hearing a disciple passing the message, he was stunned and quickly walked out of the room to the main hall.

Upon entering the hall.

Zheng Fa saw Zhang and Master Pang already seated there, both with very serious expressions, looking at an old man opposite them.

This old man was short and dressed shabbily, yet his demeanor was self-composed.

Zheng Fa recognized him at a glance—wasn’t this the Sunset Sword Immortal who had slain a Nascent Soul with a single sword strike?

No wonder Master Pang and Zhang were so solemn.

Even their expressions contained respect and gratitude.

In terms of cultivation, with the Divinity Transformation rarely leaving the mountain, this Sunset Sword Immortal was probably one of the top figures in the Xuanwei Realm.

If it was about sentiment.

Regardless of the reason, this man had saved Master Pang’s life and to Zhang was indebted with an indirect favor for her ascension to the Dao.

The expressions of Master Pang the two were entirely understandable.

As Zheng Fa walked through the door.

He saw the old man’s eyes, sharp and bright, looking towards him.

That look was very familiar...

How to describe it?

Han Qi, it’s as if I’m seeing your Han family’s elders.

No, it’s as if I’m seeing your rival.