I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 103

After all, the Copper Coffin Elder was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Even without the protection of his coffin in the Thunder Pool, where Senior Sister Zhang was using the heavenly lightning to suppress him, he was not entirely powerless.

Though Senior Sister Zhang was also limited to the power and divine sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she had to be acknowledged for her extensive battle experience at this level.

Meanwhile, without his life-bound treasure, the coffin, the Copper Coffin Elder was severely restricted within the Thunder Pool.

Even so, he was still able to hold his ground against Senior Sister Zhang for a short while.

At first, he tried to reclaim his copper coffin.

But Senior Sister Zhang had anticipated this move, giving him little to no opportunity.

Eventually, the old man gave up on retrieving the coffin and instead charged straight at Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Yuan—he had clearly noticed that Senior Sister Zhang was subtly shielding them the entire time.

Before Zheng Fa could even react, Senior Sister Yuan had already stepped in front of him. With a flick of the feather fan in her hand, three blazing flames surged toward the Copper Coffin Elder.

In that moment, all traces of her usual absentmindedness were gone.

She transformed into a Qingluan, her massive avian form standing firmly between Zheng Fa and the Copper Coffin Elder. Her life-bound treasure, the feather fan, moved continuously through the air, keeping the elder at bay.

It was clear that she wasn’t focused on attacking but rather on stopping him—her primary goal was to protect Zheng Fa.

Senior Sister Zhang seemed to grow enraged at the elder’s attempt to charge at Zheng Fa. With a flick of her Flying Immortal Brush, a flurry of talismans chased after the Copper Coffin Elder.

An angry woman was already a force to be reckoned with.

An angry Senior Sister Zhang?

Even worse.

Soon enough, the Copper Coffin Elder’s body was reduced to ashes beneath the heavenly lightning—leaving him without even a coffin.

The copper coffin, now devoid of its master, floated helplessly in the Thunder Pool, seemingly lost and confused.

Senior Sister Zhang led Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Yuan forward. With a wave of her hand, the coffin drifted toward Zheng Fa.

“Take it.”

“Senior Sister?”

“In these times, with dwindling spiritual energy, high-quality spiritual materials are hard to come by. Most cultivators can only forge a single life-bound treasure after forming their Golden Core. You’ll need one too after reaching that stage—it’s best to prepare early. This coffin is made of Netherworld Divine Iron, an exceptional material.”

Wasn’t this a little too early?

And wasn’t there someone who needed it more standing right next to him?

Zheng Fa glanced sideways—Senior Sister Yuan was looking down at her feather fan, her expression a little pained.

Earlier, in order to protect him, she had likely been too tense and ended up using more divine sense than necessary while wielding the fan. Although she was fine, her fan had taken multiple hits from the Thunder Pool’s lightning and was now scorched and damaged.

Hearing that Senior Sister Zhang was giving the copper coffin to Zheng Fa, she didn’t look jealous at all.

She simply didn’t lift her head to look at the coffin, as if afraid she’d be tempted.

“…Senior Sister Yuan.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t really like the look of this coffin,” Zheng Fa said softly. “I plan to melt it down.”

Senior Sister Yuan blinked, not quite understanding why he was telling her this.

“You’re the most skilled in fire techniques, so I’ll have to trouble you with this,” Zheng Fa said with a grin. “I’ve already thought of your payment—after refining it, I’ll give you a portion of the Netherworld Divine Iron.”

“Give… to me?” Senior Sister Yuan’s eyes slowly lit up. She looked at Zheng Fa and cheerfully exclaimed, “Junior Brother Zheng, are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

Senior Sister Yuan immediately turned to look at Senior Sister Zhang, her eyes filled with anticipation.

“...I already gave it to him,” Senior Sister Zhang said, glancing at Zheng Fa before shaking her head. “It’s his to distribute.”

Senior Sister Yuan beamed and stared at the copper coffin, her hands practically itching to touch it.

Meanwhile, the copper coffin shuddered slightly, as if protesting—as if it had been wronged.

Just moments ago, you were sweet-talking me! Now you’re treating me like this?!

Zheng Fa had no sympathy for it whatsoever.

A treasure that betrays its master has no treasure rights!

…

Seated in his room, Zheng Fa closed his eyes and focused on the Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant in his consciousness.

When he had been invested in the Heavenly Monument World, he had received a Silver Rank title and 5,000 miles of territory, shocking even Yan Wushuang and the others.

To be honest, Zheng Fa himself wasn’t entirely sure why.

It wasn’t that he was underestimating himself—

But his cultivation was clearly a level lower than Yan Wushuang’s.

His talent also wasn’t on the same level.

For the Investiture Hall to categorize him alongside Yan Wushuang…

It must have noticed something else unique about him.

Perhaps it was because he possessed the Reversed Five Elements Divine Light, an innate divine ability.

Or perhaps… it was because of this Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant.

Zheng Fa had this suspicion because when he was inside the Investiture Hall, the light spheres had actively avoided the jade pendant.

This made him wonder—

The Heavenly Monument World was a self-contained realm, bearing some resemblance to the modern world.

And judging by the Investiture Hall’s reaction to his jade pendant…

Could there be some kind of “hierarchical” difference between the modern world and the Heavenly Monument World?

Come to think of it, Zheng Fa hadn’t paid much attention to the jade pendant in a while.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, the jade pendant had undergone some changes—

The time difference between the two worlds had expanded even further. Zheng Fa could now stay in the Xuanyi Realm for an entire year before returning to the modern world.

However, he rarely waited that long, so he hadn’t paid much mind to it.

Now, after entering the Heavenly Monument World, he had a renewed curiosity about the pendant.

But the jade pendant remained completely still in his consciousness, looking innocent and well-behaved, with none of the presence one would expect from a powerful artifact.

Zheng Fa shook his head slightly and shifted his divine sense downward, focusing on his dantian.

Compared to when he was at Qi Refining, his dantian had changed as well.

The Yuan Talisman Foundation—or more precisely, the Möbius Sub-Talisman Diagram—was now at the very center of his dantian, with two other types of sub-talismans orbiting it like flowing jade ribbons.

The biggest change was in his spiritual energy.

During Qi Refining, his spiritual energy had been like a river—

Advancing from early to late Qi Refining was a process of expanding that river from a small stream to a vast current.

But at Foundation Establishment, the river had disappeared entirely.

His spiritual energy had transitioned from liquid to solid.

Now, the energy within him took the form of countless grains of silver sand, like a vast sea of stars, slowly rotating beneath his Yuan Talisman Foundation.

According to the Divine Thunder of Shenxiao, progressing from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core was a process of gathering the silver sand into a Thunder Field, eventually condensing it into a Thunder Core.

Thanks to the materials Martial Uncle Pang had acquired for him from the market, he had taken his first step.

The amount of silver sand within him had increased significantly since he first broke through, though it was still a long way from forming a Thunder Field.

Foundation Establishment stages were not as meticulously divided as Qi Refining, but the difficulty of progression was on an entirely different level.

Zheng Fa took out a Purple Lightning Fruit, popped it into his mouth, chewed it up, and swallowed.

A surge of thunder-infused spiritual energy spread through his body, flowing from his throat to his abdomen, then into his meridians—

Finally, settling into his dantian, condensing into another grain of silver sand…

…

“Junior Brother Zheng, the people from Qianhe Sect have arrived.”

Just as he was engrossed in his cultivation, Senior Sister Yuan knocked on his door, calling out from the entrance.

“I’ll be right there.” Zheng Fa slowly opened his eyes and got up from his bed. “Why did you come in person, Senior Sister? Any of the other senior brothers could’ve passed the message.”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Martial Uncle Pang has issued an order—ordinary disciples are not allowed near your room.” Senior Sister Yuan explained, “Only a select few can approach.”

“Wait… isn’t that a bit excessive?” Zheng Fa knew that Martial Uncle Pang was being extremely cautious lately, but having a Golden Core cultivator like Senior Sister Yuan act as his personal messenger felt a little excessive.

“I think Martial Uncle Pang is being unreliable! How could he let just any junior brother come find you? I already told him that from now on, if anyone needs to contact you, I’ll be the one to handle it!”

Hearing this, Zheng Fa was speechless.

Senior Sister Yuan might actually be worse than Martial Uncle Pang…

“Senior Sister Yuan… are you worried about me, or about the coffin?” Zheng Fa paused for a moment before suddenly asking.

“Junior Brother Zheng, asking me that really hurts our relationship!”

Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment, then asked again, “So… is the problem my question, or your answer?”

Senior Sister Yuan’s gaze shifted evasively. “Ahem… You don’t know… but that Qianhe Sect envoy is in a really bad situation.”

“Bad?”

When Zheng Fa arrived at the main hall, he immediately understood what she meant.

The visitor was Zhenren Qian from Qianhe Sect. Back when Zheng Fa had first worked with Qianhe Sect, this was the person he had negotiated with.

He still remembered Zhenren Qian as a polite yet composed individual, neither arrogant nor overly humble.

But right now, Martial Uncle Pang was staring him down, his silver eyes sharp and unwavering, scanning Zhenren Qian from head to toe as if searching for any sign of deception.

To be fair, having a Nascent Soul cultivator scrutinizing you like that—the fact that Zhenren Qian wasn’t kneeling already was a testament to his courage.

“Martial Uncle Pang.”

Zheng Fa entered the hall and first greeted Martial Uncle Pang with a bow.

“Zheng Fa, he claims you invited him?”

“Yes, I requested Zhenren Qian’s presence for some inquiries.”

Martial Uncle Pang nodded, waved his hand dismissively, and indicated that his inspection was complete. Zheng Fa and Zhenren Qian were free to leave.

The moment they stepped outside, Zheng Fa clearly heard Zhenren Qian exhale deeply.

Turning back, he saw Zhenren Qian wiping cold sweat off his forehead, giving him a stiff, forced smile.

“Your esteemed sect is… extremely cautious… I almost thought I was here to inspect some kind of sect-protecting treasure.”

Before he could even finish his sentence—

He suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure emanating from behind him. The oppressive aura instantly made him break out in even more cold sweat.

“I… Did I say something wrong?”

Zhenren Qian stammered nervously.

…Saying the wrong thing wasn’t the problem.

The problem was—he had said something absolutely right.

…

“Zhenren Qian, I should have been the one to visit you instead, given the trouble you went through to come all this way.”

Lately, Zheng Fa had been under such tight supervision from Martial Uncle Pang that leaving the sect was practically impossible. His only option was to invite Qianhe Sect’s people over.

“No, no, not at all!” Zhenren Qian’s smile turned even more ingratiating. “With your sect’s Zhang Zhenren achieving Nascent Soul, I should have come to offer my congratulations anyway. And to think, you have also reached Foundation Establishment! Your sect is truly celebrating one joyous event after another.”

Zheng Fa had seen this kind of enthusiastic flattery far too often lately and didn’t take it to heart.

Ever since Senior Sister Zhang advanced to Nascent Soul, the Hundred Immortals Alliance had started treating Jiushan Sect with significantly more respect.

Achieving Nascent Soul was already an incredibly difficult feat these days.

And Senior Sister Zhang was already well-known across the cultivation world.

To exaggerate a little—right now, any disciple of Jiushan Sect who stepped outside would find that every Hundred Immortals Alliance cultivator they met was unfailingly polite.

“Zhenren Qian, I invited you here today because I have a question.”

“A question? Oh, there’s no need for formalities! If it’s something within my knowledge, I will answer without hesitation!” Zhenren Qian thumped his chest confidently.

“It’s about spiritual plants. I don’t have many contacts specializing in this field, and within the Hundred Immortals Alliance, Qianhe Sect is renowned for its expertise in cultivation and planting techniques. So I could only ask you.”

“Spiritual plants? What do you need to know?”

At first, Zhenren Qian appeared calm.

But when he heard Zheng Fa’s next words, his expression visibly wavered.

“I’ve heard that spiritual plant cultivation is closely linked to the power of heavenly lightning?” Zheng Fa asked.

“This is true.” Zhenren Qian’s response was immediate and direct, as if this was no secret.

“What is the exact nature of this connection?”

“……”

Unexpectedly, Zhenren Qian fell silent for a moment before finally speaking.

“This matter… is actually considered classified knowledge within Qianhe Sect. I cannot disclose it.”

Zheng Fa was genuinely surprised.

After being thoroughly intimidated by Martial Uncle Pang, and given his apparent eagerness to get on Jiushan Sect’s good side, Zheng Fa had expected him to be more forthcoming.

And yet—he had refused without hesitation?