World of Cultivation - Volume 06 - All Hail Our King

by Fang Xiang

  They disguised themselves, travelling day and night, and finally arrived at Xi Xuan.

  On the way, Zuo Mo had sent a message to Zhong De. Zuo Mo finally sighed in relief when he saw Zhong De with his own eyes. Before he reached the other, the enemies still had a chance.

  Now, unless all of the top experts of Kun Lun came, they had no chance to assassinate Zhong De in front of him.

  When Zhong De saw Zuo Mo, he was not surprised. His expression was calm. "I thought that you would arrive soon."

  Zuo Mo was shocked but immediately recovered his calm. "Why has Mister Zhong refused Tian Huan?"

  Zhong De did not respond. He suddenly said gravely. "Other than Shi Pei, everyone else out."

  No one in the military council made a sound. They all silently left with solemn expressions. Only a youth next to Zhong De did not move. Zuo Mo knew that this person must be the Shi Pei that Zhong De mentioned. It seemed that this was the second-in-command of the Abyss Jail Battalion.

  Zuo Mo couldn't resist but examine Shi Pei.

  Shi Pei was not very old, about twenty eight or so. He was tall, had cold features, and his face was covered in criss-crossing scars. It could be seen that his original appearance had been very handsome. He stood expressionlessly behind Zhong De like a statue. From beginning to end, he did not move.

  Seeing everyone else leave, Zhong De finally spoke. But when he did, Zuo Mo was given a fright.

  "Xi Xian is already beyond cure." Zhong De seemed to be describing something he was not concerned about. His expression did not change at all. "Even with ten more years, Xi Xuan cannot be saved."

  Zuo Mo hadn't thought that Zhong De had such a depressing outlook on Xi Xuan. He was puzzled. "While Xi Xuan has many problems, they have the foundation, with time, there may be a chance."

  "No chance." Zhong De shook his head. "Xi Xuan is rotten to the core. They have been ruined for decades, there is no cure. They had stopped training young talents for a long time. I searched all of Xi Xuan and there is none that can be used! To catch up on a few decades is not so simple. If this was a time of peace, and there are no outside threats, ten years, twenty years, then maybe there would be a chance."

  "Didn't Tian Huan promise ten years?" Zuo Mo asked curiously. Zhong De's thoughts were actually not very different from what Zuo Mo and the others thought. The training of the younger disciples could not be completed in one or two years. Without ten to twenty years, there was no real effect to be seen. Xi Xuan's lack of talent was caused because it had not placed importance on training young disciples for the past few decades.

  A cold sneer appeared on Zhong De's scar-covered face. "Would Tian Huan sincerely want Xi Xuan to grow strong? In their eyes, Xi Xuan is just a great cannon fodder. They will think of all the ways they can for Xi Xuan to be first to use up Kun Lun's strength. Then they will benefit from standing by the side. The present Tian Huan is much stronger than Xi Xuan. Once you are eliminated, Tian Huan will be even stronger. Under Tian Huan's control, Xi Xian doesn't have a chance of fighting back."

  Zuo Mo was not persuaded because the present Xi Xuan did not have a chance. In comparison, allying with Tian Huan was more beneficial for Xi Xuan. He didn't believe that Zhong De did not see this.

  But why had Zhong De said so much?

  Zhong De seemed to know that these words could not persuade Zuo Mo. His eyes were half-lidded as he said lightly, "I plan to give Xi Xuan to Gu Liang Dao."

  Zuo Mo shook in surprise and then understood!

  So this was why!

  All of his confusion was resolved. When he knew had learned that Zhong De only had three years to live, Zuo Mo and the others had speculated who Zhong De would choose as the successor.

  The most likely was the present sect leader of Xi Xuan. The present sect leader of Xi Xuan wasn't just the legitimate choice, he had also been the one to invite Zhong De to come back into the world. Once Zhong De passed away, if there were no accidents, he would undoubtedly take power again.

  Zuo Mo had once thought that Zhong De would try to find Gu Liang Dao and he had tried to connect the two. However, Gu Liang Dao seemed to have completely given up on Xi Xuan.

  He hadn't thought, that even in this situation, Zhong De still planned to give Xi Xuan to Gu Liang Dao!

  Was Zhong De so disappointed with the sect leader of Xi Xuan?

  The biggest obstacle to Gu Liang Dao taking Xi Xuan was the Xi Xuan's traditional faction led by the sect leader. When Zhong De had first came back, he had once made a great cleansing of Xi Xuan's ranks. At that time, blood had flowed in rivers. Under the knife, the Xi Xuan's traditional faction had suffered great losses and had to bow their heads. They had leaned towards siding with Zhong De, but Zhong De had ignored them so they had sided with the sect leader of Xi Xuan.

  Only the sect leader speaking up had prevented their deaths.

  He hadn't thought that Zhong De's butcher knife was only delayed and waiting here. Zuo Mo knew that once Zhong De decided to give Xi Xuan to Gu Liang Dao, he would definitely get rid of all obstacles for Gu Liang Dao.

  This time, Zhong De would probably remove the sect leader of Xi Xuan as well.

  "Big Brother Gu agreed?" Zuo Mo suppressed his shock and asked. In his view, Big Brother Gu had his own thoughts, and would not be easily persuaded.

  "No." Zhong De was still expressionless. "But he will agree."

  Zuo Mo didn't believe it but he saw that Zhong De was very certain as though he had a way to make Gu Liang Dao agree.

  Zuo Mo still didn't quite understand why Zhong De would choose Gu Liang Dao. What he needed to consider now was what changes would occur if Xi Xuan was given to Gu Liang Dao.

  "Open the jie map," Zhong De suddenly said to Shi Pei.

  Shi Pei expressionlessly opened the jie map of Xi Xuan. On the map, a red line separated Xi Xuan in two.

  "I plan to give this part to you." Zhong De's words were astounding.

  Zuo Mo wasn't just stunned but completely speechless. Was something wrong with this guy's head? This area was almost one third of Xi Xuan, and contained some important jie.

  But after the initial shock, Zuo Mo looked closely. Zhong De might be mad, but he was a person who was very goal-oriented. He seemed mad but he definitely had his own goals.

  Eliminating stray thoughts, Zuo Mo saw some things.

  This area was not small, but they were all areas bordering Tian Huan. Once Zuo Mo took these jie, than Xi Xuan would not be threatened by Tian Huan at all. Their only worry was their border with Kun Lun. But after close inspection, Zuo Mo had to sigh at Zhong De's skill. There was a natural defensive jie at the connection to Kun Lun. If there was an elite battalion stationed there, they could block Kun Lun with little risk.

  After cutting off their flesh, Xi Xuan would be rid of a great burden. The area they had to defend would shrink greatly, and their resources could be concentrated. And if it really was Gu Liang Dao that took power, Zuo Mo believed that Kun Lun would not be able to break through Gu Liang Dao's defense.

  This way, Xi Xuan's torn up defense line would immediately become impenetrable, and their pressure would decrease greatly.

  Zhong De was terrifying!

  Standing in front of the jie map, Zuo Mo was motionless and deep in thought.

  Zhong De closed his eyes in silence.

  He had to admit that the lure that Zhong De threw out was too tempting! The present Mo Cloud Sea was only one hundred and thirteen ie, and the area that Zhong De had drawn out was three times bigger than Mo Cloud Sea!

  If they could get this area, then the problem of Mo Cloud Sea's supply of materials could almost be all resolved by themselves. This vast area contained rich ore mines. If they were developed properly, Mo Cloud Sea's strength would expand.

  The small size of their territory had become the bottleneck stopping Mo Cloud Sea from going a step further.

  In these past six years, Mo Cloud Sea had secretly trained middle-management talent for their expansion strategy. Due to this, there
were no problems in terms of manpower. Mo Cloud Sea had the ability to take these jie in a short time.

  But after swallowing this fat piece of meat, the drawbacks were also very clear. Once they took over this area, the long border would increase the pressure on Mo Cloud Sea. Right now, Mo Cloud Sea was a hedgehog with almost no weakness. Any person that attacked would leave bloodied.

  This meant that Mo Cloud Sea only needed to maintain a few elite battalions and not enormous numbers of normal battalions.

  Such a long border, and it was Tian Huan. This meant that they needed to station large numbers of battalions to deal with the threat of Tian Huan!

  Zuo Mo's expression shifted and wavered.

  Translator Ramblings: Either the present sect leader of Xi Xuan or his father would have been the person who ganged up with the other sects to exterminate the Zuo Family. I can't imagine Kun Lun and Tian Huan coming in to Xi Xuan without Xi Xuan finding out.

  Chapter 818: Hidden Trump Card

  Mist Tribe

  Ever since Lan returned to the tribe, the mist people found to their shock that their cultivation speed had suddenly multiplied.

  In this region of the mist sea, there didn't seem to be any beasts that could threaten them.

  After a transportation formation between the main tribe and the cloud island was opened, it was easy to travel outside the mist sea. The mist people gradually stepped out of the cloud sea and started to interact with the outside world. The young mist people entered schools, learning all kinds of interesting knowledge. The great majority of them entered the battle general school, and the most accomplished among them as Bing Yue.

  Bing Yue who had once cried mist people tears had unexpectedly chose the battle general school. The calm and composed demeanor that defined the mist people had lead her to have outstanding results in the battle general school. She became one of the top ranked among the young battle generals of Mo Cloud Sea.

  Gongsun Cha, who managed the battle general school, was full of praise for her.

  Information flowed into this isolated tribe. The mist tribe changed constantly. Many of the products of the mist tribe were in demand outside. High grade cloud mist was a good material to make nimbus clouds, and the use of high grade ice crystals were even more widespread.

  Only the mist people had the ability to travel deep into the cloud sea to collect these two materials.

  The mist tribe quickly became wealthy and under Lan's direction, the tribe leader Bing Yao made a trip to the cloud island to find Zuo Mo in hopes that Zuo Mo could help them forge a batch of shen equipment suited for the mist people. They were willing to pay all the expenses.

  This batch of shen equipment was called the Mo Mist shen equipment.

  The Mist Tribe became even stronger. As their living standards increased, the number of new births among the mist people increased greatly as well. The prosperity of the tribe caused the leader, Bing Yao's mouth be stretched in a smile everyday.

  A great amount of Lan's power had recovered. As the tribe's lives got better, the tribe's belief in Lan grew even stronger. The resolute belief constantly repaired Lan's damaged body.

  Lan's body was completely renewed as the bones of the body were healed. The now complete set of bones had become ice crystal like with a faint blue. If one looked closely, they would find that there were layers of tiny scripts in the light ice crystals. There were thousands of layers of these scripts.

  Lan had spent a whole seven years in the deepest part of the cloud sea, absorbing countless ice mist crystals to strengthen this body!

  It was finally finished!

  Lan was slightly emotional. For totems, time was just a concept but there was still a sense of urgency for the tribe. The mist people tribe was not strong. Even though the development of the tribe had been good recently, and they had grown in population, they were still a small tribe.

  As the totem of the tribe, Lan paid more attention to the outside world more than anyone in the tribe.

  The tens of thousands of years allowed him to see through the mists. The mist people tribe was too miniscule, even in Mo Cloud Sea. In the entire world, they were even more insignificant.

  Lan knew that no other faction would be like Zuo Mo and give them such good benefits with their power. But if he wanted the tribe to receive more living space, better investment in development, they had to contribute their power to Mo Cloud Sea, and become a more important part of Mo Cloud Sea.

  It had been Lan's order for Bing Yue to enter the battle general school.

  It was a pity that the mist people were too few in number. Otherwise, they could form a mist people battalion and fight for Mo Cloud Sea. In this era, there was nothing more valuable than service.

  However, Lan had started to prepare all this. Once those young mist people who entered the battle general schools grew up, once the tribe had more people, the mist people would be able to create a mist people battalion. One day.

  But until that day, all of the duties of the tribe, all the merit they needed to earn, Lan was the only person who could do it.

  This was the responsibility that fell on Lan's shoulders as the totem warrior of the tribe.

  Also, Zuo Mo and Mo Cloud Sea did not seem to be in a good situation recently … …

  Lan thought about Gongsun Cha's request. After thinking, he immediately made a decision.

  A thought covered all of the tribe.

  A thought spread in ripples. All of the mist people unconsciously stopped what they were doing. Shock flashed across their faces and then they unhesitatingly sprinted towards the shen temple!

  Countless figures flashed through the sky.

  Everyone had grave expressions and were silent.

  Moments later, everyone in the tribe had gathered outside the shen temple. The tribe leader, Bing Yao, stood at the very front with an expression of barely hidden excitement.

  "Open the restricted land!"

  An authoritative and cold voice sounded from inside the shen temple into the ears of every mist person.

  The mist people present all shook. Shock and excitement rose on their grave faces.

  The restricted land!

  The mist people's restricted land, a territory they had guarded for more than ten thousand years!

  It was it about to be opened!

  A blinding blue light suddenly flew out of the shen temple and shot towards the restricted land.

  Moments later, the ground trembled and boomed, the ice mist in the air clinking and rattling.

  The mist people were prostrated on the ground with devout expressions.

  Lan floated in the air above the shen temple. The figure was just a skeleton, but the authoritative presence shrouded the entire region.

  Countless hair-thin rays of blue light appeared in the restricted land and flew towards Lan in the air.

  Lan did not look at them and slowly floated down to the ground.

  The moment that Lan's feet touched the ground, the blue energies wrapped onto the skeletal body. Starting from the feet, something began to take form. Lan did not seem to feel it and slowly stepped forward, With every step, the endless blue energies took form.

  They formed combat boots, greaves, joints … …

  The blue energy started from the toes, and then pushed up and grew along the armor as it materialized.

  When Lan walked to the front of the crowd, an exquisite battle armor covered in patterns took form. The battle armor covered all of Lan. The ice blue battle armor seemed to be made from layers of ice crystals and was so breathtakingly beautiful.

  What shocked everyone was that the battle armor was slender and curved. It was a female warrior's battle armor!

  Lan was actually a female totem warrior!

  The blue energy did not stop and continued to take form above Lan's head. An icy blue and transparent umbrella appeared in Lan's hand. The handle of the umbrella seemed to be carved from ice. The ribs of the umbrella were deep blue. There were eighteen ice crystals tied wi
th long blue tassels that dangled from the edge of the umbrella and clinked harmoniously as they swayed.

  Wearing battle armor, holding an ice umbrella, Lan seemed to have stepped out of a portrait.

  "After sleeping for ten thousand years, you and I are able to once again fighting side by side."

  The voice spoke from behind the mask.

  All of the mist people were overcome with excitement. The older mist people cried. Everyone recognized the figure in front of them! That legend that was worshiped in their shen temple, the tale that was told to every generation of mist people, the legendary guardian protector of the mist tribe, the strongest totem warrior in the mist people trible's history!

  No one knew her name, but every mist person could recognize her.

  Bing Yao's tears streamed down his face. The god of the mist people, you have never abandoned your clan!

  As though she could hear the shout in Bing Yao's mind, a clear icy voice sounded by everyone's ears as through it came from the ancient era.

  "I, Lan, the totem of mist, worshiped by the mist people for generations, swear if my soul and body is not deceased, will not dishonor the name of totem and protect the mist people!

  ———

  Mo Cloud Sea.

  Gongsun Cha walked out of the transportation formation and stepped onto this nondescript cloud island. The cloud island was about two hundred mu and was a pitifully small island in Mo Cloud Sea. There were no seal formations or jinzhi on this little island that was covered in fauna.

  There was no need for any jinzhi because living here was a top level shen power expert.

  "How come you are here?" the old many looked at Gongsun Cha with surprise and then realized, "You encountered trouble?"

  Ever since he was reunited with A Gui, he had decided to stay at Mo Cloud Sea. He liked peace so he found an unpopulated cloud island for himself. Other than going to see A Gui occasionally, he spent all of his time on the island.

  "Yes!" Gongsun Cha did not tarry and said briskly. "I have come to ask Mister to fight."