I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 115Book 2: : Practiced Wrong

Vol 2 Chapter 115: Practiced Wrong

Zheng Fa looked at his Investiture Register, feeling a bit regretful:

The Investiture Register had already accumulated 923 Heavenly Merit Points, and he had only used up half of the Heaven’s Tribulation Thunder Talismans in his storage bag…

Now he was starting to suspect that Fairy Lingye might actually surpass him.

The main issue—there weren’t enough bad guys!

Though Zheng Fa’s invested territory was vast, its population was truly small.

Altogether, it had less than 500,000 people.

Half-Mountain City alone accounted for more than one-tenth of that.

Other areas had cities, but none as densely populated as Half-Mountain City—in fact, many places didn’t even have temples.

Without temples, Zheng Fa couldn’t even contact his physical body, let alone use the Heaven’s Tribulation Thunder Talismans.

Because of that, the number of evildoers he could strike was even more limited.

But Fairy Lingye had a golden register…

Thinking about this, Zheng Fa suddenly felt a little less confident.

With no more villains to strike, he decided to return to Half-Mountain City for now.

The reason was simple—compared to Half-Mountain City, even the places that had temples were already in ruins. After all, the so-called Thunder God had long since disappeared.

Forget temple attendants—those temples weren’t even livable.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of Little Qing’s diligence—at least she cleaned the temple every day.

In fact, now that he had frequently summoned Heaven’s Tribulation Thunder, those people had probably started to remember the Thunder God’s majesty and were preparing to rebuild temples for him.

But considering the Heavenly Monument Realm’s productivity levels, Zheng Fa stopped them.

These people were already struggling just to eat—having them carry stones to rebuild temples went against Zheng Fa’s entire worldview.

That left only Half-Mountain City’s temple as a viable place to stay.

The moment he returned to Half-Mountain City, Zheng Fa sensed something was off…

It was lively in front of the temple.

Little Qing stood in the center, surrounded by several old men, while seemingly the entire city had gathered.

Those old men weren’t actually that old—around thirty—but they already looked aged.

Zheng Fa recognized them—they were the good men he had previously instructed Little Qing to reward.

He didn’t say anything and simply listened.

Very quickly, he understood.

Little Qing and those men seemed to be organizing labor for Half-Mountain City—dividing how many people would go into the mountains to gather goods, how many would go to the river to fish.

The ones staying in the city were mostly women, and Little Qing was arranging for them to weave and sew.

She looked a bit nervous, but with those men’s help, things proceeded smoothly.

Zheng Fa understood—

Now that he had eliminated Thunderstrike Sect, a massive power vacuum had formed in Half-Mountain City.

As his temple attendant, Little Qing had somehow gained enough prestige to command the entire city.

Realizing this, he watched Little Qing’s actions with great interest. At the same time, he started wondering if she could hold on to her original intentions.

Once the assignments were done, he heard Little Qing say:

“If you gather mountain goods, catch fish, or weave clothes, bring them to the temple. I will distribute them.”

Zheng Fa frowned slightly.

“The Thunder God Lord has said he does not need offerings!” Little Qing continued. “Doing good deeds is serving the God! We will distribute everything fairly!”

Zheng Fa’s brows relaxed a little.

“Because the Thunder God Lord especially favors the elderly! We will allocate according to age!”

Zheng Fa froze… What did she mean by that?

I love old men?

How did she know?

Wait—why was she making things up?!

Zheng Fa looked at the men beside Little Qing… After thinking for a moment, he understood where this idea had come from.

When he instructed Little Qing to distribute offerings to those good men, he hadn’t explained why—

But in Half-Mountain City, the people who could afford to do good deeds were usually men with some strength.

Accumulating good deeds also took time.

As a result, those good men were mostly old men…

As he pondered, Zheng Fa noticed that his Investiture Register had quietly gained a few more Heavenly Merit Points.

“Hmm?”

He hadn’t used any Heaven’s Tribulation Thunder—where had these merit points come from?

Zheng Fa looked outside at Little Qing.

She dismissed the crowd and walked into the temple alone.

Leaning against the offering table, she looked exhausted and let out a long sigh.

“What just happened?”

Zheng Fa’s voice rang out, making Little Qing snap her head up. “Thunder God Lord, you’re here again?”

“Mm. Why are those people listening to you?”

Zheng Fa had never noticed that Little Qing had such authority.

“How would I know…” Little Qing sighed, grumbling, “After Thunderstrike Sect was gone, people started arguing over river access… Then they started fighting over mountain goods… They all came to me for a decision.”

“I thought, since Lord values those old grandfathers, I should ask them. They said, why not have everyone work together and then divide things later? They also said that in the whole city, I’m the only one with the authority to convince everyone.”

“Thunder God Lord, did I do something wrong?”

She sounded a bit uneasy.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment and understood the situation—Thunderstrike Sect had been a form of order.

Even if it was a bad one, it was at least clear and structured.

With Thunderstrike Sect gone, Half-Mountain City had fallen into chaos.

As for Little Qing’s approach—it had its issues, but it was a relatively peaceful new order.

“You said I favor the elderly…”

“Isn’t that true?” Little Qing asked in confusion. “If not for you, some of the old people in the city would have starved or been forced to leave on their own…”

“……”

Zheng Fa now understood where those Heavenly Merit Points had come from.

Because of Half-Mountain City’s lack of resources, the place hadn’t even developed a tradition of respecting the elderly—

Instead, it was more like a wild beast pack, where the weak were abandoned.

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“…I suppose so.”

Zheng Fa took a long time before answering. Mainly because, in this place, the definition of old age was too low—it was wasting too much manpower.

“I knew it!”

Little Qing beamed triumphantly.

“……”

Zheng Fa looked at Little Qing.

She seemed healthier than before, with a bit more youthful energy.

He hadn’t expected this clueless girl to accidentally establish a proto-religion.

Of course, he refused to acknowledge a religion whose core doctrine was loving old men…

……

In the Heavenly Palace of the Heavenly Monument Realm.

Zheng Fa walked while contemplating the matter of the sect.

He had no interest in becoming some kind of divine being.

On one hand, well… he was a materialist cultivator who had no fascination with gods.

When he discovered that powerful figures could inscribe the laws of the world, his first thought was always, Wow, that guy is strong. How can I reach his level?

Not to immediately drop to his knees and worship them as gods.

On the other hand, he simply hated trouble…

If it weren’t for all these various disturbances, he would have much preferred to stay in his sect, research talismans, and focus on cultivation.

Being a god, catering to believers' requests—Zheng Fa had no desire for that.

The reason he hadn’t stopped Little Qing was that, at this point, all the evildoers in his invested territory who could contribute Heavenly Merit Points were essentially dead.

If he wanted more Heavenly Merit, he needed alternative methods.

For example, as Yan Wushuang had suggested:

Either he could complete the tasks on the Investiture Register, which required deeper mastery of thunder techniques—

Or, he could govern his territory’s people well and let them flourish, which demanded better control over his invested lands.

Take Little Qing’s accidental success, for instance—it had already earned him a few Heavenly Merit Points.

Now, her method actually showed Zheng Fa a low-maintenance solution—

If worldly figures like Little Qing could manage his followers for him, then he wouldn’t need to personally fulfill their requests, yet he could still guide their beliefs.

As for the risk of Little Qing or others becoming corrupt?

He was the god—he had the final say on everything.

In fact, Zheng Fa was even considering the idea of abandoning this so-called religion at any time.

……

Thinking about this, Zheng Fa stepped into the Hundred Treasures Hall.

He touched his Investiture Register against the Jade Tablet, instantly deducting 500 Heavenly Merit Points from the register.

In his hand, a purple Millennium Yang Thunder Spider Inner Core appeared.

With a thought, the Investiture Register transformed into a streak of flowing light, enveloping him completely—his body vanished from the Hundred Treasures Hall.

When he opened his eyes again, he was inside a void, surrounded by darkness, with only faint lights shining from all directions.

This was where his physical body resided whenever his soul descended to the mortal realm—

A separate space, slightly safer than the outside world.

This was also why Yan Wushuang had said there wasn’t much conflict within the Heavenly Monument Realm—

Even if someone had conflicts, they could simply hide inside the Investiture Register, and no one could touch them.

Naturally, people just didn’t bother fighting.

Holding the Millennium Yang Thunder Spider Inner Core, Zheng Fa pressed it against his lower abdomen, closed his eyes, and began cultivating according to the secret art of the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor as taught by his master.

With each breath, purple spiritual energy laced with lightning seeped from the inner core, flowing into his nostrils and sinking into his dantian.

Inside his dantian, the silver sand grains of spiritual energy that usually rotated slowly suddenly spun wildly, as if stimulated.

His dantian now looked like a spinning nebula, rotating faster and faster!

On his body’s surface, a violet electric glow formed, resembling armor made of vines—the manifestation of the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor.

As the Millennium Yang Thunder Spider Inner Core was gradually depleted, the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor fully took shape—

The armor shimmered with a soft purple glow, appearing more like metal, almost resembling the chainmail described in modern books.

Heavenly Net Thunder Armor—complete.

Zheng Fa, however, did not open his eyes.

His divine sense remained focused on his dantian—

Absorbing the Millennium Yang Thunder Spider Inner Core had done more than just complete the Heavenly Net Thunder Armor—

He had also successfully cultivated the Thunder Field!

The previously scattered grains of spiritual sand in his dantian had fused together, transforming into a small Thunder Field, resembling a square silver inkstone floating within.

His cultivation level improving was no surprise to Zheng Fa—

After all, he was practically burning through the entire Thunder Pool Market’s spiritual materials to cultivate.

Even back then, Senior Sister Zhang didn’t have access to these kinds of resources.

Without opening his eyes, Zheng Fa continued according to the Divine Thunder of Shenxiao True Law, channeling spiritual energy into his Thunder Field, preparing for the next step—cultivating the Thunder Seed.

But just as he began—

His entire body suddenly trembled.

A massive phantom of a red ancient tree suddenly manifested behind his head!

The phantom flashed for just an instant before transforming into a streak of red light, which shot straight into his newly-formed Thunder Field!

Zheng Fa stared, dumbfounded, as this red spiritual glow burrowed into his Thunder Field.

Like a seed finding fertile soil, it immediately sprouted—

A red, leafless sapling shot up.

This is… Qingyang Dao Body?!

Zheng Fa sensed the changes in his body and realized something—

Could it be that, just because he had PUA-ed it a little earlier, complained about how useless it was, and said it wasn’t as good as the Primordial Magnetic Dao Body…

It actually reacted today?!

But…

Staring at the tiny red sprout in his dantian, Zheng Fa suddenly felt a bit troubled—

What the hell was he pregnant with?!

Did he… somehow practice the Divine Thunder of Shenxiao True Law wrong?!

……

At the very moment that the sapling fully took shape—

In the Heavenly Palace of the Heavenly Monument Realm, the central hall’s tightly shut doors suddenly swung open!

Meanwhile, in the side halls, the twenty-four faceless divine statues slowly lowered their heads, as if paying respects to something.