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

by Fang Xiang

  If a troop only had sword xiu, the enemy only needed to stop their first wave of attacks. Large scale sword xiu fatalities would only follow this as the sword xiu began to tire.

  Okay, in reality, he didn’t need so many transformations. Gongsun Cha could only tell himself this.

  ———

  In any case, after leaving Little Mountain Jie, everyone would split up. Zuo Shixiong had told him this multiple times. The reason was very simple. They couldn’t support such a large group.

  On this matter, Zuo Mo did not lie.

  If one wasn’t in charge, they did not know the price of food and supplies. Zuo Mo felt the pressure already with forty people. Especially in Little Mountain Jie where the only things that could replenish ling power were ling grains and jingshi. Yet the intensity of training could not be lessened. They were racing for time against the yao army.

  The later they left Little Mountain Jie, the higher the danger.

  Jingshi had side effects and could not be used in large amounts so the expenditure was not as high as ling grains. Zuo Mo quickly could not support it any longer.

  “It’s not going to work if we keep going like this,” Zuo Mo said decisively. “The ling grains I have are only enough to support us for another half a month.”

  “Half a month … …” Gongsun Cha looked at Zuo Mo, “what should we do?”

  “Battle to feed battle!” Zuo Mo did not hesitate to say.

  “We can only do this.” Gongsun Cha felt helpless. These forty people were still far from what he demanded. However, he had no solutions to the problem that Zuo Mo stated.

  However, he instantly thought of the necklace he had mentioned before. “Have the talismans been made?”

  “I’ve grasped the method,” Zuo Mo spread his hands, “But there aren’t enough materials.”

  With that, Gongsun Cha completely cut off his thoughts about the Same Heart necklace, assembling the forty people and departing instantly.

  Zuo Mo actually wanted to go with them, but thinking about Chun Yu Cheng who was still at the beast pool, he decided to stay and protect the base. The three Golden Armor Guards were also kept behind. Of course, he said, since it was a true battle, then it should be a treated as real one.

  To guarantee safety, Zuo Mo had set up formations around the mountain valley. Most of those were illusory formations. Right now, his skill with formations had grown. Little illusory formations and little killing formations were interlocked. The power wasn’t high, but to distract the enemy, it was more than enough.

  Yin fire beads, seal soldiers, Golden Armor Guards, adding on the illusory traps, his safety was quite secure.

  ———

  Gongsun Cha took his forty subordinates and slowly progressed.

  In terms of prosperity, Little Mountain Jie could not compare to Sky Moon Jie. Naturally, there were not as many experts here as Sky Moon Jie. However, if it was in terms of harshness, Sky Moon Jie could not compare with the present Little Mountain Jie. Twenty eight ningmai, in Sky Moon Jie, it was not an insignificant force, but in the present Little Mountain Jie, it wasn’t anything.

  The reason was very simple. Those xiuzhe of lesser strength had already died.

  Those that could survive until now were all ones with some skill and intelligence. Under such cruel conditions, the peak of zhuji was the bottom line of survival. Ningmai first stratum was normal, ningmai second stratum was enough to become the elite of a small troop, and ningmai third stratum was enough to enter the rank of experts. As for jindan, there was just one.

  These individuals similar to the Golden Armor Guards, their cultivation was between first and second stratum of ningmai, but their true power was far beyond normal ningmai second stratum. The yao guards forged from ancient dragon bone, Golden Crow Fire, and the Nether Pool, could normal people compare?

  Three sword xiu formed a combat unit. Three combat units, one at the forward position, two at their sides, formed a triangle. They were the frontline guards. Gongsun Cha picked the sword xiu that could fly the fastest.

  The other ten combat units maintained a distance between each other. Ma Fan was alone as he weaved through these units.

  Three people to an unit was Gongsun Cha’s response to his lack of means. The Three Talent Formation was the simplest formation, but these people still had not familiarized themselves with it yet, and this was just the simplest formation.

  In large scale battles, what was crucial was the tactics.

  But just forty people … …

  If this was on a large scale battlefield, they wouldn’t even form the smallest and most basic combat unit. To command such a small group, what was most important was formations and cooperation. Formations was something unique to xiuzhe. From the most basic Three Talent Formation to the super large formations that required tens of thousands of xiuzhe to set up, they could all increase battle strength.

  Take for example the Three Talent Formation. In the formation, the three people’s energies would be merged, and they could communicate, increasing the connection between them. It was a very practical and useful formation. Some higher level formations would have killing moves unique to them. If they were activated, they were so strong the sky would change color.

  However, it was not so easy to make a formation. Everyone inside the formation needed to accurately remember their position and the variations. This group hadn’t even grasped the most basic Three Talent Formation, the difficulty of such formations could be imagined.

  Formations might be able to increase battle power, but they were not for all purposes. In battle, the situation could change in an instant. What it tested was the perception abilities of the commander, their quick response, and the cooperation between their comrades.

  Gongsun Cha stood at the very center of the troop. Several of the most powerful were beside him. Ma Fan wandered around nearby.

  Glancing at Ma Fan, Gongsun Cha was very satisfied. Out of everyone, Ma Fan was the one most important to him. Other than his strong battle power, he had comprehension that was stronger than other people, and he could always quickly understand Gongsun Cha’s intentions.

  So Gongsun Cha did not hesitate to make him part of the core, and custom-made a battle tactics centred on him.

  Just at this time, the front passed on news. There was a situation!

  A flash of faint red rose and left Gongsun Cha’s soft and delicate face. His first battle had come!

  * * *

  Translator Ramblings: Gongsun Cha is the first person to find out that Zuo Mo has someone else helping him. I like how he doesn’t even press. Since they are all on the same side, more help is better than nothing.

  I hope “sustain battle through battle” is self-explanatory. What Gongsun Cha wants to do is fight, win, and then put resources into expansion so they can fight and capture more. They do not have enough resources at this point to expand on their own and this is a risky strategy because you have no backup if you lose a few battles because the army will run out of resources and manpower. Essentially, don’t do this unless you have nothing to lose.

  Chapter 216: Gongsun Cha’s First Battle

  It had been so hard to think of the yin fire bead, but the result was that he couldn’t find yin fiend grounds and form yin beads.

  It had been so hard to understand how to forge the Same Heart necklace, but the result was that there weren’t enough materials. Luckily, that Same Heart necklace wasn’t damaged, and had been given back to Gongsun Cha.

  Zuo Mo was depressed but he still did what he had to do. He needed to cultivate his consciousness. There was no way around it. Jinzhi was a good thing, but it consumed consciousness and it was a eternal consumption.

  As to practicing sword scriptures, Zuo Mo didn’t have that much interest. His five essence sword set had been forged. Even though there was a distance until it was perfect but he was very content with the present progress.

  The power of the five essence sword set was very high. At the time, his idea
had been very original, but now, he discovered he had made a fatal mistake. The sword formation was formed, but there was no accompanying sword scripture that he could cultivate. Of the five sword essence, other than [Li Water Sword Scripture] and [Ice Dragon Sword Scripture], he only had the appearance but not the substance of the other sword essences

  Basically, his five essence sword formation was a paper tiger.

  This made him very discontent.

  Anyone would not be happy. Spending so many good materials, putting in so much effort, but having made such useless things. However, he temporarily did not have a solution so he could only put it away.

  He didn’t practice the move of [Little Thousand Leaf Hands] that Pu Yao gave him. All of his spiritual power was given to jinzhi in this while. He didn’t even need to think about body cultivation either. Any earth energy he gathered would be given in tribute to Pu Yao in the end. It had been a long time since he had done body cultivation. Even though he knew that drawing out the earth energy was good for him, but at this point in time, it really wasn’t worth the cost.

  He put the most time on formations. To break through Little Mountain Jie, there were only two paths. One was increasing his own strength. If he could reach jindan, the other jindan would not block him. However, was it possible? Completely impossible!

  The other path was what he was doing now, increasing the strength on his hands. Everything to do with commanding the group, he threw to Gongsun Cha. He believed in this battle maniac. He would definitely express the desire for battle which was concealed under those feminine and delicate features.

  The remaining question was, what could he do?

  Zuo Mo didn’t want to wait around when it came to his own little life, and put all his hopes on Gongsun Shidi.

  Therefore, an extremely weighty and meaningful question was put in front of him – how could he increase the power of a group quickly?

  Talismans, he threw that away. He didn’t even have enough materials to make the same heart necklace, much less anything else. He did have a lot of materials but that was only if he considered only himself. If he included everyone, there really wasn’t enough. Like the grandiose talismans of the Golden Armor Guards, there wouldn’t be enough money even if Zuo Mo sold himself.

  Lingdan, Zuo Mo quickly threw away this method. Zuo Mo himself had never encountered lingdan that could increase cultivation. Slightly less effective were those support-type lingdan. He could make a batch, but against a jindan, it wasn’t enough.

  What was left? Formations.

  Zuo Mo’s topic of study was the mo matrix. In the beginning, he hadn’t thought of the mo matrix at all. It was completely due to being forced by the lack of ling grains that he had an extraordinarily daring idea. He could carve mo matrixes on all these xiuzhe. The thin ling energy in the air, after automatically gathering under the power of the mo matrix, was very substantial. Even more importantly, they would be able to use the ling power of the jingshi and not have to worry about the impurities of the jingshi harming their bodies.

  In comparison, the ling power in the jingshi was much richer than in the ling grains.

  Of course, his rational mind suppressed this insane idea.

  Right now, they were at war with the yaomo. If he took a group of people with mo matrix carved on them out, there would be only one outcome, being killed for being yaomo.

  He had never felt how valuable the mo matrix was before. Now, he had a deep experience of the benefits of the mo matrix. If he couldn’t carve the mo matrix, then he could go back a step. Didn’t Pu Yao say that the essence of the mo matrix was formations?

  As long as he could find the formations that could purify the impurities in the ling power, and the formations that could automatically gather ling, wouldn’t the problem be solved?

  He had a ready example of the mo matrix. Due to the mo matrix being on his body, and his extremely sensitive consciousness, he could clearly feel every change inside the mo matrix.

  The simple-looking mo matrix was far more complex than he had imagined. Zuo Mo’s skill in formations was not low now, especially after having studied the micro formations in dan-making. The formations in the mo matrix had some similarities to those.

  Other than formations, there were many pictures that seemed decorative, yet were extremely similar to formations. If he wanted to understand which were useful, and which were not, it would take three to five years.

  But in Zuo Mo’s hands, this became a very simple matter. He only had to use his consciousness to sweep across, and then he could clearly detect it.

  However, this was just the first step. Even though he had gotten rid of many of the distractions, but the remainder was still hard to work out. Not every formation would have a visible effect, but once they were removed, the entire mo matrix would lose its effect. Other than that, there were some semi-formation constructs. These semi-formation constructs would form a very special kind of formation with Zuo Mo’s flesh and blood.

  This was probably these constructs that merged the formations with flesh and blood.

  Luckily, this degree of difficulty wasn’t enough to scare Zuo Mo. The yao army was like a guillotine hanging over Zuo Mo’s head. Thinking of breaking through Little Mountain Jie was enough to motivate him.

  The present Zuo Mo seemed more like a production xiuzhe.

  Alright, he had always been a production xiuzhe, Zuo Mo smiled in self-disdain.

  He probably would have never thought that his actions made Pu Yao jump in fright. Pu Yao naturally had his own aims when he had carved the mo matrix and added the yao seed for Zuo Mo. But he never would have expected Zuo Mo to progress so quickly.

  In the sea of consciousness, Pu Yao’s expression was heavy as he kept a close look.

  Does this guy know just how terrifying the things he was studying right now were … …

  ———

  Gongsun Cha’s luck was not too good. He had encountered a troop of about sixty people. A troop of sixty people could be considered to be quite organized. It wasn’t easy to support such a troop. This time, the groups that were still active all were not ordinary. Little Mountain Jie didn’t have any low hanging fruit left.

  The two sides did not exchange pleasantries.

  Gongsun Cha did not feel he needed to say anything. This was a habit he had formed during War Chess. Pu Yao didn’t like to chit chat with his enemies before starting to fight. Having encountered an opponent that used everything, it could be imagined what habits Gongsun Cha had.

  On the other side, the people felt that they had twice as many people, and the chance of victory was high. Also, a group of forty people definitely had some supplies, and probably wouldn’t be that poor.

  So the two sides did not speak and the battle instantly heated up.

  Gongsun Cha was slightly nervous at the beginning, but when he saw the other side rush forward in messy groups, he smiled. A very warm and sweet smile.

  The combat units closest to the front retreated slightly.

  The other side clearly had many of the habits from individual fights. Many of the xiuzhe attacked at the same time, sword energies flying high. Since there were many of their fellows in the surroundings, they were even more brave, and naturally did not keep anything back when they attacked.

  Several dozen sword energies gathered like a roaring dragon.

  Of the three combat units that were ordered to retreat, one of the units were half a beat slower, and instantly were shredded to pieces.

  Seeing that three people had died, the group became even more brave, charging forward towards the people who were retreating.

  Having lost three people, Gongsun Cha didn’t even bat an eyelid.

  Just as the forward combat units were retreating, the two combat units on the second row moved forward.

  Six sword energies suddenly erupted between the two combat units that were retreating.

  Pew pew pew!

  The four sword xiu that had been charging at the front, a
nd were struck at full force. Blood sprayed out!

  The sudden change made the xiuzhe at the front panic for a beat, their charge slightly pausing.

  At the same time, the two combat units that had been retreating suddenly reversed direction, six sword energies leaving their hands!

  Another three unlucky souls were hit.

  Before they could respond, the three combat units that had been silently moving forward fifty zhang did not hesitate to start a third wave of attack.

  Nine sword energies sent out with full force turned into a net. The other side had charged too fast, their group densely packed together. The results were astounding!

  Five xiuzhe were killed!

  The head of the other side changed expression. With one attack, the losses were three to twelve, this made him slightly panic. The three waves of attack on the other side clearly had been planned. It was like a tide, one wave after the other, not giving them any chance to think.

  Expert!

  He smelled danger, but what calmed him down was that the speed on both sides had slowed down. The following battle would be prolonged combat. His side had the advantage of numbers and a higher possibility of victory.

  “Charge and scatter them! Then hold on to them! Kill!” He shouted, his voice ringing out. He had confidence in his ningmai second stratum cultivation. Coldly snorting, he took his flying sword, and entered the chaotic fray!

  The distance between the two sides narrowed. No one had the space to charge.

  Gongsun Cha did not move. There was a combat unit protecting him. Four people were standing outside the battle, yet no one seemed to notice him.

  Having seen the good results from the three section wave killing charge, his expression did not move, but the hands hidden in his sleeves were tightly fisted! He had copied this from the mysterious person in War Chess. However, the mysterious person was much more effective when he used it. Gongsun Cha had suffered greatly under this maneuver, always collapsing when he encountered it.