Chapter One Hundred and Nine – Inky Black Lotus Seed
“Three ningmai xiuzhe have come.” Li Ying Feng’s words made Zuo Mo pause.
Three ningmai… …
Since Zuo Mo had started this business, it wasn’t that there wasn’t ningmai who had come. The hat-wearing person who needed the Cold Magnet cut last time should have been a ningmai. Zuo Mo loved it and hated it when ningmai came to him. What he loved was that the payment they could give was far higher than normal people. What he hated was the things they needed him to process would be of high difficulty. High difficulty meant high risk. If it failed, Zuo Mo could not afford to pay his debts. As to not paying? He didn’t even need to think about it. The other’s power was much higher than him. If a conflict happened, the one that would lose would be him.
Now three had come together!
“Hmph, a zhuji guy dare to posture in front of us! Provoke me, I’ll burn this place down!”
“Third Brother, don’t speak nonsense!”
The voices passed clearly from the door. Clearly, the three people were starting to be dissatisfied. Zuo Mo felt the start of a headache. He could only pass, “Please come in!”
The three people walked in. The one at the front was a red-robed male, striding confidently and projecting an aura of power. At his left was an eagle-nosed male, expression dark. It could be seen with a glance that he wasn’t an easy-going person. On the right of the red-robed male was a brawny man whose face was set in a snarl. His body was like a mountain of meat. When he came in, he started to look everywhere.
“Greetings to Master Zuo.” The red-robed leader had a slight smile as he saluted with folded hands to Zuo Mo in a bow.
“Greetings to the three Elders!” Zuo Mo didn’t dare to posture, standing and raising his folded hands to return the greeting. Seniority among xiuzhe was extremely complex and hard to manage so most of the time, everyone measured according to cultivation. Zuo Mo’s cultivation was one stage lower than the other, so he was naturally a junior.
The three seemed to be extremely satisfied with Zuo Mo’s attitude. Even the dark face of the eagle-nosed man relaxed slightly.
“Master Zuo is too courteous.” The red-robed male smiled, stating his purpose, “Coming here, it’s because we have something to ask.” Following, he took out a lotus seed that was entirely black. “This fourth-grade Inky Black Lotus seed has an extremely hard outer coat and cannot be cut open by flying sword. Coming this time, it’s asking Master Zuo to take off the outer coat. We have heard about Master Zuo’s rules and this jade scroll is a complete set of [Skyring Moon Sound Formation]. This formation is the finest among fourth-grade formations and has many special attributes. We heard that Master Zuo likes formations. This [Skyring Moon Sound Formation] will be payment.”
“But I’ll say the ugly first. If you ruin it, I won’t forgive you!” The snarling man rumbled.
“Third Brother, don’t speak nonsense!” The red-robed man reproached. He turned to say to Zuo Mo, “Master Zuo, don’t listen to him. You just have to focus on processing it.”
Looking at the three, Zuo Mo’s back had already been soaked in sweat at some unknown time. These three were all very powerful. Zuo Mo wouldn’t be a match for even one of them. The three of them together, he wouldn’t even have the chance to escape. Having climbed up from an outer sect disciple, he was very good at perception and knew that none of these three were good people. Don’t see that the red-robed man spoke so friendly, but if he really ruined the Inky Black Lotus seed, he definitely wouldn’t have a good ending.
Zuo Mo’s consciousness was above other people. There was an energy of blood fiends surrounding the three. Even though it was not as terrifying as the blood fiends he saw in the sword cave, but they exuded an extremely faint viciousness. The three used some unknown method to disguise the energy of the blood fiends but how could they conceal it from Zuo Mo’s consciousness?
This business was not an easy one to take! This was Zuo Mo’s first response.
He shook his head, “My sincere apologies for having the three elders come here for nothing. This one is only in zhuji, and my fire seed is only second-grade. The fourth-grade Inky Black Lotus seed really is not in my abilities!” His words were sincere. He was not afraid that the three would inspect his cultivation and fire seed so he was extremely honest.
The red-robed man smiled slightly but did not speak. The eagle-nosed man beside him said darkly, “If you can process fourth-grade cold magnet, how come you cannot do a fourth-grade lotus seed?”
The snarling large man widened his bell-sized eyes, unreasonably stating, “I’m telling you, if you are working, you have to take it, if you are not working, you still have to take it! Otherwise, I’ll tear down your little shop!”
The red-robed male chuckled and presented the jade scroll on his hands to Zuo Mo, “Master Zuo, do not refuse yet. Take a look at the formation inside this jade scroll.” Finishing, he raised his head to look at Li Ying Feng who was behind Zuo Mo, saying warmly, “Miss, why don’t you put down the messenger seal in your sleeve? Let’s not have a disagreement.”
Zuo Mo silently thought the other was good. The three, with just a few words, used all kinds of attacks. He instantly could not bear it anymore. Motioning for Li Ying Feng not to be impulsive, he bore the pressure to say, “Elder might have had mistaken information. This one had once taken a job of fourth-grade Cold Magnet, but it was only cutting, not processing.”
The red-robed man’s face became slightly dark, saying discontentedly, “Is Master Zuo not giving face?”
Zuo Mo instantly felt his body freeze, as though he was constrained by something, unable to move. At the side, Li Ying Feng’s face was bloodless, staring in shock at the three.
“Fine! I’ll take it!” Zuo Mo saw the situation was worsening and could only grit his teeth and agree.
“Ha ha, Master Zuo is a smart person. Don’t worry, if you can successfully process it, this jade scroll, us three people won’t let Master Zuo make a loss.” The red-robed male laughed as though nothing had happened.
The pressure around Zuo Mo’s body instantly decreased. Looking at this red-robed male, his heart was cold. This person looked warm but, in reality, he was vicious. If he did not successfully process it today, he would have a very bad ending. Wu Kong Sword Sect was very far from here. If something really did happen, the shishu from the sect won’t get here in time.
He didn’t go to take the jade scroll, but took the Inky Black Lotus seed. He was not concerned with the jade scroll anymore. It would be lucky if he kept his little life this time.
A hint of approval made its way onto the red-robe male’s face. The three moved to one side. The eagle-nosed man glanced at Li Ying Feng, his warning implicit.
Zuo Mo did not waste words, and started to inspect this Inky Black Lotus seed.
The Inky Black Lotus seed was the fruit of the Inky Black Lotus flower after it bloomed. Inky Black Lotus was an extremely uncommon ling grass. It usually grew in extremely evil places, like the miasma filled bogs. After accumulating and absorbing all kinds of poisons over time, its leaves were a rotten white, and the flower was as black as ink. The most valuable was the Inky Black Lotus seed it produced.
The Inky Black Lotus would absorb all kinds of poisons that would mix inside its body and produce a new kind of poison. When the lotus produced its seed, all the strong poisons inside its body would gather in this little Inky Black Lotus seed. The lotus seed would land in the peat and once again germinate and grow into a new lotus flower. It would continuously absorb the miasma and poison, forming a new Inky Black Lotus seed. The grade of the inky black seed was determined by the number of cycles it went through.
The Inky Black Lotus seed in front of him was fourth-grade. That meant that it had gone through four cycles of rebirth. That was extremely valuable and rare. The poison inside the lotus seed must be extremely strong!
Holding the Inky Black Lotus seed, Zuo Mo’s mouth became dry. This was the first time he was processing such a poisonous ling grass. It would be false to say he was not nervous. The outer coat of the Inky Black Lotus seed was extremely hard. It was also due to this coat which could not be easily broken by flying swords that the poison inside did not leak out. Otherwise, Zuo Mo’s fingers would quickly rot and die, the poison would quickly spread and, in a short period of time, he would turn into a pile of bones.
Even third-grade detoxification dan could not stop the toxins of the Inky Black Lotus seed. Also, Zuo Mo’s detoxification dan was only second-grade.
Li Ying Feng usually took care of the store and naturally had heard of the infamy of the Inky Black Lotus seed. Her face was pale, looking in nervousness at Zuo Mo. She had let go of the messenger seal inside her sleeve. The eagle-nosed male was staring at her all this time, not disguising the viciousness in his eyes. If she tried to rebel one bit, these people would most likely attack.
A criminal that had come out of nowhere! They dared to be so brash in Dong Fu!
Li Ying Feng gently bit her lips, full of worry as she looked at Zuo Mo Shidi. The Inky Black Lotus seed was far out of Zuo Mo Shidi’s abilities. Last time, he had struggled to cut the fourth-grade cold magnet. Processing was much harder than cutting. Even more so, it was an extremely poisonous item. If he was not careful, he would be infected by the poison and die. She noticed that sweat had soaked Shidi’s back and her heart reached her throat.
If Master was here… …
Her heart was extremely panicked. If Master could rush over, with his jindan cultivation, that would be more than enough to deal with three ningmai xiuzhe!
Zuo Mo had the same idea as Li Ying Feng. However, after delaying for a while, noticing the unfriendly glare of the snarling man, Zuo Mo knew he could not delay any longer.
Flipping his hand, the Stalagmite fire quickly wrapped around the Inky Black Lotus seed. The enmity in the three people’s eyes finally faded. They were slightly nervous as they stared at Zuo Mo, their feet unconsciously moving towards the doorway.
Zuo Mo knew that they were afraid of the poisonous nature of the Inky Black Lotus seed. The toxicity of a fourth-grade Inky Black Lotus seed was such that even though the three were ningmai, they could not easily deal with it. Zuo Mo also wanted to throw the Inky Black Lotus seed as far away as possible but the situation did not permit him to do so.
If he could not process this Inky Black Lotus seed today, he might… …
The milky white flame surrounded the Inky Black Lotus seed, like there was a black core inside the white fire. It looked slightly strange.
Zuo Mo steeled his heart, throwing away all his thoughts. He did not have an escape route and should not think of anything else.
He focused all his consciousness. His other hand took out five pieces of third-grade jingshi, creating a formation under his body.
The snarling man looked at the red-robed male. The red-robed male waved his hand. He recognized this formation. It was to replenish ling power for xiuzhe. Seeing Zuo Mo act as though he was facing a great enemy, and his movements were practice and smooth, an expectant expression uncontrollably came over his face.
Quickly putting down a five primary ling replenishing formation, Zuo Mo put down his left hand on his knees, his entire body relaxed, his eyes never wavering from the Stalagmite fire.
The milky-white flame, spreading a pressuring cold, surrounded a pure black lotus seed as it bounced quickly.
The sweat on his back dried up. After entering the mood, Zuo Mo was not nervous anymore. There was only one thought in his head. How to process this Inky Black Lotus seed?
He quickly made a decision because he did not have too many choices.
The only method he could think about right now.
— There was only the Four-Turn fire formation that he had just barely touched!
Translator Ramblings: The name of the seed is way more poetic in Chinese, oh well.
Zuo Mo has very bad luck this chapter. It’s better to do as someone more powerful tells you if you are sure you can’t win. Zuo Mo and Li Ying Feng are outnumbered by the three ningmai, and Li Ying Feng isn’t good at comba.