by Fang Xiang
An evil skill!
Other than these two words, Zuo Mo had no other words to describe it.
“Boss, where’s our territory?” Liu Gui carefully asked.
“Sky Star Peak,” Zuo Mo carelessly responded.
Liu Gui jumped in fright. “Sky Star Peak? There are many factions in that area!”
“Oh.” Still thinking of the female xiu¸ Zuo Mo was unconcerned. “Not anymore.”
Liu Gui’s heart steadied. Looking at it now, Boss’ faction likely wasn’t small. He usually had many avenues of information, and had interacted with some of the factions of Sky Star Peak in the past. He hadn’t expected that Boss had swept all of them clean.
In Little Mountain Jie, there was nothing more assuring than entering a powerful faction.
Liu Gui snicked and said, “Little Mountain Jie is somewhat chaotic. I heard that Nan Sheng Village was torn to pieces. Now that we killed Huang Zhuo Guang, Clear Sky Sect is going to be angry. People really are brave these days, they even dare to attack Nan Sheng Village. Tsk tsk, so powerful! So great!”
Liu Gui smacked his lips, admiration on his face. The other people also felt the same.
Zuo Mo made a sound of confirmation and said, “You don’t need to admire them, we did it.”
The surroundings instantly became deathly silent.
Liu Gui was so frightened he almost dropped from the sky. He then looked at the others. All of them had gaping mouths as they looked dazedly at Zuo Mo.
Zuo Mo looked strangely at them. “What’s with your expressions? Nan Sheng Village isn’t as hard to attack as you imagine.”
All of the people, including Zheng Zhong, could not pull themselves out of their shock.
Zheng Zhong responded the fastest. At the beginning, he had thought that Zuo Mo was a disciple of a large sect. This seemed to prove his speculation. In Little Mountain Jie, no one had ever been willing to oppose Clear Sky Sect this openly.
Suddenly, a crowd of black dots appeared on the horizon.
The little black dots flew extremely quickly. After a while, they were twenty li away. They finally saw them. It was a group of about twenty people.
Zheng Zhong’s heart jumped, shock flashing through his eyes. He shouted loudly, “Everyone, on your guard!”
The group of twenty or so xiuzhe flew extremely quickly, but what shocked Zheng Zhong the most was the formation of their troop! Flying at such high speed, the troop’s formation had not changed, like a sharp blade breaking through the ice. From far away, he could feel a sharp presence hitting him in the face!
They were flying straight at them!
Zheng Zhong’s expression changed again!
In his eyes, the twenty people seemed like one body. Their energy, breathing, and ling power were so well attuned that there was no flaw!
Everyone felt they had dropped into a crevasse. Without even needing to fight, their confidence was destroyed. The other came as fast as lightning without any intentions of concealing themselves. The howls in the air roared in waves like thunder, the target was clearly them!
Some of the xiuzhe paled from fright and scattered to escape.
Zuo Mo’s expression suddenly turned dark.
However, only five xiuzhe had fled. The remaining thirteen people were still by his side.
So powerful!
Zheng Zhong’s heart leapt wildly. He forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart. He was a third stratum ningmai xiuzhe but facing the charge of these twenty people, instinctive terror rose.
However, he still moved in front of Zuo Mo. He couldn’t defeat this crowd, but he would do his best to protect Zuo Mo and escape with him.
Unexpectedly, the twenty people suddenly decelerated, making a immediate stop in front of them.
“Boss!” the person at the fount shouted with joy.
Zheng Zhong felt he had gone from hell to heaven in an instant. Before they could be happy, they heard Zuo Mo’s deep and murderous voice.
“Those five, execute.”
* * *
Translator Ramblings: It is my personal theory that Fang Xiang was in a different mood the day he wrote this chapter because this one has such a different and heavy tone compared to the one yesterday. Last chapter was all humorous and light-hearted, look at Silly Bird who is prancing about and refuses to obey Zuo Mo! Today is a reminder many people are after Zuo Mo and either want to find him, capture him, or possibly kill him.
The yao are moving back towards Little Mountain Jie … … think how much effort they could have saved if they took over Little Mountain Jie the first time they invaded rather than prioritizing getting to Sky Moon Jie as fast as possible. However, their priorities were actually correct. Who would have thought that Zuo Mo would coincidentally be sent away from the sect, land in the place closest to the jie river, and manage to slip right under them when they reached their destination?
Also, plot wise, this chapter has more development than the last ten chapters combined. I’m not sure if Fang Xiang just decided it was better to put it all together so it was easy to write, or if he forgot it and the readers wanted to know what was happening elsewhere.
Chapter 278: The Insane Outer Hall
Wei Cheng Bin’s mood was very good these past two days because Boss had returned. It wasn’t only him. Every person he passed on his way also had a sunny smile on their faces. It was strange. No matter if it was individual power, or skill in command, Boss wasn’t the strongest, but he was every person’s pillar of support.
The few days that Boss had been absent, every person in Golden Crow City had been very worried, like they had lost their souls.
Wei Cheng Bin knew that with Gongsun daren present, nothing would happen to Golden Crow City. But there was still a layer of darkness that uncontrollably came over his heart. Fortunately, Boss had returned, the dark cloud over their hearts had dissipated. Every person in the city believed that as long as Boss was here, any problem would be easily solved.
In this recent while, his forging skill had furiously grew, especially in forging small parts. Even Master Ji Wei would praise him occasionally. In a short amount of time, he formed an affection for this place. The forging masters he usually interacted with, especially Masters Ji Wei and Sun Bao, all were very skilled, took good care of him, and never skimped on guidance.
The only person he didn’t like interacting with was Bao Yi.
That slender bamboo stick was very miserly. It took a lot of effort to get some materials from his hands.
Even Masters Sun Bao and Ji Wei didn’t like interacting with Bao Yi so the burden had landed on his head. With no other way, he could only force himself. Each transaction was a fierce and terrible battle!
But today, Bao Yi was unusually easy-going. It seemed that even the thin bamboo stick had a good mood now that Boss was back.
———
In contrast to Golden Crow City’s happy mood, the faces of everyone in the Outer Hall was deathly.
“What? Huang Daren was killed?” He Xiang’s lips were trembling, his hands cold.
“The news has already spread.” The xiuzhe that found the news also had a trembling note in his voice. “Huang daren and the others went to search for a secret realm. Others schemed, and he was killed by multiple opponents.”
“Impossible!” He Xiang said sternly, “How could Huang daren be killed by many people so easily? Where’s the other people with him?”
“All … … all killed! In total, more than twenty inner sect disciples … …”
Bang, He Xiang’s legs weakened and he collapsed on the chair, his face filled with hopelessness. Every elder present had faces so pale there was no blood.
Everyone understood that the affair was too big this time. So big, they could not conceal it!
The entire Outer Hall would face the anger of the Old Forefather when it was time. No, the entire Little Mountain Jie would have to face the anger of the Old Forefather!
He Xiang suddenly achieved clarity. He seemed to have grabbed onto the
last life-saving piece of grass, and suddenly stood up. “Who did it? Who did it?”
“This subordinate is still investigating … …”
“Investigating my ass!” He Xiang’s eyes were entirely red, his anger unrestrained. “If these people won’t let us live, then we won’t let them live!” He took a deep breath, and calmed his emotions, gradually calming down. He looked at the elders that had sank into hopelessness, and said with craziness, “We only have one path.”
Everyone blankly raised their heads. They really couldn’t think of a path they could take.
“We need to find the perpetrator that killed Huang daren and give them to Old Forefather as penance.” He Xiang said in a low voice “This time, whether or not our penance is acceptable will determine if we can survive!”
Many people had doubtful expressions. The matter this time was too serious. They didn’t believe that the Old Forefather would forgive them even if they found the perpetrator.
“This is our only chance!” He Xiang said crisply, and then added meaningfully. “Old Forefather will still need people to take care of affairs! If we can let Old Forefather see our abilities, the hope we can survive is greater.”
Everyone all became alert. Even though they didn’t believe it, but He Xiang was right, this was their only chance.
They had no route to escape.
The power of the Outer Hall was gathered together again. Every elder and all the xiuzhe were sent out.
He Xiang decided to use the stupidest method, moving through faction by faction. He didn’t believe that he couldn’t find the perpetrator!
Little Mountain Jie started to boil again!
———
With Silly Bird found, Zuo Mo went back to building the city. Huang Zhuo Guang was killed, the state of Little Mountain Jie would definitely become tense. There wasn’t much time left for him. Thankfully, Little Mountain Jie, while a small jie, would still take a large amount of effort to search for one person.
But Zuo Mo deeply felt he was pressed for time. He built crazily.
Pah, Zuo Mo spat out the soil from his mouth. His entire body was covered in mud, only his eyes were exposed. Looking at the finished tunnels, he had a satisfied expression. The tunnels between the city and the other six mountain peaks were finished. The remaining work was to set up formations.
What he felt the most from digging tunnels was that this thing really was something for dhyana xiu to do. Without physical strength, he definitely couldn’t have persisted. When a sword xiu was powerful, they could slice through a mountain peak with one blow, but if a sword xiu had to come dig a tunnel, it was like they were blind.
Thinking of his gigantic formation, he felt that his body was filled with inexhaustible energy. He bent his head to and kept working.
Without rest or sleep, Zuo Mo worked for more than ten days, and finished all the tunnels.
———
In these ten days, Little Mountain Jie had become a mess. The Outer Hall seemed to have gone crazy as they searched everywhere. They even put out a mosted wanted list. The most famous on there was Zheng Zhong of ningmai third stratum cultivation. Many others also recognized those like Liu Gui. The only one that was unknown was that black looking person at the top of the list. What people didn’t know to laugh or cry about was that there was also a bird on the ranking, a big grey bird.
Had the Outer Hall gone insane? Many people hadn’t placed any importance on the list when they first received it. However, the Outer Hall used their following actions to demonstrate that they were not joking.
In a short ten days, five factions had been massacred.
The troops of the Outer Hall didn’t seem to show any signs of stopping, and continued to push outwards, not leaving anything behind.
Instantly, Little Mountain Jie became a mess.
Many factions, upon seeing the terrible situation, instantly pledged their allegiance to the Outer Sect to avoid the calamity. Those factions that were not willing to enter the Outer Sect could only keep retreating backwards. The Outer Hall that faced no resistance moved even faster.
After a while, the factions that had joined the Outer Hall quickly were divided into cadet halls of the Outer Hall, and each put in charge of an area rich in ores.
With this, everyone understood what the Outer Hall was planning.
The Outer Hall wanted to swallow all of Little Mountain Jie. They were no longer content with holding the throats of all the factions. They demanded complete control.
Gongsun Cha in a panic went and found Zuo Mo.
After Zuo Mo heard Gongsun Cha’s report, he thought for a while, and said, “We need to first get rid of the Outer Hall.”
He then explained. “There’s really too many people in this batch of people from the Outer Hall. If we don’t get rid of them bit by bit, it’s slightly dangerous. I’m worried that the Old Forefather might not be so proud. Then no matter how good our trap it, it cannot stand against a battle tactic of using sheer numbers. The best path is to lower the power of the Outer Hall. That way, the Clear Sky Old Forefather would have no other option but to come find us.”
Gongsun Cha nodded. They only had one chance. If they were exposed, the Clear Sky Old Forefather wouldn’t be so dumb as to be tricked a second time.
“Can we defeat them?” Zuo Mo asked Gongsun Cha worriedly. The Vermillion Bird Camp now had more than seven hundred people. The Eastern and Western Camps had two thousand people, but Zuo Mo was doubtful regarding their combat abilities. The forces of the Outer Hall had expanded rapidly, their numbers reaching more than ten thousand people. The difference in numbers was too large.
Gongsun Cha smiled shyly and said, “We can try.”
Since he understood Shixiong’s thinking, Gongsun Cha quickly responded. He no longer needed to worry about the safety of the Golden Crow City. The thirty six formation battle watchtowers were enough for self-defense. He moved out with the Vermillion Bird Camp, the Eastern and Western Camps were to stand guard, and to control the watchtowers when it was time.
As to Guard Camp, Gongsun Cha didn’t even go there once.
Who could depend on a group of xiu slaves to do anything?
Gongsun Cha’s departure was silent. The great majority of people in Golden Crow City were ignorant.
Zuo Mo also realized the tense situation. He instantly responded, quickly sending out orders. Without noticing it, the inside of Golden Crow City started to become tense.
Especially the forging division. Every person could feel the tenseness that spread through the air.
———
After a few days, a group of xiuzhe appeared near Golden Crow City. When Vermillion Bird Camp had been present, Gongsun Cha had arranged for patrols to stop people from approaching Golden Crow City. Now that Vermillion Bird Camp had been deployed, there hadn’t been anyone to maintain the patrols.
When the xiuzhe that were training on the formation battle watchtowers saw the crowd of dots on the horizon, they became nervous, and hurriedly sent out an alarm.
The Golden Crow City was on alert!
“Heavens! When had there been a city here?” The xiuzhe at the front looked in disbelief at the little city on the faraway mountain peak.
Everyone else was also staring with wide eyes, their expressions stunned as they looked at the little city.
At this time, a beam of light penetrated the clouds like a sharp sword, and landed on the Golden Crow City. Golden Crow City instantly lit up with a faint light.
The faint golden light exuded the presence of the sun. Even from tens of li out, it still caused trepidation.
“Miracle! This is a miracle!” the xiuzhe at the front muttered to himself.
All of the people were deeply shocked by Golden Crow City. Their gazes couldn’t bear to move away for more than a second. They flew on soullessly.
When they flew to a distance of ten li from the city, the little city was even more realistic in their eyes. It was a city of the sun! They could not ima
gine what people could construct such a beautiful city!
But when they unconsciously went closer, the xiuzhe at the front suddenly smelled a dangerous presence.
Dots of silver light lit up on the little city.
Everyone instantly stopped in their tracks.
When the xiuzhe at the front saw the watchtowers that were higher than the city walls, an unfamiliar term flashed through his mind. His soul instantly left his body. He shouted hoarsely in terror, “Retreat! Quick, retreat!”
Every watchtower that lit up looked like a silver dot from a distance.
The silver dots lit up one after the other.
All thirty six silver dots bathed in the sunlight. The xiuzhe at the front retreated in panic, his expression shocked, and eyes filled with terror.
Formation battle watchtowers! Those were formation battle watchtowers!
* * *
Translator Ramblings: Formation battle watchtowers are things that require exclamation points.
The fight between Clear Sky Sect’s outer hall and Zuo Mo’s factions has been pushed early by the death of Huang Zhuo Guang. Keep in mind they don’t actually know who did it at this point so they are going around blaming and killing anyone that resists.
Chapter 279: Transaction
After receiving a strong fright, the xiuzhe retreated twenty li before stopping. Luckily, the silver dots from Golden Crow City did not approach and they calmed down slightly.
“Head, what are formation battle watchtowers?” the subordinate asked, puzzled. The other xiuzhe also had bewildered faces, but some xiuzhe had fearful expressions.
“Great weapons to protect a city.” The Head looked at Golden Crow City and warned, “You have to be careful. If you ever see a city that have things like what you just saw, you have to be careful. The power of formation battle watchtowers are very high. They are used to stop enemies from attacking. Usually, they can only be seen in larger cities. I hadn’t expected such a small city to have thirty six of them.”
“It’s just thirty six of them. We have this many people, one charge, and we can take it down,” the subordinate objected, unconvinced.