I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 492Book 2: : A Thousand Daos, Countless Transformations
Vol 2 Chapter 492: A Thousand Daos, Countless Transformations
Above the Eastern Sea of Nine Luminaries Heaven, Zheng Fa raised his true dragon head, waves foaming around the small island as they clustered and bowed toward him.
Now in this ocean, he felt like he had returned home, finally understanding Lord Shuyu Dragon's joy.
Zheng Fa's playful spirit remained undiminished. With a shake of his dragon body, he transformed into a magnificent phoenix, its long tail feathers trailing as it soared through the air, golden and red flames blooming behind it.
Flocks of pure white seabirds flew from all directions, dancing around him in celebration.
The most noble bloodlines among demonkind, divinely created sacred beings, great shamans capable of crushing mountains and scattering clouds—they all took turns appearing on the island.
Lady Nüwa had extremely discerning tastes. Since creating humanity concerned her own Dao path, every species she selected represented the most powerful creatures of this world, and now they all benefited Zheng Fa.
Limited by his cultivation level, the creatures Zheng Fa transformed into hadn't reached Dao Fruit strength, yet he could still sense the tremendous power within their bloodlines—this innate supernatural endowment was truly something ordinary humans couldn't match.
Just as he became completely engrossed, the sky turned chaotic once more, and a voice transmitted:
"I am Hongjun..."
The second lecture had begun.
A purple light pillar pierced through the chaos, landing before Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa returned to his original form and stepped into the light pillar, his entire body lifted and rapidly ascending until moments later, he arrived again at Purple Heaven Palace.
Just like last time, the Three Thousand Guests of Purple Heaven were already seated in the hall. Zheng Fa stood at the entrance when suddenly he heard some commotion behind him.
He turned to look—Creation Daoist and the others had arrived.
First came Creation Daoist, who nodded amiably toward Zheng Fa.
Gu God and White Bone still maintained their small clique, arriving together.
Golden-Winged Great Peng came alone;his good friend Bailian hadn't arrived yet.
Which made sense—Golden-Winged Great Peng had now joined the Demon Tribe Heavenly Court and obtained official status, making it difficult for him to always stay with Bailian.
Someone else followed Bailian.
"Patriarch Bailian will surely achieve great success in this lecture." The voice of the Great Elder of the Lu Clan came through. Everyone focused their gaze to see eight Nascent Soul cultivators from the Lu Clan following behind Bailian.
Bailian's expression remained composed as he said lightly, "The lecture hasn't begun yet. How can we speak of certainty?"
"In my view, no one else compares!"
Zheng Fa watched with surprise and couldn't help glancing at Gu God, noticing her expression had darkened considerably—previously, these Lu Clan members hadn't been nearly this sycophantic toward Gu God!
Then everyone heard the Great Elder of the Lu Clan say: "Thanks to Patriarch Bailian's grace, we were able to receive teachings from both patriarchs and gained considerable insights."
"If even our meager talents could benefit so much, surely Patriarch Bailian must have gained tremendously." The Great Elder's tone actually carried genuine sincerity. "Who else but Patriarch Bailian deserves the Hongmeng Purple Qi?"
Now Zheng Fa understood—it seemed Bailian had given these Lu Clan members substantial benefits?
Sycofancy leads to rewards?
Yet he couldn't comprehend why Bailian would work so hard to win over the Lu Clan members. He looked again at Gu God and saw her expression had turned livid, ten times more furious than before.
Clearly, the alliance between Bailian and Purple Heaven deeply irritated Gu God.
The Lu Clan...
A flash of insight struck Zheng Fa. He understood why Bailian needed to court the Lu Clan. To all Dao Fruit cultivators here, the Lu Clan's strength was insignificant, but they controlled the gateway to Nine Luminaries Heaven. If the Lu Clan refused to open the gate, people like Zheng Fa would likely be trapped within Nine Luminaries Heaven with no escape.
This was the Lu Clan's greatest trump card within Nine Luminaries Heaven.
For Bailian... for any cultivator aiming for the Hongmeng Purple Qi, the Lu Clan was crucially important:
For example, if you obtained the Hongmeng Purple Qi, naturally you'd want to flee—whether you could escape would depend on the Lu Clan's attitude.
Or if someone else obtained the Hongmeng Purple Qi and you wanted to seize it, whether you could succeed and whether the Lu Clan would open the gates—both were critically important.
"This humble monk will naturally do his best. If fellow Daoists can secure those cushions," Bailian said softly, "it would be our good fortune."
Zheng Fa looked at Bailian, who wore a humble and bright smile.
But his elaborate efforts to win over the Lu Clan members made this smile seem rather insincere.
The fourteen of them waited at the hall entrance for half a cup of tea time when Zheng Fa felt a force gently pulling him forward. Following this force, he settled onto a cushion.
This time, everyone's cushion positions still followed the results from the previous lecture.
Bailian and Creation sat in the first row behind the seven main cushions. In Purple Heaven Hall, except for the first row, each subsequent row contained one hundred cushions.
Creation Daoist sat slightly to the left, while Bailian sat more to the right.
Based on Zheng Fa's previous observation of cushion movements, they were arranged from left to right, meaning although Bailian currently had greater momentum, Creation Daoist had achieved a slightly higher ranking than Bailian last time.
To Creation Daoist's left were thirty-some more cushions.
Zheng Fa sat at the far left of the fourth row, approximately two hundred positions away from these two.
Golden-Winged Great Peng ranked over nine hundred, while Gu God and White Bone Demon Ancestor were in the fifteenth or sixteenth rows. The Lu Clan members were distributed among the last three rows.
As soon as everyone was seated, Hongjun Daoist on the high platform began his second lecture.
Zheng Fa listened carefully and immediately noticed the difference:
During the first lecture, Hongjun Daoist mainly discussed cultivation realms and some universal cultivation methods.
Simply put, he covered cultivation principles and general guidelines.
For any cultivator of this era, the previous lecture's content was universally valuable—a kind of overarching framework.
But this time was different. Right from the start of this lecture, Zheng Fa heard Hongjun Daoist say: "In this lecture, I will expound upon the Three Thousand Great Daos. First, I will begin with the cultivation path of innate sacred beings."
Zheng Fa listened with some confusion—was this how the Three Thousand Great Daos should be understood?
But as he continued listening, he gradually realized that in this era and in later Xuanwei, the meaning of Three Thousand Great Daos differed significantly.
In later times, with humanity dominant, Three Thousand Great Daos actually referred to differences among Dao methods.
But in this era, Dao methods were just beginning to emerge, and could even be said to be created solely by Hongjun Daoist. The so-called Three Thousand Great Daos didn't simply refer to Dao methods, but rather to different cultivation methods tailored to different races.
As Hongjun Daoist explained: dragons ride clouds and rain, phoenixes perch in divine fire. Although cultivation realms were roughly similar, because innate endowments differed, each race's cultivation methods varied tremendously.
To put it more simply, Hongjun Daoist was combining his created Dao method concepts with each race's innate talents.
The first lecture covered principles, more abstract generalizations.
This second lecture addressed specific details for various races, categorizing and perfecting them, even providing directly applicable cultivation practices.
Understanding this, Zheng Fa looked at Hongjun Daoist with even greater admiration.
If he hadn't created cultivation methods that all races could follow, how could Hongjun Daoist be called the Dao Ancestor?
To be blunt, didn't cultivation methods exist before Hongjun Daoist?
On the other hand, were pre-Hongjun cultivation methods outside the Dao's scope?
Certainly not. If a cultivation method existed outside the Dao, it would mean the Dao couldn't explain all rules—then how could it qualify as the Dao?
Dao methods didn't appear because of Hongjun Daoist, nor did the Dao itself.
From Zheng Fa's current understanding, Hongjun Daoist's contribution was likely being this epoch's first great synthesizer of cultivation methods—he not only understood almost every race's talents and cultivation essentials, but also extracted a unified theoretical framework from them, then used this theory to refine these cultivation methods.
The Three Thousand Guests in Purple Heaven Palace weren't actually three thousand individuals;each represented a massive race behind them. Precisely because of this, Hongjun Daoist could modify cultivation methods based on each person's characteristics. And precisely because three thousand people attended the lectures, the concept of Three Thousand Great Daos emerged.
Because Hongjun Daoist's Dao methods encompassed all races, benefiting almost every race, his title of Dao Ancestor received universal recognition in this era.
While Zheng Fa marveled at the vast, sweeping momentum of Hongjun Daoist's lecture...
The other listeners from Five Organs Pavilion were having a difficult time.
As Hongjun Daoist refined cultivation methods for each race, the Great Elder of the Lu Clan felt... specifically targeted!
He sat on his cushion, watching Hongjun's mouth open and close, his mind following with incomprehensible muttering.
When they couldn't understand what the Daoist was saying, they grew anxious, feeling they were missing great opportunities.
After great effort, starting from wild gestures, they spent many years gradually learning this world's language. This time they weren't anxious but rather... desperate.
They had expected great gains from this lecture, but never anticipated Hongjun Daoist would break from convention!
What he discussed was useless to them—because they were human!
Even though Gu God and other demon ancestors originated from humans, at this moment no humans existed, so Hongjun Daoist naturally wouldn't specifically lecture on human cultivation methods.
Naturally unwilling to accept this, he kept listening attentively, hoping to gain insights by analogy. But every being in Purple Heaven Palace came from extraordinary backgrounds with talents far surpassing ordinary humans. Forget about learning from others' experiences—he could barely understand anything.
After what felt like an eternity, the Great Elder of the Lu Clan, his mind filled with complete confusion, could no longer contain his inner frustration and looked around at others.
First he checked the surrounding Lu Clan Nascent Soul cultivators and saw they shared his expression—utterly desperate, nearly on the verge of qi deviation. During the last lecture when they couldn't understand the language, they simply felt unlucky. This time they understood the words but began doubting their own intelligence.
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan pursed his lips and looked forward.
He couldn't see Gu God and White Bone Demon Ancestor's expressions, but judging by the sparse golden flowers around them, these two were probably suffering equally.
The Great Elder felt slightly better, but when he saw Golden-Winged Great Peng, he gritted his teeth in frustration—Golden-Winged Great Peng seemed to be gaining tremendously, having transformed into his original form with both claws planted on the cushion. Golden flowers continuously surged toward him.
Exactly!
When it came to bloodlines, Golden-Winged Great Peng was actually closest to these ancient beings—otherwise how could he join the Demon Tribe Heavenly Court?
While they gained nothing, Golden-Winged Great Peng could benefit!
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan shifted his gaze, first carefully examining Zheng Fa. Seeing not many golden flowers around Zheng Fa either, he quietly sighed in relief—at least Shi Nandang was similar to them. Right, this Shi Nandang was also human—how much difference could there be?
Thinking this, the Great Elder's mood stabilized again, and he turned hopeful eyes toward Bailian in the first row.
Bailian sat cross-legged on his cushion, eyes closed, expression extremely serious—apparently striving to comprehend.
Behind him manifested an ancient-looking Buddha, with a Bodhi seed precisely at the Buddha's brow.
Golden flowers fell chaotically around this Buddha, eight or nine times more numerous than those around Golden-Winged Great Peng. Clearly Bailian was gaining tremendously from this lecture.
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan watched with intense envy. Although Bailian had shared some content from the first lecture with him, he understood the other couldn't possibly teach everything—likely only sharing superficial knowledge.
This Bailian also possessed the Bodhi seed and received dedicated teachings from two Buddhist patriarchs—compared to them, he enjoyed overwhelming advantages.
Now he actually gained far more than even Golden-Winged Great Peng.
Suddenly the Great Elder's heart stirred as he noticed Creation Daoist, who showed no outward signs but had just as many golden flowers around him as Bailian.
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan paused slightly, feeling wary. Of course he felt some jealousy toward Bailian, but they were basically allies now. If they couldn't obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi, then Bailian obtaining it would be the next best outcome.
Originally he had been most hostile toward Shi Nandang, but now felt that although Shi Nandang had taken an early lead, he was no longer a concern.
Instead, this deeply reserved Creation Daoist, whose intentions remained unclear, gave him the feeling that this person was certainly not benevolent.
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan observed Bailian and Creation Daoist and noticed their cushions were slowly shifting leftward.
Bailian's cushion moved faster, but Creation Daoist had been leading previously and now moved at a decent pace too. Although the distance between them gradually closed, Bailian couldn't overtake Creation Daoist for a long time.
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan secretly cheered for Bailian, staring intently at the distance between them. Gradually, Bailian's comprehension during this lecture proved faster, and he seemed about to surpass Creation Daoist.
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan secretly clenched his fist, excitement building as he awaited their positions switching. But suddenly blinding light erupted before him.
The light was so intense his vision turned completely white, forcing him to close his eyes while inwardly cursing.
When he opened his eyes and looked toward the light's source, his expression froze in shock. He watched helplessly as a colorful phoenix now stood where Zheng Fa had been moments before.
Hongjun Daoist happened to be explaining phoenix clan cultivation methods. The golden flowers around this colorful phoenix surged like a mudslide, completely submerging it. There were so many golden flowers that they produced that earlier blinding white light.
Shi Nandang... his true form was a phoenix?
The Great Elder of the Lu Clan stared wide-eyed, desperately trying to recall—he'd never heard about this!
He looked at other Lu Clan members and saw them gaping with utterly astonished expressions.
Just as everyone felt confused, Hongjun Daoist shifted topics again, discussing another cultivation method—this one no longer suited phoenixes but applied to a divine beast called Bai Ze.
Everyone watched as flowing light shimmered across the colorful phoenix's body, transforming it into a ancient-looking, oddly-shaped strange beast.
Exactly—a Bai Ze.
