I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 110: Everyone’s a Good Person!

As Zheng Fa prepared to leave the Heavenly Monument Realm, Half-Mountain City had already undergone a noticeable change.

Most of the Thunderstrike Sect’s core members had turned to ashes.

While it couldn’t yet be called a utopia where doors were left unlocked at night and no one stole from the streets, wrongdoers now lived in constant fear.

The rest of the people, as judged by the Investiture of the Gods, were not guilty of crimes deserving death. While Zheng Fa still punished them with heavenly tribulation lightning, its intensity varied—

For the worst offenders, the bolts left them severely injured.

For lesser transgressors, the lightning was mostly harmless noise—

A divine reminder that the heavens were watching.

Beyond that, Zheng Fa did nothing extra—his daily routine was simply harvesting Heavenly Merit.

Little Qing occasionally distributed excess offerings to the weak and poor.

No—wait. Not the old.

Most of Half-Mountain City’s people had short lifespans.

Reaching thirty-five made someone an elder.

Turning forty was considered ancient.

Someone Little Qing’s age was practically middle-aged—

That’s how deep their poverty ran.

That day, the townspeople arrived in groups, carrying heavy baskets toward the temple.

The baskets were filled to the brim with dried mushrooms, smoked fish and shrimp, bolts of rough fabric, and a few finely crafted ornaments.

By modern standards—or even compared to the Xuanyi Realm’s mortal world—these things were worthless.

But here, in Half-Mountain City…

They were treasures.

The townspeople seemed to understand that Lord Thunder God disliked being disturbed.

So they simply placed their offerings down, kowtowed a few times, and left without a word.

“Lord Thunder God! Do you know whose things are in these baskets?”

After chatting with Zheng Fa for a while, Little Qing had come to realize that he wasn’t as strict as she once thought.

Her tone was much more relaxed when speaking to him now.

“I do.”

Zheng Fa never paid much attention to Half-Mountain City’s affairs.

But in the temple, he couldn’t help but hear their thoughts.

These offerings were, of course, the former property of the Thunderstrike Sect’s leader.

Only he had the power to hoard such ‘immense wealth’ in Half-Mountain City.

“Lord Thunder God, you really do know everything!” Little Qing nodded admiringly before adding, “After the Thunderstrike Sect collapsed, we found all these good things.”

“I already told you—they don’t need to make offerings. These should be divided among the people.”

Zheng Fa frowned.

The city was so poor, yet its people kept bringing their food to the temple—

It wasn’t something he approved of.

He couldn’t even eat it!

“I told them…” Little Qing pouted. “But they refused!”

“…”

“…Why?”

Zheng Fa was genuinely confused.

“They said…” Little Qing paused, searching for the right words.

“They never imagined Lord Thunder God would be this kind… They’re afraid you’ll disappear again.”

“Kind?” Zheng Fa was puzzled.

“What did I even do?”

“Exactly because you didn’t do anything! That’s what makes you good!”

Little Qing’s eyes widened, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Zheng Fa thought carefully about Half-Mountain City’s logic—

The Thunderstrike Sect’s leader stole their fishing grounds—he didn’t.

The Thunderstrike Sect’s leader imposed heavy taxes—he didn’t.

The Thunderstrike Sect’s leader even ate people—and Zheng Fa was utterly disgusted by it.

And unlike the sect leader, he didn’t even accept offerings—instead, he let the temple attendant distribute them to the people.

In comparison, the Thunderstrike Sect’s leader had single-handedly lowered Half-Mountain City’s expectations of what a god should be.

The man had been so terrible that, ironically, he had done Zheng Fa a favor.

Zheng Fa glanced at his Investiture of the Gods, where nearly three hundred Heavenly Merits had accumulated.

A favor indeed.

“I’ll give you a few names. Go distribute these to them.”

Zheng Fa shook his head as he spoke.

He listed off a few people whose bodies had glowed with golden light in recent days—those who had done much good.

Lately, Zheng Fa had been pondering the balance of rewarding virtue and punishing evil in the Investiture of the Gods.

Punishing evil was easy—lightning.

But rewarding virtue was more difficult.

Distributing offerings would be a good experiment.

“Got it!” Little Qing’s eyes lit up, and she eagerly nodded in agreement.

Leaving the Heavenly Monument Realm, Zheng Fa felt the same relief as getting off work—

The place had been too boring.

The past month had felt like a closed-door cultivation retreat.

Now, with nearly three hundred Heavenly Merits, he had almost finished purging Half-Mountain City of criminals.

With his remaining Heavenly Merits, he planned to visit other settlements.

Half-Mountain City was the most populated area within his invested territory.

The other settlements were scattered, with some lacking even a temple.

His past visits had already confirmed something—

Temples were crucial.

In the temple, he could recover spiritual energy.

Outside, he could only roam as a spirit.

Unless he used divine lightning, he had no connection to his physical body, nor could he recover power.

Even the ability to hear people’s thoughts and perceive their morality seemed to stem from the statue itself.

It was likely an inherent rule of this world—

Or perhaps, a remnant of its ancient divine civilization.

The other settlements didn’t have any villains as notorious as the Thunderstrike Sect’s leader, but the sheer number of lesser criminals was higher.

Earning the five hundred Heavenly Merits needed to obtain a Yang Thunder Spider’s Inner Core wouldn’t be difficult—

His biggest limitation was still his Foundation Establishment cultivation.

The moment Zheng Fa stepped out of the Heavenly Monument Realm, he ran into Yan Wushuang—

Or rather, Yan Wushuang and a large gathering of cultivators.

They weren’t leaving.

Instead, they stood outside the Heavenly Monument, waiting.

Waiting for someone.

As soon as Zheng Fa appeared, all eyes locked onto him.

He turned around.

Nothing behind him.

He turned back.

The crowd’s eyes were still fixed on him.

A shiver ran down his spine.

“…Brother Yan?”

He cupped his fists in greeting.

“Brother Zheng! You’re finally out!” Yan Wushuang strode forward excitedly.

“…You were waiting for me?”

Zheng Fa blinked, completely lost.

“Come look!”

Yan Wushuang grabbed him, dragging him toward the crowd—

To the base of the Heavenly Monument.

There, at the very top of the rankings—

Two glowing golden characters stood tall.

Zheng Fa.

“…”

To be honest—Zheng Fa really wasn’t happy about this.

The Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Energy Equation was an overwhelming force against the cultivators of the Heavenly Monument Realm, making it absurdly easy for Zheng Fa to farm Heavenly Merit.

But he disliked the ranking—it made him far too high-profile.

It didn’t offer any real benefits, and it was bound to attract enemies.

He already had the Reversed Five Elements Divine Light, which had nearly scared Martial Uncle Pang to death—wasn’t that high-profile enough?

And the worst part?

The rankings were an intrinsic feature of the Heavenly Monument Realm—he couldn’t even opt out.

Zheng Fa scanned the crowd with mild concern.

Strictly speaking, everyone here was his competitor.

As expected, some regarded him with wariness.

But unexpectedly—many others looked at him with warmth.

Not just neutral politeness, but genuine admiration—

Their gazes carried respect, even encouragement…

When their eyes met his, several even smiled at him, their expressions enthusiastic.

Some cultivators even stepped forward to introduce themselves:

“I am Cheng Tianxin, from Xuantian Sect… Senior Brother Zheng, an honor to meet you!”

“My name is Yun Yang, from Righteous Sect…”

“I’m…”

One after another, cultivators approached, clearly eager to befriend him.

Zheng Fa responded politely, but internally, he was baffled.

Wait, when did the Xuanyi Realm’s atmosphere become so friendly?

Why is no one jealous or resentful?

Forget envy, but why the overwhelming friendliness?

…

Sensing Zheng Fa’s confusion, Yan Wushuang chuckled.

He glanced around cautiously—almost as if afraid someone might overhear—before whispering:

“Brother Zheng, take a look at who’s in second place.”

Zheng Fa glanced up.

Little Yuying.

His brows lifted slightly in surprise.

He had expected himself to rank first—after all, his method of farming Heavenly Merit was ridiculously efficient.

But Little Yuying…

Her talent was truly extraordinary.

She had only arrived a month later than him, yet if they compared just their first month’s progress, she had actually outperformed him.

But more importantly…

Were these people being so friendly because of her?

“You don’t understand, Brother Zheng.” Yan Wushuang sighed before launching into his tragic tale from thirty years ago.

“…I see now.”

Zheng Fa finally understood what kind of person Little Yuying was.

As if on cue, the other cultivators started speaking up:

“Ten years ago… there was an ancient cave dwelling that emerged…”

“My Senior Brother encountered her back then…”

“My Master! He once crossed paths with her, and in the end, he failed his Heart Demon Tribulation because of her…”

As Zheng Fa listened, a strange realization dawned upon him—

Little Yuying was practically a saint!

In a Thunderstrike Sect kind of way.

In the Xuanyi Realm, securing first place on the Heavenly Monument wouldn’t necessarily make him hated, but it certainly wouldn’t make him popular either.

Who doesn’t want to be the one to control the Heavenly Monument?

But with Little Yuying, things were different…

She had too many enemies—so many that he now had his own support group.

Their stance was simple:

We’re not necessarily on your side, but as long as you can beat Little Yuying, we’ll back you.

Realizing this, Zheng Fa suddenly felt…

A surprising sense of appreciation for Fairy Little.

…

As the crowd continued their heated discussion, the Heavenly Monument suddenly lit up—

Someone else had just exited the realm.

Fairy Lingye, Little Yuying.

The moment she appeared, the conversations died down instantly.

The once-lively atmosphere turned cold and awkward.

Everyone around her looked uneasy—a mix of respect and resentment in their expressions.

No…

One person was an exception.

Zheng Fa.

The more he looked at her, the more pleasing she seemed.

Little Yuying seemed completely used to these kinds of hostile stares, showing nothing but disdain.

However—

Zheng Fa’s gaze stood out.

He wasn’t glaring at her.

He wasn’t showing wariness.

Instead—he actually looked somewhat friendly.

That caught her attention.

For a brief moment, she glanced at him twice.

She didn’t even bother checking the rankings properly—just casually swept her eyes over the monument as she walked past.

And then—

Her footsteps halted.

She slowly turned back.

The surrounding cultivators instinctively moved aside, allowing her to approach the monument.

A mix of schadenfreude and curiosity filled their eyes.

Little Yuying stared at the rankings for a long time, scrutinizing the name at the top.

Her brows furrowed.

She seemed deep in thought—as if trying to recall something but failing.

After a while, she suddenly looked up, sweeping her gaze across the gathered crowd.

Her eyes landed on Zheng Fa, as if remembering his rare expression of goodwill earlier.

“This Daoist friend,” Little Yuying’s tone was polite, though her voice carried a distinct hint of displeasure,

“I wish to ask—who is this Zheng Fa?”

Her tone, when speaking his name, held a trace of irritation and disbelief.

“…”

“…That would be me.”

“…”