Xiuxian: I studied abroad in modern times

Chapter 539 A Lone Lamp Shines Alone, Fishing for Dragons

Despite his displeasure, Zheng Fa's heavy-handed approach wasn't solely motivated by anger.

Since he couldn't advance by hiding his way out, he decided to take advantage of the situation and establish his authority.

Establishing authority is to deal with Xuanwei's current situation.

Since its emergence from the cycle of reincarnation, Xuanwei is now rife with undercurrents, and Zheng Fa is unaware of how many Dao Fruits have been obtained from the outside world.

Regardless of whether these Dao Fruits are good or evil, they will ultimately seek to acquire resources and compete for territory, thus impacting the existing powerful Xuanwei forces.

As one of the six, no, five, sects of Xuanwei, the Nine Mountains Sect is in a relatively awkward position—it has a great reputation and occupies a considerable territory, but it is the weakest and an easy target, making it very easy for others to covet it.

In this way, demonstrating some strength can actually reduce trouble.

A silver light flashed in Zheng Fa's eyes as he looked into the distance. With his Void-Piercing Eyes, he could see many hidden details in the space.

There are at least four places where Dao Fruit cultivators are hidden.

……

"Actually, the reason why he is willing to reveal some of his trump cards is because of our strength development in recent years."

Within the Nine Mountains Realm, the Heavenly Emperor explained to Senior Sister Zhang and the others.

"You mean the Heavenly River Technique and the Myriad Immortals Formation?"

Senior Sister Zhang looked enlightened.

The Heavenly Emperor smiled and nodded.

Since acquiring the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation and promoting the Heavenly River Technique, the strongest fighting force of the Nine Mountains Sect is no longer Zheng Fa, or rather, not only Zheng Fa.

This is the composition of the Nine Mountains Sect's strength, which is completely different from other Xuanwei sects.

In the past, even the most special Tianhe Sect's rise and fall depended on Venerable Tianhe—when Venerable Tianhe disappeared, the Tianhe Sect fell into internal strife.

Over several eras, the development paths of all the sects in Xuanwei have been largely similar:
A peerless genius emerges, a sect rises to prominence, and no matter how many years pass, the strongest person in the sect is still that original genius.

The Heavenly River Venerable is like this, and so is the Dao Venerable.

Yaochi and Leiyin Temple are not much different.

The Nine Mountains Sect was the same before.

Therefore, in the eyes of Xuanwei cultivators, Zheng Fa, the genius who led the rise of the Nine Mountains Sect, naturally represented the highest combat power of the Nine Mountains Sect. As long as Zheng Fa was dealt with, the others in the Nine Mountains Sect would not be a concern.

But only the higher-ups at Jiushan knew that things were changing!
The two major legions, especially the Tianhe Legion, are the Nine Mountains Sect's biggest trump card.

Simply put, Zheng Fa used to hide his own strength, but now he wants to hide the two great legions, Shenxiao Tianhe and Shenxiao Tianhe.

Uncle Pang understood as well. His expression was strange, a mixture of disdain and relief: "I wonder who will fall into the pit that Zheng Fa dug."

Zheng Fa gave this approach a name: the onion strategy—peel it layer by layer until the enemy cries.

……

The most important aspect of this strategy is the strength that Zheng Fa has demonstrated – it's tough enough!
He was so tough that everyone thought he was the next Heavenly River Venerable, so tough that no one could imagine that the Nine Mountains Sect had even stronger methods.

Defeating these powerful phantoms is the best proof of Zheng Fa's strength.

His single strike that killed an ancient immortal phantom was just the beginning.

The other seventy-one illusory figures, momentarily stunned, made a choice that surprised everyone:

They were in sync, protecting each other, surrounding Zheng Fa in layers, laying a tight net.

In other words, these Golden Immortals who have stood proudly in the sky for several epochs have actually joined forces!

Although they rarely fought together, their rich combat experience made them work together seamlessly, their momentum united as one.

The wind howled and the clouds rolled in, the waves crashed against the shore, birds scattered across the ground, and beasts cried out in despair.

All things in heaven and earth seemed to be thrown into disarray by this overwhelming force.

Even Zheng Fa was having a hard time keeping up.

These phantoms were much more intelligent than he had expected; they seemed to even have consciousness.

On the other hand, these people harbored more resentment than he had imagined, to the point that they had no shame whatsoever.

Even the Dragon King of the Azure Sea was stunned in the distance.

Zheng Fa's strength exceeded his expectations.

The Dragon Ancestor's shamelessness and adaptability exceeded his expectations.

A group of Golden Immortals who roam the heavens joined forces. Even if they were only at the True Spirit Realm, he wouldn't dare to imagine such a scene; he would be terrified even in his dreams.

No wonder it is said that Xuanwei is the beginning of all worlds. This scene is so grand that you can't see anything like it in the remote and impoverished Longyuan Realm.

The Azure Sea Dragon King was actually anticipating a fierce battle.

"Dragon Lord, your judgment is indeed exceptional."

If he had previously praised Zheng Fa with a hint of schadenfreude, now his words seemed to carry a genuine sincerity.

Ordinary people couldn't make such a commotion.

The Dragon Lord of Shuyu didn't have time to pay attention to him. Instead, she stared at Zheng Fa, trying to find some chance for him to win. But after thinking for a long time, she couldn't find even a glimmer of hope, let alone a chance to win.

Just as she was becoming increasingly worried, a jade-colored light swept across thousands of miles, warm and dazzling.

The source of the light was a jade tablet.

The Jade Tablet of Creation flew out from Zheng Fa's Niwan Palace, its spiritual light illuminating all directions.

The jade tablet was unfolded, facing the illusory figures of powerful beings in all directions. The Creation Child sat on it, his little face full of seriousness.

"A natal spiritual treasure?" the Cangming Dragon King murmured, somewhat curious. "Dragon Lord, do you know what the function of his natal spiritual treasure is?"

The Dragon Lord gently shook his head.

She didn't have much contact with Zheng Fa, and besides, the Jade Tablet of Creation wasn't a treasure for magical duels, so Zheng Fa rarely used it before.

Let alone Lord Shuyu.

Few cultivators outside the sect know about this.

"This precious light looks somewhat mysterious, but it doesn't seem to have much offensive power?"

The Dragon Lord Shuyu also looked somewhat puzzled.

But what happened next left them not only puzzled, but utterly bewildered:
With the Jade Tablet of Creation atop his head, Zheng Fa's eyes gleamed with silver light. In a flash, he transformed into a rainbow of light and appeared in the void.

He stretched out his right hand, his sleeves fluttering, and a long golden flame dragon flowed out of his sleeve, rushing menacingly towards... the air?
The Azure Sea Dragon King and his companions were dumbfounded—were they seeing things? Or were they under an illusion?
Just when they thought their attack would miss, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Jin Yan and used his own body to successfully stop Zheng Fa from wasting his spiritual power.

The Azure Sea Dragon King was so confused he felt like his head was about to explode.

He had witnessed and participated in countless battles of wits.

I've never seen anything so bizarre:
Zheng Fa transformed into a rainbow of light, darting about and fiercely battling the air.

Those powerful phantoms were even more outrageous: Zheng Fa was clearly attacking the void, but there were always people bravely and fearlessly risking their lives to take the hit.

One side fights blindly, while the other is eager to die.

This acting is so bad, it would be considered terrible even on a stage.

In just half an incense stick's time, five or six more of these powerful phantoms actually perished.

"What kind of powerful illusion is this?"

The Dragon King of the Azure Sea could see clearly that these Golden Immortals were not putting on an act with Zheng Fa, but rather... they seemed unable to control themselves, like puppets on strings, wherever Zheng Fa wanted them to be.

Even the Dragon Lord Shuyu looked somewhat shocked.

She observed carefully for a while, then gently shook her head: "It's not an illusion. The expressions on the faces of those powerful beings don't seem like they've lost their minds."

The Azure Sea Dragon King looked closely and agreed with this statement:
This group of powerful beings are conscious, yet helplessly lined up to seek death.

It seems that Zheng Fazao had anticipated every single step they took!
"What incredible combat intuition..."

This is far more terrifying than illusion. As the Azure Sea Dragon King watched one powerful figure after another perish at Zheng Fa's hands, he felt a chill run down his spine.

……

It's not an illusion, nor is it some kind of magical intuition.

After Zheng Fa had been in seclusion for so long, the first thing he did was to refine the Jade Tablet of Creation to further improve it.

Just as he told Tang Lingwu and the others, his requirement for the Creation Child was to be able to deduce the "Huang Ting Jing" and see if there were any loopholes or malicious intent in the cultivation methods submitted by those disciples.

But the Creation Child has more than just this function.

From Zheng Fa's perspective, within the jade-colored light of the Creation Jade Tablet lies—the future!
He had already rehearsed before his eyes what every enemy in front of him would do in a moment, what magic they would use!
The principle is simple: the Jade Tablet of Creation collects environmental parameters, including various spiritual symbols in the void, through its precious light, models them, and then makes predictions about the future.

Of course, it's not 100% accurate, but given the foundation of the Huangting Jing in integrating the three methods, it's about 70-80% reliable. In fact, the longer the battle lasts, the more information the Jade Tablet of Creation collects, and the more "real" this future becomes.

An inappropriate analogy, but this thing is similar to the concept of autonomous driving.

Zheng Fa was very self-aware.

I have little experience or even talent in combat.

However, the struggle between Xuanwei is becoming increasingly fierce in the future, and it is impossible not to fight.

It's impossible to work hard; the only option is to create a cheat code.

In some ways, this cheat is most useful to Zheng Fa—because he's fast!
The power of these great beings is evident. The "future" that the Child of Creation can deduce is actually just a matter of the next second, no, the next instant.

Even if the other cultivators knew the future, they couldn't seize this fleeting opportunity.

In reality, it was these cultivators who made the first move, which allowed the Jade Tablet of Creation to deduce the outcome. In other words, the other party was the one who made the first move.

However, Zheng Fa, who possessed the method of transforming rainbows, was able to arrive first despite being a latecomer.

To outsiders, it looked like those powerful phantoms had lost their minds and were all seeking death.

On the other hand, the predictions of the Child of Creation may not be accurate, and the method of transforming rainbows gives him a certain margin of error.

……

The intense battle that the Azure Sea Dragon King had been hoping for failed to materialize.

The only question is... will Zheng Fa get tired?

Watching the powerful phantoms disappear into the void, the Azure Sea Dragon King grew tired of it all. The one-sided battles were getting boring after a while.

In just half an hour, more than twenty of the powerful phantom figures that had been so imposing just moments before had fallen, nearly half of them.

Those remaining phantoms... seem tired too.

They stood in the air, looking at Zheng Fa, motionless, the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

They seemed a bit conflicted:

If we don't fight, the resentment will linger, and he'll die with his eyes open in disgrace.

Go ahead and fight, you'll just get beaten up and die with your eyes wide open in disbelief.

Zheng Fa also stopped moving and slowly recovered his spiritual energy and consciousness. Although he was brave just now, he used all his strength in every move, which consumed a lot of energy.

After a moment of silence, the group of Golden Immortals exchanged glances and then dispersed.

They leaped into the sky, and the talismans on their bodies scattered like shooting stars.

Before dissipating, many Golden Immortals actually bowed and paid their respects to Zheng Fa from afar.

The Jade Dragon Lord chuckled lightly: "The Nine Mountains True Method and the Dragon Ancestor's Secret Method, which is like a firefly, and which is like the sun and moon?"

Looking at the Dragon Ancestor bowing to Zheng Fa in the sky, the Cangming Dragon King opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

He looked at Zheng Fa standing in the void. Although he knew that this person was probably a great enemy of his Cangming Dragon Palace, a sentence inexplicably surfaced in his mind at this moment:
A solitary lamp illuminates the eternal darkness, a single law suppresses all realms.

The Cangming Dragon King glanced at the Shuyu Dragon Lord beside him, knowing that he would probably never be able to win him over.

……

Watching these golden immortals transform back into shooting stars, Zheng Facai let out a soft breath.

He took a shortcut—his accumulated experience was only enough to make him invincible at the Mahayana stage. If he were to fight at the Loose Immortal level, he naturally wouldn't be able to handle the situation so easily.

However, the battle of wits just now also proved one thing:

The Yellow Court Classic is already an unparalleled Dharma before the attainment of the Dao!

Even if the other disciples do not possess the Rainbow Transformation Technique and cannot replicate Zheng Fafang's feat, they are still hard to defeat in one-on-one combat with this technique.

The combination of Yang Shen Technique, Dharma Body Technique, and Heavenly River Technique will grant cultivators combat power far exceeding that of cultivators of the same level. Otherwise, how could Zheng Fa have punched a powerful phantom with a single blow?
He stood in the void, and familiar divine sense fluctuations emanated from the starry sky.

After the illusory figures dissipated, inner demons followed one after another!

Seemingly unable to return to the Nine Mountains Realm, Zheng Fa confronted his inner demons in full view of everyone.

He sat cross-legged in the void, his face turning pale and then flushed, seemingly lost in an illusion.

Shuyu Dragon Lord turned his head, stared at Cangming Dragon King, gathered his spiritual power, and his eyes were wary:

She had also discerned some of the plans that the Azure Sea Dragon King had previously made.

Zheng Fa's displayed strength at this moment made her feel even more confident that she had made the right bet, and she naturally became wary of the Cangming Dragon King causing trouble.

To her surprise, the Azure Sea Dragon King obediently watched Zheng Fadu's inner demon tribulation.

Not only him, but the other Dao Fruits who were secretly watching didn't even show their faces.

A group of people watched silently as Zheng Fa's brows furrowed and relaxed, his breathing rising and falling, struggling to cope with his inner demons.

After a long while, Zheng Fa slowly opened his eyes.

He looked around, his gaze settling on the direction of the Azure Sea Dragon King, his eyes conveying three words—Come on!

The gateway to the Nine Mountains Realm slowly opened beneath his feet.

The Azure Sea Dragon King cursed inwardly.

He knew it!

That scoundrel actually planned to use the inner demon tribulation to trick him into entering the Nine Mountains Realm!
The local monks are too ruthless.

……

Zheng Fa was also somewhat disappointed.

This time, the tribulation was carried out in a bit of a rush, and this place was hastily prepared and is still too rough.

On the other hand, I'm afraid my behavior just now was a little outrageous, which made these people more cautious.

He truly wanted to catch the Azure Sea Dragon King.

This person has ambitions for the seas and harbors ill intentions towards the Nine Mountains Sect.

He is also an ancient dragon, extremely difficult to deal with in the sea, and even impossible to catch.

If we can trick them into entering the Nine Mountains Realm, things will be much easier.

In addition, it's also because those phantoms are only at the True Spirit level, and they don't have enough weight to truly establish their authority.

The strength of the Azure Sea Dragon King is just right.

Unexpectedly, this person is so timid.

It's a waste that those inner demons have already gone home early.

Thinking of this, he took another deep look at the Cangming Dragon King. This lost work fee should be recorded in the Dragon King's account.

No, it wasn't just the Dragon King who owed him money...

Zheng Fa looked up at the sky, his mind racing: What about my innate supernatural powers?

(End of this chapter)