by Fang Xiang
But the female xiu’s pair of bare feet could only cause him to sigh with admiration. They were just too perfect, so perfect there was no flaw. It made an especially deep impression when such a perfect pair of bare feet appeared on a female xiu that was as ugly as a clown.
But no matter how wonderful the bare feet were, they were not as good as going to find talismans.
Zuo Mo quickly moved aside his gaze to looked at the corpses scattered in the surroundings. He instantly became excited. Taking spoils was a very wonderful matter, and to take from his enemies was even more wonderful.
His first target was that soil disk that was enormously powerful. That thing was truly too strong. After personally experiencing the power of the Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk, Zuo Mo could not think of any talisman that could rival it. Of course, what he remembered most deeply was Pu Yao’s exclamation of “At least fifth-grade, possibly sixth-grade!”
What kind of world was this?!
As he sighed, he smiled as he picked up the Nine Turn Sky Soil Talismans. His consciousness probed, and was almost ground to pieces by the dense earth mist inside. He hurriedly withdrew his consciousness.
Yikes! It really was sixth-grade!
Oooooooooooooh! He struck it rich! Really rich! Zuo Mo couldn’t stop himself from dancing crazily.
This time, it wasn’t that he was someone who was not experienced. Right now, he did have some wealth, and a few fourth-grade talismans on his body. In all ningmai xiuzhe, he could be considered wealthy, but all the talismans and materials on his body added together could not compare with this Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk.
If he took it out to sell, wow-oh-oh, the jingshi would be enough to drown him!
This kind of talisman was the kind that would be a sect treasure in any sect of Little Mountain Jie. How could Zuo Mo not be happy now that something like this had landed in his hands?
After a while, he gradually calmed down, and studied it. He rejoiced in his good luck. The Nine Turn Sky Soil Talisman was very powerful, but it wasn’t a talisman that ningmai xiuzhe could use. The expenditure of ling power was too much!
Liu Dong Hua had a cultivation of peak second stratum ningmai, and was just able to activate it. With Zuo Mo’s first stratum cultivation, he couldn’t even activate it. In the short term, he couldn’t use this talisman.
Should he sell it or keep it?
Zuo Mo thought and kept it. It was easy to sell talismans of this level, but it wouldn’t be easy to buy another one.
He hadn’t used a sixth-grade talisman before, but he was clear there was a chasm that was hard to cross between fifth and sixth-grade. This Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk had been a fifth-grade talisman when it was first forced. After more than four hundred years, and generations of people nurturing it, it finally birthed a thread of intelligence, and became a sixth-grade talisman.
Carefully putting the Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk, he went back into his salvaging work. However, after seen the sixth-grade Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk, Zuo Mo’s eyes couldn’t be lit up by any of the other spoils of victory.
After a while, Zuo Mo shook his head. These four people clearly hadn’t done so well in Clear Sky Sect. Other than the Nine Turn Sky Soil Disk, they didn’t have anything good, and were worse than the first guy he had scalped.
It seemed that the two were not of the same group, and clearly, the guy he had scalped was much richer than this group.
The female xiu did not stand after a long time. This caused Zuo Mo to have a bad feeling. He walked next to the female xiu, and laid a hand on her shoulder to inspect her body.
The inspection instantly made him jump.
The strange purple power that always existed inside the body of the female xiu was so faint it was hard to detect. Her body had lost the restraints of the purple light, and showed signs of collapsing.
Zuo Mo instantly realized that it wasn’t good, unhesitatingly put the female xiu on his back and leap into the air. At the same time, he expanded his consciousness. After flying for a while, he found a mountain cave. He hurriedly carried the female xiu into the mountain cave. This was a normal cave that only had bats inside.
When the two of them flew inside, they instantly alarmed the bats that flapped like a black cloud out of the cave.
Zuo Mo cleaned out a patch of ground with a blow and carefully put down the female xiu. He shoved a Black Processing Meditation mat under the female xiu.
This move was visibly effective. Threads of ling power burrowed into the body of the female xiu and turned to purple light. After a while, the purple light inside the body of the female xiu increased slightly in brightness. Zuo Mo saw the situation, and thought this wouldn’t be over a matter of hours.
After some thought, he set up a medium-sized Primary Replenishing Formation around the female xiu. It could continuously provide ling power to the female xiu. Zuo Mo found the purple light of the female xiu was similar to the mo matrix on his body and was not afraid of the impurities in ling power.
This allowed him to be daring in his actions.
After guarding for a while, and the situation of the female xiu had stabilized, Zuo Mo decided to leave. He needed to find Silly Bird. As more time passed , there was a lower possibility of finding Silly Bird.
He left a jade scroll for the female xiu telling her the direction he was going in. To prevent other people from disturbing her, he set down a circle of formations at the cave entrance. Illusory formations were locked and layered with killing formations. It wasn’t just difficult to find, but if it was activated, it would cause a whole string of killing moves.
Zuo Mo really invested a lot in creating it. The power of the killing formations he set down were very high. Under the interlocking killing moves, other than xiuzhe at the peak of third stratum ningmai, normal ningmai could not escape. Even xiuzhe at ningmai third stratum would definitely be severely wounded if they didn’t have some precious treasure or obscure method to shield themselves.
Even though his heart hurt, but Zuo Mo still spent a large batch of valuable materials.
After setting down the big formation, and reexamining it, he looked worriedly at the cave before flying away in the direction that the Clear Sky Sect disciple he had stripped clean pointed in.
After flying for more than half a day, he suddenly met a large group of xiuzhe.
“You!” The xiuzhe at the front pointed at Zuo Mo and said without any politeness, “Come over!”
Zuo Mo saw the apparel of this person was similar to the previous Clear Sky Sect disciples he encountered. His heart moved, and he moved forward, pretending to be timid and saying, “Is, is there something I can help with? I, I still have something to do!”
“Come over and follow,” that Clear Sky Sect disciple pointed at the group behind him and said impatiently. “What? You aren’t willing to help Clear Sky Sect?”
The other Clear Sky Sect disciples beside him looked with hostility at Zuo Mo.
Zuo Mo rejoiced inside, putting a fearful expression on his face as he silently flew into the group.
* * *
Translator Ramblings: The first few times I read this chapter, I always felt something was bothering me about what Zuo Mo did by leaving the female xiu alone to search for Silly Bird. Here was someone who just risked their life to save him, and he was leaving to search for his pet. But I’ve actually realized that it isn’t about the pet vs. a person. Silly Bird also saved Zuo Mo before, and Zuo Mo has known Silly Bird for a much longer time than the female xiu. So going out to search for Silly Bird is actually a more logical decision than it looks to start with.
Chapter 271: Opportunity
Zuo Mo was did not stand out in the group. A ningmai first stratum xiuzhe could just barely survive in Little Mountain Jie. Everyone was silent, but the Clear Sky Sect disciples conversed freely.
“These days, no one cultivates five element spells! I heard that Lu Hui still hasn’t responded, don’t know where he ran off to. How is it possible to find a person that knows all five el
ement spells so quickly?”
“Lu Hui’s brain has never been too bright. Qi ge’s method is best. We can find some more people to get all five!”
“Ha ha … …”
Zuo Mo heard these people chat as though no one was around. A low voice spoke to him, “Bro, what should we call you?”
“Me?” Zuo Mo pointed at himself, a face full of puzzlement.
“Ha ha, I see that this little brother’s aura isn’t ordinary and I desire to become acquainted with you. Sorry for the offense!” The one who was speaking was a clever-faced middle aged male. There were seven or eight people beside him. They looked to belong to the same group.
Zuo Mo made up a fake name. “I’m called Wang Hong, what should I call you?”
“This one is Liu Gui,” the middle aged man bowed with folded hands, and probed, “Which side does Brother Wang live in?”
Zuo Mo parried, “All over.” He then pursed his mouth, “Are these your brothers?”
“Brother Wang has keen eyes!” Liu Gui said with a smile. After this short conversation, he understood that he would not get anything out of Zuo Mo, and stopped conversing further. The expressions of those beside him were stern and didn’t seem to be in the mood to chat.
It wasn’t just them. All of the people in the surroundings had worried expressions.
Zuo Mo suddenly asked in a low voice, “Why is everyone so docile?” He couldn’t understand. There were just three Clear Sky Sect disciples, and they were able to herd almost twenty xiuzhe.
Liu Gui was shocked inside. Just now, he had seen the person hide among the group with an expression of fear, but he had now asked something like this. He didn’t seem to be a coward. He said without expression, “There’s nothing we can do. They are from Clear Sky Sect.”
Zuo Mo smiled and didn’t respond.
After a while, the more Liu Gui mused, the more he felt Zuo Mo’s words contained hidden meanings. Seeing Zuo Mo maintain his silence, he couldn’t resist and spoke in a small voice, “What solution does Brother Wang have?”
Glancing at him, Zuo Mo said with a smile, “What solution can I have?”
Liu Gui increasingly felt this young person seemed high and unfathomable. Before, he appeared weak, but he looked calm now, and unworried. Liu Gui had met many people. He trusted his eyes. The presence exuded by this person didn’t seem like an ordinary person.
Was this a powerful xiuzhe?
He flipped through all the famous xiuzhe that he knew, but didn’t find anyone that was similar.
Because he was too young!
“Brother Wang looks very young,” Liu Gui couldn’t help but probe. “You look to be in your twenties, so young, yet you are ningmai, your talent is truly outstanding.”
Zuo Mo only smiled, and didn’t say anything.
However, what he didn’t expect was that Liu Gui’s words had stirred the attention of his fellows beside him. Usually, most of the people that broke through to ningmai in their twenties were sect disciples.
Men usually did not care much for their appearance. The price of Eternal Appearance Dan was not cheap. Very rarely would men spend that amount of jingshi. Consequently, it was hard to judge the ages of female xiu, but it was possible to see hints with male xiu. Zuo Mo’s face was easily a very youthful face.
However, the attitude that unconsciously revealed itself on his face had a maturity that surpassed his age.
“This one is Zheng Zhong, their shixiong,” the leader introduced himself. His words instantly startled the other disciples. They all raised their heads and looked with bewilderment at Shixiong. Even Liu Gui had a shocked expression. In their experience, Shixiong rarely spoke. This time, he had proactively spoken. They couldn’t help but look at Zuo Mo.
“Nice to meet you, Brother Zheng.” Zuo Mo bowed with folded hands. He didn’t dare to underestimate the other. His consciousness was abnormally sensitive. This Zheng Zhong had his eyes directed downwards but he was a ningmai third stratum expert!
In Little Mountain Jie, ningmai third stratum xiuzhe were the top experts! Experts like these may not be able to oppose Clear Sky Sect, but they definitely were not people that a few Clear Sky Sect disciples could order about.
Unless they had other aims?
Zuo Mo became wary. He didn’t want to have uncontrolled factors influence his plan. He didn’t care too much about the earthly treasures in the secret realm, but he was very worried about Silly Bird’s safety.
That idiot’s intelligence was pitifully low. As a bird, she was arrogant and outrageous. It would be a wonder if she didn’t get in trouble outside.
“Little brother’s skill is not ordinary, this one is full of admiration!” Zheng Zhong said seriously.
The other’s instantly had shocked faces. They looked at Zuo Mo like they were looking at a weirdo.
Zuo Mo felt slightly uneasy as he became the object of attention, and hurriedly said, “Ha ha, what is Brother Zheng saying. This one is just a first stratum newbie, everyone, please take care of me!”
Zheng Zhong did not refute it, smiled and lowered his gaze.
Zuo Mo’s hairs rose at Zheng Zhong’s smile. He decided to stay a bit further away from this group in case trouble occurred. He was now sure that these people were after the secret realm. He didn’t care about the secret realm, he only wanted them not to damage his plan.
“Shixiong, I cannot see where this person is outstanding!” a shidi said though a secret language.
They could communicate through a secret communication method that others were not able to detect.
Liu Gui glanced over, and said through the secret communication method, “I feel that this person’s origins aren’t simple. Look, he doesn’t seem nervous at all.”
Zheng Zhong suddenly said, “There’s killing intent on his body. He has recently killed at least four or five people.”
The others shook in fright.
“No … … no way!” a person stammered out. “Doesn’t he just have first stratum cultivation? How can he kill four or five people at once?”
Disbelieving expressions came onto the faces of the other people.
It was hard to imagine a first stratum xiuzhe killing four people in succession in Little Mountain Jie. First stratum was the lowest level of power in Little Mountain Jie. In other words, every person that he killed wasn’t weaker than he was. One person killing four people that were not any less weaker than he was, it was extremely difficult to do.
“Maybe he has a powerful talisman?” one shidi said through the communication method.
“Don’t cause trouble.” Zheng Zhong said in a solemn tone. “This person’s strength isn’t simple. Everyone, be careful.”
Zuo Mo noticed these people occasionally glancing at him, and grimaced inside. Had he became a target of these people? That wasn’t good!
There were about twenty people in the group. Zuo Mo suspected that these Clear Sky Sect disciples had stopped every xiuzhe they encountered. He could occasionally hear these people talking, but those Clear Sky Sect disciples never controlled them.
———
After flying for two hours, they encountered two more Clear Sky Sect disciples.
One Clear Sky Sect disciple said, “You guys are too slow! Huang Shixiong has been waiting for you, and also Lu Hui. We don’t know where he ran off to, not taking care of business, hmph, he won’t get a share this time!”
The Clear Sky Sect disciple that had been herding the group said, “That’s great. Maybe we can get a few more items each!”
The other people laughed.
“It seems you guys had a good harvest. Quick, Huang Shixiong has been waiting impatiently.”
Zuo Mo’s blood felt cold inside. These Clear Sky Sect disciples really had great pageantry. It seemed that they really thought of Little Mountain Jie as their backyard.
The group flew into a little mountain valley. The mountain valley was heavily guarded by Clear Sky Sect disciples holding flying swords and talismans as
though they were facing a great enemy. There were already about twenty or so xiuzhe that had been gathered.
Huang Zhuo Guang stood proudly at a mountain peak, looking down at the xiuzhe, and asked in a deep tone, “Have we found all the people that know five element spells?”
Huang Zhuo Guang had narrow eyes and long eyebrows, his nose was high, his chin slightly narrow. He was wearing a bright yellow ling armor, a deep red cape on his shoulders, a copper circle tying up his hair. His hands were wearing dark blue gloves, a pair of Eye Tiger Head boots on his feet, he looked extremely grand and warrior-like. He was the most outstanding of the second generation disciples of Clear Sky Sect, and belonged to the most powerful branch. He himself was the most favored disciple of Clear Sky Old Forefather, and undoubtedly the leader of the Clear Sky Sect disciples.
“We still lack someone skilled in water element spells,” said a shimei in a soft tone. She was wearing a goose yellow palace robe, her eyes full of seductiveness. She said in puzzlement, “Shixiong, why didn’t we get the Outer Hall to assist us? Wouldn’t that be more convenient?”
“The Outer Hall?” Huang Zhuo Guang snorted coldly and said, “That group of trash, they can’t even defend Nan Sheng Village, how can they be relied on to help us?”
“Ah!” The shimei was very shocked. “What happened with the Outer Sect? Someone dares to make enemies with our Clear Sky Sect?”
“Hmph! Who cares who they are!” Huang Zhuo Guang narrowed his eyes, his voice was sharp and full of killing intent. “Just kill them! After this affair, we’ll go right back. Master had given the Outer Hall to He Xiang, I hadn’t thought this guy who fail so badly! Master is in seclusion, as his disciple, it is naturally up to me to help share the burden.”
Shimei looked with intoxicated eyes at Shixiong, feeling he was extremely magnificent.
“You there, which one of you knows water element spells?” someone shouted at Zuo Mo’s group.
No one responded.