World of Cultivation - Volume 02 - A Problematic Youth, page 42
Gui Feng grumbled a sound, and the white bone sword in his hand pointed at Su.
[Little Ghost Ask Directions]!
Creak, all the little ghosts in the sky simultaneously gave a strange howl. Their features twisted as they turned to countless black images and headed towards Su. These little ghosts were extremely fast, their bodies blurring as they would suddenly disappear in the sky, and then suddenly appear out of the air.
Ghost Movement! These little ghosts had the ability of Ghost Movement!
Su did not dare to keep her strength now, her right palm firmly hitting the sword hilt of the Black Daze that was spinning.
The Black Daze sword was like a windmill as it spun, circles of invisible magnetic force suddenly spreading out.
A thin snow-white finger pointed at the center of the black light wheel.
[Magnetic Shield]!
The invisible magnetic force that was spread by the wheel of light instantly increased to the point that the ripple like patterns were visible to the naked eye. The invisible patterns quickly covered Su.
The vicious and raging little ghosts, when they encountered the invisible patterns, were instantly deflected back. But these little ghosts were not damaged in the least. With a strange howl, they kept on leaping towards Su!
This seemed like a black storm that would never stop, howls ringing out endlessly. The little ghosts did not seem to know exhaustion, repeatedly charging at Su. The invisible patterns were like the surface of a lake that was being attacked by the storm, rippling restlessly, but no matter how the little ghosts charged, it managed to firmly protect Su.
The battle instantly became a stand-off. Neither could win over the other.
Gui Feng’s ebony black eyes looked deeply at Su behind the magnetic shield, and suddenly disappeared on his spot. Disappearing along with him were the countless little ghosts.
This black storm had came suddenly, and left even more abruptly!
Su took a breath, but did not dare to move aside her finger. Only when she was certain that Gui Feng was not beside her did she move her finger aside, releasing the magnetic shield. Only now did she discover, without her noticing her back had become soaked with sweat.
Su, who had been very certain that she could guarantee that Zuo Mo would enter the top ten, realized that she had underestimated the heroes of the world!
Calming down her messy ling power, she decided to go find Zuo Mo immediately.
The faster she found Zuo Mo, the higher the chance they could win this battle. Up until now, she still had not received Zuo Mo’s paper crane. This made her heart fill with worry.
Did the little zombie have such terrible luck? Had he encountered danger so early?
She unconsciously sped up. If she had an appropriate flying sword just now… …
———
Zuo Mo had long thrown the matter of the paper crane to the back of his mind. All of his attention was on his [Skyring Moon Chime Formation].
The [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] was the formation he had gotten in payment for processing the Inky Black Lotus Seed. It was the only fourth-grade formation in his possession so after he had received it, he had spent large amounts of time on it. He had made a very profound conclusion. Formations above fourth-level weren’t that simple.
[Skyring Moon Chime Formation] did not look very complex. It was a mother-and-child formation. The grade of each child formation was not high, most of them second-grade. The formation that was the crux was just a third-grade formation. But the more he studied it, the more Zuo Mo felt this [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] was not simple!
The difficulty of each child formation was not high and he could easily complete it, but fitting all of them together greatly increased the difficulty.
The smallest [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] required eighteen child formations. The more child formations there were, the more powerful the formation became. The power of a thirty six child formation [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] was extremely powerful. If Zuo Mo was trapped in it, he definitely could not get out.
Zuo Mo had decided to make a seventy two child formation [Skyring Moon Chime Formation].
Seventy-two child formations and thirty-six child formations, the number of child formations had doubled, but the difference in the power had more than doubled.
The little mountain of materials was mostly prepared for the [Skyring Moon Chime Formation]. If this formation was successfully set up, Zuo Mo felt the likelihood of a ningmai xiuzhe coming out once they were trapped in the formation was low. Also, the [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] was extremely profound. It was impossible to damage the formation just through brute force, unless someone found the eye of the formation.
But at the eye of the formation, Zuo Mo had just carefully made a gigantic “dan cauldron!”
It was a pity he didn’t have the time to fantasize about his enemies being burnt. Zuo Mo needed to quickly finish the formation.
It required large amounts of time to set up the seventy-two child formations. So in Zuo Mo’s plan, it was to first make an eighteen children formation [Skyring Moon Chime Formation], and with that as the base, add another eighteen, forming a thirty-six [Skyring Moon Chime Formation]. Increasing it step by step, it would make sure he still had the power to fight if an enemy sneaked up.
He was extremely proud that he had thought of such a great plan.
His cultivation wasn’t enough, so ge won’t compete in cultivation with you people!
Looking at the formations that he had already set up, Zuo Mo’s heart was filled with accomplishment. With the pond as the center, the groups of formations, jade pieces, copper cauldrons, and metal nails flashed with blinding light. The pond had been half a mu large in the beginning. This formation territory had reached an area of five mu. Originally, not many people had been paying attention to Zuo Mo, but when this five mu of formations were completed, all kinds of lights came and crossed. In comparison to this gigantic light-emitting formation area, the golden armored seal soldier that was summoned it was extremely tiny.
———
This formation belt was really too eye-catching. The people watching from the gigantic mirage in Dong Fu could easily find it with a glance.
Consequently, many people unconsciously looked at this sparkling formation belt.
Their expression were strangely similar, all gaping with wide eyes, dumbstruck where they were.
Pei Yuan Ran and the others had abnormally ugly expressions. Because their cultivation was too high, they could easily hear the conversation in the surroundings.
“I heard this guy is from Wu Kong Sword Sect, he isn’t the normal kind of extreme!”
“Are you sure it isn’t Wu Kong Formation Sect?”
Pei Yuan Ran’s eyebrows twitched. The other three had dark expressions. The four of them had a strong impulse they had never had before –– charge into the Great Pine Pavilion, and cut Zuo Mo down with a blow to pay for his crime towards the ancestral masters!
Another kind of conversation was going on at the other side.
“I understand now!” A xiuzhe suddenly stood up, his face full of realization, extremely excited.
Hearing this, his companions hurriedly crowded over. “What do you understand?”
The xiuzhe was extremely excited. “Zuo Mo’s true aim is to get the entire Great Pine Pavilion! He’s putting on a disguise and winning in the dark! He wants to slowly take over the Great Pine Pavilion. Right, the books say this is called nibbling… …”
At this time, not just Pei Yuan Ran, but all of the Wu Kong Sword Sect disciples, were so embarrassed they wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide in.
“This disciple is unfilial! To have shamed the ancestral masters!” Tears streamed down Pei Yuan Ran’s face, extremely sorrowful.
Xin Yan’s hand unconsciously touched his flying sword, his voice seeming to have come out of purgatory. “I will let him know that he cannot go to Wu Kong Formation Sect!”
Yan Le, who was usually cheerful, gritted his teeth. “From next month, I’ll stop all of his allowance! He won’t get one more jingshi from me!”
Shi Feng Rong’s response was very calm. “Don’t worry, I’ll help heal him. He definitely won’t die. You can slowly work on him.”
The disciples in the surroundings were shuddering as they unconsciously distanced themselves from the exploding elders.
Zuo Mo, not knowing that he had provoked public rage, was extremely proud. He turned into a laborious worker-ant, energetically continuing his great endeavor of construction.
Just five mu, it was too small!
Once the seventy-two child formation [Skyring Moon Chime Formation] was completely set up, it would form a gigantic formation belt over fifteen mu large!
Zuo Mo called his new idea: formation-defense-style. The full name was Complete Formation Territory Defense Style.
Today was the day destined for formation-defense-style to become famous.
Zuo Mo was extremely motivated, his heart full of anticipation!
* * *
Translator Ramblings: Zuo Mo’s skill at naming is terrible.
Chapter 140: [Self Separation]
Chang Heng and the yellow-faced man fought fiercely.
The strangely shaped copper ring, the Blood Spider sword, shined a sticky bloody color each time it was waved a noxious odor wafted forth. His strength was much stronger compared to when he had fought Zuo Mo.
Yet the yellow-faced man in front of him moved with ease. A copper dagger axe flew around him. The copper dagger axe emitted a green-blue light. As it flew, it formed a blue curtain. The bloody light was not able to break through this fragile-looking green-blue curtain of light.
“Cultivation using blood, how extremely obscure,” The yellow-faced man said, “it’s a pity that you didn’t cultivate it correctly, you just have the appearance of it.”
“Just the appearance?” Chang Heng’s pupils slightly shrunk.
His fingers twitching slightly, the Bloody Spider sword that was over his fingers flew into the sky. As the sword flew, it turned into an enormous shadow.
Boom!
Six thick legs heavily hit the ground, dust flying away as the ground trembled slightly . A bloody spider stared fiercely at the yellow-faced man. Compared to when it had faced Zuo Mo, it was more than double its previous size. The six legs of the spider were slender and long, full of hooks. The joints were much thicker, stronger and more powerful. The dark patterns on the surface of the blood spider was more evident than before, and there was a slightly metallic sheen, making sure people would not doubt its hardness.
What made others the most terrified was the face of the blood spider. The flat face seemed to have a few marks reminiscent of a human face. This face that seemed human-like was extremely vicious and cruel, a brutal presence emanating from it.
“Oh, not bad. To be able to cultivate almost to the step of Human Face, you have some talent,” The yellow-faced man said, “However, some parts of your cultivation are not correct. If you do not correct it, there will be many side-effects.”
For the first time, a serious expression came onto Chang Heng’s face. The yellow-faced man expressed through his facial expressions and speech that he was familiar with Chang Heng’s cultivation scripture. He might be part of Ling Ying Sect, but the scripture he practiced was not one of Ling Ying Sect’s scriptures. He had obtained the scripture and the Bloody Spider sword from a xiuzhe that he killed.
However, the scripture he had obtained was not complete. Evidently, its previous owner had not received it through proper channels. The blood method was extremely powerful, but at the same time, it was much more dangerous than normal scriptures. Just the tiniest mistake, and it could rebound and kill him. Chang Heng’s personality might seem dominant and vicious, but he was extremely careful when he cultivated.
The yellow-faced man’s words shot straight into Chang Heng’s heart.
Chang Heng suddenly took back the Blood Spider, “What do you want for it?”
The yellow-faced man gave an expression of praise, “Find me after the competition.”
Finishing, his figure disappeared where he stood.
Chang Heng’s heart shook. Regardless of whether the yellow-faced man had been fooling him or not, but just judging from his method of movement it was apparent the yellow-faced man was more powerful than he was.
From the first clash between Chang Heng and the yellow-faced man a very short time had passed. Compared to the flashiness of the other battles, their fight did not attract anyone’s attention.
———
Meng Qing was like a cat as he carefully traversed through the woods. He was most skilled in concealment and assassination, and had once even escaped the pursuit of a jindan expert. But this time he was even more careful. The fifteen mountains covered a large area, but if there were one hundred ningmai xiuzhe fighting, then this battlefield could not be considered large. Quite the reverse, this battlefield was too small.
Since the battlefield was small, the fighting had become chaotic and extremely fierce. What he needed to be careful about was, other than him, that the ninety-nine other people were all his enemies.
Different than the other xiuzhe, he had a clear goal. However, when he thought about it, he felt it strange. A zhuji xiuzhe, was it worth spending jingshi for him kill the person? He looked down at it inside. A zhuji xiuzhe, how could he pass through the last round of fighting?
However, since he received the client’s jingshi, he still decided to complete the job. In his business, having a good reputation was everything. His own cultivation was limited and there were not many jobs he could complete. Usually, his living was very tight. Coming to the Sword Test Conference was because he wanted the prize. Then the luck came. Someone had actually found him and requested a job.
The payment was extremely tempting, and most importantly, the target was the only zhuji xiuzhe in the Sword Test Conference. If it was any other person, he might be slightly unconfident, but since it was Zuo Mo, he did not hesitate in accepting the job. He had seen Chao An and Zuo Mo’s fight. Truthfully, to win from a disadvantage, he admired Zuo Mo. He was suspicious that the person who made the request was Chao An. Chao An must have been unable to bear being eliminated and was now scheming from the shadows.
However, what did that have to do with him? He wouldn’t be at odds with jingshi!
These days, it was hard to make a living. Other than concealment, his battle abilities were average. There were not many jobs he could usually do. He was full of confidence for this job. He thought that the reason Zuo Mo could defeat Chao An was that Chao An had underestimated his opponent. Also, Zuo Mo had prepared very well beforehand. If it had been him, he definitely wouldn’t have given Zuo Mo so many chances to fight. From the beginning, he hadn’t thought of fighting openly. No matter how weak Zuo Mo was, he would persist in an ambush. In any case, he was just going for the jingshi.
However, to complete this job, he needed to find Zuo Mo first. This was the most troublesome part of his job.
Alright, jingshi wouldn’t just drop from the sky. If there was no difficulty, other people wouldn’t have spent so much jingshi to hire him.
He carefully controlled his body, like a blurry shadow, as he carefully moved among the trees. The color around his body kept on blending in with the surroundings. His presence was kept inside his body, it was as though he did not exist and his presence was difficult to detect. It was only due to his skills with this technique that no one had found him along the way. He was especially careful today. The surroundings were all filled with ningmai xiuzhe, and there was no lack of experts. If he was found, he didn’t have a chance of victory.
Hm, there was a mountain valley up ahead.
Meng Qing decided to take a look. Zuo Mo’s own cultivation was lower than other people, and naturally wouldn’t dare to walk around. After taking the job, he had been constantly pondering. He felt it was most probable that Zuo Mo would find a corner and use formation to defend his position. So during his search, he was especially attentive to places like mountain valleys and other hiding places.
The mouth of the valley up ahead was especially narrow. He didn’t dare to be brash, and carefully moved around by taking advantage of the geographic landscape.
———
Inside the mountain valley, Luo Li sat cross legged with his eyes closed. His flying sword was silently floating beside him. He was like a volcano, looking peaceful on the surface, but the sword essence was boiling inside.
Today, would be the first time he used [Self Separation] in battle!
There was a strange excitement welling up inside. This unnameable excitement was like a soundless flame, burning every bit of his body.
But he did not move, he was motionless like an old monk in meditation. He was suppressing it, suppressing this excitement that made him want to fight!
The air around him moved without a wind pushing it. Inside the little valley, it was like a tornado had started. However, what people would gasp at was that, no matter how strong the wind was inside the valley, there was no hint of it at the mouth of the valley.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes!
Someone was here!
[Self Separation] had been created with [Shapeless Sword Scripture] and [Empty Sword Scripture] as the rope and [Cloud Sword Scripture], [Red Flame Sword Scripture] and [Greenstone Sword Scripture] as the beads. He had put a lot of thought into it. Even though it was limited by his cultivation and knowledge, there were still many wonderful aspects, even Xin Yan Shibo had praised it.
Luo Li remained cross legged as his mind expanded with him at the center, to a radius of ten zhang. The mountain rocks, and the trees, slowly disappeared, like they were vanishing into space, turning into a patch of emptiness.
He was sitting in the center of a void.
The slightest animal, if they entered this patch of void, would become evident, and he would easily detect it.
