I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 261Book 2: : Heaven Does Not Help Me, Can You Hold On?
Vol 2 Chapter 261: Heaven Does Not Help Me, Can You Hold On?
When the Netherworld Immortal Qin Mu appeared, he actually looked around for Zheng Fa first. Failing to spot Zheng Fa, he suddenly seemed much more confident.
His change in expression was so obvious that even Zhenren Chengkong found it strange—why would this person be so wary of Zheng Fa?
But of course, the Netherworld Immortal Qin Mu wouldn’t explain it to him.
Qin Mu floated in the clouds, his clothes and hair swept up by the sea breeze, just like the unstable spiritual energy surging around him.
Clearly, the great battle a few days ago had left him wounded.
But he didn’t seem to care much. His head turned slightly, his gaze sweeping over each of the powerful enemies before him.
"Taishang Dao, Tianhe Sect, Yaochi, Haori Mountain…" he murmured softly, "Master, just to deal with me, you actually brought six Soul Formation cultivators…"
"You really hate your own disciple this much?"
Head Seat Mingde secretly signaled to the others. Xie Qingxue and the others understood and spread out, surrounding Qin Mu front and back, completely cutting off his retreat.
Qin Mu didn’t even move his head, only looked at Head Seat Mingde, his eyes carrying a faint smile, as if he wasn’t worried at all.
Head Seat Mingde instead grew even more cautious, worried there might be an ambush nearby.
He knew full well how ruthless and cunning this disciple was. That’s why he wanted to fight many against one—to leave nothing to chance.
Yet seeing Qin Mu’s attitude now, it felt like things were slipping out of his grasp.
Not daring to make a rash move, he said coldly, "Hate you?"
"I refused to teach you the Two Elements True Resolution, and you impersonated me, stealing it from the Hall of Transmission, killing two senior brothers in the process," Head Seat Mingde’s voice was filled with anger even as he remained alert, "Because of that, I was sentenced to three hundred years of penance in the True Fire Cavern, suffering the flames of heavenly punishment daily."
"My own suffering aside, over the years, ten Taishang Dao disciples have died by your hand. Three of them… were possessed by you."
"Even my own hands are stained with the blood of our disciples because of you!"
"Stealing true techniques, betraying your master, slaughtering your peers—shouldn’t I hate you?" His hair bun trembled with fury. He continued, "I hate myself even more—for having taught such a disciple!"
"Now your Great Freedom Demonic Sect lies in ruins, and you are trapped."
"It’s clear—it’s not me who hates you to death, but Heaven itself!"
He grew more furious as he spoke, his eyes nearly splitting apart in rage.
But Qin Mu only smiled faintly, even nodding slightly, as if agreeing with his master’s words. In the end, he let out a light laugh:
"Heaven’s will?"
"Is it truly Heaven refusing to help me?"
He no longer looked at Head Seat Mingde, but turned to Zhenren Chengkong, seemingly puzzled, and asked:
"My Great Freedom Demonic Sect's gathering of Soul Formation cultivators in Chen Prefecture was supposed to be top secret. The Five-Point Blood Fiend Formation was almost completed. Yet you, Martial Uncle, broke the formation that day and nearly ruined it all. Was that Heaven’s will too?"
Zhenren Chengkong froze.
Why had he charged into the formation that day?
Oh, right—because Zheng Fa sent him a message saying the Demonic Sect was about to resurrect the Demon Ancestor in Chen Prefecture.
Given the urgency, he had charged in with the Tranquility Bamboo, catching the Demonic Sect completely off guard.
He was still recalling when Qin Mu spoke again:
"Then later, I killed the Yin-Yang Rakshasa, and completed the Five-Point Blood Fiend Banner…"
"Only to run into Fairy Xie." He glanced at Xie Qingxue. "And had my magic body of the Demon Ancestor destroyed. Another calamity."
"None of that mattered… I, cultivating both Immortal and Demonic ways, have survived countless disasters."
"But to have someone steal a Blood Fiend Banner right from under my nose…"
"And that person was a Golden Core!"
"No matter how thorough my calculations, how could I have accounted for a Golden Core causing such havoc?" Qin Mu’s voice, calm when speaking to Head Seat Mingde earlier, now trembled with gritted teeth. He even laughed, "If not Heaven refusing to help me, what else can explain it?" ȒáＮọ𝖇Ëṧ
Zhenren Chengkong lowered his head, silently calculating—and came up with another explanation:
The first time breaking the formation—it was because of Zheng Fa’s warning.
The second time—Fairy Xie dealt the major blow, but the crucial turn still depended on Zheng Fa.
This wasn’t Heaven turning against you.
It was Zheng Fa being your bane!
Thinking this, Zhenren Chengkong found himself agreeing with the Netherworld Immortal’s earlier wariness of Zheng Fa.
Head Seat Mingde, unaware of these thoughts, loudly rebuked, "If you know Heaven’s will, do you still think you can resist?"
"Heaven’s will?" Qin Mu laughed, sweeping his gaze over the surrounding Soul Formation cultivators, "Is Heaven’s will always right?"
"Heaven’s will allowed the Tianhe Venerable to die!"
"Was that right too?"
Behind him, the sound of a sword rang out. Xie Qingxue’s face was cold as frost, her beautiful eyes sharp with killing intent, and she pointed the Qingping Sword at him, shouting, "You dare compare yourself to the Venerable Ancestor?"
"You Tianhe Sect people claim to be the true lineage of Tianhe. How am I not comparable?"
Xie Qingxue pressed her lips together, the sword aura of the Qingping Sword surging, slicing the surrounding clouds into fine threads.
Head Seat Mingde, having observed for a while and found no ambushes, finally lost patience. He reached into the Celebration Cloud, grabbed the Tranquility Bamboo, and pointed it straight at Qin Mu.
"Today, even if Heaven won’t kill you—I will!"
The surrounding Soul Formation cultivators also unleashed their powers.
Besides Xie Qingxue wielding the Qingping Sword, the Yaochi cultivator unfurled a red silk ribbon glowing like sunset, and the man from Haori Mountain drew a long bow from his back, aiming it at Qin Mu.
Zhenren Chengkong, along with two other Taishang Dao Soul Formation cultivators, gathered their auras, ready to strike.
Everyone was confident—Qin Mu, no matter how strong, was alone and wounded.
Head Seat Mingde’s strength wasn’t beneath his.
With the Tranquility Bamboo, the Qingping Sword, and overwhelming numbers, there was no reason to lose.
Yet Qin Mu still showed no fear. He looked around once more and suddenly nodded, "Tranquility Bamboo, Qingping Sword, five Soul Formation cultivators. That’s enough."
"Enough?"
Head Seat Mingde froze—and then blue-black light flashed in the distance. He looked down and realized the island was trembling—not an earthquake—
"Retreat!"
He shouted urgently.
But it was too late.
In the surrounding thousand-mile sea, seven pillars of light shot into the sky.
As the light faded, they saw that the so-called islands weren’t islands at all, but seven massive pillars standing on the sea floor, forged from black bronze, each coiled with a giant dragon carved of blue jade.
The pillars grew taller and taller, raising the sea level until sky and sea merged.
The world around them became like a giant water tank.
Head Seat Mingde and the others were engulfed in swirling water, trapped in vortices and strange currents, unable to tell direction.
"The Seven Dragons Vast Sea Formation!" cried the Yaochi cultivator. "It’s a secret formation of the dragon race—how do you know it?"
"Why do you think I came to Donghai County?"
Qin Mu’s voice drifted over, still smiling.
"The demon race!" Zhenren Chengkong exclaimed. "You got this formation from them!"
The seas held many ancient monsters with terrifying strength. Even the Five Sects didn’t dare provoke them lightly.
But—
"Why would they give you such a formation?"
That was the real question.
Qin Mu didn’t answer, clearly not planning to reveal everything.
Head Seat Mingde and the others, after regrouping, exchanged glances but were not too worried.
The formation was powerful, but even so, it had limits.
Qin Mu was wounded. Even if he weren’t, they wouldn’t fear him.
At that moment, Zhenren Chengkong suddenly realized why Qin Mu had earlier checked if Zheng Fa was present—the formation’s scope was too vast for them to escape, but if Zheng Fa were here, he might have been able to seize one of the pillars instantly, disrupting the formation.
He glanced at Head Seat Mingde—who seemed to realize the same thing, awkwardly looking away.
After a moment’s silence, Mingde turned to the Yaochi cultivator and asked, "Do you know anything about this Seven Dragons Vast Sea Formation?"
The Yaochi cultivator’s expression shifted, a hint of confusion.
"This formation has no offensive capabilities," she said.
Everyone was stunned.
"The Seven Dragons Vast Sea Formation is one of the ancient dragon race’s top trapping arrays. Its main function is to imprison the enemy."
"Imprison?" Xie Qingxue looked up sharply at the endless sea surrounding them. "His goal is Donghai County!"
"Fairy Xie is right," Qin Mu’s voice came again, as if approving. "Master, you really did bring most of your power to kill me."
"I wonder… how many Soul Formation cultivators you left outside the formation?"
Head Seat Mingde clenched his teeth, glancing at everyone else with some guilt, "I was too fixated…"
"Then break the formation!" Xie Qingxue frowned and interrupted, "Schemes are always the lesser path!"
"No…" the Yaochi cultivator said, looking grimmer, "the Seven Dragons Vast Sea Formation is unique. Without killing the one who cast it, it cannot be broken."
"…What do you mean?"
"This formation has no central core—or rather, the core is the caster themselves," she explained. "Unless the caster dies, the formation will not dissipate. Even the caster themselves cannot leave."
Zhenren Chengkong was stunned. "A suicidal formation?"
"It’s one of the ancient dragon race’s ultimate desperation methods—designed for mutual destruction."
Zhenren Chengkong immediately understood—Qin Mu hadn’t planned to survive this from the start.
Xie Qingxue frowned deeply, looking around at the boundless sea, and asked, "So unless we kill the Netherworld Immortal, we can’t escape?"
The Yaochi cultivator nodded lightly.
"Fairy Xie, otherwise how could this formation be called one of the absolute great formations?" Qin Mu said, laughing again. "I was able to obtain it by promising those demon clans—I won’t leave alive. Only then did they dare to help my sect."
"…"
As he spoke, waves of spiritual energy stirred in the distance—clearly, vast forces were emerging from the deep sea.
Only now did Zhenren Chengkong understand Qin Mu’s scheme:
He had used Head Seat Mingde’s hatred to lure the strongest forces of the Immortal Sects into the formation,
and then wagered his own life to convince the demon race Soul Formation cultivators—after all, he had killed the Yin-Yang Rakshasa;without such a pledge, the demon race would never have trusted him.
Now in Donghai County, aside from Zhenren Tongming and one Soul Formation from another sect, even counting Jiushan Sect, there were only four Soul Formation-level forces.
More importantly, the demon race likely didn’t even need to fight these few Soul Formations—their real goal was...
"To reforge the Blood Fiend Banner?"
Xie Qingxue voiced his guess.
Head Seat Mingde’s face darkened even further. He knew that at this point, his obsession with this disciple had truly cost them dearly.
"Break the formation!"
Xie Qingxue’s figure was like a sword, the Qingping Sword trembling lightly, shaking off everyone’s frustration.
She said, "If we can’t break the formation, we find the Netherworld Immortal—and kill him!"
"……"
Everyone looked around at the murky seawater enclosing them, where not even fingers were visible.
More troubling was the strange spiritual energy in the water that rendered their divine senses, spiritual vision, magic treasures, and secret arts useless—unable to discern reality from illusion.
Finding a demon cultivator adept at concealment in such a vast sea was no easy task.
Yet seeing Xie Qingxue’s iron-willed expression, the others all nodded one after another.
Xie Qingxue took the lead, but her gaze drifted toward the distant gathering demon clouds, a flicker of unease flashing through her eyes—
Had she just sent her junior brother straight into the jaws of the demon race?
…
Zheng Fa and the others were stunned as well.
They were stationed so far away—how were these demon beasts still charging toward them?
At the moment, the Sun and Moon Bell was by the coast. Zheng Fa, with Senior Sister Zhang and the others, stood in the main hall of Heavenly Palace Island, a projection screen before them, showing the chaos at sea:
hurricanes, shattered clouds, waves that reached the heavens.
Demonic energy, blood-colored skies, countless demon beasts.
They rode the waves, brandishing magical weapons, staring at the land before them.
What made Zheng Fa frown was that these demon beasts overflowed with demonic energy, very similar to the Great Freedom Demonic Sect.
He turned to the Ancestor of the Blood River and asked, "Are they cultivating Great Freedom Demonic Sect techniques?"
The Ancestor scrutinized them for a moment before nodding.
"The connection between the demon race and the Demonic Sect runs deeper than we thought."
This horde of demon beasts, all carrying demonic energy, clearly wasn’t raised in a day or two.
The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor must have long since merged forces with some demon race powers.
"I actually know a bit about this," Yan Wushuang said. "I heard rumors from the sect that although the demon race has many powerful beings, they lack a fundamental grand technique."
"Hm?"
"Which is why they’re scattered and disorganized."
"…Fundamental grand technique? What does that mean?"
Yan Wushuang shook his head, seemingly unsure himself, and said, "The Five Sects of Xuanyi, and even the Demonic Sects, all have fundamental grand techniques. Their arts align, so they work together as one."
A guess suddenly formed in Zheng Fa’s mind. He had heard before that the demon race had bloodline inheritance but was divided and scattered. Now it seemed—it was because they lacked a fundamental grand technique?
He looked at the Ancestor of the Blood River, who seemed to understand what he was thinking: "If our Holy Sect has a fundamental grand technique, it would be the Saint Ancestor’s bloodline transmission."
Upon hearing this, everyone frowned deeply.
This was bad.
If the demon race lacked a fundamental grand technique—and the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor found a way to mix his bloodline with theirs—
Then the demon race could cultivate the Great Freedom Demonic Sect’s arts, unifying without inner conflict.
Meanwhile, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor would gain countless followers, growing his power explosively.
In that case, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor’s biological experiments… were terrifyingly successful!
Maybe those supposedly perverse demonic ancestors experimenting with plant enhancement weren’t just perverts.
Uh, still pretty perverted though.
Thinking about how he himself was using the Ancestor of the Blood River, Zheng Fa suddenly felt he and the Demon Ancestor had some things in common…
But setting aside speculation, the immediate problem was—the demon beasts seemed to be charging straight at them!
By the coast, some fishermen were out on boats, casting nets at sea.
Now, with the sudden arrival of the demon race, the surging waves capsized their vessels. Countless fishermen were swept into the roaring sea, staring in despair as the monsters grew closer.
But surprisingly, although the demon beasts looked at the bloodied mortals with hunger in their eyes, not one attacked. They only captured the fishermen and tossed them aside in a heap.
Seeing this, Zheng Fa grew anxious. He pointed at the Sun and Moon Bell—and a thunderous forest of lightning sprang up, blocking the demon horde.
It was all too obvious why the demon beasts spared the mortals—
To forge Blood Fiend Banners!
Zheng Fa had already intended to rescue the mortals. Now, it was absolutely necessary!
He commanded the Sun and Moon Bell, firing hundreds of lightning bolts into the demon horde.
Senior Sister Zhang, needing no instruction, revealed herself as well. Her Jiushan transformed into a shield of light, enveloping the fishermen and ferrying them inland.
The mortals, once landed, were still in a daze—many knelt and kowtowed to the drifting figure of Senior Sister Zhang in the sky.
Zheng Fa and the others’ swift action had unexpectedly saved more than half of the fishermen, forcing the demon horde to halt their advance.
"Who dares block my sons!"
From within the demon ranks, a voice roared like a hurricane.
The demon beasts parted, and a blue-faced man in silver armor strode forward on the waves.
His eyes were yellow with slit pupils, and he wielded a long halberd—not like a cultivator, more like a mortal general.
Yet no one in Jiushan Sect dared underestimate him.
For he emanated the aura of a Soul Formation cultivator.
What shocked Zheng Fa and the others even more was that this man also cultivated the Great Freedom Demonic Sect's arts—
He was clearly a Great Freedom Demonic Sect Soul Formation cultivator!
This meant the influence of the Demon Ancestor on the demon race was far deeper than they had realized.
Zheng Fa even had a chilling thought—the sea-dwelling demon race might have been the first to join the Great Freedom Demonic Sect, while those they had encountered before were just later experiments.
He couldn't help but glance at the Ancestor of the Blood River.
The Ancestor was stunned, muttering after a long while, "…I didn’t know about this!"
"……"
Judging from his expression, he probably wasn’t lying.
Soon, Zheng Fa understood why the Ancestor of the Blood River didn’t know.
Because from within the demon horde, three more Soul Formation cultivators emerged—all emanating the Great Freedom Demonic Sect's aura.
Zheng Fa secretly calculated.
Cultivating this many Soul Formation cultivators, not counting the experimental process, couldn’t have been accomplished in just ten thousand years.
The Ancestor of the Blood River—probably wasn’t old enough to know.
By now, Zhenren Chengkong finally understood Qin Mu’s scheme:
He had used Head Seat Mingde’s hatred to lure the strongest of the Immortal Sects into the formation,
and then wagered his own life to convince the demon race’s Soul Formation cultivators—after all, he had killed the Yin-Yang Rakshasa;without such a pledge, the demon race would not have trusted him.
Now in Donghai County, counting Zhenren Tongming and another Soul Formation cultivator from another sect, plus Jiushan Sect, they had at most four Soul Formation-level powers.
More importantly, the demon race probably didn’t even need to fight these Soul Formations—their real goal was...
"To reforge the Blood Fiend Banner?"
Xie Qingxue voiced the guess.
Head Seat Mingde’s expression darkened further. He understood well that by this point, his obsession with his former disciple had indeed ruined the greater plan.
"Break the formation!"
Xie Qingxue’s figure was like a sword, the Qingping Sword lightly humming, shaking off the despair from everyone’s hearts.
She said, "If we can’t break the formation, we find the Netherworld Immortal—and kill him!"
"……"
Everyone looked around at the vast sea, where the murky water enveloped them so completely that not even fingers could be seen.
Most troubling was the strange spiritual energy in the seawater, which rendered their divine senses, spiritual eyes, magic treasures, and secret arts useless—making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.
Finding a demon cultivator skilled in concealment in such a vast domain would not be quick or easy.
Yet seeing Xie Qingxue’s iron-willed brows, the others all nodded determinedly.
Xie Qingxue took the lead, though she glanced toward the distant demon clouds gathering on the horizon, a flicker of worry in her heart—
Had she just delivered her junior brother straight into the demon race’s jaws?
…
Zheng Fa and the others were stunned too.
They were stationed so far away—how were the demon beasts still charging toward them?
At this moment, the Sun and Moon Bell was stationed near the coast. Zheng Fa, together with Senior Sister Zhang and others, stood inside the main hall of Heavenly Palace Island, facing a large projection screen that displayed the chaos at sea:
hurricanes, shattered clouds, giant waves towering skyward.
Demonic energy, blood-red skies, an endless swarm of demon beasts.
They rode the waves, brandishing magical weapons, staring menacingly toward the shore.
What made Zheng Fa frown was that these demon beasts’ bodies overflowed with demonic energy, strikingly similar to that of the Great Freedom Demonic Sect.
He turned to the Ancestor of the Blood River and asked, "Are they cultivating Great Freedom Demonic Sect techniques?"
The Ancestor scrutinized for a while before nodding.
"The ties between the demon race and the Demonic Sect are deeper than we thought."
This horde of demon beasts, all radiating demonic energy, was clearly not something nurtured overnight.
The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor had probably long since merged forces with some demon race powers.
"I actually heard a little about this," Yan Wushuang added, "I heard some rumors in the sect, saying although the demon race has many powerful beings, they lack a fundamental grand technique."
"Hm?"
"Which is why they’re disorganized."
"…Fundamental grand technique? What exactly does that mean?"
Yan Wushuang shook his head, clearly unsure, and explained, "The Five Sects of Xuanyi, and even the Demonic Sects, all have fundamental grand techniques. Their arts connect them, so they work together as one."
A guess suddenly flashed through Zheng Fa’s mind.
Previously, he had heard people say that though the demon race had bloodline inheritances, they were scattered and divided. Now it seemed—the root cause was the lack of a fundamental grand technique.
He looked at the Ancestor of the Blood River.
The Ancestor seemed to understand and explained, "If our Holy Sect has a fundamental grand technique, it would be the Saint Ancestor’s bloodline inheritance."
Hearing this, everyone’s faces darkened.
This was truly bad news.
If the demon race lacked a fundamental grand technique—but the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor found a way to mix his bloodline with theirs—
then the demon race would be able to cultivate his arts, unify, and eliminate internal strife.
Meanwhile, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor would gain countless new followers, massively boosting his power.
In that case, the Great Freedom Demonic Sect’s biological experiments… had terrifyingly succeeded!
Maybe those demonic experts who had once experimented on plants weren’t merely perverted.
Uh, still quite perverted.
Thinking about his own use of the Ancestor of the Blood River, Zheng Fa couldn’t help but feel a strange kinship with the Demon Ancestor...
But speculation aside, the immediate problem was—these demon beasts were charging straight toward them!
On the coast, there were fishermen working at sea.
When the demon race surged forward, the raging waves capsized their boats. Countless fishermen were tossed into the sea, staring in despair as the monsters approached.
Surprisingly, though the demon beasts looked hungrily at the mortals, none attacked them. Instead, they captured them alive and piled them up together.
Seeing this, Zheng Fa’s heart tightened.
He pointed at the Sun and Moon Bell—and a thunderous forest of lightning rose up, blocking the demon horde.
It was all too obvious—
These mortals were being saved for refining Blood Fiend Banners!
Zheng Fa had already intended to save the mortals. Now it was unavoidable.
He commanded the Sun and Moon Bell, firing hundreds of thunderbolts into the demon army.
Senior Sister Zhang reacted instantly. Manifesting her Jiushan into a protective shield, she wrapped the mortals within it and carried them inland.
When the mortals landed, many were still dazed—some even knelt and kowtowed to the floating figure of Senior Sister Zhang in the sky.
Zheng Fa and his team’s sudden move saved more than half of the fishermen, forcing the demon beasts to halt in confusion.
"Who dares block my sons!"
From within the demon horde, a voice like a raging hurricane boomed out.
The demon army parted, and a blue-faced man in silver armor strode forward, stepping on the waves.
His eyes were yellow with narrow pupils, and he carried a long halberd—not like a cultivator, more like a mortal general.
Yet no one from Jiushan Sect dared underestimate him.
Because the aura of Soul Formation pulsed from him.
What shocked Zheng Fa and the others even more—this man also cultivated Great Freedom Demonic Sect techniques—he was unmistakably a Soul Formation cultivator of the Great Freedom Demonic Sect!
This proved the influence of the Demon Ancestor on the demon race was far deeper than they had realized.
Zheng Fa even had a chilling realization—the sea-dwelling demon clans were probably the Demon Ancestor’s earliest collaborators.
The others encountered before were probably later-stage experiments.
He couldn’t help but glance at the Ancestor of the Blood River again.
The Ancestor looked dumbfounded, stammering after a while, "…I really didn’t know!"
"……"
Judging by his expression, he probably wasn’t lying.
A moment later, Zheng Fa understood why.
Because from within the demon horde, three more Soul Formation cultivators appeared—
all radiating the unmistakable aura of the Great Freedom Demonic Sect.
Zheng Fa did a quick calculation.
Without counting the time spent experimenting, cultivating this many Soul Formation cultivators would take far more than ten thousand years.
The Ancestor of the Blood River—
was probably too young to have known.
