I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times

Vol 2 Chapter 192: A New Jiushan, A New Atmosphere

What is a life-bound treasure? Zheng Fa wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept.

After all, he was well acquainted with Senior Sister Zhang’s Flying Immortal Brush and Martial Uncle Pang’s Five Dragons Palace.

Now, comparing those to what the Tianhe Venerable just said, the problem became quite clear—

In the Five Dragons Palace, Martial Uncle Pang had smelted five serpent spirits that were on the verge of becoming flood dragons.

The Flying Immortal Brush even contained the remains of the Four Primordial Spirits of Heaven and Earth.

These were far beyond what a cultivator could produce from their own body.

Could this be the fundamental difference between the original method of crafting a life-bound treasure and the current cultivation methods?

Zheng Fa was puzzled and continued listening to Tianhe Venerable’s teaching:

“Therefore, the crafting of a life-bound spirit treasure lies not in external items, but within oneself.”

As he spoke, the Daoist’s five features and seven orifices radiated brilliant light, as if he had become a living artifact furnace.

Inside the furnace, earth, fire, water, and wind surged; five-colored spiritual energy flowed from his mouth and nose.

In an instant, clouds and radiant light steamed up before Zheng Fa’s eyes, smoke and fire swirled—he felt as if he were in a celestial realm, unable to see anything clearly.

Only a single flying sword slowly took shape amidst the smoke and furnace flames.

Zheng Fa’s finger slowly moved away from the jade slip.

This time, Tianhe Venerable’s teaching was mostly a demonstration of how to craft a treasure, with few words spoken.

But those few sentences at the beginning had already set Zheng Fa’s mind wandering far and wide.

From this, it seemed that the original method of life-bound treasures in the Tianhe technique might be fundamentally different from what the current Immortal Sect doctrine taught.

The biggest difference lay in the reliance on external objects.

Tianhe Venerable’s Dao appeared completely self-consistent—from the Golden Core’s rejection of external help, to the Slaying Immortals Method that allowed no substitute for the sword.

Simply put, it all came from within.

Whereas in the Immortal Sect methods, judging from Senior Sister Zhang and Martial Uncle Pang, life-bound treasures still required spiritual materials from the outside world.

On this point, Zheng Fa couldn’t really say which was better or worse—he already understood that today’s Immortal Sect hadn’t completely abandoned the Tianhe method, but rather reformed and inherited it.

Tianhe Venerable was strong.

But that didn’t mean the Tianhe method was flawless… who’s to say the Immortal Sect method isn’t more suitable for ordinary people?

He felt he still needed to discuss these matters with Senior Sister Zhang and the others.

Yet, there was one phrase that struck Zheng Fa more deeply—“the human body is a microcosm”...

That line bore a striking resemblance to what Tang Mu Dao once said about the formation of the Golden Core and the universe—it was remarkably similar in principle.

Could it be that the greatest figure of the previous age had also grasped the true essence of the Golden Core?

Or perhaps, it was precisely because of this understanding that the Tianhe Venerable acquired his innate divine ability?

A thought stirred in him. He flashed over to the medicine garden and looked up at the Sun and Moon Bell standing tall.

Previously, he had believed that Tianhe Venerable created the method of life-bound treasures only after obtaining the Heavenly Monument Realm and realizing what a fate-bound treasure truly was.

But now,

Tianhe Venerable might’ve gone even further than Zheng Fa imagined—perhaps he intended to cultivate himself into a Heavenly Monument Realm?

That flying sword of his—could it be something akin to the Sun and Moon Bell?

With that in mind, he flew toward Senior Sister Zhang’s courtyard.

On the one hand, he discussed new discoveries with Senior Sister Zhang and even Martial Uncle Pang every day.

On the other hand, he had just taken office as sect master, and had many ideas he needed her help with.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Senior Sister Zhang talking to the Jiushan Ancestor, the Flying Immortal Brush dancing in the air before her, sketching out a chain of talisman diagrams.

The Jiushan Ancestor gently nodded, raised a hand, and a seal flew from his sleeve, merging with the talismans hanging in the air.

Zheng Fa recognized that seal—it was the fusion of the True Form Talisman of Mountains and Rivers with Jiushan, which had once blocked the Ancestor of the Blood River, showing considerable power.

A few days ago, Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang had tried to move Jiushan into the Jiushan Realm, but it proved more difficult than expected—Jiushan was too massive, and the Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace couldn’t fully contain it.

In the end, Senior Sister Zhang and the Jiushan Ancestor managed to compress it into this seal, and she even gave it a name: the Seal of Mountains and Rivers.

This seal was surrounded by swirling talismans, gradually transforming into a light screen.

At the top of the screen were a few words: “Tasks,” “Merits,” “Exchange,” “Notices,” and so on.

“The contribution system is up and running?”

Senior Sister Zhang nodded: “The system itself wasn’t hard. The hard part was how to encode it into the Seal of Mountains and Rivers.”

Zheng Fa understood what she meant.

At the end of the day, it was an automated task system. What they called merits actually covered a broader scope than Heavenly Merits—

Doing work in the mortal realm and increasing incense offerings in the Jiushan Realm counted as merits.

So did cultivating spiritual materials in the medicine garden or repairing buildings on the Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace.

In the future, even creating new knowledge of cultivation or ranking well in major exams would earn merit.

Simply put, this was a new system that merged Jiushan Sect’s administrative structure with the old Heavenly Monument’s merit system.

Any act that helped develop the Jiushan Realm would earn merit.

As for the exchange rate between merit and spiritual materials, it had also changed.

To be honest, it took a lot more merit to exchange for the same spiritual material than with heavenly merit—Zheng Fa called this a "channel fee."

But it was necessary…

Only after becoming Jiushan’s sect master did he realize how expensive everything was.

What’s more, some tasks wouldn’t even generate incense offerings.

Therefore, merit naturally depreciated compared to heavenly merit.

…

The Heavenly Palace Island was bustling with activity.

Sun Daoyu squeezed into the crowd, heading toward what used to be the Hundred Treasures Hall, now renamed the Merit Hall.

The former jade tablet had changed form, split into several sections.

After much effort, Sun Daoyu made it to the front. He held his disciple token up to the jade tablet.

Immediately, the tablet displayed his name, cultivation level, and total accumulated merit.

The most outrageous part? It even showed his last exam score…

He tapped on the “Tasks” section—there was a wide variety: construction on the Nine Islands, passing through the Sun and Moon Bell to the lower realm, helping in the medicine garden to cultivate spirit plants…

Sun Daoyu noticed the top tasks were tailored for Foundation Establishment cultivators or those weak in math…

Thoughtful, but kinda insulting.

He tapped the “Merit” section and was surprised to see he had over forty points!

He clicked the number, and a few lines of small text appeared on the jade tablet:

“Repaired University Island—5 Merit.”

“Taught classes on Letu Island—5 Merit.”

“……”

Only then did he realize that these were tasks he had completed for the sect before the merit tablet existed.

He hadn’t expected Sect Master Zheng to remember them all.

His heart warmed, but he quickly stepped aside when he saw eager disciples behind him.

As he left the Merit Hall, he overheard a few disciples chatting:

“I heard from now on, no matter your cultivation level, you can’t grant resources privately?”

“Sect Master Zheng said unless the rules are changed, everyone has to follow them…”

“So… we’re convinced.”

Sun Daoyu nodded lightly.

Everyone’s cultivation level was different, and their abilities even more so—true equality was impossible.

But having a clear set of rules was already much better than before.

This system, in fact, was very well received by the lower-level disciples.

…

Just as he stepped out of the Merit Hall, he noticed that the Investiture Hall nearby was also packed with people.

Now that was odd—Investiture Hall had pretty much been abandoned; after all, with the sect master in control of the Jiushan Realm, the hall wasn’t really needed anymore.

As he walked closer, he realized the plaque above the hall had been changed. The new name read:

“Hall of Esteemed Sages”

Sun Daoyu was full of curiosity. As he entered the hall, he saw that all the original deity statues were gone—but in their place, new figures had been erected.

He stepped forward and his eyes went wide.

He recognized the people on the statues!

At the very front were an old man and a young boy walking hand in hand with their heads bowed. Beneath them, a plaque read:

“Inventors of the Talisman Imprint — Father and Son Li Nuo”

Sun Daoyu swallowed hard and looked to the side.

There, a group of figures was crouched. In the middle sat a plump, middle-aged man. In front of them was a tiny sprouting rice seedling.

Beneath them, another stone plaque read:

“Inventors of Qianhe Grain — Master and Disciples of Qian Zheng”

The plaques also included introductions to the Talisman Imprint and Qianhe Grain.

Below the stone plaques were sculpted scenes—Li Nuo bent over, weeping in grief; Zhenren Qian bursting with joy.

Sun Daoyu smacked his lips.

Jealous?

So long as the Jiushan Realm exists, the likenesses and names of these people will never be forgotten!

Of course he was jealous.

But was he convinced?

Everyone knew the sect had made a massive deal this time with the Hundred Immortals Alliance and the Wushuang Society—both the Talisman Imprint and Qianhe Grain had earned a fortune in spirit stones.

Of course he was convinced!

He looked around at the other disciples. The expressions on their faces were just like his own—

I want to be honored in the Hall of Esteemed Sages too!