I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 93 – The Foundation of Talismans

"Heaven above?"

Zheng Fa instinctively looked up.

The golden sun was sinking toward the west, casting long shadows over the mountains. The sky was vast, stretching endlessly over them, appearing no different from usual.

But now—

This once-familiar sky seemed to be shrouded in mystery, as if veiling secrets beyond mortal reach.

"Senior Sister Zhang…"

After a brief pause, he asked, "Are there any records in Xuanyi Realm about what lies beyond the heavens?"

"No."

"At least, not that I've read.

"No one knows how many layers the heavens have—nor what exists beyond them."

"Wait…"

Zheng Fa suddenly recalled something.

"There is one person who might have known."

"Tianhe Venerable once attempted to break through the shackles of heaven."

A distant memory surfaced—

When he first discovered the Yin-Yang Jade Pendant within his sea of consciousness, he had seen a figure ascending toward the skies…

Never to return.

Only the jade pendant had fallen back down.

He had always suspected—

That figure was Tianhe Venerable.

Senior Sister Zhang nodded slightly, seeming to agree with his reasoning.

"That means…"

Zheng Fa frowned.

"The sky itself may conceal a secret—

"A secret so profound that even Tianhe Venerable perished in pursuit of it."

A heavy silence settled over them.

Even Senior Sister Zhang’s expression darkened.

The shackles of heaven…

Just what had Tianhe Venerable realized?

Had he been truly desperate—so much so that he had attempted to shatter the very fabric of reality?

"You are only at the Qi Refining stage."

Senior Sister Zhang finally broke the silence.

"And I have only just stepped into Nascent Soul."

"If Tianhe Venerable himself couldn't resolve this mystery, then neither of us will find the answer by mere speculation."

Zheng Fa exhaled, nodding slowly.

She was right.

He set aside those deeper questions—for now.

Instead, he turned his attention back to something tangible.

"Senior Sister, you said the Five-Element Sub-Talismans were resonating with the heavens.

"What do you mean?"

Senior Sister Zhang furrowed her brows, as if searching for the right words.

"The feeling is difficult to describe…

"But when I was forming my Nascent Soul, did you all see that Heavenly Tribulation Eye?"

"Yes."

"At that moment, I had the distinct impression…

"That it looked at the Five-Element Sub-Talismans within my Nascent Soul."

Her voice grew softer.

"For a brief moment—

"They even seemed to detach from my Nascent Soul…

"But then they stabilized again."

Zheng Fa absorbed her words, deep in thought.

But no immediate answer came to mind.

Senior Sister Zhang seemed to sense his confusion and offered a slight reassurance.

"At the very least," she added,

"My breakthrough proved that the Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method is viable for advancing to Nascent Soul."

"That's true…"

As they spoke, Senior Sister Yuan had already finished her wild fruits.

Now, she was absentmindedly plucking blades of grass, a deep expression of thought on her face.

This was…

Not a common sight.

Even Zheng Fa couldn't help but feel curious.

"Senior Sister Yuan, do you have some thoughts?"

"Thoughts?"

She blinked, as if just realizing they were talking to her.

Then, she innocently replied,

"I don't have any thoughts."

"I don’t even understand what you two are talking about."

Zheng Fa: "…"

"Then what were you thinking about just now?"

Senior Sister Yuan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

"Oh! I was thinking about the Heavenly Monument!"

Zheng Fa's brows twitched.

"The Heavenly Monument?"

"Yeah! It's super fun!"

She clapped her hands excitedly.

Zheng Fa glanced at Senior Sister Zhang, both exchanging puzzled looks.

Previously, he had been too focused on helping Senior Sister Zhang escape to concern himself much with the Heavenly Monument.

But in truth—

For most people, the Heavenly Monument was the most significant event happening in the Thunder Pool.

"What do you mean, fun?"

Senior Sister Yuan beamed.

"The Heavenly Monument is now called the Sealing God Monument!"

Sealing God…?

Zheng Fa froze.

The term "God" had never been used in Xuanyi Realm.

It was a term he had only ever encountered in the modern world.

"That's right! Everyone is calling it that now!"

Senior Sister Yuan continued excitedly,

"Apparently, there's a small world inside the monument.

"And within it, powerful beings are called Gods.

"Everyone who enters the Heavenly Monument…

Gets appointed as a God!"

"...Appointed?"

Senior Sister Zhang frowned.

"You mean like how a mortal emperor grants noble titles?"

"Exactly! That’s what people say."

Senior Sister Yuan nodded.

"And these Gods—they even have rankings!"

"The rank of a God can change, and different people start at different levels."

"But the most fun part?"

She grinned mischievously.

"The rankings are public!

"Everyone can see who’s at the top!"

"…"

Zheng Fa immediately understood why she found this amusing.

A leaderboard.

In the modern world, even just a billionaire rankings list could make headlines daily.

Now, this Sealing God Monument had a publicly visible hierarchy of divine power?

"I go there every day just to watch!"

Senior Sister Yuan declared proudly.

"Some people even started gambling on the rankings!"

"Right now, Yan Wushuang is temporarily in first place—

"But his position isn’t stable!"

The banquet was still in full swing.

The grand hall roared with noise.

But Zheng Fa didn’t join the festivities.

Instead, he sat alone in his chamber.

Eyes closed.

His spiritual awareness sank into his sea of consciousness.

There—

The Yin-Yang Jade Pendant still floated in the depths of his mind.

His earlier conversation with Senior Sister Zhang and Senior Sister Yuan had stirred many thoughts.

Senior Sister Zhang didn’t know what lay beyond the heavens.

But Zheng Fa…

He did.

He had seen Tianhe Venerable ascend—only to leave this pendant behind.

And this pendant…

Allowed him to travel between two worlds.

That meant—

Whatever exists beyond Xuanyi Realm’s skies…

Had a direct connection to the modern world.

Especially—

The concept of "Gods".

In modern times, the terms "Immortal" and "God" had always been used together.

But in Xuanyi Realm—

There were Immortal Sects.

There were Immortal Cultivators.

But there had never been Gods.

Here, the word God had no history—

Yet it was suddenly appearing inside the Sealing God Monument.

Zheng Fa couldn’t ignore the implications.

He pondered for a long while.

Then—

He sighed lightly, releasing his thoughts.

Senior Sister Zhang was right.

If even Tianhe Venerable couldn’t solve this mystery, then mere speculation was useless.

For now—

He would focus on what was in front of him.

Turning his focus inward, he gazed at the floating Talisman Dao Foundation inside his dantian.

"Heaven above…?"

Zheng Fa looked up at the night sky.

The golden sun had long since set, and the mountains were shrouded in deepening twilight. The heavens appeared as vast and ordinary as ever.

But now—

Something about this vast, unfathomable sky felt different.

It was as if a veil of mystery had been drawn over the familiar expanse, concealing something just out of reach.

"Senior Sister Zhang…"

After a moment of thought, he asked, "In all the records of Xuanyi Realm, is there any description of what lies beyond the heavens?"

"No."

Senior Sister Zhang shook her head.

"At least, I have never read of such a thing.

"No one knows how many layers the heavens have… nor what exists beyond them."

"Wait—"

Zheng Fa's eyes flickered as a thought surfaced.

"There is someone who might have known."

"Tianhe Venerable once attempted to break through the shackles of heaven."

He vividly recalled the vision from within his sea of consciousness—

A figure soaring toward the heavens, ascending higher and higher…

Until they vanished, leaving behind only a single jade pendant.

He had long suspected—

That figure was Tianhe Venerable.

Senior Sister Zhang nodded slightly, acknowledging the plausibility of his reasoning.

"So…"

Zheng Fa frowned.

"The heavens conceal a secret—one so profound that even Tianhe Venerable perished in pursuit of it."

A heavy silence settled over them.

Even Senior Sister Zhang's expression darkened.

The shackles of heaven…

What had Tianhe Venerable discovered?

Had he been truly desperate—so much so that he had attempted to shatter the very fabric of reality?

"You are only at Qi Refining."

Senior Sister Zhang finally broke the silence.

"And I have only just stepped into Nascent Soul."

"If Tianhe Venerable himself couldn't resolve this mystery, then neither of us will find the answer through mere speculation."

Zheng Fa exhaled, nodding slowly.

She was right.

For now, he set aside those deeper questions and focused on something tangible.

"Senior Sister, you said the Five-Element Sub-Talismans were resonating with the heavens.

"What do you mean?"

Senior Sister Zhang furrowed her brows, searching for the right words.

"The feeling is difficult to describe…

"But when I was forming my Nascent Soul, did you all see that Heavenly Tribulation Eye?"

"Yes."

"At that moment, I had the distinct impression…

"That it looked at the Five-Element Sub-Talismans within my Nascent Soul."

Her voice grew softer.

"For a brief moment—

"They even seemed to detach from my Nascent Soul…

"But then they stabilized again."

Zheng Fa absorbed her words, deep in thought.

But no immediate answer came to mind.

Senior Sister Zhang seemed to sense his confusion and offered a slight reassurance.

"At the very least," she added,

"My breakthrough proved that the Talisman Dao Foundation Establishment Method is viable for advancing to Nascent Soul."

"That's true…"

Yet, in his heart, he still had questions.

In three-dimensional space, chiral objects cannot be flipped.

But in higher dimensions, the rules change.

Each additional dimension adds degrees of freedom—

Which means that a three-dimensional chiral structure could be reversed in a higher-dimensional space.

If the mystery of the sky was connected to higher dimensions…

Zheng Fa's mind whirred.

At that moment—

His talisman foundation began to shift.

The Five-Element Sub-Talismans, which were originally forming a closed loop on his Lotus Platform, suddenly detached—

And fell to the center of the lotus.

"…What is the mirror?"

He frowned, recalling Old Man Bai’s question.

He began to experiment with the ring of sub-talismans.

A mirror…

A reflection…

Wasn't it merely a shadow cast upon a surface?

A shadow… a projection?

Could the chiral nature of talisman diagrams be explained by different projections of a higher-dimensional object?

If so—

Was his talisman foundation itself a mirror?

His eyes widened.

As the thought took shape—

The Five-Element Sub-Talismans started to undergo a remarkable transformation.

The surrounding spiritual energy condensed, forming a viscous, gelatinous substance—

It looked almost like translucent jelly, shifting and reshaping itself.

Then—

It hardened.

Turning into a mirrored surface.

A circular, double-sided mirror.

Zheng Fa stared at his talisman foundation—

It now resembled a bracelet made of reflective glass, with the Five-Element Sub-Talismans floating within the mirrors, appearing phantom-like.

A double-sided mirror—one side Yin, one side Yang?

A possibility struck him.

Could it be that Yin and Yang were merely two different projections of the same higher-dimensional object?

But if that was the case…

Why was this phenomenon occurring within his dantian?

Even more bizarrely—

The two mirrored surfaces never intersected.

They should intersect…

Wait.

His mind flashed with realization.

With a single thought, he twisted the mirrored ring.

It split—

And reconnected.

Forming a…

Möbius Strip.

The inner and outer mirrors had now merged seamlessly—

No longer separate, but a continuous, unified loop.

Zheng Fa’s eyes narrowed.

If the chiral nature of talisman diagrams came from different projections of a higher-dimensional structure,

Then this double-mirrored Möbius configuration truly created an inseparable unity of Yin and Yang.

But…

Was this actually correct?

A sudden wave of doubt gripped him.

He felt as though he had triggered a program, but had no idea why it was running.

Then—

The Möbius Double-Mirror trembled.

The surrounding spiritual energy exploded into motion, surging wildly toward his dantian.

"…Did I just… Foundation Establish?"

Zheng Fa barely had time to process the thought before—

His divine soul was suddenly yanked from his body.

It soared upward, breaking through the ceiling of Five Dragons Palace—

And flew into the heavens.

"Zhenren Pang, how did you realize Xuangui Shangren was a spy for the Great Freedom Demonic Sect?"

One cultivator asked.

"I recall you treated him quite warmly before."

"Hah! You underestimate Zhenren Pang."

Another guest laughed.

"Surely, he saw through him from the beginning and merely played along!"

"Indeed! Otherwise, how could he have executed him so decisively?"

"Zhenren Pang is truly a master strategist—ever composed, ever sharp!"

Pang Qian simply smiled, raising his wine cup without saying a word.

The flattering cultivators exchanged glances—

And silently cursed him.

What a cunning bastard!

Yet, the more he hid his thoughts,

The more they respected him.

Then—

A great disturbance appeared in the sky.

"Three thousand li of violet qi… What kind of phenomenon is this?!"

The Nascent Soul cultivators all rushed to the hall’s entrance.

In the distance—

A golden sun rose in the east.

A silver crescent moon shone in the west.

"Sun and moon appearing together…?!"

Even these Nascent Soul powerhouses were utterly stunned.

"Could this be… someone breaking into Soul Formation?"

"Impossible! Even Soul Formation Tribulations don’t create this kind of celestial disturbance!"

Pang Qian, still holding his wine cup—

Simply smiled wider.

What the hell is that brat Zheng Fa doing now?!