Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Two – Discovery!
Flipping through the talismans and materials in front of him, Zuo Mo rejoiced at his decision.
These three really had a lot of good items!
There were multiple fourth-grade materials, two or three fourth-grade talismans. The rest were things they didn’t know the use of.
Zuo Mo wanted to take them all, but that was just a fantasy. Golden Crow Fire was something good, but what he was offered was also good.
In the end, Zuo Mo picked three items.
The first was a paper seal soldier. Zuo Mo had a deep impression of the seal soldier from last time, the brute power and astounding presence it had. When he found a seal soldier in the pile, he was very happy.
The grade of this seal soldier was higher than the one before. It should be third-grade. Zuo Mo had only used a seal soldier once; he didn’t understand very much about it, and could only make a general judgement.
On the three-finger wide snowy white paper, the cinnabar seals were curving like earthworms, little bits of gold contained within the bright red cinnabar. The seals felt as though they were burned onto the paper.
Holding it on his hand, it was very heavy as though it wasn’t made of paper but more like a piece of metal, strong yet flexible.
The other was a fourth-grade Blue Icicle Crystal. This Blue Ice Crystal was of outstanding quality, entirely transparent without an impurity, forming a perfect icicle. When he took it out, a mist floated around the Blue Icicle Crystal.
Zuo Mo had to channel ling power to hold this Blue Icicle Crystal. If he did not channel ling power to his palm, his hand would have been frozen by the crystal.
Seeing such an outstanding Blue Icicle Crystal, the first thought in Zuo Mo’s mind was his five essence set of swords. If he forged this into a flying sword, it would be perfect for Xin Yan Shibo’s Ice Dragon sword essence.
The last was a talisman. When the three saw Zuo Mo pick this talisman, they all had shocked expressions.
It was a stick shaped talisman that was severely damaged. It looked as though it should have four panels, but two of the panels were broken.
None of the three recognized this talisman, they didn’t even know where they had gotten the stick from. Zuo Mo was willing to use a valuable choice to pick this broken stick, then it wasn’t something ordinary.
They were clear about that, but they didn’t recognize it, so it wasn’t useful in their hands. Also, no matter how good this talisman was, it was damaged, how good could it be?
They were willing to trade it.
The two sides easily made the transaction. Zuo Mo gave the Golden Crow Fire with the minibox to the other. The three all had happy expressions. Even though it was three for one, but they felt it was worth it.
The Golden Crow Fire was one of the higher quality fourth-grade fire seeds. Fire seeds were rare in the first place. This fire might be a tiny flame, and was weak, but it was pure Golden Crow Fire. As soon as it was imprinted, it could form a fire seed inside the body. While the Blue Icicle Crystal was also fourth-grade and it was perfect, but it still was not on the same level as this little ball of Golden Crow Fire.
But Zuo Mo did not lose out.
It was very hard to buy a third-grade seal soldier on the market. There were not many seal xiu in Sky Moon Jie. Seal soldiers could save lives. A second-grade seal soldier could face a ningmai for a short amount of time.
What about a third-grade seal soldier? Zuo Mo couldn’t help but feel anticipation.
No matter if it was the third-grade seal soldier, or the perfect Blue Icicle Crystal, they were all extraordinary treasures. But what Zuo Mo put the most importance on was the damaged stick.
The three opposite him did not know it, but Zuo Mo recognized it.
It was not a stick, but a damaged four-flanged Vajra Gada.[i] It was a talisman that Dhyana xiu used. True Dhyana were rare in Sky Moon Jie. Zuo Mo was very curious where they got a dhyana talisman from.
Dhyana emphasized cultivating the body and forming abhinna. This was the first time Zuo Mo saw a dhyana talisman. However, he didn’t pick this four-flanged Vajra Gada out of curiosity but because he had discovered something else.
His consciousness had become multiple times more sensitive as the leaf hand formed. When his consciousness had swept across this four-flanged Vajra Gada, he had suddenly felt a hidden power come out of the gada!
This power was not strong, it could be considered weak. It didn’t give off any pressure, was a peaceful but thick. This weak, harmless power, almost caused Zuo Mo to lose his control of his consciousness.
How could Zuo Mo not feel shock?
His own spirit was much stronger than normal ningmai. His mentality was as strong as stone, unable to be shaken. Now that he had the leaf hand, in terms of strength, wasn’t he multiple times stronger than before?
It wasn’t normal!
In an instant, Zuo Mo understood the value of this four-flanged Vajra Gada! He did not hesitate and picked it.
Both sides were happy.
———
The next morning, the three bid farewell to Zuo Mo very early and flew towards the jie river. Zuo Mo naturally wouldn’t speak of letting them stay longer, but felt it strange. These three still clearly seemed quite tired, and had not completely recovered. Why were they in such a hurry to leave?
Crossing the jie river was not an easy matter.
Even though he was puzzled, Zuo Mo did not have the time to care. He wanted them to leave at soon as possible so he could stop worrying and cultivate.
The present Desolate Wood Reef was like a paradise. The incident of the Blue Spiked Crocodile appearing and wounding someone reminded Zuo Mo, that he may have set down an unprecedentedly large Skyring Moon Chime Formation, but the Desolate Wood Reef wasn’t small, and there naturally were many holes.
Since he had discovered this, it was easy to deal with. He only needed to add some child formations to the Skyring Moon Chime Formation and it would seal the holes. Luckily, the main skeleton had already been built so the rest progressed quickly.
After being fixed up, the Desolate Wood Reef could be considered impregnable. Zuo Mo had not spared any of the beaches. After the incident with the Blue Spiked Crocodile, no other ling beast had managed to get into the island.
Gongsun Cha became the most idle person. There were no beasts for him to work on. He was very depressed.
Zuo Mo placed heavy importance on this shidi that had been certified for a jade medal and had comforted him.
After making rounds, it was time to absorb earth energy for the day.
Just having comforted Gongsun Cha, Zuo Mo needed to directly face an even harsher reality.
———
Days were passing so slowly! Zuo Mo howled, feeling as though each day was a year.
“Come!” Pu Yao raised his chin, smiling seductively and smugly.
Zuo Mo asked the question he would ask every day, “How many days left?”
“Soon, soon!” Pu Yao insincerely comforted him.
Zuo Mo’s body was dark gold, his pants rolled up and his bare feet struck deep in the soil. Threads of weak earth energy entered his body and flowed around, continuously permeating his muscles and bones.
It was as though he was soaking in the water, unspeakably comfortable.
But Zuo Mo did not dare to relax. His body was as tense as copper wire, nervous to the extreme. Countless previous experiences taught him if he allowed himself to sink into this comfortable state, the “torture” that would come next would became even harder and more painful to bear.
The suddenly discrepancy would destroy a person. Zuo Mo’s spirit had almost been wounded multiple times.
After that, he didn’t dare to let himself sink deeply into this pleasurable feeling.
He was like a criminal that knew that he was going to his execution soon. He had delicious food in front of him, but it could have been cardboard for all he cared.
It was coming!
Strangely, he felt his heart relax. It finally came.
The rest was very simple. One word – suffer!
The earth energy that entered Zuo Mo’s body became even tinier. That would cause the pain when they were drawn out to be even stronger.
Zuo Mo’s body uncontrollably trembled like dice. But his legs were like nails, hammered deeply into the ground.
The hair-thin earth energy was slowly and forcefully sucked out of the depth of his body. They passed through his flesh, the pores in his bones, his channels … …
Zuo Mo tried his best to keep his mind clear. This was the only method he had found over time that could decrease the feeling of pain.
However, in such a painful state, it was very difficult to enter a clear state of mind.
People’s potential was limitless.
After being continuously tortured, Zuo Mo started to find some tricks. He tried his best to pull his consciousness away. It was best if it could wander outside his body. That way, no matter how much pain his body was in, he would not be affected.
Relax, relax … …
His body was fiercely trembling, yet his breathing slowly calmed down.
[Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation]!
Unknowingly, Zuo Mo entered an embryonic state.
“Hm!” Pu Yao exclaimed in shock, his action of drawing out earth energy pausing.
In his bloody pupil, a thoughtful expression occurred. He seemed to have thought of something. Maybe … …
Zuo Mo, in his embryonic state, was like a spectator. He could “see” his body continuously tremble in increasing severity.
For the first time, he did not feel pain at all!
There was no joy. He just peacefully “looked.”
He “looked” as his body started to became transparent, “looked” at the flesh under his skin and saw those hair-thin earth energies continuously break free of the control of his body and was forcefully sucked out.
The entire process was displayed openly in front of him.
His muscles started to grow larger in front of him, so he could “look” more clearly, “look” closer. Each fibre of his muscles uncontrollably trembled when the earth energy passed by.
He just silently “looked.” It seemed he could “look” at more things.
He was very peaceful, until he “looked” and saw a scene.
This was … …
Suddenly, he seemed to understand something. As the idea popped out, it was like a pebble had been thrown at a peaceful pond.
Everything in the surroundings suddenly became blurred and unreal as though it was rippling.
Hiss!
Extreme pain suddenly washed over him like a flood! Zuo Mo’s mind had wavered as he left the embryonic state. Before his mind could steady, it was rushed by this unparalleled pain. He almost fainted.
Damn it!
Having left behind the embryonic state, Zuo Mo did not have any of the peace he had before. He gritted his teeth and arched his neck, trying his best to bear the shock of the pain. His mouth occasionally inhaled sharply. His eyes were red, like a bandit that had murdered many.
If this was any previous time, Zuo Mo definitely wouldn’t try to resist like this. The pain this time was far greater than any other previous occasion. It would be better to just faint. Then he wouldn’t have to experience it.
However, he definitely wouldn’t give up this time. He decided to resist to the end. He didn’t have the time to ponder what he had just seen, but he believed his own judgement.
It was so painful it was pleasurable! So painful it reached his bones!
He struggled to bear it.
He wanted to laugh, roar with laughter!
[i] A gada is a mace, a weapon used by one of the Gods. In depictions, the gada is literally a “stone on a stick”. This particular weapon has flanges, so it is a four-flanged mace/gada. Search vajra weapon, and imagine one end of it set on a stick.
Translator Ramblings: Zuo Mo now has three out of five items needed for his sword formation.