by Fang Xiang
There was a system for the production of materials, but it was far from being able to satisfy the demands of those great sects. The discovery of new jie had never stopped. Each jie’s discovery would be accompanied by rivers of blood.
What did the battle of yaomo and xiuzhe have to do with him?
Those big sects weren’t good entities. He missed the past Wu Kong Sword Sect.
Unknowingly, he walked to the deepest level. The yin fiends along the way had not recovered, and didn’t dare to come near Wei Sheng as they knew his power.
The deepest level was empty. In the past, there had been a very powerful yin fiend here. He had killed it at the expense of heavy injuries. His gaze landed on the ground. There was a thick layer of copper tile beneath his feet, and along the stone wall was a copper table. There was a jade box on the copper table. Wei Sheng’s complete version of [Void Sword Scripture] had been taken from this jade box.
Everything here had not changed compared to when he had left.
After tomorrow, everything here would be sealed forever.
Wei Sheng was very emotion. His hand caressed the copper table. A wave of coldness passed back. He suddenly made a slight sound of surprise. There was another weak presence among this wave of coldness! This presence was very weak. If it wasn’t that he was much stronger than when he had previously been in the sword cave, then he would not have detected this presence.
There was something strange!
His mind jumped. Closing his eyes and calming his mind, this weak presence slowly became clear.
He opened his eyes and sent out his sword essence to swipe a few times on the copper table. The surface of the table flashed with light and revealed a jade box.
Wei Sheng had a surprised and joyful expression as he hurriedly opened the jade box. Inside was a damaged jade pendant and a jade scroll. Wei Sheng carefully picked up the jade scroll. As he read, he became even more shocked.
Remaining in the jade scroll was a thread of thought that the sect’s ancestral master had left before death. It told the history of this jade pendant. This pendant was a talisman the ancestral master had serendipitously received when he was young, which had a unique presence that lingered on it. The sect’s [Void Sword Scripture] had been comprehended by the ancestral master from this presence. When he read this, Wei Sheng’s heart beat wildly.
A presence was enough for the ancestral master to comprehend a sixth-grade sword scripture. This presence should have been so powerful he couldn’t imagine it
The ancestral master spent his entire life studying this jade scroll, and finally gained something before the end of his life. However, he had no power to personally uncover the mystery of the pendant so he had carved what he knowledge had gained on the underside of the copper tile. But considering that while the presence of the jade pendant was weak, but it was vastly immeasurable and pure, he was afraid it would cause a calamity. The ancestral master decided to hide it. If a disciple from the sect had the fate, he naturally would receive it. This was an opportunity.
Putting down the jade scroll, Wei Sheng’ gaze moved to the damaged jade pendant. His heart beat hard. A presence that was complex enough that the ancestral master took a lifetime to comprehend, it definitely was exceptional.
He carefully picked up the jade pendant. The jade pendant was very non-descript. One corner was damaged, and its style was very old. Holding it on his hand, he could feel the mysterious presence even more clearly. Suppressing his strong curiosity, he did not dare to use his mind to touch this weak presence. A presence that even the ancestral master had to study for a lifetime wasn’t something he could touch with his present cultivation.
He gravely hung the jade scroll on his neck and then his eyes landed on the copper tiles. He started the core scripture of [Void Sword Scripture] and pressed his hand to a copper tile. This copper tile instantly became light as air, and was easily taken up.
There was something!
A strange pattern was revealed on the ground. Wei Sheng’s mind jumped again, and he picked up the tiles one after the other.
In a short while, all of the copper tiles on the ground were removed to reveal the ground below. The ground was as smooth as a mirror. An enormous formation appeared below Wei Sheng’s feet.
This was … …
Wei Sheng’s eyes flashed as he carefully examined the formation under his feet. However, the complex seal scripts made him dizzy. He thought it would be wonderful if Zuo Shidi was here. With Shidi’s skill in formations, he definitely would know what this formation did.
He did not notice the jade pendant hanging on his neck started to imperceptibly light up.
When the light covered the entire jade pendant, and Wei Sheng noticed it, the formation under his feet lit up with a bright bloody light, so bright that Wei Sheng could not open his eyes.
The dazzling blood coloured light formed a pillar and shot upwards.
The rock over his head turned to dust in front of the pillar of light.
———
On the highest level of the sword cave, Lin Qian’s expression suddenly changed. His figure suddenly leap to the side. A blinding bloody pillar of light shot out of the ground, and brushed past him. Some of the xiuzhe that couldn’t react in time didn’t even have the time to wail before they were reduced to dust.
The pillar of light destructively penetrated the jinzhi of the sword cave with its lingering energy, went through the thick rock and rose into the sky.
Lin Qian’s expression was extremely ugly. At this time, he could not do anything else but shout, “Leave! Leave immediately!”
The erupting pillar of bloody light was like an enormous sword of blood that pierced the sky!
The yao army camped on Wu Kong Mountain looked in shock at the thick pillar of light.
Mu Xi reacted the quickest. Her expression tightened with shock, “Go investigate what is going on!”
The deepest level of the sword cave was empty of everything.
* * *
Translator Ramblings: After the two shidi with Zuo Mo, it’s time to focus on the Shixiong of Zuo Mo. Things are not what they appear to be and Wei Sheng has his own struggles. He’s burdened by the expectations of the sect while Zuo Mo only needs to meet the requirement “don’t shame us.” It’s a simplification but there is a system of debts and repayment. Wu Kong Sword Sect put more resources in Wei Sheng and expects more out of him. You can think of it as Luo Li being the blood child of the masters, Wei Sheng being the child they adopted and Zuo Mo the one that was a freebie when they went shopping. Luo Li also has his own burdens and struggles.
I don’t think I actually wrote that the black butterfly is dead. It just lost a lot of life force.
Chapter 329: The Name of Tenth Grade
The twin butterfly slowly waved its wings. The black fiendish energy continuously flowed into its body like a whale swallowing water. The black miniature figure hanging on the black antennae slowly became clearer. The features became more and more defined out of the blurriness, becoming more detailed.
The little miniature black person on the antenna was about three cun tall. Black clothing, and black hair, his face was cold, his eyes holding killing intent as he stood aloofly.
When Zuo Mo raised his head from his thoughts, he coincidentally saw the formation of the little black person. He was very surprised. This twin butterfly was really unusual!
The little black person glanced at Zuo Mo but had no intentions of paying attention to him. He suddenly raised his arms, his hair standing on end, his eyes lighting up as he said in a crisp voice, “In!”
A strong twister suddenly formed around the twin butterfly with wind, sand and rock.
Hiss! Zuo Mo inhaled sharply was amazement. The view within his Ling Eye, the black fiendish energy was furiously flowing towards the arms that the little black person was raising.
The noise caused by the little black person was too loud. The entire camp was disturbed. Everyone thought they were under
attack and flew into the sky. The first to react was Xie Shan, the second to charge over was Shu Long. He was extremely sensitive to black fiendish energy, and instantly detected the change.
When they ran over with nervous expressions, and found the culprit was a strange black and white ling butterfly in front of Zuo Mo, they were stunned.
Zuo Mo looked dazedly at the little black person. The black fiendish energy within five li of here had all been moved. In the Ling Eye, the black fiendish energy within five li formed an enormous black and red whirlpool. At the center of this whirlpool was this little black person not even three cun tall.
The little black person had a stern expression as it focused intently on absorbing the black fiendish energy.
The entire process took a whole two hours before the little black person contentedly stopped. At this time, he clearly looked different. The black hair now was blood red like a burning flame. The black pupils were deep as the night. Its handsome little face was wore a cold expression , the killing intent between the brows even more evident.
The twin butterfly stopped absorbing the black fiendish energy, and the restless air gradually calmed down.
Just as Zuo Mo was dumbstruck, the twin butterfly flew in front of him. The little black person raised its little face filled with sternness and killing intent and gazed at Zuo Mo. When it spoke, it was with a crisp and child-like voice, “Please, Master, bestow a name!”
Oh, it seemed alive … …
His face filled with disbelief, Zuo Mo seemed to have seen a ghost and put his face near. “You are alive?”
The killing intent on the little black person’s face froze. The corner of his eyes twitched. The little face had also darkened, but was also helpless. “Yes!”
“Hm, interesting … …” Zuo Mo was excited. He suddenly raised his right hand, and poke a finger in curiosity on the body of the little black person. “Oh, it’s soft … …”
Murderous intent rose on the face of the little black person. The little face was dark as it said, “A soldier can be killed, but cannot be humiliated!”
It was a pity that the crisp childish tone neutralized the effect of all of the murderous intent.
However, Zuo Mo still took his finger back guiltily. He rubbed his chin in pretension. “Naming … …” His eyes suddenly lit up. “Inviting Wealth! How about this? Is it mighty enough … …”
The features of the little black person convulsed. Suppressing his anger, he gritted his teeth. “The warrior can only be killed, but not humiliated … …”
“Ooh, how about Jingshi?”
“The warrior can only be killed, but not humiliated … ..” The crisp child-like tone showed signs of collapsing.
“You don’t like Jingshi either? This habit isn’t good. It seems we need to teach your taste. The common saying is good, jingshi can even move ghosts … … ooh, All Wealth Belongs To Me, how about this … …”
“The warrior can only be killed, but not humiliated … …” The little black person weakly objected.
“The First Treasure in the World?”
“The warrior can only be killed, but not humiliated … …”
Xie Shan and Shu Long looked with sympathy at the little black person that was tortured to the point of death by Zuo Mo. They exchanged a look and rapidly left the scene.
Zuo Mo looked contentedly at the drooping figure of Tenth Grade. That was right, just now, the little black person that was being endlessly tormented finally agreed to the strange name of Tenth Grade.
“Tenth Grade, don’t feel that this name is common.” Zuo Mo said with a solemn face. “Tenth Grade, it represents the highest grade. This twin butterfly is just fifth-grade. Tenth Grade, it means the highest and the strongest! The strongest in the world. What, isn’t this what you are pursuing?”
The depressed little black person’s eyes suddenly lit up. He straightened, filled with battle intent, and said gravely, “Thank you Master for giving me a name!”
Zuo Mo’s expression was very stern, but he was laughing in his heart. Oh, tenth-grade, how much jingshi would that be … …
Tenth Grade was just three cun tall, but he was fifth-grade. Fifth-grade ling beasts had space shields. Tenth Grade’s space shield was even more unique and had hints of the black fiendish energy. Zuo Mo had never heard of black fiendish energy before, but after these days, he had some understanding of the uniqueness of the black fiendish energy.
For Shu Long and the others, black fiendish energy was a great nutrient, but for xiuzhe, black fiendish energy was akin to a powerful poison. Black fiendish energy was usually created from brutal battlefields, it was yin and had the utmost vicious nature. If it met another entity, if it did not completely destroy it, it would not rest.
A fifth-grade ling beast was as powerful as a jindan. Even more importantly, Tenth Grade was very intelligent. When a ling beast or talisman had more intelligence, it mean that it had greater room to grow.
The most powerful quality of Tenth Grade was that it could learn spells. This was something that Zuo Mo had never heard of. He instantly taught [Hardship Guard] to Tenth Grade. [Hardship Guard] could absorb black fiendish energy, and was suitable for Tenth Grade to practice. Zuo Mo planned to get a stronger mo skill out of Pu Yao and the gravestone at a later time.
Even though Tenth Grade’s power was not strong now, but Zuo Mo was full of anticipation about Tenth Grade’s future.
After a temporary rest, the troop departed again.
The vast ancient battlefield was covered in marks. Over time, even these terrifying marks had become blurry.
After advancing for more than ten days, the scenery still hadn’t changed. They hadn’t discovered anything. This ancient battlefield was so large that one couldn’t imagine it.
The twin butterfly danced in flight, Tenth Grade sitting cross-legged on the black antenna as he cultivated. His progressed made all of Guard Camp sweat. In just ten days, he had created black armor. He could also take it on or off based on his will while Shu Long and the other’s black armor could not be taken off.
Tenth Grade was a cultivation person, no, was a cultivation wild beast. He didn’t like to stay in the beast service card, and stayed on the antenna all day motionlessly cultivating. Lil’ Pagoda and Lil’ Fire were full of curiosity about Tenth Grade and would occasionally come over to look but Tenth Grade would just ignore them.
It was strange to speak of it. The great majority of Vermillion Bird Camp stayed inside the slave transporting boats. The thick black fiendish energy was extremely bad for them, so Zuo Mo had set up formation inside the boats to separate the black fiendish energy to stop it from corroding everyone. But the little ones, including Silly Bird, did not react at all to the black fiendish energy. Lil’ Pagoda and Lil’ Fire had the most energy and spend everyday playing. Lil’ Black was unusually sleep, and spent more than half the days lying on A Gui’s head.
What puzzled Zuo Mo the most was that A Gui did not respond at all to the black fiendish energy.
A Gui’s complexion was much better than before, and seemed to show some signs of life. After inspection, Zuo Mo found that a thread of the strange purple light had appeared in A Gui’s body. This purple power was extremely weak, but it was unusually valuable to A Gui’s crippled body.
A Gui’s situation turning for the better made Zuo Mo’s mood better.
However, Zuo Mo was still filled with worry. They hadn’t found anything in more than ten days. They hadn’t encountered any living being, and did not see one stalk of grass. This ancient battlefield was so desolate that it made people feel hopeless. Nothing could make a person feel as terrified and hopeless as this deathly cold and empty vastness. Even if they encountered a danger, or a yao beast, that would be much better than this.
If it continued like this, after just a short while, the people would go crazy.
Had they really come to a death ground that had nothing?
Suddenly, Zuo Mo stopped in his steps. He had a joyous expressi
on in his eyes.
Water … … there was moisture in the air … …
He closed his eyes, spread his right hand, his fingers lightly wiped. [Little Art of Cloud and Rain]!
After ten breathers, a faint white cloud the size of an infant’s face floated on Zuo Mo’s palm.
Now, it wasn’t just Zuo Mo but everyone had that joyful expressions. The moisture in the air was higher than ten days before and higher than the places they travelled through. Water, that meant there was life.
What people were most afraid of was not hardship, but not being able to see hope.
Morale rose greatly. The advancing speed of the troop increased. The black fiendish energy in the air became thicker. Zuo Mo became even more careful. According to Pu Yao, the direction they were heading in was towards the center of the battlefield.
After travelling another five days, everyone saw the first water pond. The shallow water pond was just a puddle, but for everyone, it was a salvation.
But at this time, the troop had to stop because Shu Long was having a breakthrough.
The black fiendish energy was like fertilizer for the [Hardship Guard] mo skill that Shu Long and the others cultivated. Their progression speed was astounding. The other people of Guard Camp progressed quickly, but no one surpassed Shu Long.
The mood of the camp was nervous. If Shu Long could successfully complete his breakthrough, it would be a fortunate matter for them.
The three Golden Armor Guards lined up in a fan shape. The blinding golden scaled armor was now covered in black patterns, and looked extremely terrifying. The black patterns on the Golden Armor Guards was formed by the black fiendish energy that they had absorbed during this time. According to Pu Yao, this was due to the fact that ancient dragon bone had been used to make the Golden Armor Guards.
Pu Yao also said that if they were lucky, the three Golden Armor Guards may even level up.