I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 71: Departure

“Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram?”

Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion on each other’s faces.

Wait, wasn’t that Great Dream Talisman supposed to have worn off by now?

Old Man Bai looked at their expressions, smacked his lips, and leaned back in his chair. He spread his legs outward, causing the chair to tip back so that only two legs remained on the ground. Reclining lazily, he gazed upward, rocking slightly—

He said nothing, yet his posture alone seemed to say all the arrogant words he could have spoken.

“In the future, remember this well when studying our sect’s texts—this Master comprehended the Dao in a dream and grasped the fundamental essence of Yin and Yang.”

“…Grandpa Bai!”

Tang Lingwu, seeing his teasing manner, pouted and softly whined.

“You want to know?”

“Yes!”

“Give me your hand.”

Tang Lingwu, looking a little puzzled, obediently extended her right hand.

Old Man Bai then turned to Zheng Fa. “Yours too.”

Zheng Fa, equally unsure of what was happening, also reached out his right hand.

“Switch to your left.”

Old Man Bai placed Zheng Fa’s left hand against Tang Lingwu’s right, palm to palm, fingertips aligned with no gaps in between.

Tang Lingwu’s face instantly turned red, her earlobes seeming to burn.

But Zheng Fa appeared to have an epiphany.

“This… is Yin and Yang.”@@novelbin@@

Old Man Bai declared with the air of someone delivering a grand speech on an awards podium.

“…Chirality?”

“Exactly!”

Releasing their hands, Old Man Bai looked at Zheng Fa. “The most defining characteristic of the Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram is chirality.”

Zheng Fa thought about the Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram in his mind.

Come to think of it, that really did seem to be the case!

Old Man Bai continued muttering, “I mean, I knew about this before, but I never really studied it… If it weren’t for me looking at those diagrams in my dream and suddenly noticing my own hand, I wouldn’t have made the connection.” Ṙ𝓪ℕǒꞖĚ𐌔

Zheng Fa nodded slightly.

Chirality wasn’t an especially important concept in topology—or rather, it wasn’t something he encountered often. He had only seen it before in knot theory.

“So, the Yin-Yang Talisman Diagram is really that simple?”

It was Tang Lingwu who voiced her doubt.

Zheng Fa understood why she would say that—chirality was an intuitive concept.

Simply put, your left and right hands may look identical, but in three-dimensional space, no amount of shifting or rotating your left hand will ever make it match your right hand.

This spatial property is what defines chirality.

Naturally, chirality could be categorized into left-handed and right-handed configurations.

Zheng Fa recalled that Yang talisman diagrams corresponded to left-handed chirality, while Yin talisman diagrams were right-handed.

“It’s not that simple.” Zheng Fa shook his head. “That’s just the spatial relationship of the diagrams…”

Old Man Bai smiled approvingly and nodded. “Exactly. That’s just the surface layer—chirality isn’t heavily studied in mathematics, at least not to my knowledge. The fields that research it the most are biology and chemistry.”

“Chiral molecules exhibit different properties.”

“Now, I don’t know if anyone has ever explained this in talisman studies, but what I do know is… Why do Yin-Yang Talisman Diagrams, due to their chirality, exhibit different effects and properties? That, we don’t know.”

Zheng Fa agreed. “And there’s another problem…”

He and Old Man Bai locked eyes and spoke in unison:

“Yin and Yang give birth to one another.”

Old Man Bai grinned, but there was a hint of frustration. “See, in three-dimensional space, chiral objects can’t be superimposed, so you could say they are completely different things. But Yin and Yang give birth to each other… which suggests they are intrinsically linked…”

Zheng Fa sat on the low couch, his divine sense peering into the Yuan Talisman Foundation within him.

It still took the form of two lotus flowers, their bases conjoined.

A chiral structure.

Yin and Yang, mutually generating.

With a single thought, Zheng Fa willed the downward-facing lotus to shatter, vanishing completely.

Yet, in the next instant, golden threads slowly grew from the base of the remaining lotus. Soon after, the lotus platform began to reform.

This was precisely what Senior Sister Zhang had described—Yin and Yang giving birth to one another.

But Zheng Fa’s eyes widened as he observed the newly reformed lotus.

Previously, he had assumed the golden threads were the lotus’s root system.

This time, however, he saw clearly that these golden threads were actually tiny arcs—more like ripples spreading outward from the lotus’s base!

“A mirror image?”

A thought flashed through Zheng Fa’s mind.

The reflection of a right hand in a mirror is a left hand.

So, the mirror image of a Yang Talisman is a Yin Talisman.

The fundamental nature of Yin-Yang interdependence… could it be that they are simply mirror images of each other?

Or perhaps, the lower lotus was merely the reflection of the upper lotus?

Zheng Fa didn’t have the ability to verify his theory just yet—Senior Sister Zhang wasn’t around, and he lacked the means to test it.

Thinking of her, he picked up the Xuanlei Stone and resumed cultivating the Five Thunder Talisman Body.

His bones were now coated in a faint golden membrane—a sign that he had successfully completed the Bone Tempering stage of the Five Thunder Talisman Body.

Right now, Zheng Fa was cultivating the fourth level of the Five Thunder Talisman Body—Blood Renewal.

This was the final stage before tempering his body with heavenly lightning.
It was also the last preparation before entering the Thunder Pool.

From the Xuanlei Stone, streaks of lightning flowed like water, seeping into his skin, infiltrating his muscles, and finally burrowing into his bones, surging wildly through his marrow.

Agony!

Zheng Fa had endured his fair share of suffering as a child.
He had fought with other boys in the fields.

But never had he experienced such excruciating pain!

Perhaps because the bone marrow contained so many nerves, the agony was piercingly distinct.

His body curled up tightly on the low couch, sweat dripping from his trembling forehead.

This wasn’t the first time he had endured this pain. Every time before, he had thought he had grown used to it.

Yet every time, he found himself staring into the abyss of despair.

In his hand, he clenched half of a jade pendant so tightly it seemed on the verge of shattering.

Just two or three zhang away from Martial Uncle Pang’s main hall, a chorus of frantic shouting reached Zheng Fa’s ears.

“Master! Don’t charge in!”

“Help! Someone stop the bleeding for me!” That was Martial Uncle Pang’s voice. “Who’s got a Hemostasis Talisman?”

“Master, just surrender! You’re surrounded by our people!”

“…”

Zheng Fa shook his head.

So, Martial Uncle Pang was playing co-op with his disciples again.

He had never expected that the number-one gaming addict in Jiushan Sect would turn out to be—well, an old man like Martial Uncle Pang.

From what Zheng Fa had heard, Martial Uncle Pang had even gone to the Sect Master before coming to the Thunder Pool, specifically to get a stack of talisman formations for Path of the Dao: Immortal Struggle.

That said, Martial Uncle Pang wasn’t the type to bully his disciples in games.

He always suppressed his own divine sense and spiritual power, playing with only Qi Refining-level strength to keep things fair.

Even when he lost, he never cursed at his disciples.

A good temper, overall.

But there was one problem—he was way too reckless.

Zheng Fa was beginning to strongly suspect that the “Rescue Little Cultivator Pang Qian” storyline his master had written was based on a real-life prototype.

Thinking back to the way Martial Uncle Pang had been guiding him lately, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel…

Maybe his martial uncle was searching for his own lost youth through these games.

Shaking off these stray thoughts, Zheng Fa gently knocked on the hall door.

“Come in!”

The moment he entered, Martial Uncle Pang waved his hand, and the illusion of Path of the Dao: Immortal Struggle vanished instantly.

Several senior brothers exchanged glances, their lips twitching.

Was this… rage quitting?

“Ahem.” Noticing Zheng Fa’s knowing look, Martial Uncle Pang cleared his throat and asked, “What brings you here?”

“Martial Nephew would like to request some intelligence on the Thunder Pool.”

“You’re planning to enter the Thunder Pool? Have you already completed the fourth level of the Five Thunder Talisman Body

Martial Uncle Pang was stunned. He slowly sat up, his expression turning serious.

“Yes!”

“…”

Martial Uncle Pang studied him for a long moment, saying nothing, as if lost in thought.

“Martial Uncle?”

“Your master spoke to me before he left.” Martial Uncle Pang suddenly changed the subject. “He said that for you, mastering the fourth level of the Five Thunder Talisman Body wouldn’t be a matter of resources… but endurance.”

“…”

“He said that every time he underwent a Blood Renewal, he had to wait ten to fifteen days before attempting the next one.”

At these words, all the senior brothers in the hall turned to look at Zheng Fa.

Their expressions varied.

“He told me it was too painful, too grueling—every time, it felt like being flayed alive from the inside out.” Martial Uncle Pang shook his head. “So, despite having no shortage of Xuanlei Stones, it still took him a full six months to complete the Blood Renewal stage of the fourth level.”

“And you… finished it in half a month. Why the rush?”

Zheng Fa lowered his gaze. “Senior Sister Zhang may be safe for now, but she’s still missing. Given her situation, she can’t be in a good place.”

Martial Uncle Pang fell silent again.

“…Martial Nephew Zhang didn’t misjudge you.” He shook his head, then waved his hand. Several jade slips floated toward Zheng Fa. “These contain information from the market about the Thunder Pool, as well as some accounts from Jiushan Sect disciples. Take them.”

Zheng Fa stored the jade slips away, cupped his hands in salute, and turned to leave the hall.

Martial Uncle Pang watched his figure recede into the distance, his gaze deep and unreadable.

“Master, shall we continue playing?”

Seeing his long silence, one of the disciples hesitantly asked.

“Play, play, play! All you ever do is play!” To their surprise, Martial Uncle Pang suddenly exploded. “Look at Zheng Fa—he trains so hard! And what do you lot do? Just mess around all day?”

“…”

“He’s willing to endure excruciating pain, risking everything for Senior Sister Zhang! And you lot? If I went missing, would you even try?”

“…We’d brave fire and water for you, Master…”

The disciples answered in unison.

“Get lost! You think I don’t know you?”

With a snort, Martial Uncle Pang casually flicked his hand, sending the group tumbling out of the hall.

When they looked up again, the doors had been shut tight.

The disciples exchanged glances, all too afraid to speak as they quietly walked away.

Once they were at a safe distance, one of them voiced his confusion.

“…But wasn’t it Master who set up the Path of the Dao: Immortal Struggle game? We didn’t even have a choice but to play…”

“Master’s just jealous of Senior Sister Zhang.”

That comment made everyone nod in agreement.

“Yeah, we can’t compete with Junior Brother Zheng.” One disciple sighed in defeat.

“Well, Master can’t compete with Senior Sister Zhang either.”

“…Huh?”

That statement made the others hesitate.

No matter how strong Senior Sister Zhang was, their master was still a Nascent Soul cultivator.

“Think about it—if Senior Sister Zhang had our master’s face, do you think Zheng Fa would be this desperate to save her?”

“…”

“…Would you?”

“…Uh, well, even if it’s our master, Senior Sister Zhang was never that close to us before…” A senior brother hesitated before saying, “But still, that’s kind of disrespectful to Senior Sister Zhang.”