World of Cultivation - Volume 01 - Money Grubbing Madman

by Fang Xiang

  The name of the seventh move was slightly scary. It was called [Li Water Burning Heavens]. Zuo Mo felt that if the name was changed to [Li Fire Burning Heavens], he could still understand. But li water, that was still water, how could it burn the heavens?

  This move was one that wounded both sides. It required putting all the ling energy into the flying sword, stimulating that drop of water essence in the flying sword, the sword presence would reverse against the current and attack the enemy.

  This move had many difficult places. Like putting in all the ling energy at one moment into the flying sword. This was a test of a person’s control of ling energy. And stimulating that water essence drop in the flying sword, Zuo Mo didn’t dare test it rashly. It had been hard to form this one drop in the first place. If it exploded, Zuo Mo wouldn’t just have to reform this water essence drop but even the inner formations of the ice crystal sword might be damaged.

  And what Zuo Mo felt the least logical was the presence of this last move.

  The presence of the previous six moves, it flowed, it curved, it spun. But only this last one, Zuo Mo couldn’t understand. Going against the current! How could water go against the current?

  What this [Li Water Sword Scripture] mimicked was water. Zuo Mo understood what kind of water was li water but at the end, it was still water. As long as it was water, how could it flow from low places to high places? How could it go against the current and up?

  But [Li Water Sword Scripture] just had to have this move, and it had to be the last move.

  When Zuo Mo had been practicing on land, he hadn’t felt it. In that case, the water essence drop in the sword had been as light as air. It really couldn’t be felt when the sword was swung. But practicing in the water, the water pressure caused the presence of the sword to become heavy as well. The problem that couldn’t be seen was magnified.

  No matter how hard Zuo Mo tried, he just couldn’t complete this final move!

  Whenever he was halfway, he would feel the presence of the sword suddenly falter and could not continue. Adding on that Zuo Mo didn’t dare to rashly force the water essence drop in the sword to explode, this sword was even more difficult. Since it was so difficult even in practice, like this, Zuo Mo was stuck on this last move.

  He could only continue to practice the first six moves. As he became more familiar with the first six moves, his feeling in the water, especially his feeling of “water” became much clearer. The first six moves became increasingly smooth. Zuo Mo gradually comprehended it. This feeling was wondrous beyond imagining, it was like looking through a paper window to see the people inside the room. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not poke through that thin paper.

  Zuo Mo knew, the more it was like this, the more he couldn’t rush. This was a sign of a breakthrough.

  But looking at time slipping away, as it neared the time of the set assessment, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but become panicked.

  He was very clear. His first six moves were very familiar but to use these six moves to defeat Luo Li Shixiong, that was just a dream. Sword moves, cultivation, battle experience, both sides weren’t on the same level. It wasn’t just ten thousand miles that Zuo Mo was behind the other! The only possible way to defeat Luo Li Shixiong was to comprehend the sword essence of [Li Water Sword Scripture]!

  Because he knew that Luo Li Shixiong hadn’t comprehended sword essence yet. This was the only place he could use!

  This was also the only place that he won over Luo Li. He had once comprehended sword essence!

  This was the place that he had gambled everything on!

  Sword essence, it was hard to describe, intangible but it became the last trick that Zuo Mo was relying on. If he could not comprehend sword essence, everything else was just a waste, he definitely would lose.

  Did he really need to use the last move?

  Zuo Mo couldn’t help but hesitate. There was only seven days until the sect assessment. If he really exploded the water essence this time, and an accident happened, then he wouldn’t even have the time to attempt a rescue.

  The time of seven days, Zuo Mo wasn’t certain if he could still form another whole water essence drop.

  But quickly, Zuo Mo became stubborn. If he couldn’t comprehend li water sword essence before the sect assessment, then there was no hope of winning over Luo Li Shixiong. Then he would only have one outcome, loss.

  Taking a risk and failing, it was a loss. Not risking it, it also would be a loss.

  Zuo Mo gritted his teeth. In any case, the barefoot weren’t afraid then those wearing shoes. If he really lost, he wouldn’t say anything. He just wasn’t as good as the other. He’ll just have to pay some contribution points. But that was better than not even having the courage to try, and admitting defeat! In any case, the barefoot wasn’t afraid of those wearing shoes.

  At this point, Zuo Mo’s emotions about Luo Li had become faint. This barrier, it was more like a test for himself.

  And he chose to gamble!

  He didn’t start immediately but entered mediation to recover ling energy. He decided to be in the best state possible when he tried the move.

  Six hours later, Zuo Mo opened his eyes, the light flashing deep in the pupils, serene and steady. He didn’t know if it was the fact that he had made a decision but the effect of the mediation this time was very good. Not only did his ling energy recover, but the exhaustion of the past days had been swept away.

  Recovering the best possible state, Zuo Mo stretched out his body. This time, he didn’t use his consciousness to control the sword. Rather, he gripped the ice crystal sword with his hand.

  The ice crystal sword was icy when it entered his hand, like he was gripping an icicle. This bit of coldness followed Zuo Mo’s hand and quickly entered Zuo Mo’s body. He felt his mind clear. So this sword had such an ability! Zuo Mo couldn’t help regret not examining this sword a bit more in the past.

  But quickly, he calmed his mind. These questions were for the future.

  Closing his eyes as he gripped the sword and focused, his feet were floating as he stood in the water. The rushing water currents could not affect his body. It was like a piece of wood standing straight in the rushing water, motionless, unspeakably strange.

  Remembering every detail of practicing these past days, savoring the feeling of the water rushing past the body, felling the presence of the water essence drop in the flying sword, Zuo Mo relaxed his mind.

  When everything, all the memories, all the feelings, gathered together, it seemed like a certain nerve in Zuo Mo’s head was suddenly plucked by an invisible hand.

  Zuo Mo suddenly opened his eyes!

  “Li!”

  A deep thunderous sound came out of his chest, the rushing river suddenly stopped.

  No current, no eddies, the water around Zuo Mo’s body seemed to have quieted all of a sudden, motionless.

  Just at this time, the ice crystal sword that Zuo Mo had been grasping slowly rose up.

  Zuo Mo’s expression looked extremely laborious. The tendons in his forehead were bulging, his eyes angry and wide, his hair standing on end. The ice crystal sword on his hand seemed to weight a thousand catties. Just raising it up a bit became extremely hard.

  What Zuo Mo saw was another picture.

  When the ling energy in his entire body flowed like a flood into the ice crystal sword, that water drop which usually was lively, suddenly exploded open!

  Boom!

  Zuo Mo’s mind shook!

  He seemed to see that soybean sized water essence explode into countless water droplets like a mist!

  Suddenly, Zuo Mo remembered what he had seen in his consciousness, that crimson red fireball floating in the sky and suddenly exploding. That was so similar to this right now!

  Manipulate water like fire!

  This phrase that he had never understood, like lightning, it pierced into his soul.

  Suddenly, he understood. That thin white paper that had been blocking him all this time was gen
tly broken. A brand new world floated in front of him.

  In his eyes, those water droplets that formed a mist turned into flames. These flames, it wasn’t the red-black flames in his consciousness, but transparent water flames. Flowering, transparent, flames composed out of water. They slowly jumped, clear and colorless. Not as wild and enchanting like the dark red flames in the consciousness. These clear water flames were as serene as the noblewomen in their chambers. They covered the entire body of the ice crystal sword.

  Zuo Mo’s hand that held the ice crystal sword slowly rose. All the river water in the surroundings furiously flowed towards the ice crystal sword, seeming to form a gigantic water “flame”!

  Once the strange water flame formed, Zuo Mo’s trembling and tired arm quickly became abnormally steady!

  The sword presence seemed to have lost its reticence and suddenly sped up!

  Boom!

  The little ice crystal sword, carrying countless water flames made up of the river water, sliced towards the sky!

  At the same time, on Wu Kong Mountain, Xin Yan suddenly opened his eyes. His body flashed, disappearing from his spot and appearing on the cliff of the records room!

  He looked dazedly at the Sky Shaking River below.

  A flow of water that seemed to form a gigantic flame roared as it flowed up against the sky. The impure river flame, at this time, it was spitting like water, burning and explosive!

  Who was practicing?

  To be able to form sword essence, the talent wasn’t bad! And such an unique sword essence, he had never seen it before. He could see it clearly. This gigantic water flame, it was restrained by countless sword essences because it was an explosive water bomb!

  Suddenly, he thought of a certain sword scripture in the records room and his expression changed.

  Was it a disciple of the sect?

  Just as he paused, the water flame that had flew up suddenly exploded!

  At the bottom, Zuo Mo saw the beautiful water flame in the sky. He wanted to laugh, but he had used up all the ling energy in his body. His eyes suddenly became unfocused. Boom, the water flame exploded in the sky, thousands of catties of water pouring down. Zuo Mo didn’t manage to anchor himself and in the blink of an eyes, was flushed away!

  Chapter 61: Planning

  Zuo Mo wiped river water off his face, his steps uneven as he climbed up the shores of the river. He hadn’t thought that [Li Water Burning Heavens] would form into a flood and carry him, who had been in a weak state, a few hundred miles away. One [Li Water Burning Heaven], it had wrung out all the ling energy in his body. At that time, he didn’t even have the energy to breathe, much less get out of the flood. He could only be like a piece of wood and try to stay afloat.

  Rocks were dense along this Sky Shaking River. Zuo Mo had suffered much as he kept on banging into those stones. Not one part of his body was unharmed.

  A few hundred miles. In terms of distance, it wasn’t that far. But Zuo Mo didn’t even have a paper crane. As to the female grey beaked goose, she couldn’t be depended on. And his entire body, he only had his pants and no money at all.

  Collapsing on a rock beside the shore, Zuo Mo weakly panted. But there was joy in his eyes.

  Sword essence, Li water sword essence! He finally formed Li Water sword essence!

  Even if he only just touched the surface of sword essence and wasn’t in any way profound, but as long as he persisted, his skill with this sword scripture would naturally deepen with time.

  What was even more of a joy to him was the water essence drop inside the ice crystal sword didn’t disappear but actually became slightly bigger. It was now about the size of a pinky.

  He didn’t hesitate, struggling up, coiling his legs to meditate.

  Four hours later, he opened his eyes and jumped up from the ground.

  Controlling the ice crystal sword, he started to go through the moves of [Li Water Sword Scripture]. Previously, his moves had been smooth and connected, right now it seemed traceless. Yet a faint fire-like sword essence spread out, the temperature of the surroundings leaping up.

  A new world was in front of him.

  One move after another. His expression solemn, his moves following his thoughts. He could feel that with each move, with the ice crystal sword as the center, a faint water presence would spread. If one looked closely, they would find this water presence was formed from blossoms of extremely tiny water-like flames.

  In Zuo Mo’s consciousness, that ruler-straight ice river had completely transformed. The middle of the river split the river in half, one side full of icicles moving relentlessly, and the other side was countless water flames, silently burning.

  Zuo Mo felt that he had improved. The Li Water sword essence he comprehended this time was completely different than the tidal sword essence he had comprehended before. With the tidal sword essence, rather than saying comprehension, it was more like mimicking. And for Li water sword essence, even though there was Pu Yao’s guidance and advice, but he had gone through the entire process by himself bit by bit. The benefits he had received were much more than before.

  The ice crystal sword flipped and flew, its trajectory traceless, the fire-like sword essence burning.

  But gradually, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but furrow his brows. The Li water sword essence was like fire. The heat that was released would logically increase the power of his sword moves but to the ice crystal sword, it was a kind of damage.

  The ice crystal sword was yin and cold. It originally was very suited to water element sword scriptures. But what Zuo Mo picked had to be [Li Water Sword Scripture], which called for manipulating water like fire. Over time, the grade of this flying sword would probably drop.

  It looked like that he needed a flying sword suited for him, Zuo Mo muttered inside. He quickly threw the problem to one side. Flying swords were expensive. They weren’t something he could buy now. But now that he had comprehended sword essence, the sect, in any case, should give him a flying sword. With the sect’s stores, to pick a flying sword suited for him, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

  Manipulating the sword, Zuo Mo didn’t feel any tiredness at all but rather extremely refreshed. Even though he was bony and was just wearing some pants, but standing there, he did seem somewhat intimidating. However, the most pressing problem he faced was getting back to the sect. Luckily, it wasn’t that far. Even if he had to walk, just a day was enough.

  Wu Kong Sword Sect was a mess. In Wu Kong Hall, people came in and out, everyone was preparing for the sect assessment that was coming in a few days.

  Inside Wu Kong Hall, Shi Feng Rong faced Xin Yan angrily: “You actually watched as he was swept away?”

  There was none of the usual coldness on Xin Yan’s face. He carefully said: “The circumstances at that time were outside my expectations. I didn’t think he would be swept away by the water. When I managed to react, he was already gone.”

  “He’s a ling plant farmer. If something happened… … humph!” Shi Feng Rong’s anger didn’t decrease as she snorted icily.

  “Shimei, don’t worry too much.” Xin Yan smiled as he comforted; “Now that he has comprehended sword essence, in this area around Dong Fu, where would there be any problems?”

  Hearing this, Shi Feng Rong’s anger finally decreased. She turned around: “Did he really comprehend sword essence? Three months, that’s not bad. Which sword scripture did he choose? [Empty Sword Scripture] or [Shapeless Sword Scripture?]”

  Xin Yan saw Shi Feng Rong’s face relaxed and released a breath inside. Smiling, he responded: “He just entered the inner sect, how could he pick [Empty Sword Scripture] and [Shapeless Sword Scripture]? What he picked was [Li Water Sword Scripture]. I actually hadn’t recognized it in the beginning.”

  Hearing this, Shi Feng Rong’s features tensed again: “So what if he just entered the inner sect? How long has Wei Sheng entered the inner sect? Humph, Wei Sheng is able to enter the sword cave, why can’t he choose [Empty Sword Scripture] and [Shapele
ss Sword Scripture]?”

  Xin Yan grimaced inside but his mouth went: “Wei Sheng has outstanding talent……”

  Shi Feng Rong broke through: “And Zuo Mo’s talent isn’t enough? Not good enough talent, in three months with no guidance and is able to comprehend sword essence? Go see if anyone else can do it. Even now, Luo Li hasn’t comprehended sword essence!”

  “Yes yes yes!” Xin Yan was so regretful his intestines were green.

  Suddenly, the two heard someone come near and they resumed their usual cold composure.

  Pei Yuan Ran walked in. Seeing the two, the corners of his mouth rose slightly but then resumed normal. He said: “What are Second Shidi and Shimei discussing here?”

  “Nothing, Shimei’s disciple Zuo Mo just comprehended sword essence.” Xin Yan’s face was cool as he replied, no trace remaining of his carefulness just a moment ago.

  “Oh.” Pei Yuan Ran was slightly surprised: “He comprehended sword essence? I didn’t think he had talent for cultivating the sword. Not bad, not bad. Where is he now? This should be rewarded.”

  “He was practicing in the river. When he comprehended sword essence, he was swept away by the water. I didn’t pay attention and couldn’t rescue him.” Xin Yan said.

  “That’s fine. If Zuo Mo could comprehend sword essence then he doesn’t need to worry about safety around Dong Fu.” Pei Yuan Ran mused and then said: “En, arrange for some outer sect disciples to search along the river. Make sure he doesn’t miss the time of the sect assessment.”

  “Yes.” Xin Yan answered.

  “Sect Leader Shixiong.” Shi Feng Rong opened coolly.

  “What?” Pei Yuan Ran smiled.

  “Zuo Mo could comprehend sword essence in three months, it’s enough to show he has talent in the sword. “ Shi Feng Rong said as she stared at Pei Yaun Ran: “If that’s the case, the sect should pass on a higher grade sword scripture.”

  Pei Yuan Ran said: “There’s no rush, let’s discuss this later.”