World of Cultivation - Volume 01 - Money Grubbing Madman

by Fang Xiang

  Hiss hiss hiss!

  These sword energies followed the surface of the river as they headed for the flames surrounding the river.

  As the icy sword essences touched the dancing flames beside the shores, the unexpected happened! The fire grew dramatically. In the sea of consciousness, the fire reached the sky, even the star in the void overhead was almost consumed by the fire. Only the gravestone in the sea of consciousness was still shrouded in the black clouds, not affected in the slightest.

  Inside the ice river, the icicles rose up and down even fiercer, the sword essences continuously shooting out with white mist towards the sea of fire.

  An astounding change was also appearing on Zuo Mo’s body. A thin layer of ice had appeared on his entirely flushed body. Yet in the blink of an eye, this thin layer would melt and disappear. But after a while, the layer of ice would appear again and repeat.

  The cold pond wasn’t deep. Zuo Mo quickly reached the bottom of the pond. The temperature at the bottom of the pond was multiple times colder than the water at the top, no fish or shrimp to be found.

  As though it was affected, each time the thin ice appeared, the time it stayed became longer. However, the fires around Zuo Mo’s body wasn’t weakened at all, they were still burning weirdly in the water. A faint light suddenly appeared in Zuo Mo’s chest. This light travelled through Zuo Mo’s channels. Every place it passed through, the flame would become smaller but then very quickly, the red flames would once again continue their dancing.

  Zuo Mo seemed to have entered a very strange place. He had completely lost control of his body. Hazily, he felt that he was being burned in a furnace, and then suddenly thrown into the polar regions, but no matter the torment, he didn’t have any room to struggle.

  “Don’t forget… …”

  “Even in death, you must not forget……”

  The voice appeared again. A basin of cold water seemed to have been poured over Zuo Mo’s head. His consciousness recovered clarity for a short moment. Upon clarity, the extreme pain of burning and the bone-aching cold flooded him like the tide.

  “Ah……” he couldn’t help opening his mouth. The icy pond water instantly poured into his mouth.

  There was nothing that could describe his feelings at this moment. His entire body was furiously burning, the extreme pain from his flesh and bones burning bit by bit almost made him faint. The pond water that had poured in almost froze him to an ice cube. His clear mind instantly became dizzy again.

  Was this zhuji?

  Was this the power of the fire dragon grass?

  That dream… …

  In a daze, Zuo Mo’s relaxed hands suddenly turned into fists. His entire body bowed, all the strength in the body gathering at this moment. His eyes widened furiously, bright red.

  Who?

  Who wanted to control me?

  Who changed my face and erased my mind?

  Who… … who did it… …

  Who f— did it!

  From the depths of his mind, countless thoughts uncontrollably streamed through.. From the depths of his body came a pain of his flesh burning and the bone-breaking coldness. Inside his angry eyes, the flames were swallowed by a bloody red tide!

  Who did it… … who did it … … who did it… …!

  Bastard!

  The blood in his chest roared. The anger and grief that came from the deepest part of his heart erupted like a volcano. In an instant, it swallowed the fire and the ice.

  Zuo Mo seemed to be cursed. He gathered all the energy in his body and threw out his fist!

  Accompanied by the deep red alluring flames, his fist heavily smashed onto the rock side of the pond.

  Boom!

  With Zuo Mo’s fist as the center, a spiderweb of cracks appeared on the rock face. Scorch marks spread out from the center of the impact.

  Boom!

  Another punch! Stone fragments flew into the water. A few of them brushed past Zuo Mo’s body, creating a few marks. The fresh blood flowed out, quickly dissolving in the water.

  Boom boom boom!

  Zuo Mo was completely stuck in a trance. His eyes bright red, the tendons tight, he furiously threw out punches. The silent bottom of the pond turned into a muddy mess.

  Beside the pond, Pu Yao detected the vibrations of the ground. Looking at the whirlpool that appeared in the body, his expression was normal as he raised a hand and caught a water droplet that flew out from the waterfall. Opening his hand, the water drop floated above his bond, round and clear as it reflected his blood eye.

  “You’re still not giving a hand? Do you still stupidly believe he could suppress the fire of the Sky Yao?” A faint mocking smile appeared on his face as he slowly stated: “You are always like this, never listening to me. Three thousand years have passed yet you are still so stubborn. Do you not know that your choices are forever this idiotic?”

  He gently blew and the perfect water droplet floating in his hand turned to a gust of mist and dissipated into the air.

  “Your actions, I was sick of them long ago.” Pu Yao patted his hand, his expression indifferent.

  The vibrations under his feet stopped, the pond recovered its quiet.

  “It’s done.” Pu Yao’s sharp lips rose and he shrugged: “Haha, this only proved once again your idiotic choices.”

  He just turned his head when he stopped in his steps.

  Wu Kong Mountain, Xian Yan who had been in meditation suddenly opened his eyes. He jumped up, his body disappearing. In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the peak. A few seconds later, Pei Yuan Ran, Yan Le and Shi Feng Rong also flew over and appeared beside him.

  The four exchanged looks and with shocked faces, they raised their heads to look at the sky.

  Dong Fu, Tian Song Zi was browsing the list that Yu Bai had written.

  “This Zong Ming Yan is Zuo Mei Tian’s disciple.” Tian Song Zi nodded as he remarked: “In Dong Fu, if we’re talking about strength, it’s between Zuo Mei Tian and Xin Yan. Zuo Mei Tian had been very fierce in the past, a person everyone was afraid off. This point was very similar to Xin Yan. But I wonder what his disciple is like.”

  Yu Bai said respectfully: “This disciple had met that Zong Ming Yan once. Even though we didn’t fight, but this disciple gathers from his composure that he most likely isn’t weak.”

  “Haha, there’s isn’t many youths that you call not weak. I heard that Zuo Mei Tian had put in a lot of blood on this disciple. It’s natural he wouldn’t be weak.” Tian Song Zi chuckled: “In the future, Dong Fu is probably yours, Zong Ming Yan and Wu Kong Sword Sect’s Wei Sheng’s world.”

  “This disciple will not disappoint Master’s hopes.” Yu Bai responded respectfully.

  Tian Song Zi waved his hands: “Don’t care too much about things like reputation. I only hope you can protect yourself in troubled times. This estate, I might not bear to part with it, but your safety is even more important.”

  Yu Bai was moved and responded: “Yes!”

  Seeing Yu Bai’s face was full of worry, Tian Song Zi couldn’t help but comfort: “This master is only planning ahead. Don’t worry too much. If something really happens, haha, us old people will be at the front.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a name on the list and was slightly shocked: “Hm, when was there a Zuo Mo out of Wu Kong Sword Sect? How is he special?”

  “The first time this disciple heard this name, he had been in a conflict with Zong Ming Yan and another Dong Qi disciples. Because he is a ling plant farmer, this disciple had been planning on resolving it. I did not expect that he managed to comprehend sword essence!” Yu Bai added another sentence: “He has not entered zhuji.”

  “Oh!” Tian Song Zi’s expression changed: “Another dangerous character in Wu Kong Sword Sect? Comprehending sword essence before entering zhuji. This kind of sword talent, it’s very rare! The heavens really have blessed Wu Kong Sword Sect!”

  Between his words, he was slightly envious.

  Just at this time, his expression s
uddenly changed and flew out the window. Yu Bai paused before hurriedly following.

  He only saw Tian Song Zi staring in a daze at the sky above.

  At the same time, on the highest plum peak of Dong Qi Sword Sect, a long haired black-robed man stood against the wind. With a shocked face, he raised his head to look at the sky.

  Chapter 46: Zhuji

  Notes: There has been two big terminology changes. I still don’t understand how I didn’t translate “jade sticks” properly and it didn’t click for this long. It is now “jade scroll” which is better and easier to understand. Also, Tian Yue Jie is now Sky Moon Jie. I might slip up sometimes but that’s the general gist of it.

  * * *

  The peak of daytime, the sky was blue and clear, yet what raised people’s hairs was that the blue sky was filled with blazing stars!

  “Stars in daytime… …” Pei Yuan Ran muttered to himself. The other three’s expressions all changed.

  “Shixiong.” Shi Feng Rong’s voice was slightly trembling: “What is happening here?”

  “I don’t know.” Pei Yuan Ran’s expression was heavy as he shook his head: “The apparition of stars appearing in daytime, it happens once every few thousand years. I’ve only seen it in some records. But it doesn’t seem to be a good omen.”

  Even though the four were all jindan, looking at the strange scene in front of them, their hearts couldn’t help but feel cold.

  In Dong Fu, Yu Bai stared with wide eyes at the stars dotting the sky and that proud sun hanging high up in the sky. Fear rose up from the deepest part of his heart and spread through his body.

  Tian Song Zi muttered: “Stars in daytime… …”

  The Plum Peak of Dong Qi, light erupted from Zuo Mei Tian’s eyes as he murmured: “Stars in daytime… …”

  In the entire Sky Moon Jie, countless strong people were all alarmed. Looking up at the sky over the thirteen primary towns of Sky Moon Jie, it was completely filled with cultivators. In the wilderness, on the mountaintops, no matter what the xiuzhe were doing, they all stopped their hands and floated in midair. All of the cultivator’s gazes, they were completely focuses on this sky that they were so familiar with.

  No matter their cultivation, shock was on everyone’s face.

  In Cold Mist Valley, Pu Yao’s pupils shrunk. He gazed at the pond before him. In his blood red vision, he could clearly see a pillar of light that glittered as it came down from the sky and entered the pond. If one used a normal vision, where could they even see a pillar? No ling energy, no vibrations. Only through his blood eye could this intangible pillar of light be seen.

  “Do you think you had wagered correctly?” Pu Yao said coldly, murderous intent in his right blood eye.

  When the sound landed, the clear pond suddenly became as dark as ink. The sound of the waterfall disappeared without a trace. The waterfall was like a broken mustang, docilely flowing into the pond without a splash.

  The valley fell into a strange silence.

  Looking at the black water pond, Pu Yao wasn’t afraid. He took a strong stride forward, pressing: “For this trash, you decide to fight me?”

  The black water pond was silent and motionless as though it was dead.

  A yao, a pond. They confronted each other like this.

  Time slipped away.

  Pu Yao suddenly took back the leg he had stepped with, his expression returning to normal. A kind of disdain was at the corner of his mouth: “Stars in daylight, hei hei, do you really think this is still three thousand years ago? You made it too big.” He was somewhat rejoicing at the calamity.

  The black water pond wasn’t affected.

  Pu Yao shrugged: “So what if its stars in daylight? Can it extinguish Sky Yao Fire? The sky yao fire even you can’t extinguish?”

  The black water pond suddenly started to flip as though it was boiling. Explosive sounds came out of the inky black water.

  Pu Yao raised his head to look at the sky and lightly said a sentence that instantly made the pond water quite.

  “Oh, it seems everyone wants to see.”

  In the blink of an eye, the pond regained its clarity. The obedient waterfall resumed its ferocity and roared, the water splashing.

  Pu Yao gave a light laugh and disappeared.

  An extremely strong consciousness scanned over Cold Mist Valley.

  When Zuo Mo opened his eyes, he instantly shuddered. So cold! The coldness of the water told him where he was situated. The cold pond of Cold Mist Valley. Last time, it had been here where he had broken through to one breath. He was very familiar with this situation. But after he had achieved one breath, he had never felt suffocated in the water. In the past, Zuo Mo had actually been suspicious that he might turn into a fish.

  Ouch!

  Zuo Mo bared his teeth. So painful! Any movement and a heart wrenching pain would come from all over his body. His features instantly twisted.

  Thankfully, he wasn’t dead!

  What he could remember up until was when that hazy voice told him to eat the fire dragon grass. What happened after, he didn’t know at all. But right now, he wasn’t willing to think, too lazy to move, his entire body was hurting and very quickly, he found he wasn’t wearing a scrap of clothing.

  How would he get out?

  He wanted to laugh but couldn’t. Right now, he didn’t want to think about anything. He just wanted to go to sleep. But the pond water was really too cold, so cold it reached his heart. This wasn’t a good place to sleep.

  Why was it that every time, he would torment himself so much……

  Forcing himself alert, he gritted his teeth and entered mediation. He wanted to know what his situation really was like.

  The ling energy in his body abruptly appeared in front of him. He was first struck dumb and then was overjoyed! Zhujii! He had completed zhuji!

  Internal vision, this was internal vision! In a trance, he “saw” the three dimensional diagram of the ling energy moving through his body. Each strand of ling energy was so clear for him to “see”. He felt as though he could see all objects, his mind becoming clear.

  Zuo Mo didn’t know how long it was until his thoughts refocused. He hurriedly inspected his ling energy again and to his surprise, he found his ling energy was three times what it had been originally been.

  No wonder the distance between the tenth level of lianqi and zhuji was a great canyon. It really was a canyon. He had just entered zhuji and his cultivation had increased three times. Think of the power disparity!

  It might have been cause by excess happiness, but the pain from his body seemed to lessen greatly. Zuo Mo struggled out of the bottom of the pond and floated towards the top. When his head came out of the water, he couldn’t help sucking in a breath!

  He hadn’t thought that he would really make it through the fire dragon grass.

  Even now, he was still somewhat in disbelief. Fire dragon grass was something that only terrifying and abnormal people like Shixiong could endure! But he actually made it through! But he still had lingering fears. The danger involved could be deduced from the pain of his entire body.

  But, he finally made it through!

  He opened his mouth and wanted to laugh but found that his throat was dry and painful, unable to make a sound. His hands pushed against the side of the pond, trying to climb out. His body shuddered in great pain and almost made him faint. With no other solution, he could only use his hands to grab a rock beside the pond, his body soaking in the water.

  The joy after surviving a calamity made everything seem so beautiful.

  After a long time, the pain lessened slightly and his strength had slightly recovered. Struggling to climb out of the pond, he found the jade scrolls and other times scattered on the ground. He carefully picked them all up. What really made him feel pain was that third grade spirit travelling seal. It had burnt down to only a small scrap.

  Did his body really combust?

  He still remembered the strong feeling of burning before he became unco
nscious but that was all he remembered. Thankfully, most of his belongings, like talismans and jade sticks, were still undamaged. But since the spirit travelling seal was gone, and he was naked, how would he get back to West Wind Valley?

  Suddenly, he had an idea. Casting [Little Art of Cloud and Rain], he saw a white ball of clouds appear in front of him.

  He snickered, his hands maintaining the spell as his body sneaked into the cloud. Oh, cold, very comfortable. Very quickly, he found that the pain in his body seemed to have lessened slightly. Did [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] have healing properties? But this wasn’t the time to study it. He should think of a way to get back.

  Old Black had finished his work in the fields and was preparing to return home.

  Walking on the road, he couldn’t help but ponder what he had just seen. Thinking about it now, he felt his heart tremble. Stars appearing during daytime. There were many strange things in the world, natural abnormalities. Was this a bad omen?

  He couldn’t help but raise his head. In the blue sky, other than the sun, there was nothing else.

  Old Black exhaled. Normal was good, normal was good. Normality was the best. Please don’t have any change. As he thought aimlessly, he walked back towards his residence. Where he was living now was the big yard that Zuo Mo had lived in previously.

  Detecting that someone was coming opposite him, he raised his head. At a glance, he was pinned to the ground, his expression dumbstruck.

  After a pause, he recovered and stammered: “Little Mo ge, you, you are… …”

  Zuo Mo was completely shrouded in a white cloud. Only his head was left sticking out. Looking down, Old Black could barely make out a pair of bare feet.

  Old Black felt this white cloud seemed familiar. He suddenly realized, wasn’t this the cloud from [Little Art of Cloud and Rain]?

  Was he taking a bath?

  Thinking about the rain of [Little Art of Cloud and Rain], Old Black felt that this creativity was pretty good.

  But… … he didn’t need to bathe on the mountain road… … and wash as he kept on walking……

  Zuo Mo was extremely embarrassed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide himself. But due to his zombie face, there wasn’t any bashfulness, no embarrassment. He seemed very at ease. His entire body was in pain. Any movement, and the pain would pierce his heart. He could only laboriously move his feet step by step.