Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 224 - 117: The Secret of Divinity Transformation

Chapter 224: Chapter 117: The Secret of Divinity Transformation

Within the Five Dragons Heavenly Palace, Master Pang and Master Yuan sat opposite each other, apparently engaging in casual conversation.

"Senior brother, it’s been some time since you left Jiushan Sect, hasn’t it?"

Master Pang seemed to ask casually.

"What about it?"

"The Jiushan Sect cannot be without a sect leader for even a day... It’s time for you to return."

"The Thunder Pool suits me better."

"Senior brother, it’s too dangerous for you, being the sect leader, to stay at the Thunder Pool."

"I’m not afraid."

"It’s still better for you to return."

"I still need to go to the Heavenly Stele Realm!" Master Yuan shook his head.

Master Pang grew anxious: "Senior brother, don’t you prefer staying at the Ninth Peak? You haven’t descended the mountain for thousands of years."

"I don’t understand either; I’ve only taken one disciple in thousands of years, so why did you, Junior Brother, set your sights on him?"

"..."

The silence in the hall became somewhat awkward, Master Pang’s face showing the embarrassment of having his thoughts directly spoken aloud.

"Master, Uncle Master..." As Zheng Fa entered, he said: "Disciple has something to consult you!"

Yuan’s gaze grew increasingly fierce, frightening Zheng Fa that her instincts might fully awaken.

Once he returned to the workshop, he immediately came to consult these two Nascent Soul elders.

"Oh, let’s hear it!"

Master Yuan hadn’t even started speaking when Master Pang interjected, causing him to hum lightly.

"Uncle Master, the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’ I’ve been cultivating seems to have encountered some problems."

"What kind of problem?"

Master Pang became slightly nervous, this was no small matter; nowadays, the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’ had become Zheng Fa’s basic Cultivation Technique.

Issues with the basic skills could significantly impact future development.

"This ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’ would be better explained by your master," Master Pang pondered for a while, still seemingly unwilling to delay Zheng Fa, pointed towards the sect leader.

The sect leader gave Master Pang a smug smile.

"Disciple, if you have any doubts, feel free to ask!"

His tone placed heavy emphasis on the word ’disciple,’ as if to stress something.

Zheng Fa didn’t pick up on the underlying intonations between them; currently, the anomaly within his Dantian had him utterly confused as he described how he formed the Thunder Field and how the Green Sun Dao Body caused mischief, and how a tender sprout emerged.

"This way..."

Master Yuan fell into thought, seemingly considering.

"Master, is this normal for me?"

Zheng Fa asked somewhat hopefully.

This ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’ was transmitted to him by this old man and what’s more important, was that the anomaly occurred during the cultivation of a secret technique – according to the Master, in the entire Jiushan Sect, only he had practiced it.

Maybe the sprouting in the Dantian was due to that secret technique?

"Sect Leader, what do you think?" suddenly asked the sect leader towards Master Pang.

"..." Master Pang was startled, "I haven’t practiced the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’, how would I know?"

"I’ve practiced this technique, but I also haven’t encountered such a situation..."

"Wait a moment." Master Pang suddenly knitted his brows, summarizing, "So, you transmitted a secret technique to your nephew, he practiced it, and now something unusual has emerged which you can’t handle?"

"Sect Leader, I just remembered, I have some matters to attend to at Jiushan Sect, I need to hurry back..."

"Go back my ass!" Master Pang exploded, "If you’ve misled Zheng, you’ll need to apologize to all past ancestors of Jiushan Sect!"

"..."

"Right, the ancestors!" Master Yuan suddenly remembered, "This Green Sun Dao Body of Zheng Fa, isn’t it given by the ancestors in the form of Green Sun energy? Why not ask the ancestors?"

He said this, and Master Pang couldn’t help but nod.

Zheng Fa also felt this made sense.

The Green Sun energy was, after all, a reward from the ancestors.

Soon, the group decided to send Zheng Fa and Zhang back, allowing the sect leader and Master Pang to continue stationed at the Thunder Pool—just like the sect leader himself said, being Jiushan Sect’s strongest Thunder Dao cultivator, the Thunder Pool actually suited him best.

Zhang, having recently entered Nascent Soul, also needed to return to where the Spiritual Energy of Jiushan Sect was abundant to consolidate her cultivation.

She had previously stayed in the Thunder Pool workshop, primarily because she was worried about Zheng Fa’s safety.

Now that both Zheng Fa and Zhang had to depart, the affairs of the workshop required arrangements; a few more days had to be waited.

...

A few days later.

Zheng Fa sat in his room, his brow deeply furrowed.

His Divine Soul observed the tender sprout, feeling even heavier than before...

In these days, he continued practicing the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’, and the spiritual materials provided by Master Pang were still plentiful.

But his progress in cultivation was very slow.

Slowness wasn’t the problem... having moved from early to mid Foundation Establishment stage, it was normal to be slower than before.

But the problem was that it was too slow!

After several days of cultivation, the sprout showed no sign of growth.

According to ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’, the Thunder Seed should slowly grow until it bore Spirit Fruits...

But this thing, after consuming so much Spiritual Power, showed no changes.

He opened his eyes, his gaze a bit troubled:

This thing, either it does not harmonize with the ’Divine Sky Thunder Control True Method’.

Or it consumes more than a typical Thunder Seed...

Both possibilities troubled him.

"Zheng Fa! Fairy Ling Ye has come to visit!"

Yuan suddenly shouted from outside, she didn’t enter, instead speaking through the door to Zheng Fa.

"Senior Sister?"

"Zhang is stingy!" Yuan was already far away: "She won’t let me come near you! Oh right, Fairy Ling Ye is waiting for you at Zhang’s place!"

Once he reached Zhang’s yard, he found not only Zhang but also his Master there hosting Fairy Ling Ye.

They were chatting over tea.

But Fairy Ling Ye seemed to have been paying attention to the door all along, and as Zheng Fa approached, she turned with a smile, "Mr. Zheng, we meet again."

Zheng Fa felt a bit odd.

Why does it seem like she’s very familiar with me?

Zhang looked at him, and Zheng Fa felt somewhat guilty...

No, why should I feel guilty?

"Ling Ye Fairy."

"Just call me Xiao Yuying."

...Zhang’s gaze sharpened a bit, making Zheng Fa inexplicably more guilty.

"You came to Jiushan Sect today..."

"Oh, I’m not particularly interested in Jiushan Sect; I came looking for you."

...Mr. Xiao, saying it like this can easily lead to misunderstandings!

"Looking for me?"

Zheng Fa watched Xiao Yuying with puzzled eyes.

"This matter may concern your secrets..." Xiao Yuying glanced at Zhang and Master Yuan.

"Sister... oh, and Master are people I can entrust my life to! Fairy Xiao, feel free to speak freely!" Zheng Fa promptly said.

Indeed, Zhang’s gaze warmed significantly...

Xiao Yuying was taken aback, looked towards Zhang, and then bowed slightly: "Zhang Wuyi... truly lives up to her reputation."

Her tone seemed somewhat emotional.

Zheng Fa looked at her, unsure what she was feeling emotional about.

Seeming to catch his confusion, Xiao Yuying smiled and said, "Do you think I’m usually blunt, but seem different today?"

Zheng Fa gave an awkward smile, listening as she explained, "I only show courtesy to those whose talents are not inferior to mine."

"Ah?"

That statement was quite bluntly pragmatic.

"Because only those with greater talent than me will not envy me."

"..."

With that statement, the expressions of the others grew even more complex.

"You all know my Taoist Body is special." Xiao Yuying explained, "When I first established my Foundation, I traveled and liked making friends... I had many fellow cultivators."

"Until later, I witnessed the emergence of an Immortal Sword."

"..."

She didn’t say anything else, just smiled: "From then on, I realized that no matter how warm or polite I was, others would always harbor envy."

"If I were to give treasures away, even if I berated people for days and nights, they would still greet me with a smile."

"Mediocrity doesn’t attract envy."

"So," Xiao Yuying naturally said, "why should I bother with courtesy?"

Zheng Fa shook his head and said nothing more.

Never mind what Xiao Yuying’s like, she’s living quite well.

"That’s why I said, for you to trust your Sister so much," Xiao Yuying continued, "she must have never envied you."

"Not so," Zheng Fa suddenly said, "It’s not that Sister does not envy me, she is extremely good to me."

"Extremely, extremely good."

Feeling the warmth in Zhang’s gaze increase slightly.

Zheng Fa inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.

"Then I will speak directly, your Taoist Body is quite special, right?"

"Hm?"

Zheng Fa was startled, and with thoughts of that sprouting bud, his expression grew solemn.

"Exactly." Seeing his expression, Xiao Yuying’s face displayed understanding, "Otherwise, such a scene of gods bowing wouldn’t have appeared in the Heavenly Palace."

Zheng Fa, puzzled, asked further and only then learned of such a scenario when the bud congealed.

"Fairy Xiao, are you saying this is related to my Taoist Body?"

"What do you think a Taoist Body is?" Xiao Yuying questioned.

"A body suitable for cultivation?"

"Taoist Bodies are different from each other—each corresponds to a particular path." Xiao Yuying slowly explained, "Some paths are superior to others."

"Like yours."

"Like mine."

"This..."

Xiao Yuying continued, "You haven’t felt it yet, but if you reach Nascent Soul, you’ll understand— some Taoist Bodies are actually tickets to the path of Divinity Transformation."

"This matter..." Beside them, Master Yuan couldn’t help but interject, "Why haven’t we heard about this?"

"You..." Xiao Yuying was about to say something but glanced at Zheng Fa and held back her words.

Master Yuan was taken aback, suddenly understanding her expression—

His talent was not sufficient to know these things...

How can she wound people without even speaking!

...

As they were in silence, Zheng Fa’s expression turned serious; "Fairy Xiao, I have a question to ask."

"Go ahead."

"At those paths’ ends, is there anyone?"

Xiao Yuying, looking at Zheng Fa, her gaze blazing like flames, said, "Zheng Fa, you truly are extraordinary... There may have been such people once, but at least in the present Xuanwei Realm, they do not exist."

Zheng Fa nodded, seemingly understanding her words.

"From the stage of Divinity Transformation..." Xiao Yuying suddenly sighed, "it’s about competing paths—some paths are narrow, only able to accommodate a few cultivators, and they nearly fight to the death. While some paths are grander, allowing more cultivators."

"But in the end, a confrontation is inevitable."

"The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor?"

"Them?" Xiao Yuying smiled, "The greatest enemy of a Demon Ancestor is actually another Demon Ancestor."

"Oh yes, there’s something you might not know, the Great Freedom Demon Sect seems to have made contact with the Demon Race."

"Demon Race?" This term sounded somewhat unfamiliar mainly because in the Xuanwei Realm under the rule of Immortal Sects, the Demon Race simply doesn’t matter much, either hiding deep in the woods or becoming spirit beasts for the Immortal Sects.

Spirit Manipulation Sect...

Zheng Fa recalled something, the Mystic Turtle Master from the Spirit Manipulation Sect was a spy for the Great Freedom Demon Sect, he had thought it was a personal action.

If it’s related to the Demon Race.

What about the spirit beasts?

Hmm?

What about that Yuan who wanted to eat me?