Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 254 - 146 Heavenly Venerate Medicine Garden, Rotation of the Sun and Moon (4K)_2

Chapter 254: Chapter 146 Heavenly Venerate Medicine Garden, Rotation of the Sun and Moon (4K)_2

"Sister, what would you like?" Zheng Fa asked with a bit of embarrassment as he looked back.

According to Zheng Fa’s estimation, almost all of the 20,000 Heavenly Merits were due to Zhang, Yuan probably had just a little, as for Zheng Fa...

He was likely just a fraction of that little.

Mainly because he spent most of his energy educating children, the only source of his Heavenly Merit might have been Spirit Plant beans catalyzed by the Spirit Tree Thunder.

Zhang shook her head and said, "These spiritual materials are of no use to me."

Zheng Fa pursed his lips, in this Xuanwei Realm, who would think of having too many spiritual materials?

Yuan, on the other hand, seemed unwilling to be polite with Zheng Fa. She was excitedly sliding her fingers across the Jade Stele, stopping to swallow a couple of mouthfuls of saliva when she saw some rare Spirit Fruit...

She even looked more than once, flipping back and forth.

It seemed she was a bit conflicted.

Zheng Fa just waited beside her as she made her selection.

After a while, Yuan lowered her finger and said, "I’ve decided!"

"Hmm, sister, which ones did you choose?"

"I didn’t choose any."

"..."

"I just wanted to look! Looking is enough!" Yuan said righteously, "I’ve never been here before, just curious, playing around!"

"..."

Zheng Fa looked at the somewhat dim Jade Stele, as if he could hear it cursing Yuan for being trashy.

Watching the two sisters who would not use any Heavenly Merit, Zheng Fa was slightly silent and then made his selection on the Jade Stele.

20,000 Heavenly Merit was indeed a bit much... even Zheng Fa took quite some time to choose.

What puzzled Zheng Fa was—after the Jade Stele flashed a few times, it did not produce any spiritual materials!

"What’s going on?" Yuan scratched her head, "Did I break it by playing? Is it angry?"

Zheng Fa was also a bit puzzled, but in the next moment, he saw a burst of silver-white light emanating from his own bronze seal, and he realized—this thing was about to upgrade again!

Indeed, the silver-white light led the three towards the main hall, the door of the main hall opened by itself without wind, and slowly closed behind the three.

This time, the hall became bright.

The hall was large, with a high platform beyond the nine golden jade steps, where Zheng Fa had seen a tombstone previously.

Below the steps, which Zheng Fa hadn’t seen the last time—were twenty-four low tables, paired two by two, with cushions placed behind each.

"Are these the positions for the twenty-four statues in that side hall?"

Zhang said thoughtfully after looking around.

Zheng Fa nodded and added, "It seems that, even though the owner of this hall holds a higher status than these twenty-four, he also treats them with great respect."

"So, are they the ones who embezzled our Heavenly Merit?"

Yuan spoke.

Zheng Fa shook his head, looking at the still brightly glowing bronze seal.

A streak of silver-like ink in water gradually spread out, overshadowing the somewhat dim bronze color.

When the seal turned entirely silver, a voice echoed in the main hall:

"After the final calamity of the law, Heavenly Court was obscured, Immortal Emperor was displaced, ten thousand paths shattered apart."

"Today Zheng Fa, bearer of 30,000 Heavenly Merit, receives the silver seal and can traverse the Heavenly Palace. I hope you assist the Heavenly Venerate, recreate the Heavenly Court, and reestablish the Heavenly Dao."

Zheng Fa looked at Zhang, feeling that the information in these few sentences was quite a lot...

As the voice fell, the evolved silver seal bumped into Zheng Fa, and the three were involuntarily ejected from the hall.

"This is..."

Standing outside the hall, he looked around.

There were originally only three great halls in the Heavenly Stele Realm, and beyond that was just a void, foggy and encompassed in white mist, nothing visible.

Curiously, some had explored into the fog for about thirty feet but would unconsciously return to the starting point, unable to delve deeper.

But now it had changed.

The three great halls where Zheng Fa was located still looked like an isolated island in the fog, but the mist no longer contained nothingness—there seemed to be a few more "islands" vaguely visible in the mist.

"Is this what it means by the traversal of the Heavenly Palace?"

Just as he had this realization in his mind, the silver seal flickered again and again, as if inviting him.

Zheng Fa touched the seal with his finger, feeling a gentle breeze suddenly rise beneath his feet.

The wind lifted him up, flying towards one of the "islands."

He was caught off-guard, turning his head only to see Zhang and Yuan behind him, which reassured him a bit.

Not long after flying, the group landed on the nearest island.

"This is..." Yuan’s eyes widened, feeling enlightened.

Zhang said, "It’s like a Medicine Garden."

The center of this island has a bald little mountain, not tall, and it is surrounded by all sorts of Spiritual Medicines.

No, not just Spiritual Medicines, Zheng Fa also saw many spirit beasts active among them.

The various spiritual materials he saw on the Jade Stele were all growing here.

"So, the spiritual materials that Zheng wants to exchange for, all come from here?" Yuan pondered, scratching her head, "But these are all seedlings..."

Zheng Fa was also puzzled.

Although the Medicine Garden here was large and had many types of spiritual materials, there was one thing—whether it was spiritual materials or Demon Beasts, they were all relatively young, nowhere near the hundred-year or even ten-thousand-year level shown on the Jade Stele.

Just as they were marveling,

The silver seal in front of Zheng Fa suddenly flew above the Medicine Garden and unexpectedly emitted a flurry of human voices:

"Lord Thunder God’s bestowed mushrooms are so delicious!"

"Thanks to Lord Thunder God’s blessing, I caught fish again today..."

"It’s another sunny day, feeling much more comfortable..."

"Tomorrow I will go to worship at Lord Thunder God’s temple again..."

"Good is rewarded, evil is punished, one cannot do bad deeds..."

"..."

Amid these voices, filled with gratitude, reverence, or fear towards Zheng Fa—the three were even more astonished as, with the rise of these voices, the unremarkable little mountain gently trembled and slowly ascended.

The rocks and soil on the mountain body gradually fell off, revealing specks of gold beneath.

Only then did they realize that this little mountain was actually a golden bell, with patterns of the sun, moon, and stars seemingly engraved on its surface.

The bell flew higher and higher, growing larger and larger, eventually enveloping the entire island.

The various human voices emitted by the silver seal seemed to resonate with the great bell, causing it to tremble lightly in the void.

Dong!

Dong!

Dong!

Bell sounds echoed in all directions.

With these bell sounds, the sun, moon, and stars on the bell seemed to come alive, revolving around the bell.

Each toll of the bell marked the sunset, moonrise, and the turning of stars.

With each rotation, the Grass and Wood Spiritual Beasts in the Medicine Garden aged by one year!

It wasn’t just Zheng Fa; even Zhang next to him was staring blankly at this scene.

"So this is how they are grown..." Yuan murmured to herself, seemingly understanding.

The so-called Heavenly Merit in exchange for spiritual materials was actually using these "human voices" in the silver seal as a nourishment to drive the precious bell, thereby utilizing the bell to foster the growth of Spirit Plants and spirit beasts.

Zheng Fa gradually fell silent.

He had always felt that this so-called Heavenly Merit, this so-called exchange, was too ethereal, and initially it made him feel as if it was just a game.

Now, he finally understood the origin of this exchange.

Heavenly Merit...

He recalled various data, classics, and even novels he had seen in modern times, could it be the so-called incense offering?

He looked towards Zhang, who was also frowning, seemingly pondering something.

"Sister?"

Zhang was silent for a moment before suddenly speaking, "You should remember that I once told you, the Xuanwei Realm experienced at least five declines of Spiritual Energy..."

Zheng Fa suddenly realized what Zhang was implying.

The five declines of Spiritual Energy were mentioned by Zhang when they first met; she had said that the last two were historically documentable—

The fourth ended with the eradication by the Demon Sect.

The last time, Tianhe Venerable lifted his sword to cleave the heavens.

The first three were undocumented.

"Sister, are you saying this could be a remnant from the first three declines of Spiritual Energy?"

Zhang nodded: "If there were only five, from the phrase ’the calamity of the final law’ in that grand hall, it should be the second, or maybe the third..."

Zheng Fa nodded and said:

"The language in the Heavenly Stele Realm has some accent, but its structure is extremely similar to that of the Xuanwei Realm, suggesting a common origin."

"While we do not know whether it’s the second time or the third..." Zheng Fa looked at the celestial bell, seemingly also understanding why Zhang was frowning.

This object could interfere with the passage of time; in the Xuanwei Realm, Zheng Fa had never heard of such a treasure...

It illustrates how powerful that so-called Heavenly Venerate was.

The problem is...

The tombstone, those twenty-four vacant chairs clearly told them—they too had failed.