I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 373Book 2: : The Vicissitudes of Time, Sea Area Development
Vol 2 Chapter 373: The Vicissitudes of Time, Sea Area Development
Putting away the Creation Jade Slip, Zheng Fa asked the two elders, "Master, do you think the Demon Ancestor's words are credible?"
Unaware of Sect Master Yan's thoughts, he naturally held a cautious three-tenths belief.
The elder and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged a glance, remaining silent, unsure how to decide.
Senior Sister Zhang raised the Feixian Brush and drew the Innate Eight Trigrams diagram. After three breaths, she nodded, "If only calculating Sect Master Yan, the credibility of that statement exceeds seventy percent."
Exactly!
Calculating the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was beyond Senior Sister Zhang’s ability, but Sect Master Yan was not that strong.
"Then, it’s safer to believe it exists," Zheng Fa pondered for a moment before adding, "What about the Trapping Immortal Sword?"
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor was very clear: if the Heavenly River Sect experienced any anomaly, Haori Mountain would never let the Trapping Immortal Sword stay outside—they might even use it to attack the Heavenly River Sect.
By pretending nothing happened and letting Haori Mountain take the Trapping Immortal Sword, the Jiushan Sect could gain a period of stability.
But honestly, from an emotional standpoint, Zheng Fa was reluctant:
Haori Mountain wanted to throw the Trapping Immortal Sword away and pick it up at will, which seemed way too cheap for the opponent.
Moreover, he now shared a deep spiritual bond with the sword spirit of the Trapping Immortal Sword, inseparable like glue. How could he allow Haori Mountain, this ugly brute, to cut in and steal his love?
The elder frowned deeply, "You can avoid it for a while, but how can you avoid it forever?"
Aside from emotional factors, this was the key problem:
The Trapping Immortal Sword was a true Immortal treasure. If Haori Mountain took it back, not only might the sword spirit reveal the suspicious points about Li Hao, exposing Zheng Fa’s hand, but if they found a way to refine the sword again, their power would grow further.
In contrast, Jiushan Sect losing the Trapping Immortal Sword meant losing a true Immortal combat force, with almost no hope of quick compensation.
With this shift in strength, if conflict arose again, the situation would be worse than Senior Sister Zhang’s simulation predicted.
A peaceful night now would lead to total defeat later.
The Trapping Immortal Sword would vanish within the Hundred Immortals Alliance, but Haori Mountain’s hostility would not.
"We can only act according to the situation," Zheng Fa thought hard and finally made up his mind. "Master, I fear I must focus my energy on the Zhongxuan Sect for the time being. The affairs of the Jiushan Realm will have to be entrusted to you and Senior Sister Zhang."
The elder nodded, understanding Zheng Fa’s choice—acting according to the situation was ambiguous, but he leaned toward securing the Trapping Immortal Sword. However, as Jiushan Sect’s sect leader, Zheng Fa could not act impulsively;he needed to stay in Zhongxuan Sect, assess risks, and seek a perfect plan.
So naturally, the matters of the Jiushan Realm had to be managed by others.
He and Senior Sister Zhang’s nephew were respectively the former sect leader of Jiushan Sect and Zheng Fa’s Dao partner.
Now that he had reached Nascent Soul, in terms of identity, strength, and prestige, they were most suitable.
He knew Zheng Fa’s choice was right—avoiding now would only mean a worse ending later.
But on the other hand, he inevitably felt some worry—after all, he had heard of the prestige of the Five Great Sects of Xuanyi Realm for ten thousand years, and it weighed heavily on his heart.
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When it came to armed conflict, how could he not feel intimidated?
Although a bit anxious, the elder did not want to interfere with this disciple’s choice, so he said nothing more and smiled at Zheng Fa, "Don’t worry, I’ve held the Jiushan Sect leader’s seat longer than you, so there won’t be any mistakes."
Hearing this, Zheng Fa suddenly laughed.
"Master, you’ve been in seclusion for fourteen years."
"Fourteen years? What of it?"
…
The elder quickly understood.
Fourteen years was an ocean of change for Zheng Fa’s Jiushan Sect.
On University Island:
"Senior Sister, I’m entrusting Jiushan University and Jiushan Military Academy to you."
Senior Sister Zhang seemed not to hear and stared at University Island ahead, her pupils filled with novelty.
The elder’s eyes widened and he pointed forward, asking, "Is this Jiushan University?"
Where he pointed, a sea of people surged. The spiritual light of treasures, the fragrance of pills, mixed with the boiling voices, gave the elder who had been in seclusion for fourteen years a massive shock.
After the academy reform, University Island was divided into five parts.
At the center, behind the Nine Chapters Calculation Array, lay a large courtyard for basic education—where new disciples stayed for five years.
In the four directions—southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast—four new campuses were established:
Refining Academy, Pill Refining Academy, Agriculture Academy, and Array Formation Academy.
Zheng Fa and the others were currently in the basic education district.
Yet this place no longer had the quiet atmosphere of past learning.
"Junior brothers! Junior brothers!"
A Divine Thunder Warship hovered in the void. Its Divine Thunder Outer Pills emitted blue-white electric light that nearly dazzled the elder’s eyes.
On deck, a Golden Core disciple’s booming voice shouted to the crowd below:
"Join the Shipyard! Excellent merit point benefits! Plus regular guidance from Real Person Xuanhua!"
"Our factory’s orders are in short supply! At the end of last year, merit points given to disciples rose by fifty percent! This year, they will rise again!"
"If you want to improve in refining, Senior Brother from the Heavenly Work Pavilion guides you! The year before last, our Shipyard had over ten disciples pass the inner sect exam and enter the Refining Academy!"
The elder asked dumbfoundedly, "What is this?"
"A recruitment fair," Zheng Fa smiled and explained, "Every year there are new graduates, so University Island hosts a recruitment fair annually."
"Every major factory or department inside the sect needs disciples to join."
Inner sect exams were every five years, but Jiushan Sect recruited disciples annually—mainly to prevent new disciples from missing their cultivation age.
Some new graduates either had no inner sect exam that year or their grades were insufficient, so they had to find jobs.
The elder pointed to their right and asked, "What about over there?"
There stood a five-zhang-tall pill furnace, extremely eye-catching.
Inside, flames roared and fragrance wafted, attracting many disciples to watch.
Zhao Jingfan stood before the furnace, smiling broadly:
"Senior brothers and junior brothers! Try one! Try one! No pressure—try even if you don’t join!"
"Our Pill Refining Factory is desperate for talent, offering merit points and various pill benefits daily!"
"The Shipyard looks impressive, but can it guarantee harvest in both drought and flood? Think about it, cultivators can’t do without pills."
"Join our Pill Refining Factory, get monthly spirit pill subsidies, and your cultivation will advance faster step by step!"
His words belittled the Shipyard, drawing angry glares and shouting from the Golden Core disciple:
"The sect already has a sea area development plan, a twenty-year project! The sect leader wouldn’t lie to us! Divine Thunder Warships are in short supply now!"
"Pills don’t make much money! Working six hours a day only earns so many merit points!"
"Junior brothers, keep your eyes open!"
Zhao Jingfan was not one to lose out;the two bickered across the air. In addition, other outer pill factories, the Agriculture Department, and even the news center’s recruiting seniors fanned the flames.
The elder’s head buzzed from the noise.
He turned to Zheng Fa and asked, "Why such a fierce quarrel?"
"Annual event. Everyone is used to it," Zheng Fa shook his head. "It’s just a shortage of disciples."
"Shortage of disciples?" The elder was more confused. "Isn’t Jiushan Sect recruiting the most disciples in Xuanyi Realm?"
Indeed, the most.
Jiushan Sect had relatively low spiritual root requirements for disciples, though there were test score limits, but at least three hundred new disciples joined annually.
Now, Jiushan disciples had exceeded five thousand, with over five hundred at Golden Core level alone.
"Many disciples, but demand in various industries is even greater."
Zheng Fa pointed at the chaotic recruitment fair ahead, "Every factory, every department needs disciples to handle increasing production and management tasks."
Not to mention the growing orders in the Jiushan Realm daily.
Even mundane management in Jiushan Realm was increasingly complex:
The mortal population had just passed one hundred million, and towns were rapidly increasing.
Although most management positions were held by vocational academy students, demand for Jiushan disciples had surged.
After all, agriculture and factory production couldn’t do without magic.
This year’s hundreds of graduating Jiushan disciples weaved through the recruitment points, their faces full of hesitation and confusion, yet also hope for the future.
The elder watched and suddenly asked, "Do you remember when you first joined?"
Zheng Fa nodded gently, understanding what the elder meant:
When he first arrived at Jiushan Sect, new disciples, especially low-level ones, were not like this:
There were fewer opportunities and choices, or rather, fewer futures.
They were too quiet—almost deathly silent—but the resentment in that silence was something even this recluse elder understood.
Compared to back then, even the quarrels between Zhao Jingfan and the Golden Core disciple now sounded pleasant to the elder’s ears.
…
"This is… Han, Han Qi?"
At the market dock, Divine Thunder Warships flowed endlessly, one after another.
Outside the dock stood a three-story small building, where Han Qi, growing in dignity, stood.
Disciples came and went before the building, requesting instructions. Han Qi arranged everything without hesitation.
"The Clear Spirit Pills from Five Spirit Sect have been sent out. They want to add orders? No, there’s a queue ahead."
"Qingyuan Sect wants to cooperate? Why didn’t they say earlier? The sect leader said only one sect within five hundred li for now."
"The Wu family of Canghai went to the sea area? They’re sensible. According to the sect leader’s arrangement, we’ll allocate some pills and spirit artifacts for them."
"…"
The elder had some impression of Han Qi;after all, he was a follower of his disciple, so he had naturally seen him and even noticed him a few times—yet the confident and efficient Han Qi before him did not match the somewhat gloomy and timid Han Qi in his heart.
Han Qi’s spiritual root was not great;his cultivation was still late Foundation Establishment stage, not yet Golden Core, but now he managed the caravan expertly, especially well acquainted with the major forces of the Hundred Immortals Alliance.
After arranging the disciples, he approached Zheng Fa and the others with neither arrogance nor humility and cupped his hands, "Sect Leader, Elder Yu, Elder Zhang."
Zheng Fa pointed at the elder and said, "For the time being, if you have anything, find Elder Yu to handle it."
Han Qi nodded, apparently unsurprised, then respectfully cupped his hands toward the elder again.
The elder was curious and asked, "Those sects you mentioned—are they all part of the Hundred Immortals Alliance?"
"Reporting to Elder Yu, they are sects within the Hundred Immortals Alliance."
"So what does Qingyuan Sect’s cooperation mean? Why didn’t you agree?"
Han Qi’s face tightened slightly. He glanced at Zheng Fa, and after Zheng Fa nodded, he relaxed and explained, "This matter is the sect leader’s order."
"What order?"
"The sect leader said the first wave of willing and technically capable sects can join the major guilds."
"Later, as we delivered goods via the caravan, our dealings with some sects grew closer, gradually occupying the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s pill and spirit artifact market, and cooperating with many sects on mineral resources."
"Some forces lacked valuable minerals, earned no money, and had no good technology, so they couldn’t enter guilds and lost their industries."
The elder nodded repeatedly, recalling the bustling recruitment scene just now, naturally understanding—if Jiushan Sect’s factories weren’t booming, they wouldn’t need so many disciples.
With Jiushan Sect’s factory output, other sects naturally had poorer business.
"So?" The elder asked. "Do they want to cooperate?"
Han Qi shook his head, "No, it’s the sect leader’s arrangement."
The elder was stunned and looked at Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa explained, "The Tongjian is popular now, and orders in the mall are many. We can’t deliver to every cultivator individually, so I let those sects handle delivery."
Jiushan Sect’s cultivation technology was advancing rapidly, naturally bringing huge changes to the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s job market:
Simply put, many less skilled cultivators and sects in the Hundred Immortals Alliance inevitably lost their livelihoods.
So Zheng Fa decided to let them flexibly find employment, opening the last five hundred li, completing the logistics chain, and offering home delivery services.
The elder suddenly understood, "To win over those sects?"
"Winning over is secondary. We really don’t have enough hands," Zheng Fa explained. "One, to give those sect cultivators a way to survive;two, to improve the mall system. Now, at least half the cultivators in the Hundred Immortals Alliance have Tongjian… The other half mainly can’t buy it."
Han Qi nodded, "Tongjian is too popular. Now, few come to Jiushan’s markets except to line up to buy Tongjian. Some sects send people to bulk purchase pills and materials, then resell them themselves."
In short, Jiushan market now focused more on wholesale. While some freelancers came, most buyers were families and sects purchasing in bulk.
The Hundred Immortals Alliance’s retail business had lost fifty percent to the Jiushan Mall.
The elder finally understood, "No wonder those sects want to transform…"
If even Jiushan markets were like this, the desolation of other markets was imaginable.
"Why only one force within five hundred li?"
Han Qi looked puzzled but honestly explained, "That’s also the sect leader’s order. One, to give them some work;two, to control the number of sects and let others adapt to our development strategy."
"What strategy?"
Zheng Fa answered, "Going to sea."
The elder recalled, "Sea area development?"
"Right. Those latecomer forces mostly don’t trust or feel close to Jiushan Sect."
The elder understood:
Zheng Fa had given many opportunities to Hundred Immortals Alliance sects.
The first wave was guild-related.
The second wave was mineral cooperation.
The third wave was to connect with the Hundred Immortals Alliance caravan for deliveries.
In terms of profits, the first wave could rest and earn royalties;the second wave shared benefits from minerals, still easy money.
The third wave still worked hard, but with the mall’s scale, they were doing well, some even better than before.
Zheng Fa had controlled the Hundred Immortals Alliance for over a decade;sects not yet integrated into the new system were either too stupid or distrusted Jiushan Sect—essentially not on the same path.
"So you want them to explore the sea area?"
"There are only so many resources and opportunities in the Hundred Immortals Alliance. If you come late, you come late," Zheng Fa said bluntly before the three. "If they want to find a place, they must do tougher, more dangerous work."
"No matter what happens with the Trapping Immortal Sword, our 'trade route' with Haori Mountain is over. To make up the loss, we must go to the sea area."
"After the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor’s slaughter, the sea area’s population is sparse, cultivators fewer still. Those sects going there can establish footholds for us and try to trade with Western Continent. This profit is even greater than Haori Mountain’s trade route."
Haori Mountain’s trade route depended on Li Hao’s identity, but obviously that couldn’t last forever.
The sea was vast and rich. East-West trade was extremely profitable.
The sea area development strategy was extremely important to Zheng Fa.
He was now consciously or unconsciously promoting those Hundred Immortals Alliance sects to migrate to the sea area, supplement island populations, and establish a forward position for Jiushan Sect.
For those sects, the sea area was naturally more dangerous than the Hundred Immortals Alliance lands, but the rewards were higher—many sects grit their teeth and went there.
"Master, currently Uncle Pang and Uncle Huang are in charge of this. I handed the caravan to you to oversee it."
Senior Sister Zhang was responsible for internal matters, so the elder’s tasks were more external.
On one hand, Senior Sister Zhang had many responsibilities, not only managing the university but also many research projects, leaving her stretched thin.
On the other, Uncle Huang and Uncle Pang were involved. Though Senior Sister Zhang had higher status, they were elders, so she couldn’t always assign them.
Having the elder handle it was more natural.
Simply put, easier to scold.
The elder nodded slowly and asked, "What are those two doing?"
"Uncle Pang is responsible for sea area exploration. Uncle Huang mainly divides sect territories and resolves their disputes."
After all, Uncle Huang had led Jiushan Sect’s Law Enforcement Pavilion for many years and was now treated as a mobile court, setting rules for those sects to prevent infighting.
"Master, your main role is to back up those two and also promote the Agriculture Academy’s latest research."
"Latest research?"
Zheng Fa took out a storage bag and handed it to the elder.
The elder opened it and saw three types of items:
Three spirit shells.
A bundle of black silk-like plants.
Six dead fish.
"These are… Mingyue Shells?"
He opened one spirit shell and recognized it.
Mingyue Shells were named after the Mingyue Pearls they produced. These spirit pearls were excellent artifacts that enhanced water-type magic power and sped cultivation of water magic.
If refined into jewelry or clothing, they had other strange functions, making them a top-grade spirit material.
Rumor had it that powder made from Mingyue Pearls also preserved skin, popular among female cultivators.
So this spirit material was never cheap, and with spirit materials becoming rarer, it was in even greater demand.
"Jiao Wuji researched artificial cultivation of them."
"Artificially cultivating Mingyue Shells?" The elder’s voice rose, sounding incredulous. "Really?"
"The lab is ready. Whether large-scale cultivation can happen depends on how well you promote it."
"Mingyue Shells…" The elder pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Is the yield high?"
Zheng Fa smiled and said, "Otherwise, why would I develop the sea area? If cultivation succeeds, we can recover about fifty percent of the loss from Haori Mountain."
"And these two?"
"Cangming Fish and Baijie Grass. Sect Master Song of Qingmu Sect said these are important for many pills, but were very expensive before."
The elder now understood, "No wonder you value the sea area so much."
"Master, cultivators of Xuanyi Realm used to overvalue land resources and ignore the sea’s wealth. Whether the hidden spirit materials or marine aquaculture, the wealth brought to Jiushan Sect would be ten or even a hundred times that of the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s native land."
After all, the sea was vast and naturally rich. Extraction was harder but wealth hidden inside was abundant.
Moreover, because of the sea’s unique geography, many products had no substitutes in Xuanyi Realm and low yield, making prices naturally high.
If the sea area could be developed and marine aquaculture promoted, losses from falling out with Haori Mountain could not only be recovered but multiplied ten or a hundred times.
Not to mention the trade profits from controlling sea routes.
Hearing Zheng Fa’s vision, the elder was momentarily dazed before cursing, "If not for Haori Mountain, we’d be living so well ourselves!"
Zheng Fa smiled instead, "Master, if not for Haori Mountain, I wouldn’t have arranged so much. In these fourteen years, Jiushan Sect has accumulated enough materials to support disciples’ cultivation for ten years, and spirit food enough for thirty… I even thought that if we couldn’t defeat Haori Mountain, we might relocate Jiushan Realm to the sea area, or even hide underwater, focusing on development and waiting for the day."
The elder was stunned and looked at Zheng Fa in shock, "You’ve prepared to abandon the Hundred Immortals Alliance?"
"As a last resort, we can only choose to preserve people at the cost of land and develop Jiushan Realm," Zheng Fa said as if it had long been calculated. "Of course, losing the Hundred Immortals Alliance’s territory would be a huge loss. That’s the worst choice."
The elder’s expression froze:
Haori Mountain casually threw away a Trapping Immortal Sword, clearly looking down on Jiushan Sect.
But Zheng Fa and Jiushan Sect had truly and rapidly accumulated wealth for fourteen years and even prepared for war.
He looked at the spectacular Divine Thunder Warships in the sky like a meteor shower, then at Zheng Fa. His previous worries had unknowingly eased greatly:
He even thought the one to worry about was Haori Mountain—Haori Mountain truly didn’t know what it had provoked.
This disciple did not fight unprepared battles. Long ago, he had regarded the sea area as a fallback. More importantly, given time, he could truly turn Jiushan Realm and even Xuanyi Realm upside down.
Zheng Fa was unaware of the elder’s thoughts, otherwise he would only think that not only did Haori Mountain underestimate him, but even this master underestimated him:
With his personality, how could he be content with the sea area as a single fallback—he also had the modern world!
