by Fang Xiang
The great majority of them had not intended to go into the ruins but to observe this spectacular marvel from the distance!
Yet this enormous golden pillar of light caused the hearts of many xiuzhe that had not planned to enter the ruins to move. All factions gathered their people to come to Xu Ling City.
The little Xu Ling City was filled with people.
The three yuanying became unusually low-key, and those arrogant and bold jindan put their tails between their legs.
There were too many people!
If they were careless and attracted the anger of the public, even the greatest power could not help them.
Many people tried to go closer to the light pillar but people quickly found that no matter how they tried, they could not get within twenty li of the light pillar. There was an invisible barrier that stopped them from going near.
Some daring people tried to attack it. But all the attacks seemed to dissipate like mud entering the ocean and did not create any disturbance.
———
“This is really a great party!” Li Shu gazed at the packed crowds, and the excitement on their faces as he sighed.
Lu Zhen was slightly worried and said with self-blame, “This subordinate did not accomplish the task, if the news had not been leaked … …”
“It would be the same if it had not leaked.” Li Shu comforted in a warm tone. “Look at this light pillar, it cannot be concealed. It is better like this, those that will go naturally will go, and those that won’t will not be moved.”
Lu Zhen hurriedly said, ”Daren is right.” He paused slightly and then said carefully, “Daren, should we ask for more people?”
Li Shu shook his head. “No need. The situation inside is complex, more people does not mean it is better. Do not worry, we have the elder. Even more, we have not prepared so many years for nothing.”
Seeing Li Shu’s confidence, Lu Zhen’s heart rested slightly. Upon further thought, he found it was true. With the great power of the sect, they had started t plan so many years ago, and definitely would have found many of the secrets. There were many elders skilled in divination within the sect yet they only send one elder and Li Shu Shixiong so they should be absolutely confidence.
For ruins like this, what was most important was not how powerful one was, but how much information one had.
“Let’s wait five more days.” Li Shu smiled slightly and with deep meaning.
———
Shu Long’s handsome face seemed slightly dark as he stared at the wall in front of him.
He had actually been unable to do anything last time when Daren had been ambushed, this caused him to feel unprecedented humiliation! In the past, he had focused more on urging others to cultivate and did not obsess over individual strength. In his view, Daren did not lack for experts at his side. No matter if it was Wei Sheng or Zong Ru, they were rare experts.
But last time, Daren had almost died, and he felt great self-recrimination!
In the end, it was just that he wasn’t strong enough!
Returning to the island, he burrowed into the cave and started to furiously cultivate. Even A Wen and the other xiuzhe were furiously cultivating, so much that they did not even go to look at the light pillar outside. They were only cultivating, continuously cultivating!
Yet what Shu Long had not expected was that his cultivation was interrupted.
“What is it?” he asked.
“We cannot dig any further,” a hardship guard stood out and said, “we do not know the reason. A few days ago, the granite suddenly became harder than usual and more difficult to dig. The deeper we dug, the harder it was to dig. Digging to here, we can’t advance at all.”
Shu Long walked in front of the stone wall.
They all lived inside the cave. The yin fiend presence inside the cave was extremely heavy and greatly beneficial for their cultivation. For all of Guard Camp, the previous cave had not been large enough so Shu Long had decided to dig deeper. He later found that the rock had been permeated by the yin friends and the process of digging was also a great help to their cultivation.
So digging holes became one of the daily cultivation tasks of Hardship Camp.
He hadn’t expected a problem to occur to their daily cultivation method.
Shu Long tapped the stone wall. He didn’t even leave behind a finger mark. He took out his mo weapon and struck hard!
Cling!
Sparks flew!
There wasn’t even a trace left on the stone wall.
Shu Long made a sound of surprise and reached out to touch the wall. It was unusually smooth.
He noticed at this moment the stone wall in front of him was unusually smooth and did not look as though it was naturally formed at all.
There was something strange!
Translator Ramblings: I mentioned Zuo Mo’s faults and mistakes a few days ago and there are some that really stand out and others that are acceptable. The main one near the beginning would probably be Zuo Mo’s rejection of the invitation to another sect. His emotions overruled his greed which is something to admire but at the same time, it seriously hampered his growth. Of course, we don’t know what might have happened and he might never have left Sky Moon Jie to become what he is now but the other sect might have offered more resources and definitely more support. On the other hand, Zuo Mo did get Wei Sheng out of Wu Kong Sword Sect so I guess it evens out?
The second flaw or what might be considered a weakness is that Zuo Mo doesn’t know how to play the political game. If he did, he might have been able to resolve the mess in Sky Water Jie which ended up with their entire group ending up in great danger. There are benefits out of this, since the author used it as plot development, but Zuo Mo definitely is a fan of strength above all. Zuo Mo’s alright when he is making business transactions but he’s not very good about looking at the whole picture and having a strategy because he isn’t thinking long-term. On the other hand, he has Pu Yao and Wei in the background who are very good at that.
Chapter 491: Rock Wall
Zuo Mo examined the rock wall from top to bottom and occasionally rubbed his palm back and forth on it.
In reality, he was muttering in low voices with the two old geezers, Pu Yao and Wei.
“Do you recognize this? This thing definitely is not natural!” Zuo Mo was like a curious baby. “Whoa, it really is hard!”
This rock wall was dark grey-green and did not look any different than normal soil but no matter if it was a flying sword or a mo weapon, they could not leave a mark behind.
“It seems as though someone has reinforced it with shen power,” Wei hesitated and then said.
Pu Yao’s enchanting voice sounded. He was slightly shocked. “Yes, it is shen power.”
“Shen power?” Zuo Mo was slightly disappointed as he muttered, “I had assumed this was a treasure. Such a big treasure, it would be very valuable! So it is just reinforced with some shen power … …”
He then asked curiously, “What is shen power? That it’s this powerful!”
“The so-called shen power is the power that ancient warriors used. Do you remember the strange corpse from the Sealed Extinction Battlefield, what he used was shen power. Shen power is different when compared to any present power, and is enormously powerful,” Wei explained patiently.
“If your power can go up another level, you may produce shen power,” Pu Yao suddenly said.
“I? Produce shen power?” Zuo Mo first still and then reacted. “So this shen power is the three powers merged together?”
“Three powers merged together is not shen power. But ling power, spiritual consciousness, and the mo physique are all powers that were derived from shen power. No one actually knows what the ancient shen power is really like. I had thought to be able to see it from the strange corpse, but his power was traceless and I could not see it.”
Seeing that Pu Yao showed no intentions of speaking, Wei knew that the duty of explaining fell on his shoulders so he coul
d only continue speaking.
“So it is like this.” Zuo Mo seemed to only partially understand. He suddenly paled. “Is there also someone as powerful as the strange corpse behind the rock wall?”
Pu Yao really could not stop himself and said scornfully, “Do you think old monsters like the strange corpse are like common as lettuce on sale at the market? That another one will just easily jump out? The ancient tribes have fallen for an unknown number of years, they are extinct. Just one of them being able to survive until now is great luck!”
“Then why is there shen power here?” Zuo Mo pointed at the wall and asked with innocence.
Pu Yao snorted coldly and said, “Hmph, there are many things that can contain shen power. Ancient shen treasures, ruins that are relatively well-conserved, they can all preserve shen power!”
“Ruins?” Zuo Mo’s eyes lit up. “Would it be the Sun Shen Temple behind this rock wall?”
The news of the Sun Shen Temple had spread out long ago. Also, that enormous golden pillar of light was very close to Turtle Island and they could see it without even raising their heads.
A pillar of light with a radius of one hundred and fifty li was like a colossus that emanated extreme pressure. The light pillar did not extinguish during the day or night. Turtle Island was greatly affected and even their nights were as bright as day.
Even though Zuo Mo had resolved long ago not to enter the fight over benefits, but this strange rock wall made him uncontrollably think of the Sun Shen Temple ruins.
Wei said deeply, “This might be a possibility.”
Zuo Mo’s mind became alert. Even though he did not plan on joining the fight, he would not refuse treasure if it was delivered to his door. Also, if the ruins were truly behind the rock wall, that meant that Turtle Island was connected to the ruins. They could secretly enter.
The more Zuo Mo thought, the hotter his blood burned.
Pu Yao said with a cold smirk, “Even if the ruins are behind this wall, you cannot enter. This rock wall is filled with shen power, and is much harder than normal talismans. If you cannot break through the rock wall, how can you enter the ruins?”
Zuo Mo’s heart was instantly cooled. After being silent for a moment, he said reluctantly, “Is there no solution at all?”
“There are methods,” Wei said gravely.
Like grabbing the last stalk of life-saving grass, Zuo Mo suddenly became alert and said, “What method? Quick, speak!”
Wei looked at him. “You have three powers merged as one, if you progress one more step, you may actually comprehend shen power. If you can comprehend shen power, this rock wall will be an easy matter for you.”
“Comprehend shen power? How to comprehend? Quick, tell me!” Zuo Mo stared with begging eyes at Wei.
Pu Yao barked a laugh and said disdainfully, “Ha! Comprehend shen power?”
Wei said with slight helplessness, “This is only a theoretical possibility. Shen power is extremely repels us. I do not know what shen power really is like. If it wasn’t that all three powers were derived from shen power, there wouldn’t even be a theoretical possibility. As for comprehending shen power, you need to rely on yourself to explore.”
“Don’t waste your efforts. Use the energy to cultivate,” Pu Yao said ambiguously from the side. His body suddenly disappeared as he threw down, “So boring, you guys play on your own.”
Seeing the situation, Wei could only shrug and spread his hands in helplessness. “I only know this much.”
Zuo Mo came out of the empty sea of consciousness. Rubbing the mirror-smooth rock wall, his thoughts drifted.
Shen power … … it sounded so unreliable … …
But if he succeeded?
Countless rare talismans, countless jingshi and other treasures floated past Zuo Mo’s eyes! Ruins! This was the ruins of a shen temple! An ancient shen temple, how could it not have some talismans?
Thinking about how he didn’t have many acceptable talismans, Zuo Mo instantly felt restless.
Damn it!
He’ll do it!
The worst case was just wasting a few days’ worth of time!
Gritting his teeth, Zuo Mo decided to try. In any case, this was a business without any cost, and he couldn’t lose anything! If the ruins opened and he had not succeeded, he would seal this place and set down a formation to prevent people from entering the island through this way.
Shu Long and the others stared at each other. The found that Daren’s hands were rubbing here and there on the rock wall with a flushed face.
He look very strange and slightly … …
Perverted!
Everyone shook in unison and the words flashed across their minds
—so scary!
———
Two figures suddenly appeared in the empty sea of consciousness.
“It is not good that we are fooling him like this.” Wei was slightly hesitant.
“Fool him? Where did we fool him? Isn’t that shen power? Didn’t the three powers descend from shen power?” Pu Yao had a righteous expression.
“But … … what if he doesn’t succeed?” Wei halted his words.
“Doesn’t succeed?” Pu Yao rolled his eyes and said irresponsibility. “There is no loss to us.” Pausing, he then said even more irresponsibly, “There’s no loss to him either.”
“That’s true.” Wei was reassured.
The two disappeared at the same time.
———
Shen power! Damn it! What was shen power?
Zuo Mo gritted his teeth as he repeatedly muttered as though he was possessed.
He had gone over the rock wall thousands of times with his hands and hadn’t found anything. It may have been that he had touched it too much but he felt that the rock wall was much smoother than before and felt like a mirror.
He asked for help from Wei but Wei always had a burdened face. He asked for help from Pu Yao but this guy didn’t help him, and even scorned him to the point that Zuo Mo wanted to bomb him into smithereens.
Ge has principles!
Zuo Mo recited one hundred times and recovered his fighting spirit. He pulled up his sleeves and used the posture of the poison ivy, gluing himself to the wall, for a new round of fighting.
Unless life ends, the battle does not stop!
The winds howls, the river is cold, the hero climbs the wall and never to return… …[i]
Shen power, shen power, where are you?
Zuo Mo did not discover anything in the entire day.
No matter if he was touching, hitting, or hammering, no matter what he did, the rock wall did not react at all.
This rock wall was also very strange. No matter if Zuo Mo used ling power, spiritual power or the mo physique, the rock wall would produce a strong repellent power that forcibly pushed him aside.
Zuo Mo tried to adjust the three powers, and even tried to use all three at the same time. The rock wall was not as resistant when he did this but the three powers were like mud thrown into the ocean, and did not even cause a ripple.
The rock wall was still that rock wall, unchanged.
Bro, give a response?
Zuo Mo wanted to cry. He felt he was like the mouse pulling the turtle and did not know where to start.
———
Shu Long felt it would be better for less people to see Daren like this so he hurried everyone else out. Out of consideration for safety, he still arranged for people to stand guard outside to prevent any accidents from happening to Daren. After arranging all this, Shu Long threw himself back into his crazy cultivation.
All of Guard Camp was immersed in this furious cultivation atmosphere. It wasn’t just them, Vermillion Bird Camp was also the same. For this, Golden Crow Camp had specially forged all kinds of lingdan that were open to everyone so that each person had a daily ration.
The incident of Zuo Mo’s attempted assassination had deeply stimulated every single person on Turtle Island.
If something happened to Daren,
the consequences … …
No one dared to imagine!
———
Zuo Mo was deathly exhausted after working for a whole day. He and the rock wall seemed to be at odds. The power of the rock wall was not ferocious or offensive but it greatly expended his three powers. Unknowingly in this struggle, the power inside Zuo Mo had been completely wrung out without a drop left.
When Zuo Mo realized this, he was so tired he didn’t even want to move a finger.
Leaning against the rock wall, he fell into a deep sleep.
How long has it been since he slept like a normal person? Zuo Mo couldn’t remember. As his power grew, his need for sleep decreased by the day. After cultivating the Great Day mo physique, he didn’t even need sleep.
He was in a heavy sleep like a child.
The dark cave was silent and an undetectable light suddenly floated on the rock wall.
The light was extremely weak and carried a slight green as it slowly permeated Zuo Mo’s body.
Deep in slumber, Zuo Mo did not detect it.
The speed of the green energy’s permeation was not fast and it was soundless.
Suddenly, Zuo Mo’s dantian and the space between his brow suddenly lit up. At the same time, his body lit up with a faint golden energy.
At this most crucial time, Zuo Mo’s three powers started to cooperate to stop the green energy.
The speed of the green energy’s permeation instantly slowed.
The lights on Zuo Mo’s body continuously changed. Four kinds of power, four kinds of light, all lit up and dimmed, changing constantly.
There was no pain on his face. He had an infant-like smile on the corner of his mouth and he was in a sweet sleep.
He was having a strange dream.
[i] The actual version of what Zuo Mo says is a quote by Jing Ke and roughly translates to (from Wikipedia) “The wind blows, the river freezes. The hero fords, never to return!” as Jing Ke attempts to assassinate the King of Qin who later becomes Emperor Qin, the first “emperor.”
Translator Ramblings: Okay, Zuo Mo is being spoonfed plot at this point in time. I’m not ashamed to admit that I really thought before this that it would be a reversion back to farming-and-making money when I first read the story.
