I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 195Book 2: : Mu Qingyan

Vol 2 Chapter 195: Mu Qingyan

The flying shuttle landed, and Zheng Fa stepped forward to receive the disciples.

Because of the Golden Core Engineering project, he had long been looking forward to meeting these people.

The name Golden Core Engineering didn’t seem to fit well with the pill and artifact refining techniques of the Xuanyi Realm.

But change the term slightly—and it was a different story: External Core.

He had known for a while that among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, talismans, artifacts, pills, and formations were the four major disciplines.

This wasn’t just because those four had huge markets in the Xuanyi Realm.

More importantly, they greatly aided cultivation.

Talisman techniques, naturally, went without saying—they were deeply tied to the nature of spiritual energy.

As for formations… in Zheng Fa’s current view, they probably had some connection to Soul Formation.

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The path of artifact refining was even more self-evident—the very Life-bound Treasure created by Tianhe Venerable was proof enough of its significance.

Pill refinement was a bit more unique.

On one hand, pills could directly boost a cultivator’s power, more so than other crafts.

On the other, Zheng Fa had also read in ancient texts that among the cultivators of the Xuanyi Realm, there was a faint saying—those who excelled in pill refinement had an easier time forming a Golden Core!

This rumor had existed for a long time in the Xuanyi Realm, but no one really understood why—or perhaps, some vaguely did, but never spoke of it.

In the Xuanyi Realm, this kind of knowledge could easily be treated as a secret art.

And after gradually figuring out what a Golden Core truly was, Zheng Fa began to form his own theories about the craft of pill refinement.

In his view, at least some pill refinement techniques were modeled after the formation of the Golden Core itself!

Of course, not every pill worked this way.

After all, low-level cultivators couldn’t manipulate nuclear reactions;their divine sense and spiritual energy weren’t enough.

But certainly, some of the concepts were related to Core Formation.

His reasoning for thinking this was clear: External Core!

That thing was essentially an external Golden Core.

According to Jiushan Sect records, the External Core fused both pill refinement and artifact forging techniques—it was an incredibly profound secret art.

That was exactly why Zheng Fa had such confidence in the Golden Core Engineering project.

In the modern world, he could only rely on researchers to theorize, analyze data, and study from the ground up.

But here in the Jiushan Realm, he could use the External Core method to simulate Core Formation and conduct experiments.

Combining both approaches, he could refine and optimize the process.

Once enough data was gathered, he could even use the Jiushan Platform to simulate Core Formation, with no need for repeated experiments!

At that point, Senior Sister Zhang would finally understand what it meant to be the father of Golden Core methods!

Of course, the first step was to learn enough Core Formation simulation knowledge from these Hundred Immortals Alliance disciples.

Or rather, even if they only had basic knowledge of pill and artifact crafting, Zheng Fa was confident he could slowly develop the External Core method.

…

These disciples from the Hundred Immortals Alliance had come with the Qingmu Sect’s sect master.

“Master Song! You've had a long journey!”

Zheng Fa had met him not long ago, and the two had become familiar.

“Master Zheng!”

Master Song of Qingmu Sect immediately cupped his hands.

Hearing how he addressed Zheng Fa, the disciples behind him exchanged glances, showing faint surprise.

After all, Zheng Fa looked far too young.

Though there were plenty of rumors about him, truth be told, some of it sounded ridiculous—many didn’t really believe it…

Zheng Fa exchanged a few pleasantries with Master Song but didn’t do much else, simply asking someone to guide the disciples to their guest rooms. His main priority was still hosting Master Song.

“This is a letter from Zhao Jingfan.”

Unexpectedly, Master Song pulled out a few letters.

Zheng Fa was taken aback.

Wasn’t Seventh Young Master already communicating with him?

He looked down and flipped through them, then noticed they weren’t in Seventh Young Master’s handwriting. They looked more like the scribbles of children.

“Zhao Jingfan said they were written by your sister’s classmates.”

Zheng Fa understood at once.

Those children didn’t have access to Message Talismans.

So they just had a Nascent Soul cultivator deliver letters for them… Seventh Young Master had really made it big now!

Was he now walking around like a boss in Qingmu Sect?

Seeing his expression, Master Song waved his hand and chuckled, “I just casually asked if he wanted me to bring anything to you…”

“…Did you really just ask offhand?”

“……”

Got it.

Just being polite.

Sigh, and you actually took it seriously?

But Master Song didn’t seem annoyed—in fact, he seemed to feel a bit of affection toward Seventh Young Master.

Zheng Fa got the hint. That guy… he did tend to rub people the wrong way.

But if you were willing to understand him just a little more, you might find him kind of… endearing.

Now that Master Song had probably made it through the rough patch with him, he might actually find the kid interesting—genuine and full of heart.

The tricky part… was getting a Nascent Soul cultivator to care enough to understand you.

Zheng Fa figured Seventh Young Master owed him a big bow.

“Here, he also asked me to bring you some pills.”

Sure enough, Master Song pulled out a few pill bottles, dutifully performing his delivery duties.

Zheng Fa took the bottles in hand. Seeing the goodwill on Master Song’s face, he asked bluntly:

“Any outstanding talents among this group of disciples?”

“Outstanding?”

“High-level in pill refinement or artifact crafting.”

“Hmm…” Master Song didn’t seem troubled by the question. Since the disciples were here, Zheng Fa would learn about them eventually. If he said something early, it might earn him some favor.

“I don’t know much about artifact refining, but in pill refinement… hmm, a junior from the Song family is fairly skilled for a Foundation Establishment stage alchemist.”

“He’s the best among them?”

“Not quite, there’s another disciple—Mu Qingyan, she…”

At that point, Master Song looked a bit hesitant, as if he had something difficult to say.

“What about her?”

“She… has inherited the legacy of a Nascent Soul pill refinement master.”

Zheng Fa blinked. He couldn’t quite grasp it.

This girl had something like that on her—how did she even make it into the Jiushan Realm?

His trust level with the Hundred Immortals Alliance wasn’t that high.

“Her elder went into Qi deviation and died a few years ago. With no successor, Mu Qingyan was the only one with any potential, but she’s still very young.”

“To make it worse, there are some lingering grudges. A few Nascent Soul cultivators have made trouble for her.”

“…A jade that draws envy,” Zheng Fa said quietly.

“Exactly!” Master Song replied softly. “Whether they’re real enemies or not, who can say, but she was just in the Qi Refining stage—practically no way to escape.”

Zheng Fa looked at Master Song, curious how this disciple ended up at Jiushan Sect.

“She probably heard about the Jiushan Realm and immediately offered that legacy to Zhenren Tongming and me.”

“…She’s got guts.”

“Exactly!” Master Song shook his head. “I had some ties with her elder. Seeing her like that, I decided to bring her along.”

Zheng Fa nodded, mentally noting the name Mu Qingyan.

…

Mu Qingyan sat in the guest room, the tension and stiffness on her face slowly fading. She just frowned, observing her surroundings.

She felt both relieved and puzzled:

“Gave up a Nascent Soul inheritance, but escaped a life-or-death crisis… I guess it was worth it…”

“But Jiushan Sect is still around? That’s strange, didn’t it get wiped out by the Great Freedom Demonic Sect in my last life?”

“The real problem now is… how do I get out of this Jiushan Realm…”