World of Cultivation - Volume 02 - A Problematic Youth, page 32
Some perceptive xiuzhe that were also knowledgeable in formations found an abnormality. Was this Gold Surge Formation second or third-grade? Such a big patch of golden mist, it didn’t seem like something a second-grade Gold Surge Formation could form. But if it was a third-grade Gold Surge Formation, it could not form in such a short amount of time.
Seeing the fire hammer in the sky about to land, this patch of golden mist changed again.
At this time, no one was concerned with the change in the gold mist. Everyone was closely watching the five Zuo Mo on the field. They wanted to see how Zuo Mo would respond!
“That’s not correct… …” Wang Shixiong’s expression was frozen as he stared at the field, unconsciously muttering. Without noticing, his face was full of sweat and his eyes were full of deep disbelief!
* * *
Translator Ramblings: The sect elders find out Zuo Mo concealed something! I don’t want to spoil anything so no commentary on anything else in this chapter until the fight is over.
Chapter 125: Final Kill
One, two, three, four… …
How many formation disks had Zuo Mo thrown out?
Everyone only saw the sky filled with formation disks like rain. Only Wang Shixiong had been silently counting inside. The five Zuo Mo had been furiously throwing formation disks at an astounding rate but an illusion was just an illusion. The illusions created with a Multiple Ghost Shadows Seal below fifth-grade were intangible. They were just a ball of light.
Therefore, only the formation disks thrown out by the real person were real formation disks.
Wang Shixiong, face full of sweat, was full of admiration towards Zuo Mo to the point of kneeling. It was rare that the illusions were so realistic, but to have illusions that could throw out formation disks, the person’s consciousness was terrifying!
Wang Shixiong could not count how many formation disks had been truly thrown out. The rate at which each Zuo Mo had been throwing formation disks was different. He couldn’t tell which one was the real one. But he knew that Zuo Mo had at least thrown out seven formation disks!
The fight had reached its climax, and Wang Shixiong felt that hiding under that expressionless zombie face was an extremely terrifying cunning!
The spherical ball of fire that was howling as it came down quickly changed.
“Hammer Metamorphosis”!
This was an extremely important transformation of the fiery hammer. Almost every move needed to undergo “hammer metamorphosis” After the fire turned into a hammer, the power would greatly increase. In normal moves, the time it took to complete the change was extremely short and hard to detect. It was only for powerful moves like “Fire Rain Hammer” that the metamorphosis of the hammer was clear enough for people to detect.
When the howling fireball all turned into the fire hammer, the entire battleground would be flattened!
At this moment a change suddenly occurred!
Three blue chains suddenly leapt around the red Chao An’s feet, like three blue snakes that had been waiting for a long time, and tangled around Chao An.
Unable to defend, Chao An was tightly tied.
Third-grade [Dragon Tying Formation]!
Shocked shouts instantly sounded in the crowd. This change had been too sudden without a hint of warning!
However, many people were still shaking their head. Was this what Zuo Mo had been doing?
The [Dragon Tying Formation] had been one of the finer formations that Zuo Mo had purchased. Not many people recognized it. But in the eyes of these ningmai, they could roughly detect the power of this [Dragon Tying Formation]. From what they saw, the power of the [Dragon Tying Formation] was good, but it was impossible to tie down Chao An with this. It would only take Chao An a few breaths to break free!
Crack crack, Wang Shixiong couldn’t help but fist his hands. A blush came onto his sweaty face. Only he guessed that Zuo Mo’s counterattack was starting!
Chao An was enraged!
Under the eyes of everyone, he had actually been tied down by a zhuji xiuzhe!
His head rang. The fire inside his chest could not be suppressed. His hair stood on end, his eyes widening angrily, his expression extremely twisted!
“Go die!”
All the ling power in his body furiously headed for the three blue chains on his body. A bright red fire appeared on his body, and he truly became a fire person!
The deep red fire fiercely burned the blue chains on his body. The blue chains, at a speed visible to the naked eye, dramatically shrunk.
The spectators couldn’t help but sigh. The difference in power was too great! For zhuji cultivators, the power of the [Dragon Tying Formation] was very strong, but it was not enough for a ningmai. It might have tied Chao An down for a while, but Zuo Mo lacked a move that could finish him off! He basically could not do anything to Chao An. Zuo Mo couldn’t even near the flame that was on Chao An’s body.
Only Wang Shixiong believed this was the horn of counterattack. There definitely was a change hidden in here!
But where was that change?
He suddenly found that in that great patch of golden sand, at some unknown time, there was the addition of countless water energies! A ball of faint water mist, carrying countless sparkling golden lights. It was extremely beautiful.
Such thick water energy!
Such an evident change obviously could not be missed by the spectators. Those that were familiar with formations instantly recognized it as the [Water Gathering Formation]. But the water energy that had been gathered far surpassed a second-grade water gathering formation!
Those xiuzhe that had deeper knowledge of formations instantly reacted!
“Gold births water! His Gold Surge Formation is aiding the Water Gathering Formation! It’s a chain formation!”
“No! There must have been an earth formation before. Earth aids the gold formation! It’s a three chain formation!”
“Heavens! Three chain formation!”
“Three chain formation! He knows how to do a three chain formation!”
… …
Gasps of shock instantly sounded among the crowd. This was the first time, up until now, that some many people gasped with shock at Zuo Mo!
Wang Shixiong silently fisted his hands even more. He didn’t feel happy that his guess had been right at this moment. His eyes were full of panic.
Faster… … faster… …
The howling fireball rain had just reached Zuo Mo’s head. No matter how much assistance and traps he had put down before, he could not dodge this move!
“A pity for the three chain… …”
Someone said that, and the surroundings instantly became silent.
With Zuo Mo’s cultivation, no matter what, they could not stop this “Fire Rain Hammer”!
Suddenly, all five Zuo Mo stopped and simultaneously looked at the sky.
Zuo Mo’s vision instantly darkened. The fireball descended from the sky, carrying an intimidating presence, unable to be dodged.
Li Ying Feng and Xiao Guo’s faces were bloodless. When the fireball flew closer, that terrifying presence made one unable to find the courage to face it.
Shixiong… …
Xiao Guo’s body uncontrollably trembled.
“Hm!” Wei Sheng’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Eh!” Chang Heng suddenly straightened his body.
“Oh!” Gu Rong Ping was slightly surprised, “Little bit interesting.”
… …
A light flashed through Zuo Mo’s eyes. His eyes were tightly fixed on the nearing fire rain covering the sky.
The fireball grew larger in front of his eyes with astounding speed. He didn’t move at all. He stood with his face looking at the sky, not moving a sliver.
The fireball had a long tail, just like a meteor!
But… … they were still shaped spherically.
–– It hadn’t turned into a hammer!
Golden light suddenly rose inside the field. A gigantic formation suddenly appeared. Zuo Mo was at the center of the formation. At the same time, the jade pendant at his waist suddenly lit up.
Two formations, big and small, but completely the same, appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.
Double chain Streaming Fire Core Manipulation!
The hands of the five Zuo Mo in the field suddenly moved simultaneously.
Zuo Mo was under great pressure at the center of the formation. He could feel all the power and changes that were happening in the formation. He had never felt it was so easy before. It was like his hands were greased. He didn’t need to especially control it and those incomparably complex finger motions streamed out of his hands!
Opposite the flow of his finger movements, his body clearly was struggling like he was weighed down with something heavy, slightly trembling!
Poof poof poof poof!
The four illusions disappeared. At this time, Zuo Mo had no more concentration to control those four illusions.
He was enduring pressure that he had never endured before. From far away, one could clearly see the tendons in Zuo Mo’s forehead bulging like earthworms.
Control fire!
He was using the most normal method to control fire!
Taking advantage of Chao An being tied up and having weakened his control of the Fire Rain Hammer, before the fireballs could turn to a hammer, taking advantage of the double chained Streaming Fire Core Manipulation Formation to increase his control over fire, to resolve this move!
“Such a smart child!” Tian Song Zi praised from the lucky cloud.
The faces of the other sect leaders were full of jealousy. At this time, Pei Yuan Ran and the others did not have time to be smug. They were nervously looking at the battle.
All of the spectators were dumbstruck!
No one had thought Zuo Mo would use such an incredible method to resolve a move that others thought was far out of his limits.
It was just the most common fire… …
Zuo Mo locked his jaw and told himself repeatedly. His consciousness was reaching into every corner, crawling around the fireballs above his head. The finger motions changed according to the feelings passed on through his consciousness.
哪怕他有流火心御阵相助，哪怕此时晁安对火雨的控制稍弱，哪怕它没有化锤，但它依然不是左莫能够控制的。
Even though he had the Streaming Fire Core Manipulation Formation to help him, even though Chao An’s control over the rain of fire was weakened, even though it had not metamorphosed into the hammer, but it still was not something that Zuo Mo could control.
However, Zuo Mo didn’t want to control it at all… …
“Open!” Zuo Mo bellowed. His voice seemed to have come out of his chest, suffocated yet deep.
The rain of fire above his head suddenly moved towards two sides, revealing a slim crack! The sunlight streamed down through the crack. On the shaded ground, a path of light suddenly appeared.
A ruler-straight path of light.
At this end of the path was Zuo Mo. At the other end, it was Chao an. And in the middle was that dense water energy that carried dots of gold light.
Suddenly, for some unknown reason, when this path of light appeared, everyone that was watching had one thought, the final move! All the set up, all the traps, they followed and intercrossed and were so surprising. After such careful setup for the move, how could it not be the final kill?
Zuo Mo’s finger movements changed. That ball of water energy in the middle suddenly started to pour with rain.
[Little Art of Cloud and Rain]!
Little Art of Cloud and Rain… …
The people that had been waiting for an ultimate attack were dazed. Though many people hadn’t recognized the finger motions and formations that had came up previously, there was no one who did not recognize the [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] that Zuo Mo had just cast. No one noticed that Zuo Mo had cast [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] in such a short amount of time. Everyone’s first response was, why was it Little Art of Cloud and Rain?
Just as everyone was shocked, the Water Drop sword appeared in Zuo Mo’s hands.
All the noise of the surroundings completely disappeared. In Zuo Mo’s eyes, there was only that ball of Cloud and Rain. Under his feet was the Five Primary Ling Replenishing Formation. It had just barely managed to top up the ling power in his body.
Charge!
In his heart, Zuo Mo shouted to himself.
The Water Drop sword was tilted downward at his waist. Trotting in little steps, as the Wind Travel boots lit up, as he brushed past the fire rain beside him, he slowly sped up. All the ling power in his body were flooding towards the Water Drop sword.
Chao An was very angry, more angry than he had ever been before.
Originally, he had hoped to use a grand and explosive move to end this farce, and to prove his power!
But everything was ruined!
Now, even if he won, this damned zombie’s performance was enough for people to talk about. The center of the conversation would be this zombie, and him… …
The flames on his body became even hotter. The blue chains that had been struggling finally could not endure it anymore and turned to dust.
He raised his bright red eyes. There was one voice inside his heart.
–– Die!
In front of him, the cloud that was raining seemed to be changing.
Immediately after, a figure rushed through the mist. The moment he came out, the white mist turned back to gold. All the water energy had disappeared.
When he saw the person that rushed out was Zuo Mo, Chao An had a fierce smile. But when his eyes landed on Zuo Mo’s waist, his eyes suddenly widened.
The Water Drop sword that Zuo Mo was holding on his side had turned into a water sword, a gigantic water sword that was one zhang long like a flame!
When he had passed by the cloud, all of the water energy had been absorbed onto the sword.
In the midst of the fire rain, a transparent sword of water. That was Zuo Mo’s final and ultimate kill.
–– [Li Water Burning Heavens]!
* * *
Translator Ramblings: There was someone who mentioned using [Little Art of Cloud and Rain] in battle, so here it is! Formations, five element ling farming spells, and Zuo Mo’s sword! Is this worth the cliffhanger?
Chapter 126: Cross-Examination
Boom boom boom!
The sound of explosions rang out. The battlefield turned into a sea of fire.
The deep red flames were several zhang high as they spat and danced. The two people that were enveloped in the fire could not be seen.
Suddenly, in the middle of the sea of fire, several snowflakes floated out.
A blurry figure appeared out of the sea of fire. He walked step by step out. The blurry figure became more solid.
Who was it?
Everyone couldn’t help but stretch their necks, and stop breathing. Even the dumbest person knew the one walking out was the winner of the battle.
The rain of fire that had landed at the end had blocked everyone’s vision. The image that had been burned in their eyes had been that gigantic flame-like sword made out of water, moving from bottom to top, slicing towards Chao An!
Did he hit it? What was the result?
It seemed to be time for everything to be revealed.
The black figure coming out of the sea of fire was even more solid. He finally reached the border of the sea of fire. He didn’t stop and stepped forward.
A dark golden bare footed figure, slightly burnt black, stepped out of the sea of fire.
———
The sky was clear and the warm sunlight reached the ground. The weather of Sky Moon Jie was pleasant. Even though the rain was plentiful, but sunny days were the majority in the year. Dong Fu, located on the mountain was abnormally busy. The xiuzhe were coming and going, on swords or flying, or riding ling beasts, or controlling talismans as they gathered here from all around.
At Wu Kong Mountain not far away from Dong Fu.
Completely bare, Zuo Mo was soaking in the medicinal tub, only his head let out. He occasionally would hiss and inhale. Even though he had won this time, but he had been seriously injured. When he had walked out of the sea of fire, he had fainted. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was soaking in the medicinal liquid. Beside the tub, a sound tablet was placed. The light flowed on the jade disk of the sound tablet. This was something Zuo Mo had begged Xiao Guo to find for him.
He was quickly pulled to the content of the sound tablet broadcast.
“Even though the matches of the past two days were extremely good, but it had to be said that they cannot compare to the first match! It really makes me unable to have interest. Master Xu, what do you think?”
“True. I feel the same. The spells of the past two days were varied, but there was nothing as astounding as Zuo Mo’s display in the first match. However, after analyzing it, there are many reasons why everyone has such a deep impression of Zuo Mo and Chao An’s fight.”
“Exactly. A classic fight naturally needs some reasons it could be called classic. Like the gigantic difference in the two’s power, and the unique use of formation disks and formations by Zuo Mo etcetera, they are all reasons this fight will be classic. In this fight, Zuo Mo’s accomplishments with formations and formation disks is the topic that everyone has discussed the most. The professions see the technique, the amateurs the spectacle. I don’t know anything about formations at all. Master Xu, you are an expert in this field and definitely saw more than I did. Come, explain it to me.”
“I’m really not that skilled. In reality, I was present at the fight and it gave me a great shock. It might be because I’m very interested in formations. I was greatly stimulated by how Zuo Mo used formations and formation disks. Many people are asking the same question, how many formation disks did Zuo Mo really throw out?”
