Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen – Sword Test Conference?
When Zuo Mo hurried to Wu Kong Hall, he was surprised to find Luo Li Shixiong was also there. He bowed to the sect leader seated at the front before standing to one side. Scanning the surroundings, he saw the other shibo and Master had not come. There was only the three of them in Wu Kong Hall.
“Luo Li, Zuo Mo, you two need to prepare. One month later, you and your Wei Sheng Shixiong will represent our sect at Dong Fu Sword Test Conference. You have to cultivate well, and not slack off.” The sect leader concisely announced this news.
The status of Wei Sheng as Eldest Shixiong had become unshakable after he came out of the sword cave. Supposedly, the sect leader had announced it on the spot.
Luo Li did not say a word, just bowed.
Zuo Mo, who did not have any mental preparations, was dumb on his spot. Sword Test Conference? He was going to attend the Sword Test Conference?
After a while, he regained his focus and said, panicked, “Sect leader, this… … isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”
“How is it inappropriate?” Pei Yuan Ran hadn’t thought that Zuo Mo would say it was inappropriate.
Seeing the sect leader’s gaze land on him, Zuo Mo could only keep going, “This disciple might not be able to take the duty. It is enough for our sect to have Wei Sheng Shixiong and Luo Li Shixiong, this disciple’s power is weak… …”
Before he even finished, even Luo Li’s eyes as they looked at him were slightly strange.
Pei Yuan Ran chuckled, “Ha ha. You don’t look anything like your Scalping Zombie nickname.” He narrowed his eyes slightly, and said warmly, “The reputation of the sect, when it’s time to use it, it should naturally be used well. However, when the sect needs your service, you cannot retreat.”
Zuo Mo’s heart dropped.
It was over! The sect leader definitely knew that he had gone to Ling Ying Sect!
The sect leader’s warm gaze right now was like a knife. Zuo Mo felt extremely uncomfortable, the words that had reached his mouth shrinking back. He hurriedly said, “Yes yes yes! This disciple was muddle-minded! To earn honor for the sect, it is the duty of our generation. This disciple will extinguish volcanoes and upset seas if necessary.”
The sect leader laughed, “We don’t need you to go through anything. Just try at the competition. It will be good for you personally.”
Zuo Mo instantly was embarrassed. It was lucky that there was no expression on his face and nothing could be seen. The reason that he didn’t want to attend the Sword Test Conference was that he didn’t want to divide his attention. He suddenly asked curiously, “Sect Leader, hasn’t the Sword Test Conference been going on for a while? Disciple had thought it was going to finish soon.”
“Ha ha, the local sects would always have a few slots. You can directly attend the Sword Test Conference, and do not have to start from the preliminary Sword Test Conference. Alright, if you have any more questions, you can ask your Li Ying Feng shijie. I have put her in charge of the logistics for this conference.” Pei Yuan Ran waved his hands, signaling for the two to leave.
From beginning to end, Luo Li did not say a word, standing there like a block of wood. Zuo Mo didn’t exchange pleasantries with him and they left on their own paths.
Walking to the West Wind Valley, Zuo Mo still hadn’t managed to react yet. He had never thought about attending the Sword Test Conference. Even though he was tempted of the prizes, but he knew how much he was really worth. He had heard things when he had been processing materials in Dong Fu. Supposedly, this Sword Test Conference was the biggest Sky Moon Jie ever held, and had the highest attendance in history.
别看他在灵英派举耀武扬威，大占便宜，其中运气成份颇多。在天月界数目众多的年轻弟子之中，能够占一流之地的，全都是那些能够年纪轻轻，便已达到疑脉期的修者，像韦胜师兄。凝脉期就像一道门槛，在三十岁之前跨不过去，便难有大成就。
He might have been bold and victorious at Ling Ying Sect, and gotten a lot of gains, but there was a lot of luck involved. In the many young disciples of Sky Moon Jie, the first-class ones were those young people who had already reached the stage of ningmai, like Wei Sheng Shixiong. Ningmai was like a doorway. If they could not step over it before thirty years old, they wouldn’t make any great achievements.
Zuo Mo was full of confidence in Wei Sheng Shixiong, but placed in the context of the entire Sky Moon Jie, this confidence would have to discounted. Dong Fu was just one of the thirteen primary towns of Sky Moon Jie, and there were countless families of various sizes spread out across the wild.
In Sky Moon Jie, other sects of various sizes, the next numerous group were all kinds of families. These families had generations of cultivators, and there were not many differences compared to sects, except that they were even more traditional and conservative. They did not accept xiuzhe from the outside.
Compared to sects, the resources that the families had were much less, and they were less scriptures and spells. However, they had their own method of surviving. They might not have many spells, but after being refined and corrected by generations of disciples, as long as it had managed to pass down, it would have its unique traits. The disciples that came from sects, they would have stronger foundations in areas. The disciples that came from families, they would always have one or two spectacular spells. Each had their specialties.
If a talented disciple came out of a cultivation family, the tilt in the resources would be even greater than a sect.
So many powerful experts, he, with his zhuji cultivation, what would he do there? Zuo Mo twisted his mouth.
In reality, even Luo Li Shixiong didn’t have a hope in his eyes. If someone had a chance from the sect, it would only be Wei Sheng Shixiong. When he thought of Wei Sheng Shixiong, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but feel expectant. Shixiong, who had killed his way step by step in the cave, and broken through to the stage of ningmai, what kind of display would he put up? This was the only part of the Sword Test Conference that Zuo Mo was interested in.
The yin fiends in the sword cave had all been wiped out by Shixiong. Even, Pu Yao, when speak of Shixiong, would occasionally show hints of praise.
Okay, since he was just going there to show his face, Zuo Mo decided, of course, he would display his effort to avoid being punished by the sect leader. Zuo Mo then decided to throw the problem to one side and keep doing what he was doing.
In the little yard, Xiao Guo was still practicing the sword, sweating heavily, extremely focused. Zuo Mo did not disturb her, only standing and looking silently from the side. After a short while, he nodded. Xiao Guo had improved very quickly, and the [Blue Flower] sword scripture had formed. In reality, Xiao Guo’s talents in the sword could only count as average. Zuo Mo had only taught her to fulfill the duty of a shixiong.
But as Xiao Guo continuously improved, especially the effort that almost surpassed Zuo Mo’s imagination, his attitude started to gradually change and he taught more seriously.
[Blue Flower] sword scripture, killing intent hidden within the gentleness. The navy sword light was sometimes thin and dense, layers of circles like the fine brush paintings, sometimes the sword leapt like the crazed ink writing.
Presently, Xiao Guo’s [Blue Flower] still lacked killing intent, but on soft, yin, and entangling, it was exceptional. What Zuo Mo felt astounded by was the “tenacity” that was barely perceivable in her sword presence. She was like a timid and silent spider hiding in the white porcelain vase, spitting out countless thin navy strands, quietly forming a dense and strong blue net, trapping her opponent.
This [Blue Flower] was really suited for her!
Zuo Mo praised inside and felt happy for her. In the future, Xiao Guo definitely could become a pretty strong sword xiu.
There was another transformation in [Blue Flower], drawing essence. Zuo Mo felt that he couldn’t demand so much. This thing was related to one’s personality. Xiao Guo wasn’t that kind of forthright and lively person. He guess it would be hard for her to comprehend that level of sword essence. Zuo Mo wasn’t a person stuck on transformations. He felt that if Xiao Guo kept developing like this, she would definitely carve out a road for herself.
Thinking about it, Zuo Mo gathered all the jade scrolls that he felt could give Xiao Guo help. Most of them were yin and soft sword scriptures.
At this time, Xiao Guo had completed one round of practice. When she raised her head and saw Zuo Mo watching on from the side, she timidly said, “Shixiong… …”
“Oh.” Zuo Mo responded. He took out a few jade scrolls out of his hundred treasures pouch to give to Xiao Guo, “Take this and have a look. Don’t just practice, take a look at other things, learn some knowledge, it can be inspiration for you.”
Seeing mist rise in Xiao Guo’s eyes, Zuo Mo instantly had a headache. He hurriedly stuffed the jade scrolls into Xiao Guo’s hands, and said in a deliberately stern tone, “This is homework! I will inspect it! Don’t slack off! Keep practicing!”
Finishing, he fled, heading towards his house.
Everything about this little girl was good, except she liked crying too much. Zuo Mo shook his head. He could do nothing for Xiao Guo there. Oh, she can practice by herself since she had been pretty good right now. Zuo Mo said extremely irresponsibly.
He quickly threw the question to one side, and started his daily cultivation.
His cultivation was extremely unequal right now. The great majority of his time was on scriptures. Both [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] and [Vajra Profound Sutra] needed large amounts of time. In comparison, the time he spent on spells was lamentable. Due to not having the next section on the five element spells of ling plant farmers, he could only work on the finger motions to stop them from becoming unfamiliar. [Li Water Sword Scripture] after he merged the sword essences, he found that he had greatly diverged from the contents of the jade scrolls. The content in the jade scrolls was not suited to the newly hybrid sword essence. The problem was while it was hard to merge together the sword essences, it was even harder to split them apart again.
The only thing Zuo Mo felt happy about was the new sword essence was much more powerful than before.
The remaining time was on the spells for dan-making and forging. Shi Feng Rong felt that she didn’t have time to teach him dan-making so she let him read all the jade scrolls relating to dan-making. She had even wiped away the jinzhi on the jade scrolls that required an appropriate cultivation for Zuo Mo to read.
It had to be said that this was very beneficial for Zuo Mo. His control over the Stalagmite fire was much stronger than before. He could comprehend many of the intricacies. Even though he could not understand many parts due to his cultivation, but his thinking and knowledge was far above the past.
In the area of forging, he could only be considered to be dabbling. The only thing he was good at was processing materials. Other things, he was extremely weak. However, he felt that forging was a pretty good direction, especially when he had a fire seed. When he had free time, he would flip through Second Shibo’s jade scrolls on forging.
From this, it could be seen just how little spells he had!
However, he didn’t have any better methods. He definitely couldn’t talk about it with Sect Leader and the shibo, otherwise, he would be lectured. The elders would certainly sternly lecture him to practice the sword, and not bite off more than he can chew.
One sword breaks all moves was the confidence of sword xiu experts.
It was a pity that Zuo Mo was not an expert and did not have much time recently to put on the sword. He was a pure pragmatist. His development was completely due to needs and motivations. After he had nearly tripped up at Ling Ying Sect, he had become highly alert that he could not do it again.
Earning jingshi, it was better to be safe and steady.
Before, he had spent large amounts of time on formations, but since he had been lacking for effective methods, he had studied, but didn’t have great interest.
But now that he had the formation disks, this had undoubtedly opened a window for Zuo Mo.
On the other side of the window was a completely new world.
Translator Ramblings: You guys are all so smart. This chapter was a bit of review on Zuo Mo’s abilities since he is going to have fight in the future. Pei Yuan Ran also makes a good point about the relationship between the sect and its disciples. The sect comes with a lot of benefits and so the disciples should pay back when needed.