I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 275Book 2: : Darkness and Dawn, The Melon’s Pretty Sweet
Vol 2 Chapter 275: Darkness and Dawn, The Melon’s Pretty Sweet
“Brother Zheng! My Senior Sister already knows about the Jiushan Golden Core Method—be careful!”
Zheng Fa looked at Yan Wushuang’s urgent message in the Creation Jade Slip, then glanced at Xie Qingxue standing before him with a murderous look, and couldn’t help thinking Yan Wushuang’s warning was a bit late.
Or maybe Xie Qingxue had just rushed over too quickly—so fast that the urgent message lagged behind.
Yan Wushuang had signed a pile of confidentiality agreements. If he was still alive and kicking, he likely hadn’t leaked the content of the Jiushan Golden Core Method.
But the fact that he had helped Jiushan Sect research the Jiushan Golden Core Method—wasn’t covered by those agreements.
Thinking again about the previous resonance between the Qingping Sword and himself, and looking at Xie Qingxue’s expression, Zheng Fa could guess where this grudge was coming from…
It was so deep even Zhenren Chengkong nearby sensed something was wrong. He quietly stepped between them, as if afraid they’d start a fight.
“Qingxue, did you come to see Zheng Fa?”
He asked, though he already knew the answer. Among these Soul Formation cultivators, he and Xie Qingxue were the closest—after all, he’d met her in her youth, and she had always regarded him as a senior.
But this time, Xie Qingxue’s tone was ten times colder than usual:
“Yes.”
Zhenren Chengkong glanced at Zheng Fa, forced a smile, and said, “Did Zheng Fa do something to offend you?”
Clearly, he was trying to smooth things over a bit.
“No...” Xie Qingxue bared her teeth in a smile that wasn’t a smile, glaring at Zheng Fa, and said word by word, “I should be thanking Sect Master Zheng...”
That word “thanking” carried an extra heavy weight!
Zhenren Chengkong’s smile froze. The vibe was definitely wrong. He wanted to say something more, but Zheng Fa spoke first: “Zhenren, I believe Fairy Xie has something she wants to tell me alone.”
Zhenren Chengkong turned to look at him and saw Zheng Fa nodding gratefully, with a smile that showed confidence, not worry—he clearly had things under control.
So Zhenren Chengkong had no choice but to back off, though he secretly transmitted,
“Qingxue has been hot-tempered since childhood. If it’s nothing serious, just humor her a little.”
Zheng Fa nodded, then gestured toward the entrance of Jiushan Realm behind him, certain that Xie Qingxue wouldn’t want to discuss this in public.
Sure enough, she followed him in without hesitation.
As they walked, Zheng Fa heard another transmission from Zhenren Chengkong: “If it really comes to a fight, send a message—we’ll help mediate.”
Clearly, Xie Qingxue’s pitch-black expression had given Zhenren Chengkong all sorts of bad ideas.
Zheng Fa glanced at Xie Qingxue, smiling.
Creak... creak...
A strange grinding noise made Zheng Fa look around, until he realized it was Xie Qingxue grinding her teeth.
She had been staring at him furiously, and seeing him smile only made her angrier—the grinding noise was literal.
They walked one after the other into Zheng Fa’s courtyard. Once they were finally alone, Xie Qingxue raised the Qingping Sword and pointed it straight at him, her eyes fierce and voice cold: “Jiushan Golden Core Method?” ℝ₳Ŋ𝖔𝐁Еṧ
Not waiting for a response, she rattled off like a cannon: “Able to resonate with the Qingping Sword—Jiushan Golden Core Method? Don’t make me laugh!”
“From the very start, luring my junior brother in must have been for the Tianhe Sect’s secret techniques!”
“And now that you’ve obtained the Tianhe Sword Dao, you talk about the Jiushan Golden Core Method?”
“What a grand joke upon the entire Xuanyi Realm!”
Zheng Fa couldn’t help but laugh harder: “Fairy Xie, the way you think about this, it makes it sound like I deliberately befriended Brother Yan just for the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.”
“Isn’t that the case?”
Xie Qingxue sneered.
“Fairy Xie, you think too poorly of me...”
Xie Qingxue’s sneer only deepened.
“And too little of your junior brother...”
Before she could reply, Zheng Fa hesitated, then added, “Well, maybe just a little.”
“...”
They both fell silent for a moment, then Zheng Fa continued, “Brother Yan is no fool. You know full well whether he’d leak the sect’s secret techniques.”
Xie Qingxue’s expression softened slightly. She scanned the area with her divine sense, confirming they were truly alone before she finally said, “He doesn’t know, but I do... the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method isn’t entirely unknown outside the sect.”
Zheng Fa immediately understood—she was referring to the mountain stone.
That so-called inheritance of the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method carved into the mountain—though not even the table of contents was there—seemed to be what Xie Qingxue believed held the complete method.
Or perhaps the Five Sects of Xuanyi didn’t know the truth about that stone either.
Zheng Fa’s thoughts stirred. This might be the perfect time to clear Jiushan’s name. He said directly: “Didn’t Brother Yan tell you? Our Jiushan Golden Core Method only draws inspiration from the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method. It was developed entirely by ourselves.”
Xie Qingxue merely smirked, her face written with disbelief. She even glanced at the Qingping Sword, as if saying, “A technique that can resonate with the Qingping Sword, how could it have nothing to do with the Tianhe Sect?”
Zheng Fa glanced at the Qingping Sword, eyes flickering, just about to speak—when he heard Xie Qingxue say coldly: “If he says it, I might believe a little.”
“But do you think my Sect Master would believe it? Would the elders of the Tianhe Sect believe it?”
She paused, letting her words sink in before continuing, “A cultivation method outside the Tianhe Sect that resonates with the Qingping Sword—in the eyes of my elders, even if it’s not the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method, it is the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.”
It was an absurd argument, but absurdly real—and Zheng Fa had no rebuttal. Then Xie Qingxue continued:
“Offending the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor? That’s still minor.”
“Holding the Tranquility Bamboo, provoking Leiyin Temple? Still manageable.”
“But the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method is worth ten or even a hundred times more to the Tianhe Sect than the Tranquility Bamboo is to Leiyin Temple. And it’s tied to the Qingping Sword.”
Xie Qingxue stared at Zheng Fa’s face, speaking slowly and clearly:
“So tell me—will Taishang Dao and the others really fight three great powers for your sake?”
Zheng Fa didn’t need to think—the answer was obvious.
He looked at Xie Qingxue and asked, “So what does Fairy Xie want, then?”
“Jiushan Sect must never use the Jiushan Golden Core Method again.”
Zheng Fa wasn’t surprised. Back when he activated the Jiushan Golden Core Method and triggered the Qingping Sword’s resonance, Xie Qingxue had been nearly powerless to respond.
Of course she feared this technique.
Of course the Tianhe Sect feared it.
“And I want the Jiushan Golden Core Method.”
“...Fairy Xie, don’t you think those two demands are a bit much?”
“This concerns my sect’s legacy...” Xie Qingxue looked at Zheng Fa and suddenly smiled. “If an elder had come instead of me, they’d probably be even more excessive.”
Zheng Fa nodded, sighing as if helpless.
What she said was true. The Five Sects of Xuanyi weren’t known for fairness. Zheng Fa’s current prestige had been earned through grit—thanks to Jiushan Realm’s unprecedented strength and contributions.
But... the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method was a taboo too heavy.
“Well?”
“If someone else from the Tianhe Sect came, I don’t know what they’d do. But I do have something I want to tell them.” Zheng Fa looked at Xie Qingxue and slowly spoke the next two lines:
“‘Raise the sword through a man. From darkness, light returns.’”
Xie Qingxue’s pupils trembled. She gasped, “You!”
“The Tianhe Ancestor had seven disciples. One died young. Of the remaining six, five betrayed him. Thus came the Five Lineages of Tianhe.”
“But no one knew—the third disciple who betrayed the earliest… was actually the most loyal one…”
Zheng Fa looked at the Qingping Sword, his tone unconsciously carrying a sigh: “I don’t understand the core essence of the Tianhe Sect’s techniques, but the method practiced by the third disciple’s lineage… probably wasn’t for making oneself powerful, was it?”
The more Zheng Fa spoke, the more complicated Xie Qingxue’s expression became. She gripped the Qingping Sword, her face full of killing intent, but Zheng Fa wasn’t worried at all, instead saying slowly, “Setting aside whether Fairy Xie even can silence me within my Jiushan Realm…”
“Is this Qingping Sword going to listen to you, or to me?”
Xie Qingxue stayed silent for a while, then slowly released the hilt of the sword, as if finally accepting the reality.
She sighed:
“Among the five lineages of Tianhe, all use humans to control swords—only the Shouzhong Patriarch’s line… uses the sword to control people.”
“Shouzhong Patriarch?”
“That’s the third disciple you mentioned.” Xie Qingxue seemed to realize she couldn’t do anything to Zheng Fa, and instead began explaining, “His Daoist title was Shouzhong. Among the Tianhe Ancestor’s seven disciples, he was the most mild-mannered and the least talented. But back then, the Tianhe Ancestor once said: ‘The one who carries my ambition is Pengfei. The one who carries my Dao is Shouzhong.’”
“Pengfei… was probably the Tianhe disciple you encountered earlier.”
That Tianhe disciple they met before the bronze tower—likely the very one Xie Qingxue was talking about.
Xie Qingxue continued, “The Shouzhong Patriarch rebelled with his fellow disciples, but he had his own plans.”
“These plans… involved the Qingping Sword?”
“Yes…” Xie Qingxue lowered her eyes and gave a bitter laugh. “His thinking was simple—at the time, the Tianhe Ancestor was besieged by all sides. Helping him directly was futile. But maybe… by holding onto the Qingping Sword, he could leave the Ancestor a sliver of hope.”
“But they say Dao Fruits can’t die… and yet the Qingping Sword seems to have lost the Ancestor’s spirit long ago.”
Her words confirmed the images Zheng Fa had seen inside the Qingping Sword. Simply put, the Qingping Sword was one of the Tianhe Ancestor’s Dao Fruits—possibly containing his spiritual imprint, or even a path to resurrection.
Like how the Ancestor of the Blood River revived inside Jiushan Realm.
This Shouzhong Patriarch held that hope. When he realized the Ancestor hadn’t revived in the Qingping Sword, he even used his own body to nourish it. In essence, not unlike what Senior Sister Zhang had done for the Jiushan Ancestor—except she didn’t intend to restore the Jiushan Ancestor’s intelligence, while the Shouzhong Patriarch clearly did.
“To raise the sword through a person—that’s the essence of Shouzhong Patriarch’s lineage. To pass down the Qingping Sword, one needs both talent, or it won’t be nourished… and patience.”
Zheng Fa nodded lightly. Not to mention Xie Qingxue, even that Shouzhong Patriarch himself—on one hand committing the greatest betrayal in the Xuanyi Realm, on the other hand hiding his true purpose, waiting for the next wielder of the Qingping Sword to appear. From the start, he had accepted “success doesn’t need to be mine.”
Such tenacity, Zheng Fa found himself slightly admiring.
“‘From darkness, light returns’—that’s…” Xie Qingxue lowered her eyes to look at the Qingping Sword, her voice soft, “The Ancestor once said, when the light of the Qingping Sword once again pierces the Xuanyi Realm with icy brilliance, that will be the day of his return.”
Zheng Fa slowly sorted through all of this.
Like Xie Qingxue’s oddities, her unusually deep knowledge of the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.
A technique that demanded so much from the start—of course it would risk extinction within the Tianhe Sect.
“Fairy Xie, you too… are nourishing the sword with yourself?”
Zheng Fa suddenly asked.
“Yes… the other four lineages of the Tianhe Sect use sword techniques with the cultivator as the core, but the Shouzhong Patriarch’s line… puts the sword first.”
Xie Qingxue sighed again, “If not, how could you have gotten the better of me?”
Zheng Fa felt she was truly a bit unlucky—this method wasn’t a problem most of the time. After all, the Qingping Sword had no real spirit, stayed cold and aloof, never responding to anyone.
But of all people… Xie Qingxue met Zheng Fa. The Qingping Sword met Zheng Fa—no, met the Jiushan Golden Core Method. And it trembled three times a day.
Now it seemed, the Qingping Sword was the Dao Fruit formed from the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method itself, which was why it resonated so well with the current Jiushan Golden Core Method. And in this way—Xie Qingxue’s cultivation technique had basically locked her in!
To be objective, most of the Qingping Sword’s power just now came from the sword itself, with a smaller part from Xie Qingxue’s deep spiritual power.
Zheng Fa… had merely circulated the Jiushan Golden Core Method a couple of times.
“Zheng Fa…” Xie Qingxue’s voice was soft, her tone unusually gentle. “I’ve thought about it. With your talent, it’s perfectly normal for you to create a Jiushan Golden Core Method.”
“Hm?”
“I say… the Jiushan Golden Core Method has nothing to do with the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method! Even before the elders, I will argue this on your behalf!”
She said this with firm conviction.
Zheng Fa looked at her serious face… and suddenly laughed.
“...”
“Fairy Xie, you wouldn’t want your status as a Tianhe traitor known by your elders, would you?”
“...” Xie Qingxue pressed her lips together, fists clenched, looking like she might just fight him bare-handed.
“What do you want?” 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
“I was just thinking… I quite like using the Qingping Sword.”
“That is the Tianhe Sect’s supreme treasure!” Xie Qingxue immediately said.
“Of course, of course,” Zheng Fa said leisurely. “Naturally it’s your sword. But… I’ll borrow it now and then.”
Xie Qingxue immediately understood: “You mean… my sword, my spiritual power, and you’re going to use it?”
“Mm.”
“What am I—your sword spirit or something?”
“...I never said that.”
“...”
Zhenren Chengkong sat in his room, a little worried. As for Xie Qingxue’s temperament—well, not terrible, but the typical pride of a big sect’s prodigy was there.
And with that look on her face earlier, she clearly went to cause trouble for Zheng Fa.
Granted, within Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa might not fear her, but offending the Tianhe Sect was never ideal.
Or maybe, if he helped out a bit… perhaps Zheng Fa might actually warm up to them?
So he kept his divine sense locked on the edge of Jiushan Realm, waiting to see what would happen. After a long time, Xie Qingxue and Zheng Fa finally walked out side by side.
And as soon as he saw their expressions—he was puzzled.
Zheng Fa still had that same warm, gentle smile, even softer than before.
Xie Qingxue… looked utterly lost, dazed, like a mortal woman who had lost her honor with nowhere to turn—truly pitiful.
He looked back and forth several times, frowning slightly.
“Chengkong, what are you looking at? What’s with that face? What did Zheng Fa say?”
Zhenren Mingde had just come to find him and saw him deep in thought with a baffled expression.
“I think… I saw a melon twist itself up and roll right into Zheng Fa’s hands…” Zhenren Chengkong looked once more at Zheng Fa’s expression and nodded firmly. “It’s probably a very sweet melon.”
