by Fang Xiang
Pu Yao understood Zuo Mo’s misgiving.
“Normal people aren’t suited to cultivate this, but these xiu slaves have encountered many obstacles and hardships in their life so they are actually very suited to this mo skill. In any case, you just don’t want them to use jingshi right now.”
Zuo Mo agreed with Pu Yao. In any case, he wasn’t hoping that these xiu slaves would accomplish anything.
The xiu slaves were reorganized into a camp called the Guard Camp. Zuo Mo counted one thousand people. He passed down the first chapter of [Hardship Guard] and picked a few xiuzhe to supervise them before going back to his city construction work.
———
After a few days when Gongsun Cha returned with eight hundred captives, Zuo Mo finally released a breath. The two exchanged a few words before they attended to their own matters. Zuo Mo had to build the city, Gongsun Cha had to organize the captives and make new groups, and consolidate what he learned etc.
The preliminary structure of the Golden Crow City caused everyone, including the captives, to feel excitement and anticipation.
After continuous construction, the formation battle watchtowers of Golden Crow City reached thirty six in number. They were tightly packed together, pointing towards the sky like sharp swords. Looking at these formation battle watchtowers that rose above the city walls, everyone was filled with the feeling of safety.
The completion of thirty six formation battle watchtowers meant that the xiuzhe of the camp could start to move in.
Wei Cheng Bin followed Master Ji Wei into Golden Crow City, his expression excited. As he stepped into the city, a feeling of warmth surrounded him, feeling like he was soaking in the sun. The people in the surroundings sighed in amazement.
“What formation is this? It is so wonderful!”
“Comfortable, way too comfortable! Even if you kill me, I won’t return to that mountain cave!”
“Worth it, it’s worth it even if I die now!”
… …
Hearing the discussion around him, Wei Cheng Bin suddenly felt his nose was sore and almost cried. He hurriedly lowered his head to disguise his state. When he raised his head, what he saw was a flash of tears at the corner of Master Ji Wei’s eye.
For people like him, the Golden Crow City in front of them was the final dream in their hearts!
One after the other, the formation battle watchtowers covered in complex formations scripts appeared in their vision, causing them to sigh in amazement again. Everyone’s hearts was instantly comforted. The enormous group of formation battle watchtowers seemed to be announcing their power and gave them a strong feeling of safety.
“Alright, move quickly!” Master Ji Wei bellowed at the top of his lungs to wake the group of people up. “We need to go first build the places we will be living in. Otherwise, we need to return to the cave tonight. Which one of you wants to return?”
Of course, no one was willing so everyone hurried to start building.
The xiuzhe that knew earth element spells usually were also skilled in building houses. The xiuzhe of the forging division were never properly educated. Many of them had a pretty good earth element spell.
“Everyone work hard! Let’s try to finish before dusk so we can have a little fun tonight.” Master Jie Wei waved his arms with excitement.
———
As Zuo Mo had already divided out the different living districts beforehand, the camp was naturally the most important part. Gongsun Cha first needed to reorganize the numerous troops under his command. He didn’t interfere with the Guard Camp. He didn’t understand the things Shixiong was doing with the Guard Camp. Just the xiuzhe under his command were enough to give him a headache.
He didn’t want to break down the organization of the six divisions. These xiuzhe cooperated very well among themselves. If new people were added, their offensive capabilities would decrease.
However, Gongsun Cha was not the same greenhorn that didn’t understand anything anymore. He easily worked to reorganize.
The six divisions were the primary force, and were under the command of Vermillion Bird Camp. The fact that the first camp created was called Vermillion Bird Camp, and not Black Warrior Camp[1] was enough to express how much everyone liked Golden Crow City from the bottom of their hearts. The xiuzhe that had comprehended “essence” and were led by Ma Fan and Xie Shan were put into one platoon, Sky Peak Platoon. What was a surprise was the Shield Guard Platoon was led by Zong Ru. The main purpose of the Shield Guard Platoon was to protect Gongsun Cha, and transmit Gongsun Cha’s orders.
The remaining two thousand xiuzhe were divided into the Eastern and Western Camps. In Gongsun Cha’s plans, Eastern Camp and Western Camp were the reserve that would provide talented xiuzhe for Vermillion Bird Camp.
In Gongsun Cha’s vision, Vermillion Camp would have twelve divisions, one thousand six hundred and sixty four people. Adding on the quartermasters and supporting xiuzhe, it would be a full one thousand and five hundred people. There were just six divisions now, so it was only half complete.
But he was also clear that Vermillion Bird Camp which was skilled in ambushing was not in great demand since they possessed the Golden Crow City. The most pressing matter at the moment was to train the xiuzhe of the Eastern and Western Camps to use the formation battle watchtowers.
The reorganization calmly progressed.
As to the Guard Camp, that was Shixiong’s headache. Having finished his preparations, Gongsun Cha quickly moved into the Golden Crow City.
When the night came, Golden Crow City was very loud. The lanterns at the sides of the street filled the little city with brightness. From afar, it looked like a city that was floating in the air!
Today was a holiday for everyone in the city!
Many people cried from happiness. They finally had a place to rest, a place to shelter them from the elements, they finally had a place where they could relax and sleep!
In the calamity-ridden Little Mountain Jie, Golden Crow City was one of a kind!
Gongsun Cha silently watched his subordinates celebrate. Those people that usually weren’t afraid of death were sobbing like children at the moment. His heart didn’t feel so good. He knew more. He knew the city was just to prepare for the big battle against the Clear Sky Old Forefather.
From the moment it started to be built, the fate of Golden Crow City was set in stone.
He pressed together his lips, quietly leaving the partying camp to find Shixiong. He found Shixiong at a formation battle watchtower. He was slightly shocked. As everyone was partying madly, Shixiong was staying by himself at the formation battle watchtower.
Noticing Gongsun Cha come over, Zuo Mo raised his head. “I’m trying to see if I can use the formation battle watchtower to nurture the Sonic Lightning Walnuts.”
Gongsun Cha became alert. “Did Shixiong find something?”
“En, it seems plausible but I still need to test it.” Zuo Mo noticed Gongsun Cha’s low mood. “What? Has Shidi encountered something unhappy?”
He understood the two shidi very well. Cheng Shidi was a person obsessed with animal-keeping. While Gongsun Shidi usually seemed vicious and murderous, but in reality, his mentality was not any different than Cheng Shidi. They were both very naïve and did not know worldly matters.
“I just saw they are so happy. But in the end, there will be nothing. This city is destined to be destroyed,” Gongsun Cha said dejectedly.
Zuo Mo was silent. He walked to the guardrail and looked into the distance. After a moment, he smiled and said, “I hadn’t thought such a violent person as Shidi would be so sentimental.” He paused slightly, turned his face, and said seriously, “Little Mountain Jie is a cage. Can there be a paradise in a cage? What we want is to survive because we understand that if we cannot escape the cage, we will die. It is like using warm water to cook a frog, we will be cooked slowly.”
“Among them, some understand and some do not. Those that understand are not willing to think. Why
? They feel if they can live one more day, it is one day.” Zuo Mo said in a deep voice, “But I don’t think the same. I would rather to use those miserable days to trade for a chance, a chance to escape.”
“Golden Crow City has never been a paradise! If we succeed, even if this city does not exist anymore, they will still be able to find their paradise!” Zuo Mo said resolutely.
Gongsun Cha raised his head. The depression on his delicate face swept away cleanly. Those eyes that were usually covered in killing intent and people could never see into were so clear now there was no impurity.
The two exchanged a look, and smiled at each other.
* * *
[1] The Vermillion Bird (Zhu Que) is one of the four sacred/benevolent animals of Chinese culture. It is actually a five- colored bird, not just one color. Its element is fire and the cardinal direction it represents is the south. Black Warrior (Xuan Wu) is another name for the Black Turtle (Xuan Gui). Its cardinal direction is the north, and its element is water. In mythology, the black warrior is made of two entities, a tortoise, and a snake who are two great generals. Due to the origins (Wikipedia), Xuan Wu would usually be a much better name for a military troop.
Translator Ramblings: Ah, Zuo Mo is always sensitive to anything that can impact his bottom line. He doesn’t care that a few thousand people are cultivating to be mo if he doesn’t have to spend jingshi. Pu Yao is now offering help without being asked … … this is a large improvement compared to the beginning of their relationship.
Zuo Mo’s city is now habitable and the people are excited. He really points to the main problem: there is no freedom in Little Mountain Jie. If they don’t rebel, they will forever be living in a place they cannot leave and at the mercy of Clear Sky Sect since they control the only entrance, and therefore the flow of all goods imported and exported.
Chapter 264: The Rudimentary Form
Taking advantage of the fact that the Old Forefather was in seclusion, He Xiang concealed the matter. The other people also knew this matter had created too much of a mess. If it was revealed to the top, everyone would die so they all kept their silence. Their greatest losses this time were the five slave transporting boats. The value of the one thousand xiu slaves was very limited.
They were still able to afford the compensation for five slave transporting boats.
Yet, the loss that made them want to spit blood was that many of the bosses that they had finished negotiating with had died in this ambush. The agreements that they had made had become a waste of effort. These factions would enter a period of chaos, reform, and choose a new leader. This meant that their work would drag on for a longer period of time.
This damned group of hooligans!
If he caught them, he would definitely tear their bodies to pieces!
He Xiang gritted his teeth. Thinking of the factions that were in chaos, he felt his head ache. He suddenly found that from the time he had become the Chief Elder of the Outer Hall, an unfortunate sequence of bad luck had followed him. Nothing had gone smoothly.
What he needed to consider now was whether he should intervene in the internal conflict of these factions. There was not much time left for him. If he could not complete this matter before the Old Forefather came out of seclusion, he would lose all of his chances.
———
All of the formation battle watchtowers lit up. The warm silver lights were very beautiful in the night.
Seven Sonic Lightning Walnuts were floating at the top level of each formation battle watchtower They were bobbing like they were in water. They occasionally flew around the interior of the watchtowers. The ceiling and walls of the towers continued to release silver dots of light. These mist like silver dots of light would then be absorbed by the Sonic Lightning Walnuts.
Zuo Mo carefully inspected every Sonic Lightning Walnut that was being nurtured in the top level of the watchtowers. The formation battle watchtowers were carved with the [Yin Fiend Hard Lightning] formation. These dots of silver mist that looked harmless contained minuscule amounts of hard lightning. After being nurtured like this, the power of the Sonic Lightning Walnut would be even greater.
The construction of the city was only half completed. The remaining half was the most difficult part.
In the watchtower at the very center of the Golden Crow City, Zuo Mo started to dig down into the soil. He incinerated the evacuated soil using Golden Crow Fire. His body had entered the second maturation. The noise of this maturation process was much less noisy than compared to the first time.
The improvement of second maturation was not as evident as first maturation, but he could still clearly feel the improvement of his body.
[Sky Glass Wave] had improved to nineteen revolutions from eighteen revolutions. The power had increased, but there was no qualitative change.
But what interested Zuo Mo was the mo matrix on his body.
Jade Metal Head was a mo physique. After the second maturation, a faint mo matrix started to appear. The mo matrix started first on his chest and it was very faint. If Zuo Mo didn’t carefully inspect his body, it was likely he would have missed such a subtle change.
His skin had become black and glowing. The mo matrix patterns were also black, and very faint, so they were hard to detect.
Zuo Mo carefully studied them for a while and found the mo matrix that had floated out was not complete. Many places were far too faint and hard to decipher. He concluded that they must only completely appear after third maturation.
He noted it down before going back to building the city.
In the span of a few short days, Golden Crow City was completely revamped.
The streets were abnormally clean. New buildings neatly spread out like a forest on both sides of streets. The style of these buildings were varied. There were green brick yards, brightly colored sharp pointed towers. The xiuzhe of Golden Crow City came from many different places. The only buildings that could not been seen here were the residences frequently seen in other cities to be floating in the air out of consideration for safety.
The fruit trees on both sides of the street were tenderly green and heavy with fruit that gave off a tantalizing fragrance. All of the empty spaces like under the trees, and the corners of buildings were planted with flowers and grasses to make them attractive to the eyes. For these trees and grasses, all of the xiuzhe that had knowledge of ling farming had joined in. Many kinds of birds had been enticed over. Vitality flowed in every corner.
Nian Lu, who dragged a group of xiuzhe back through hurrying day and night gaped at the beautiful scene in front of him and lost the ability of speech.
———
Bao Yi bowed to Lil’ Pagoda that was floating in front of him, his expression slightly wary, “Pagoda ye, are you hungry again?”
The chubby Lil’ Pagoda tried its best to produce a proud stance, but one could not bear to look at it. Behind it, Silly Bird raised her head and pushed out her chest, her stomach tightly stretched and fat. The half-lidded eyes didn’t show any intentions of properly looking at a person. On top of Silly Bird’s head, the antenna of Lil’ Black restlessly waved as it looked around.
Bao Yi didn’t dare to laugh. He didn’t dare to offend the three little ancestors in front of him.
He really didn’t understand. These days, could talismans, steeds, and worms become so intelligent? The three formed a troop and would come at intervals to sweep the stores. The weirdest one was Lil’ Pagoda. It would swallow anything. Talismans, materials, all of it would go to its stomach.
But Boss was very lenient with them, and had told him to give the talismans that could not be used to Lil’ Pagoda.
To a miser like Bao Yi, this was akin to carving the flesh out of his heart. Even though he knew that there wasn’t much value in those talismans, but the smallest grain of rice was still food. Watching as they all landed in Lil’ Pagoda’s stomach, and not having the smallest piece of jingshi come out, his heart bled blood.
Wastrel! Such a wastrel!<
br />
Unconsciously, Lil’ Pagoda had become Bao Yi’s greatest enemy!
Of course, he didn’t dare to show the enmity that was in his heart. Lil’ Pagoda was deeply favored by Boss. If working under Zuo Mo previously had been a decision made out of helplessness, then his heart was truly loyal now. He had never heard of a person so strong they could build a city like this by themselves, much less seen one. Right now, he seemed to understand why an expert like Xie Shan would willingly serve Boss.
Look at the strong offensive abilities under Boss’ command! Oh, the God of Wealth Up High, he, Bao Yi, had never thought he could personally see such a strong and vicious troop!
He didn’t believe there was anyone that had the power to pose a risk to them in Little Mountain Jie unless Clear Sky Old Forefather personally came. He admired Boss very much for this point. Boss had opened up his provisions of jingshi for his subordinates. The troop of seven hundred people used three thousand and five hundred third-grade jingshi a day. If it was converted, it would be seven pieces of fourth-grade jingshi.
Seven piece of fourth-grade jingshi daily! Whoa! He had almost fainted when he had first learned this. Even in Little Mountain Jie where jingshi was not worth much at present, it still was not a low number.
He felt a compelling pressure. The talismans that they had gained were not able to be sold. Now that the city was constructed, he needed to think of ways for Boss to start doing business. Otherwise, if they just fed off of their savings then in the long term, they couldn’t sustain it in the future.
Just as he was wandering in his thoughts, he saw Lil’ Pagoda waving in front of him. He hurriedly refocused and suddenly found that a line of puppets had formed behind the three.
Puppets!
As an experienced merchant, Bao Yi had worked with all kinds of talismans, and naturally seen puppets before. Truthfully, from his angle, the construction of these copper puppets were very rough.
Copper puppets were just one step above paper puppets, but still were very common mainstream items. He twisted his mouth. This kind of copper puppets couldn’t sell for a good price, even if he was the one doing it.