I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 488Book 2: : Shedding the Barrier, Seeking Merit

Vol 2 Chapter 488: Shedding the Barrier, Seeking Merit

Zheng Fa sat cross-legged on his cushion and examined his body’s meridians with inward observation. His upper, middle, and lower dantian were all swollen from the pressure of spiritual power. His Yang Spirit, Dharmakaya, and Creation Jade faintly resonated through the circulation of spiritual energy, as if eager to fuse into one.

After the first sermon, the spiritual power within Zheng Fa had grown markedly denser than before—surpassing that of many long-time Corpse Liberation practitioners. Now he was only one step away from Dao Fruit: the ritual.

He knew a few ways to set up such rituals. There was the Vermilion Heaven Jade Manual left by Lu Mo, the two great methods left by the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor, and corresponding records in the Heavenly River Sect’s classics.

What made Zheng Fa hesitate was that although those rituals were similar—generally invoking heaven and earth as witnesses and asking for living beings’ recognition—the required participants, ceremonial protocols, and recitations differed according to the cultivation path.

That raised a problem: the Yellow Court Scripture had never been practiced by anyone before. If he were to advance into Scattered Immortal, wouldn’t the ritual required be unprecedented as well?

Zheng Fa referenced the ritual forms he knew and combined them with the Dao he had heard in Purple Heaven Palace, and he now had some insight.

But he was still far from completing it. If he asked Jiushan Sect disciples to research it, it would likely take too long. The best course was to seek guidance from several mighty beings.

The problem was that the Yellow Court Scripture was unique. Anyone capable of guiding him in this would have to have opened their own path—rare within Xuanwei. He guessed Tianhe Venerable might qualify, Dao Venerable perhaps, Lei Yin Buddha Ancestor probably as well, and Lu Mo. He even doubted whether Shui Mu of Yaochi had the ability.

None of those people were someone Zheng Fa could actually consult.

Fortunately, while such people were scarce in Xuanwei, there were plenty in Nine Luminaries Heaven.

Not including Hongjun Daoist, there were still six!

Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave the Five Organs Pavilion now.

Zheng Fa retracted his thoughts and slowly refined his spiritual power. Suddenly, his mind stirred and his divine consciousness silently unfolded, permeating the surrounding void.

Thin, threadlike insects drifted in the air—transparent, continuously curling and stretching.

They rode the air currents, ignorant and aimless, and floated to the tip of Zheng Fa’s nose.

They were Puppet-Thread Insects. Jiushan Sect had long studied them;they often lurked in a host’s spine.

Once they parasitized the spinal nerves, with a mere thought from the Gu God the host’s flesh would no longer obey them and lose control.

Zheng Fa suppressed his inner resistance and sat calmly on the cushion, appearing entirely unaware. He watched quietly as the Puppet-Thread Insects drifted into his nostril, crawled over the back of his head, slid down his neck, and burrowed into his cervical spine.

Only then did his body tremble lightly, and the flesh on both sides of his cheeks began to twitch uncontrollably.

...

“It worked!” the Gu God rejoiced.

A spark of spiritual fire flashed twice in the White Bone Demon Ancestor’s eyes. He looked at her and asked in a low voice, “Are you sure?”

The Gu God smiled softly and tapped the Thousand-Eyes Cicada before her. The spots on the cicada’s back scattered into starlight in the air. The starlight condensed into a screen, and within it Zheng Fa sat on his cushion, trembling.

“With his cultivation, how could he stop my children?” she said.

The White Bone Demon Ancestor nodded slightly, then asked, “And the Skin-Painting Moth?”

“The Skin-Painting Moth has already been planted.”

“Planted?”

“When I first met Shi Nandang, he was infected by my Skin-Painting Moth, but for now the child is still an egg.”

“Only Shi Nandang?”

The Gu God chuckled lightly. “Out of habit.”

...

The White Bone Demon Ancestor was silent for a long moment. He looked down at his empty skeletal frame, as if relieved, then shook his head. “So you mean we only need to wait for Shi Nandang to obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi?”

The Gu God pondered for a moment, frowned, and asked, “Do you remember Creation mentioned that the seventh cushion is extremely difficult to sit upon?”

The White Bone Demon Ancestor nodded faintly, then paused in surprise and asked, “What do you mean?”

“We are not to wait for Shi Nandang to obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi—we are to help him obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi!”

The White Bone Demon Ancestor was stunned for a while before slowly nodding.

...

In the small courtyard, Zheng Fa opened his eyes and looked at the Thousand-Eyes Cicada perched on the windowsill.

He had to admit—these little devices the Gu God used were quite useful;they could even do video calls.

The Gu God sounded like quite a helpful sort of person!

Zheng Fa acted as if he noticed nothing and continued polishing his law power in the courtyard, pondering the content of Hongjun Daoist’s first lecture in Purple Heaven Palace, attempting to integrate it into the Yellow Court Scripture.

Time flowed like water. Two months later, Mingyue suddenly appeared at the courtyard gate.

“Right Daoist!” Zheng Fa looked out and saw Mingyue waving at him.

Zheng Fa’s heart stirred—he already guessed what this was about.

“Master requests your presence in the pavilion for a discussion!”

Of course!

The Gu God had spread Thousand-Eyes Cicadas across the ancient trees of the pavilion. Although the cicadas couldn’t go everywhere, they could see the general movements within the Five Organs Pavilion.

If the cicadas could see, the Gu God could see, and of course Zheng Fa could see.

He showed no expression and followed Mingyue to the main hall.

Most of the people were already there. After Zheng Fa arrived, only the monk Bailian and the Golden-Winged Great Peng were late.

Everyone looked at Creation Daoist with puzzled expressions, as if wondering what the matter was.

“We are here for the Hongmeng Purple Qi,” Creation Daoist said without preamble. “I once said that we are family.”

The Great Elder of the Lu Clan glanced at Zheng Fa.

Golden-Winged Great Peng had no patience for Creation Daoist: “Your Stone friend certainly doesn’t treat you as family.”

Creation Daoist didn’t look at Zheng Fa, merely smiled and said, “Harboring selfishness is only natural. At the end of the day, we are all friends of Lu Mo—hard to tell one from another.”

When Lu Mo’s name was spoken, Golden-Winged Great Peng obediently shut his mouth and ceased his objections.

“Today I summoned you so that everyone can cast aside old grudges and work together to obtain the Hongmeng Purple Qi.”

Even Bailian’s expression changed at these words. He snapped his head up, his gaze shifting between Zheng Fa and Creation Daoist.

Everyone else understood too.

“Creation Patriarch.” The Great Elder of the Lu Clan finally could not contain himself and stood, asking Creation Daoist: “Setting aside old grievances, you say to strive together—how do you propose we do that?”

Creation Daoist replied, “The fourteen of us—whoever obtains the Hongmeng Purple Qi, the rest must do their utmost to assist.”

The Great Elder of the Lu Clan sneered. “Among us, apart from you, Patriarch, and Bailian, only Shi Nandang has the highest chance of obtaining the Hongmeng Purple Qi!”

Creation Daoist looked at Shi Nandang: “Bailian and I have few needs for assistance, but Shi Daoist’s cultivation is too low.”

The Great Elder of the Lu Clan opened his mouth wide and pointed at Zheng Fa, voicing a question from his soul: “You mean we should help this thief obtain the ancestral treasure?”

Zheng Fa looked at him with an innocent expression—as if to say, why point at me? I didn’t volunteer!

Creation Daoist nodded slightly. The eight Lu Clan Dharmakaya looked unable to accept it—some shook their heads, others snorted coldly.

“It’s not just helping Shi Nandang alone, but united effort. Shi Daoist’s cultivation is the shallowest;we hope for great merit. Please, do not harbor grudges.”

The Great Elder of the Lu Clan pressed his lips tightly, as if not hearing.

“Are you Lu Clan friends unwilling?”

“We are unwilling!” he snapped, stiff-necked. “After all, we’re helping Shi Nandang! We’ve spared him chances out of consideration for you, Creation Patriarch—how could we further help him?”

Seeing Creation Daoist’s solemn face, he added, “Not only that, Patriarch, ask if anyone else in this hall is willing?”

He pointed at Golden-Winged Great Peng. Golden-Winged Great Peng only sneered;Bailian bowed his head and chanted sutras. Though he said nothing, his stance was clear.

A look of triumph spread across the Great Elder’s face. He thought that since those two were unwilling, then the Gu God and White Bone Demon Ancestor—and those more aligned with his Lu Clan—certainly would not side with Zheng Fa.

“I agree.”

A coquettish female voice froze the smile at his mouth.

The Great Elder of the Lu Clan turned to the Gu God, eyes wide with disbelief. Wasn’t the Gu God supposed to be on our side?

Before the Gu God finished speaking, the White Bone Demon Ancestor beside her also said, “I agree to this matter.”

...

This stunned not only the Lu Clan Great Elder but also Bailian, who looked at the Gu God and White Bone Demon Ancestor with astonishment and fell into deep thought.

“This proposal was even suggested by Gu God Daoist.”

Seeing their shocked expressions, Creation Daoist explained with amusement.

“Gu God Patriarch!”

The Great Elder of the Lu Clan called out, full of righteous anger: We are on the same side! Even if the two patriarchs don’t care for our Lu Clan, they are Demon Ancestors! Are there Demon Ancestors so willing to help others? Does this make sense?

The Gu God glanced at the Lu Clan members with a gaze void of warmth. She then said, “They also agree.”

The Great Elder’s eyes met hers. Suddenly he clutched his throat, struggled to make a sound, and then like a changed man dropped his head and said in a muffled voice, “We have no objections.”

Zheng Fa felt his heart skip—this Great Elder had been planted with a gu?

“Used to it,” the Gu God said casually.

This “used to” was hardly comforting. The others’ faces turned grim. The seven other Lu Clan members finally realized the Gu God hadn’t switched sides, and no one dared oppose.

Creation Daoist and the others turned their attention to Bailian and Golden-Winged Great Peng.

Bailian and Golden-Winged Great Peng exchanged a look but still hesitated.

Creation Daoist suddenly said, “Lu Mo placed great hopes on the Hongmeng Purple Qi.”

Bailian lowered his head in thought for a while before speaking: “In that case, we will also offer what small effort we can.”

Creation Daoist smiled, nodded slightly, and looked at Zheng Fa: “Shi Daoist, what do you think?”

“Thanks to Creation Daoist.”

Zheng Fa appeared oblivious to any issue, and his gratitude sounded especially sincere.

Creation Daoist smiled in satisfaction and then offered some ceremonial words—basically saying this meeting was one of unity and victory.

“To obtain the seventh cushion requires great merit, great enlightenment, and great perseverance,” Creation Daoist said at length and finally reached the topic. “I previously thought all three were needed, but now I wonder—what if only one of the three is required?”

The hall fell silent, then erupted in excitement: “Any one of the three suffices?”

“That’s possible!”

“If so, it’s much simpler.”

After the murmurs died down, Creation Daoist spoke again: “I don’t have much clue about great enlightenment or great perseverance, but as for great merit, I have some ideas. Judging from the name, ‘merit’ isn’t something easy to acquire within our Five Organs Pavilion.”

“You’re right,” Bailian agreed. “Within the Nine Luminaries Heaven there is constant killing—souls and resentful spirits everywhere. To obtain great merit, we may have to go beyond the pavilion.”

Creation Daoist nodded and pointed outside the hall: “In this realm two great forces vie for hegemony—one is the monster clans, the other the shaman clans. They fight unceasingly;battle qi fills the world. If we seek merit, the two clans should be our entry points.”

Creation Daoist’s reasoning made sense. Golden-Winged Great Peng asked, “If so, how do we obtain merit?”

“That I do not know.”

Creation Daoist sighed. “If not, I would not have called you here. I hope you all can find some leads.”

“Do you mean we all go down the mountain to seek opportunities to gain merit?” someone asked.

“Exactly!” Creation Daoist laughed. “If anyone obtains something, return to the pavilion and share.”

Everyone was surprised—Creation Daoist actually sounded somewhat impartial.

Even Golden-Winged Great Peng’s expression softened and he muttered, “Each rely on your own fate—best of all.”

“I have some ideas already,” Bailian even offered proactively. “This world’s lethal tribulations are fierce;the lost souls have no place to rest. I will go to redeem them.”

“Bailian’s idea is sound,” Creation Daoist praised. “I too have some thoughts. Let us descend the mountain and act individually.”

No one dissented.

Zheng Fa walked out of the pavilion and glanced back at the Five Organs Pavilion. Only then did his heart lighten.

The Five Organs Pavilion had given him a very bad feeling;stepping out felt like escaping from death.

Outside the mountain the world had already changed drastically.

He didn’t know how time flowed between the pavilion and the illusion, but by now quite some years had likely passed since the first sermon.

As Creation Daoist said, all the radiance of this realm had been drawn to the shaman and monster clans.

The monster clans controlled the heavens, the shaman clans controlled the earth—both hegemonic forces, practically the protagonists of this world.

Creation Daoist and the others were going down to seek merit with their focus on these two clans.

But Zheng Fa had different thoughts.

If some modern legends were true, then the currently dominant shaman and monster clans would soon become history, and the events that could grant the merit necessary to sit on the cushion were only a few—and none of them had anything to do with the shaman or monster clans.