by Fang Xiang
"Xiao Yun Hai? Haven't you come for Xiao Mo Ge?" The old man picked at his ear. "While I am old, and my hearing isn't as good, I am not immune to the nagging. Xiao Yun Hai is the crux to finding Xiao Mo Ge. My ears are getting callouses from hearing this."
"Hey hey, Elder, don't speak so straightforwardly. Let's discuss. Why are you squabbling with us juniors. Elders, name a price … …" the youth's tone was fast but his hands were even quicker yet the grapes on the plate seemed to be endless.
The old man looked dryly at the youth. "The Mo Shen Temple have really set their hearts this time."
"So so." The youth laughed. "Elder, you know that we are poor, don't have anything good. Don't ask too high of a price!"
"Don't be modest. If I remember correctly, that Scab Fragrance Tree in your temple should be starting to scab now. This old man doesn't want a lot, five!" The old man showed his yellowed teeth again with unscrupulousness.
The youth's body imperceptibly froze. A cold rush rose. The scab fragrance was one of the core secrets in the Mo Shen Temple. It was planted in a restricted part of the temple. Even the guards of the temple did not know of it. But this dirty old man knew it!
"Elder, you really are wise and powerful! However, only five were produced, if you take all of them … …"
The old man snickered. "Tsk tsk, five? How come I heard it was eleven?"
The youth's back immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He stared at the old man with a sharp gaze and said in a cold voice, "Elder, who are you?"
Translator Ramblings: I should be in the middle of my trip home. Things might get back to a more regular schedule then.
Chapter 708: Explosive Weapon Style (1)
"It is not important who I am." The old man gave an honest-looking smile.
The youth was like a coiled snake ready to strike. His muscles were tensed for him to leap at any moment, and was filled with danger. The smile on the old man's face did not change. A moment later, the youth suddenly relaxed and then lazily curled back into the empty space.
"Two, at most twenty," the youth picked up a blood grape and threw it into his mouth. He said around the grape, "If you can give Xiao Mo Ge to us, we can give you all of them … …"
The old man chuckled. "Two is fine. However, before Xiao Mo Ge appears, you have to protect Xiao Yun Hai."
"Elder, you care a lot about Xiao Yun Hai." The youth said meaningfully.
"Of course, he is someone that can forge sky mo weapons. This old man still hopes to get a sky mo weapon to play with in this lifetime," the old man said directly.
"Sky mo weapon?" The youth stilled with a doubtful face. "Really? He just managed an earth mo weapon."
"Just watch." The old man waved his hand with confidence on his face.
The doubt on the youth's face did not fade. He felt that the old man's goal was not so simple but he couldn't see it from the other's face.
———
Zuo Mo did not know the situation outside. He was staying in the mo weapon pool and was focused on forging earth mo weapons.
Looking at the scraps of mo weapons in the pool, he shook his head and grimaced, "This Weapon Layering Craftsmanship doesn't succeed every time. I really had good luck last time."
Each failure would waste ten general level mo weapons. After a few failures, the number of general level mo weapons Zuo Mo possess had dramatically decreased. Zuo Mo's heart bled at such a terrible waste.
Zuo Mo thought that he had already mastered the Weapon Layering Craftsmanship, but with every mo weapon layer, the difficulty would multiply. When the time for the fifth weapon to be merged together, the mo weapon would become extremely unstable and the possibility of failure would suddenly increased. Even a skilled mo weapon master like Zuo Mo didn't have a solution.
Earth mo weapons required at least ten general level mo weapons, and not one less.
After losing dozens of general mo weapons, Zuo Mo couldn't tolerate this kind of loss. Each general mo weapon was over three million mobei. In other words, Zuo Mo's losses had reached upwards of a billion mobei.
If it was one of the great families, they may not care but Zuo Mo felt great pain.
"Of course, what do you think earth mo weapons are." Pu Yao said dismissively.
Zuo Mo stilled. He sank into thought. Ever since he forged the Sky Snake Ten Manifestation Pike, he thought he had grasped the secrets of earth mo weapon. He had been filled with confidence about forging new earth mo weapons, but the results were completely different than what he had predicted.
After losing nearly a billion mobei, Zuo Mo had to rethink.
The Weapon Layering Craftsmanship was a simple method but it was not one that could reliably produce weapons. Zuo Mo suddenly found that he had entered a wrong path, and had relied too much on the Weapon Layering Craftsmanship.
Mo weapons and talismans were completely different in the minds of other people, but in Zuo Mo's eyes, there were no innate differences. One was just mo matrices, and the other seal scripts.
Earth mo weapons that were the top of mo weapons had a common trait. They could completely express some hidden power of bloodlines. This was also why earth mo weapons were so valuable.
Its core was mo matrices!
Thinking back to what he had learned, countless mo matrices flashed across his mind.
Zuo Mo's gaze slowly became bright. His eyes were like stars in the night.
Mo matrices that could awaken the bloodline were all powerful. They were usually mo matrices that were already formed as part of top level materials. Normal mo weapon masters just activated these hidden mo matrices.
But Zuo Mo had a deeper understanding of mo matrices. He knew that mo matrices could be inscribed like seal scripts. Inscribing mo matrices had been one of his old jobs.
Then the next question was what could be used to hold the mo matrices. Only strong materials could tolerate such powerful mo matrices.
Normal mo weapon masters could only use those worldly treasures but Zuo Mo had a wonderful idea.
Weapon Layering Craftsmanship!
The stability of the Weapon Layering Craftsmanship would drastically decrease after the fifth mo weapon but before this, Zuo Mo's precise control would guarantee that it would not feel. Zuo Mo's Weapon Layering Craftsmanship had all failed after the sixth merge.
A mo weapon after five merges would not have the power of an earth mo weapon but it could act to hold the mo matrices.
General level mo weapons were valuable, but they were extremely cheap compared to those worldly treasures.
Even more importantly, this method would allow Zuo Mo could endlessly produce earth mo weapons.
Inspiration flooded him. He thought of the water forging method, thought of how to unite seal scripts, thought of … …
Zuo Mo sat next to the mo weapon pool, day after day, and completely lost in himself in thought like a statue.
Zuo Mo did not move for five whole days.
On the sixth day, his body suddenly shook and he seemed to wake from a deep sleep.
Awake, Zuo Mo's eyes were as bright as stars. He walked around in the mo weapon pool in circles.
On the fifth circuit, he suddenly stopped. He took out a pile of materials from his ring and started to forge using the sun shen fire. The black ore quickly turned to metal liquid in the sun shen fire. The fire flickered as though it was alive.
Zuo Mo's fingers flew. Streaks of light entered the liquid metal in the fire like birds returning to the nest.
Clink clink clink!
Small black nails dropped from the flame and landed on the ground, giving off ringing sounds.
The black nails were about three cun long and covered in mo matrices.
A smile appeared on Zuo Mo's face. This was the first time he used the ways of forging talismans to set up mo matrices. The results were better than he had expected.
This method was possible!
Zuo Mo's face flushed in excitement.
He flew into the air above the mo weapon pool. T
he black nails in the air entered the empty space around the mo weapon pool accurately. Then lights of different colors fell from his hands. These lights disappeared when they reached the ground, but there would be faint lines left in the earth.
As the lights continued to land, the lines around the mo weapon pool increased. If mo weapon masters were present, they would find to their surprise that these lines seemed to resemble mo matrices that they knew.
However, these mo matrices were modified from the ones they usually saw.
No one would think that Zuo Mo would use the structure of seal scripts to set up mo matrices.
The lines increased in number and the mo matrices became even more complex. The silent mo weapon pool started to grow restless, boiling and roiling.
Countless icy underflows deep in the Underground Nether River were like sharks that smelt blood and furiously flooded towards the heaven tier mo weapon pool.
These icy undercurrents were the best for forging mo weapons. However, they mostly existed deep in the river and were hard to obtain. They were also extremely icy. Disregarding how hard they were to control, those that were weak in mo skills would turn to ice statues if the cold energy entered their bodies.
Due to this, even though people knew that these icy undercurrents were very suited to forging mo weapons, no one dared to use them.
Zuo Mo did not fear them. He continued to cast light energies.
As the cold flows entered, the restless mo weapon pool quickly calmed down. Threads of cold energy rose from the surface of the pool. Icy frost spread on the ground in all directions. But when the frost went near the mo matrices, they would quickly melt and evaporate.
The mo weapon pool that had originally been black was now a transparent blue.
There wasn't any impurities.
The undercurrents were like tiny little nimble fish that swam around the pool and caused ripples on the surface. Countless undercurrents moved around. Countless ripples were produced in the clear pool which was dazzling to see.
Zuo Mo finally showed satisfaction.
He had used a water seal formation and mo matrices on the mo weapon pool to take the icy undercurrents of the river and create a mo weapon pool of an unprecedented level!
The icy energy of the mo weapon pool did not affect Zuo Mo at all.
Zuo Mo took out a general level mo weapon, and then another, and then more. Moments later, there was a pile of general level mo weapons in front of him. If the chief steward of Rare Artifacts Hall saw this, his eyes would probably drop to the floor. Even the Rare Artifacts Hall would definitely be unable to produce so many general level mo weapons immediately.
He did any inventor. There were more than sixty articles.
Zuo Mo picked and choose sixty.
His expression was excited, and inspiration swirled in his mind. Countless strange plans floated in his mind, and he wanted to immediately try all of them.
Looking at the sixty general level mo weapons in front of him, an unprecedented and made idea suddenly rose.
Once this idea came out, he could not suppress it.
Just having had made a breakthrough, Zuo Mo's entire mind was completely taken over by his inspiration. He felt as though his mind had never been so clear and sensitive. Once a thought rose, his mind seemed to be able to automatically perfect the plan. There wasn't any hardship or delay. The pleasure from this made him so excited he almost wanted to groan!
Without any hesitation, he listed all the materials he needed at an astounding efficiency and threw it to Bean Sprout that had been standing by the door.
He did not stop. He started to forge.
Mo weapons were being thrown into the pool
———
Bean Sprout had been standing by the door and was so bored that he almost fell asleep. He was standing by the door and waiting in the case Grandmaster had any errands for him to run.
He had been very excited to have gotten this duty. He had tried to be alert and waited for Grandmaster to order him at any moment.
Yet his mo physique was very weak and he was not mentally strong. After waiting for three days, he was unable to hold up. He had withered like a tomato after the frost and yawned continuously.
Suddenly, a light flew from inside and landed in his arms.
Bean Sprout immediately shook and hurriedly climbed up.
Grandmaster definitely had work for him.
When he saw it was a list that had flown into his arms, he understood immediately that Grandmaster required some materials.
He became alert. Grandmaster had already spoken with Rare Artifacts Hall. He could go and take any materials that were needed. If it was low level materials, he would go to the city market.
But when Bean Sprout's gaze swept across the list, he turned to stone, his mouth wide open and gaping.
Translator Ramblings: Zuo Mo's luck did not last forever.
Chapter 709: Explosive Weapon Style (2)
Rare Artifacts hall
The middle-aged mo looked at the list in his hand as though he wanted to find something. He was speechless momentarily. Bean Sprout was urgently waiting for his response. It would be terrible if he was unable to complete the first task that Grandmaster had given to him!
However, he also knew the shock that this list gave people. There was an astounding number requested of each item on the packed list. It was enough to cause people's hearts to beat rapidly. He had delivered the list anxiously. He felt it was very unlikely that Rare Artifacts hall would agree.
There were many valuable materials on the list, and when they were gathered together, it was a great number.
No one would be able to easily maintain their composure at such a list.
"You are sure Grandmaster requested this?" The middle-aged mo looked with slight suspicion at Bean Sprout. If it wasn't for the fact that they had reached an agreement with Grandmaster Xiao Yun Hai before this, he would have suspected that Bean Sprout fabricated the list and wanted to take these materials and run.
It was not that the materials themselves were too valuable and rare, but there were too many of each material requested. There weren't just a variety of types, the amount of each material was astoundingly large.
As the chief steward of Rare Artifacts Hall, the middle-aged mo was not skilled in forging mo weapons, but he had basic knowledge of the field. The materials on this list was enough to forge enough mo weapons for a troop of over one hundred.
What did Grandmaster want to do?
Was so much material needed to forge one earth mo weapon?
This was so strange! So unconventional!
The amount of materials used far surpassed his knowledge.
Maybe Grandmaster was doing an experiment? This thought caused the middle-aged mo to relax. Mo weapon masters would frequently try out different forging methods, and some mo weapon masters preferred to test their new inspirations.
This was undoubtedly a course of action that would burn through the most resources, but this kind of mobei-wasting action was appropriate for their status and identity.
Grandmaster definitely had some new inspiration!
All of the materials were the preparations in order to test out his new ideas. It was definitely that!
The middle-aged mo sighed in relief. He was a decisive person. After the initial shock, he quickly found a realistic explanation for Xiao Yun Hai's request.
Once he found this reason, this list seemed reasonable.
While the materials listed represented a great number, a grandmaster would qualify to guarantee this. Also, the middle-aged mo thought that if a mo weapon grandmaster had new ideas, this meant that the possibility of forging a new earth mo weapon was higher.
After thinking for a moment, the middle-aged mo quickly made a decision.
"There are many materials here that this store doesn't have and I will need to request them from other branch stores. It will take a few days. Three days from now, the materials will be delivered to Grandmaster
's mo weapon pool."
Bean Sprout actually stilled. The other had really agreed!
For the first time, Bean Sprout had experienced the power of the word "grandmaster."
———
Without the residents of Bu Zhou City realizing it, many unfamiliar outsiders had appeared around the city. These people did not look friendly. They gave off a feeling of danger, and their gazes were always wary.
The arrival of these people tested the public peace of Bu Zhou City,
Small scale fights occurred on successively days. Yet what shocked people was that the Tang Family that was responsible for order in Bu Zhou City was left on the losing side. This caused the state of Bu Zhou City's peace to worsen.
The Tang Family patriarch was furious after learning this, and moved the strongest battalion of the Tang Family, the Tang Wen Battalion, near Bu Zhou City. They quickly captured more than a dozen of the culprits and the heads of these people were hung above the city gates as a warning.
Such vicious moves immediately intimidated many of those with devious intentions.
But as more and more experts came, the Tang Family's nerves became tense. If they were careless, and caused a conflict, it could cause much of Bu Zhou City to be destroyed in fighting. This loss was not something the Tang Family could afford.
Soon, a strange rumor gradually spread.
The rumor said that Marshal Di was about to ally with Tian Huan by marriage with Gongzi Xi. There was even a rumor that Gongzi Xi already had an important Tian Huan female serving him.
In a short few days, the rumors spread quickly. By the time Tang Chen learned of this, the entire city knew.
"Someone is spreading this from the shadows." Gongzi Xi's handsome face was dark. He said coldly, "This rumor did not come early or late, but at such a sensitive time, their intentions are not friendly!"
"Who also knows the identity of Miss Xian Er?" Tang Chen's expression was normal and no emotion could be seen.
"Only my personal guards." Gongzi Xi's tone was bitter as he said awkwardly. Other than his personal guards, no one knew Li Xian Er's identity.
There definitely was a traitor!
Murderousness flashed through Gongzi Xi's eyes!
