I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 402Book 2: : Yang Spirit Corpse Liberation, Jiushan Heavenly Court
Vol 2 Chapter 402 Yang Spirit Corpse Liberation, Jiushan Heavenly Court
Like the countless people in Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa also gazed at his Yang Spirit body.
He sat on a meditation mat, with auspicious clouds hovering above his head.
Above the clouds stood his Yang Spirit.
At this moment, his Yang Spirit and Yang Spirit body were separated by thousands of miles, yet due to the “One Qi Transforming into Three Purities” divine ability, they were essentially one entity.
They shared the same eyes, the same ears, and the same body.
What was seen and felt was exactly the same.
The only difference was that the sensations of the Yang Spirit body seemed to be separated by a mysterious distance in Zheng Fa’s eyes:
He could observe every detail clearly, but could not truly empathize.
Therefore, while the Yang Spirit body occasionally suffered from the invasion of incense fire desires, Zheng Fa himself was barely disturbed.
He inwardly sighed, “According to Lady Nishang, without the method of One Qi Transforming into Three Purities, I’m afraid... I wouldn’t find a better way to resist incense fire desires than the Blissful Lady Celestial.”
Ultimately, the Divine Path was a promise from deities to their believers—believe in me, and you will benefit.
But it was incredibly difficult, especially since the more believers there were, the harder it became to fulfill.
So some deities promised that if you believed in them in this life, you would find happiness in the next, or liberation after death, and so on.
Even false joys, like those from the Blissful Lady Celestial, were still joys.
Zheng Fa shook his head, dispelling the distracting thoughts in his mind, then turned his gaze back to his Yang Spirit body.
Zheng Fa’s Yang Spirit body held the Sun and Moon Bell in hand, standing atop the Transcendence Purification Pool, proclaiming loudly:
“Transcendence Purification is the remolding of spiritual roots.”
“Those with lower-grade spiritual roots who enter this pool can obtain high-grade spiritual roots.”
These words spread throughout heaven and earth, across the Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace, reaching the ears of Lady Nishang and others.
In the guest hall, Lady Nishang momentarily froze.
She was by no means inexperienced.
As a True Immortal who had attained the Way in the previous era, she had witnessed the rise and fall of the Tianhe Venerable, seen countless geniuses and treasures.
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Yet the ability to change one’s spiritual roots still shocked and even made her doubt.
The exploration of the essence of spiritual roots was not merely a desire of Jiushan Sect alone.
For several eras in the Xuanyi Realm, countless sects and great powers had shown interest and even spent innumerable resources and energy on it.
But no one succeeded.
Even the most lofty immortal sects.
Even the most arrogant great powers.
All wasted their efforts on this issue, eventually sinking into oblivion.
But now, Jiushan Sect, a sect that had risen in less than twenty years, actually had a method to change spiritual roots.
She could imagine that this single Transcendence Purification Pool alone was enough to turn the young Jiushan Sect into a sacred place in the eyes of Xuanyi cultivators.
A sacred place that would attract them like moths to a flame, scrambling desperately to join.
Her thoughts were correct.
In the customary terminology of the Xuanyi Realm, so-called high-grade spiritual roots meant having dual spiritual roots or higher.
Lower-grade spiritual roots actually referred to triple or quadruple spiritual roots.
As for quintuple spiritual roots, according to the Nursing Home’s research, they did not truly exist;the so-called quintuple spiritual roots in the Xuanyi Realm were actually evenly distributed quadruple roots.
High-grade spiritual roots were exceedingly rare among the population.
Most people possessed lower-grade spiritual roots.
Compared to those with high-grade spiritual roots, their cultivation speed was only one-tenth or even one-hundredth as fast.
Even in the Jiushan Realm, where lower-grade spiritual roots were not discriminated against, their cultivation was more difficult and progress slower, consuming a hundred times the time and resources of the former.
Looking at the Transcendence Purification Pool, those with lower-grade spiritual roots—whether Jiushan Sect disciples, residents of Letu Island, or even the billions of mortals in the mundane world—now had similar flames kindled in their eyes, a flame called:
Hope.
The incense fire power surrounding the Yang Spirit body visibly expanded.
Countless beams of rosy light shot out in all directions, enveloping the Yang Spirit body and the divine chariot.
Within the rosy glow, the Yang Spirit body, the golden crow, and the divine chariot looked as if they were inside a seven-colored crystal bead.
In just a few breaths, the incense fire power from Jiushan Realm increased severalfold compared to before!
The population of Jiushan Realm had not increased in an instant, and the cultivation levels of Jiushan disciples had not soared.
But many people’s devotion to Zheng Fa soared dramatically the moment they saw the Transcendence Purification Pool.
These people were disciples and mortals with lower-grade spiritual roots.
They made up the vast majority of Jiushan Realm’s population, and the incense fire power brought by their growing faith astonished even Zheng Fa.
The Yang Spirit body surveyed the surroundings, watching the incense fire power that seemed almost tangible, then tossed the Sun and Moon Bell in hand into the rosy light.
Lady Nishang suddenly understood, pointing to the Yaochi disciples: “Zheng Fa is about to perform corpse liberation. You who cultivate the Divine Path, watch carefully and learn.”
She didn’t know the true or false nature of the Yang Spirit body and naturally assumed the figure on the divine chariot was Zheng Fa himself.
But she was familiar with the Tongtian Method and knew that such dense incense fire power could elevate the Tongtian treasure to a higher level.
The green-robed female disciple beside her was stunned and actually objected, “Lady Celestial, Zheng Fa advanced from... Yang Spirit to Corpse Liberation in eight years. Can we learn that?”
Lady Nishang opened her mouth but could not refute.
When she first came to Jiushan Realm, she had asked Zheng Fa how long he had cultivated the Tongtian Method.
At that time, Zheng Fa said seven years and four months.
Though she stayed repeatedly in Jiushan Realm, by any calculation, Zheng Fa had only just passed eight years cultivating the Tongtian Method...
Zheng Fa and his Yang Spirit body had no mood to listen to their discussion.
The Tongtian Method’s advancement carried an additional difficulty:
Divine Path cultivators had to maintain their true nature amid the desires of all living beings to temper the Tongtian treasure.
Artifact forging was already a technical task requiring full concentration.
Let alone tempering a supreme treasure like the Sun and Moon Bell.
Zheng Fa’s entire focus was on controlling his Yang Spirit body, striving not to make a single mistake.
He didn’t know how other Divine Path cultivators managed it;he only felt like he was playing a difficult-mode game, pouring all his effort into controlling a somewhat unruly character, wrapping the Sun and Moon Bell bit by bit with incense fire power.
He realized he had never been so focused before.
But Lady Nishang watched the movements of the Yang Spirit body with slightly opened eyes.
The green-robed female disciple beside her voiced her thoughts, “How can it be so stable, so effortless?”
Lady Nishang silently nodded.
She had also cultivated the Tongtian Method, and the past experience of tempering the Tongtian treasure was unbearable to recall.
To be clear, Yaochi had secret treasures and methods that could clear the mind, briefly escaping the sea of desires.
But even she couldn’t be as flawless as Zheng Fa, with such stable use of incense fire power.
Watching the precious light on the Sun and Moon Bell grow ever brighter, she fell silent for a long while before finally saying:
“Forget it, just watch.”
The sea of incense fire power enveloped the increasingly radiant Sun and Moon Bell.
The Sun and Moon Bell grew brighter and brighter until... it began to weather.
The sun, moon, and stars carved on the bell’s surface peeled off first.
Then the bell body itself slowly turned into flying ashes.
In the end, only a clear light remained where the Sun and Moon Bell had been.
At the same time, Zheng Fa’s Yang Spirit body became increasingly solid and lifelike.
One was illusory, the other real, yet faintly connected as one.
The clear light seemed intelligent and surged into Zheng Fa’s Yang Spirit body.
The Yang Spirit body shone brilliantly, and when the light dissipated, his clothing had changed drastically:
He now wore a golden-thread wide-sleeved robe, embroidered at the hem with scenes of ten thousand people worshiping, with the sun, moon, and stars painted on his chest. Above his chest hung twelve strings of jade beads, descending from a dark jade crown.
The face of Zheng Fa under the crown was indistinct, yet irresistibly inspiring reverence.
“Corpse liberation...”
Lady Nishang shook her head, feeling that Zheng Fa’s corpse liberation had gone too smoothly.
Yet she had an uncanny sense that this was no surprise.
Thinking this, she inwardly sighed.
Lady Nishang looked at Zheng Fa’s Yang Spirit body.
At the Transcendence Purification Pool floating in the void.
She recalled the islands Zheng Fa had shown her before.
After a long moment, her heart trembled slightly.
What was terrifying was not Zheng Fa’s cultivation speed.
What was terrifying was that she had become somewhat accustomed to Zheng Fa occasionally creating miracles, even feeling it was natural.
Zheng Fa was now comprehending the advancement of the Yang Spirit body.
To him, the miracles in Lady Nishang’s eyes were more like experiments:
Only after the Yang Spirit body advanced would he truly understand what corpse liberation was and be able to perfect the Yellow Court Scripture.
At this moment, with the Yang Spirit body successfully undergoing corpse liberation, a flood of insights poured into his sea of consciousness and were known to Zheng Fa.
“Corpse liberation is abandoning the mortal body to condense a new flesh body with the Yang Spirit, or rather... an immortal body.”
In the Tongtian Method, this involved some variation:
Cultivators used the Tongtian treasure as their body, which was why the Sun and Moon Bell dissolved into nothingness.
In reality, the Sun and Moon Bell had completely merged into Zheng Fa’s Yang Spirit body, which could now be called the Heavenly Emperor body.
With a thought, Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body radiated golden light from its hand, and a small bell reappeared—the Sun and Moon Bell.
Its surface still bore the sun, moon, and stars.
But now it also showed cities, streets, and lively human scenes.
Previously, Zheng Fa had needed the Sun and Moon Bell to control Jiushan Realm, but from now on, he was the Sun and Moon Bell;he was Jiushan Realm.
The Sun and Moon Bell had become secondary.
He looked beyond the realm.
Those outside Jiushan Realm could now also see it.
At this moment, no matter where they were in the Hundred Immortals Alliance, when they looked up, they saw a celestial world floating within the clouds.
This world had heavenly palaces, clearly the homes of immortals.
Below were hundreds of cities, houses tightly packed, countless people standing in the streets looking up at the sky.
All of them had a sudden realization:
This was the immortal sect Jiushan Sect.
This was the hometown Jiushan Realm of the gentlemen.
They were familiar with the immortals of Jiushan Sect, loved Jiushan Realm’s gentlemen, and yearned for Jiushan Realm.
Many children dreamed of entering Jiushan Sect and now stared fixedly at Jiushan Realm, eyes almost greedy, unwilling to miss a single detail.
The most conspicuous figure in Jiushan Realm was Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body.
He too looked up at the sky as if waiting for something.
Zheng Fa was waiting for the heavenly tribulation of corpse liberation.
He already knew it was like a test from the heavenly way:
Pass it, and you become corpse liberation. Fail, and you remain a corpse.
After three breaths, the thunderclouds gathered!
The air seemed to solidify, heavily pressing on everyone’s hearts.
Pitch-black clouds surrounded Jiushan Realm, obscuring the view inside, with only blue-purple lightning raging above.
In the Hundred Immortals Alliance, many hearts rose along with the tension.
Some children hid in rooms, burrowed under covers, fearing blind lightning might strike them, but still nervously peeked at the sky from windows.
Amid all the worry, discussion, and fear, three bell sounds rang out. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
One—the thunder stopped.
Two—the dark clouds dispersed.
Three—heaven and earth cleared.
Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body did not even change posture;only the Sun and Moon Bell in his hand trembled slightly.
The hearts of hundreds were dropped into their stomachs, and some children quietly cheered.
Everyone understood that the seemingly apocalyptic thunder tribulation had vanished in Zheng Fa’s casual indifference.
What remained was only his increasingly solid figure.
“The Tongtian Method has no Heart Demon Tribulation?”
Zheng Fa was surprised and somewhat disappointed.
He had thought he could experience several rounds of Heart Demon Tribulation.
The absence of wind and fire tribulations was understandable because the Heavenly Emperor body cultivated the purest Yang Spirit Method, which did not require wind or fire tribulations for trial or enhancement.
No Heart Demon Tribulation... this could only be attributed to the uniqueness of the Tongtian Method.
After the thunder tribulation, Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body grew even more solid, stronger by three points than before.
Before he could comprehend it, his heart stirred, and he looked beyond Jiushan Realm.
Though it was broad daylight, stars hung conspicuously in the Xuanyi sky.
Their power, almost tangible, pierced through the Xuanyi Realm and gathered within Jiushan Realm.
It had arrived.
This scene was mentioned in Lady Nishang’s teachings of the Tongtian Method knowledge.
Cultivating the Tongtian Method was essentially upgrading the world.
Once Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body achieved corpse liberation, Jiushan Realm would undergo an upgrade.
This was the root of the heaven and earth upgrade, the star baptism.
Now that Zheng Fa and Jiushan Realm had become one, he naturally sensed that under the nourishment of starlight, Jiushan Realm was slowly becoming richer.
If one had to describe the feeling, it was as if the Heavenly Emperor body was instantly growing to adulthood, and the starlight seemed to have brought a lot of “substance” to Jiushan Realm.
According to Lady Nishang, this was the time to reshape heaven and earth with the power of starlight.
She had even told Zheng Fa that some heavenly structures were particularly favored by the heavenly way, making it easier for scattered immortals or true immortals to achieve success later.
As for which structures were better, that was Yaochi’s secret, or perhaps she herself did not know;Lady Nishang was vague on the matter.
Zheng Fa raised his hand.
The starlight from beyond the heavens gathered in his palm, then scattered across the Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace.
The residents on the Nine Islands felt their islands slightly sway beneath their feet.
They were not alarmed but curiously looked around and saw starlight gathering outside the nine islands, gradually condensing into new islands.
Half an hour later, hundreds of new islands appeared in the sky.
Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body pointed to the center of the archipelago, toward Myriad Immortals Island, and said, “This is Ziwei Yuan.”
Myriad Immortals Island, Seek Immortality Island, along with more than thirty new islands, all shimmered in unison.
He then pointed northeast to the current Heavenly Palace Island and said, “This is Taiwei Yuan.”
“This is Tianshi Yuan.”
...
With every word Zheng Fa spoke, the corresponding islands lit up like stars.
He had long felt the Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace were insufficient.
Not only was the population on Letu Island increasingly dense,
but Jiushan University and Jiushan Military Academy were recruiting disciples.
There were also several vocational schools on Letu Island, continuously absorbing mortals into the Heavenly Palace Nine Islands.
All these factors combined meant the population growth on the Nine Islands was much faster than that in the mortal realm, according to Senior Sister Zhang’s statistics.
With this upgrade of Jiushan Realm, Zheng Fa naturally intended to expand the Nine Islands.
As for shaping them into the Three Enclosures, he was just experimenting:
Many things in the Xuanyi Realm were closely related to modern world legends.
Lady Nishang had not said which heavenly structure was better.
Zheng Fa could only copy modern legends.
Ziwei Yuan, the legendary abode of immortals and gods, would naturally become the residence for Jiushan Sect cultivators. With the current area of Ziwei Yuan, Jiushan disciples wouldn’t live in pigeonholes for at least ten thousand years.
Taiwei Yuan symbolized the heavenly court’s administrative organs and now included Heavenly Palace Island, which would become the administrative center of Jiushan Realm.
Tianshi Yuan would naturally be the expansion of Jiushan’s markets, where Zheng Fa planned to relocate ordinary people from Letu Island.
With the Three Enclosures formed, Zheng Fa didn’t stop.
The starlight gathered again in the sky, forming twenty-eight stars around the Three Enclosures.
“This is the Azure Dragon Constellation, overseeing agriculture, which will later be managed by the Agriculture Academy.”
“The Vermilion Bird Constellation, later under the Alchemy and Artifact Forging Academies.”
“The White Tiger Constellation, belonging to Jiushan Military Academy.”
“The Black Tortoise Constellation, which will be the residence of Jiushan University.”
In simple terms, Zheng Fa reconstructed the industrial and educational districts according to the Four Symbols constellation palace.
The Azure Dragon, associated with wood, was designated as the agricultural experimental and planting area.
The Vermilion Bird, associated with fire, became the future industrial zone and the alchemy and artifact forging laboratories.
The White Tiger, associated with metal, suited Jiushan Military Academy.
The Black Tortoise, associated with water, and with the north holding prestige in Xuanyi, housed Jiushan University to show its importance.
When the starlight in Zheng Fa’s hand finally dispersed, the stars in Jiushan Realm’s sky shone even brighter, three times more brilliant than before.
“...”
Lady Nishang also looked at the sky, frowning deeply as if troubled by something.
“Lady Celestial?” The green-robed female disciple saw her puzzled expression and quietly asked, “Is there something wrong with the heavenly structure?”
Lady Nishang shook her head slightly, remaining silent.
But her gaze toward Zheng Fa grew more suspicious and inexplicably respectful.
At this stage of Tongtian Method cultivation, there was a chance to reshape heaven and earth. Although the process could almost be controlled at will by the Tongtian master,
Xuanyi Divine Path cultivators had long discovered that some heavenly structures, especially star distributions, had special functions: they could continuously attract starlight to nourish the Tongtian treasure.
Although this starlight was not as concentrated as when advancing the Tongtian treasure, its steady flow was extremely beneficial for cultivators with long lifespans.
Lady Nishang was reluctant to speak openly with Zheng Fa because it involved Yaochi’s secrets.
She even hesitated to mention it to her disciples—without the Tongtian master’s status, Yaochi people couldn’t obtain such inheritance, indicating the preciousness of this secret.
Unexpectedly, as a Tongtian Method cultivator, she could sense that the Three Constants and Four Mansions system Zheng Fa had opened now generated starlight surpassing her Tongtian treasure!
Keep in mind, her inheritance was from Yaochi, the leader of Xuanyi Divine Path!
In Tongtian Method cultivation, Lady Nishang had always thought no one could surpass Yaochi.
But Zheng Fa’s progress in Tongtian Method was increasingly unexpected, breaking her confidence again and again.
She glanced at Zheng Fa’s Heavenly Emperor body, her eyes filled with curiosity as she murmured:
“I wonder how this Zheng Fa will be deified.”
Under her gaze, the palm of the Heavenly Emperor body glowed faintly.
An ancient scroll appeared in its hand—indeed...
The Little Deification List.
