I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 324Book 2: : Disaster Avoidance Method, Truly Shocking
Vol 2 Chapter 324: Disaster Avoidance Method, Truly Shocking
Speaking of the Yinfire Tribulation, actually, every Nascent Soul cultivator present had gone through it.
They even still had lingering fear to this day. Uncle Huang had repeatedly emphasized in the “homework” back then that while this tribulation wasn’t as earth-shattering as the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, it was still extremely dangerous and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
But seeing Zheng Fa’s burning Golden Core now, none of them felt comfortable calling the Yinfire Tribulation “dangerous” anymore...
Pale flames wrapped around Zheng Fa’s Golden Core, the temperature plummeted, and the grass and trees on the training field were struck by a deadly frost.
Beneath Zheng Fa’s feet, all life withered. Not even a breeze remained, as if space and time themselves had fallen into stillness here.
This deathly stillness surged outward from Zheng Fa as the center.
Senior Sister Zhang and the other two quickly backed away, retreating again and again until they stood far off with Uncle Huang, watching Zheng Fa from a distance.
“Good thing there’s no one left on Contending Immortals Island…”
Uncle Huang let out a soft sigh of relief.
Senior Sister Zhang said nothing, her gaze fixed on Zheng Fa as though nothing else could possibly distract her now.
Uncle Huang opened her mouth, then looked toward Ancestor of the Blood River and asked, “Zheng Fa’s soul is being drained too much—should we be worried?”
Upon hearing this, Senior Sister Zhang turned her head to look too.
Among those present, Ancestor of the Blood River was a soul body cultivator and a member of the Great Freedom Demonic Sect. Having cultivated the Great Freedom True Method, he was undoubtedly an expert in this field.
But Ancestor of the Blood River didn’t speak. He simply stared at Zheng Fa’s burning Golden Core, his translucent face full of dread.
Senior Sister Zhang’s eyes grew even more anxious.
“I can’t say for sure,” Ancestor of the Blood River finally opened his mouth when he saw her expression. “I’ve never seen a Yinfire Tribulation this strong.”
“The soul fears Yinfire the most.”
“Just now, even though that Yinfire didn’t touch my spiritual body, I still felt a... lethal threat.”
Senior Sister Zhang pursed her lips, saying nothing. Uncle Huang shot Ancestor of the Blood River a glare.
Are you stupid?
I asked your opinion to reassure my disciple, not scare her.
Ancestor of the Blood River froze, immediately understanding the look. He awkwardly added,
“Ahem, but the Sect Master is capable—I’ve never been able to see through him.”
“Not to mention, if I had to face a Heavenly Venerate, I’d have been struck dead long ago.”
“I don’t know anything… uh, don’t take my word for it.”
Uncle Huang nodded inwardly, thinking at least this old ghost knew how to backpedal. She then began to comfort them: “That kid Zheng Fa always has tricks up his sleeve. Our worry is probably for nothi—”
“Senior Brother Zheng!”
Behind them, Yuan Xiaoniao suddenly shouted in alarm, making Uncle Huang’s heart skip a beat. She quickly looked in Zheng Fa’s direction.
Senior Sister Yuan wasn’t one to panic—something must have happened to Zheng Fa!
His Golden Core had initially just been wrapped in burning Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Qi, the intensity stemming from how deeply he’d accumulated those energies.
But now, even the little Nascent Soul inside his Golden Core was aflame.
Even Zheng Fa himself was engulfed in light and fire, making it impossible to see what was happening.
“This…”
Even Uncle Huang was left speechless by the sight.
A disciple with Void Piercing Spirit Eyes took a closer look and, moments later, said with a trembling voice, “The Sect Master’s Nascent Soul is gone…”
Uncle Huang swayed, all desire to comfort her disciple gone—only fear remained.
Why was Zheng Fa’s tribulation this intense?
If he really couldn’t survive it, then what would happen to Wuyi, or even Jiushan Sect itself?
Of course Uncle Huang had known Zheng Fa was important to Jiushan Sect.
But in this moment, she had to admit—Zheng Fa was far more important than she’d imagined.
Even she, a Nascent Soul cultivator, felt panic.
Let alone the Golden Core cultivators in the back, many of whom had basically been trained by Zheng Fa himself.
They weren’t just weaker—they deeply admired Zheng Fa. How could they sit still now?
Some stood frozen in place.
Others, like Senior Sister Yuan, started to run toward Contending Immortals Island.
“Stop!”
At this moment, it was Senior Sister Zhang who remained the calmest. Her eyes flashed with silver light as she called out, “The Sect Master is fine.”
“……”
Uncle Huang whipped her head around, looking at the disciple she’d just been trying to comfort, hoping to hear something reassuring.
To her surprise, Senior Sister Zhang was smiling slightly. She whispered to her master, “Zheng Fa is doing it on purpose.”
“……”
On purpose?
He’s scaring us on purpose?!
Uncle Huang and the others wore expressions like they wanted to curse but didn’t dare open their mouths.
Unexpectedly, Senior Sister Zhang then told the nervous Golden Core disciples, “Watch closely. This’ll help you in your future tribulations.”
“Tribulations?”
Uncle Huang was even more confused when she heard that.
“Junior Brother is using Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Transformation to undergo his tribulation.”
As the co-author of that technique—and someone who had dual cultivated with Zheng Fa—Senior Sister Zhang knew it far too well.
“Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Transformation?”
Uncle Huang looked up at the burning Golden Core, still bewildered. “What does that technique have to do with tribulations?”
“The Yinfire outside the Golden Core—that’s the real Yinfire Tribulation.”
“The Yinfire inside the Golden Core comes from Junior Brother’s own Nascent Soul…”
“Yinfire might be powerful, but it can’t hurt Yinfire itself…”
“I think Junior Brother Zheng isn’t expending much soul power or spiritual energy. He’s even absorbing energy from the Yinfire, gradually recovering.”
“……”
Uncle Huang felt like she understood, but also like she didn’t.
She looked back toward Zheng Fa.
This time, she could just barely understand what their Sect Master was actually doing.
Under the Yinfire, Zheng Fa sat cross-legged, not only free of pain and struggle—he actually seemed to be cultivating…
Beside her, Ancestor of the Blood River was sighing:
“He can do that?”
Senior Sister Zhang nodded.
Ancestor of the Blood River finally spoke sincerely: “I really… don’t understand it.”
Uncle Huang, listening from the side, was also stunned: “Then all that effort we put in during our tribulations—refining spiritual power and forcing through with our soul strength—what was that for…”
“……”
Senior Sister Zhang had no response to that either.
Even she hadn’t expected that the Yinfire Tribulation could be handled this way…
…
Zheng Fa truly didn’t feel the Yinfire Tribulation was that hard.
At first, he wasn’t too familiar with it and had felt a little nervous when he saw his Golden Core catch fire.
But he soon realized… this stuff was basically just a special five-elemental transformation of Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Qi.
In Zheng Fa’s view, this thing was indeed pretty lethal to an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.
A Nascent Soul is pure and refined—it can’t tolerate external influences.
And Yinfire itself was like adding an uncontrollable reaction to a nuclear reactor—
Naturally, it was extremely dangerous.
The Golden Core really could explode.
Even if a cultivator managed to hold it together, their Nascent Soul could become tainted, leading to failure.
Zheng Fa could even imagine that although Heavenly Lightning Tribulations looked more powerful, this Yinfire Tribulation, starting from within the Golden Core, might actually be more deadly.
But Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Transformation was different.
My Nascent Soul is the Yinfire!
It was like invading enemy troops entering a village—only to find it was already full of their own men.
“Old neighbors meeting up,” as the saying goes.
Zheng Fa even had the spare attention to analyze the composition of this Yinfire, planning to jot it down later to explain to his students.
Soon, he made another discovery.
The Yinfire was both a calamity and an opportunity.
Zheng Fa’s Nascent Soul had long been ready to take form, but couldn’t break free of the Golden Core. The biggest obstacle was a shell around the Core—his accumulated Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Qi.
But the Yinfire, using that very energy as fuel, had unknowingly burned the shell thinner and thinner.
On top of that, with Zheng Fa’s Nascent Soul also becoming Yinfire, the inner and outer energies converged, burning away quickly.
In just the time it took for three incense sticks to burn, the once-thick Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Qi had been reduced to a transparent layer.
In the distance, Uncle Huang watched and suddenly asked:
“How long did it take you all to get through the Yinfire Tribulation?”
No one answered immediately, but Ancestor of the Blood River thought back seriously and replied, “At least three months for me…”
“……”
No one else said a word.
They were all thinking back to their own tribulations.
Some lasted longer, some shorter. Three months was long, but the shortest were still ten days or more.
But Zheng Fa?
Less than one hour.
“Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Transformation…” Uncle Huang exhaled softly. “Even if this technique has no other uses, with just this effect…”
“It can be the number one Nascent Soul technique of Jiushan Sect!”
Ancestor of the Blood River shook his head:
“Jiushan Sect?”
“I daresay—even the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor never created a tribulation-evading method like this!”
“The Nascent Soul tribulation has long plagued cultivators of the Xuanyi Realm.”
He looked at Zheng Fa, who was clearly about to complete the Yinfire Tribulation, his voice filled with indescribable awe:
“From ancient times till now, the Xuanyi Realm may have never had such a miraculous method of forming a Nascent Soul.”
His words sounded absolute, but even if Ancestor of the Blood River didn’t know all the techniques in history—
Looking at Zheng Fa, Uncle Huang and the others couldn’t find a reason to refute him.
Uncle Huang paused in silence for a moment, then said, “To be honest, I never really believed in that First Fifty-Year Plan—about cultivating so many Nascent Souls…”
Senior Sister Zhang froze and turned to look at her master.
“Actually, your Uncle-Master Pang had his doubts too… Which Nascent Soul hasn’t taken centuries or even millennia of accumulation?”
“Fifty years… is just too short.”
Senior Sister Zhang blinked, a little confused. “Then why didn’t Uncle Pang say anything…”
“The Sect Master has ambition. He was already overjoyed.” Uncle Huang smiled. “Before he left, he told me—not just fifty years and the Nascent Souls Jiushan Sect would have by then—”
“Even five hundred years later,”
“Or five thousand years later,”
“He’d still willingly travel to the ends of the earth.”
Senior Sister Zhang nodded silently, not sure what to say.
Among Jiushan Sect’s three Taishang Elders, each had their own priority. Her master cared most about herself. Senior Uncle Yuan probably valued Junior Brother Zheng the most now.
But only Uncle Pang had the entire Jiushan Sect in his heart.
“But today… I realized I was wrong.”
Uncle Huang stared at Zheng Fa, her tone filled with complex emotions:
“Talisman Foundation Establishment Technique, Jiushan Golden Core Method, and now Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Transformation…”
“In the future, before Jiushan Sect disciples even reach Nascent Soul, the path will be practically smooth.”
“If I had those conditions back then… I probably really could’ve formed a Nascent Soul within fifty years.”
She honestly didn’t think she was boasting.
What kind of resources did she have back then in Jiushan Sect?
And what kind of resources does Jiushan Sect have now?
She still managed to form a Nascent Soul back then…
Now… fifty years? She estimated that if resources were sufficient, she could’ve attempted forming a Nascent Soul in thirty to forty years!
The disciples behind her were all listening with bright eyes.
Ancestor of the Blood River also nodded. “Let’s not talk about anything else, just the Nascent Soul tribulation alone…”
“The Heavenly Lightning Tribulation that everyone fears—with Jiushan Sect’s research into thunder techniques… really isn’t a big deal.”
Senior Sister Yuan nodded repeatedly.
They weren’t worthy of encountering a Heavenly Venerate, according to Elder Huang.
But they could learn Junior Brother Zheng’s thunder techniques.
To use lightning arts that even made a Heavenly Venerate break down emotionally—against the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation…
That kind of puts the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation in its place.
“This Yinfire Tribulation… and now there’s Primordial Qi and Earthly Fiend Transformation…” Ancestor of the Blood River fell silent for a while, then suddenly cursed, “This is just unfair.”
Uncle Huang nodded along.
The look she gave her disciples behind her was also mixed and hard to describe—
She wasn’t saying, “You all have to suffer just like we did,” because that would be a bit too harsh.
But if they didn’t suffer at all, that felt way too unfair!
Her heart filled with gloom. She turned her head and saw Senior Sister Yuan grinning ear to ear, looking absolutely delighted.
Clearly, cultivating behind her Junior Brother felt very reassuring.
Not to mention Uncle Huang knew this little bird even had the essence of Fusang Wood to consume.
Thinking about how that bird-brain might form a Nascent Soul even faster than herself in the future…
Her expression grew even more depressed.
“There’s also the Heart Demon Tribulation.” It was Senior Sister Zhang who frowned now, glaring at Yuan Xiaoniao with a stern face, warning her, “What I worry about most is you failing at the Heart Demon stage later.”
“That’s true too…”
Uncle Huang swept her gaze over the group of disciples, especially staring long at those few dumb ones from before.
With the current state of the Jiushan Realm, these disciples couldn’t exactly be said to have had no setbacks…
But the tempering they received was far less than that of disciples from other sects.
Plus, their cultivation time had been too short.
Dealing with the Heart Demon Tribulation might really be a major issue…
“But didn’t Zheng Fa cultivate for an even shorter time? Then he…”
Uncle Huang suddenly thought of something and couldn’t help feeling worried again.
A strange smile suddenly appeared on Senior Sister Zhang’s face.
“Before Junior Brother underwent this Nascent Soul tribulation… the one thing I wasn’t worried about—was the Heart Demon Tribulation.”
“…Hmm?”
Uncle Huang looked at her in confusion, but Senior Sister Zhang’s gaze on Zheng Fa, now caught in the Heart Demon Tribulation, was especially odd.
…
Zheng Fa had heard of the Heart Demon Tribulation for a long time, but this was the first time he was truly witnessing how a heart demon came into being:
After the Yinfire burned away the shell of his Golden Core, his Nascent Soul emerged like a newborn leaving the womb.
The newly formed Nascent Soul drew in his soul, like it was calling for Zheng Fa’s consciousness to inhabit it.
But when his soul flew toward the just-born Nascent Soul, he noticed something off.
A strange force, from beyond the Xuanyi Realm among the endless stars, was stealthily sneaking into the Jiushan Realm.
Perhaps other cultivators wouldn’t notice this during their tribulations.
But Zheng Fa, now the master of the Jiushan Realm—with the Sun and Moon Bell fully submitted to him—was aware of every change in the realm.
He could even see what was invading…
Souls!
All kinds of souls—some with twisted faces, some joyful. Men and women, old and young.
But suddenly, Zheng Fa had a realization—these were all himself.
The power of each soul wasn’t very strong, but the stars above were nearly infinite. And these countless souls, gathering together…
Formed another Zheng Fa.
He looked exactly like Zheng Fa.
His soul power wasn’t any weaker than Zheng Fa’s either.
Zheng Fa looked up at the stars above…
Back then, he’d been blocked by a membrane outside the Xuanyi Realm, wondering what lay beyond.
Now it seemed—there were endless versions of himself.
Or maybe… those stars were all parallel worlds?
…
“Stop crying!”
Zheng Fa barked coldly, and with a thought, a box of tissues appeared by his side.
The heart demon Zheng Fa, who looked just like him, was bawling his eyes out in despair.
Seeing his own face crying like that… Zheng Fa couldn’t help feeling disgusted.
This heart demon had no dignity.
They had agreed that if the heart demon could solve a problem set, Zheng Fa would let him take the Nascent Soul.
It was just… a few world-class problems, right?
He was all smiles when he agreed, but when he couldn’t solve them, he flew into a rage and tried to take it by force…
Take it by force? Do you think you’re tougher than the Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant?
Got smashed to tears, didn’t you?
Thinking about it, Zheng Fa grew even more frustrated—
So many versions of himself from parallel worlds gathered here… and still couldn’t solve the problems…
Was he… kinda dumb?
He had to admit, Senior Sister Zhang was still too optimistic.
This heart demon, born from his own incompetence, really hit him where it hurt.
…
At this point, even Senior Sister Zhang was starting to feel uncertain.
Several days had passed, and Zheng Fa still had his eyes closed, showing no sign of waking up.
“Why hasn’t Junior Brother finished the Heart Demon Tribulation yet?”
Inside Zheng Fa’s sea of consciousness, he smiled brightly at his heart demon and said:
“No need to rush off… we’re all family here!”
“……”
Heart Demon Zheng Fa looked even more speechless. He’d already admitted defeat, and he still couldn’t leave…
Who’s the heart demon here, you or me?
“Come on, tell me… how did you guys come into being?”
Zheng Fa had some guesses—like whether his original self in the modern world might’ve come from the same origin as this heart demon.
“I don’t remember how I was born,” Heart Demon Zheng Fa finally spoke after a long silence. “I only know that if I can’t take over this Nascent Soul, I’ll disappear.”
Zheng Fa frowned slightly.
He had hoped to figure out the secrets of the Heart Demon Tribulation—or even what the parallel worlds truly were—through this heart demon.
Especially since Jiushan Realm always relied on so-called Heart Demon Oaths for secrecy, Zheng Fa still felt uneasy about it. Now that he’d met a real heart demon, of course he wanted to study it properly.
But to his frustration, this heart demon knew nothing. All it did was cry.
