by Fang Xiang
“White Scale Attendants! The ancient dragon bone is really good,” Pu Yao had a surprised expression. Then he became excited. Tilting his head and thinking, he snickered, and then grabbed at empty air.
Three jade boxes appeared on Pu Yao’s hands, the mini boxes that Zuo Mo loved so much.
Squeezing the jade boxes, Pu Yao gently blew and three wisps of Golden Crow Fire flew at the three people.
The Golden Crow Fire landed on the white scales and with a hiss and entered their bodies. Almost at the same time, mist rose around their body. The black pond water beside them started to bubble as though it was boiling.
Seeing that the black pond was covered in mist Pu Yao became even more excited. He was like a mischievous child who had found a fun toy.
He grabbed again at empty air.
Ding ding ding!
If Zuo Mo saw this, he would have been so angry he could spit blood. Pu Yao’s hands were full of Crimson Fire Rock, including three pieces of fourth-grade Crimson Fire Rock. Zuo Mo only had six pieces of fourth-grade Crimson Fire Rock. Pu Yao took half of his stock.
Pu Yao’s left hand pointed in the air. A black-red beguiling flame appeared in front of him.
He threw the Crimson Fire rock on his hands into the flame. He continued to grab at the air, materials appearing in his hands. He didn’t even look before throwing them into the fire.
After one hour, the flame slowly faded, and three entirely red broadsword appeared in front of him.
The broadsword was about half the height of a person, the width of the blade making them appear like a small door. The body was entirely red like burning metal, giving off a scorching heat.
At this time, the mist over the heads of the three people in the black pond dissipated, revealing their figures. The scales of the three were dyed with a layer of gold, making them look as though they were wearing golden armor. The black spike on their foreheads had disappeared.
Before, the three had looked dark and scary. Now, the three didn’t have any hint of dark energies, as though they were gods coming to the mortal world. A yang and strong presence was easily detectable.
“Ancient dragon bone, Golden Crow Fire, Nether Pool, these yao guards that were forged really make me anticipate!”
Pu Yao smiled proudly, “White Scaled Attendants, no no no, have to change the name, Golden Armor Guards! This name isn’t bad. Ha ha, who can tell they are yao guards?”
Rubbing his chin as he studied for a while, Pu Yao said to himself, “Oh, no, they are too ugly, and need to be changed.”
He blew out a ball of flame that grew and enveloped one of them. Instantly, the crackle of flesh burning sounded. A while later, the flame moved away. The person inside the flame had changed in appearance. Right now, his body was covered in a set of golden armor. Even his face was covered all over, the thick armor at the front only revealing the eyes. The shining golden scales had turned into a golden fish-scale armor. Other than being very dignified, it was more profound, and mysterious.
Pu Yao finally had a satisfied expression. Soon after, all three were modified.
Three bright red broadswords turned to three red lights and flew towards the three people.
The three simultaneously reached out and grabbed the flying swords. The three golden armor guards stood silently, a strong and dignified presence slowly spreading.
Pu Yao looked in sympathy at the other Black Wind Bandits that were still soaking in the black water pond, “You guys who can’t be seen in public, you just have to stay here for manual labor.”
———
When Zuo Mo woke up from his meditation there was joy in his heart. The injuries on his body were generally healed. It would be like nothing had happened once he rested for a while. What he was even happier about was the ling power that had stopped growing inside his body for a long time had actually grown slightly.
The increase was not a lot, but for Zuo Mo who had stopped growing for a long time, this was an unexpected happy surprise.
Just as Zuo Mo was happy, he saw Pu Yao proudly come over with three people dressed in golden armor.
Zuo Mo stilled and warily pointed at the three people, “Who are they?”
The three were covered in the golden armor. He was unable to see their features but Zuo Mo could feel the terrifying presence the three gave off all over their bodies.
These three were very strong!
Zuo Mo’s perception was extremely sensitive due to his spirit. The danger that these three gave him even surpassed the feeling of danger the Head of the wandering bandits gave him. Where did these three powerful people come from? Where did they pop out of?
His gaze landed on the broadswords in their hands, and silently swallowed.
Who was so f***ing wasteful?!
Crimson Fire Rock, definitely not less than ten pieces, and definitely had more than one piece of fourth-grade rock. Sky Eye Silver, that was extremely expensive; Zuo Mo himself only had three taels. Any of the broadswords in the three’s hands definitely had one tael of Sky Eye Silver added. And the red flame pearl. It was an extremely good fire element material, worth a thousand jing! There were at least three in each broadsword.
Great expenditure! Definitely great expenditure!
Zuo Mo drooled. Just the three broadswords were worth a lot! If it wasn’t the dangerous feeling coming from the three people pressuring him, his head might have heated up and he would have gone to rob them.
But, the materials, they looked very familiar … …
Just as he was suspicious, he heard Pu Yao say smugly, “They are Golden Armor Guards! Just finished making them, do you want to try?”
“Golden Armor Guards?” Zuo Mo stilled, “Didn’t you say you were creating little yao guards?”
“Little yao guards are too low quality,” Pu Yao said with scorn and continued, “and their appearance is too lacking. Look at these Golden Armor Guards. No hint of yin energy, perfect for dominating a situation. They are also very strong and good at fighting, the best fighters!”
“Really?” Zuo Mo’s face was disbelieving.
“You ignorant country bumpkin naturally has never seen anything this high quality!” Pu Yao’s face was full of disdain, and he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, one of the Golden Armor Guards behind him disappeared.
“Ha!” A deep bellow sounded.
Zuo Mo felt the space in front of his eyes light up, a blinding light forcing him to squint his eyes.
A domineering and forceful red sword light rose. This stroke seemed to rip apart space. A scorching, cruel, and domineering presence filled the air.
Zuo Mo’s heart was shocked, the hairs on his body straight. The feeling of danger was like a black cloud filled with lead, pressing down uncomfortably on his chest.
The sword light disappeared without warning!
At some unknown time, the golden armor guard returned to his original position.
Only now did Zuo Mo hear a soft “hiss.” Different than the blinding sword light, the sound of the sword was almost non-existent.
Zuo Mo was stunned!
* * *
Translator Ramblings: Zuo Mo is so amazed by how powerful these Golden Armor Guards are that he hasn’t realized what Pu Yao has done yet. Also, more importantly, his ling power cultivation has grown for those that were waiting. Please don’t forget Zuo Mo’s overall strength has been growing this whole entire time. Zuo Mo’s outstanding in other areas, and not bad in this area. Think about Li Ying Feng, Gongsun Cha and Chun Yu Cheng’s cultivation. They are about the same age and they are only outstanding in one or two areas.
In Pu’s eyes, people below ningmai are something to be ashamed about. That’s not hard to believe since he is was still remains a Sky Yao (soul). He was once pretty much at the top of the pyramid as far as this world goes. Remember, he was the guy who killed a few jindan in a multi-opponent battle while using Zuo Mo’s body. Xin Yan is exceptionally strong for a jindan. So you could say Pu Yao was forced t
o go from being a marbled lungfish to the bacteria which causes leprosy (think the size of their genomes.)
Power seem to be one of those quantitative factors that people in stories focus on. I thought that this story actually did a good job hitting its readers over the head with the paper crane girl and her carelessness and indifference concerning the “might is right” rule. It showed that this story still held to the same rules of society that most Chinese fantasies have, and it shouldn’t be forgotten among Zuo Mo’s desire to make a living and all the daily happenings that make it seem like a peaceful world. In fact, Zuo Mo is hit over the head many times.
Chapter 195: Two Transactions
The strength of the Golden Armor Guards made a deep impression on Zuo Mo.
“But what are they really?” Zuo Mo asked as he pointed at the three muscle-heads. The three Golden Armor Guards were very brawny. Standing with their swords, they were like three little mountains whose sole purpose was to pressure others.
“Puppets,” Pu Yao said softly.
“Oh,” Zuo Mo responded. A strong impulse formed to study these three puppets. There were many ways to create puppets. The most famous would probably be corpse-forging. Things like thousand year corpse were the best corpse-forging materials. Seal soldiers were also one kind of puppet, but they were completely different than corpse-forging.
But when he thought about that astonishing sword strike, he decided to stop thinking about this dangerous idea.
His eyes stared at the red broadswords in the hand of the three Golden Armor Guards. A beat later, Zuo Mo’s heart wrenching wail came out of the cave.
“Old Ghost! Ge will kill you! Sob sob sob! My Crimson Fire Rock! My Sky Eye Silver … …”
———
In the sky above the Desolate Wood Reef.
“How much longer do we have to wait?” Chang Heng said impatiently.
“He he, he would come out soon,” Bo Feng was very calm. At the side, Gui Feng’s eyes occasionally swept across the Desolate Wood Reef. Different than what they had thought: it wasn’t just Zuo Mo on the Desolate Wood Reef; there were also Wu Kong Sword Sect disciples. However, these disciples were all production xiuzhe.
At the beginning, these disciples would occasionally look up at them. As time went on, they attended to their own business.
The Desolate Wood Reef looked calm but many important places were covered with white clouds so nothing could be seen. These balls of cloud proved that the big formation of the Desolate Wood Reef had not been critically damaged.
Gui Feng felt that Zuo Mo was very mysterious. He was somewhat puzzled why Wu Kong Sword Sect would send such an important disciple to such an isolated place? Was it because they had trust in Zuo Mo?
He didn’t feel that way. While the importance of the Desolate Wood Reef was undoubted, no matter how great their trust was, the elders shouldn’t have been frugal in sending along a few more strong disciples with him.
Such an accomplished disciple, he didn’t believe any sect was willing to lose him.
But Zuo Mo was guarding Desolate Wood Reef alone. This made Gui Feng feel it was more of an exile.
The Black Wind Bandits had all been killed. If this news spread, it would definitely shake all of Sky Moon Jie. Zuo Mo’s own reputation and the reputation of Wu Kong Sword Sect would be pushed to another height.
Gui Feng glanced at Bo Feng. There was no impatience on Bo Feng’s face. They had been guarding here for five days. To show that they didn’t have any enmity he hadn’t brought any of the thirty six zhuji.
Gui Feng saw Zuo Mo’s figure appear out of the corner of his eye, his mind becoming alert.
Hm!
His gaze swept across the three enormous figures behind Zuo Mo, Gui Feng’s pupils suddenly shrunk into pinpoints!
The golden scale armor covered their entire body, the dense scales flashed with a pure golden sheen. Their faces were covered by gold masks, which only revealed a pair of eyes.
The three guards dressed in golden armor simultaneously looked at the three people in the sky.
When Gui Feng’s eyes met the three people’s eyes, his heart shook.
The three pairs of eyes were strange but all similar in that they were indifferent, cold, and emotionless. Gui Feng even felt that they were dead! He could feel that he was just an ant in their eyes, unable to cause even a ripple.
Suddenly, Gui Feng felt he was burning in a fire, an almost tangible pressure forming, and pushing down like a little mountain.
Gui Feng snorted coldly, his body moving slightly and circulated his ling power.
The invisible pressure around him instantly disappeared.
Successfully getting rid of the other’s pressure, Gui Feng did not feel joy at all. Quite the opposite, his complexion was very bad. The two seemed to be even, but Gui Feng knew he was at a disadvantage.
Such a powerful expert!
Was this Wu Kong Sword Sect’s hidden strength? He narrowed his eyes.
Bo Feng and Chang Heng’s expressions became serious. Their thoughts were the same as Gui Feng. These three xiuzhe covered in golden armor and cultivations above ningmai, and their strength was very strong! Even though they could not see the features, but the thick killing intent covering the three was the killing intent that would only form after countless battles.
No wonder the Black Wind Bandits were all killed. So the Desolate Wood Reef was also hiding three experts. The three people rejoiced that they hadn’t charged in. Facing any of these golden armor xiuzhe, even Bo Feng didn’t have a certain grasp on victory.
Ningmai had three stratums. Gui Feng and Chang Heng were only at the first stratum, but the three golden armor xiuzhe were all above second stratum.
The difference between ningmai and zhuji was large, but the difference between ningmai were also similarly large. The cultivation of ningmai second stratum was three times that of a first stratum ningmai!
Their cultivation was not as good as the other; their battle experience not as good as the other; their talismans … …
They looked at the burning red broadswords. Those were clearly not normal and definitely had reached the fourth-grade. The two sides were even. What they had the greatest confidence in was spells. Gui Feng was very confident in the [Nine Ghosts Nail Curse] that he was practicing.
———
In Zuo Mo’s sea of consciousness, Pu Yao muttered, “Pity about the baldy. He’s good material for making Golden Armor Guard.”
Zuo Mo did not pay attention, his eyes looking at the sky.
This time, with the three Golden Armor Guards around him, even though his wounds had not completely healed, he still had more bravery.
“Thank you for waiting for so long, is there something I can help with?” Zuo Mo did not like to chit-chat, and said forwardly.
Bo Feng did not twist, and said, “This one has two matters to ask.”
“Oh,” Zuo Mo was slightly surprised. He hadn’t thought the other really had a matter, and two of them at that.
“Brother Zuo killing the Black Wind Bandits is really a happy matter,” Bo Feng said, “I want to buy some news from Brother Zuo.”
Black Wind Bandits? Zuo Mo stilled and then reacted. So his attackers had been the Black Wind Bandits, no wonder they were so strong! His minds whirling, he quickly responded, “What news?”
Bo Feng started at Zuo Mo and said seriously, “I want to buy the position of a secret realm from Brother Zuo.”
Zuo Mo’s heart jumped. Secret realm!
He truly was shocked by the words “secret realm.” Zuo Mo had missed the secret realm exploration after the Sword Test Conference because he had been thrown into the sword essence formation. It had been a regret of his. He hadn’t thought that he would suddenly hear information about a secret realm.
Bo Feng suddenly running over to ask him the location of the secret realm, the clever Zuo Mo instantly realized where the information about the secret realm would come from.
The Black Wind Bandit
s!
Definitely the Black Wind Bandits!
Pu Yao reacted even more quickly than he did, and had more tricks. In the blink of an eye, he had gotten the answers he wanted from the manual laborers that were still soaking in the black pond.
Hearing Pu Yao speak of it, Zuo Mo understood the general shape of the matter, and instantly was disappointed.
The first people to find the secret realm were the three of the red-robed xiuzhe. For some reason, the news had been leaked, and they were targeted by the Black Wind Bandits. However, the three were extremely slippery, and tricked the Black Wind Bandits, almost clearing out the entire secret realm before fleeing.
Zuo Mo finally understood why the three people had so many good items on their body. So it had been a secret realm!
He had admiration and disappointment. However, a secret realm that others had gone through did not hold any attractions to him.
However, he wouldn’t give the information so easily to Bo Feng. The cleared out secret realm might not have anything good, but the ling energy of the secret realm was dense and perfect for making a residence. It was not very useful for him, but to the sect, it was very good.
Bo Feng evidently wanted this secret realm.
“Ha ha,” Zuo Mo smiled, but his wooden expression looked very strange,“How does Brother Bo want to buy it?”
Speaking about business he became alert. In any case he had the initiative. He could sell or not sell. The red-robed man and his fellows had run to Little Mountain Jie, and definitely wouldn’t be coming back soon. The only people who knew the location of the secret realm were the Black Wind Bandits, but all of the Black Wind Bandits were soaking in the black pond.
Even if he didn’t sell its location to Bo Feng and sent the news back to the sect, he would get many rewards.
But in the deepest part of his heart, Zuo Mo didn’t plan on telling the information to the sect. If it was in the past, he definitely wouldn’t have hesitated in reporting the information to the sect. But the only person he missed in the sect right now was Master. The present Wu Kong Sword Sect was not the Wu Kong Sword Sect of the past that had felt like a home.