by Fang Xiang
Fei Yun saw the potential for business and quickly closed his mouth to avoid distracting Zuo Mo.
The ling power continued to pour into the ring, the dark yellow copper ring started to glow. Zuo Mo was shocked. No wonder it was a talisman. The majority of the ling power in his body had been used and it had barely managed to fill one third of the ring.
His thoughts focused, he brought together his fingers and pointed at the ground.
Hua!
A gold colored sword strike came out and hit the stone ground. Crack! Fragments of stone sprayed and an extremely thin and deep hole was left in the stone.
The sword strike was so penetrating!
Xiuzhe under the stage of zhuji would have difficulty blocking it. The power behind this talisman was enough. The only flaw was that it could only store three sword strikes. But thinking about it, if it didn’t have this flaw, would the price for the talisman be so low?
Fei Yun came over. “How does shixiong feel?”
Zuo Mo was satisfied inside but nothing showed on his face, “I’ll buy it.”
Fei Yun cheered, “Shixiong has good eyes!”
Zuo Mo handed over a list filled with materials. “Do you have these?”
Fei Yun took the list and scanned it. He said, shocked, “Shixiong wants to make a [Ling Fragmenting Hoe]? Why waste the effort? I have a pretty good quality product. If shixiong wants it, I’ll give Shixiong a reasonable price.”
“I want to make one. It’s a kind of comprehension,” Zuo Mo replied.
Fei Yun paused and then said solemnly, “Shixiong’s words are reasonable. This one is in awe. I have all of these materials. Shixiong, just wait for a moment.”
Coming out of the Everything Pavilion, Zuo Mo had spent most of his jingshi. Buying the [Golden Sword Ring] wasn’t an impulse. When he had achieved the eighth level of lianqi last night, he decided to buy a defensive talisman. To progress from liangqi level three to level eight in two years, with such speed, it would astound people.
Based on what he believed, he had good talent but not to such a terrifying degree. The biggest credit should be that section of ling vein!
His cultivation of lianqi level eight couldn’t be concealed from others. If it was noticed by the eyes of those with knowledge, all kinds of conclusions would form. The existence of the ling vein could not become public.
The common saying was right. It is easy to avoid robbery in the daylight, but hard to defend against arrows from the dark shadows. He was not afraid of thieves stealing, but was afraid of a thief plotting. If the news that he achieved level eight of lianqi spread, there would be many that would be thinking about him.
He resolved to decrease the time he spent out in the following days. He would stay home studying the jade scroll. He had just started on [Art of Aged Gold]. Not to mention the third level, he was still very far from reaching the second level. He also knew that paper couldn’t enclose a flame for long. He couldn’t hide the fact that he achieved level eight lianqi for long.
This [Golden Sword Ring] was to prevent accidents from occurring.
He had never seen an incident of killing and robbery for treasures but he had heard of many incidents. Caution wasn’t a bad thing.
Forging the [Ling Exciting Hoe] was one of his ideas from long ago. When he had first discovered that there was a thing called forging, he was filled with interest for this strange art. He had never had the chance to learn until Xu Yi Shixiong taught them how to make [Ling Fragmenting Hoe] and [Thousand Threads and Needles Pouch], now he could try to start forging.
He brought the materials needed but he didn’t start forging immediately. He just broke into the eight level and his status wasn’t stable. Another way of saying it was that he wasn’t familiar with the ling power he had now. He focused the majority of his time on practicing [Art of Aged Gold]. Other than going to the medicine fields once a day, he basically stayed home the entire time. When he made rain for others, he didn’t use all his effort. Just like before, he would show an exhausted appearance after each time.
———
After a few days, no one had managed to notice that he reached the eighth level of lianqi.
Zuo Mo’s heart finally settled down. Sometimes he would think, were his fears groundless? But out of prudence, he would spend some time each day using the [Golden Sword Ring], and would always make sure that the ling energy in the ring was full.
Thankfully, everything was calm and no accidents happened.
He squatted in the ling fields of the yard, his right hand on a stalk of ling grain, his eyes closed. The faint gold of [Aged Gold Energy] quietly slipped inside. He could feel the [Aged Gold Energy] effortlessly travelling through the body of the ling grain.
Suddenly, a series of fluctuations came from the [Aged Gold Energy]. Zuo Mo’s mind roused. He found his goal!
It was a crowd of aphids.
The calm [Aged Gold Energy] was like a shark that smelled blood, furiously rushing at the target. Through the information that the [Aged Gold Energy] passed along, Zuo Mo could clearly feel the tyrannical state of the aphids and the intense rejection it had towards the [Aged Gold Energy].
His consciousness meeting another consciousness. Zuo Mo, who had never been attacked, lost control of the [Aged Gold Energy].
Forcing himself to calm down, he didn’t retreat from the furious and tyrannical consciousness of the aphids. A cold light flashed through his eyes. He pressed the [Aged Gold Energy] forward. Already raring to go, the [Aged Gold Energy] leapt towards the aphids!
[Aged Gold Energy] was like numerous grains of tiny sand. They surrounded the aphids and continuously cut tiny wounds on the aphids.
These half-clear aphids might be hard to distinguish with the naked eye, their consciousness was extremely small but they could merge the consciousness of numerous aphids together to form a mind thousands of times larger than an individual mind. Their spirits were filled with brutality, destruction and ruin!
Other than that, they kept on secreting a colloidal solution to heal their wounded body.
This was a great and fierce battle!
Zuo Mo hadn’t thought a trial run of [Aged Gold Energy] would turn out like this!
He completely forgot this was a trial run. His mind was immersed in this battle, immersed in that lump of [Aged Gold Energy]. He put all his effort to sustain the [Aged Gold Energy] and attacked the aphids again and again.
No one else would be as reckless as him, putting their consciousness on the [Aged Gold Energy]. It was just too dangerous.
He had never been in battle, and his consciousness was extremely fragile. Just one slip, and it was easy for his consciousness to be scattered by an even stronger consciousness. Any other person might become insane from doing so. But the brutal consciousness from the merging of the aphids didn’t overcome Zuo Mo’s consciousness but aroused the viciousness in Zuo Mo’s bones. He was like a provoked lion, crazily leaping at the enemy!
In the natural world, the weaker were afraid of the stronger.
When Zuo Mo’s consciousness became even more crazy and fierce, the aphids with their low intelligence instinctively felt fear.
The battle which had been deadlocked quickly leaned towards Zuo Mo.
The [Aged Gold Energy] continued to tear. One by one, the aphids were torn to shreds. Everywhere it passed, it would only leave behind a heap of the powder of the aphids. It was actually very strange. The [Aged Gold Energy] that was extremely damaging to the aphids were gentle and harmless to the ling grains.
When the very last aphid was killed, Zuo Mo finally came out of the desperate killing state. It was like he had been taken out of the water. His entire body was soaked in sweat. He panted heavily, his eyes like an wild animal, glaring viciously.
After a while, the viciousness in his eyes finally left. He couldn’t carry on and sat down on the ground.
At this time, he felt the fear come on.
“No wonder there aren’t many ling plant farmers. If they
aren’t careful, they would die easily!” As he panted, Zuo Mo patted his chest. Before, he had assumed that farming was a safe profession. But he didn’t think it would be so dangerous!
He didn’t have any energy left so he sat in the ling fields before he struggled up and moved to the seclusion room.
He needed to replenish ling power. All the ling power in his body had been completely wrung out, without a drop remaining.
He didn’t know if it was that he was exhausted but he very quickly entered a meditative state.
Chapter 7: Ye’ll[1] Wait For You
[tl: [1] = 爷(ye): means grandfather. At the same time, it can be a way of referring to oneself in third person, usually in an egotistical manner. ]
Waking up from his meditation, Zuo Mo’s mind and body were both refreshed, his body was light and felt extremely comfortable.
Coming out of the seclusion room, he picked up the sound tablet and jumped onto the roof.
Stretching out his fingers, he willed his mind and the light gold of [Aged Gold Energy] appeared effortlessly. Zuo Mo was gleeful. He didn’t go through all that trouble for nothing. His control of [Aged Gold Energy] had dramatically increased.
The [Aged Gold Energy] around his finger suddenly twisted quickly and stopped. The specks of tiny golden sand shone like stars, and was captivating against the dark sky.
An idea suddenly crossed his mind. Was [Aged Gold Energy] actually an offensive spell?
That minor yet exceptionally vicious fight had lead him to conceive this idea.
From what he understood about ling plant farmers, they were traditionally a non-fighting profession. He had never heard of any ling plant farmer that also excelled at fighting. Also, he wasn’t the only one in the sect that knew [Aged Gold Energy]. Everyone had different talents. If Zuo Mo could learn the third level of [Little Art of Cloud and Rain], then naturally there were people good at the other arts.
Of the outer sect disciples, there was a shixiong who achieved the second level of [Aged Gold Energy]. It wasn’t just [Aged Gold Energy], others were practiced in the [Art of Flora], the [Art of Earth Energy], and the [Art of Crimson Flame]; it was just that they had not reached a high level.
Was he wrong about [Aged Gold Energy]?
The question circled in his head and wouldn’t disappear.
But very quickly, he didn’t want to think about the question. He picked up the sound tablet, and channeled some ling power and placed it down next to him him.
His head rested on his arms as he looked at the vast sky, and his heart slowly calmed. The night wind blew gently, cold, and was unspeakably pleasant. Hearing the news that continuously streamed out of the sound tablet, Zuo Mo peacefully fell asleep.
The next day, he went to water the medicine fields and made another contract to water fields for a shixiong before going back to his own yard.
Passing by the ling fields, looking at the neat rows of ling grains, he suddenly thought of his suspicion from last night.
Hesitating for a second, he decided to try once.
His hand touched a ling grain, and the [Aged Gold Energy] soundlessly permeating the stalk. Just like yesterday, Zuo Mo’s consciousness was connected to the [Aged Gold Energy].
Very quickly, the [Aged Gold Energy] found a patch of aphids. Zuo Mo instantly became nervous. Due to the brutality of yesterday’s fight , he still felt trepidation.
However, today’s situation was beyond his expectations. The [Aged Gold Energy] didn’t encounter any resistance. All the aphids were ground to dust in less than fifteen minutes. The entire process was completed in one go without any resistance.
Why was it like this?
He was puzzled. He put his hand on another stalk of ling grain. The same situation occurred. Was it that stalk of ling grain yesterday was different? He shook his head. There were no differences between the two stalks today and the one from yesterday.
Where was it different?
He ran to the spot of the stalk of ling grain from yesterday and checked again. There truly weren’t any differences. However, he found that this stalk of ling grain’s growth was much better than yesterday, the leaves were greener. The powdered remains of the aphids had become nourishment. Based on his two years of farming experience, he estimated that the production of this stalk of ling grain would definitely be greater than before.
Zuo Mo was gleeful. The question of whether [Aged Gold Energy] should be considered offensive or not was was dismissed.
What benefit was more realistic than increasing production? Ling grains were jingshi, jingshi were talismans, spells… …
Zuo Mo put all of his effort into the large task of clearing pests from his ling fields. Five mu of ling fields, he wasn’t going to let go of one stalk.
———
Ten entire days. Other than going to the medicine fields and ling fields to make rain, all his time was spent on the ling grains in his yard. He used [Aged Gold Energy] on one stalk after another. When he had exhausted all of his ling power, he ran to the seclusion room to recover and then returned to his task, repeating it over and over. After a while, his mind was almost numb, mechanically using [Aged Gold Energy].
After the last stalk of ling grain was scanned by the [Aged Gold Energy], he looked at the organized ling fields. The growth was amazing, the ling grains were all green and plump. A strong feeling of accomplishment rose in his heart.
He wasn’t the only one who knew [Aged Gold Energy] but no one would be as extreme as him and inspect the ling grains one stalk by one. The amount of work required was daunting! They would only use [Aged Gold Energy] whenever they found a sickness in the ling grains.
If it wasn’t for the ling vein in the seclusion room, Zuo Mo wouldn’t dare to do it.
Ten days of continuous toiling. Whether in body or mind, Zuo Mo was extremely exhausted.
He only wanted to do one thing now, and that was to go back to his room and get a good sleep.
Just as he prepared to start walking inside, a pink Little Thousand Crane flew at him straight from far away, stopping right in front of him.
“Whoa!” Zuo Mo felt that it seemed familiar. After thinking for a long time, he finally remembered that the Wishing Little Thousand crane he had picked up ten days ago when he was cleaning the yard was also pink.
That wasn’t right. A Wishing Little Thousand Crane couldn’t localize. For a Little Thousand crane to find its target, it needed an imprint to guide it. Previously, the Little Thousand Crane had its owner’s imprint so if ling powerwas put in, it would fly to its owner, but he hadn’t left any imprint on it!
Any kind of imprint would contain ling power. To avoid the other finding him, when Zuo Mo wrote the words, he didn’t dare to use any ling power at all.
The first time it flew to him was due to luck, but if it can find him a second time, that couldn’t be explained by luck.
Such a strange event!
Examining the fine Wishing Little Thousand crane floating in front of him, he hesitated. But Zuo Mo still reached out and took it.
Holding the small crane, he went into the seclusion room.
Sitting on the mat, he started to unfold this Little Thousand Crane.
Spreading out the pink paper, there were only two characters, still the same graceful writing of before.
When the two words entered his vision, an unforeseen event occurred!
A kind of icy cold energy surrounded Zuo Mo, the sense of extreme danger made the hair on his entire body straighten! It was like a sharp flying sword was aimed right at his throat. The chill from the blade easily pierced into the skin and quickly spread through his body.
Damn it, he couldn’t move!
On the zombie face was a pair of terrified eyes. Zuo Mo’s entire body was frozen by this cold presence, he couldn’t even move a finger!
The other party’s retribution? A punishment? A joke?
He didn’t have time to think about all that. He was like a trapped beast, the only instinct left was t
o fight! He fought with his life, trying to take back control of his body. He channeled the ling power inside. No effect. His body wouldn’t move. He froze in his spot.
The icy energy continued to increase. It was like a ruthless beast, mercilessly nearing Zuo Mo, opening its gaping maw. It seemed to be certain that Zuo Mo didn’t have the ability to resist.
Zuo Mo was like a strange candle wax figure. That expressionless face was so still it was funny.
Only the eyes, a pair of eyes filled with terror, full of helplessness, full of rage; that conflicted with his thin and weak body and still face!
His efforts were to no avail. That icy energy that terrified him pushed him to desperate straits and didn’t leave any room to retreat.
The unwillingness and wrath inside his heart suddenly lit up.
Go to hell!
Furiously casting [Aged Gold Energy], all of his ling power, along with all of his consciousness slammed at the icy presence!
This was his only solution.
His only experience that could be considered a battle was the first time he used [Aged Gold Energy] on the ling grain. He still remembered the brutal energy at the time and the rush it gave his consciousness. But that consciousness produced from the merging of thousands of aphids was as weak as an infant compared to this icy energy.
Zuo Mo, at this moment, was like a madman that had raised his sickle and charged at a fully armored enemy.
[Aged Gold Energy] was like a ball of light gold mist. Once it appeared, it aroused the attack of the icy energy.
Suddenly, Zuo Mo seemed to see countless flying swords with bright tails screaming as they flew at him! The sword strikes were bitingly cold, crisscrossing like tree branches in a forest that he couldn’t avoid!
His clear pupils transformed into a roaring sea of flames. The edges of his eyes had widened to the limits and cracked, blood running down his face. On that stiff expressionless face, the blood drew two bright streaks.
He didn’t feel it.
The ling power under his crazy revolutions started to spin out of control. He didn’t stop and continued to speed up his revolutions.
