I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 493Book 2: : Perfected Grand Ascension, A Sage’s Favorable Gaze

Book 2: Chapter 493: Perfected Grand Ascension, A Sage’s Favorable Gaze

Vol 2 Chapter 493: Perfected Grand Ascension, A Sage’s Favorable Gaze

The sermon flowed through the Purple Cloud Hall;every sentence, every single word was infused with endless Daoic resonance.

But the Great Elder of the Lu Clan and the others could not absorb a single syllable—they couldn’t help but examine Zheng Fa with their own light.

Zheng Fa listened with utter rapture.

This second lecture contained cultivation methods from many different races;for most people, the gains were both vast and subtle.

If you were of the dragon clan, you could hear the most exquisite dragon cultivation techniques here and benefit greatly.

But on the other hand, you could barely understand the cultivation methods of other races.

Only a certain type of person could use other races’ techniques to perfect themselves.

These people had exceptionally high comprehension;they could make analogies, extract the beneficial essence from techniques useless to them, and by analogy integrate those essences into their own cultivation.

This was precisely what the cushion requirement meant by so-called great comprehension.

Zheng Fa did not possess great comprehension in that strict sense;he was simply not picky—he was omnivorous, even a bit of a mutt.

When Hongjun taught dragon cultivation, Zheng Fa became a true dragon with pure blood;when it was the phoenix’s turn, he donned colorful feathers and performed a cosplay of the bird.

Nüwa had actually collected only seventy-two biological structures, which compared to the three thousand ways of the Dao was not many.

But her taste was exacting;the species she selected were the most formidable on the earth.

Although Hongjun’s lecture was fairly impartial and did not overtly favor any race, the inherently talented races already had deep foundations, complex and profound methods, and great potential—so naturally he spent more time on them.

Thus, nearly more than half of Hongjun’s lecture concerned those seventy-two species.

Within Hongjun’s voice, Zheng Fa understood how dragons should purify their bloodline to produce a true dragon body that could dominate the seas.

He grasped how the phoenix condenses the purest life energy from death.

Innate divine powers were to him like reading the lines in a palm;the true forms of mighty demonic barriers were revealed in minute detail.

The seventy-two species—the most powerful, oldest, closest to the Dao—flashed through his sea of consciousness.

They were vivid, ever more perfected, their auras growing stronger with each passing day.

How these seventy-two wondrous species cultivated into Scattered Immortals, how they condensed Dao Fruit—Zheng Fa had no doubts left.

He even felt that among those three thousand guests, the allegedly innate-divine beings—dragon, phoenix, shaman, demon—might not understand their own species’ methods better than he now understood them.

But Zheng Fa’s ambition did not stop there!

At a thought, the seventy-two figures shattered inch by inch, turning into fragments in his sea of consciousness like countless starlight.

He intended to use those seventy-two supreme species as references to condense a body most suited to himself—or rather, a perfect Dao body most suited to humanity.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but the moment those seventy-two figures shattered, the sermon seemed to surge threefold in his ears, like tumultuous waves rushing toward him. He fell deeper into the torrent of the lecture sound and lost all sense of the outside world.

He was intoxicated, but the others could only stay silent.

What flooded toward him was not only the sermon but also those falling golden flowers.

Layer upon layer of golden petals piled on until they wrapped Zheng Fa into a cocoon. At first, people could still see his shifting form through the outer casing, but later the layers grew so thick and dense that onlookers could only see an oval ball of light, growing ever brighter and more solid.

The Gu God stared at that ball of light, dumbfounded for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at the White Bone Demon Ancestor.

“What are you looking at me for?”

“Can I learn your Myriad-Transform Bones?”

...

The White Bone Demon Ancestor glanced at the lightball a long while, then replied with a grudging tone, “Coincidentally, I want to learn it too.”

The Gu God fell silent, simply watching the lightball stand upon the meditation cushion. The two cocoons surged forward;quickly—within two or three months—it advanced to the third row. Six months later, Zheng Fa’s cushion had squeezed into the first row, drawing ever nearer to Bailian and the Creation Daoist.

The Buddha statue behind Bailian was already radiating precious light and, together with the sarira, was dazzling;yet facing Zheng Fa’s odd-shaped ball of light, it looked unusually dim, even pitiable.

Still dimmer was Bailian’s expression.

He kept glancing at Zheng Fa;his face grew increasingly earnest, as if he were struggling to comprehend Hongjun’s lecture. Yet the lightball, like a rampaging bull, gradually closed from his right side, then ruthlessly trampled past his position, leaving him behind.

Bailian maintained a blank face, seemingly calm, but the Buddha behind him flickered and shattered a few times.

The Creation Daoist reacted to Zheng Fa vaulting past him in exactly the opposite way—he smiled, his eyes pleased, appearing happier than anyone else.

He watched Zheng Fa recede, then looked toward Bailian and said with a grin, “Why aren’t you listening to the Dao?”

Bailian pinched the Bodhi seed, his gaze lingering on the crack across it;after a long while he sighed, “Alas, his Dao-heart is already disturbed.”

The Creation Daoist chuckled lightly, “Not necessarily a bad thing.”

Bailian was startled for a moment, then looked up and slowly nodded. Their light, unbidden, settled again on the ball of light.

The lightball’s forward movement was actually slowing down, but its momentum did not abate—inching seat by seat to the left.

Time flowed quietly within the sermon, and finally the lightball arrived at the front-most meditation cushion in the first row!

Although expected, Creation and the others still felt waves rise in their hearts:

Shi Nandang had finally taken the lead among these three thousand guests, now truly one step away from that seventh cushion. The Hongmeng Purple Qi appeared within reach, like it could be plucked with an outstretched hand.

Everyone waited, but though the lightball grew ever brighter, it still could not cross that final gulf—until the lecture ended.

Regret lingered in many hearts;clearly the Hongmeng Purple Qi could not be attained by merely listening to a sermon.

When the lecturing stopped, Hongjun’s figure slowly faded, and the golden cocoon around Zheng Fa dimmed, revealing his face, still drunk on Dao resonance.

“Just one step away from completing Dao Fruit.”

The Creation Daoist murmured.

Bailian nodded slowly;as veterans, both recognized that Shi Nandang’s Dao resonance now seemed nearly uncontrollable—obviously he had no remaining barriers before Dao Fruit.

Both had to admit that Shi Nandang’s accumulation seemed several times deeper than theirs had been in their youth.

At this thought, Bailian suddenly turned to ask the Lu Clan Great Elder, “How old was Shi Nandang in his prime?”

The Lu Clan Great Elder pinched his fingers and calculated, then said, “Under twelve thousand years.”

“Twelve thousand years and a Dao Fruit.” Bailian sighed softly, then as if remembering something, asked the Great Elder, “You said earlier Shi Nandang was of your Lu Clan?”

“...Yes.”

Bailian’s gaze toward the Lu Clan changed.

Not only him—even the Gu God and White Bone Demon Ancestor, looking at this group of Lu Clan Nascent Souls, wore strange expressions—how could such a person have been lost by your Lu Clan?

Under their scrutiny, the Lu Clan Great Elder opened his mouth but could not utter a single word;he only looked at Zheng Fa, his expression far more complex than before.

Zheng Fa’s eyelids fluttered;he slowly woke.

He felt lightness throughout his body, his spirit abundant, and even a satisfaction as if he sought nothing more—though no one had guided him, he had attained clarity: his Great Ascension stage had reached completion.

By his prior understanding, only one ceremonial procedure remained;after that, he could become a Dao Fruit cultivator transcending the heavens themselves!

Although the three iron rules of Dao Fruit no longer existed, the gulf between Dao Fruit cultivators and others remained like heaven and earth.

But the ceremonial procedure... Zheng Fa frowned slightly—he did not understand the rituals deeply enough, and most importantly, he did not know the true nature of the ritual.

For others this was no big issue.

For example, Lord Shuyu Dragon could follow the ritual contained in his bloodline inheritance and smoothly ascend to Scattered Immortal.

Zheng Fa was different: his Yellow Court Scripture had no precedent to reference, so he had to invent a ritual himself. Not understanding the nature of ritual was utterly unacceptable.

“Congratulations, Shi Daofa—wonderful progress in cultivation.” Just as he pondered, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Zheng Fa looked up to see the Creation Daoist smiling at him;his light glowed with joy.

Zheng Fa cupped his hands in return.

The White Bone Demon Ancestor and the Gu God pushed forward to stand before him. The White Bone Demon Ancestor hurriedly asked, “What you just used—was it my...”

“I owe thanks to White Bone Dao-friend for the hint.”

A spiritual fire flashed in the White Bone Demon Ancestor’s eyes;he was about to say more when a voice cut in: “This technique of yours is very good.”

Turning, Zheng Fa saw Nüwa standing behind him, her gaze full of approval.

“Without Her Highness, I couldn’t have perfected this technique,” Zheng Fa said earnestly.

The Heavenly and Earthly Fiend Transformations could advance further precisely because of Nüwa—although the White Bone Demon Ancestor’s Myriad-Transform Bodies inspired Zheng Fa, collecting so many innate life structures himself was beyond his means;there were few such mighty beings in Xuanwei now.

He could gather some weaker species, but that could not compare to what Nüwa had collected.

“I didn’t expect you to invent such a method,” Nüwa said after a moment of thought, praising him, “Very impressive.”

“Truly impressive!”

Tongtian suddenly popped up from somewhere and stood before Zheng Fa, inspecting his face left and right with a grin: “It’s surprising that though your cultivation and flesh are so weak, you could create such an interesting transformative divine power.”

...Sir, you sure know how to compliment someone.

Even the previously taciturn, somewhat aloof Yuanshi now nodded gently and said, “Among ancient and modern transformation methods, this is number one.”

Taishang stroked his long beard, as if pondering: “Using transformation as the foundation, merging myriad methods into one body—this grasps the true meaning of the Dao.”

He paused, then laughed: “Truly, the younger generation is formidable.”

Zheng Fa heard the teasing in his tone and cupped his hands: “Without you seniors, my method would be but a castle in the air.”

His tone was sincere. The Three Pure Ones exchanged glances and their faces softened further. Tongtian asked curiously, “Does your technique have a name?”

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, recalling its origins, and said, “I call it the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Transformations.”

“Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Transformations?” Tongtian pressed, “Is there perhaps also a Heavenly Gang number of transformations?”

“Not thought of yet,” Zheng Fa answered honestly. “It’s just that the number fit. In truth, seventy-two is just a nominal figure...a convenient count.”

Tongtian’s eyes lit up: “You can’t even name it?”

Who said I can’t name things? Not quite—what do you mean “can’t”?

A sudden flash struck Zheng Fa’s mind: when he previously read the Investiture of the Gods stories, he’d felt the names in the Chan school sounded nice—Clear-Void Moral True Lord, Jade Cauldron Zhenren, Guangchengzi...they all had a bit of immortality in their names.

The Jie school names were worse: at best Cloudsoar Bluesoar, middling ones like The Incomparable Holy Mother Golden-Spirit Holy Mother, worse were Cloudy Immortal Feather, and the worst—Lu Yue of Nine-Dragon Isle, which sounded about on par with Jiushan Sect’s Zheng Fa: at most a name.

From the names alone, Jie school seemed unpromising.

He had thought the Jie school’s people were too many and Tongtian was too lazy to name them;now it seemed...Tongtian was just hopeless at naming?

Tongtian, as if finding a kindred spirit, chatted animatedly with Zheng Fa.

Nüwa, Yuanshi, and Taishang lingered, not in a hurry to leave. The group clustered, discussing Zheng Fa’s Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Transformations with eager remarks;all clearly interested.

Zheng Fa did not hold back. On one hand, the method was founded on the Yellow Court Scripture.

On the other, if these elders were dead, telling them would matter little;if alive...well, honestly, even less need to hide.

The technique was in its infancy;their opinions could only help perfect it.

Bailian watched from afar, feeling a sourness in his heart—he had thought catching the eye of two patriarchs would be a tremendous opportunity.

But now...

Others did not know, but the two patriarchs had told him of the situation here;he knew the identities and status of those on the cushions.

The Three Pure Ones could be said to be the most honored figures in this realm—usually they closed their doors and dealt little with outsiders—arrogant and disdainful.

Nüwa’s position was likewise exalted;though she did not manage affairs among the demonfolk, in cultivation rank she was subtly the foremost among the demon races, with immense prestige—indeed, one could call her a sovereign of the realm.

Now these four surrounded Zheng Fa with warm attitudes, even discussing Dao as equals with him. That equality felt utterly different from his own interactions with the two patriarchs—indeed almost absurd.

Bailian lowered his eyes, feeling some relief that his two patriarchs still stood beside him;they appeared to value him, this Buddhist junior, somewhat more.

“Is that person...familiar to you?” Zhunti Patriarch suddenly asked.

“Ah?” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Bailian looked up to see his two patriarchs standing by him, but their gazes were fixed on Shi Nandang.

“Not very familiar, but Shi Nandang was also a junior disciple of my master,” Bailian replied honestly. “Though not a Leiyin Temple disciple, he shares deep ties with my master.”

“I said it;this child shows a bond with our Buddhist path at a glance.”