Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 217 - 111 Sub-talisman Diagram

Chapter 217: Chapter 111 Sub-talisman Diagram

Xiao Yuying looked deeply into Zheng Fa’s eyes and after a moment of silence.

"...How many Zheng Fa are there in this Heavenly Stele Realm?"

Xiao Yuying suddenly asked.

Zheng Fa was stunned, guessing what she was thinking.

The Ling Ye Fairy probably noticed that his cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment Stage and seemed to struggle with acceptance...

"Forget it..." Xiao Yuying seemed to realize her slight loss of composure and spoke again, "Zheng Fa, Zheng Fa...I seem to have heard your name before, are you one of Zhang Wuyi’s people?"

Zheng Fa felt, somewhat inexplicably, that his reputation in the Xuanwei Realm was a bit peculiar: "I am a disciple of the Jiushan Sect."

Xiao Yuying nodded and gave him another look, as if she was trying to etch his name deep into her memory.

She didn’t chat with the others, instead turning around and transforming into a rosy light that flew out of the Thunder Pool.

Watching her actions, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel surprised—this person either possessed some magical treasure or a special cultivation technique, allowing her to move unhindered within the Thunder Pool, flying as usual.

As he watched her leave, Yan Wushuang slowly approached Zheng Fa and sighed softly, "Such arrogance from her, Zheng, you’ve seen it too, haven’t you?"

Zheng Fa nodded; Xiao Yuying was probably somewhat polite in her language, because her ranking was now just second to his own.

But throughout their conversation, her demeanor was definitely dismissive of others.

She didn’t even spare Yan Wushuang and the others a glance...

When he looked back at the others, he found their expressions were also somewhat unpleasant.

They had already had some opinions about Xiao Yuying, and with such an attitude from her, they were naturally displeased.

"If not for Mr. Zheng, who knows how arrogant this person would be!"

Someone said indignantly.

"Exactly!" Someone in the crowd proposed, "Now that we’ve met Mr. Zheng today, let’s go have a drink in the workshop!"

"Excellent! Most excellent!"

Zheng Fa watched the group congregate; the last time he saw them, they hadn’t been this united—it seemed the best way to make friends was to join in mutual criticism.

Being the chief contributor in outperforming Xiao Yuying in the rankings, he was surrounded by a crowd and headed towards the workshop.

...

At the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace, Master Pang stood at the doorway, looking up at the sky.

In the sky, Master Yuan was descending slowly with a flying shuttle, landing in the workshop.

After landing, some disciples came out from the shuttle, including Zhou Qianyuan and others.

"Master!"

Zhou Qianyuan followed by several fellow disciples, stepped forward and respectfully saluted Master Pang.

"That’s good; you’ll replace other senior brothers and be on guard at the Thunder Pool in the coming days," Master Pang said with a nod. "Although the spiritual energy of the Thunder Pool workshop doesn’t compare to Jiushan Sect, the monthly tribute is much more, so you won’t be wronged."

Zhou Qianyuan and the others exchanged glances, then unanimously agreed.

After they walked away, Master Yuan approached slowly.

"No disciples objected to coming here, right?"

The Spirit Vein of the Thunder Pool workshop was practically nonexistent, all of it used to power the workshop’s spirit formations.

Therefore, Zheng Fa suggested that the disciples from Thunder Pool workshop and Jiushan Sect take turns after some time to ensure fairness.

"Objections? They were fighting to come!" Master Yuan huffed, "Now, who in Jiushan Sect doesn’t know that Thunder Pool workshop has plenty of Spirit Stones?"

"So, you also came here, the one who’d sworn not to leave Jiushan Sect?"

Master Yuan squinted and suddenly stared at Master Pang for a long while before saying, "Have I offended you?"

"No..."

"No, hold on, your tone, why does it feel familiar to me..."

"..."

"Ah, I remember now. When I first became Sect Leader, you spoke to me in this same manner..."

"...Most certainly not!" Master Pang’s face stiffened, and he quickly changed the subject, "Didn’t Elder Brother say you’d stay in Jiushan Sect and let Huang escort these disciples? Why have you come in person?"

"All because of that Heavenly Stele Realm you mentioned!" Excitement appeared on Master Yuan’s face, "If my disciple’s idea works, it would bring an era of great peace to Jiushan Sect! How could I not come?"

Master Pang suddenly understood.

The Spirit Vein of Jiushan Sect was certainly important.

But against the temptation of controlling Heavenly Stele Realm, even this sect elder, who’d stayed put for thousands of years, couldn’t sit still.

"Are you thinking of..."

"The Heavenly Stele Realm is said to be most important in Thunder Skill," Master Yuan shared his thoughts, "Who else in our sect is proficient in this cultivation method besides me! And my disciple is just at the Foundation Establishment, still shallow in his foundation, so I came to teach him more, to ensure he has a better chance in the Heavenly Stele Realm."

Master Pang was taken aback and began to see his Elder Brother in a new light.

"It’s not like you, Elder Brother..."

"Heh, are you the only one concerned about Jiushan Sect?" Sect Leader scoffed, "I’m even planning to go to the Heavenly Stele myself! How could I let my disciple go alone?"

"Elder Brother?"

Master Pang was stunned for a moment, calling Elder Brother with deep affection, no longer bearing the previous slight resentment—after all, a Nascent Soul taking risks in Thunder Pool was known to be risky, and he knew full well how lazy and fond of his life his Elder Brother could be.

"Although I haven’t left Jiushan for quite some time," Master Yuan’s face showed some boldness, "I am bound to seize this opportunity in the Heavenly Stele!"

Master Pang looked at Master Yuan, a relaxed smile finally appearing on his face.

"With Elder Brother here, I’m not worried about that Xiao Yuying anymore..."

"Who?"

"Xiao Yuying, the Ling Ye Fairy Xiao Yuying..." Master Pang thought he didn’t recognize Xiao Yuying and explained, "She’s also come to Thunder Pool, and from her demeanor, she seems to consider the Heavenly Stele Realm as something already in her pocket. As you said, Elder Brother, it’s just that my nephew Zheng has only entered Foundation Establishment, and he has only recently begun studying Thunder Skill, so I’m actually a bit worried about the ownership of the Stele..."

Master Yuan silently walked toward the flying shuttle after hearing this.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

"I’m going back to prepare for moving!" Master Yuan said.

"Moving?"

"If I don’t move now that the Heavenly Stele is about to be snatched away by Ling Ye Fairy, should I wait for the Great Freedom Demon Sect to come knocking on our door?"

"..."

Master Pang looked at his own brother.

Where had the unyielding spirit you just had gone?

"You don’t understand... You are not a cultivator of the Thunder Skill; you only see Ling Ye Fairy as someone with deep fortune..." Master Yuan heaved a deep sigh: "Only us Nascent Souls who practice Thunder Skill understand, this person... at the very least has the potential for Divinity Transformation."

Master Pang was stunned.

"Let me put it this way." Master Yuan explained, "Judging by her experiences from childhood to adulthood, the enlightenments in Thunder Skill that we only reach at the Nascent Soul Stage, she probably was born with it."

"..."

Hearing his own brother say this, Master Pang felt a heaviness in his heart. After thinking back and forth for a long time, he finally spoke dryly, "Then... Zheng..."

"Gaining some spiritual materials in the Heavenly Stele Realm is also good."

Master Yuan spoke somewhat euphemistically.

"Then it’s best for you not to leave as well, brother. It’s also good to teach Zheng a bit more." Master Pang pulled on Master Yuan, not letting him escape, "The most important is, we need to guide Zheng properly."

Just at this time, a large group of cultivators from the direction of the Thunder Pool headed toward the workshop.

Who could it be at the lead if not Zheng Fa?

These people’s cultivation levels varied from high to low, mostly Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment, but there were also quite a few Golden Cores.

But no matter their cultivation level, they all huddled around Zheng Fa as if he was the center of their universe.

The crowd escorted Zheng Fa toward a restaurant.

"Is my disciple really so well-liked?" Master Yuan turned his head and asked Master Pang.

"No." Master Pang also frowned, "Zheng usually stays hidden and doesn’t socialize much in the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace."

"What’s going on then?"

Master Pang didn’t have a clue either, so he simply called over a disciple to go to the restaurant to take a look.

After a while, the disciple ran back to the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace with a look of joy on his face.

"Master, Sect Leader, they’re celebrating with Zheng!"

"Celebrating? Celebrating what?"

Master Pang and Master Yuan exchanged glances, even more confused now.

"They said that on the Heavenly Stele rankings, Zheng is now at the top."

"..."

"Someone secretly told me that Zheng has just surpassed Ling Ye Fairy..."

"..."

"Master Pang," after a moment of silence, Master Pang spoke, "How about you go back first?"

"... Didn’t I have to teach my disciple?"

Master Yuan suddenly didn’t want to leave.

"What will you teach?" Master Pang scoffed lightly, "A man who wants to run as soon as he hears the four words ’Ling Ye Fairy’..."

"..." Master Yuan looked at him for a while, then suddenly realized, "That look, it’s the exact same as when I became Sect Leader and you spoke to me back then!"

"Nonsense! You have the position of Sect Leader, and you have a good disciple, am I not allowed to be a little jealous?" He looked toward the restaurant, as if he could see Zheng Fa making friends and talking happily, "This Zheng, he’s just like me!"

...

As soon as Zheng Fa entered the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace, he saw his Master standing in the main hall, seemingly waiting for him.

He hurried forward to perform a greeting, "Master, you’re here?"

"Indeed!" Master Yuan looked at him with a pleased smile, "I heard you have even surpassed Ling Ye Fairy, you have quite the style I had back then."

Zheng Fa couldn’t help but look toward Master Pang, hearing a soft ’pfft’ sound from him.

"And the Jiushan Sect?"

Zheng Fa remembered that his Master was dead set on not leaving the Jiushan Sect, fearing it would be stolen.

"Now, the Heavenly Stele Realm is our top priority!" Master Yuan seemed to have forgotten his previous intention to move back, expressing boisterously, "Although it’s tough to control the Heavenly Stele Realm, if we can truly achieve our goal, we will no longer have to fear the Great Freedom Demon Sect."

Just as they were talking about the Great Freedom Demon Sect.

"Junior brother," Zhang’s voice arrived, "We seem to have discovered some secrets of the Great Freedom Demon Sect!"

Zheng Fa turned his head to see Zhang leading Yuan, Yuan was carrying a coffin, and beside the coffin stood Lin Bufan, walking into the hall.

"Sect Leader?" Zhang seemed to have been busy before and hadn’t noticed the Sect Leader’s arrival, now looking a bit puzzled.

"You said you’ve discovered the secret of the Great Freedom Demon Sect?" The Sect Leader waved his hand and prodded, "What secret?"

"About this, we have to start from the theory of the Three Child Talismans that Zheng developed." Zhang glanced at Zheng Fa, and explained the theory of the Three Child Talismans to the two again.

After finishing, she didn’t wait for the contemplative Sect Leader and Master Pang, and said to Zheng Fa, "Junior brother, you had Yuan melt this copper coffin, but she tried everything and couldn’t melt it—later, two talismanic diagrams appeared on the copper coffin."

"Talismanic diagrams?"

"Yuan doesn’t understand topology, but I could tell at a glance... These two talismanic diagrams are actually the same as the two that constantly appear in Lin’s blood," Zhang explained.

What was this?

A trademark of the Great Freedom Demon Sect?