Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 246 - 139: The End of the Tune Is the Beginning of the Harvest

Chapter 246: Chapter 139: The End of the Tune Is the Beginning of the Harvest

Seeing the doors of the Copper Hall open, the rest of the cultivators immediately rushed forward, charging towards the entrance.

The more frenzied the others became,

The more fearful Zheng Fa and his group grew.

"Let’s go!"

Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying exchanged a look, with mutual understanding, the chariot beneath their feet shone brightly, turning into a stream of evening glow as they fled into the distance.

Sunset Sword Immortal wrapped his Immortal Sword around Yan Wushuang, frantically dragging him towards Zheng Fa and the others.

What a joke!

If the Copper Hall merely contained a new cultivation technique, that would have been all there was to it.

But there are people in there!

A supporter of Tianhe Venerable, an ancient entity that has lived who-knows-how-many hundreds of thousands of years...

Only a fool wouldn’t run!

Zheng Fa looked back and realized that actually, many cultivators were not truly foolish; seeing Zheng Fa and his group fleeing, they knew something was amiss and began to run outside as well.

However, some were so blinded by greed they had already charged into that dark hall.

"Traitor!"

Sure enough, another furious roar came from inside.

Before the roar had even faded, Zheng Fa felt every hair on his neck stand on end; raising his head, he saw a red mist, like swallows returning to the forest, pouring into the hall—

"Sword!"

Zheng Fa saw with his own eyes the massive bronze of the hall flash, turning into an oddly shaped copper sword.

And the owner holding the copper sword was even stranger—it was a skeleton, or rather, an incomplete skeleton.

Its skull appeared to be cracked, with a ghastly and deadly split running from the brow to the chin.

Parts of its body were also missing—three ribs were gone, there was only one shoulder blade, and below the left knee, there was emptiness.

It was clear this person had experienced some great battle while alive.

The only thing that prevented it from looking too pitiful was that each of the bones glowed with a purple light, giving it an otherworldly appearance.

The gathering red mist transformed into flames within its broken eye sockets, burning fiercely.

Those two flames initially seemed to be searching for something—probably looking for the most genuine traitor, uh, Yan Wushuang.

However, Sunset Sword Immortal was cunning and ran for his life, dragging Yan Wushuang with him.

He flew even faster than Zheng Fa and company, leaving Xiao Yuying’s chariot far behind him.

The skeleton seemed to have looked around, possibly not finding Yan Wushuang, showed a moment of bewilderment, and then turned its head to the surrounding cultivators.

"Traitor!"

"Everyone is a traitor!"

"Execution!"

Sword energy!

Even though the sun had not set, a boundless sea of stars appeared in the sky.

Within the starry sea, an endless killing intent was carried with the sword energy, descending from the heavens.

Zheng Fa was already a hundred miles away from the skeleton, yet at this moment, he inexplicably felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

The Iron-eating Beast pulling the chariot howled in agony, contorting its limbs, rolling and scrambling forward in flight.

Zheng Fa looked back—

It was as if he was witnessing a strange pantomime.

Dozens of cultivators who failed to escape, and who were closest to the skeleton, be they Nascent Souls or Golden Cores, their actions bizarrely slowed down.

They weren’t doing this intentionally.

Zheng Fa could see the confusion, fear, and despair in their eyes.

That sword energy swept past like an autumn breeze, and all people and things silently perished in its wake.

He watched as a member of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, a Nascent soul, stood in place, motionless, his body without a blemish, showing no sign of anything abnormal.

But as a light breeze passed, the entire body of the Nascent Soul, the clothes inside and out, and the Magical Treasure in hand, all collapsed in an instant, turning to grains of flying sand.

"Fairy Xiao..."

"Hm?"

"Look."

Zheng Fa pointed behind them.

Xiao Yuying looked back.

The skeleton had already stopped moving; the flames in its eyes gradually calmed as if it exhausted its might in that single sword strike.

It was as if awakening from its rage.

Twisting its head, it seemed to be surveying the world, or perhaps remembering something of utmost importance.

"Following Master, Execution of Immortals..."

It suddenly spoke.

"Execution of Immortals..."

The skeleton raised the copper sword and shouted towards the sky.

"Execution of Immortals!"

Everyone watched this scene in astonishment.

This individual, dead for hundreds of thousands of years, even as bones, seemed to remember the words "Execution of Immortals."

The bronze sword in his hand also turned to ashes in the wind.

The purple light on his bones dimmed, he fell to the ground, no longer intimidating.

A long time passed before the surrounding cultivators cautiously drew near, seemingly wanting to check on the situation.

Zheng Fa and his companions exchanged glances but did not move.

"There’s nothing left." Sunset Sword Immortal didn’t even look at the site; he simply said, "Under that sword... no cultivator, no magical treasure, could possibly survive."

Zheng Fa could hear the tremble in the voice of this great cultivator.

He knew that Elder Han, bearing the name of a Sword Immortal, probably felt the terror of that sword more than anyone else.

Even... Zheng Fa himself was extremely sensitive to the two words "Execution of Immortals"—since he felt that the Xuanwei Realm had a considerable connection to the modern world, he had read many related books.

Legends, myths, and novels included.

"Execution of Immortals"...

Zheng Fa thought of the Positive and Negative Five-Color Divine Light from his own home.

And his suspicions only deepened.

Indeed, despite the group’s desperate search, even touching the skeleton on the ground, they found neither magical treasure nor cultivation technique.

The dead cultivators should have left some storage bags or magical treasures behind.

But Elder Han’s judgment was accurate—there was nothing.

"Five True Monarchs of Nascent Soul, thirteen Golden Core cultivators... all died in vain."

Xiao Yuying’s voice carried a bit of lament and even fright.

She paid her respects to Sunset Sword Immortal, full of gratitude.

Had it not been for this elder coming to warn them, she didn’t think she would have survived that sword strike.

Sunset Sword Immortal looked at Zheng Fa with a smile.

Zheng Fa was also paying his respects to the other party at this time—he knew that he had to accept this favor.

Elder Han’s laughter grew even brighter.

He waved his hands and said, "This time, our luck isn’t too bad... having nothing is better than finding something..."

Everyone understood what he meant.

If there were new Cultivation Techniques to be inherited, things would become troublesome.

The group of Cultivators searched for a long time before leaving grudgingly.

The previously bustling desert gradually became quiet.

"All right! The show is over! We shall take our leave as well!" Sunset Sword Immortal said with a beaming smile.

He gestured a cupped fist salute to the two with Yan Wushuang, and his Immortal Sword turned into a rainbow, carrying them away into the distance.

Xiao Yuying watched them leave and turned to say to Zheng Fa:

"All for nothing..."

Zheng Fa nodded, but there was no look of disappointment on his face, on the contrary, he seemed quite cheerful.

"Indeed, it also spared us from a big trouble." Seeing his cheerfulness, Xiao Yuying misunderstood and nodded, "Compared to those Cultivators who died inexplicably, we are much luckier."

Zheng Fa just smiled.

Without speaking, his happiness was not just because of this.

...

One month later.

In the past few days, some Cultivators still intent on treasure hunting searched here for several days.

But indeed, no treasures were left behind here.

After a few more days, no one else came here.

"Junior Brother! Why have we come here?"

In the sky, Yuan’s voice sounded, seemingly puzzled.

The green phoenix landed, revealing the figures of Zheng Fa and Zhang.

Zhang also looked at Zheng Fa with some confusion in her eyes, not knowing why Zheng Fa invited them to this desolate desert.

Yuan looked around and frowned, "Junior Brother, I have heard about this place."

"Several groups of Cultivators came and left empty-handed!"

"When we were flying over, there was not a soul in a hundred miles! It’s clear they have all given up."

"Why are we still coming here?"

Zheng Fa glanced around.

Indeed, aside from the red soil on the ground, there was nothing else.

That’s good! No people!

No people meant a peaceful Archaeological research!

"Sister!" He pointed to the ground beneath their feet: "We come here with only one purpose."

"What is it?"

"Digging!"

"Digging?" Yuan was startled and thought for a moment, her round eyes lighting up, "You mean there are treasures buried underneath?"

"..."

"Junior Brother! How do you know!"

"I don’t."

"Then what do you want to dig for?"

Zheng Fa pointed to the soil on the ground again: "This!"

"Soil?"

"Exactly!"

Yuan looked at Zheng Fa, then at Zhang, and muttered, "Sister, Junior Brother Zheng is really good at bossing people around now!"

"..."

"He made us travel ten thousand li to dig mud for his play!"

"..." Zhang glanced at her and turned to Zheng Fa to ask, "Tell us your thoughts."

Zheng Fa said, "Sister, I think this soil has research value."

"Research?"

Zhang was stunned, "What’s there to research about this?"

This exemplifies the biggest difference between Zheng Fa and the Cultivators of this world.

For instance, Zhang, although she had read quite a few modern academic books.

Her thoughts about this place were very similar to those of Cultivators from the Xuanwei Realm—

Is there any Magical Treasure.

Is there any spiritual material.

Is there any Cultivation Technique.

If none are present, they would feel this place has no value anymore.

But when Zheng Fa was preparing that pamphlet before, he referenced many archaeological records.

In the scope of modern archaeology, soil can preserve some very important information—perhaps even more than artifacts and documents.

Moreover, the soil here undoubtedly contains many strange substances—

The redness of this soil may be the blood of the followers of Tianhe Venerable.

How many particles of the previously dispersed ash have fallen onto this ground?

Not to mention, there is a corpse here that was able to move after hundreds of thousands of years!

To other Cultivators, this place might no longer have value.

But to Zheng Fa, this place is a treasure trove everywhere!

After hearing his reasoning, Zhang’s mouth fell open, and she stared intently, "Where did you get such extraordinary ideas from?"

Zheng Fa could not explain, so he just smiled.

The nearby Yuan looked confused as if she didn’t comprehend, "Dig!"

Yuan had a look as if doubting her own ears, "Huh?"

"Do as Junior Brother says."

Zhang said.

Yuan opened her mouth, thought for a long while, then suddenly said, "Sister, Junior Brother has become like this, I think it’s because you spoil him!"

...

Zheng Fa slowly walked over to the skeleton, which had been carefully inspected by those treasure-hunting Cultivators.

But now this person seemed to have exhausted the last bit of Essence Qi, no longer possessing any mystical qualities.

The Cultivators naturally did not consider it important, discarded it carelessly, the skeleton scattered on the ground.

Zheng Fa collected each bone, arranged them properly, placed them in the coffin he brought, and then—bowed gently to the remains.