I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 53: The Talisman in Blood

Zheng Fa was not some kind of bloodthirsty maniac.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

The reason he was so interested in this man’s blood stemmed from a shocking discovery—there were talisman patterns in it!

When the disciples from Uncle Master Pang’s lineage had captured him, the man had been on the verge of death. If not for the faint warmth still lingering in his chest, he might have already been buried.

When Zheng Fa first saw him, his limbs were ice-cold and rigid, his breath so weak it was barely perceptible. Black-red blood had trickled from his lips.

He had hesitated.

Should he even save this man?

The innkeeper had described him as a bit of a fool, sure.

And even if he was dumb enough to actually admire Jiushan Sect, Zheng Fa could not fully trust someone from the Demonic Path—not when the Demon Ancestors had complete control over their descendants.

The senior brothers had brought him back mainly to extract information.

Even Zheng Fa—who had been raised in modern society—knew better than to extend kindness toward a member of the Demonic Path.

They had confined the man to a remote house, far from the sect’s core, covered in restrictive talismans to prevent any unexpected incidents.

Then, two days ago…

The man was still unconscious.

Zheng Fa had been practicing Void-Seeking Spirit Eyes, a secret technique from Uncle Master Pang, when he accidentally caught a glimpse of the blood at the corner of the man’s lips—

And made an astonishing discovery.

There were talisman patterns in his blood!

It wasn’t unusual for cultivators to have spiritual energy within their bodies.

But for Jiushan Sect cultivators, spiritual energy was chaotic, only following a structured pattern when actively circulated.

This man, however—his blood itself was circulating energy in the form of talisman patterns.

No… not talismans.

It had taken several days of observation for Zheng Fa to confirm that the patterns in this man’s blood were different from the talismans they carved in void space. Ř₳ɴОBΕs̈

Using the Three-Sub-Talisman Law, he analyzed it:

The Five Elements Sub-Talismans in the man’s blood were exactly the same as regular talismans.

But the other two sub-talisman types were completely different.

The main difference? Quantity and variety.

If he labeled the two unknown sub-talisman types as Type A and Type B, then—

Type A sub-talismans were significantly fewer in variety.

Type B had only two types—and every single talisman in his blood contained them.

This discovery fascinated Zheng Fa.

He suspected this had something to do with the fundamental nature of demonic cultivation techniques.

But there was one major problem—the moment his blood left his body, the talisman patterns would fade within half an hour.

This meant Zheng Fa had to extract fresh samples daily.

To keep the man alive, he had even applied healing talismans.

Either those talismans were too effective, or this man had an unbelievable will to survive—

Because today…

He woke up.

When the young man regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Yuan staring at him.

“What’s your name?” Zheng Fa asked.

The young man remained silent, clearly reluctant to answer. After a long pause, he finally said,

"Lin Bufan."

“Nice surname,” Zheng Fa nodded. “But the name needs work. Drop the ‘Bu’ (Not), and you’ll achieve great things.”

"?"

For the first time, Lin Bufan's dead-eyed face showed a hint of confusion.

"Now that you're awake," Zheng Fa continued, "you should realize that you've been captured by Jiushan Sect."

"You and your companion—what was your objective in coming here?"

The moment he heard this, Lin Bufan's expression shifted.

“What happened to him?” he asked anxiously.

"Dead."

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Yuan exchanged glances—so these two really were close.

Lin Bufan’s eyes dimmed. He had expected this.

"And his body?"

"Cremated. Buried."

Zheng Fa answered frankly.

He had personally insisted on burning the corpse—leaving a body from the Demonic Path lying around was not an option.

“Buried by the riverbank where he died.”

"Cremated…"

Lin Bufan fell silent for a long time, then sighed.

"That’s fine… at least he wasn’t left to rot in the wilderness."

He lifted his gaze to meet Zheng Fa's eyes.

“What do you want to know?”

Zheng Fa sensed a willingness to cooperate.

"Why were you spying on me?"

"Not just you," Lin Bufan said after a pause. "Any genius from Hundred Immortals Alliance. If the opportunity arises, we will act."

"Including Zhang Wuyi."

"Senior Sister Zhang?"

Zheng Fa immediately tensed.

The timing of their infiltration—right after Senior Sister Zhang left—was no coincidence.

"Were you targeting Senior Sister Zhang?"

He abruptly stood up, his voice urgent.

"I don’t know," Lin Bufan replied bluntly. "I have a low rank in the… Demon Sect. Matters involving Zhang Wuyi are beyond my access."

"But I can say for certain—someone is watching her."

"And that someone—the one who sent my uncle and me to Jiushan Sect—also wanted you dead."

"…Uncle?"

Lin Bufan let out a dry chuckle.

"In the Great Freedom Demon Sect, those with the surname ‘Lin’ are considered the ruling lineage—but there are millions of us."

"My parents died when I was young. My uncle was the one who raised me."

After saying this, he fell completely silent, clearly unwilling to share anything more.

Zheng Fa tried pressing him for more details, but he either refused to answer or simply said he didn’t know.

"You’re a prisoner of Jiushan Sect now," Zheng Fa reminded him.

"See the spirit talismans on your body? If you try to use spiritual energy or leave this room, you will die."

"If you remember anything else, let me know."

With that, Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Yuan left the room.

Lin Bufan watched their backs as they exited, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

"Junior Brother, can we trust him?" Senior Sister Yuan asked.

"He has his own agenda, but there are some truths in his words," Zheng Fa replied as they walked.

"He probably wants to use us to avenge his uncle—to get us to go after the person who sent them here."

"…That makes sense."

His intentions weren’t exactly hidden—but at the same time, Jiushan Sect could not take this lightly.

"Senior Sister, I need to send a message to Senior Sister Zhang, informing her of this."

"And I need to discuss this with Master."

Senior Sister Yuan nodded.

To Zheng Fa’s surprise, she didn’t question him at all—she was following his lead.

"On another note, Senior Sister, I need you to keep a close watch on this man."

Zheng Fa turned to look at Lin Bufan's room, deep in thought.

"We know far too little about the Demonic Path. I’m out in the open, but our enemies lurk in the shadows. This man has been abandoned by his own people—there’s a good chance he’s already having second thoughts. Who knows? He might still be useful."

"Leave it to me!"

Senior Sister Yuan nodded confidently.

As Zheng Fa pondered the strange talisman patterns in Lin Bufan's blood, he began comparing them to the symbols he had studied before.

The Three-Sub-Talisman Law was still incomplete.

The Five Elements Sub-Talismans were well-defined and easiest to classify.

But the other two types remained vague, both in variety and function.

Yet, Lin Bufan's blood had opened a small window of understanding—

Specifically, the two fixed sub-talismans that always appeared in his blood.

When he cross-referenced them with his previous studies, he made an even more critical discovery—

One of the two Type B sub-talismans was commonly found in traditional talisman diagrams.

But the other one—

Had never appeared before.

A thought struck Zheng Fa—

Could this missing sub-talisman be the core secret of demonic cultivation techniques?

And going even deeper…

Could this very sub-talisman be linked to the Demon Ancestor of the Great Freedom Demon Sect?

He suddenly remembered Tang Lingwu's theory—how certain sub-talismans acted as an interface for communication.

What if this sub-talisman was the link between Demon Sect disciples and their Ancestor?

The idea was terrifying.

If that was true, then Tang’s Second Law of Talisman Dao might actually be real.

But Zheng Fa didn’t dare investigate further.

He didn’t even dare draw the sub-talisman.

Because who knew—

What if it summoned a Demon Ancestor?

"Junior Brother!"

A panting Li Nuo ran toward Zheng Fa, shouting excitedly.

"I did it! I did it!"

"…Did what?"

Zheng Fa raised an eyebrow, watching Li Nuo’s overjoyed expression.

"I successfully created a talisman seal!" Li Nuo beamed. "A Spirit-Nurturing Talisman Seal!"

"…Seriously?"

Zheng Fa was genuinely shocked.

He hadn’t expected much—after all, Li Nuo’s father had died in an explosion just to create one talisman seal.

Yet, after less than a month of research, they already had results?

"What's the cost?" Zheng Fa asked.

"…No cost!"

"?"

"You remember how you drew blood from that guy earlier? Well, I asked for some and tried using his blood."

"…"

"And it worked!"

Zheng Fa turned to look at Lin Bufan’s room, his thoughts deepening.

"Just his blood?"

"At least, it doesn’t work with Jiushan Sect disciples' blood," Li Nuo replied with certainty.

"You actually tested that?"

Zheng Fa's eyes widened.

"Well, when I couldn’t afford spirit beast blood, my father and I used our own."

Zheng Fa fell silent.

That actually made sense.

If there was one major difference between Demon Sect blood and Jiushan Sect blood—

It was the talisman patterns inside.

"Junior Brother, demon sect heretics deserve to be wiped out!" Li Nuo’s eyes gleamed with righteous fervor.

"Their blood is worthless!"

"…"

Well.

Compared to spirit beasts, Demon Sect disciples had way too many advantages—

• Spirit beasts required careful breeding, constant nourishment, and extreme care.
• Demon Sect disciples? They could eat, sleep, and cultivate on their own.

In the past, when the Immortal Sects fought against the Demonic Path, they simply killed their enemies.

After all, the risk was high, and the rewards were low.

But now…

This was actually beneficial to righteous cultivation.

Thinking about it that way, Zheng Fa suddenly understood why Li Nuo was so excited.

There was just one problem…

"Master," Zheng Fa asked as he sat in the Sect Master’s grass hut, "if someone grows a spirit plant for centuries, and we harvest it—will they come for revenge?"

"…Who?"@@novelbin@@

The Sect Master thought for a moment, then asked suspiciously,

"Did you mess with Uncle Master Pang’s Thousand-Year Purple Bamboo? That would be unwise. He treasures that thing. As long as it's not dead, just return it to him."

"…No, Master, I’m talking about the Demonic Path."

"Oh. The Demonic Path? Why should we be polite to them?!"

The Sect Master slapped his chest proudly and declared,

"The Immortal and Demonic Paths do not coexist! There’s no need for honor! If anything happens, you have me—your Master! I’ve slain my fair share of demon cultivators!"

"Alright then…"

Zheng Fa grinned, reassured by his master’s shamelessly protective attitude.

"So, tell me—whose ‘spirit plant’ are you planning to cut down?"

"Oh, no big deal—just the Great Freedom Demon Sect’s Demon Ancestor."

The Sect Master fell into deep silence.

After a long pause, he slowly said,

"…How about I uproot Uncle Master Pang’s Thousand-Year Purple Bamboo and give that to you instead?"

"……"

"I told you—disciples are nothing but trouble! Each one more reckless than the last!"