Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 222 - 115: Practicing Gone Wrong

Chapter 222: Chapter 115: Practicing Gone Wrong

Zheng Fa looked at his Sealing God Book with a hint of regret:

The Heavenly Merit on the Sealing God Book had already accumulated to nine hundred and twenty-three, but he had only used half of the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Talisman in his Storage Bag...

Now he began to suspect that he might indeed be overtaken by Ling Ye Fairy.

The main problem was the shortage of bad people!

Although Zheng Fa’s sealed lands were vast, the population was really sparse.

All together there were less than five hundred thousand.

Half Mountain City accounted for more than a tenth of that.

Although there were cities in other areas, none had as many people as Half Mountain City—even many places didn’t have a temple for gatherings.

Without a temple, Zheng Fa didn’t even have a way to contact his physical body, let alone use the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Talisman.

In this way, the number of evildoers he could strike down was even more limited.

But Ling Ye Fairy has the Golden Book...

Thinking about that, Zheng Fa started to lose confidence.

Without bad people, Zheng Fa simply decided to return to Half Mountain City first.

The reason was nothing else, compared to Half Mountain City, even if there were temples elsewhere, they were already dilapidated, after all, the so-called Thunder God had long disappeared without a trace.

Forget about temple priests, the temples weren’t even fit for people to live in.

At this moment, he remembered Xiaoqing’s merits—at least she diligently cleaned the temple every day.

In fact, now that he frequently struck down Heavenly Tribulation Thunder, those people probably recollected the majesty of the Thunder God and were ready to rebuild the temple for him, but considering the productivity of the Heavenly Stele Realm, Zheng Fa stopped them.

Those people already had issues with food, letting them carry stones to build the temple truly went against Zheng Fa’s principles.

In this way, the only temple he could use was the one in Half Mountain City.

Once back in Half Mountain City, Zheng Fa sensed something was amiss...

The front of the temple was quite bustling.

Xiaoqing stood in the center, with a few old men by her side, and nearly the whole city’s population seemed to have come.

The few old men were actually not very old, around thirty years of age, but they seemed aged.

He recognized them as the good people Zheng Fa had previously instructed Xiaoqing to reward.

Zheng Fa didn’t make himself known and just listened to what they were doing.

Soon, he understood.

Xiaoqing and the men seemed to be organizing the labor of the people of Half Mountain City, allocating some to the mountains to gather goods, others to the riverside to fish.

Most of the people left in the city were women, and Xiaoqing arranged for them to weave and tailor clothes.

It was clear that Xiaoqing was a bit nervous, but with the help of those men, nothing went amiss.

Zheng Fa understood in his heart—

After he eliminated the Thunderbolt Sect, a huge power vacuum appeared in Half Mountain City.

Xiaoqing, being his temple priest, managed to effortlessly gain the authority to command the city.

Thinking of this, he watched Xiaoqing’s actions with interest, while on the other hand, he doubted whether Xiaoqing could maintain her true nature.

After the task distribution was over, he heard Xiaoqing say:

"After you’ve gathered the goods from the mountains, caught the fish, and woven the clothes, bring them to the temple, and I will distribute them."

Zheng Fa quietly frowned.

"Lord Thunder God has said, he needs no offerings!" Xiaoqing continued: "Doing good deeds is the true worship! We will distribute everything fairly!"

Zheng Fa’s brows relaxed a little.

"Because Lord Thunder God favors the elderly the most! We will distribute according to age!"

Zheng Fa was startled... What does this mean?

I favor the elderly?

How does she know that?

No, how is she spreading rumors?

Zheng Fa looked towards the few people beside Xiaoqing... after thinking for a while, he also somewhat understood why Xiaoqing would have this idea:

Initially, when Zheng Fa asked her to give offerings to these good people, he didn’t explain why—

Yet, in Half Mountain City, the majority of those who could perform good deeds were powerful men.

Accumulating good deeds also required time.

Therefore, these were all elderly men of Half Mountain City...

While pondering, Zheng Fa saw the Heavenly Merit on the Sealing God Book quietly jump up a few points.

"Hmm?"

He hadn’t struck down any Heavenly Tribulation Thunder, so where did this Heavenly Merit come from?

Zheng Fa involuntarily looked outside at Xiaoqing.

Xiaoqing was also dispersing the crowd, walking into the temple alone.

She leaned against the altar as if very tired, and sighed deeply.

"What was that just now?"

Zheng Fa’s voice sounded, startling Xiaoqing who suddenly looked up: "Lord Thunder God, you’ve come again?"

"Yes, why do those people listen to you?"

Zheng Fa had never noticed Xiaoqing harbored such intentions.

"How should I know..." Xiaoqing sighed and complained: "After the Thunderbolt Sect was gone, everyone started fighting over the river channels, and then for the goods from the mountains...they all came to me for decisions."

"Thinking about it, since you, lord, valued those grandfathers, I went to ask them for advice. They told me to have everyone go together, and then distribute the goods afterward, saying that I’m the only one in the city now who has the power to make everyone agree."

"Lord Thunder God, did I do something wrong?"

Xiaoqing asked a little nervously.

Zheng Fa thought about it and understood the issue—The Thunderbolt Sect had represented an order, although not a good one, it was at least clear.

With the Thunderbolt Sect gone, Half Mountain City instead fell into chaos.

Regarding Xiaoqing’s approach, although there are many issues, it is nonetheless a relatively peaceful new order.

"You say that I have a soft spot for the elderly..."

"Isn’t that so?" Xiaoqing asked doubtfully, "If not for you, Lord, some of the elderly in the city would have starved to death or simply left the city alone..."

"..."

Zheng Fa began to understand where those points of Heavenly Merit came from.

The resources of Half Mountain City led to the lack of even a custom of respecting the elderly here—in fact, it was more like how certain animal herds would abandon the old and weak.

"It is indeed."

Zheng Fa thought for a long time before responding, mainly because the criteria for being considered elderly here were too low and wasted too much of the population.

"I really didn’t guess wrong!"

Xiaoqing said triumphantly.

"..."

Zheng Fa looked at Xiaoqing, who has also become a bit more plump compared to before, now possessing some of a young girl’s vitality.

He also didn’t expect that this girl would have naively established the rudiments of a Divine Sect.

Of course, he did not recognize the core doctrine of loving old men...

...

Within the Heavenly Palace of the Heavenly Stele Realm.

Zheng Fa walked while contemplating matters of the religious order; he didn’t want to be some deity. On one hand, ahem, he was a materialist cultivator who had no yearning for gods.

Discovering that there were powerful beings capable of writing the rules of the universe, his thoughts were more about how formidable this person was, wondering how he could achieve that level.

Not to immediately bow down and worship them as divine beings.

On the other hand, his nature dreaded hassle...

If not for the various disturbances, he would actually prefer to stay within the Sect, research talismanic magic, and cultivate properly.

To be a god and satisfy the believers’ demands—Zheng Fa was unwilling.

The reason he did not stop Xiaoqing was that the villains in his sealed land capable of contributing points of Heavenly Merit were practically all dead.

To obtain Heavenly Merit, he would have to find another way.

For instance, as Yan Wushuang once said, either complete missions from the Sealing God Book, which required a higher mastery of Thunder Skill.

Or allow the population within the territory to multiply and thrive—this required better governance of the sealed land.

For instance, Xiaoqing’s blunder had also earned him a few points of Heavenly Merit.

Now, this model of Xiaoqing’s inadvertently presented Zheng Fa with a solution that wouldn’t trouble him too much—

Let worldly people like Xiaoqing manage his subjects, which meant he wouldn’t need to satisfy the myriad demands of his believers himself, yet could guide them.

As for whether it would give Xiaoqing or others a chance to become corrupt:

He, as the deity, had the final say...

Even this so-called Divine Sect was something Zheng Fa contemplated abandoning anytime.

...

While reflecting, Zheng Fa stepped into the Hundred Treasure Hall.

With a touch of his Divine Sense on the jade bi, five hundred points of Heavenly Merit were subtracted from the Sealing God Book, but a purple thousand-year-old Yang Thunder Spider inner core appeared in his hand.

With a thought from Zheng Fa, the Sealing God Book transformed into a streak of light that enveloped him, making his body disappear in the Hundred Treasure Hall.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a void, surrounded by darkness, yet faint light seemed to shine from all directions.

This was the place where his physical body resided when his Divine Soul descended to the lower realm, seemingly an independent space, a bit safer than the outside—a reason, as Yan Wushuang said, why there wasn’t much conflict within the Heavenly Stele Realm.

Even if there were conflicts, just by hiding in the Sealing God Book, no one could do anything to you.

Naturally, everyone wouldn’t bother with it.

Holding the Heavenly Thunder Yang Thunder Spider inner core, Zheng Fa placed it near his lower abdomen, closed his eyes, and began cultivating the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor Secret Technique as taught by his Master.

Purple Spiritual Energy, with lightning interwoven, followed his breathing, entering through his nostrils from the inner core, then descended into his Dantian.

Those silver grains of spirit sand in the Dantian were slowly rotating, but now, as if stimulated, they began to spin rapidly.

Inside Zheng Fa’s Dantian, it looked like a rotating nebula that was spinning faster and faster!

The surface of his body exhibited purple lightning patterns like vine armor, the manifestation of the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor.

As the thousand-year-old Yang Thunder Spider inner core was gradually depleted, Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Net Thunder Armor also gradually took shape, gleaming with bright purple lights, looking more like armor made of metal, even resembling the texture of chainmail from modern classics.

The Heavenly Net Thunder Armor was accomplished.

But Zheng Fa did not open his eyes.

His Divine Sense was still focused inside the Dantian—the absorption of the thousand-year-old Yang Thunder Spider inner core not only allowed the accomplishment of the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor but also completed the creation of the Thunder Breaking Field cultivation!

At this time, the scattered spirit sand in his Dantian had gathered into a single form, turning into a small Thunder Field that in his Dantian looked like a silver ink stone.

His cultivation level increasing was not unexpected to Zheng Fa—he was practically cultivating with the spiritual materials from all the workshops in the entire Thunder Pool.

Back then, Zhang, his senior sister, did not have such conditions.

Zheng Fa kept his eyes closed, continuing with the next step of the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method in his heart, slowly guiding Spiritual Power into the newly created Thunder Field, preparing to begin the cultivation of Nurturing the Thunder Seed.

Just then, his entire body suddenly shook, and a giant red tree phantom appeared behind his head. The phantom flickered only for a moment and then turned into a streak of light, falling into that newly formed Thunder Field!

Zheng Fa blankly watched the red spiritual light drill into his own Thunder Field.

It seemed like a seed encountering suitable land, quickly taking root and sprouting a tender, leafless, red shoot.

Was this... the Green Sun Dao Body?

Feeling the recent activity of his body, Zheng Fa had a realization...

Hadn’t he just criticized it not long ago, blaming it for being useless and not as good as the Yuan Magnetic Dao Body—today, it had actually made a move!

But...

Looking at the tender sprout in his Dantian, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel worried—what exactly was he now carrying?

Had the Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method been practiced incorrectly?

...

At the moment when the tender shoot took shape, the closed doors of the central hall of the Heavenly Palace in the Heavenly Stele Realm suddenly flung open!

The twenty-four faceless statues in the side halls slowly bowed their heads as if in reverence of something.