World of Cultivation - Volume 03 - Seeking Survival On A Desolate Island

by Fang Xiang

  Zuo Mo had come up to the idea while he had been imprisoned in the big sword essence. From the moment the idea appeared in mind he was unable to sweep it away!

  The fight with Nan Ming Zi reminded him that in chaotic times, the first priority was keeping himself alive. The Desolate Wood Reef had the [Skyring Moon Chime Formation], so he had no worries here. But he could not always stay on the Desolate Wood Reef. If he didn’t have any power to keep himself safe, he would just be a fat sheep that would be torn to pieces.

  He had gained some experience when he had forged sword billets for Su, and inside the big sword essence formation, the idea had been continuously perfected in his mind.

  He had comprehended many things by personally experiencing the five different sword essences in the last half year. Even if it was less pure than the shibo, but there was no problem of copying it.

  Five kinds of sword essence, Second Shibo’s Ice Dragon, Sect Leader’s mountain, Third Shibo’s snow fox, Master’s vine, and Wu Ling Sanren’s Bagua.

  He had even considered which sword essences to use in the sword formation. He decided to replace Wu Ling Sanren’s Bagua sword essence with his own Li Water sword essence . The quality of the Li Water sword essence was far lower in quality than the Bagua sword essence, but he had a more profound understanding of Li Water sword essence and this would make the formation easier for him to control.

  However, no matter how good the idea was, he lacked materials.

  If he reforged the Water Drop sword, it could be used for the Li Water sword essence. However, Zuo Mo ran into difficulty with the four other swords. The mountain sword essence required an earth-attributed flying sword; the ice dragon sword needed icy materials; the snow fox sword essences needed things like fox claws or teeth; and the vine sword essence naturally required ling vines.

  Zuo Mo had went through the entire sect stores and hadn’t found one item that he was satisfied with to be used for the four types of materials that he needed.

  Now, to his surprise, he actually found a fourth-grade teeth vine on Nan Ming Zi’s body. How could he not be joyful?

  * * *

  Translator Ramblings: Some of what Zuo Mo has learned in the half year he spent in the sword formation. Rather than learning one thing, and one thing only, he became even more of a jack of all trades.

  The more child formations there are, the more difficult it becomes so it wasn’t just setting up three * (seventy two child formations. ) Zuo Mo is an odd production xiuzhe that knows a bit of fighting. The other disciples are what production xiuzhe should really be like.

  Chapter 172: Pu Yao Awakening

  Forging the Teeth Vine sword would be a slow process because it belonged to the element of wood. For this particular material a fire-forging method could not be used. Zuo Mo need to be think more about how he should accomplish his goal. If he ruined this fourth-grade Teeth Vine, there would be no pill he could take to cure him of such a regret.

  The copper hoop was sent back into the ball of fire above the lava lake. Zuo Mo wanted to temper it a bit more so he did not need to pay close attention to it while it was in the fire. He hadn’t expected that this method would have caused such a change in the big formation. And all of this was caused by the combination of the copper hoop with earth fire.

  The copper hoop was the center of the [Skyring Moon Chime Formation]. Being tempered in the fire, it continuously received fire element power that was then passed through the hoop to the entire formation, slowly changed the big formation. As the hot fire element power permeated the formation, the originally cool aura of the formation was replaced by a domineering, hot presence of fire.

  The change in the big formation was beyond Zuo Mo’s expectations.

  He suddenly felt anticipation. If the fire element power completely permeated the entire formation, what would the resulting [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] be like?

  Nan Ming Zi wasn’t rich, but he had still been a ningmai xiuzhe. His wealth was still substantial to someone like Zuo Mo. He threw the remaining items and talismans to Lil’ Pagoda. They were deconstructed into pure five element energy, and was consumed by Lil’ Pagoda.

  After taking in the five element energy, Lil’ Pagoda seemed more round, and it hopped around joyfully.

  Having had everything taken out of it by Zuo Mo, Nan Ming Zi’s dimensional ring was now as empty as an abandoned shell. Zuo Mo put it on his hand. Nan Ming Zi’s dimensional ring was very small, not even a quarter of Zuo Mo’s ring, but it was still valuable. Naturally, no one would dislike having more dimensional rings.

  Having sorted out Nan Ming Zi’s items, Zuo Mo changed expressions as he began examining the black gold worm that appeared in his hands.

  Lil’ Black had transformed dramatically. There were now red patterns on the back of his black shell.

  The antenna on Lil’ Black’s head moved. Zuo Mo was overjoyed. Was this glutton finally waking up?

  After short while, Lil’ Black slowly began to move in his hand, but the movement was jerky, as though it was hung-over and unable to even walk straight. After it started to wake up, the intangible connection between Zuo Mo’s mind and Lil’ Black reappeared.

  Other than in appearance, Lil’ Black did not seem to have changed, but the joy that came from Lil’ Black inside his mind made Zuo Mo’s mood better.

  “You glutton. One day, you will eat yourself to death.” He couldn’t resist muttering.

  Thinking of that, he realized he didn’t just have just one glutton on his hands. Silly Bird liked to eat lingdan, she was also very picking. Lil’ Black liked to eat things rich in ling energy, Lil’ Pagoda’s tastes were constantly increasing, and the demand on quality was becoming higher and higher.

  The two slender antenna on Lil’ Black’s head moved, as though they was objecting to Zuo Mo’s comments. It was temporarily impossible to see any of the other changes but Lil’ Black seemed to be more intelligent.

  “Haha, now that you are full, it’s time for you to work.” Zuo Mo put Lil’ Black on the ground.

  Lil’ Black’s antenna waved as it turned into a black-gold light and started to fly.

  Zuo Mo hurriedly followed.

  They were busy searching for a few days, but Zuo Mo seemed to have used up his luck.

  There were few ling veins on the Desolate Wood Reef, and they were all small veins. If they were used for ling fields, the grade definitely would not be more than third-grade. He finally understood why Heart Lake Sword Sect had not developed Desolate Wood Reef. They had definitely inspected the whole island and seen there was no value to developing it.

  As expected, it really was a barren island!

  Compared to Zuo Mo’s disappointment, the ling farming disciples of Wu Kong Sword Sect were very excited.

  When had they ever dreamed about possessing their own third-grade ling fields?

  With great excitement, they were very motivated. Not just the ling farming disciples, even the other disciples cooperated, as it was important for their crafts that the ling fields were ploughed and ready as well. To raise ling beasts, they needed ling grasses. Those disciples that did dan-making needed ling herbs. Ling grains were also one of the greatest requirements for all people.

  There were not many ling veins and therefore not many ling fieldsbut since only a few disciples had come, there was a sufficient number of ling fields. Of course, this was also directly related to Zuo Mo voluntarily surrendering his own share. With their Shixiong as role model, the others interacted in harmony.

  After ploughing the ling fields,there were more than six hundred mu of ling fields. With three ling farming disciples, each person got two hundred mu. That wasn’t really that much, but being all third-grade ling fields, it easily satisfied the zhuji ling farming disciples. These three ling farming disciples had not received their spring sprout jade medal, so they could not be considered true ling plant farmers.

  The other disciples began their own work. The disciples skilled in ling beast husbandry sta
rted to construct their livestock shelters. Desolate Wood Reef was a very busy place.

  ———

  Zuo Mo looked dazedly at the Endless Ocean.

  “What place is this?” A familiar voice suddenly appeared next to Zuo Mo.

  Zuo Mo’s body froze. He turned around. Pu Yao lazily stretched and yawned, “I’ve really napped a long time this time!”

  “A nap?” Zuo Mo, who had felt joy, suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  He finally remembered this guy was a Sky Yao, a person who could live for several thousand years and not die. Half a year, to him, it was just a short doze.

  “Why did you come to a terrible place like this?” Pu Yao gazed around and asked curiously.

  “No way about it. This place is quiet.” Zuo Mo said unconcernedly. He could feel Pu Yao’s consciousness sweeping across the entire Desolate Wood Reef in an instant.

  “Haha, good place, good place!” Pu Yao laughed.

  “What’s good about this crappy place?” Zuo Mo looked at Pu Yao like he was looking at an idiot. “You slept yourself into stupidity.”

  “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.” Pu Yao scornfully glanced at Zuo Mo and then reached out a hand, “Jingshi!”

  Zuo Mo forcefully controlled his impulse to charge and fight with Pu Yao. He took out ten pieces of third-grade jingshi and threw it to this damned renyao.

  “Just this little bit?” Pu Yao frowned in dissatisfaction. The hand he reached out with made a grabbing motion in the air.

  Clink-clink.

  The familiar sound of jingshi. In his hands, a large handful of jingshi appeared!

  It was as if Pu Yao had performed a magic trick. Zuo Mo gaped. After a while, he suddenly reacted and hurried to check his ring.

  “You damned renyao, ye will kill you!”

  Zuo Mo’s grieving wail echoed across the Desolate Wood Reef!

  Presently, Zuo Mo could be considered to have settled down on the Desolate Wood Reef. For a long time, he was required to guard this barren island. When he had come, he had taken a large portion of supplies. This also meant that he would not receive supplies from the sect for a long time.

  How to manage them, how to use them to get get stronger, these had became a problem that he had to think about.

  He asked Pu Yao for advice.

  Pu Yao was unconcerned, “None of my business!”

  Having interacted with this guy for so long, Zuo Mo knew what this renyao was like. He wasn’t angry and smirked. “How much jingshi ye has, you know very well. When it’s all spent, all of us can wait to die! Ye will die from starvation, you will die from poverty, in any case, it is still death!”

  Pu Yao’s expression was stunned. After a while, he said somewhat unwillingly, “So ignorant. Have you never heard the phrase ‘eat the mountain by the mountain, eat the sea by the sea’ ?”

  Zuo Mo heard this, and his mind became alert, “How to eat?”

  Pu Yao did not speak, suddenly sinking into thought.

  Zuo Mo found it strange but did not disturb him.

  After a while, Pu Yao opened, “I will pass on a certain set of arts to you, but you need to help me build a Nether Pool.”

  “Nether Pool?” Zuo Mo was puzzled.

  “Yes.” Pu Yao did not speak of the detail, only looking at Zuo Mo.

  “What’s the purpose of the Nether Pool?” Zuo Mo probed. This renyao looked harmless on the surface but he was still a true yao, even though up until now, Zuo Mo had not seen him do anything evil.

  “For my own use.” Pu Yao said shortly.

  “Is it hard to build? What materials are needed?” Zuo Mo spread his hands. “There is nothing on this stupid island. You are very clear about what resources I have.” He didn’t want to be unable to build it after he agreed and have to take on a huge debt again.

  It was not easy to owe Pu Yao anything. He had first hand experience of this fact.

  “It is not complex. That black water lake on the island is enough.” Pu Yao snickered.

  At this time, Zuo Mo realized why this guy had said this was a “good place.” So he had been thinking of that black water lake.

  No matter how stupid he was, he knew that rare things were valuable. To be able to be targeted by someone like Pu Yao whose eyes were on the top of his head, that black water lake wasn’t so simple.

  “Such a big black water lake, to give it to you … …”

  Zuo Mo trailed off.

  Pu Yao didn’t fall for it. He narrowed his eyes at Zuo Mo. “People shouldn’t be too greedy.”

  Zuo Mo instantly faltered. However, his face was now as thick as a city wall, naturally not something that could be defeated by just a sentence. He pretended not to hear it. “You have to tell me at the very least what you are passing on to me. It can’t be something as crappy as that [Fragrance Knowledge].”

  “Crap? You just don’t recognize quality when you’re eyes are pressed up against it!” Pu Yao snorted and threw a ball of light at Zuo Mo.

  Zuo Mo hurriedly caught the ball of light.

  “A Yao Nurturing Pool?” Zuo Mo quickly furrowed his brows, his tone slightly fearful and dissatisfied, as he said, “Do you want me to commit suicide?”

  The spell that Pu Yao gave was a method to nurture yaomo. In the world of yaomo, yaomo were divided into high and low ranks. Some high-level yaomo could use secret methods to create all kinds of strange and powerful yaomo that they could control.

  Zuo Mo sweated as he examined the knowledge, thinking that the yaomo really had no morals as they did not even let go of their own kind. He had never heard of the yao nurturing methods mentioned, but all of them were cruel and horrible. He couldn’t even imagine how powerful and vicious the yaomo that were raised under these methods would be!

  He had no desire to learn at all.

  These yao nurturing methods were too cruel. Also, if he took a yao or mo around in public, people would instantly come to exterminate the yaomo.

  In such a sensitive time, the terror that xiuzhe felt towards the yaomo had reached a height that they hadn’t reached in hundreds of years.

  “You really are idiotic.” Pu Yao said scornfully, “Even if you wanted to nurture yao, there’s no yao to nurture.”

  Zuo Mo stilled himself. That was true. The only yao here was Pu. Nurture him? Such an absurd thought … …

  Having finally understood, Zuo Mo instantly fell into a rage, “Then why did you give me this? You want to fool me again?”

  Pu Yao looked at Zuo Mo like he was looking at an idiot.

  “You can’t nurture yao, but don’t you know about beast nurturing?”

  * * *

  Translator Ramblings: Guess who’s back? It’s just a little nap … … really, some people meditate for longer than half a year.

  Zuo Mo is a very generous supervisor. Of course, he’s planning to make his own wealth in a way that the elders didn’t expect so he’s fine with not growing ling grains. Here, I think the author really slips in a detail about ling plant farmers. Zuo Mo probably picked the best farmers he could out of the zhuji disciples, but none of them have the jade medal. Zuo Mo got it when he was in lianqi. Since Wu Kong Sword Sect is so large now, this implies that Zuo Mo’s previous achievement was pretty rare in Dong Fu.

  Chapter 173: Pulling Into The Fold

  “Chun Yu Cheng, Shixiong’s looking for you,” someone shouted.

  “Coming.” Chun Yu Cheng responded, his hands carefully placing a young worm into the nurturing formation, before standing and wiping the sweat off his face. He was twenty-four this year, his appearance was handsome, with sharp brows and bright eyes. He was a very dependable person. Even though he had not been part of the sect for very long, many female disciples had made advances; but he had refused all of them.

  Compared to the study of love between man and woman, he had more interest towards animal husbandry.

  Chun Yu Cheng’s cultivation could only be considered normal. He had just broken through to z
huji, yet no one dared to underestimate him. He was twenty four years old, yet he had received the white jade medal of the beast speakers. Even though he could not compare to Zuo Shixiong, but he was definitely a talented individual. The jade medals of the beast-speakers were divided into the ranks of white snake, black cobra, blue serpent, and crimson dragon. Within the profession, people would usually just use the colors, so the white snake jade medal would be referred to simply as the white jade medal.

  In Zuo Mo’s company there were three people who had jade medals, Zuo Mo, Chun Yu Cheng, and the last was Gongsun Cha, who had a butcher jade medal. No one would think that the clean, white, scholarly looking Gongsun Cha would be a professional butcher. Supposedly, in the span of fifteen minutes, he could dismember any ling beast to hundreds of pieces, the ling energy in each piece conserved with the loss of ling energy of less than twenty percent.

  Chun Yu Cheng was infatuated with beast keeping, but he wasn’t dumb. He had instantly perceived the increasingly terrible environment of the sect, so when he had been named to come to Desolate Wood Reef, he had not hesitated. Before, the problem he had been most concerned about was his safety. Now that Zuo Mo Shixiong’s great formation had been completed, the anxiety that had been building up up in the back of his mind was alleviated.

  The environment of the Desolate Wood Reef was much worse than Wu Kong Mountain, but he did not care. Without the conflict of mortal affairs, he could finally concentrate on his craft.

  Hearing that Zuo Mo Shixiong was calling him, he hurriedly put down what he was doing.

  Shixiong was the true master of the present Desolate Wood Reef. Chun Yu Cheng might not like mortal affairs, but it wasn’t as though he did not understand them. He had not interacted much with Zuo Mo Shixiong and did not feel confident and was even slightly wary. However, up until now, he was very satisfied with the present situation. The series of announcements that Zuo Mo Shixiong had made, his action of not taking a share of the ling fields, had won the support of everyone. Chun Yu Cheng was full of hope towards his future days.