Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World
Chapter 291 - 177: The Power of Mortals

Chapter 291: Chapter 177: The Power of Mortals

"Those people who ran away fast..."

The Sect Leader flew in from the distance, his tone slightly disgruntled.

"People are on guard against Zheng Fa!" Master Pang gave him a sideways glance and said, "Otherwise, how could we have held out this long?"

Zheng Fa looked into the crowd, seemingly realizing something, and turned to Junior Master Huang.

"The lady from Zhao Mansion is unwilling to come."

Junior Master Huang seemed to know what he was asking about and explained, "She wishes to go to Qingmu Sect..."

"Qingmu Sect..."

Zheng Fa gently furrowed his brow, feeling a bit worried inside.

He had sent a message to the Seventh Young Master but had not received a reply; he feared that Qingmu Sect was also not quite peaceful at this moment.

"I happen to know some news about Qingmu Sect." Master Pang spoke, "These days, Qingmu Sect is wholeheartedly following the Tongming Master, considered his staunch supporter, so they should be worry-free."

Zheng Fa nodded his head.

He had considered the choice of Mrs. Zhao—after all, he was not a member of the Zhao Family, and Mrs. Zhao, being strong-willed, would hardly want to seek refuge with him.

Earlier, he thought that if the Seventh Young Master was willing to come to Jiushan Sect, then it would be natural for the Zhao Family to follow suit.

But now, the Seventh Young Master might also have to follow his own master and might not be able to make his own decisions.

He thought about sending several more letters to the Seventh Young Master but also temporarily put aside this matter as he welcomed everyone into the Jiushan Realm.

Now, since immortals and mortals cannot traverse freely between Jiushan Realm, these three hundred thousand new mortals can only stay in the Heavenly Palace.

Fortunately, there are many islands in the Heavenly Palace. Zheng Fa settled them on the largest one.

He gently knitted his brows—the rule in Jiushan Realm that separates immortals from mortals was a bit of a hindrance.

He had tried before to transport rice seeds from the mortal world to the Heavenly Palace without much issue.

He even discovered a way to bestow these seeds to his followers.

But with people, it’s another matter...

Now, even he cannot descend to the mortal world in his true form—the Sun and Moon Clock is severely damaged, as if it has lost some of its functionality.

For now, he could only settle these people in the Heavenly Palace.

...

"These are the new varieties you’ve cultivated?"

Looking at the clusters of rice plants in the Medicine Garden, Junior Master Huang and Master Pang exchanged a glance, seeming somewhat incredulous.

"Yes, we’ve fostered many new varieties these few days," Zheng Fa explained, "Once everyone is settled, we’ll distribute the seeds and let them start farming."

This was also why Zheng Fa did not first bestow the rice seeds to the followers in the mortal world—

The people in the mortal world of Jiushan Realm could still survive by relying on other crops or hunting and fishing, but there are not as many goods in the Heavenly Palace.

Zheng Fa could only save the rice seeds for the newcomers first.

Junior Master Huang was silent for a long time before he sighed, "I was worried for nothing."

"Master Uncle, farming takes time," Zheng Fa smiled, "During these days, we should stockpile as much food as we can."

Junior Master Huang nodded, no longer showing concern on her face—a year’s worth of food for three hundred thousand people might be difficult to gather for mortals, but for a Nascent Soul cultivator, it’s not much at all.

What she was previously worried about was how to sustain so many mortals in Jiushan Realm for an extended period.

If it’s just for one year, then the problem is truly negligible.

"Being able to let them be self-sufficient will also lighten our burdens somewhat."

Suddenly, the Sect Leader spoke, "If they didn’t have ties with Jiushan Sect, I..."

Zheng Fa was speechless; it was actually his suggestion to bring these mortals with them.

His own Master, like all other cultivators in this world, values cultivators, especially those who are talented, but does not pay much attention to mortals.

"Master, mortals... also have their own strength."

Zheng Fa pondered for a moment before speaking.

Compared to Zhang, the three elders probably can’t understand some of Zheng Fa’s ideas even more.

Sure enough, a hint of doubt appeared on his Master’s face.

"Master, I’m preparing to give my brothers the first lecture on Thunder Skill..."

"Hm?"

"How about you come and listen as well?"

"..." The Sect Leader pointed at himself, surprised and said, "Me? To listen to your lecture?"

Zheng Fa nodded with a smile.

...

Zheng Fa and Zhang divided the Heavenly Palace into nine sections, with the largest section housing the new mortals, which Zhang named Paradise Island.

There’s also a Medicine Garden and a Heavenly Palace area, which already existed in the Heavenly Palace.

As for the previous location of the alchemy room, Zheng Fa also planned to transform it into a place for researching the Hundred Skills of Immortal Cultivation—or in other words, an industrial district.

Hence, he named this island Jingkai Island!

Zhang didn’t quite understand, but she let it be.

The other two places are the disciples’ living area and the Nascent Soul’s living district.

One was named Seeking Immortality Island by the disciples themselves.

The other was named by Yuan, ambitiously calling it Ten Thousand Immortals Island.

Among the remaining three islands, Zheng Fa also had plans for two of them.

One was to be used as a commercial district—Zheng Fa had no intention of isolating themselves.

On one hand, he planned to leverage the original connections of Yan Wushuang and the Hundred Immortals Alliance to trade with the outside world.

On the other hand, he also hoped to promote the previous advantages of the workshop—such as theaters, various Spirit Talismans, and to attract many cultivators to come and spend.

He even planned to allow the Sun and Moon Clock to roam around the Xuanwei Realm, becoming a mobile marketplace.

Of course, this idea still needed to be discussed with his Master and senior sisters.

However, even if the commercial district is not open to the outside, providing entertainment for the resident disciples in Jiushan Realm is also necessary.

There’s another planned island, which is what Zheng Fa cares most about—University Island.

This island was originally the dwelling place of Heavenly Venerate, with palaces exceedingly majestic.

Having gone through a great battle, it was all ruins before.

But according to Zheng Fa’s plans, it should be sorted out by now—

At the very center of University Island is the Scripture Pavilion.

It’s just that Zheng Fa has now changed the rules of the Scripture Pavilion—most of the books can now be borrowed for free.

He wanted to transform the Scripture Pavilion into a modern library; it’s just that there are too few books in it now...

It’s really quite shabby.

With the library at its center, palaces were converted into classrooms—their sizes varied, hence the classroom sizes did too. Among them, the largest could accommodate thousands of people.

Zheng Fa’s first lecture was held in this largest classroom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow disciples."

Zheng Fa glanced around the classroom.

Almost all disciples from the Jiushan Realm were present below, listening to the lecture.

Of course, this was because Zheng Fa’s status had significantly changed, now considered to be the lord of the Jiushan Realm.

On the other hand, it was also because at the back of the classroom sat four bigwigs—

The Sect Leader, Master Pang, Junior Master Huang, Sister Zhang.

Seeing this lineup, the disciples simply didn’t dare to skip the class.

All four Nascent Souls of Jiushan Realm were listening to Zheng Fa’s lecture.

If you didn’t attend, did you consider yourself more accomplished than the true Nascent Souls?

Zheng Fa took a glance at the four Nascent Souls, noticing his Master’s face looked the grumpiest, whereas both Master Pang and Junior Master Huang appeared somewhat amused—

For disciples to teach their Master, this was something they could tease their senior brother about for a lifetime.

...

Zheng Fa shook his head and began speaking to his audience:

"Fellow disciples, the Jiushan Realm currently has special rules, and aside from certain magical treasures, almost only Thunder Skill can be used."

The crowd nodded in agreement.

This was also what made the Jiushan Realm problematic.

"Thus, starting from today, I will be lecturing on Thunder Skill."

The eyes of the people below lit up.

Zheng Fa paused, then suddenly asked, "Before we begin, I want to ask everyone a question."

Sister Zhang leaned back, her face expressing a look of ’I knew it was coming.’

Zheng Fa continued, "My question is, what is Thunder Skill?"

The group exchanged puzzled glances.

"Fellow disciples, speak your minds..." Zheng Fa added, "From this moment onward, in my class, I hope you can say whatever you think."

"No distinctions of status."

"No distinctions of cultivation level."

"And no distinctions of right and wrong."

Zheng Fa’s words left the disciples looking at each other, somewhat at a loss for what to do.

After a while, Zhou Qianyuan decided to speak up despite his reluctance: "Thunder Skill is a type of spell."

Zheng Fa nodded and replied with a smile, "Very good!"

"Thunder Skill is a method for countering enemies!"

"That brother speaks correctly as well," Zheng Fa praised.

"A cultivation technique that controls the power of Heavenly Thunder!"

"That’s a great answer!"

With Zheng Fa’s continuous praises, the crowd gradually became more enthusiastic.

Some disciples had never experienced this type of classroom and found it novel.

Others...had never been praised by a genius disciple like Zheng Fa, nor had they had the chance to stand out in front of the four Nascent Souls, so they took this opportunity to speak up, hopeful for more favor later on.

But enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, and eventually, the atmosphere in the classroom heated up.

Behind them, Junior Master Huang hummed, "What kind of decorum is this?"

However, Master Pang shook his head and said, "Junior Sister Huang, you don’t understand. I originally thought Zheng Fa wouldn’t be good at teaching, but it turns out he has quite the knack for it..."

Junior Master Huang glanced at him sideways.

"I’ve always understood that sometimes, what you say a hundred times is not as effective as having the disciples think about it once... Zheng Fa’s approach is in line with this principle."

"... You’re skilled at teaching disciples?"

"Of course!"

Junior Master Huang looked towards Sister Zhang, who only smiled silently.

Her silence was enough to make Master Pang grit his teeth.

"Eh? Here comes my future disciple!"

He suddenly whispered.

As it turned out, Zheng Shan had quietly walked in from the entrance and timidly stood beside the podium.

Seeing his sister’s arrival, Zheng Fa raised his hand downward and gently pressed.

The classroom instantly fell silent.

"Fellow disciples have all spoken well. Let me summarize everyone’s opinions," Zheng Fa said with a smile. "Thunder Skill is a spell that controls the power of Heavenly Thunder."

"This spell can kill enemies, defend, grant the power of flight, and even stimulate the growth of Spirit Plants."

"Right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then, may I ask, what is the power of Heavenly Thunder?"

"..."

The crowd fell silent. This time, they genuinely did not know how to respond.

"And is it only through spells that one can control the power of Heavenly Thunder?"

"..."

Seeing their silence, Zheng Fa waved Zheng Shan over.

Zheng Shan approached with a nervous yet obedient expression.

"Many of you may recognize her; this is my sister, Zheng Shan, who has not yet begun to cultivate," Zheng Fa introduced. "But what if I say, she too can control Heavenly Thunder?"

"..."

The crowd didn’t reply, but their expressions suggested that the silence was merely polite.

Their looks conveyed the sentiment that ’as long as Junior Brother Zheng is happy’...

Zheng Fa nodded to Zheng Shan, who then took out a piece of silk and a slender piece of amber, rubbing the silk rapidly against the amber.

Her little face turned flush red as she seemed to be exerting much effort.

Suddenly, an almost imperceptible flash of electricity streaked by.

The Sect Leader at the back of the classroom abruptly stood up, staring at the silk and amber in Zheng Shan’s hands, as if he had been genuinely struck by lightning.

"Look everyone, my mortal sister seems also capable of wielding Thunder Skill."