I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 505Book 2: : Jiushan Infrastructure, the Path to Sainthood
Vol 2 Chapter 505: Jiushan Infrastructure, the Path to Sainthood
At Haori Mountain, Yun Fan, the master of Thousand Wonders Peak who had nothing to do, was gazing intently at a remote mountain peak to the left.
The mountain peak shimmered with various colored talismans, illuminating half the sky.
"What is the Lu Clan doing over there?"
He turned his face sideways and asked a young disciple from the Yun clan beside him.
"They say they're following the Holy Patriarch's order to set up a mountain protection formation."
Yun Fan nodded upon hearing this, but his expression grew even more unpleasant: "The Holy Patriarch seems to trust them more."
The Yun clansmen around him all fell silent, watching that mountain peak with worried and fearful expressions.
"What should we do?"
Yun Fan gently shook his head, sighing as he spoke: "How could we possibly understand the Holy Patriarch's thoughts? What the Holy Patriarch wants to do is not something we can comment on either."
"Isn't the Holy Patriarch causing pain to his own people and pleasure to his enemies this way?" the Yun clan disciple muttered in a tone filled with indignation. "We and the Lu Clan have long had deep-seated hatred. Now that the Holy Patriarch trusts the Lu Clan so much, where does that leave us?"
"Shut up!" Yun Fan said coldly. "Do you want to die?"
The young disciple closed his mouth, but his eyes still glared at the mountain under construction, his expression still defiant as he muttered: "Forget about closeness, are these Lu clansmen really more capable than us?"
...
On that mountain peak, the Heavenly Emperor body and others were busy working.
They were indeed setting up the Golden Sun Scorching Heaven Formation.
But those actually in charge here weren't them, but a group of even younger disciples.
The Heavenly Emperor body had transferred a group of elites from the Formation Dao Academy in Jiushan Realm specifically to help Haori Mountain with construction.
"They are the most skilled formation experts in our sect!" Uncle Pang said proudly. "Over the years, they've been the ones setting up and maintaining the Profound Earth Primordial Magnetism Array."
The Heavenly Emperor body carefully observed this group of disciples.
Perhaps because the Heavenly Emperor body and other high-ranking sect members were present, most of these people were silent and somewhat wooden, yet their hands moved extremely fast.
Probing spirit veins, dividing mountain peaks, seeking formation eyes, channeling spiritual energy—their movements flowed smoothly, even faster than if the Heavenly Emperor body had done it himself.
The sect had cultivated a group of Wang Mu old brothers.
Speaking of which, it was forced by circumstances—in the battle against Haori Mountain, Jiushan Sect's greatest confidence actually came from the Profound Earth Primordial Magnetism Array.
Formation Dao thus became a prominent field of study in Jiushan Sect, with an enormous talent gap. This group of Formation Dao Academy disciples had been thoroughly tempered during decades of construction frenzy.
One could say these were talents left over from Jiushan's great infrastructure era.
Even the Profound Earth Primordial Magnetism Array had long been unrecognizable—though the core concept remained unchanged, it had undergone three major iterations.
On one hand, it was mainly about refinement:
The radar's object detection capability had been enhanced more than threefold, primarily to counter the Gu God.
On the other hand, the functions had become much more versatile, with many more spells that could be cast using the grand formation.
As for updates to formation tools and reduction in maintenance costs, these were expected improvements and didn't count as major updates.
Most of these innovations actually weren't completed by high-level members like Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang, but came from these Formation Dao Academy disciples.
The Formation Dao Academy had been established for several decades, and the disciples it cultivated had become the pillars of Jiushan Sect's formation path.
At least in the Heavenly Emperor body's view, in terms of formation setting, this group was much more professional than himself.
...
"Is that it?" Yun Fan watched as the Heavenly Emperor body led his disciples away from this mountain peak, flying toward a more distant one, feeling surprised. "How are they so fast?"
You should know, from start to finish, these Lu clansmen only used less than two incense sticks of time!
A group of Yun clansmen looked at each other, someone muttering: "This... couldn't be cutting corners, could it?"
Yun Fan's heart stirred, and he silently led everyone to fly to that mountain peak.
Others understood his intention—if these Lu clansmen had been perfunctory, then reporting to the Holy Patriarch would show them what's what!
The group approached with fault-finding intentions, examining the mountain peak up and down extremely carefully, wishing their eyeballs could roll over the ground.
Half an hour later, the group stood on the mountain peak, feeling utterly lost.
No one spoke, only the mountain wind echoed the shock in their hearts.
After who knows how long, the previously defiant young Yun clan disciple said dejectedly: "No wonder the Holy Patriarch trusts them more..."
"The work is done quickly and well."
"For this treasure forging, the first major shareholder is Immortal Yun!"
The Sword Dao Avatar sincerely praised Immortal Yun.
He stood with the disciples of the Slaying Immortal Army on the training ground, surrounding the Qian Kun Tripod.
Around the Qian Kun Tripod were dazzling arrays of various spirit materials glowing with treasure light.
About forty percent of these came from Jiushan Sect's own accumulation.
The remaining sixty percent came from inside Haori Mountain's Thousand Wonders Peak.
A starved camel is still bigger than a horse—though Haori Mountain had declined, the treasures inside Thousand Wonders Peak were truly numerous—one could even say far exceeding Jiushan Sect's accumulation.
Besides Jiushan Sect's late rise and insufficient accumulation, there was another reason for this:
Zheng Fa truly wasn't a miser.
This point became very apparent during this zero-cost shopping trip to Thousand Wonders Peak.
Haori Mountain wasn't without resources to cultivate disciples—they were unwilling to spend vast resources on disciple cultivation.
Among the many accumulated spirit materials in Thousand Wonders Peak, most were reserved for high-level members' future cultivation needs.
But Jiushan Sect was different—more than half of Jiushan Sect's spirit materials were converted into Merit Point rewards distributed to grassroots disciples.
Talent cultivation, especially immortal dao talent cultivation, requires resources.
Otherwise, no matter how superior Jiushan Sect's education system was, it couldn't have cultivated so many specialized talents.
In other words, those high-level members of Haori Mountain had painstakingly accumulated for many years, hoarding like hamsters, reluctant to use their treasures except at critical moments—and Jiushan Sect had taken them all in one sweep.
After the Sword Dao Avatar spoke for a while, smiles appeared on the faces of the Slaying Immortal Army members.
"Alright, not nervous anymore?"
The Sword Dao Avatar suddenly spoke.
Yan Wushuang, master of the Slaying Immortal Sword, was startled, only then realizing that the Sword Dao Avatar had been saying all this to help them relax.
To be honest, the Slaying Immortal Army was under tremendous pressure.
On one hand, the sect's investment in the army could be said to be unlimited—they consumed far more resources than anyone else.
On the other hand, they hadn't been able to achieve great deeds. Now the Shenxiao Army protected Jiushan, dominated the maritime regions, and broke Haori Mountain, already shaking Xuanwei with their power.
But the Slaying Immortal Army, for various reasons, could only remain confined within Jiushan Realm.
Though no one in the sect said anything, comparing the two, how could they not feel anxious?
Now that they could use the Qian Kun Tripod to upgrade the Slaying Immortal Sword Formation, Yan Wushuang and others naturally felt restless and extremely excited.
The Sword Dao Avatar's gaze swept over Yan Wushuang's face, then looked at the other disciples, saying: "Have you all memorized the ritual?"
"Memorized!"
The Sword Dao Avatar nodded, pointing at the Qian Kun Tripod as a spirit flame ignited beneath it.
Yan Wushuang and others' eyes reflected the firelight, their expressions gradually becoming calm and determined.
...
Zheng Fa watched the bonfire in the valley, watching those newborn humans singing and dancing around the fire, a slight smile appearing on his face too.
Though entrusted by Nüwa to protect humanity here, he hadn't interacted much with humans, let alone taught them—such forced growth measures. The only thing he did was drive away oblivious demon beasts in the area.
Beyond that, he simply watched humanity, quietly observing.
Time flew in the illusionary realm—even he couldn't remember how many years he had watched.
He saw a woman picking wild fruits notice a spider spinning its web, seeming to gain inspiration. Returning home, she tore tree bark, twisted it into thread, and wove a crude net.
He saw a man smash stones on the ground, picking out the sharpest fragments to hold in his hand, using them as his claws.
Until today, they finally learned to make fire.
In the firelight, civilization took form.
Zheng Fa stood up, his comprehension faint yet present. He seemed to understand what Nüwa wanted him to know, and even understood what this Nine Luminaries Heaven illusionary realm wanted to leave for future generations.
Humanity's innate divine ability was observation and creation.
He stood on the mountainside, bowing toward the newborn humans at the mountain base, silently paying respects.
Zheng Fa hadn't taught these humans anything, but these ancestors had taught him much.
Just at that moment, Hongjun's voice resounded throughout heaven and earth.
Vast chaos descended as purple light fell, enveloping Zheng Fa.
The third lecture, which would determine the ownership of the Hongmeng Purple Qi, had finally begun.
Zheng Fa took one more look at the humans in the valley, then without looking back, followed the purple light flying upward toward the sky.
In the Purple Heaven Palace, the three thousand guests were already seated. At the palace entrance stood a smiling figure, seemingly waiting specifically for him.
It was Creation Daoist.
If not for that bizarre scene in the light screen, no one could detect any falsehood in this enthusiastic face.
"Fellow Daoist Zheng, you've hidden it from me so bitterly."
As soon as Creation Daoist saw him, he complained softly.
Zheng Fa didn't speak, just looked at this Creation Daoist, wondering inwardly:
Could he really hide anything from him?
Moreover, this Creation Daoist was probably the most deeply hidden person.
This was something he couldn't find answers to from Creation Daoist himself, so he looked around and asked knowingly: "Where are the other fellow daoists?"
Creation Daoist smiled: "They know they can't obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi, and since they have grievances with you, they're unwilling to come."
Zheng Fa stared deeply at Creation Daoist.
Not to mention Zheng Fa who knew part of the truth—anyone else would naturally doubt this:
Not coming to hear the lecture just because they can't obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi?
Do they think people are fools?
No cultivator could possibly miss the content of Hongjun's lectures!
If it were Zheng Fa himself, even if he had no chance at the Hongmeng Purple Qi, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to hear the lecture.
Creation Daoist's excuse was truly somewhat clumsy.
Just as he was about to say something, his eyes suddenly met Creation Daoist's gaze, and his heart shook violently:
It wasn't that Creation Daoist thought him a fool, but rather... this person no longer wanted to hide.
Seeing that he seemed to understand, Creation Daoist opened his lips, grinning widely.
Only then did Zheng Fa see that Creation Daoist had no teeth—his mouth was like a black, deep cave without any light.
"Fellow Daoist Zheng need not worry." Creation Daoist continued, "If you want to see them, you'll have the opportunity."
Zheng Fa narrowed his eyes slightly.
"They're waiting for you too."
Creation Daoist's voice sounded like it came from deep within a tunnel, carrying heavy echoes.
Zheng Fa understood clearly—Creation Daoist had revealed his dagger after unfolding the map. He didn't care whether Zheng Fa knew the truth or not.
Or rather, the difference in strength made Creation Daoist disdain hiding.
Zheng Fa remained silent for a moment before speaking: "My hatred with them runs extremely deep. Perhaps it's better not to meet?"
"Fellow Daoist doesn't want to meet?"
"Not really."
Creation Daoist chuckled: "Then that depends on you, Fellow Daoist Zheng."
"What do you mean?"
"I want the Hongmeng Purple Qi."
An expected answer.
Seeing Zheng Fa didn't respond, Creation Daoist added:
"Does Fellow Daoist know what a Golden Immortal is?"
Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then spoke his most genuine understanding: "Creator."
Based on his knowledge, Golden Immortals would have the ability to create their own worlds.
"Creator." Creation Daoist nodded slightly as if agreeing, then added, "In my view, a Golden Immortal is the master of their own world."
He looked at Zheng Fa and smiled: "Guess which world I control?"
Zheng Fa's eyes widened slightly.
Nine Luminaries Heaven?
Wasn't Nine Luminaries Heaven Lu Mo's?
How had Creation Daoist taken it?
As if seeing his confusion, Creation Daoist looked at Zheng Fa confidently: "No one can escape Nine Luminaries Heaven before me."
Creation Daoist flipped his palm, revealing a somewhat familiar Bodhi seed.
Wasn't this Bailian's?
"Take this Bodhi seed—it can increase your comprehension." Creation Daoist looked at Zheng Fa, his tone brooking no argument. "Then obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi, and I'll let you out."
Zheng Fa didn't move.
Creation Daoist added: "I heard you and Lu Mo are enemies?"
"Yes."
"We can cooperate." Creation Daoist continued, "If I obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi, I'll naturally be irreconcilable with Lu Mo. At that time, we'll be friends."
"If not for my help, Bailian and the others would have come to hunt you down long ago."
"I have no interest in you."
Zheng Fa pondered for a long time before reaching out to pick up the Bodhi seed.
"Very good."
Creation Daoist nodded with satisfaction.
A pulling force came from the Purple Heaven Hall, and Zheng Fa found himself flying uncontrollably to the first leftmost cushion in the front row.
Creation Daoist sat about twenty-some seats to his right, now looking at him expectantly.
Zheng Fa turned his face sideways, holding the Bodhi seed, looking at the cushions ahead.
Nüwa and the others seemed not to have noticed the scene outside the hall, instead staring straight ahead at the high platform without looking back, as if they too were restricted within the Purple Heaven Palace.
On the high platform, Hongjun Daoist's figure slowly appeared. Zheng Fa could feel him glance at himself?
Hongjun Daoist didn't say much, speaking directly: "This is my third lecture."
"In this lecture, I will speak of the path to sainthood and bestow seven strands of Hongmeng Purple Qi."
"Among my disciples, there shall be seven Saints."
Everyone's gaze fell upon those seven cushions, particularly the still-empty seventh cushion, which attracted the most attention.
Creation Daoist finally managed to tear his gaze from the empty cushion, then turned to look at Zheng Fa, extending his tongue to lightly lick his lower lip.
