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

by Fang Xiang

  Pu Yao was full of scorn in his words about the dhyana xiu. He continued icily, “Mo understand body cultivation, but there is a world of difference there. Those slightly better body cultivation mo arts all have strict inheritance rules. Hmph, hmph, the inheritance of yaomo is much stricter than xiuzhe.”

  “How do yaomo inherit?” Zuo Mo was full of interest and asked in curiosity.

  “The best inheritances in the mo jies are mostly in the hands of mo above the level of general. They are warlords, ruling over large numbers of lower level mo in their territories. In any of the mo jie, inheritances represent strength. In order to learn an inheritance, one has to continuously give their loyalty to their master. In the future, if you encounter a mo army, you have to be careful.”

  “Why? Are they even stronger than the yao army?” Zuo Mo was slightly shocked. In his experience, the yao army he had seen that day was so strong that he didn’t even any thoughts of resisting.

  “The yao army obeys commands as one, but in terms of obedience, no army can compare to the mo armies. The military laws of the mo armies are so strict that no one is above them. Any mo general will have hundreds of subordinates that are willing to die for him. Brave, not afraid of death, and fanatical obedience. As long as the mo general is not too dumb, any troop would have a headache when faced against them.”

  “They aren’t afraid of death?” Zuo Mo didn’t understand. He found it hard to comprehend this kind of loyalty. It was not that he did not believe in this kind of loyalty, but he felt that this kind of loyalty would only appear on a few select people. If a whole troop was not afraid of death, then it was too scary!

  “Because of mo skill inheritances. Any kind of high level mo skill inheritances will have its own unique intelligence awakening technique that can bestow thought. What you people might say is that mo are born from intelligence beasts. In reality, to be able to be called mo, there is one condition, that their intelligence has been awakened. Behind every mo is their clan. But to become mo, their intelligence must be awakened. Only beasts that have their intelligence awakened can cultivate mo skills. If they die, their clan would benefit, and will receive more opportunities to awaken the intelligences of more mo. These are the rules that any mo general in any mo jie would abide by.”

  “Why don’t people awaken some more?” Zuo Mo asked.

  “Awakening a mo intelligence comes at a price,” Pu Yao looked at Zuo Mo, and said, “There are those that are naturally born intelligent, but the number is very low. Those mo are very talented in cultivation.”

  “But then, doesn’t it mean that they forever have to be subordinates?”

  “They aren’t stupid.” Pu Yao smiled icily and said, “Joining the army, there is a chance to receive low level mo skill inheritances. The military achievements they accumulate can be used to trade for better inheritances. Even though it cannot be the top mo skills, but the inheritances they receive can be given to their clan members. If they can comprehend the technique to awaken the intelligence on their own, their clan will start to walk on the road to prosperity. As though whether the clan can become a Family, it depends on their fortune.”

  “How do yao have inheritances?” Zuo Mo was even more curious.

  “The clans of yao are even more complex than that of xiuzhe and mo. Over there, it is very easy to learn low level knowledge.” Pu Yao had a reminiscent expression. “Our reproduction is not as difficult as the mo. Newborn yao would be educated in their clans. When they reach a certain age, they will all be arranged to enter a yao art house, and learn higher level yao arts there. The best that graduate from the yao art houses would have chances to follow more powerful yao and learn even higher level yao arts.”

  Zuo Mo gaped as he listened. He had always assumed that the world of yaomo was full of chaos and killing. But listening to Pu Yao, it seemed that they were even more peaceful than the xiuzhe jie.

  Seemingly having guessed Zuo Mo’s thoughts, Pu Yao smiled coldly. “Don’t think of it as so beautiful. Machinations in the shadows are never lacking anywhere you go.” When he got to there, Pu Yao seemed to have thought of some displeasing matter, his face slightly ugly.

  Zuo Mo twisted his mouth. Pu Yao was too ungenerous. It had been thousands of years, but this guy was still holding a grudge. In the future, he could not offend the other. The guy really held grudges.

  Pu Yao’s introduction completely changed Zuo Mo’s impression of yaomo.

  “Your strength is not powerful, and you’ve learned many things. Even though it is a bit chaotic, but it’s not as though there are no benefits.” Pu Yao continued, “The [Vajra Profound Sutra] it gave you is rough, but it’s truly a mo skill. As for ling power, no matter if it is spells or manipulation, or control, you are not less than any other xiuzhe. There’s nothing that needs to be said about spiritual power. Star spiritual cultivation, Great and Little Thousand Leaf Hands, they are all the best of yao arts.”

  “Also, you are skilled in formations. This is especially important,” Pu Yao discussed like one learned in many areas of knowledge, “No matter if it is xiu spells, yao arts, or mo skills, at the core their essence is the laws of the world. If you do not understand formations and practice all three kinds, you will end up with a terrible mixture. Three kinds of power, they have changed and transformed over the long months and years, and now walk on different paths. However, formations are something that can connect all three together.”

  When he got to there, Pu Yao became careful. “I do not know what you will become in the future because there has never been a precedent. The formations of xiuzhe were the first to develop and the most complete, but xiuzhe do not know much of yaomo so I’ve never heard of anyone having a breakthrough in this area.”

  “Why?” Zuo Mo found it very strange that xiuzhe would disregard this. They had fought against yaomo for so many years, but why would xiuzhe still know so little about yaomo?

  Pu Yao wanted to rolled his eyes and mock Zuo Mo for his ignorance about history, but upon further thought, he managed to resist it, and patiently explained, “Jingshi and talismans are more effective. As long as there are enough materials, the strength of a xiuzhe would quickly grow. No matter if it is a mo skill or a yao art, even though it can be aided by external forces, but they’re very limited and far slower than using jingshi and talismans. Also, mo skills and yao arts are not suited for ling power. The more they are practiced, the more heterogeneous it becomes. Why are sword xiu strong? Because they only cultivate ling power, only cultivate the sword. They only need more jingshi, better materials, stronger talismans and flying swords! In reality, the path of xiuzhe is to steal, increasingly professional theft.”

  Zuo Mo didn’t know how to reply. Upon further thought, while he felt that Pu Yao’s words were slightly ugly, but they held some truth.

  “However,” Pu Yao’s tone turned and became full of scorn as he said, “by taking advantage of outside sources in the long term, they comprehend less. Even though I do not know what the situation is like at present, but if I have not guessed incorrectly, the true experts of the xiuzhe are probably fewer in number than thousands of years ago. Ha ha!”

  Tilting his head, Zuo Mo didn’t know. Sky Moon Jie was a small place, he didn’t know anything about the outside world. He unconcernedly shrugged his shoulders. “Never mind them, let’s first take care of ourselves.”

  Pu Yao snickered and didn’t speak.

  After Pu Yao’s guidance, Zuo Mo felt his own thoughts were clear and distinct. He had a general understanding of his future cultivation. Ling power, body, and consciousness, they represented the three separate areas of xiu spells, mo skills, and yao arts. The three were connected together by a single bridge, formations.

  His confidence had increased from when he had analyzed and identified the three formations from the [Copper Rhinoceros Mo Matrix].

  At this time, he suddenly found some points that he had disregarded before. For example, the growth of his consciousness was enormously beneficial
for control of ling power. Didn’t his own fine control of ling power come from his spiritual power, which was far above those of the same cultivation as him?

  He suddenly had a feeling that his own ling power would most likely change after his body cultivation improved.

  He couldn’t help but be full of anticipation!

  * * *

  Translator Ramblings: More of Pu, some yaomo history and society, and Zuo Mo getting educated in what the world really is like. Zuo Mo is coming from a very well protected place of his own ignorance and the small piece of life he was exposed to. Losing memory is almost a better way of getting exposition and world-building than having someone time-travel where the author can just match and use modern-day terms. In summary, Zuo Mo has the best body cultivation similar to that of a mo, the best spiritual teachings that a yao can get, but his knowledge and education that a xiuzhe could have sucks by comparison. It’s just a little bit ironic.

  Chapter 225: Breakthrough in Body Cultivation

  Before Zuo Mo had formed his abinna, Gongsun Cha had already taken Stone Door Beach. The high efficiency made Zuo Mo gape in awe.

  The losses this time were smaller than the previous, and the xiuzhe captured were more numerous than last time as well.

  Included in this group was the head of the group, Xie Shan. When he saw the Three Section Wave Killing Charge that Gongsun Cha had formed, he understood that the strength of the two sides were not on the same level. Even though there was not a large difference in terms of numbers, his rationality urged him to choose surrender.

  After he had surrendered and learned that the other had attacked them just for the Rotten Metal Silver mine of Stone Door Beach, he was so depressed he almost spat blood. If he knew beforehand, he wouldn’t have hesitated in giving it to them. In the present Little Mountain Jie, who wanted a mine?

  If there were no puppets or xiu slaves, the cost to mining could not be imagined. Xie Shan could not understand, no matter how hard he thought why this group of people would want the mine. However, while he could not understand the other side’s intentions, he could clearly see the difference in power.

  The xiuzhe that had survived until now all had keen eyes, and a person that could lead a group couldn’t just rely on his ningmai third stratum cultivation. Xie Shan naturally had his own unique characteristics. He could see that the group was well trained, not a group of wandering and loose soldiers, and definitely had a deep background.

  However, when he was told that jinzhi was going to be put into him, he was dumbstruck. When he saw Zuo Mo, he was dumbstruck again.

  A guy of ningmai first stratum … …

  Zuo Mo was well-versed in how to set down jinzhi. It only took a little while for jinzhi to be put into the bodies of this group of people. Naturally, jinzhi were not infallible. If someone’s cultivation reached jindan, the jinzhi would become ineffective.

  In this group, the one with the highest hope of becoming jindan was Xie Shan. However, it was just a possibility. The difficulty of breaking into jindan was much higher than entering ningmai. After entering ningmai, ling power would start a constant increase. Reaching the level of third stratum was mostly dependent on an accumulation of ling power, but to breakthrough from ningmai to jindan, it also required comprehension.

  Zuo Mo did not worry in the slightest. Of course, the most important reason was that worrying was useless.

  The new camp was set at Stone Door Beach. Chun Yu Cheng’s beast pool was also moved over. When the three Golden Armor Guards appeared in Xie Shan’s vision, Xie Shan finally accepted his fate. The cultivation of the Golden Armor Guards did not seem as high as his, but the aura of danger that surrounded their entire body made his heart shudder. When he saw the date seed ship, the last bit of resistance in his mind dissipated.

  Not anyone could possess a jingshi talisman.

  In this period of time, other than body cultivation, Zuo Mo had done something else. He had carved the three formations from the [Copper Rhinoceros Mo Matrix] onto the three Golden Armor Guards. With these three formations, the Golden Armor Guards would continuously absorb ling power, and then temper their bodies. Even though Pu Yao had not explicitly stated the origins of the Golden Armor Guards, but Zuo Mo had guessed it. After he had asked Pu Yao, he was informed that the reason these three Golden Armor Guards were so strong was due to having used such quality materials such as ancient dragon bone and Nether water.

  It was not possible to buy ancient dragon bone when one wanted too, and all of the Nether water had been used up in the previous matter. It was temporarily impossible to make new Golden Armor Guards. Zuo Mo tried to think of ways to increase the strength of the Golden Armor Guards. Even more, where else could he find such good experiment subjects like the Golden Armor Guards? Zuo Mo didn’t need to worry at all about making a mistake when he carved the formations.

  In Zuo Mo’s view, the reason that the Golden Armor Guards could not increase in strength was that they could not keep cultivating like xiuzhe could. There were no real differences between Golden Armor Guards and the puppets, they both manipulated the power they already possessed. The three formations that he carved onto the Golden Armor Guards could continuously temper their bodies. With the continuous influx of ling power, theoretically, there was a possibility that the three Golden Armor Guards could improve.

  This was only a theoretical speculation.

  After moving to Stone Door Beach, the most important matter was to make Black Processing Meditation mats. Zuo Mo made one hundred paper puppets and threw them into the mining pit. The mine already showed signs of excavation. Rotten Metal Silver was not a valuable material, and was easy to sell. To any sect, this mine was a steady source of income.

  Lil’ Pagoda was set in command of using the paper puppets to mine. The difficulty of mining the ore was extremely low at this location which was why paper puppets could be used. If it was a much more complex and dangerous mine, it would require higher level puppets.

  Quickly, Rotten Metal Silver ore was continuously delivered to Zuo Mo’s hands. Zuo Mo used the Golden Crow Fire to process the ore. Rotten Metal Silver was extremely malleable and had a metallic sheen. It would naturally form with unique holes that made it look like rotten pieces of metal.

  With the Rotten Metal Silver, Zuo Mo immediately made large quantities of the Black Processing Meditation mats. When the people under him personally experienced the benefits of the Black Processing Meditation mats, everyone held their mats with a death grip, afraid someone would steal it. Everyone understood what this Black Processing Meditation mat meant. As long as they had a Black Processing Meditation mat, they did not have to fight anymore with other people for ling grains, and did not have to worry that their cultivation would collapse one day due to lack of ling grains and die.

  The enthusiasm of the troop towards training suddenly increased. With the Black Processing Meditation mat, they could cultivate like they did before to increase their cultivation. For any cultivator, there was nothing that could move them more than this fact.

  In such a harsh environment, without any pressure from Gongsun Cha, everyone trained with their life. The Black Processing Meditation mat allowed them to see the hope of leveling up. They were also completely won over by Gongsun Cha’s battle tactics after two battles.

  No one wanted to die. Able to see hope, anyone was willing to put in their all.

  ———

  Earth energy continuously moved from the ground into Zuo Mo’s body. The infection of the ling veins did not cause the earth energy to also thin, but instead had made the earth energy even more dense, and full of vitality. This kind of transformation was unexpected to Zuo Mo. However, he understood after thinking it over.Now that ling energy was decreasing, Little Mountain Jie was developing in the direction of Bloody Sky Metropolis Jie. This kind of environment was much more suited to yaomo.

  The increase in earth energy most likely was only one of reasons. Denser earth energy was more suited to mo to cultivate thei
r bodies.

  Zuo Mo’s body had been continuously tempered and washed by the earth energy. In the last few days, he had gone over every part of his body, not even missing his hair and nails. Nurtured by earth energy, he did not look as thin and weak as he had previously. His figure became much broader, his he could feel the enormous strength contained in his body as he moved.

  This was purely the strength of his body of flesh. He had tried with the flying sword. If he did not use ling power, the flying sword was unable to slice open his skin. Not just so, his bones and flesh were also tempered. Without using ling power, he could easily punch granite to pieces.

  He didn’t even exclude the skin on his face. Pu Yao had suggested that he did not temper his face, because it would increase the difficulty of regaining his original features. However, Zuo Mo still persisted in tempering his face. In the present situation, the first priority was surviving before anything else.

  Zuo Mo could feel that every muscle and bone in his body had reached the limit that he could reach at the moment.

  He instantly understood that he was on the cusp of a breakthrough.

  He calmed down his mind, slowly absorbing earth energy. His body was extremely well adjusted to earth energy. Earth energy could easily pass through every part of his body. He felt the pleasure from his bones and flesh soaking in the earth energy, the earth energy flowing past his blood and flesh, making the blood and flesh tremble, and produce a tingly and itchy feeling.

  The tingly and itchy feeling increased like there was countless ants climbing in his body. Zuo Mo forced himself to not move. He tried to relax his body to absorb earth energy. His consciousness slowly sank into his body.