I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 126: A Rare Sight

Zheng Fa carefully examined the crow in his hands.

It looked ordinary—its feathers were pure black, and its size unremarkable.

The only thing noteworthy was its unusually bright and intelligent eyes.

What surprised Zheng Fa the most was that—

This bird’s entire aura was pure, completely free of any demonic energy.

If not for its ability to speak, most people would have mistaken it for a normal bird.

Perhaps that was also why—

When it flew into Five Dragons Palace, it didn’t trigger any alerts.

She grabbed the crow by the neck and shook it violently.

"Gah—!"

The crow flapped its wings weakly, struggling without success—

Clearly, it wasn’t very strong.

“Senior Sister Yuan!”

Senior Sister Zhang frowned slightly and gave a light reprimand.

She then turned to the crow and asked,

“What you just said—about the Great Freedom Demonic Sect colluding with the Demon Race—is it true?”

The crow flapped twice in Senior Sister Yuan’s grip, then quickly nodded.

“Of course, it’s true! This has been going on for ages!

I don’t know about other places,

But Great Freedom Demonic Sect has long been in contact with several Demon Race powerhouses.

Now that the decline of spiritual energy is approaching,

Their relationship has only grown stronger.”

Seeing how confident it sounded—

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged a glance.

Then Zheng Fa asked, “And how exactly did you learn that they plan to attack Jiushan Sect?”

The crow rolled its eyes and scoffed.

“Do I even need to ‘learn’ that?

Your Jiushan Sect has completely blocked off the Great Freedom Demonic Sect with your Thunder Pool.

If they don’t come after you, who else would they go after?”

“……”

Zheng Fa fell silent, staring at the crow for a moment.

There was a hint of craftiness in its gaze.

“…I mean the details.”

“Details…?” The crow tilted its head, then casually replied,

“Oh, I forgot.”

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang both squinted suspiciously.

Then the crow grinned slyly and said—

“How about this? Let me bite you once—maybe I’ll remember!”

Zheng Fa: “……”

Senior Sister Yuan: “Even I haven’t bitten him yet!”

To their surprise, the crow’s eyes flashed gold,

And it sneered,

“You? You’re just a half-blood Qingluan.

How could you possibly compare to me?”

Zheng Fa’s curiosity deepened.

Senior Sister Yuan’s true form was a Qingluan,

A divine beast among feathered creatures in Xuanyi Realm.

Otherwise, the Sect Master wouldn’t have taken her in as a spiritual pet.

In fact, if Senior Sister Yuan reached Nascent Soul,

She could very well become Jiushan Sect’s Guardian Beast in the future.

And yet—

This crow spoke so arrogantly.

Zheng Fa glanced down at the Fusang Wood growing inside him,

His expression turning a bit odd.

…Could this thing actually be a Golden Crow?

Senior Sister Yuan also froze.

Seeing the golden glint in the crow’s eyes, she suddenly remembered something.

“…There are still Golden Crow bloodlines in this world?”

The crow raised its head proudly and declared—

“That’s right!”

Senior Sister Yuan pursed her lips.

Her anger faded slightly, and she turned to Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang, saying:

“In the legends, there are three supreme lineages among all feathered creatures—

One is the Phoenix,

Another is the Kunpeng,

And the last… is the Golden Crow.”

Her tone grew serious.

“But in the past ten thousand years,

I have never once heard of a single descendant from any of those three lineages appearing.”

It was clear—

She was partially convinced by the crow’s claim.

Zheng Fa nodded thoughtfully and turned to face the Golden Crow.

The Golden Crow stared back at him arrogantly.

“So…”

Zheng Fa raised an eyebrow and asked,

“…Why is your cultivation so low?”

The pride on the crow’s face instantly froze.

“……”

Senior Sister Yuan blinked—then suddenly understood.

She gave the crow another shake.

Indeed—

This so-called ‘Golden Crow’ did have some cultivation…

But it was only at Foundation Establishment.

Considering it claimed to be of a supreme lineage…

Something clearly didn’t add up.

“…I…”

“If you’re really a supreme-blooded beast,

Then why doesn’t anyone protect you?

Why are you just wandering around like this?”

“……”

The crow’s head drooped slightly.

Zheng Fa glanced down at its feet.

Only two legs.

“I heard that Golden Crows have three legs…”

Zheng Fa rubbed his chin and mused,

“…Are you a defective Golden Crow?”

“YOU’RE the defective one!”

The crow flared up, finally unable to endure the insult.

“I have pure Golden Crow bloodline!

But the current spiritual energy is too weak—

My bloodline cannot properly awaken!”

Zheng Fa was intrigued.

This was the first time he’d heard such a theory.

The Golden Crow flapped its wings in frustration and pointed at Senior Sister Yuan.

“She may have a lower bloodline than me,

But right now, she can cultivate much faster!

For Golden Crow bloodlines like mine—

We awaken intelligence early, but our growth is painfully slow.”

“…So that’s why supreme-blooded beasts haven’t appeared for so long?”

Zheng Fa was starting to understand.

The Golden Crow nodded.

Then, it elaborated—

“For thousands of years, the Demon Race has realized—

The stronger the bloodline, the harder it is to cultivate.

That’s why the Demon Race has sought an alliance with the Demonic Sects.”

Zheng Fa immediately guessed the reason.

“…They want to borrow the bloodline of the Demon Ancestor?”

“Yes.”

The Golden Crow then revealed an even more shocking fact:

“Not only do they want to,

They’ve already done it.”

“…What?”

“There are offspring of Demonic Sect disciples and Demon Race beasts—

Born with the ability to cultivate demonic techniques.”

“……”

Zheng Fa’s brows furrowed deeply.

“…What’s the advantage of these hybrids?”

“Compared to normal beasts,

They can use demonic techniques to advance their cultivation faster.”

The Golden Crow sighed.

“And compared to Demonic Sect disciples,

They inherit the natural power of the Demon Race,

Making them even stronger.”

Zheng Fa grimaced.

So-called ‘hybrid advantages’…

This was terrible news—especially for Jiushan Sect.

The Demon Ancestor’s bloodline likely contained innate control mechanisms.

The Great Freedom Demonic Sect had previously emphasized keeping its bloodline pure…

But now, the Demon Ancestor was allowing hybridization—

In a way, this was a major breakthrough for their cultivation system.

“…Even without this, the Demon Race was already inclined to ally with the Demonic Sect,” the Golden Crow added.

“For the past era, the Demon Race has been suffering.”

Zheng Fa had to admit—

That much was true.

The Demon Race had no major factions in Xuanyi Realm.

Most of them lived scattered in remote mountains, their influence limited.

Some sects even kept Demon Race creatures as spirit beasts.

It was only natural that, in the face of declining spiritual energy,

The Demon Race would seek a way out.

Zheng Fa turned to the Golden Crow and asked,

“Then why are you here?”

“…I don’t want to be used as a breeding crow anymore.”

“…What?”

The Golden Crow hung its head, looking both guilty and exhausted.

Realizing it couldn’t hide the truth anymore—

And likely fearing Zheng Fa’s suspicion,

It simply spilled everything.

“My bloodline is noble, but my strength is weak—

So I was chosen and sent to the Great Freedom Demonic Sect…”

Zheng Fa raised an eyebrow.

“…You can’t even take on a human form.”

“I can’t transform into a human—

But the demonic women of the sect can transform into birds!”

“……”

“They even have aphrodisiac techniques! For birds!”

The Golden Crow’s voice trembled, nearly on the verge of tears.

“My body was nearly ruined!”

Silence.

The entire courtyard fell into a dead, awkward silence.

Even Zheng Fa, who had seen all sorts of bizarre things,

Couldn’t help but admire the Great Freedom Demonic Sect’s…

Groundbreaking contributions to biological experimentation.

They had gone too far.

“…So you escaped?”

Zheng Fa suddenly understood.

This Golden Crow, while not powerful,

If its bloodline was truly this rare,

It definitely wouldn’t be wandering around alone.

“Yes.”

The Golden Crow nodded rapidly.

“My ability to hide myself is extremely strong.

If I don’t speak,

No one can tell that I have Golden Crow bloodline.

I figured that this marketplace was bustling—

And with the strong presence of the immortal sects,

Those people wouldn’t dare chase me here.”

“…But then I discovered—”

The Golden Crow’s eyes sparkled as it stared directly at Zheng Fa.

“You are even more tempting than they were!”

……

Hey!

What kind of comparison is that?!

Zheng Fa was about to lose his temper,

But then he noticed—

Senior Sister Yuan was nodding along, completely agreeing.

“…So you made up the part about them targeting Jiushan Sect?”

Senior Sister Zhang’s eyes flashed, immediately cutting to the point.

“No, that part is true.”

The Golden Crow shook its head.

“You’ve completely blocked off the Great Freedom Demonic Sect’s movements with the Thunder Pool.

They’re trapped—and they’re getting desperate.”

Zheng Fa’s heart tightened.

“What are they planning?”

“Not sure.”

The Golden Crow tilted its head.

“But I heard that…

They don’t want to fight you at Thunder Pool…”

“…Jiushan Sect.”

Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged glances.

They instantly understood the Demonic Sect’s intent.

At Thunder Pool,

They were at a major disadvantage.

Not to mention—

With so many immortal sects gathered there,

There were multiple Nascent Soul cultivators present.

But Jiushan Sect was a different story.

It had no Thunder Pool,

No other immortal sects stationed there—

To the Great Freedom Demonic Sect,

It was now a weak point.

“We need to find Master.”

Senior Sister Zhang immediately nodded.

The group hurried to find Sect Master Yuan.

Inside Five Dragons Palace

Sect Master Yuan lifted the Golden Crow,

Flipping it back and forth,

Inspecting it from every angle.

“So, you’re saying…”

He turned to Zheng Fa and the others.

“This crow possesses a Golden Crow bloodline—

Making it a high-ranking noble among the Demon Race?”

Zheng Fa nodded.

“…And it gave up a harem of three thousand,

Only to be completely smitten by you and come running for refuge?”

“……”

That… sounded kind of wrong.

But technically…

It wasn’t incorrect.

Zheng Fa could only nod again.

“I’ve lived for nearly ten thousand years…”

Sect Master Yuan suddenly sighed.

“Master?”

“I thought it was already outrageous when your Senior Brother managed to seduce a demonic woman.”

Zheng Fa’s eyes widened.

“…But you—”

The Sect Master sighed again.

“Somehow, you’ve outdone him.”

Zheng Fa: “……”

Sect Master Yuan shook his head.

“Alright, tell me—when is the Demon Race army coming?”

“……”

“Master! I didn’t invite them here!”

“Just answer the question—are they coming or not?”

“…They’re coming.”

A Grave Discussion

Jokes aside,

This was no laughing matter.

Even Martial Uncle Pang was summoned to Five Dragons Palace,

And they all gathered for an emergency discussion.

Finally, Sect Master Yuan spoke.

“Here’s the plan—

I’ll return to Jiushan Sect.

If the situation at Thunder Pool becomes too dire,

Junior Brother, take the disciples and evacuate into the Thunder Pool.

I’ll have Junior Sister Huang bring the others over.

As for Jiushan Sect,

I’ll hold the fort myself—

And if necessary, the Ancestor will step in.”

Zheng Fa’s heart sank.

This was preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Martial Uncle Pang frowned.

“Senior Brother,

They’ve been biding their time for so long.

When they finally strike,

It’ll be a full-force assault—

Not something you can handle alone.”

“Junior Brother.”

Sect Master Yuan’s voice remained calm.

“I have lived for nearly ten thousand years.”

“My lifespan is down to about a hundred years left.”

“Senior Brother…”

“Besides—”

Sect Master Yuan grinned.

“Who says I’ll die?”

He patted his storage bag.

“I hold the Zhoutian Thunder Tribulation Formation in my hands.

Even if a late-stage Nascent Soul comes,

I won’t fear them.”

“If I have to burn my remaining lifespan

to take down one or two Nascent Souls,

It’ll be worth it.”