Chapter Two Hundred and Forty Six – Ambush
The camp.
Zuo Mo looked at the female xiu and scratched his head, “You need a name. This way, we can call each other.” After changing his body, his hair had become short. When he scratched, he felt the hair was prickly like metal wire. So strange. How could his hair be this hard?
The female xiu did not seem to hear him.
When Zuo Mo had inspected her injuries last time, he found that there was a strange and icy power inside her body. The reason the alarming injuries inside her body had not worsen was due to this strange power. This unknown power was like strong spider silk that reached into every corner of her body. Zuo Mo would think sometimes that if the strange power did not exist, her body would shatter into pieces.
The reason her presence caused fear in others should also be caused by this unknown power, Zuo Mo thought to himself. No one dared to go near her. Even Silly Bird, the silly big sister, did not dare to go within three zhang of her, not to mention the cowardly pair of Lil’ Pagoda and Lil’ Black.
Seeing the female xiu’s lack of response, Zuo Mo put his attention back on the wiry hair on his scalp. He wouldn’t be turning into a yao beast, right? he thought inside.
The three Golden Armor Guards stood nearby with their swords. They also seemed to be slightly afraid of the female xiu. Weren’t the Golden Armor Guards golems? Why would they be afraid of a person?
The female xiu was a puzzle.
It seemed like there would be no result today. Zuo Mo shook his head. He had persisted in chatting with the female xiu everyday to deepen their connection, but up until now, there was no result. She was like a stone statue that stood there motionlessly. Zuo Mo had never even heard her speak.
Was she mute?
Zuo Mo thought uncertainly. In his mind, this female did not seem to have come from a big sect, because she was truly too unclean and ugly. Behind the disheveled appearance was a mess of dense lichen-like scabies. The only part untouched was the pair of bare feet.
In reality, Zuo Mo had never seen such beautiful feet. Symmetrical and white like jade and porcelain. There were no flaws. They were warm and delicate, exquisite like nothing else. When Zuo Mo had been inspecting her injuries, and when he had seen this pair of bare feet for the first time, his mind had blanked for a moment.
They seemed to hold a fatal attraction that made one unable to move their gaze aside.
It was a pity that scabies covered everything above the knees.
She wore the mask and a loose hemp robe. Her bare feet were in the mud. The snowy white and fine bare feet and the black mud made a strong contrast. Every time Zuo Mo saw it, he would uncontrollably stop breathing. What followed after would be pity. It was very pitiful for a woman to be covered in scabies.
He sighed inside. He didn’t know what he was sighing about. He flew onto a mountain peak. Looking into the distance, the sky was tourmaline and the white clouds were like silk. The wind was gentle and refreshing. At the base of the mountain, the Sky Star Lake was like a clear jewel embedded among the mountain peaks.
Zuo Mo’s mood instantly opened up. Little Mountain Jie might have lost its ling energy, but there was not much of a difference to these flora and wild beasts. Due to the lack of activity of xiuzhe, the mountains were even more green.
In order to construct the city, he moved the camp to Sky Star Mountain. He suddenly thought of the unwillingness on Chun Yu Cheng’s face, he grinned. Chun Shidi was really a manic about livestock.
Ji Wei and Sun Bao led their subordinates and furiously rushed about.
The amount of materials needed to construct a city was an exceedingly terrifying number. For example, the bricks. Most of them had to be cut from the mountain. Each piece had to be processed and carved with formations. It was not hard for xiuzhe to cut rocks, but processing them was not as easy.
To increase the speed, Zuo Mo had set up a large formation to gather large amounts of Golden Crow Fire again. Each person received a portion. The xiuzhe naturally were overjoyed and worked harder.
Each piece of bluestone was three zhang long, one zhang wide, and one zhang high. After the Golden Armor Guards mined it, the xiuzhe would start to process it. What caused Zuo Mo to have a headache was the grade of the Golden Crow Fire was too high. If they were the slightest bit inattentive, these second-grade bluestones would turn into a pile of molten rocks.
Later, the problem was finally solved when they decided to first carve the formations before they processed with the Golden Crow Fire. However, during the entire processing method, the bluestone bricks would shrink to more than half its original size and turn to a blue gold color. The quality was extremely dense and hard. Zuo Mo had experimented. Even if he chopped with a flying sword, sparks would fly but the brick would not be damaged. Only when Zuo Mo channeled all the ling power in his body would the sword cut halfway into the brick.
Such a material would not be enough to use to make ling armor but it was more than sufficient to use for city walls.
Fifty xiuzhe were all tasked with processing bluestone bricks. Zuo Mo himself was busy with surveying the geography. The newly constructed city had to have formations. The formations he set up this time were to face a jindan. This was an unprecedented test for Zuo Mo.
The large formations he had set up before, including the large formation on Desolate Wood Reef, were not enough to stop a jindan. He had seen jindan before, but had never fought against one before. He did not know how powerful they are, but he knew they were definitely more powerful than he could imagine.
There was an innate difference in terms of comprehension of ling power between ningmai and jindan.
He did not know how great this innate difference was. He could only do as much as he was able.
The path was dangerous!
Looking at the mountains in the distance, Zuo Mo’s eyes were black and deep.
———
Nian Lu was carrying a person on his back while the scenery flashed by. His speed had not been impeded at all. If one looked closely, they would find that a white lotus was under his feet. With the white robes, the tender white lotus flower, he looked unspeakably handsome as he flew in the wind. The eyes of many young females along his path lit up.
“Whoa! So handsome!”
The shrieks of the female xiu were endless.
The xiuzhe that were pursuing him heard the exclamations, causing their expressions to become even uglier.
Nian Lu did not use any disguise at this time. He picked the most straightforward path, a straight line!
Not just him, the other nine people had also picked straight lines. From different places within the village, they all sprinted towards the village gate of Nan Sheng Village! If one looked down from above Nan Sheng Village, they would see ten figures drawing out ten straight lines that were going to intersect at the village gate. Behind them, there were between fifty and sixty xiuzhe who seemed to be attracted and pulled towards the village gate.
Many xiuzhe flew into the sky. They were watching the spectacle. Inside, there were very shocked. Who dared to be so presumptuous in Clear Sky Sect’s territory?
Lei Peng was the first to reach the village gate. He even had the leisure to look back at his fellows that were sprinting towards him. Giving a smug grin, he then turned and slowly went through the village gate.
The other nine people simultaneously saw the smug expression on Lei Peng’s face, and they all rolled their eyes at the same time. Without needed to exchange a word, they snorted, and moved faster!
Ear-piercing howling instantly roared through Nan Sheng Village!
The nine figures were like nine sharp arrows that howled as they headed straight for the village gates!
The gate of Nan Sheng Village was just a symbolic construction. He Xiang had never expected people to dare to scheme against Clear Sky Sect. Who would dare to rampage on Clear Sky Sect’s territory? Only if that person did not want to keep living in Little Mountain Jie. Due to this, the defenses of Nan Sheng Village were pitifully weak.
The nine figures flashed past at high speeds. The pitiful gates were torn to pieces by the knife-like tailwinds!
Dust and wood flew at the village gates!
The xiuzhe in pursuit directly ran into it. Seeing the situation, they did not slow down. A light flashed across their ling armor and their ling shields were opened as they prepared to directly go through the village gate!
“I just knew that these people want us to eat their dust!”
Inside the dust, someone complained.
Countless sword energies suddenly shot out of the dust like bats hiding in the dark that showed their vampiric teeth.
“There’s an ambush!”
The pursuing xiuzhe all paled.
Pew pew pew!
The xiuzhe at the very front basically had no time to react. Their ling armor was instantly penetrated like it was made of paper-mache. Several bloody holes appeared on the body of this xiuzhe. The expression of this xiuzhe instantly froze, his body losing control and falling into the dirt like a bag of sand.
It was not just him alone. Several of the xiuzhe in the front did not survive.
“Sword essence!”
The xiuzhe at the back paled. Such destructive sword energies, there was only one possibility – sword essence!
Only sword xiu that comprehended sword essence could release such a terrifying sword energy which could so easily penetrate ling armor and kill with one strike!
There were not many sword energies, but they were of different colors. It was clear they had been released by different sword xiu!
There wasn’t just one sword xiu who had comprehended sword essence!
The expressions of this group of xiuzhe changed drastically. Sword xiu who comprehended sword essence were rare. One in a hundred of ningmai sword xiu comprehending sword essence was considered a rare event. Why did sword xiu always persist in trying to comprehend sword essence?
That was because the power of the sword energies were much greater if one comprehended sword essence. This kind of increase depended on the individual and the sword scripture, but it was certain that sword xiu who comprehend sword essence were much scarier than sword xiu of the same cultivation who had not comprehended sword essence!
Seven sword xiu died in the first encounter.
Other than fear, the other people rejoiced inside that they had not been so close in their pursuit. What made them even happier was that the collision between the two sides had swept away the scattered dust. The other side also showed themselves.
Five people!
There were only five people!
Their hearts were slightly reassured. Even if these five people all comprehended sword essence, but the number was too small. There were fifty to sixty on their side.
———
Zong Ru stood on the street with his eyes closed, his hand holding the Four-Flanged Vajra Gada. There was no joy or sorrow in his heart.
His beaded bracelet had been destroyed in the battle with the Bloody Horn Serpent. Zuo Mo had felt especially guilty and had the idea of finding a talisman for Zong Ru. However, Zong Ru was a rare dhyana xiu. Dhyana talismans were even harder to find. Zuo Mo had suddenly recalled that he had a damaged Four-Flanged Vajra Gada in his ring.
That Four-Flanged Vajra Gada was a true dhyana xiu talisman. When Zong Ru had used his full power with his bracelet, Zuo Mo had caught a thread of the mysteries of dhyana talismans. He had put in great thought and reforged the Four-Flanged Vajra Gada before giving it to Zong Ru.
When this Four-Flanged Vajra Gada came into Zong Ru’s hands, Zong Ru instantly knew this wasn’t a dhyana talisman of a low grade. The gada itself contained extremely abundant Buddhist mindfulness. He did not know which great elder had carried this gada along his path of enlightenment. Over time, this Four-Flanged Vajra Gada had accumulated large amounts of Buddhist mindfulness.
The power that this Four-Flanged Vajra Gada could express in Zuo Mo’s hands wasn’t even one percent of what it could be in Zong Ru’s hands.
The Buddhist mindfulness resting in the gada itself was extremely beneficial to Zong Ru’s cultivation. What was most valuable was that there were many scenes of the comprehensions that the elder had experienced in Buddhist fixity.
Zong Ru, who had been troubled due to his lack of a teacher, progressed quickly upon receiving such a treasure.
Other than his fist essence, even his abhinna which he had thought he would never form in this lifetime had unintentionally formed!
He felt the warm and cold presence that came from the Four-Flanged Vajra Gada just before the sword energies disappeared.
Zong Ru suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes!
Translator Ramblings: Uh, yeah, so … … Zuo Mo doesn’t get women, but … … cough cough.
After a long time, something that Zuo Mo traded for is used. I know that Fang Xiang is good at foreshadowing and putting down threads to a plot, but this time, I really think that Zuo Mo was forgetful. So there is a lot going on, but he is seriously forgetful.