I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 139Book 2: : The End Is Just the Beginning

Vol 2 Chapter 139: The End Is Just the Beginning

As soon as the bronze hall's doors opened, the other cultivators immediately surged forward, rushing toward the entrance.

The more frenzied the others became, the more terrified Zheng Fa and his companions felt.

"Go!"

Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying exchanged a glance. Xiao Yuying immediately understood, and the war chariot beneath them burst into a brilliant glow, transforming into a streak of sunset as they fled into the distance.

Sunset Sword Immortal wrapped his sword aura around Yan Wushuang and desperately dashed toward Zheng Fa and the others.

Are you kidding?!

If the Bronze Hall only contained the inheritance of the new method, that would have been fine.

But there was someone inside!

A supporter of Tianhe Venerable, an ancient monster who had lived for who knows how many hundreds of thousands of years…

Only an idiot would stay!

Zheng Fa looked back. In truth, many cultivators weren’t complete fools either. Seeing Zheng Fa and his group flee, they realized something was wrong and followed suit.

However, some who had been blinded by greed had already charged into the dark interior of the hall.

"Traitor!"

As expected, an enraged roar echoed from within.

Before the roar had even faded, Zheng Fa felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He looked up and saw the red mist in the sky rushing toward the hall like swallows returning to their nests—

"Sword!"

Zheng Fa watched with his own eyes as the massive Bronze Hall flickered and transformed into a bizarre-looking copper sword.

And the one holding the sword was even stranger—

It was a skeleton, or rather, an incomplete skeleton.

The skull was cracked as if it had been struck by a fatal blow—there was a hideous fracture running from the forehead down to the chin.

Its bones were incomplete—three ribs were missing, only one shoulder blade remained, and below the left knee, there was nothing but empty space.

It was evident that this person had once experienced a battle of unimaginable ferocity.

The only thing that prevented him from looking utterly pitiful was that every bone of his body glowed with a faint purple light, making him appear eerily divine.

The gathered red mist ignited within his hollow eye sockets, burning into blazing flames.

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At first, those two flames seemed to be searching for something—probably trying to find the real traitor, uh, Yan Wushuang.

But Sunset Sword Immortal was far too cunning. He was dragging Yan Wushuang along as he frantically fled for his life.

He was flying even faster than Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying, already leaving their war chariot behind.

The skeleton seemed to search for a moment, but not finding Yan Wushuang, it paused briefly before turning its gaze toward the surrounding cultivators.

"Traitors!"

"All traitors!"

"Exterminate!"

Sword energy!

Though the sun had yet to set, the sky was suddenly filled with an endless sea of stars.

From within that sea of stars, a sword aura carrying boundless killing intent descended from the heavens.

Even though Zheng Fa was already a hundred miles away from the skeleton, he inexplicably felt a tingling pain on his scalp.

The iron-eater beast pulling their chariot let out a wretched howl, twisting its limbs as it desperately tumbled forward in flight.

Zheng Fa turned back to look—

It was like witnessing a silent tragedy.

The dozens of cultivators closest to the skeleton—whether Nascent Soul or Golden Core—suddenly seemed to move in slow motion.

It wasn’t intentional.

Zheng Fa could see the confusion, fear, and despair in their eyes.

As the sword aura swept through like an autumn breeze, all living beings and objects within its path quietly disintegrated.

He saw a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Hundred Immortals Alliance standing still, completely unharmed, without a single visible wound.

Yet when the wind passed by, the cultivator’s body, his robes, and even the magical treasure in his hand all collapsed into fine dust, scattering like drifting sand.

"Fairy Xiao…"

"Hmm?"

"Look."

Zheng Fa pointed behind them.

Xiao Yuying turned to look.

The skeleton had stopped moving. The flames in its eyes gradually dimmed, as if all its power had been exhausted in that single strike.

Or perhaps, in its rage, it had suddenly regained clarity.

It slowly turned its head, seeming to survey the world around it, as if recalling something of utmost importance.

"Follow Master… to slay the immortals…"

It suddenly muttered.

"Slay the immortals…"

The skeleton raised the copper sword high and shouted to the sky.

"Slay the immortals!"

Everyone stared in shock at the scene before them.

Even after tens of thousands of years in death, reduced to nothing but bones, it still remembered those two words—"slay immortals."

The bronze sword in its hands crumbled into dust in the wind.

The purple glow on its bones gradually faded, and it collapsed onto the ground, no longer exuding any terrifying presence.

After a long silence, the surrounding cultivators cautiously gathered around, trying to assess the situation.

Zheng Fa and his three companions exchanged glances but did not move.

"There's nothing left," Sunset Sword Immortal said without even looking at the scene. "Under that sword strike… no cultivator, no treasure could possibly remain."

Zheng Fa could hear the tremor in the great cultivator’s voice.

He knew—Han Lao, bearing the title of Sword Immortal, likely felt the horror of that strike more keenly than anyone else.

And even Zheng Fa himself was particularly sensitive to the phrase "slay immortals." Ever since he suspected a deep connection between the Xuanyi Realm and modern times, he had read countless related books.

From historical myths to folklore and novels, he had studied them all.

Slay immortals…

Zheng Fa couldn’t help but think of his own Reversed Five Elements Divine Light.

His suspicions deepened.

Sure enough, even though the crowd searched thoroughly—going so far as to examine the skeleton itself—no treasure or technique was found.

The fallen cultivators should have left behind storage pouches or magical artifacts.

But Han Lao’s judgment was spot on—there was nothing.

"Five Nascent Soul cultivators, thirteen Golden Core cultivators… all dead for nothing."

Xiao Yuying's tone carried a hint of sorrow and even lingering fear.

She bowed respectfully to Sunset Sword Immortal, full of gratitude.

Had it not been for this old master’s warning, she doubted she could have escaped that strike.

Sunset Sword Immortal smiled slyly and glanced at Zheng Fa.

At that moment, Zheng Fa also bowed in return—he knew he owed him a great debt of gratitude.

Han Lao laughed even more cheerfully.

He waved his hand and said, "We were pretty lucky this time… Having nothing is actually better than finding something…"

Everyone understood what he meant.

If there really had been an inheritance of the new method here, that would have been a real headache.

After searching for a long time in vain, the cultivators finally left, frustrated.

The once lively desert gradually fell into silence.

"Alright! The show’s over! Time for us to leave too!" Sunset Sword Immortal said with a grin.

He cupped his hands toward Zheng Fa and Xiao Yuying, then his immortal sword turned into a streak of rainbow light, carrying him and Yan Wushuang far away.

Xiao Yuying watched them leave, then turned to Zheng Fa and said, "All for nothing…"

Zheng Fa nodded, but there was no disappointment on his face. Instead, he looked rather pleased.

"True. At least we avoided a huge disaster," Xiao Yuying said, mistaking the reason for his happiness. She nodded and added, "Compared to those cultivators who died without even knowing why, we were much luckier."

Zheng Fa smiled but said nothing. His happiness wasn’t just because of that.

…

One month later.

For the past few days, some stubborn treasure seekers had still been searching the area.

But there truly was nothing left behind.

After a few more days, no one came anymore.

"Junior Brother! What are we doing here?"

In the sky, Senior Sister Yuan’s voice rang out, sounding somewhat puzzled.

The Qingluan landed on the ground, revealing Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang.

Senior Sister Zhang also looked at Zheng Fa, a bit confused, as if she had no idea why he had brought them to this desolate desert.

Senior Sister Yuan glanced around, frowned, and said, "Junior Brother, I’ve heard about this place."

"Several groups of cultivators have come and gone, all empty-handed!"

"When we flew over, we didn’t see a single person for a hundred miles! That means they’ve all given up."

"So why are we here?"

Zheng Fa scanned his surroundings.

Indeed, aside from the red earth beneath his feet, there was nothing else here.

No people?

Perfect.

No people meant he could quietly focus on his excavation!

"Senior Sister!" He pointed at the ground. "We’re here for one thing."

"What?"

"To dig!"

"Dig?" Senior Sister Yuan was stunned for a moment. Then she thought about it, and her round eyes lit up. "You mean… there’s treasure buried underground?"

"…"

"Junior Brother! How do you know?!"

"I don’t."

"Then what are you digging for?"

Zheng Fa pointed at the soil beneath them again. "This."

"Dirt?"

"Exactly!"

Senior Sister Yuan looked at Zheng Fa, then at Senior Sister Zhang, and muttered, "Senior Sister, Junior Brother Zheng is getting really good at bossing people around!"

"…"

"He made us travel ten thousand miles just to dig up some dirt for him to play with!"

"…" Senior Sister Zhang shot her a glance, then turned to Zheng Fa and asked, "Explain your reasoning."

Zheng Fa said, "Senior Sister, I believe this soil has great research value."

"Research?"

Senior Sister Zhang was stunned. "What’s there to research?"

This was the fundamental difference between Zheng Fa and the cultivators of this world.

Take Senior Sister Zhang, for example. Although she had read many modern academic books, her perspective was still similar to that of most cultivators in the Xuanyi Realm—

Is there a magical treasure?

Are there spiritual materials?

Are there cultivation techniques?

If none of these things were present, they would assume the place held no value.

But when Zheng Fa was preparing his little research booklet earlier, he had referenced many archaeological records.

In modern archaeology, soil could preserve incredibly valuable information—sometimes even more than artifacts or texts.

Moreover, the soil here was bound to contain many unusual substances—

The red color of the earth might be due to the blood of that Tianhe Venerable’s follower.

How much of the dissipated ash had settled into this ground?

Not to mention, there had been a corpse here that remained active even after hundreds of thousands of years!

To other cultivators, this place might be worthless.

But to Zheng Fa, this entire site was a treasure trove!

After hearing his explanation, Senior Sister Zhang’s mouth fell open as she stared at him. "Where… do you even come up with these crazy ideas?"

Zheng Fa found it hard to explain, so he just smiled.

Senior Sister Yuan, on the other hand, seemed completely lost, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Dig!"

Senior Sister Yuan looked doubtful. "Huh?"

"Do as Junior Brother says," Senior Sister Zhang instructed.

Senior Sister Yuan opened her mouth, hesitated for a long moment, then suddenly said, "Senior Sister, the reason Junior Brother turned out like this is because you spoil him too much!"

…

Zheng Fa slowly walked over to where the skeleton lay.

The treasure-seeking cultivators had already thoroughly inspected this set of bones.

But now, it seemed as if the skeleton had finally expended the last of its energy, no longer carrying any mystical aura.

Naturally, those cultivators had dismissed it as worthless, carelessly discarding the remains as if they were trash, leaving the bones scattered on the ground.

Zheng Fa carefully gathered each bone, arranged them neatly, and placed them into the coffin he had brought with him.

Then—he cupped his hands and bowed slightly toward the skeleton.