Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 281 - 168: Taking the Unique Cultivation Path of Jiushan

Chapter 281: Chapter 168: Taking the Unique Cultivation Path of Jiushan

"Fairy Xiao, thank you."

Zheng Fa handed the few books in his hands to Xiao Yuying.

The books were about popular science of electromagnetism, well, children’s popular science.

He had carefully selected these.

It wasn’t that Zheng Fa was being stingy; having interacted with Xiao Yuying for so long, he had a deep understanding of her level of knowledge...

These books, perhaps...

Xiao Yuying excitedly flipped through the books, her brows lightly furrowing as she muttered, "This secret technique is indeed profound..."

Indeed!

"Fairy Xiao, you are welcome to visit the Jiushan Realm again in the future."

During this time, Zheng Fa was busy teaching Zhang, and he really didn’t have time to copy books for Xiao Yuying.

This person didn’t rush him either, which made Zheng Fa a bit grateful.

"Do you really not plan to leave the Jiushan Realm?"

Xiao Yuying asked in surprise.

"Uh-huh."

In fact, even without the threat of the Great Freedom Demon Sect, Zheng Fa lacked interest in going out.

Xiao Yuying frowned, and the few books in her hands disappeared in a flash.

After pondering for a long time, she finally spoke, "Mr. Zheng, you have great potential."

"Uh?"

Zheng Fa was stupefied, not understanding why she would suddenly say this.

The next words from Xiao Yuying made Zheng Fa understand.

"But in cultivation, isolating oneself and reinventing the wheel won’t work."

"Fairy Xiao."

"Do you know what I’ve seen most in these secret realms?"

"What?"

"Cultivators who have secluded themselves for a long time without communicating with the outside world, either becoming delusional or finding their paths hopeless, ultimately only meeting death."

Zheng Fa nodded lightly.

"However, many times, in the secret realms of my contemporaries or the ancient caves of predecessors, I see that the issues that puzzled them were already solved by predecessors... it’s just that they were isolated, or constrained by their own sects, and didn’t know it."

Xiao Yuying turned to Zheng Fa and said, "It’s the same with cultivators and with sects. Moving towards isolation may bring temporary safety, but it often leads to decline."

"Of course, it’s good that you can access the Jiushan Realm. Now with the Great Freedom Demon Sect emerging, Xuanwei will face great calamity, and having the Jiushan Realm is certainly beneficial."

"But from my perspective, times of great calamity are also moments when heroes emerge and various Immortal Laws burst forth."

"Your talent should not be wasted."

Having said that, Xiao Yuying nodded to Zheng Fa and disappeared from the Jiushan Realm.

Zheng Fa bowed toward the place where Xiao Yuying had disappeared, actually quite appreciative of her reminder—she even seemed to have the mindset of a historian.

And indeed, Zheng Fa agreed with her observations.

Besides anything else, take Tianhe Venerable—his Lifebound Magical Treasure concept likely stemmed from the Divine Tao of the predecessors.

Moreover, eras of war are often when weapons progress most rapidly; in the chaos of the Cultivation world, various cultivators validate each other, and diverse secret techniques integrate, truly making Immortal Laws advance much faster.

Xiao Yuying’s insight was indeed impressive.

Telling Zheng Fa this was likely good intentioned.

...

After seeing off Xiao Yuying, Zheng Fa walked towards the Rainbow Bridge.

Currently, Heavenly Palace had been divided by Zheng Fa into nine main sections, each featuring a primary island.

Each of these islands was connected to the others via Rainbow Bridges, with Tianhe’s island among them.

One island had been specially designated for Nascent Soul real persons to reside.

He had not thought of this earlier; it was Han Qi who reminded him—

Whether Zhang minded staying together with Zheng Fa was not clear.

But Han Qi and other base-level disciples were particularly concerned...

The place where Zhang resided was actually a palace of a former deity, already decrepit, but it had been slightly refurbished, making it decent enough for living.

Zheng Fa chose this palace for Zhang mainly because it was halfway up the mountain, and nearby there was a beautiful lake in the mountain—Zhang loved water immensely.

He walked to the lakeside; the reflection of the palace in the lake was minutely detailed, and his heart suddenly became calm.

The great battle of the past few days seemed like a distant event.

As soon as he entered Zhang’s palace, he immediately widened his eyes.

Yuan was reclining beside Zhang’s bed, massaging Zhang’s face...

Zhang had been severely injured this time, unconscious for many days, and her aura extremely weak.

Lying on the bed, her complexion was pale, showing a delicateness Zheng Fa had never seen before.

Of course—Zhang’s cheeks were a bit red from Yuan’s pinching by now.

Seeing Zheng Fa come in, Yuan coughed lightly, awkwardly withdrawing her hands.

"When Sister was young, she pinched me..." Yuan seemed to be explaining, "This is my payback."

The more she spoke, the taller she held her head, as if it made perfect sense.

Zheng Fa couldn’t help but laugh.

In the past few days, Yuan had always looked worried; who would dare act this recklessly?

It seemed she had also relaxed.

"How does it feel?"

He suddenly asked.

"Ah?"

Zheng Fa suddenly stretched out his hand, pinched Zhang’s face, then withdrew his fingers, gently rubbing his fingertips.

He even remarked, "Pretty good."

"Right!" Seeing Zheng Fa doing the same, Yuan immediately reached out again, grabbing Zhang’s face, "When has Sister Zhang ever been so docile? Where’s the fairness if only she is allowed to bully me? Today..."

"Zhang,"

Zheng Fa suddenly said.

Yuan was taken aback and slowly turned her head.

Zhang stared at her hand on her face, silently watching.

Her expression was so calm that it was frightening.

"Sister!" Yuan jerked back her hand and chuckled sheepishly, "Zheng also pinched!"

"...I did pinch." Zheng Fa looked at Yuan, hesitated to speak, then sighed again.

He looked helpless.

...

Zhang glanced at him, turned her head, and stared at Yuan with distrustful eyes.

Yuan: "???"

...

"Retracting is the right move," Zhang stated frankly, "It’s not just the problem with the Great Freedom Demon Sect, my injuries won’t heal in a year and a half."

Zheng Fa frowned, "Is it that serious?"

"The ancestor’s original form... seems to have perished," Zhang explained softly, "If it weren’t for Blood River Ancestor penetrating the Mountain Protection Array, allowing me to see the reality of our ancestor, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve Divinity Transformation power."

"The reality of the ancestor?"

"What we thought was right; the ancestor we see now is actually the ancestor’s Spiritual Treasure—a special one. This Spiritual Treasure consists of the array, Jiushan, and the Spirit Veins within Jiushan; hence, despite the original form’s demise, the present ancestor remains largely unaffected."

"I used myself as a medium to link the current ancestor with the Mountain and River True Form Talisman, replacing the loss of the ancestor’s original form with the present ancestor to possess the power of Divinity Transformation."

"But my Divine Soul is too weak to control this power..."

Zheng Fa then understood why Zhang’s injuries were so severe.

This method was a temporary inspiration of hers, inherently flawed.

Moreover, managing such a powerful force, if she only needs a year and a half to recover, the cost is not insignificant.

Zhang made a lot of sense.

On one hand, Zhang’s power had drastically diminished.

On the other hand, Zheng Fa’s Sun and Moon Clock and that Immortal Sword were in a standoff.

Neither of the two "Divinity Transformations" in the Jiushan Sect could fight.

So why waste efforts?

"Zhang, can Jiushan be moved here?"

This matter was extremely important to Zheng Fa.

It was essentially a Divinity Transformation plug-in!

"It should be possible," Zhang contemplated, "If the ancestor’s original form were still there, I wouldn’t have any solution—different paths of Divinity Transformation would attack each other until one completely perishes."

"But with the ancestor gone, the situation improves."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa thought of that Immortal Sword.

Probably the Blood River Ancestor’s consciousness was still struggling within the sword.

"This means, for Divinity Transformation, Lifebound Spiritual Treasure is extremely important."

Zhang nodded and said, "Tianhe Venerable is truly remarkable. The Qi Fortune Spiritual Treasure in Divine Taoism used to be a trap left by ancestors, making cultivators become more like others the more they cultivated. Unexpectedly, he reformed it, and now it has become key to awakening oneself."

Zheng Fa realized something.

"Becoming more like others...," he murmured, "Lifebound Spiritual Treasure is actually about backing up one’s own nature, storing it, and when mutated by Spiritual Energy, using the Lifebound Spiritual Treasure to cultivate into someone else? But this ’someone else’ is actually the original self? This idea is quite brilliant..."

Zhang also nodded when she heard this.

This thing sounded like reinstalling a system!

Or perhaps—a mooring?

If Qi Fortune Spiritual Treasure was a mooring for the return of powerful beings,

Then Lifebound Spiritual Treasure also seemed to be an anchor to return to one’s nature.

"Without Qi Fortune Spiritual Treasure, perhaps Tianhe Venerable wouldn’t have been able to create such a groundbreaking cultivation method."

Zhang said with emotion.

Zheng Fa remembered what Xiao Yuying had said.

He spoke up: "Zhang, what Xiao Yuying said makes sense. Although we currently seek refuge in the Jiushan Realm, if we cling to our deficiencies and do not strive for progress, we will eventually perish."

Zhang looked at him, signaling him to continue.

"Zhang, once all the disciples are settled, I’d like to change the rules of the Jiushan Sect."

"How so?"

Zhang merely asked.

"I want to change the Discussion Talisman Pavilion, on one hand, prohibiting infighting, and on the other hand, we need to rewrite the textbooks, discard sectarian views, and teach all achievements, whether from Master Pang or those we have researched, to our brothers and sisters."

"The Affairs Hall also needs change; I want our brothers and sisters to promote our research achievements in the mundane world, educate the reserve talents we need—to gain followers and cultivate Spirit Plants."

Zhang listened to these points and gently nodded, seemingly having no objections.

"Zhang, I want to encourage disciples to engage in various researches and offer rewards."

Zheng Fa’s words made Zhang frown slightly.

"How to reward?"

"On one hand, grant various honors—such as Outer Disciples achieving significant research results can be exceptionally granted Inner Sect Disciple status. And Inner Sect Disciples achieving results could be granted True Disciple status, or even honors like elder."

Zheng Fa had thought about this for a while.

"On the other hand, tangible rewards—whether Spirit Materials from the Medicine Garden or resources from within the sect, we need to allocate them towards this aspect."

Zhang pondered for a moment and slowly nodded, "You mean, besides cultivation and talent, establish another path for intelligent people?"

"Yes."

That was what Zheng Fa had been hesitant about; establishing a vastly different evaluation system from traditional practices in the Xuanwei Realm while changing resource distribution—frankly, intelligence does not equate to talent, like Yuan...

For development, he had to elevate the status of researchers.

But this was hard for people to understand.

He first discussed it with Zhang, partly to seek her support.

Also, given Zhang’s greater managerial experience, he wanted her to help him identify and rectify any gaps.