by Fang Xiang
The Great Day Banded Flame was like a colossal being, and his ling power wasn’t enough to even get a good glance at it.
If the Great Day Banded Flame had not been formed from his Great Day mo physique and was from the same origins, he would have been harmed in the backlash, much less channeled it.
Now Zuo Mo was depressed.
What was more depressing than having a treasure and not being able to use it?
Cultivation, cultivation! He was stuck at cultivation!
Deeply struck by this blow, Zuo Mo ran into the sea of consciousness and found Pu Yao. He asked without any greeting, “Pu, is there any methods that can immediately increase my cultivation?”
Pu Yao looked at Zuo Mo like he was looking at an idiot. “What do you think ling power is?”
Zuo Mo was unsatisfied. “Are there really no methods?”
“I do have a good amount of spells here,” Pu Yao glanced at Zuo Mo, “but with your quality of physique, you probably have to cultivate ten more years to reach jindan. Unless you have worldly treasures. Do you have such things?”
Zuo Mo was instantly sorrowful. Worldly treasures that could increase cultivation, how could he have those?
With his present ling power, it was a delusion to think that he could control the sixth-grade Great Day Banded Flame. It wasn’t that he had not thought of using formations to control the Great Day Banded Flame, but no normal materials could tolerate the sixth-grade Great Day Banded Flame .
Damn it!
Wasn’t he wasting it?
Zuo Mo turned to Wei. Wei also showed an apologetic expression. He also didn’t have any good solutions.
Coming out of the sea of consciousness, Zuo Mo’s mood was terrible. The Great Day Banded Flame was a top fire seed, the totem fragment was a top material, but he could only stare at them. It wasn’t even as good as Golden Crow Fire. That was just fourth-grade, but at least he could control that easily.
He finally realized a great problem. Ling power would always be his greatest weakness and he had to improve in it unless he wanted to give up on dan-making and forging. No matter if it was yao arts or mo skills, they were very powerful, but they could not replace ling power’s uses in other areas.
Fine, he wouldn’t think on it so much. Surviving and leaving the Sealed Extinction battlefield was the biggest priority right now.
Zuo Mo quickly let go of his mood.
He ran into the Ten Finger Prison. He first went to the yao city and received a letter left for him. The writer was a yao named Ming Jue Zi. He had written detailed inquiries on what kind of information Zuo Mo needed on the Battle of Sealed Extinction.
This letter instantly caused Zuo Mo’s low mood to rise greatly. Compared to his losses in forging, the information on the Battle of Sealed Extinction was much more important. He hurriedly wrote a response and replied to every question the other had.
After doing this, Zuo Mo’s depression was swept away. He excitedly ran to the Wasteland Beast Chessboard to find Nan Yue and Cang Ze. However, he did not find the two but found Cang Lin first. This young person was gradually recovering and was very happy when he saw Zuo Mo. Cang Ze was one of the primary hopes of the clan, and was urgently cultivating [Grey Scar Art].
A short while later, Zuo Mo saw a slightly tired Nan Yue. Due to the defeats at the front lines, everyone was furiously cultivating now. Nan Yue had a strong feeling of danger and was furiously teaching her clansmen to cultivate.
Zuo Mo thought of Nan Yue’s financial situation. The front lines had lost, so the prices of necessities would definitely have skyrocketed. Nan Yue’s days were probably very difficult. He gave a portion of the money he had to Nan Yue.
Having experienced war, Zuo Mo told her to spend more time on cultivation. In troubled times, strength was the basis of survival.
Nan Yue pressed her lips together tightly. She did not refuse and seriously nodded.
Zuo Mo explained in detail what to pay attention to during wartime. These were all his experiences. Nan Yue was not the only one to listen carefully. Cang Lin who was at the side hurriedly cast a recording yao art to record Zuo Mo’s words.
Zuo Mo’s stream of words caused Cang Lin to think. Had Daren experienced war before?
Was Daren at the front lines?
His heart was filled with questions.
Chapter 400: Draft Notice
Zuo Mo was downcast at the thought that his ling power was a constraint, but he was not demotivated by this. Instead it had roused his fighting spirit. Didn’t have any other ways? What he first thought of was the five element glass bead inside his body.
This five element glass bead was of extraordinary origins and greatly increased his affinity towards the five elements. When he had been at Wu Kong Mountain, he had benefited greatly from this.
At present, the five element glass bead was not one of Zuo Mo’s top talismans, but it was closely connected to Zuo Mo’s origins and had a special importance.
Zuo Mo had always been preoccupied and was unable to study it. At this time, Zuo Mo thought of it.
The five element glass bead had merged into Zuo Mo’s blood and flesh so he could only inspect it with his consciousness. However, when his consciousness inspected the five element glass bead, it was blocked by a gentle power.
Zuo Mo stilled. He recalled that Pu Yao had said to him that something was sealed inside the five element glass bead. A cautious expression came onto his face. This ling power was not strong, but it was very pure. The sealer should be a xiuzhe above jindan.
Surprised by his finding, Zuo Mo didn’t think much about it. In these two short years, he had encountered many battles and had almost died a few times. His life philosophies had also changed. Like his stance regarding his changed appearance and his origins, he still cared greatly and would endeavor to discover the truth, but he would not be as impulsive as he had been in the past.
Facing the threat of war, living in an unpredictable environment where he could perish at a moment’s notice, surviving was more important than anything else. Having personally experienced the cruelties of war, he knew just how small and insignificant a person’s life was. They were like a sapling in the middle of the storm. It took all of his strength to struggle and search for that thread of life.
After being baptised in battle, his heart was much stronger, and his self-control was stronger as well.
Pu Yao had also said clearly told him that he could not break the seal on the five element glass bead with his low cultivation. So Zuo Mo was not astonished about his failure.
His consciousness wrapped around the five element glass bead. Zuo Mo tried to find the smallest weakness in the seal, but this thin layer of ling power showed him that difference between cultivation stages was not so easy to overcome.
He shook his head, withdrew his consciousness from the five element glass bead. His hopes of using the five element glass bead was bankrupt.
Then what methods were there?
While Zuo Mo’s mind dwelled on the topic, a light flashed through his mind. He thought of another method, yao arts.
Could he use yao arts to forge? Yao arts could also control fire. Of all yao arts, five element yao arts were something every yao knew a little of because they were powerful and easy to learn. Zuo Mo’s fire yao art skill was not his best, but it wasn’t bad.
However, the fire of fire yao arts and the fire of forging had fundamental differences. Formations needed a medium in order to be engraved onto talismans, and flames could act as the medium. Fire yao arts might have powerful fires, but they could not be used in this manner.
Why so?
Zuo Mo sank into thought.
If things were different, Zuo Mo would not waste time on such a ridiculous problem, but there was no way around it. Even if it was ridiculous, he still had to do it.
As he thought, Zuo Mo’s right hand unconsciously cast a fire yao art. The simplest fire yao art of little yao arts, [Fire]. A weak flame wavered on the tip of his finger. Zuo
Mo was extremely familiar with little yao arts. His mind did not need to move, and the wisp of flame twisted and danced around his finger like a snake of fire.
He closely felt every detail of the wisp. The snake of fire was very nimble and spirited.
Deep in thought, Zuo Mo completely did not realize the flow of time.
Draft notice!
Heavy Earth Corps had sent a draft notice!
Nan Yue looked at the draft notice in her hand. Her heart suddenly sank. The draft notice was compulsory. The tense wording requested the draftee to report to Heavy Earth Corps before a deadline. The one being drafted was not Nan Yue. She did show potential, but her strength was not enough that she qualified for a draft.
The draft notice was for Daren!
Nan Yue quickly understood. They could not find Daren’s location, but it was not hard to find her origins. Her mood instantly became dour. She had followed Daren for a while and generally grasped Daren’s temper.
Daren definitely would ignore this draft notice. At that time, conflict would be unavoidable.
Which person was scheming against Daren from the shadows?
She turned and looked at the clansmen that were working hard on their cultivation.
Her gaze was full of worry, but then her determination rose up.
She quickly entered the Wasteland Beast Chessboard. No matter what, she had to let Daren know as soon as possible!
Daren would definitely have a solution!
She was filled with confidence.
———
The black fire wrapped around a Golden Armor Guard. The Golden Armor Guard stood motionlessly like a wooden puppet. Pu Yao’s hands were like two blooming flowers. Yao arts rained down and entered the bodies of the Golden Armor Guards.
“Pity, the materials are a bit lacking,” Wei said with slight pity.
Due to the combination of Pu Yao’s skilled techniques and the the large amounts of black fiendish energy the Golden Armored Guards absorbed from this vicious and fiendish ground, they had the conditions to level up. The only thing Wei felt pity about was that these Golden Armor Guards had all been xiuzhe that cultivated the sword before death. The door-sized swords they held were frightening to see, but if it was a mo with a strong body, the power would have been several levels higher.
“Let’s just work with what we have,” Pu Yao said lazily. “Compared to the past, these days are already much better.”
“En.” Wei nodded and agreed with Pu Yao’s words.
This vicious ground to Zuo Mo and the others was undoubtedly a poor one. However, for Pu Yao and Wei, it was much better than Wu Kong Mountain. At the very least, they no longer needed to constantly worry about that withered old man suddenly coming with his sword to exterminate yaomo.
“Your student seems to have encountered trouble,” Wei reminded Pu Yao.
“I can’t help him,” Pu Yao said unconcernedly. His hands did not stop. “Do you understand that the methods of xiuzhe forging?”
Wei shook his head. “Mo cultivate their bodies and cannot forging.”
“It’s not that you cannot understand, but there is no need to understand.” Pu Yao was clearly opposed to the xiuzhe methods. “Yao cultivate the spirit, mo their bodies, why do they need to forge? If he wants to work on forging, he can only rely on himself.”
Wei was silent for a moment before he suddenly said, “Why not let him cultivate yao arts and mo skills at the same time?”
“If you don’t want all of us to end up dead, it’s best if you do not have such a dangerous idea,” Pu Yao said warningly, “If he dies, you and I cannot escape either. Hmph, it already makes me feel unsafe that he cultivated a mo physique. Who made it so that your mo physique cultivation is so dangerous. I don’t want to die so soon.”
“Mo physique cultivation is not as dangerous as you think … …”
Pu Yao impatiently interrupted Wei. “If there are safer ways, then why risk it? Do you have a problem with your head? If you want to find a successor, other than him, you can pick anyone. Guard Camp has so many people, just pick one. Shu Long isn’t bad, how about it? Have you considered it?”
Wei shook his head. “His talent is not enough.”
“Wake up!” Pu Yao was full of disdain. “Look at our state, you are still holding on to those traditions. It’s already good if you can find a successor, yet you’re still so picky!”
Pu Yao ranted on disdainfully, but his hand movements did not slow at all. When the last few lights entered the bodies of the Golden Armor Guards, he finally showed slight satisfaction.
The Golden Armor Guards were completely transformed. The scaled golden armor that had covered their bodies had disappeared, a complete suit of heavy black armor replaced it. The heavy armor was fitted so well it seemed like one object. They were like metal monsters. The terrifying presence that emanated from their bodies made people fearful.
Black spikes protruded from their shoulders, elbows, knees and other important places. The tip of each black spike was a strange blood-like red. At the crown of their helmets was a rhombus shaped golden mark that resembled the blood rhombus on Pu Yao’s forehead.
Pu Yao rubbed his chin and scanned the new Golden Armor Guards. He said to himself, “These trashy swords are no longer suitable. Oh, that broken sword in Wei Sheng’s hands isn’t bad, I wonder where he got it … …”
A moment later, he shook his head, and muttered, “Never mind. First we will work on this, let’s think about weapons in the future.”
Suddenly, Pu Yao raised his head and his eyes flashed.
At the same time, Wei also raised his head.
———
Lei Peng and Nian Lu’s faces were pale white.
After Daren had announced the fiend soul beast hunting mission, everyone was very enthusiastic. Other than engraving new formations, a piece of gossip was secretly passed on—the totem fragments were materials that had ling kernels! Supposedly Daren had already tasked the Golden Crow Camp with studying the forging talismans out of the totem fragments.
Those with foresight instantly detected the opportunity. Their past experiences told them if Daren gave something to Golden Crow Camp, it probably was in preparation to give to everyone.
No matter if it was the new formations, or the new talismans that hadn’t been forged yet, they all needed to be traded for by points. If they didn’t take this opportunity to earn points, were they dumb?
Lei Peng and Nian Lu were stronger than the average Vermillion Bird Camp members but they were still weaker than Ma Fan and the others. The two of them decided to pair up to hunt fiend soul beasts.
They worked very well together and were efficient producing great results. The past combat experiences had not been wasted. The strength of Vermillion Bird Camp had clearly increased. Many people did not even need to use the sword formation to comprehend sword essence. Of course, part of this was Wei Sheng’s work.
Lei Peng and Nian Lu’s improvement was especially evident. The fiend soul beasts they were afraid of in the past gradually became less dangerous for them.
Without detecting it, they had travelled a long way from the campsite.
Everything had been proceeding smoothly. Their luck was unusually good. They had encountered many more fiend soul beasts than usual. The outstanding result caused the two to start fantasizing about their wonderful future lives, with engraved new formations and using their new talismans.
Until they encountered this terrifying fiend soul beast!
Chapter 401: Big Guy
This fiend soul beast was more than three times the size of an average fiend soul beast. Its body shimmered with a metallic sheen. It stared coldly at Lei Peng and Nian Lu.
Its icy stare didn’t contain any hint of warmth.
Lei Peng and Nian Lu felt as though they were two little insects about to be stomped under the steps of a colossal giant. The other only needed to gently raise its foot and could crush them.
This fiend soul beast was unusua
lly ugly. Its flat head was like that of a toad. The wide maw was tightly clenched and its jaw askew. The hunched posture was poised to strike. Every tense muscle fiber was visible to the eye. Its abnormally thick limbs made it appear asymmetric, but when these unbalanced features were combined together, it left them terror-stricken from the sense of danger.
The duo’s scalps felt numb but they did not dare to move rashly. The two of them were experienced. They knew if that they ran right now, there would be no chance of survival.
The fiend soul beast was motionless as it gazed down at the duo with indifference.
“What do we do?” Lei Peng maintained his posture as he asked in a low voice.
“Drag it out.” Nian Lu was also motionless. His eyes twirled about. “This thing is making such a spectacle. The others will definitely detect the disturbance. We will drag the fight out until they come to reinforce us.”
At the same time, the fiend soul beast suddenly opened its mouth.
The terrifyingly wide mouth opened like a gaping maw.
“Move!”
Lei Peng and Nian Lu’s bodies moved at the same time. The two of them darted away, one to the right and one to the left, each gathered all the ling power they could muster. The sword energy and sabre energy left their hands at the same time and howled as they flew towards the fiendish soul beast.
The fiendish soul beast seemed to not see it. Its eyes widened, and it inhaled through its enormous mouth.
Hiss!
The fiendish mist in the surroundings gathered furiously towards its gaping mouth. At a rate visible to the naked eye, a red black ball of light formed in its open mouth. It actually condensed the fiendish mist it had gathered in into a ball of light the size of a fist!
Ding ding!
Two clear sounds of impact rang out. Lei Peng and Nina Lu’s complexions changed. Their sword and sabre energies had struck the body of the fiend soul beast and only caused two sparks to fly.