World of Cultivation - Volume 01 - Money Grubbing Madman

by Fang Xiang

  Her cultivation was at the ninth level of lianqi, one step away from zhuji. Supposedly, the elders of the sect had already started to pay attention to her. Once she succeeded at entering zhuji, she would certainly be taken as an inner sect disciple.

  For such a big slip-up to occur at such a crucial time, she didn’t have the appetite or desire for sleep these days.

  “Shijie, Shijie.” A female disciple panted as she ran over, “Xiao Guo came to Eastern Peak with a male disciple. Xiao Guo seemed to have cried.”

  Instantly, they all exploded.

  “He dares to bully Xiao Guo!”

  “Humph. I want to see who dares to do so. Sisters, we can’t let him off!”

  “Right!”

  “Definitely!”

  ……

  Li Ying Feng was slightly angry. Xiao Guo deeply received their care and affection. Usually, everyone treated her as a little sister. Hearing a man had made Xiao Guo cry, she unhesitatingly started first for Xiao Guo’s residence in a bold and domineering manner.

  Seeing the situation, the others quickly followed.

  ———

  While Zuo Mo was searching for a way to solve the matter of the weeds with their tenacious vitality, Li Ying Feng marched over, leading a crowd of female disciples.

  When Li Ying Feng, who had only half-believed it, saw the tear marks on Xiao Guo’s face, her anger rose up inside.

  In a quick dash she rushed in front of Zuo Mo.

  “Who are you?” Li Ying Feng asked frigidly.

  And then she saw the other expressionlessly answer, “Zuo Mo.”

  The cold expression on Li Ying Feng’s face became even heavier. Among the outer sect disciples, she was the Eldest Shijie. In front of her, everyone else was shidi and shimei. She had never seen someone so discourteous. Immediately, without another word, she pointed with her fingers at Zuo Mo.

  The blood instantly drained from Xiao Guo’s face but before she could speak, she heard a ripping sound.

  An extremely thin green sword energy shot at Zuo Mo,

  Zuo Mo’s pupils suddenly shrunk. Before he could think, he quickly raised his right hand and at the same time, he retreated abruptly.

  A golden sword energy flashed.

  Li Ying Feng saw the gold colored sword energy and her expression couldn’t help changing.

  The two sword energies met in the air.

  Ding!

  A blinding light made everyone unconsciously want to close their eyes, green and gold light scattering everywhere.

  The two faced each other.

  Zuo Mo stared fixedly at the other with wide eyes as an unspeakable anger began to rise up. Being attacked by someone out of the blue and it was such a dangerous attack! If at that moment he hadn’t avoided it, there definitely would be a hole in his body.

  The shock that Li Ying Feng received was much stronger than Zuo Mo. She was the most accomplished outer sect disciple of Wu Kong Sword Sect. This was the [Wood Spirit Sword Art]. Other than her, no one could use it. It was only when her gaze spotted on the ring on Zuo Mo’s right hand that she understood.

  A term jumped into her head – talisman!

  This didn’t make her underestimate the other. Things like Ling Fragmenting Hoe could only be considered as a tool, but even the lowest grade talisman came at a great cost for an outer sect disciple. This only expressed that he had some wealth.

  What really shocked her was the other’s reaction. The speed of reaction was directly linked to the level of cultivation. Even the best talismans needed cultivation as the foundation. The speed of the other’s reaction was outside her expectations.

  This unfamiliar shidi’s cultivation definitely wasn’t lower than lianqi eighth level!

  A cultivation of lianqi eighth level was within the top three of the outer sect disciples. According to her knowledge of the outer sect disciples, other than her, only Wei Sheng, who was the present sword servant of Luo Li Shixiong, was above the eighth level of lianqi. She didn’t know this unfamiliar male who should have achieved lianqi eighth level recently.

  In Wu Kong Sword Sect, achieving eighth level of lianqi definitely wasn’t a minor event, but she hadn’t heard anything. Then there was only one possibility, that this expressionless male in front of her had concealed this event!

  As to why the other would conceal a matter that would elevate him dramatically, she couldn’t guess.

  This person was very shrewd!

  Looking at the expressionless Zuo Mo, she was slightly regretful of her previous action.

  “Shijie, Shijie! Why did you act against Shixiong?” Xiao Guo suddenly rushed between the two, her face pale and frantic.

  Li Ying Feng instantly realized something wasn’t right. She couldn’t help ask, “Xiao Guo, didn’t he bully you?”

  “Bully?” Xiao Guo paused and then shook her head, “He didn’t! Shixiong is helping Xiao Guo look at the ling fields. Shijie, Shixiong might look scary but he’s a very good person……”

  When Zuo Mo heard this, he generally understood what had gone on and couldn’t even gasp at his bad luck. Calming down, he admired the strength of the woman in front of him.

  Suddenly remembering the rumors he heard normally, he couldn’t help ask, “Are you Li Ying Feng Shijie?”

  “I am Li Ying Feng!” Li Ying Feng answered, her expression apologetic as she bowed, “Just now, I was rash and almost made a big mistake. I’m apologizing to Shidi for it here!”

  The other’s generous and sincere attitude aroused good feelings in Zuo Mo who hurriedly responded, “Just a misunderstanding, Shijie doesn’t have to take it seriously!”

  Li Ying Feng didn’t pretend and asked solemnly, “Has Shidi found something?”

  Chapter 11: The Money Grubbing Zombie

  Before dealing the two blows, Li Ying Feng still had reservations, but now her suspicions greatly lessened. She was sure he was at the top of the outer sect disciples with a cultivation of lianqi eighth level. This shidi should be like the other shidi and chosen to grow ling grains.

  Zuo Mo nodded, “The vitality of this kind of weed is tremendous. If I’m correct, it isn’t wise to cut it. The wounds would provoke it to grow more. That is to say, cutting makes it grow faster.”

  The female disciples started to chitter and chatter as they discussed.

  Li Ying Feng suddenly understood, “So that’s why! No wonder it grew more and more vigorously. If it was uprooted, would that solve it?”

  Zuo Mo mused, “If that was done at the beginning, there wouldn’t have been any problems. But right now, there probably are many seeds in the soil. It isn’t easy to uproot it now.”

  “Does Shidi have any suggestions?”

  “I need to go back and think,” Zuo Mo said.

  Li Ying Feng took out a small pouch and handed it to Zuo Mo.

  Zuo Mo received it with puzzlement. When he opened it for a look, he was dumbstruck. There were five pieces of second-grade jingshi inside the bag.

  “Having offended Shidi today, I really am regretful. These pieces of jingshi are to compensate for Shidi’s shock. Shidi, don’t blame it for being just this much,” Li Ying Feng said as she stared at Zuo Mo.

  Zuo Mo was wildly happy inside but his mouth went, “Shijie is really too polite.” The motion of the hand shoving the bag into his bosom, however, appeared extremely natural.

  Xiao Guo jerked her mouth, staring in shock at Zuo Mo. The other female disciples had looks of disdain — this guy was too greedy!

  A rock landed in Li Ying Feng’s heart. She didn’t want to end up at odds with such a shidi of great potential due to today’s misunderstanding. Five pieces of second-grade jingshi wasn’t a small sum, but to her whose family was wealthy, it wasn’t too much. To use such a price to solve a misunderstanding, from her perspective, it was a great bargain.

  “Shijie, don’t worry too much. The matter of the weeds can be put on Shidi.” It might have been the reason of the five pieces of jingshi but the female disciples all
felt that this horrid zombie male in front of them instantly had a fighting spirit.

  Li Ying Feng raised her hands together, smiling and accepting, “Then I’ll trouble Shidi.”

  She didn’t have high hopes, because if Zuo Mo really had a solution then he wouldn’t say something like he had to go back to think.

  Zuo Mo had never expected that he would pay attention to a minor matter today and receive five pieces of second-grade jingshi for free. On one hand, he was moved at how good Li Ying Feng was at building relationships. On the other, he was moved at the extravagance of her spending. Most of the jingshi on his hands had been spent. He didn’t have many left. Just as his funds were becoming tight, wealth came flying. The unexpected surprise had him floating on air.

  As to the disdainful stares of the female disciples, he disregarded it as air.

  Humming a small tune and carrying a few stalks of weeds, he cheerfully left the Eastern Peak.

  “This guy’s skin is so thick. My eyes are sore from glaring but he didn’t even turn red!”

  “Look at his move when he took Shijie’s pouch, the vulgarity!”

  “Really makes one disgusted… …”

  ……

  Xiao Guo pouted and muttered, “Shixiong is a very good person……” As she spoke, she felt that it wasn’t reliable either and her voice became lower, instantly drowning in the ruckus of discussion.

  “Alright!” Li Ying Feng frowned and hollered. The surrounding voices instantly stopped.

  She looked at the thin figure that disappeared on the mountain path who she didn’t know what he was thinking. She didn’t reveal Zuo Mo’s real cultivation to these gossiping women. If the other was purposefully concealing it, and she revealed it, she would offend a strong enemy. That wasn’t an intelligent move.

  Zuo Mo hurried back to the small yard. After a long time, the plant essence bead would lose effectiveness.

  Solemnly standing in the ling fields in his yard, a green bead floated in front of him, adorably rolling. His two hands held together in front, the ten fingers rapidly moving. The ling power ripples once again spreading out in the air.

  The plant essence bead gradually dissolved, forming a pooled of green liquid. As Zuo Mo’s ten fingers moved in quick fluid motions, and as the speed increased, the tips of his fingers started to glow. Each time he quickly made a stroke, a glowing stroke would add onto a profound and cryptic design. The green water became thousands of green strands that waved in the air.

  “Go!” Zuo Mo gently ordered.

  The green strands dissolved into the ling fields like a nymph spreading flowers.

  Zuo Mo released a breath and let go of the ling power at his fingertips.

  Based on the difficulty of the art, the [Art of Flora] was the most difficult among his five elemental arts. It was not just that the finger motions were extremely intricate, the movements of the ling power had to be much more accurate than the other four elemental arts.

  He set aside four hours each day to practice finger motions. It was extremely dull to only practise finger motions. Other than not making any mistakes, the flow and rhythm were the most important.

  His skeleton-like fingers had practised to the point they would break, to the point that he wanted to throw up.

  However, he still persisted. The first level of the [Art of Flora] wasn’t difficult for him. As to the second level, he had no hopes in the near future.

  Cultivating the scripture, practicing the finger motions, caring for the ling and medicine fields. His life was extremely busy. And now he had to add on examining how to get rid of weeds.

  Li Ying Feng didn’t have any hopes but Zuo Mo wasn’t only paying lip service. He decided to find the solution to the problem.

  It really was a troublesome problem. In the beginning, he had concerned himself with another’s business because he was moved by Xiao Guo’s helpless cry of “mama”. The change came with Li Ying Feng’s five pieces of second-grade jingshi.

  Zuo Mo had lots of faults but there was one good quality, that was, if he decided on something, he would put his all in. As to whether it was because of that “mama” or the five pieces of second-grade jingshi from Li Ying Feng, that wasn’t important, was what he thought.

  In reality, he only had just two years of experience in growing crops. His knowledge of ling grasses and grains was pitiful.

  He knew it wouldn’t be easy but he wasn’t afraid.

  ———

  At the Eastern Peak, Li Ying Feng was listening to a female disciple’s report.

  “We went to check at Dong Fu. Recently, the price of the ling grasses have been continually rising. Like Green Sword grass. A while ago, it was five pieces of first-grade jingshi a picul, now it’s risen to eight pieces. The prices of the other ling grasses have increased even more. They are saying that the conflict at Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie has escalated so the prices are increasing everywhere.”

  When the female disciple was saying this, she was on the verge of tears. The other female disciples’ faces were also bleak.

  Li Ying Feng’s heart stuttered but her expression, she appeared to be calm. Eight first-grade jingshi for a picul. The amount of ling grass that the stables needed every day was astonishing. Even if her family was wealthy, she couldn’t endure such squandering.

  These last few days, she had tried to uproot these weeds but the growth of the ling grasses didn’t seem to recover at all and were still withering. In the ling fields, the weeds appeared again with astounding speed. If the situation continued, they would quickly face a situation where they had no supply of ling grass.

  “Shijie, the money-grubber from last time has come again!” A female disciple said, full of disdain.

  “He still has the face to come?”

  “You forgot, when did he have something like face?”

  “That’s so true!”

  ……

  Xiao Guo pouted, her adorable apple face wrinkling into a ball as she stared in discontent at the shijie.

  Li Ying Feng’s eyes lit up instead and she almost rushed away. Her experience surpassed all the other shimei greatly. If Zuo Mo didn’t have any news, it was normal. But coming to the Eastern Peak, it made Li Ying Feng think about the words that Zuo Mo had said before he left.

  Was it……

  When Li Ying Feng saw Zuo Mo, she was shocked.

  Zuo Mo’s hair was a mess, his eyes filled with blood, his sockets deep in his face. A strange odor emanated from his body. He seemed like a beggar.

  Other than Li Ying Feng and Xiao Guo, the other female disciples had a face full of disdain as they stood far away.

  “I found a solution.” Zuo Mo’s simple words let Li Ying Feng and Xiao Guo enter into rapture.

  Disregarding the disdainful and suspicious gazes of the other female disciples, Zuo Mo headed straight into the ling fields.

  He didn’t waste any words. Reaching out with a pair of skeleton-like hands, he rapidly started a spell.

  Li Ying Feng stared with large eyes, afraid to miss anything. The familiarity of Zuo Mo’s finger movements and the ease with which he controlled the ling power made her even more certain this shidi hid away deeply.

  The glowing fingertips drew an unnamed formation diagram.

  “Go!”

  A dry voice, harsh and dissonant.

  The glowing formation entered the ling field soundlessly.

  “That’s all? But nothing changed!” A female disciple shrieked.

  That was like a fuse. Instantly, the other female disciples that disliked Zuo Mo found a target.

  “Che, just drawing a few characters and want to fool us? Too naïve!”

  “Please, be more professional when conning people!”

  … …

  “All of you shut up!” Li Ying Feng roared angrily. All the voices choked off. They found that at some unknown time, Shijie’s expression had become peerlessly ugly. Her face was icy. They instantly sank into cold terror.

  “This kind of weed
is yang-type. I researched it. Most of the ling grasses you plant belong to yin. You could use the [Art of Earth Energy] to concentrate the yin of the earth energy. It would nourish the ling grasses and can suppress the weeds. Half the work, twice the effect.”

  Finishing, Zuo Mo raised his folded hands towards Li Ying Feng and then left.

  ———

  Returning to the yard, Zuo Mo dropped into slumber.

  Thinking that he had finished what he had wanted to do, he was content. After not sleeping or resting for these days, he had already run out of energy.

  When he woke up, it was the next day. The morning sunlight made his mood light. He idly ate a few things and just like normal, he started his classes for the day.

  The training of his finger motions were one of his prioritized studies at present. Before this, he rarely had practiced finger movements. The finger movements of [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] had been very simple.

  He had suffered greatly at the [Art of Flora]’s complicated finger motions. Up until now, even though he persisted in practicing every day, he could only just manage to complete the spell. It was far from familiarity. He didn’t dare to relax on the practice of [Art of Aged Gold]. He had just gotten to the second level and needed time to consolidate and stabilize it.

  Roughly calculating, he had learned all five kinds of arts at once and had his own conclusions.

  The five kinds of arts had their own emphasis. The [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] emphasized the manipulation of ling power, the [Art of Flora] finger movements, the [Art of Aged Gold] used consciousness, the [Art of Earth Energy] emphasized communication and interaction, and the [Art of Crimson Flame]’s crux was the calmness of mind and endurance.

  At this time, Zuo Mo found a unique pattern. On the surface, it appeared as though the five kinds of arts were not related, but in reality they supported each other. His strongest spell was [Little Art of Cloud and Rain], which aided him greatly in learning the other four arts. And the complicated finger movements of the [Art of Flora] greatly increased the skill of his finger movements so he was even more skilled at doing the [Little Art of Cloud and Rain.]