by Fang Xiang
The so-called sword servant, they were the servants of sword xiu. They were responsible for cleaning the battlefield and some supplementary duties.
Wei Sheng Shixiong had the greatest battle strength in the outer sect disciples, and his battle experience was extremely rich. It was rumoured that he had even once killed sword xiu who were in the initial stages of zhuji. But he had seen how Wei Sheng Shixiong practising. The lights flew and it was very pretty, but compared to that sword essence, it was like a colourful paper bird, a poke and it would tear.
But the vast sword essence last night that seemed to cleave the heavens, he had never imagined anything like it. Under that sword strike, everything bowed. He was as tiny as an ant.
Just at this time, something unexpected occurred!
In his sea of consciousness, an icy and pure white sword essence appeared without a warning!
Zuo Mo’s body froze, his eyes bulging and his breathing stopped.
A beat later, his cold body steadily warmed. His eyes slowly recovered the spirit. He heavily exhaled, shock filling his eyes.
Why was it like this?
That suddenly appearing sword essence, it was exactly the same as that terrifying sword strike last night!
Having no guards against it, that sword strike almost cleaved his sea of consciousness in half. The pure and cold murderous intent contained in the sword strike directly made him stop breathing, all the organs in his body at that moment stop moving!
He still felt trepidation and didn’t understand what had happened at all.
It wasn’t possible!
Having the black dandelion seed exist in his consciousness was enough to make him terrified, now there was the addition of a sword essence!
No!
When he inspected before, he didn’t find this sword essence!
Leaving his sea of consciousness, he thought back in great detail on how the sword essence had appeared. Then he found, just when the sword essence had appeared, it was exactly when he was in the sea of consciousness facing the black dandelion seed when he remembered the sword essence.
A bold idea suddenly appeared in his head.
Was it that this sword essence had been released by that black dandelion seed?
This freakish idea, once it came out, it couldn’t be pushed down.
His sea of consciousness turned back into a void. The black dandelion seed floated around alone in the void. Zuo Mo hesitated. That sword essence was too strong. Just right now, the blow to his body and soul were extreme.
But the desire to understand what happened quickly won. He gritted his teeth!
Go for it!
Facing the black dandelion seed, he thought back to that sword essence!
Hiss!
A silvery white sword essence flew out!
Splat!
Zuo Mo’s body froze and he threw up a mouthful of blood.
A second later, “Hahahaha!” The sound of laughter rang out of the little yard. Zuo Mo’s mouth was smeared with blood, frightening to the eye, yet his face was joyous.
It really was that black dandelion seed! The sword essence really was released by it!
Having prepared this time, he saw it clearly. Not just that, he also found that this sword essence was completely different than what he had seen last time. Or, more correctly, it was even clearer! And because of it, its undoubted power was exposed. How could Zuo Mo’s fragile spirit endure the blow of such a strong sword essence? So he was wounded and spat blood.
But even wounded, Zuo Mo couldn’t help roar with laughter.
If he could comprehend this sword essence ……
Before last night, he didn’t have a bit of interest in sword xiu. But that pure and icy sword energy planted a seed in his heart. A seed that was interested in strength.
But Zuo Mo quickly came out from his joy. This sword strike was extremely strong, nothing he could bear.
His head started to ache. After receiving two blows from the stroke strike, his spirit was already wounded. And, thinking about the pain as his body being completely frozen, his consciousness easily being split in half, his face slightly paled.
Comprehending this sword essence, there were many benefits. But, at the same time, he had to pay a painful price. The spirit being wounded, it was much harder to heal than other wounds.
The pain at his head made him hiss repeatedly. Grabbing the sound tablet beside him, he pushed in ling energy.
“Fierce conflict has once again exploded at Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie……”
The voice inside the sound tablet made Zuo Mo pause. The sound tablet was an essential part of his life. He would listen to the sound tablet each night to go to sleep. In this length of time, there was a clear increase in the news about the conflict at Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie.
Was it the yaomo were discontent at being suppressed for so long and was starting to counterattack?
He thought humorously, but he quickly threw the question to one side. No matter if it was Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie, or yaomo, it was one hundred thousand miles away from him, completely unrelated. He didn’t even think the yaomo would make a ripple. Three thousand years ago, the war between the xiuzhe and yaomo, it ended in a complete victory for the xiuzhe. If there wasn’t a Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie stopping the forward progress of the xiuzhe, it was very likely that the yaomo would have already been completely eradicated.
Following that was some news on the Sword Test Conference. Zuo Mo wasn’t very interested.
Suddenly, his head felt like it was cracking. Zuo Mo grunted as he hugged his head. His consciousness was wounded.
The greatest pain in a life came when a beautiful woman dropped out of the sky, but at the same time, there also dropped a nasty dragon that guarded the beauty.
Even more painful was just when they saw the peerless face of the beauty, they were kicked by the evil dragon at the weak spot.
Zuo Mo wailed inside. Fixing his consciousness was his most important priority right now. However, to a low-level xiuzhe with only the cultivation of lianqi eighth level, fixing consciousness was a question that was far out of his power.
Pain!
It was like the deepest part of the brain was being lightly craved by someone using a small knife. Just a while and Zuo Mo was almost insane.
Hugging his head as he sat on the roof, the painful groans continued.
Zuo Mo wanted to cry. Holding his head, he almost crawled to move to the meditation mat in the seclusion room.
His only hope right now was that mediation could decrease the pain. Very quickly, the cruel reality destroyed his last hope. No matter how he used the ling energy, the pain of his spirit didn’t lessen.
His entire person seemed to have been chopped in two, but his body was well.
He hugged his head, rolling and groaning on the floor. Gradually, the sound of wailing became lower.
Those who are ignorant have no fear. He had only the most pitiful understanding of the spirit. If his cultivation was just a bit deeper, he would understand more and wouldn’t dare to be so impulsive. Fixing a consciousness, even those xiuzhe who had a cultivation of ningmai, didn’t have many solutions. Unless jindan cultivators lent a hand, fixing would be easier.
But, if a jindan gave aid, that price definitely wasn’t a small one.
Low-level xiuzhe didn’t dare to touch the spirit. Not even the Zen xiu who specialized in the consciousness, before the stage of jindan, they also wouldn’t dare.
Zuo Mo was just a low-level xiuzhe who just achieve the eighth level of lianqi. His sea of consciousness suffered two continuous blows that far surpassed his ability to bear. The fact that he didn’t already die was a miracle.
A wound to the consciousness, if there wasn’t an outside power to heal it, it wouldn’t disappear.
The pitiful Zuo Mo curled completely into a ball. He didn’t have the strength to roll anymore. His breathing was shallow, his awareness fuzzy.
Faintly, he seemed to hear someone was talki
ng.
“Thou wants to live?”
A simple and desolate voice, upright and imposing.
“Save me!” Zuo Mo heard his weak answer filled with joy and pleading.
“To abide by my ceremony, to execute my desires, to give my oath, will thou?”
“Too outrageous!” Zuo Mo, on his last breaths, couldn’t help but wail. He suddenly had the feeling he had been tricked.
“Will thou?” the imposing voice was like thunder, filled with oppression.
“Go to hell!” Zuo Mo unexpectedly raged: “Don’t assume that I don’t know it’s you that tricked……” He stilled wanted to curse, but the pain of his spirit was so extreme he couldn’t help but scream.
“Will thou?”
“Go to hell!” Zuo Mo swore as he screamed. At the same time, he raised his middle finger.
……
“Will thou?”
“Go to hell!” Zuo Mo didn’t even have the energy to scream, much less raise the middle finger. He could only weakly whine.
……
“Will thou?”
“Go to hell!” Zuo Mo’s answer was like the whine of a mosquito, the sound thin, like a hair strand.
……
“Will thou?”
“Go to hell……”
Zuo Mo’s awareness was a puddle of dizziness as he struggled.
……
That imposing and authoritative sound finally silenced. At this time, Zuo Mo’s awareness was completely muddled, everything in the surroundings indistinct.
In his dizziness, he didn’t know if it was his delusion. That voice spoke again, no dignity left, only loneliness.
“The ceremony lost, the desire dead, only the oath once taken……”
The voice seemed further and further away from him. He became unconscious.
In the sea of consciousness of Zuo Mo who was in a coma, that black dandelion seed that had been floating quietly landed.
As it landed, it penetrated into the sea of consciousness, grew roots, germinated, bloomed, bore fruit. Countless black dandelion seeds continuously spilled, floating to every corner of Zuo Mo’s consciousness.
In the blink of an eye, the sea of consciousness became a black sea. The black sea suddenly broke. Countless fragments floated up like black flowers, turning into countless wisps of black smoke.
The black smoke transformed into a figure of a person.
Chapter 17: Pu[1]
[tl: [1] It is pronounced a bit like “poo”. The character used is the same one that is usually used for dandelion.]
Zuo Mo slowly woke up. His head was still aching, but compared to the pain that had cut through his entire body, it was much less.
Thinking of what had happened before he went unconscious, his face suddenly changed.
He always had been one with a clear mind. Under the situation where his head was aware and he could think clearly, he quickly organized the cause and result. Without any great need to think, it was definitely that black dandelion seed that was the culprit.
The one that released the sword essence was him. And the one that pressured him was also that one.
Thinking about it, Zuo Mo’s heart burned in anger.
That guy tried to play tricks on his head, he didn’t know what he was getting into!
He suddenly thought that he had said something before he went unconscious, and his face changed. Was it that he didn’t persevere and had capitulated?
Thinking about this, he quickly calmed his mind and entered his consciousness.
When he enters the sea, he was stupefied.
On the undulating hills, it was groups of large ancient trees. The green grass was like a carpet, spreading out in patches. Fine wild flowers mixed within the grass, adding hints of life.
It was as though he walked into a forest.
Before, his sea of consciousness was only empty space. This living and breathing scene in front of him……
Zuo Mo was completely pinned to the ground. The scene in front of his eye far surpassed the limits of his understanding.
He dazedly walked on the grass, feeling the softness of the grass under his feet. The smell of the green grass wafted into his nose. Zuo Mo was dazed. He was only an eighth level lianqi low-level xiuzhe.
When his gaze turned towards a hill without any trees, he instantly came back.
He started to run like a maniac towards that hill.
On the hill, a man dressed in black was sitting on a stele, black clouds moving around it. One hand was lying on the leg, another propped up his chin, his expression carefree and pleased.
When he neared, Zuo Mo finally made out the black-clad man’s appearance.
A perfect face!
Zuo Mo had never though men could be so handsome. An androgynous face, a high nose, the raven back hair covering up the left eye, the right eye as narrow and long as a blade, the serene crimson red pupil was like a bottomless blood pool, the thin and wide lips eternally held a shallow yet strange curve. A piece of dark red rhombus shaped crystals were in each earlobe, the wide black clothing soft and smooth, just like his hair, it gave off a black glow as it kept close to his body, full of a strange enticement.
Zuo Mo blanked at his position, not knowing what to say. He was only the most normal disciple of a small sect. When had he ever seen someone so outstanding?
“I am called Pu.” A sweet-sounding and beautiful voice. He propped up his chin, looking in interest at Zuo Mo, the curve of his mouth more evident: “What are you called?”
“Zuo Mo.” He replied dumbly. He definitely was dreaming. Pu seemed to be just sitting there but all the light in the sea of consciousness seemed to have been unconsciously sucked away to him. Zuo Mo had seen those female disciples at the Eastern Peak. Not one of them was better looking than Pu.
When a man looked like this, he probably would want to cry.
When this thought came out, Zuo Mo came back to awareness. Pu’s enticing and shocking aura was instantly shattered by this humorous thought.
Seeming to have noticed Zuo Mo returning to his senses, Pu smiled gently, and wasn’t irritated. He still used his melodious voice: “It seems we will have to be in contact for a long time. But I believe we will have delightful interactions. Oh, right, this is for you.”
Pu casually threw a glowing ball at Zuo Mo. On the surface of the ball, countless seals flashed.
“What is it?” Zuo Mo instinctively received the glowing ball.
Boom.
It was as though he was struck by thunder, his body frozen. Countless characters were shoved into him mind, circulating relentlessly.
“[Embryonic Breathing Spirit Cultivation], just a little plaything. It can repair your spirit, count that as a greeting gift.” Pu’s tone was lazy: “Even though I want to live for free, but there’s no other way. Your sea of consciousness is so broken. Fix the sea of consciousness quickly, otherwise I have to find another place again.”
He gracefully waved his hand. Zuo Mo, still unmoving at his spot, felt the space around his body tighten. When he opened his eyes, he found that he had come out of his sea of consciousness.
His heart was suddenly terrified. Pu seemed to be even stronger than he had imagined. A person like this that he couldn’t control in his consciousness, no wait, controlling his sea of consciousness! He had no joy at receiving [Embryonic breathing Spirit Cultivation]. Terror spread through his body like poison.
Managing to swallow his saliva and suppressing the terror in his heart, he pondered what to do.
Report to the sect?
In these two years, he had only seen the head of the sect once. That was when he had been picked by the leader and when he opened his eyes. As to the other elders and shishu, he had never even met them.
What he was really worried about was another conjecture.
He was very suspicious, Pu was very likely to be a yaomo!
Such a beautiful yaomo, he almost couldn’t believe it, but for some reason, this suspicion was
like a maggot burrowing into the bones, taking root in his mind, unable to be swept away.
Zuo Mo had never seen yaomo, all his ideas about yaomo came from the sound tablet. When it mentioned yaomo, it was killing, it was death and bleeding. But the between yaomo and xiuzhe were that of natural enemies, he was very clear about that. Destroying yaomo was the duty of each xiuzhe, no matter where.
However, Zuo Mo was a beginner xiuzhe whose cultivation just reached the eighth level of lianqi. Not speaking of destroying yaomo, the yaomo wouldn’t even lower themselves to destroying him.
What he was more worried about was that if someone else knew that a yaomo was in his body, he definitely would be destroyed, ground until not a trace could be found. In the eyes of those higher level xiuzhe, just an eighth level lianqi like him, he couldn’t even be considered cannon fodder.
Maybe, they would throw him straight into the dan [2] furnace and get refined with the yaomo……
[tl: [2] 丹: pill, pellet. Common used as “pills of immortality” by Chinese emperors in search of eternal life. A gaming equivalent would be potions. ]
He couldn’t help but shudder, his heart beating furiously. He quickly stopped those terrifying thoughts.
In a daze, for the next two days, Zuo Mo seemed to not be in this mortal coil.
He naturally had to practise [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation]. Otherwise, before he could be crippled by Pu Yao, he would cripple himself first. Pu Yao, that was the new name Zuo Mo gave Pu. Regardless if he was a yao, just how he looked, he deserved the character of yao.
The effects were very good. After a few days, half of his spirit had recovered. But Zuo Mo felt no gratefulness towards Pu Yao. Because he finally remembered, the reason that his consciousness was wounded, it was Pu Yao’s fault.
In these few days, he didn’t go to his sea of consciousness.
If it was said at the first glance, the deepest impression Pu Yao left on Zuo Mo was enchanting, now, enchanting changed to wicked!
What did the guy really want?
