I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 177Book 2: : The Power of Mortals

Vol 2 Chapter 177: The Power of Mortals

“Those guys sure ran fast…”

The Sect Master flew over from a distance, sounding a bit bitter.

“They were watching out for Zheng Fa!” Martial Uncle Pang rolled his eyes at him. “Otherwise, how could we have held on this long?”

Zheng Fa glanced over the crowd, as if something crossed his mind, and turned to look at Martial Aunt Huang.

“Madam Zhao from the Zhao Estate didn’t want to come.”

Martial Aunt Huang seemed to know what he was asking and explained, “She wants to go to the Qingmu Sect…”

“Qingmu Sect…”

Zheng Fa frowned slightly, clearly a little concerned.

He had sent messages to the Seventh Young Master, but hadn’t received a reply—likely because things weren’t going smoothly at Qingmu Sect either.

“I do know a bit about what’s happening with Qingmu Sect,” Martial Uncle Pang spoke up. “They’re now fully aligned with Zhenren Tongming—one of his staunchest allies, so they should be fine.”

Zheng Fa nodded.

He had already considered Madam Zhao’s choice—after all, he wasn’t a member of the Zhao family, and Madam Zhao was a proud woman. Why would she willingly rely on him?

Earlier, he’d thought that if the Seventh Young Master was willing to come to Jiushan Sect, then the Zhao family’s arrival would be natural.

But now, the Seventh Young Master probably had to follow his own mentors and couldn’t act on his own.

He planned to send a few more messages and then set the matter aside for now, moving on to lead everyone into the Jiushan Realm.

The Jiushan Realm currently had a separation between immortals and mortals, so these 300,000 newly arrived mortals could only be housed in the Heavenly Palace.

Luckily, there were plenty of islands in the Heavenly Palace. Zheng Fa settled them on the largest one.

He furrowed his brow slightly—this rule separating immortals and mortals in the Jiushan Realm was becoming a hindrance.

He’d previously tested transmitting rice seeds from the mortal world to the Heavenly Palace, and there hadn’t been much issue.

He’d even figured out a method to bestow the rice seeds to believers.

But people were a different matter entirely…

Even his true body couldn’t descend to the lower realm now—the Sun and Moon Bell had taken heavy damage, as if part of its functionality had been lost.

For now, he could only house these people in the Heavenly Palace.

…

“These are the new varieties you cultivated?”

Looking at the rice plants growing in clusters across the medicine garden, Martial Aunt Huang and Martial Uncle Pang exchanged a glance, both looking a little amazed.

“Yes, we’ve accelerated a lot of new varieties over the past few days,” Zheng Fa explained. “Once everyone’s settled, we’ll distribute the seeds so they can start reclaiming land.”

That was also why Zheng Fa hadn’t given the seeds to mortal believers first—

The mortals in the Jiushan Realm could still survive off other crops or by fishing and hunting, but there weren’t enough resources in the Heavenly Palace.

So Zheng Fa had to prioritize these rice seeds for the new arrivals.

Martial Aunt Huang stayed silent for a long while before finally sighing, “Turns out I was worried for nothing.”

“Martial Aunt, reclaiming land takes time,” Zheng Fa said with a smile. “In the meantime, let’s stockpile as much grain as we can.”

Martial Aunt Huang nodded. Her expression didn’t show much concern—gathering a year’s worth of food for 300,000 mortals might be difficult for ordinary people, but for a Nascent Soul cultivator, it wasn’t much at all.

Her earlier worries had been about how the Jiushan Realm could sustain so many mortals.

Feeding them for a year wasn’t much of a problem.

“If they can become self-sufficient, it’ll lighten our load too.”

The Sect Master suddenly spoke. “If it weren’t for their ties to our Jiushan Sect, I…”

Zheng Fa said nothing. Bringing these mortals along had been his suggestion, after all.

His master, like most cultivators in the world, cared deeply about cultivators—especially talented ones—but didn’t place much importance on mortals.

“Master, mortals… have power of their own.”

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and said softly.

Compared to Senior Sister Zhang, the three elders probably had even more trouble understanding Zheng Fa’s perspective.

Sure enough, a trace of confusion appeared on his master’s face.

“Master, I’m planning to teach my first class on thunder techniques to the disciples…”

“Oh?”

“How about you come listen too?”

“…” The Sect Master pointed at himself in surprise. “Me? Listen to your lecture?”

Zheng Fa grinned and nodded.

…

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang had divided the Heavenly Palace into nine major zones. The largest island housed the new mortals—Senior Sister Zhang named it Lètǔ Island (“Land of Joy”).

There was also a Heavenly Palace area and a medicine garden, both part of the original layout.

As for the old alchemy room area, Zheng Fa planned to turn it into a place for researching the Immortal Cultivation Arts—or rather, an industrial zone.

So, he named the island “Jīngkāi Island” (short for “Economic Development Zone”).

Senior Sister Zhang didn’t really get it, but she let him do as he pleased.

There were two other zones—one for disciples, and one for Nascent Soul cultivators.

The disciples named their area “Seeking Immortality Island.”

Senior Sister Yuan named the Nascent Soul area—rather grandly—“Ten Thousand Immortals Island.”

Of the remaining three islands, Zheng Fa already had plans for two.

One would be a commercial zone—Zheng Fa had no intention of shutting themselves off from the world.

On one hand, he planned to leverage Yan Wushuang and the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s existing trade routes to connect with the outside world.

On the other, he hoped to build upon the success of their old market district—like theatrical performances, and various talismans—to attract cultivators to come spend money.

He even considered letting the Sun and Moon Bell roam the Xuanyi Realm, becoming a mobile marketplace.

Of course, this idea would need to be discussed with his master and Senior Sister.

Even if the commercial zone didn’t open to outsiders, it would still provide entertainment and consumption for disciples and residents inside the Jiushan Realm.

And the last planned island was the one Zheng Fa cared most about—University Island.

This island had originally housed the Heavenly Venerate. The palace buildings were massive.

After the previous war, the place had been left in ruins.

But based on Zheng Fa’s vision, it was now more or less cleaned up.

At the heart of University Island was the Scripture Pavilion.

However, Zheng Fa had changed the rules—most of the texts were now available for free borrowing.

He intended to turn the Scripture Pavilion into a modern library—though right now, there were just too few books...

It felt pretty shabby.

Surrounding the library, the palace halls had been converted into classrooms—

Because the halls varied in size, the classrooms ranged from small to massive. The largest could hold several thousand people.

Zheng Fa’s first class was held in the biggest one.

“Fellow disciples.”

Zheng Fa swept his eyes over the room.

Nearly every disciple in the Jiushan Realm was present.

That was naturally because Zheng Fa’s status was now completely different—he was essentially the master of the Jiushan Realm.

On the other hand, it was also because seated at the back of the room were four major figures—

Sect Master, Martial Uncle Pang, Martial Aunt Huang, Senior Sister Zhang.

With all four of the Jiushan Realm's Nascent Soul cultivators attending Zheng Fa’s lecture, there was no way any disciple dared to skip class.

What, you think you’re better than a Nascent Soul Zhenren?

Zheng Fa swept a glance over the four Nascent Souls. His own master looked the most sour-faced, while Martial Uncle Pang and Martial Aunt Huang both had expressions that said this is going to be fun—

A disciple lecturing his master? They were going to laugh about this for the rest of their lives.

…

Zheng Fa shook his head slightly and spoke to the class:

“Fellow disciples, as you all know, due to the unique rules of the Jiushan Realm, aside from a few magical treasures, almost everything depends on thunder techniques.”

Everyone below nodded.

This was one of the biggest headaches about the Jiushan Realm.

“Therefore, starting today, I’ll be teaching you thunder techniques.”

Eyes lit up all across the classroom.

Zheng Fa paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Before we begin, I want to ask everyone a question.”

Senior Sister Zhang leaned back with an I knew it expression on her face.

Zheng Fa said, “My question is—what is thunder technique?”

Everyone looked around at each other.

“Fellow disciples, feel free to speak your minds…” Zheng Fa added, “From this moment forward, in my classes, I hope everyone can say whatever comes to mind.”

“No status distinctions.”

“No cultivation level barriers.”

“And no right or wrong answers.”

His words made the disciples glance at one another, unsure of what to do.

After a while, Zhou Qianyuan finally bit the bullet and said, “Thunder technique… is a type of spell.”

Zheng Fa nodded and smiled, “Very good!”

“Thunder technique is a method of combat!”

“That’s a valid point too,” Zheng Fa praised.

“A technique to control heavenly thunder!”

“Excellent answer!”

With each word of praise from Zheng Fa, the disciples grew more eager to speak up.

Partly, they were intrigued by this new kind of lecture.

And partly… they had never been praised by a genius like Zheng Fa before, nor had they ever had a chance to show off in front of the four Nascent Souls. With an opportunity like this, of course they’d want to perform well and maybe earn some favor.

But enthusiasm feeds enthusiasm, and soon, the entire classroom became lively.

From the back, Martial Aunt Huang gave a cold snort, “What a mess.”

But Martial Uncle Pang shook his head, “Junior Sister Huang, you don’t understand. I thought Zheng Fa wouldn’t be the teaching type, but turns out he really knows what he’s doing…”

Martial Aunt Huang shot him a sideways glance.

“I’ve always believed—sometimes saying something a hundred times isn’t as good as letting the disciple think it through once… Zheng Fa’s approach fits that idea perfectly.”

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“…You think you’re good at teaching disciples?”

“Of course!”

Martial Aunt Huang turned her gaze toward Senior Sister Zhang and smirked without saying a word.

Just that one look was enough to make Martial Uncle Pang grit his teeth.

“Eh? My future disciple’s here!”

He suddenly said softly.

Turns out Zheng Shan had just walked in and stood timidly beside the podium.

Seeing his little sister arrive, Zheng Fa raised a hand and gently pressed downward.

The classroom immediately went dead silent.

“All your answers were great, so let me summarize what we’ve said.” Zheng Fa smiled. “Thunder technique is a spell that controls the power of heavenly thunder.”

“It can be used to attack, to defend, to fly, or even to stimulate spiritual plants.”

“Right?”

Everyone nodded.

“Then let me ask—what is the power of heavenly thunder?”

“……”

Silence. This time, no one knew how to answer.

“And… is spellcasting the only way to control heavenly thunder?”

“……”

Seeing no response, Zheng Fa waved toward Zheng Shan.

Zheng Shan looked nervous but obediently stepped forward.

“You may recognize her—this is my younger sister, Zheng Shan. She hasn’t begun cultivating yet,” Zheng Fa introduced. “But what if I said… she can control heavenly thunder too?”

“……”

No one replied, but their expressions clearly said: Sure, sure, as long as you're happy, Junior Brother Zheng…

Zheng Fa nodded at Zheng Shan, who took out a piece of silk and a slender piece of amber.

She gripped the silk and rubbed it hard against the amber.

Her little face turned red from effort, clearly giving it her all.

Suddenly, a barely visible spark of electricity flashed.

At the very back, the Sect Master abruptly stood up, staring at the silk and amber in Zheng Shan’s hands as if he’d just been struck by lightning.

“Look, everyone—my little sister, a mere mortal, seems to know a thing or two about thunder techniques.”