I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 276Book 2: : Something’s Off, Looks Familiar

Vol 2 Chapter 276: Something’s Off, Looks Familiar

Yan Wushuang sighed repeatedly in the courtyard. Though Mount Tongming had collapsed, rebuilding a courtyard was but a moment’s work for a Soul Formation cultivator. This courtyard was casually constructed by Xie Qingxue—white walls, black tiles, and still spotless and new.

This color... looked just like his face: pale and greenish.

"Why am I so scared of Senior Sister?" He swung his legs back and forth while pacing the yard, muttering under his breath. But thinking of how Senior Sister had looked just moments ago, holding her sword and ready to cut him down, he comforted himself, "Not being able to handle it... is pretty normal, right?"

He walked while glancing toward the direction of the Jiushan Realm, but didn’t dare take a step.

It was clear that Senior Sister was truly furious this time. The way she had stormed out—it seemed like her anger wasn’t entirely because of the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method...

If he followed her, he might just make things worse. Thinking that, he could only look outside the courtyard helplessly:

"Let’s just hope Zheng Fa can handle it..."

...

Xie Qingxue’s figure soon appeared at the courtyard gate. Yan Wushuang looked at his Senior Sister in confusion.

Her face looked even paler—and greener—than his own!

“Senior Sister?”

“......”

Xie Qingxue didn’t respond.

Yan Wushuang grew even more puzzled and worried. In just a few hours, he had imagined ten thousand possible scenarios. But the look on Senior Sister’s face now was far beyond anything he had imagined—completely incomprehensible.

Could she have been wronged in the Jiushan Realm?

What did Zheng Fa do to her?

“Senior Sister?”

He raised his voice a little.

Only then did Xie Qingxue seem to hear his call. She slowly raised her head, then suddenly seemed to remember something. Her eyes locked onto Yan Wushuang, and she hit him with a completely unexpected question:

"Why didn’t you stop me?"

“......”

Yan Wushuang glanced down at his scrawny arms and legs, then looked at the Qingping Sword at Senior Sister’s waist. He opened his mouth but couldn’t say a single word.

"Because you’re scared of dying."

Yan Wushuang immediately nodded.

"Then if you’d bashed your head on the Qingping Sword, I wouldn’t have gone looking for Zheng Fa, would I?"

Yan Wushuang heard that and felt even his Golden Core trembling. His voice trembled as well: "Senior Sister, what did you say?"

But Xie Qingxue seemed unwilling to answer. She simply turned and looked toward the Jiushan Realm, letting out a long sigh, filled with regret and frustration.

Seeing this, Yan Wushuang’s heart thudded hard. He suddenly felt like something really must have gone terribly wrong with Senior Sister’s trip.

“Senior Sister, if Zheng Fa did something...” He paused. “It was probably a misunderstanding. That Nine-Turn Golden Core Method...”

Whoosh!

A streak of sword qi zipped past Yan Wushuang’s chin, slicing off a strand of his hair. He froze in place.

“Se... Senior Sister?”

Xie Qingxue stared at him, her face stern and dark, and said: "Why can’t you just keep that mouth of yours shut?"

Yan Wushuang didn’t dare speak. He could only listen as Senior Sister continued:

"If you keep talking nonsense like this, going around mentioning the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method, the Qingping Sword, or any other such nonsense—what if you expose the Jiushan Realm’s secrets?"

He blinked. Somehow, something about that didn’t sound quite right.

Xie Qingxue added:

"If you can’t keep secrets in front of me, you’ll surely slip up in front of others."

"If one day, in the Tianhe Sect, you act the same way, and the sect starts questioning him—how’s Zheng Fa supposed to deal with that?"

The more Yan Wushuang listened, the stranger his expression became. Finally, he couldn’t help but speak:

“Senior Sister... you’re from the Tianhe Sect. You’re my Senior Sister, not Zheng Fa’s...”

“......”

“Why are you so worried about him?”

Xie Qingxue’s face darkened. She gritted her teeth and said: "If you dare leak a single secret of the Jiushan Realm ever again..."

She let out a cold laugh. Yan Wushuang felt a chill run down his back. When he turned his head, he saw that the house he had just built had already turned to ash—not even a single brick left behind.

...

Yan Wushuang was now certain—his Senior Sister was acting seriously off.

In the Jiushan Realm, he watched with his own eyes as Xie Qingxue and Zheng Fa were passionately discussing the future of the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method.

He could even tell—Senior Sister was more invested than Zheng Fa.

Watching for a while, a question suddenly struck him—

If Senior Sister was on the project... what was he even needed for?

Once that thought took hold, looking at Senior Sister’s face again just made his eyes hurt.

But Xie Qingxue paid this Junior Brother no mind at all. She was busy discussing a particular issue with Zheng Fa—

Was the Qingping Sword reacting to all cultivators who practiced the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method, or only to Zheng Fa, as the first person to cultivate it?

Zheng Fa was curious too:

To him, of course it’d be best if only he could resonate with the Qingping Sword—just because anyone can use it doesn’t mean everyone should be able to.

To Xie Qingxue... the same.

Being a sword spirit was bad enough.

If she had to share the sword spirit, they might as well just let the Tianhe elders kill her off with a bang.

After several tests, they discovered: both were true.

On one hand, the Qingping Sword had clearly been waiting for a method like the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method. For the first person to use it, the resonance was particularly strong.

On the other hand, each subsequent use of the method still triggered a reaction in the sword, just less intense.

Back when they fought the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor, it had only been thanks to Xie Qingxue’s intent aligning with Zheng Fa’s and the Qingping Sword’s that they’d unleashed maximum power.

Zheng Fa and Xie Qingxue had reached a sort of terrifying balance—no, understanding:

Xie Qingxue needed Zheng Fa to keep her secret.

Zheng Fa was very drawn to the Qingping Sword—

Just as Xie Qingxue had said, even if the Tianhe Sect wasn’t an issue, the threats of Leiyin Temple and the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor couldn’t be ignored by the Jiushan Realm either.

Everyone else assumed Zheng Fa would side with one of the Five Sects of Xuanyi, but in his heart, he still intended to remain independent:

And independence required strength.

Xie Qingxue and the Qingping Sword, delivered right to his door—

How could they not count as Jiushan Realm’s strength?

Besides, for Zheng Fa, if anyone ever said again that the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method wasn’t original...

Xie Qingxue would kill them herself!

...

Xie Qingxue joining the Jiushan Realm clearly had its benefits—just as Yan Wushuang had thought. Her understanding of the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method was on a completely different level than his.

"Shouzhong Patriarch’s lineage might be the one within the Tianhe Sect with the deepest research into the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method." As Xie Qingxue spoke, the Qingping Sword in her hand gave a flick, and the four-finger-wide blade condensed into a strand of fine green silk, barely visible to the naked eye, disappearing before everyone’s eyes.

Zheng Fa spread his divine sense, but couldn’t locate even a trace of the sword.

After a moment, a trembling voice reached his ears—Yan Wushuang: "Se... Senior Sister..."

Zheng Fa turned and saw Yan Wushuang’s hair in disarray, the star crown atop his head cracked cleanly in two, the fracture perfectly smooth.

Yan Wushuang’s eyes were fixed on the Qingping Sword in Xie Qingxue’s hand—he clearly knew who had struck.

This strike had happened right before them, yet no one, including Zheng Fa, had seen how Xie Qingxue had cut Yan Wushuang’s star crown.

And it must be noted: while Zheng Fa was still far from the Soul Formation stage, as the master of a Cave-Heaven in the Jiushan Realm, his senses surpassed even some Soul Formation cultivators. For something to evade his perception meant this strike could likely deceive most Soul Formation experts.

It was truly formless and traceless!

Zheng Fa shook his head inwardly. Yan Wushuang... his mouth really was too loose. A reminder was definitely in order.

That big mouth wasn’t much of a problem for Zheng Fa right now—but for Xie Qingxue, it was a major issue.

Which was why, for the past two days, Xie Qingxue had been looking for a chance to “take care” of him...

Zheng Fa set the matter aside and said in surprise, "Refining the sword into silk?"

Even Yan Wushuang forgot his fear for a moment, staring wide-eyed at Xie Qingxue. Xie Qingxue nodded: "This was something Shouzhong Patriarch comprehended from the Qingping Sword."

"So... even the disciples of the Tianhe Patriarch never inherited the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method?"

Zheng Fa suddenly realized something.

Anyone else might fear that cultivating the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method would bring the Tianhe Patriarch back to life.

But the Third Disciple, Shouzhong, absolutely wasn’t like that—he wanted to resurrect his Master!

"Seems that’s the case." Xie Qingxue looked meaningfully at Zheng Fa and said, "Otherwise, why do you think this method is so special?"

Zheng Fa understood—she was referring again to the incident with the mountain stone.

He didn’t mind: "Fairy Xie, weren’t you the one who said the Jiushan Golden Core Method has nothing to do with the Nine-Turn Golden Core Method?"

Xie Qingxue pursed her lips and glanced at Zheng Fa’s fearless face, then turned her eyes toward Yan Wushuang, as if wondering when she should smack this Junior Brother again.

With Xie Qingxue’s help—especially with the revelation of Refining Sword into Silk—Zheng Fa’s research into the Jiushan Golden Core Method entered a new phase.

Xie Qingxue was, after all, a Soul Formation cultivator with deep familiarity with the Qingping Sword. From her perspective, there were many imperfections in the Jiushan Golden Core Method. After correcting them one by one, Zheng Fa activated the method again and felt that its efficiency and power had risen to a whole new level.

Very soon, Zheng Fa and the others had deduced the method to the Fourth Turn—the stage of forming the Five Elements. All that remained was experimental verification.

But as fast as the Jiushan Golden Core Method progressed, something else progressed even faster: the cultivation of the Fusang Tree!

Zheng Fa received a message from Zhenren Qian and rushed to the herb garden, where he found a group of people gathered around the spiritual mulberry tree—no, it seemed to have changed again. The trunk had doubled in thickness, and the mulberry leaves were now alight with golden flame.

Zheng Fa looked toward Senior Sister Zhang, who held a Blessing Bead in her hand. Faint rainbow light shimmered on the bead, from which came the sound of Buddhist chanting.

The Sun and Moon Bell stood at the center of the herb garden, its interior ringing softly as sun, moon, and stars spun around it, seeming to absorb and emit the bead’s radiance.

With each chime of the bell, the spiritual mulberry slowly extended its branches, sprouted new shoots, and bloomed with a strange flower.

The tree bore only one flower, perched atop its highest branch. The golden petals were etched with fine violet patterns—noble and mysterious.

"What’s going on?"

He turned to ask Senior Sister Zhang.

"Tranquility Bamboo..." Senior Sister Zhang pointed to the other side of the garden, "The Tranquility Bamboo is... uneasy."

"Uneasy?"

Zheng Fa followed her finger and saw the Tranquility Bamboo trembling uncontrollably, its leaves rustling sharply—just like she’d said: uneasy.

Not just uneasy, but even repelled.

As the master of the Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa could sense it: the Tranquility Bamboo seemed to be absorbing the spiritual energy of the garden—and especially that near the spiritual mulberry.

Xie Qingxue, who had come with them, suddenly said, "A single Cave-Heaven world cannot contain two Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Roots."

Zheng Fa’s eyes lit up.

He understood instantly—the Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Roots seemed to have territorial instincts. Not only did they dislike similar roots, but now that the Tranquility Bamboo occupied the Jiushan Sect, it was even repelling another root!

"So... the Fusang Tree is about to succeed?"

Zheng Fa turned to look at Xie Qingxue. She nodded, but her expression was more complex than before. Her gaze landed on the spiritual mulberry, her eyes showing a mix of joy and sorrow.

Yan Wushuang felt that—for some reason—his Senior Sister’s gaze at him... had turned a little gentle? Maybe even grateful?

Zheng Fa didn’t have time to wonder about Xie Qingxue’s feelings. He leaned closer to the lone flower bud on the spiritual mulberry and studied it for a while, then asked Zhenren Qian: "Why hasn’t it borne fruit?"

Zhenren Qian frowned, clearly having already noticed the issue. He cupped his hands to Zheng Fa and said smoothly, "We have two guesses."

"One is that due to suppression by the Tranquility Bamboo, the Jiushan Realm cannot sustain another Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Root like the Fusang Tree."

"The other... is that something’s still missing."

After hearing Zhenren Qian’s theory, Zheng Fa nodded slightly and began to ponder.

Judging by the Tranquility Bamboo’s behavior, the first possibility seemed highly likely.

He even thought: it was precisely the Tranquility Bamboo’s rejection of the Fusang Tree that had blocked the latter’s fruiting.

"Spiritual energy?"

No one understood what he meant, but Senior Sister Zhang answered directly: "I tried supplementing the tree with the Mountain and River Seal. While the mulberry grew thicker, it still showed no sign of bearing fruit."

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then heard Xie Qingxue say: "Why not move the tree to the Xuanyi Realm and try there?"

At those words, everyone in the Jiushan Sect shook their heads.

What a joke!

If it failed, wouldn’t that expose the tree’s secret?

The Tranquility Bamboo was already attracting enough greed—let alone an unfinished Fusang Tree, which lacked its powers.

Worse yet, if the Fusang Tree successfully took root in the Xuanyi Realm, the trouble might be even bigger—right now, even Senior Sister Zhang kept the Tranquility Bamboo from leaving the Jiushan Realm, for fear of theft.

"Then where else are you going to find another world?"

Xie Qingxue seemed to understand their hesitation and sighed helplessly.

Everyone looked at each other—at a loss for options. Only Zheng Fa seemed thoughtful. He reached out and placed a hand on the spiritual mulberry. In that instant, the Fusang Tree inside his body trembled.

The Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant in his sea of consciousness dropped into his dantian and began to spin.

The flower atop the mulberry instantly bloomed. A speck of red light burst forth from the blossom, shot into Zheng Fa’s dantian, and exploded.

The Fusang Tree’s phantom in his dantian, under the spinning of the Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant, began—bit by bit—to take on solid form.

At the moment the red light burst, the Jiushan Realm was suddenly filled with multiple magnificent visions—dragons and phoenixes flying through the sky, shadows of Kunpeng and Xuanwu swimming beneath the sea.

Yan Wushuang rubbed his chin, thoughtful: "Why does this scene... look a little familiar?"