I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 333Book 2: : What Will You Choose, Will You Join Us?
Vol 2 Chapter 333: What Will You Choose, Will You Join Us?
The matter of the Trapping Immortal Sword at the Zhongxuan Sect was beyond bizarre. Xie Qingxue was torn between confusion and anger. She wanted to get to the bottom of it, but didn’t dare bring up such a life-or-death matter for the Tianhe Sect over a Message Talisman.
So she simply rushed day and night, returning straight to the Tianhe Sect to question Sect Master Yan in person.
“Qingxue?” Seeing her suddenly return from the Jiushan Realm, travel-worn and visibly anxious, Sect Master Yan's expression also turned tense. “Is it about Wushuang...?”
“Junior Brother is fine.”
Seeing her master again, Xie Qingxue could no longer contain the flood of questions in her heart.
“Zheng Fa saw the Trapping Immortal Sword!”
Sect Master Yan froze for a moment. Though surprised, he didn’t seem overly shocked.
That was all it took for Xie Qingxue to understand the truth immediately...
“Master, the Trapping Immortal Sword in our sect...”
“The four Immortal-Slaying Swords—none of them are the original used by the Ancestor.”
“……”
Before returning, Xie Qingxue thought she was mentally prepared for the worst.
Who would've guessed, just one sentence from her master nearly shattered her Dao heart.
“Why... why is that... Then the four swords in our sect are...”
Unconsciously, her voice started to tremble.
Seeing her so flustered, Sect Master Yan remained calm. He simply gestured to the chair before him and spoke gently, “Sit down, let’s talk.”
Xie Qingxue sat in a daze, staring intently at Sect Master Yan, as if searching for the truth in his face.
Sect Master Yan was silent for a while, as if organizing his thoughts, then finally spoke: “This matter should’ve been known only to the sect master. But now...”
Xie Qingxue’s heart grew even more uneasy.
Her master’s recent actions gave her the impression he was wrapping things up—like he was settling affairs before the end.
“You should know that our Tianhe Sect is somewhat different from other immortal sects when it comes to cultivation methods.”
“Mm... We don’t have a fundamental grand technique.”
“Exactly. A fundamental grand technique is one that can actually lead to immortality…”
“Have you ever wondered why our sect is ranked among the Five Sects of Xuanyi, and is even quite powerful in this era?”
Xie Qingxue shook her head.
“Because of the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords.”
“Didn’t you say those four swords are...”
Xie Qingxue was even more confused now.
“Do you know why, in our Tianhe Sect, the realm after Soul Formation is called the Integration Stage?”
She knew this well—she herself was at the Integration Stage: “It’s when one merges with the Immortal Sword. As long as the sword lives, the person lives. If the sword perishes, so does the person. They borrow the power of the Immortal Sword…” ＲÀＮꝋ฿ËŜ
Zheng Fa had once put it another way that Xie Qingxue found quite fitting—
The cultivation method of the Tianhe Sect almost seemed like turning oneself into a sword spirit.
That was why she had been “controlled” by Zheng Fa previously.
Thinking of this, Xie Qingxue suddenly froze.
“The four swords in the sect are also…”
“They are four ancestors.”
Xie Qingxue was shocked—did that mean... the four ancestors weren’t dead?
Today’s Tianhe Sect had five branches, each one descended from one of the five Tianhe Ancestor’s disciples.
But the Shouzhong Patriarch of her branch had long sacrificed himself to his sword, body destroyed and Dao dissipated.
And now her master was saying... the four ancestors not only weren’t dead, they had become the sect’s supreme treasures?
“But that’s not right...” Xie Qingxue couldn’t wrap her head around it. “If the four ancestors had already merged with the swords, how did the Trapping Immortal Sword end up in the hands of Haori Mountain?”
“Because after the death of the Tianhe Ancestor, the four ancestors gave the true forms of the four swords to the Four Sects…”
That statement hit Xie Qingxue like a hammer.
Right at this moment, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of kinship with Zheng Fa—They actually sold them?
That kind of choice was way too absurd.
From a rational standpoint, the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords to the Four Patriarchs were like the Qingping Sword was to her.
Basically, they were like life-bound spiritual treasures—vital to their very existence.
How could they give them away to other sects?
Her mind was a mess. But in her heart, she understood: there could only be one explanation for all of this—
The cause behind the upheaval of the Tianhe Sect in the past.
“Master... back then... why did the ancestors betray the Tianhe Ancestor?”
Sect Master Yan looked deeply at the Qingping Sword on her waist and, surprisingly, answered without evasion:
“Because of the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords.”
Another unexpected answer.
“The Immortal-Slaying Four Swords…”
“At the time, the Tianhe Ancestor unified Xuanyi, crushed all the major sects, and his strength forced even the current Four Sects into hiding.”
“He was unmatched, collecting all the spiritual materials and treasures under heaven.”
“To forge the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords.”
Xie Qingxue’s heart surged with pride as she listened, unable to help but ask, “Then… why would everyone betray him?”
“By now you should also know—during the Spiritual Qi Decline Catastrophe, ancient immortals and gods descended.”
Xie Qingxue nodded.
“The Immortal-Slaying Four Swords were forged by the Ancestor to stabilize the Xuanyi Realm, and entrusted to his four disciples.”
“If they were completed, they’d be unmatched in power across all ages. According to ancient texts, they could overturn heaven and earth, behead gods and immortals.”
“Peace in Xuanyi would be just around the corner.”
Xie Qingxue was even more puzzled.
“How could that be a problem?”
Sect Master Yan let out a strange laugh—half sarcastic, half bitter.
“But the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords... were not only meant to slay the ancient gods and immortals.”
“Not only…” Xie Qingxue repeated softly, a frightening guess forming in her heart. She could feel it clenching tighter and tighter.
“That’s right. The Immortal-Slaying Four Swords were designed to target all who possess cultivation… in other words, all cultivators.”
“Those who slaughter the innocent—must die.”
“Those who bully the weak with strength—must die.”
“And the Ancestor even had the idea of refining the swords using divine methods...”
Sect Master Yan’s voice grew colder, and even his expression seemed tinged with fear. He slowly said something Xie Qingxue could scarcely imagine: “If that were done, these four swords could draw on the incense power of all beings to slay immortals and gods.”
“Ancient immortals or cultivators—who would want four immortal swords hanging over their heads at all times? Who would willingly entrust their lives to the will of the masses?”
“So that’s it…”
Xie Qingxue lowered her gaze, not sure what to say.
Could she say the Ancestor was wrong?
Maybe not. The Ancestor hadn’t intended to kill all cultivators—he wanted to impose rules on the Immortal Dao, quell the calamity of ancient immortals, and reshape Xuanyi Realm into his ideal world.
But could she say the four Patriarchs’ betrayal was unreasonable?
What does cultivation seek…
Nothing but eternal freedom.
It was only natural for the Ancestor to be betrayed.
“Thus... the four Patriarchs who merged with the swords colluded with the Four Sects and launched the Tianhe Rebellion.”
“After the rebellion, the four swords were split in two. The sword embryos are in the Four Sects' hands, while the Patriarchs remain in the Tianhe Sect.”
Xie Qingxue still had doubts and asked:
“Why go through all that trouble?”
“The Immortal-Slaying Four Swords are supremely powerful. The Four Sects would never allow them to remain in our sect.”
“Though the four Patriarchs can jointly control the swords, it might risk reviving the Ancestor... Besides, they weren’t willing to be bound by the swords either. They sought a way to transcend them.”
“So they asked the Four Sects to suppress or even refine the true swords.”
“Our Tianhe Sect and the Four Sects all have secret pacts.”
Upon hearing this, Xie Qingxue finally began to piece the situation together:
After the Tianhe Rebellion, the Four Sects and the four Patriarchs were mutually wary, each using the other.
The Patriarchs had the power to activate the Immortal-Slaying Swords, but those might be linked to the Tianhe Ancestor’s Dao Fruit—only good for desperate situations.
On the other hand, they didn’t want to be controlled by the swords, while the Four Sects didn’t trust the swords staying in the Tianhe Sect—worried they might go berserk.
So the swords were handed to the Four Sects for suppression, while the four Patriarchs remained in the Tianhe Sect seeking transcendence.
“How can they transcend…”
Xie Qingxue couldn’t help but ask. After all, her relationship with the Qingping Sword was just like theirs.
But her master, who had revealed even these secrets, now fell silent and changed the subject:
“Haori Mountain is either suppressing or refining the Trapping Immortal Sword right now…”
“Refining?”
“They’ve studied the Trapping Immortal Sword for an entire era. As the top refining sect in Xuanyi, maybe they really can find a way…”
“Then why did they place the Trapping Immortal Sword in the Hundred Immortals Alliance?”
Sect Master Yan gently shook his head. “That, I do not know.”
Now that she knew the four Patriarchs were still alive, and even still in the sect… Xie Qingxue, as the Tianhe Sect’s number one traitor, didn’t dare stay a moment longer. She quickly took her leave from Sect Master Yan.
As she was leaving, Sect Master Yan suddenly called out to her with a question:
“If you were one of the five Patriarchs… What would you choose?”
Xie Qingxue's heart trembled. She looked back at her master—only to find his eyes already closed, no longer watching her.
...
When she returned from the Tianhe Sect to the Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa happened to be in the Heavenly Palace Hall, reading from a jade scroll.
When he saw her come back, he only nodded at her in greeting, as if too occupied to engage.
Xie Qingxue was shocked. She could understand him not caring about her—but she had brought news of the Trapping Immortal Sword!
What could be in that jade scroll that made him set even that aside?
A divine cultivation technique?
A new refining secret?
After a while, Zheng Fa finally looked up, visibly satisfied. Seeing her staring curiously at the jade scroll in his hand, he smiled and explained:
“This is the Hundred Immortals Alliance Census Report sent back by Uncle Pang.”
“That fast?”
Xie Qingxue blinked in surprise.
“This is just a preliminary survey, mainly focused on various cultivation sects and spiritual material reserves.”
Xie Qingxue understood immediately.
She was already aware of the Jiushan Sect’s census project and even knew how detailed the data Zheng Fa wanted could be.
By his standards, Uncle Pang and the others ideally would gather information down to mortal population numbers, occupations, income levels, and more.
Naturally, that was a massive undertaking.
But if this initial report only covered cultivator sects and spiritual materials, it was another matter entirely.
Compared to mortals, cultivators were rare—possibly one in ten thousand, or even one in a million.
And the reserves of spiritual materials were relatively easy to tally—after all, such materials were inherently rare.
“Uncle Pang figured since we’ll be doing business with all the major sects, we should investigate these figures first.”
At first, Xie Qingxue nodded indifferently, but then suddenly bit her lip and reached toward Zheng Fa. “Can I… take a look?”
Zheng Fa was briefly surprised, but readily handed over the jade scroll with a smile. “It’s not classified or anything.”
Xie Qingxue immersed her spiritual sense into the scroll and found the report quite unique in style—probably written under Zheng Fa’s guidance.
The scroll was titled: Survey Report on Cultivators in the Hundred Immortals Alliance.
It was divided into four major sections:
The first part was an overview of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, including its geographical environment, territory size, major powers, and neighboring forces.
Xie Qingxue already had a general understanding of this, though the data here was more detailed.
She skimmed through it quickly and moved on.
The second section dealt with wealth distribution in the Hundred Immortals Alliance, and she began to read this part with great care:
“All spiritual fields are controlled by the major sects… of which 90% of the high-grade fields are in the hands of sects at Golden Core level or higher.”
“Over 80% of the magical treasure, pill, and talisman markets are monopolized by Nascent Soul-level sects.”
“More than 95% of the spiritual mineral output flows toward Nascent Soul sects?”
Xie Qingxue read aloud softly.
She then flipped back to the overview section, where Zhenren Pang had clearly written that after the demonic calamity, the territory of the Hundred Immortals Alliance held over 1,600 sects or clans of various sizes.
Among them, there were only five Nascent Soul-level powers left, including the Jiushan Sect.
As for Golden Core sects, excluding duplicates, there were only thirty-one.
The rest had their highest combat power at the Foundation Establishment level.
Sects without connections couldn’t even qualify for the Alliance—they had to attach themselves to one of its member sects.
Just by the number of forces alone...
Eighty percent of the wealth in the Alliance territory was likely held by less than one-fiftieth of the sects or families.
The third part detailed the structure of the cultivator population, and this made Xie Qingxue frown even more.
In the Alliance—excluding the Zhongxuan Sect’s side and including Jiushan—there were currently thirty-two cultivators above the Nascent Soul level.
There were 286 Golden Core cultivators in total.
As for the overall number of cultivators, Zhenren Pang gave an estimated figure: around 80,000.
In other words, if you divided resources by individual cultivators, those over the Golden Core stage totaled just over 300—less than two percent of all cultivators.
Yet the resources they controlled far exceeded 80%...
And don’t forget, all the smaller sects survived by relying on them.
As for the fourth section, which detailed income and expenditures, Xie Qingxue also read through it carefully.
It stated that each Foundation Establishment cultivator had to give up about 50% of their earnings to their sect or stronger cultivators.
For Qi Refining cultivators, it was even more.
She’d only skimmed the surface, but it was enough to confirm a thought in her heart:
Every high-level cultivator held resources others could only dream of—and the higher one aimed, the more resources were needed, making their exploitation of lower-level cultivators even harsher.
What unsettled her was…
This only concerned cultivators.
Cultivators were already the ones in Xuanyi Realm with the most control over their destinies.
As for mortals…
She didn’t need to read the report to know—mortals were exploited a hundredfold more.
Every cultivator, whether they realized it or not, had grown used to living above the heads of mortals.
In such a deeply divided world, who would dare entrust their lives to mortals?
Who would even want to?
That was why, when the Ancestor forged the Immortal-Slaying Four Swords, even his own disciples betrayed him.
At that thought, Xie Qingxue’s mind was a mess.
Her master’s question echoed again in her ears—
What would you choose?
She didn’t know the answer—or rather, she did, but didn’t want to think about it.
...
Zheng Fa seemed to notice the conflict in her expression and curiously asked, “Is it because the Trapping Immortal Sword situation is tricky?”
Xie Qingxue shook her head. “I still haven’t figured out why the Trapping Immortal Sword ended up at the Zhongxuan Sect…”
She then recounted everything Sect Master Yan had told her.
After hearing it, Zheng Fa frowned.
“No wonder… the Flying Cloud Sword I forged caused a reaction from the Trapping Immortal Sword…”
He had suspected it before. Now that it was confirmed the black sword was indeed the Trapping Immortal Sword, it made sense—
He must have used some Tianhe Sect sword-forging techniques, which resonated with the Trapping Immortal Sword.
Xie Qingxue added a warning: “My master said that even if Haori Mountain can’t control the Trapping Immortal Sword right now, its power should never be underestimated... If they put it in the Zhongxuan Sect, they must have an agenda.”
“Don’t let your guard down.”
Zheng Fa certainly understood that.
The Trapping Immortal Sword had once changed the course of the Xuanyi Realm’s history. Even the Tianhe Venerable had fallen to it—its power was obvious.
Let alone the fact that Haori Mountain had been working on it for an entire era without cracking it.
It was not something to mess with lightly.
“Looks like we really need to figure out what Haori Mountain is planning…”
On the other hand, a treasure of this level would never be casually placed.
If they gave it to the Zhongxuan Sect, it had to serve a purpose.
Could… those seven Soul Formation cultivators led by Shi Nandang actually refine it?
Zheng Fa didn’t quite believe that.
Which meant the Zhongxuan Sect must have something special going on.
While Zheng Fa was still calculating the possibilities, he noticed that Xie Qingxue looked completely absent-minded, like something was deeply troubling her.
“Fairy Xie?”
Xie Qingxue slowly returned to her senses. When she looked at the Qingping Sword on her waist, her eyes flinched as if shocked by a current. Then she gave a bitter smile and said, “Only today did I realize… If I were one of the Four Patriarchs, I would’ve…”
Zheng Fa nodded matter-of-factly and said, “Out of a hundred cultivators, maybe ninety-nine would’ve done the same.”
“Hm?”
“The Tianhe Venerable may not have been wrong, but… he was too impatient…”
Zheng Fa let out a soft sigh and said to Xie Qingxue:
“Everyone around him were traditional Xuanyi cultivators… they were never on the same path as him.”
“The choices they made, you can imagine.”
Xie Qingxue was stunned, but quickly caught on to a new concept in his words: “Traditional… Xuanyi cultivators?”
“Oh, here. This is a report from Senior Sister Zhang.”
Xie Qingxue curiously took the ledger from Zheng Fa.
“Since the textile factory was built… the variety of clothing on the market has increased tenfold, and average prices have dropped by 30%. Export revenue…”
“The food processing plants… daily food supply in the twelve prefectural cities has quadrupled.”
“Last month, the birth rate in the Jiushan Realm doubled. The mortality rate dropped to less than 90% of what it was the month before.”
“Average household wealth increased by 50%. Every family has at least six months of grain saved…”
These were the changes in the mortal world of the Jiushan Realm after trade in the Hundred Immortals Alliance began.
When Zheng Fa read it earlier, he’d felt deeply moved—though the combination of cultivation techniques and modern technology wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful, it was incredibly effective at changing mortal lives.
Reading it alongside Uncle Pang’s census report only made the contrast more stark.
The simplest comparison—what have cultivators actually brought to the world?
“We have to admit, cultivators possess power within themselves, and what they pursue is the strength of the self. That’s a truth that can’t be changed.” Zheng Fa also looked at the report in her hands and said softly, “The Tianhe Venerable’s idea was a good one... to establish a Xuanyi Realm with mutual checks and balances.”
“The problem is, even if he had the power to slay immortals, he couldn’t change people’s hearts…”
“I don’t have the Venerable’s grand ambition…”
Zheng Fa chuckled self-deprecatingly. As someone more cautious by nature, he didn’t have the confidence to stand against all cultivators.
“So you chose… to change the relationship between cultivators and mortals?”
“Fairy Xie, this world’s wealth has always been distributed by strength… But I wondered, could it someday be distributed by contribution instead?”
Xie Qingxue stared blankly at Zheng Fa.
Compared to the Ancestor, she now understood what Zheng Fa meant—while the reality of cultivator power couldn’t be changed, Zheng Fa was trying to find a path within that power that could benefit all people.
What if cultivators and mortals no longer stood opposed?
What if mortals grew wealthy because of cultivators, and cultivators grew stronger because of mortals?
Zheng Fa tilted his head and looked at Xie Qingxue, smiling:
“Fairy Xie, maybe this path won’t be any easier than the Tianhe Ancestor’s…”
And again, that question echoed in her ears: “Will you… walk it with me?”
…Master, perhaps I’ve found the answer to your question.
