Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 252 - 145: The First Lesson, What Makes a God

Chapter 252: Chapter 145: The First Lesson, What Makes a God

Xiaoqing’s academic performance was less than ideal.

Although she was slim and small, she was already seventeen years old; for over a decade, she knew nothing of studying, and suddenly being thrust into learning—

It was really a bit difficult for her.

Watching Xiaoqing slowly bowing her head under the statue, Zheng Fa stopped the lecture and asked Zhang, "Is my teaching... that hypnotic?"

He had some teaching experience—he had taught Seventh Young Master.

Oh, Seventh Young Master also loved to sleep...

This made Zheng Fa even more doubtful about himself...

"It’s not that you didn’t lecture well," Sister Zhang said, "This young girl... or rather, to enlighten her in the Heavenly Stele Realm is a long and arduous task..."

Zheng Fa looked at Xiaoqing and agreed with Sister Zhang’s words.

He first taught Xiaoqing, actually wanting to see the resistance of the people in the Heavenly Stele Realm to knowledge-induced hypnotism.

Now it seems, it wasn’t very promising...

In the valley below the mountain, the land had been turned over, and Xiaoqing, freed from the books, was happily leading the women and children around planting seeds.

The seeds each had their own origin—

Wild vegetables picked from the mountains.

Wild rice grasped from the marsh.

And some small trees bearing wild fruits.

Zheng Fa also felt it was miraculous:

The Heavenly Stele Realm didn’t have proper farmland, but this didn’t mean that Xiaoqing’s diet was narrow; on the contrary, they ate a wide variety of things, even knowing over a hundred kinds of edible plants.

When Zheng Fa mentioned planting some edible plants, the things they brought were an eye-opener for him.

Later, he figured it out—the reason they tried everything was precisely because they had little to eat...

If eating it killed them, then that was it.

If not...then they developed a new recipe.

"Sister..."

Watching them plant all sorts of things, Zheng Fa transmitted a message to Sister Zhang.

The next moment.

A very dazzling laser shot out from the space above the temple.

The mountain where Half Mountain City was located, was like an extremely bright candle, illuminating the dark sky.

Xiaoqing looked up.

This was a sky she had never seen before, a clear, blue sky for thousands of miles without a single dark cloud.

She had also never felt such generous sunlight; the sun warmly shone on her, giving her an inexplicable urge to cry.

Beside her, a woman slightly older than her moaned.

"Auntie?"

"It’s just..." the woman touched her knee, "I just feel that my aches and pains are much better, this must be the grace of Lord Thunder God."

"Is it enough?"

Zheng Fa heard Sister Zhang say.

His divine soul touched the bronze seal, noticing that Sister Zhang was using the Rain Stopping Thunder exactly according to the "weather forecast" on the bronze seal.

The difference was...

Zheng Fa, in his weak Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, could only maintain clear weather over a small area.

But Sister Zhang was a genius Nascent Soul!

Previously, Yu Ying said her own cultivation was rather low, fearing a disadvantage in earning Heavenly Merit...

Yes, I’m at Foundation Establishment, that’s correct.

But who doesn’t have a warmhearted and hardworking Nascent Soul sister?

Zheng Fa looked towards the statue of Sister Zhang, at this moment, he could only feel as if it was continuously bubbling above her head: Heavenly Merit Points +1, +1...

Sister Zhang seemed to understand his silence, she chuckled softly, her laugh containing a bit of pride.

Beside her, Sister Yuan couldn’t resist:

"Sister Zhang, at least wait for Brother Zheng to praise you a bit before laughing, right?"

Zheng Fa quickly praised, "Sister Yuan, you also handle the Tribulation Thunder very well!"

"Really? If you leave this matter to me, Brother, you can rest easy!"

Zheng Fa watched the various plants in the valley, his divine soul moving with spiritual power, and a thunder sounded in the sky.

This startled Xiaoqing and the others in the valley.

This was the Spirit Tree Thunder that Zheng Fa had just experimented with in modern times, a kind of Thunder Skill that Sister Zhang couldn’t master...

The main issue was her insufficient control over Thunder Skill.

Rain Stopping Thunder and Heavenly Tribulation Thunder, although also a test of control, mainly focused on the power of the thunderbolt—something that Sister Yuan in the Golden Core Stage didn’t lack, much less Sister Zhang.

But Spirit Tree Thunder, this extremely subtle Thunder Skill, in Zheng Fa’s view, aside from himself, probably only his Master in Jiushan Sect had this control.

After three thunderclaps.

Zheng Fa’s gaze was fixed on the various plants in the valley, especially focusing on several types of wild legumes.

Indeed, one type of bean began slowly, slowly absorbing spiritual energy, and even started to transform into spirit plants!

"This...this is a spirit plant now?" Sister Yuan asked blankly, "Have we cultivated a new type of spirit plant?"

"It seems so."

Zheng Fa thought about it; it seemed that the Xuanwei Realm had also never heard of such a spirit plant.

"That simple... Then why does Qianhe Sect treasure their Yellow Rice so much?"

Sister Yuan’s tone contained a sense of feeling deceived—she loved Yellow Rice, later even contemplating__ acquiring Yellow Rice seeds from Qianhe Sect to grow herself.

Of course, Qianhe Sect didn’t give her this honor.

Sister Yuan was clearly holding a grudge.

"Is it possible... not that Qianhe Sect is stingy, but Brother Zheng is impressive?"

Sister Zhang understood the value within these three strikes of Spirit Tree Thunder better than her, she said to Zheng Fa, "You’ve also mastered a Secret Technique for cultivating spirit plants..."

"Sister, we have mastered a Secret Technique."

Zheng Fa suddenly said.

Zhang, after a moment of silence, spoke softly, "Hmm, us."

...

Half Mountain City, Hong was cooking at home; her child Bao’er was bustling around her feet, looking at the fish soup in the clay pot and swallowing saliva.

Since the weather had become clear, fishing was no longer a difficult task.

Even though there were only two women in the house, they could eat fish every day—Bao’er had grown a bit taller, with the mark on the wall now half a finger higher than before.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but smile.

Suddenly, voices from outside reached her ears, including Xiaoqing’s, who seemed to be saying something loudly.

She glanced at the clay pot and said to the inner room, "Mom, please watch Bao’er and the fire, I’ll go outside and have a look."

"What are you looking at?"

"Xiaoqing is here, seems like something’s up, I’ll see if I can help."

She walked out the door, and heard Xiaoqing standing on the street saying, "Lord Thunder God has decreed that from now on, all children above five and below ten years old should be sent to the temple during the day."

"To the temple?"

"What for at the temple?"

"Every day?"

The questions from the people around followed one another.

Hong also stood in the distance listening intently.

This matter didn’t concern her Bao’er who was only one or two years old, but it piqued her curiosity as Lord Thunder God had suddenly issued this command.

As far as she knew, Lord Thunder God did not like people entering the temple.

"Lord Thunder God said, it’s for them to study."

"Study?"

These two words perplexed the crowd.

"Study..."

Everyone glanced at each other, silent for a long while before someone finally asked Xiaoqing, "Xiaoqing, tell me honestly... is studying a good thing or a bad thing?"

Xiaoqing’s face showed a clear struggle.

"Good... good thing!"

Seeing her expression, even someone like Hong who was relatively close to her barely believed it.

Let alone the others.

The crowd exchanged glances and fell silent.

After a while, someone asked, "Then... can our children come back?"

"Come back?" Xiaoqing was taken aback and replied, "They’ll come back every noon!"

"That’s good, that’s good..."

The crowd did not ask further and dispersed.

...

The next day, Zheng Fa looked at the small children outside the temple, feeling very curious...

Why did all these kids have expressions as if they were bravely sacrificing themselves?

And those parents, why did each of them look so reluctant to part?

Zheng Fa’s divine thought stirred, and the children’s inner voices started to buzz ceaselessly in his sea of consciousness:

"Dad said not to cry... not to cry!"

"Lord Thunder God is giving us fish to eat! I want to make Lord Thunder God happy!"

"Mom! Mom! I’m scared!"

Every so often, a parent’s thought would also arise.

"If Xiaoqing said they can return by noon, then Lord Thunder God probably won’t eat the kids."

"The kids might suffer a bit, but after all, it’s Lord Thunder God..."

"If it comes to worst, we can have another..."

No, I just wanted to start a school, I had no intention of bullying the kids!

He couldn’t help but cast his gaze towards Xiaoqing—how had his command been communicated?

However, Zhang gently chuckled and said:

"Junior Brother, even though these people don’t understand what studying entails, and some even think you are using the children for entertainment, they are still willing to send their children..."

Zheng Fa was slightly silent.

"I thought they wouldn’t understand, that it would be difficult for you to run a school in the Heavenly Stele Realm, but unexpectedly..." Zhang’s tone carried a bit of surprise, "you actually have such prestige in their hearts."

Yuan spoke up, "Senior Sister, I told you, Junior Brother Zheng has an unreasonable ability to attract followers!"

Zheng Fa did not speak, but instead looked towards the innocent children.

Not to mention compared to modern children, even those from the Xuanwei Realm seemed more sensible.

Some children probably understood their parents’ worries; their eyes brimming with tears, yet none of them cried out.

They just looked at Zheng Fa’s statue, their expressions uneasy.

Zheng Fa’s divine thought moved, and a screen appeared in front of the statue, displaying words.

As the words appeared, a majestic voice sounded:

"Starting today, you will study with me and learn knowledge."

The group of children was silent.

It seemed they did not understand at all.

"I know you don’t understand, but I hope you remember the words I am saying today..."

Zheng Fa paused. It was his first class, he was a bit nervous, but on another hand, he also wanted to plant a seed in these children’s hearts.

"From today, you will learn how to think about problems, observe the world, and know how to help your parents and how to build Half Mountain City."

The children’s eyes were still confused, but listened attentively.

"I’ve had many teachers and read many books," Zheng Fa continued, "They have said many reasonable things, but I know there are only three sentences they really wanted to say... now I will also tell you."

"Learn from me."

"Become me."

"Surpass me."

Zheng Fa’s voice echoed through the temple, the echoes repeatedly imprinting these nine characters into these innocent children’s minds.

"Zhang..." Yuan’s somewhat moved voice rang in Zhang’s ears, "I finally understand, why even if the Junior Brother wanted to eat people, they would still come."