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

by Fang Xiang

  Fang Xiang, in his last remarks at the end of the story, admitted that he was not very good at writing cultivation stories. One of those major flaws is probably a lack of a true description of how essence works exactly. For example, understanding of formations do not have levels, but sword essence does. Sword xiu can have epiphanies and modify or level up their sword essence like Zuo Mo did when he merged his two sword essences. Formations are something that has to be constantly studied and is more similar to a puzzle. Magic systems are hard to construct and the lack of formation essence is something that is skipped over. Power systems based on understanding alone is amazingly easy for a main character to level up on. Someone in danger, an insult, a leaf falling to the ground, they are all great excuses for your character to level up.

  Chapter 193: Bountiful Harvest

  When Pu Yao came out, Zuo Mo’s first response was, “Two hours haven’t passed yet!!”

  He was still thinking about the promise that Pu Yao had made. If he could get rid of this group in under two hours he would learn the next move of [Little Thousand Leaf Hands]! Zuo Mo hungered for the [Little Thousand Leaf Hands]. Of the three moves of [Little Thousand Leaf Hands] that he had learned each move had played a crucial role in this battle. The [Little Thousand Leaf Hands] were all very good spells. If they were not powerful then they had special uses.

  Most importantly, what it consumed was spiritual power and not ling power. To Zuo Mo presently, spells that used spiritual power were much more practical than spells that used ling power.

  “I changed my mind,” Pu Yao said.

  Hearing this, Zuo Mo was infuriated, “What did you say? Changed your mind? I just finished busting my ass off, and you changed your mind?”

  Pu Yao waved his hands, he wasn’t angry, “I’ll teach you a move of [Little Thousand Leaf Hands].”

  Zuo Mo’s anger instantly extinguished and turned to curiosity, “Then what did you change your mind about?” One move of [Little Thousand Leaf Hands] being guaranteed he naturally was calm.

  “These people should not be killed,” Pu Yao said, his expression deep.

  “Not be killed?” Zuo Mo stilled, “Keep them for what? These people don’t blink an eye when they kill, it would cause problems to keep them.”

  From any angle, Zuo Mo was not a generous and kind person. Also, to speak of kindness with these wandering bandits that killed without batting an eye, that was purely seeking death. It was better to take everything from their bodies and then kill them.

  “Constructing the Nether Pool requires manual labor,” Pu Yao said.

  “Oh, you aren’t afraid of them rebelling?” Zuo Mo pointed at the crux.

  “I am a Sky Yao!” Pu Yao rolled his eyes. The implicit meaning was, to a honored Sky Yao, this was just a little problem.

  Zuo Mo smirked, and didn’t give him any face, “Sky Yao? Who told me to run back there?”

  Pu Yao paused, his old face slightly red.

  Zuo Mo didn’t dare to provoke this guy. He pointed at the Black Wind Bandits inside the formation, and said, “Manual laborers don’t need talismans, right?”

  Pu Yao waved his hand generously, “No.”

  Zuo Mo looked with some sympathy at the wandering bandits. Landing in the hands of a perverse renyao, it was a fate worse than death! It could be imagined just how dark their future days would be.

  However, Zuo Mo was not kind due to feeling sympathy.

  He and Lil’ Pagoda, one in the light and one in the dark, used the power of the formation to beat the wandering bandits unconscious. Zuo Mo didn’t even leave them any clothing, taking everything, before he contentedly threw a bunch of naked people at Pu Yao.

  ———

  The Skyring Moon Chime Formation and the moon in the sky disappeared from the Desolate Wood Reef. There was nothing left except one big pit after another, showing that a battle had taken place here.

  Bo Feng who had been watching from afar shook his head, his tone carrying wonderment, “It seems all of the Black Wind Bandits are dead.”

  The Black Wind Bandits were dead!

  As the words came out, everyone was shocked. They had been pursuing the Black Wind Bandits recently. The longer they trailed them the more uncertain they felt. The strong strength that the Black Wind Bandits displayed made them lack self-confidence. The only confidence they had was that they had more experts on their side. Bo Feng, Gui Feng, and Chang Heng were ningmai experts that were famous in Sky Moon Jie.

  But even if they had three experts, they had thought if the two sides met it would be a hard battle.

  Who would have thought a zhuji, relying on a formation on an island, in a period of time less than two hours, had completely killed all of the Black Wind Bandits!

  Chang Heng and Gui Feng looked at the Desolate Wood Reef which had resumed its normal appearance and instantly understood. Gui Feng’s expression was full of disbelief. He had fought Zuo Mo before. Any way he viewed Zuo Mo, Zuo Mo should not have grown to such a point that he could kill all of the Black Wind Bandits by himself. If it was Wei Sheng, he would have found it somewhat possible.

  Cheng Heng looked much more composed. Even the light in his eyes had dimmed greatly. He seemed to be pondering something.

  ———

  Zuo Mo did not know people were watching him. He was contentedly checking his spoils, Lil’ Pagoda observing from the side. Silly Bird had ran out. However, Silly Bird was much more composed than Lil’ Pagoda, raising her neck up high, her attitude proud as she stepped her little bird steps, as though she thought of jingshi as dirt. However, the occasional glance out of the corner of her eye revealed her nefarious aims. The black gold worm directly burrowed into the little mountain and didn’t come out.

  The other shidi came out. They felt as though they were dreaming.

  They first saw Zuo Mo Shixiong, and then they saw the mountains of talismans and jingshi!

  After that, they turned to stone.

  Zuo Mo’s eyes were bright, saliva dripping out of the corner of his mouth that he did not wipe away.

  Good things! Good things!

  He picked up one, and then picked up another, his expression intoxicated and occasionally laughed.

  However, the practical Zuo Mo decided he needed to check his personal wealth. He might have made a mountain of profit, but he had also spent a lot. No matter if it was Golden Crow Fire, or yin fire bead, they were not cheap. The cost of recovery for his wounds, and the nurturing of the Buddha Sound Hoop were also not going to be a small number!

  He needed to break even.

  Click-clack, click-clack, Zuo Mo started to pick through the pile. He rejoiced that he had the experience of processing materials with the Stalagmite fire before. The numbers of items that had passed through his hands was enormous, and helped create his keen pair of eyes.

  The profits this time were very rich. There were more than a hundred flying swords, but their grades weren’t very high. The highest grade was Zhang Hao’s heavy sword, fourth-grade, the sword body was ancient and thick, extremely heavy in the hand, and carved with “Mountain Opener.”

  Other than flying swords, there was a variety of talismans that broadened Zuo Mo’s horizons. There were some extremely obscure ones, like nets. One Blue Light Net, third-grade, when it left the hand it would become a blue ball of light, if one came close then it would turn into an enormous net that would quickly close.

  The wealth of the zhuji was limited. Those that were rich were the several ningmai, especially Zhang Hao. This guy had two dimensional rings to start with, and the riches inside were numerous. Also, the guy had been very picky, and what he had kept were very good items.

  Like the materials he collected were not of low grade. The majority were third-grade, and he had some fourth-grade materials.

  What excited Zuo Mo the most were five fox teeth. These five fox teeth clearly came from the same yao fox. Each tooth was pure white with no impurities, shining like porcelain. A fragrance that was like orchids and
plums spread. The appearance showed it definitely belonged to the top third-grade materials.

  The quality of the Water Drop sword was very good. If he forged in the fourth-grade Crimson Fire Rock that he had, the two qualities of fire and water could reach the demands of Li Water sword essence. Adding on the Teeth Vine, and these five fox teeth, and the Blue Icicle Crystal he had traded for from the red-robed male, he had managed to gather the materials for four of the five flying swords. Instantly, he felt the five essence sword set was not far.

  He was only lacking proper earth-based material before his five essence sword set could be realized!

  Most of the talismans on Zhang Hao’s body were not ordinary, but most had been damaged. Zuo Mo felt a great pain. Those were all lost jingshi!

  The other talisman that peaked Zuo Mo’s interest was a cloak. This cloak was called [Shadowless]. It was as thin as a cicada’s wing and hard to detect with the naked eye. If worn on the body, it would seem to disappear. However, even though he could not see it, Zuo Mo could still feel the existence of the cloak. This [Shadowless] cloak’s only purpose was to conceal his body. Zuo Mo was even more surprised that it was a fourth-grade cloak!

  He tried it on, and the effect was outstanding. He couldn’t find a trace even if he used his consciousness to search.

  Good thing!

  This was definitely a good thing!

  Zuo Mo instantly recognized the value of the cloak. This was a wonderful talisman to make an escape! If things were going badly, he could wrap the cloak around his body and no one could find him.

  He found it somewhat strange the person he had killed didn’t use a talisman as good as this, and used a third-grade cloak.

  What Zuo Mo didn’t realize was the Black Wind Bandits had run rampant for years. Other than being defeated by Wei Sheng recently, when had they ever been forced to escape? When Zhang Hao first got the cloak, he treasured it. Then he found he didn’t have a use for it at all. While the cloak could conceal him, it basically had no defensive power, so Zhang Hao switched to a third-grade talisman that could increase his defenses and was beneficial to charging and fighting.

  Zuo Mo naturally wouldn’t be polite, cheerfully putting the cloak on.

  With two extremely fine talismans as the opener, Zuo Mo instantly looked down at the remaining talismans.

  However, these people all had a unique quality of carrying many jingshi on their body. Zuo Mo understood after thinking about it. These wandering bandits travelled everywhere. Nothing was as useful as jingshi, so they could buy whatever when they got somewhere.

  All of this was Zuo Mo’s now. This was an enormous sum. Like Zhang Hao. He had more than ten pieces of just fourth-grade jingshi.

  When he put all the jingshi in front of him, he was stunned! He felt that his eyes were filled with jingshi.

  Even the best talisman, if put together with jingshi of equivalent value, it didn’t have the same effect as piles of jingshi.

  After a long while, he finally recovered from the shock of the mountain of jingshi, his blank eyes becoming clear.

  He took a deep breath, and hurriedly swept the jingshi into his ring. Continuing to judge the other talismans, his mind was slightly inattentive.

  “Hm!” Pu Yao’s voice suddenly came into Zuo Mo’s ears.

  Zuo Mo shook and suddenly refocused. He found that Pu Yao had appeared at some unknown time beside him.

  Pu Yao stared at a white bone on his hand, his eyes unmoving.

  Zuo Mo instinctively waved the bone, “Problem?”

  Pu Yao was still staring at the bone, his hand reaching out, “Let me see.”

  “Oh,” Zuo Mo instinctively handed over the bone.

  Once he handed it over, he instantly realized, and regret blossomed. He was an idiot. Something that even Pu Yao was interested in, it definitely was something good!

  Having landed in Pu Yao’s hands, it definitely was using meat buns to hit a dog, it would never return!

  As expected, Pu Yao flipped his hand, and the bone disappeared. He was very natural in saying, “Oh, I’ll take the bone.”

  Zuo Mo instantly wanted to spit blood. He knew he definitely wouldn’t be able to take it back. He responded quickly, “Then what do you trade for it?”

  “I’ll give you a batch of little yao guards,” Pu Yao didn’t give Zuo Mo the grounds to bargain.

  “Little yao guards? What’s that?” Zuo Mo’s attention was instantly attracted.

  Pu Yao snickered, “You’ll know when it is time.” Finishing, he disappeared.

  Dejectedly, Zuo Mo could only go back to his pile of talismans in hopes he would find a few more fine ones. It was a pity that his good luck seemed to have been used up. The rest were all very average and made him even more depressed.

  When he finished sorting out the last talisman, he suddenly heard a light laugh from the sky,“Brother Zuo really had a good harvest!”

  * * *

  Translator Ramblings: Yes, the crocodile spikes are water element as well, but since he already has the sword to stand in for the water element, the spikes are not needed for his sword set.

  Zuo Mo best phrase = “Will this make jingshi? Time is jingshi!”

  Zuo Mo is an independent person without any support net who has to worry about his living expenses and how to survive. Rivals, bullies, and “mortal enemies” drop down the priority list when a person is trying to not starve. In a dog-eat-dog world, it is a luxury for those that have money and spare time to indulge in. Those who are low level workers on the poverty line like Zuo Mo and Old Black think more about survival. Don’t expect young-master syndrome until we really meet some rich people.

  Chapter 194: Golden Armor Guards

  Zuo Mo looked warily at the three unwelcomed guests in the sky.

  The one that spoke was a yellow-faced man. Zuo Mo recognized him. It was the mysterious person he had fought in the Sword Test Conference. The two people behind him was Chang Heng and the other was Gui Feng. How did these three get together? he muttered inside.

  And these three appeared at this time was that a coincidence? More likely it was that the three of them had hid and wanted to gain something. Seeing that he had won, they could only come out and greet him.

  Zuo Mo was at the end of his rope. He didn’t dare to let these three people inside. The three were stronger than him and he had just also made a fortune. If the three became greedy, he might not be able to keep his little life.

  “This little brother just has gone through a big battle and is heavily injured, and greatly needs rest. There is no time to greet everyone. Please pardon me!” Finishing, he rushed away.

  That nimble and agile movement, did he look like he was heavily injured?

  The three people in the air were speechless. They had assumed that Zuo Mo would exchange pleasantries, and they could find ways of getting closer. But they had underestimated Zuo Mo’s lack of shame, in turning and leaving. They couldn’t do a thing.

  If they forcefully landed now, that was taking advantage and declaring they possessed malicious aims. The three people didn’t care about those fake reputations, but when they saw the huge holes in the ground, they instantly dismissed the idea of charging in.

  Personally seeing the Black Wind Bandits be destroyed the three were very wary of the formation on Desolate Wood Reef.

  Zuo Mo ignored the three people. If they really dared to charge into the Desolate Wood Reef, he would even gamble on destroying the Buddha Sound Hoop to fight them to the death.

  When he saw the three standing outside the island, his heart relaxed slightly. He secretly sent Lil’ Pagoda out to guard. He threw the Buddha Sound Hoop back into the lava fire formation to be nurtured again and started to heal himself.

  This time, the level of damage to his body was far beyond his predictions, especially since he had kept on fighting with these wounds, and had used medicinal power to suppress the injuries. On the surface, there didn’t seem to any problems, but in reality, he had serious inter
nal injuries.

  Luckily, Master had prepared many lingdan for him before he left. He hadn’t thought he would need to use it so early.

  He shoved a lingdan into his mouth and meditated.

  As the lingdan entered his mouth, it turned to a stream of coldness that flowed with the circulation of his ling power, spreading to every corner of his body. The hidden heat of his organs instantly decreased. He felt unspeakably comfortable.

  ———

  Forty-two people were soaking in the black pond. Their eyes were closed, occasionally having expressions of pain. Threads of smoke silently entered their body from the black pond water and then slowly spread out.

  Pu Yao’s eyes landed on the three ningmai Black Wind Bandits. They were completely covered in black, looking like coal. A small bump had risen on the foreheads of the three people as though something was going to grow out.

  Pu Yao played with the white bone in his hand, speaking to himself, “Didn’t think I would see ancient dragon bone here. The brat really has good luck. Oh, using it on ningmai trash, it really is a waste!”

  As he sighed, he slightly applied force. Pa, the white bone broke into pieces.

  His hand rising, the ancient dragon bone power turned to three white arrows that burrowed inside the bodies of the three ningmai.

  The three ningmai instantly started to shake like dice, their black faces twisted with expressions of extreme pain. Suddenly, their black skin started to ripple and a layer of scale-like material continuously came out.

  In just this little while, the three had completely changed. Their bodies were covered by a dense layer of white scales like it was a layer of thick armor. The bump on their foreheads continued to grow. Pew, a sharp black horn broke through the skin, and only stopped when it grew to three cun long.