Chapter Two Hundred and Forty Nine – A New Plan
He Xiang’s face was black. The battle that had occurred at Nan Sheng Village was nothing less than a slap to his face. Also, this incident had coincided with the most crucial moment in negotiations. Looking at the slightly mocking expressions on the faces of the group of leaders, he understood that he would not be able to negotiate for the price he wanted.
He needed to prove Clear Sky Sect’s dominance of Little Mountain Jie. He needed to tell everyone what would happen if they went against Clear Sky Sect and him!
He Xiang’s expression was twisted viciously like a wild beast wanting to bite someone. There was none of the slight smile that had been on his face during the day.
All of you, just wait!
———
Zuo Mo read through Yuan Jiang’s new plan. At first glance, he liked this plan, a plan that was completely different than before.
Yuan Jiang was introducing the details, “This is an extreme plan. All of the construction is about one goal, our imaginary enemy, the Clear Sky Old Forefather.”
When he spoke of Clear Sky Old Forefather, Yuan Jiang’s voice was excited.
“To be able to maximize offensive and defensive capabilities, we rejected the plan to build a large city in this new plan. We will build a small city, a very small city, one that can only contain ten thousand people. Over here.”
He pointed at the highest peak.
“As the new city will be small, it will greatly reduce the area we have to defend, and gather our strength. Inside the new city, other than the basic necessities, all other constructions not related to combat have been abolished. The new city will be a big formation. This way, we can dramatically increase the defensive capabilities of the new city.
“We will hollow out the other six mountain peaks, and connect them to the new city underground. This way, we can form a gigantic Seven Star Formation. We’ve never planned such a large formation before, and do not know if it can stop a jindan, but this is the limits of what we can do. Boss needs to find experts in formations to complete this plan.”
Zuo Mo stared at the new blueprints without a word.
Yuan Jiang was slightly uncertain. He didn’t want to ruin his first job.
What he didn’t know was that his plan had given Zuo Mo endless inspiration, especially the idea of digging out the six mountain peaks and forming a Seven Star Formation underground. That idea was too crazy, too creative!
Zuo Mo was thinking, if it was like that, the Sky Star Lake could also be included in the big formation.
Using the mountains and lakes to set up a formation, Yuan Jiang’s plans had opened a new window for Zuo Mo.
Zuo Mo had never tried such a terrifying and large formation. However, he knew that if this big formation could be formed, its power would be greater than any formation he had ever set up before.
The entire area around Sky Star Mountain would become an area controlled by the new city. Also, it would be so well disguised. Who could think that anyone would set up such an insane formation?
There were many places inside the city that could be improved, especially in the area of formations. It was clear that the three people were less skilled in the area of formations compared to Zuo Mo .
Zuo Mo suddenly thought of a problem. Power. Such a large formations, how many jingshi would it take to activate?
An even more insane idea jumped out of his head.
Just at this time, he heard Yuan Jiang’s worried words, “Boss, the building materials for this city isn’t easy to find.”
Zuo Mo silently remembered his thought and raised his head to smile smugly at Yuan Jiang. “We’ve already started to prepare the bricks.”
Yuan Jiang stilled, and did not look very happy. He said, “Boss, for the new city to achieve the predicted effect, these bricks can’t be just anything. We need … …”
“Follow me.” Zuo Mo did not waste words and turn to lead the front.
When Yuan Jiang saw the mountains of blue gold stone bricks that had already been processed, he was dumbstruck. The other two people also gaped, looking dazedly at the glittering blue gold bricks.
After a beat, Yuan Jiang managed to react and leap forward.
“Good good good! The quality is comparable to talismans. However, it is the first time I have seen such a hot presence.” Yuan Jiang’s expression was excited. Only now did he finally believe that Boss really wanted to build a city!
“These bricks have been processed with Golden Crow Fire. The quality isn’t bad.” A rock in Zuo Mo’s heart landed. It looked like these bricks would satisfy Yuan Jiang’s demands.
“Great!” Yuan Jiang was thrilled, “Now that the problem of the bricks has been resolved, the other problems are easy.”
Zuo Mo did not speak. In his view, it was the exact opposite. The other problems were even harder.
It really was a vast undertaking!
———
Wei Cheng Bin’s recent days were not very good. Rationally, absorbing such a desired and fine fire seed as Golden Crow Fire should make a person happy. Even though there was none of the ling grains that had been predicted, but everyone had received a Black Meditation Mat. When Master Sun Bao had showed them how to use it, these Black Meditation Mats had become everyone’s most treasured possession. Many people were regretting that they hadn’t taken enough jingshi with them.
No one had any objections about their wages turning from the ling grains to jingshi.
What saddened him was the work that had followed.
When he saw the bluestone bricks that were multiple times larger than he was, he instantly did not know what to do. After that, it had taken him great effort before managing to process one of them. Then he found that other people had finished three pieces.
Therefore, his wages were one third of other people’s income.
Master Ji Wei suddenly gathered people together. “Who knows how to make small parts?”
The dejected Wei Cheng Bin instantly jumped out, his eyes bright. “I know.”
Other than him, a few other people had also stood up. Wei Cheng Bin glanced and laughed inside. All of them were people that had not performed well in the recent days.
Master Ji Wei did not say anything and gave them each a jade scroll.
“Make whatever you can from what is in there. All the materials are over there. It’s the same, pay by unit.”
Finishing, Master Ji Wei did not waste words and left. In the time he had spent here, Wei Cheng Bin had gradually gotten used to the busy atmosphere in this place. There were no idle people to be seen here. All the people, including Boss, seemed extremely busy. The cave was even more so. Because wages were calculated according to quantity, everyone was furiously working as the meditation mat meant jingshi became a life-saver. Everyone hoped to get more jingshi.
Only xiuzhe that had experienced the lack of ling energy and faced the possibility that their cultivation could collapse at any time would work so crazily.
He started to read the jade scroll in his hands and made a sound of surprise. Everything inside the jade scroll were strange metal constructs. There seemed like talismans but were not talismans. There were very detailed descriptions. Wei Cheng Bing recognized them. These were for a type of puppet.
He silently praised the wisdom of the person who had this idea. The puppet had been deconstructed to many little constructs. This person clearly was going after assembly. Wei Cheng Bin reacted. The number of xiuzhe here was limited, and there were no xiu slaves. Puppets were a pretty good substitute. However, what puzzled him was that puppets needed xiuzhe to direct them. With so many puppets, how many xiuzhe would be needed to direct them?
This thought turned in his head once before he threw it out. That wasn’t something he should care about. He started to work. A short while later, he made his first finished product. He was greatly encouraged, and worked hard. He gradually found that the smaller and more exquisite the item, the easier it was for him to make it.
Master Ji Wei quickly noticed his specialty and was somewhat shocked before giving him a job with a batch of small items.
His wages quickly grew with astonishing speed. The xiuzhe around him stared jealously.
These days were actually not bad, Wei Cheng Bin occasionally thought.
———
“Still haven’t found them?” He Xiang bellowed, “You group of garbage. How many days has it been since they escaped? You still haven’t found them?”
“This group is very cunning. They had scattered and escaped which wasted a lot of our time.” His subordinate defended.
“Don’t find excuses!” He Xiang controlled his anger, his tone dark, “What I want are results! As long as Old Forefather’s order has not come down, I am the Chief Elder. Before this, I can execute any of you!”
The subordinates paled. They knew that He Xiang was not wrong.
“I’ll give you three more days. If you cannot find them in three days, you can take your heads to see me.”
He Xiang’s words seemed to come from the depths of hell, cold and terrifying.
The subordinates knew that defending themselves was ineffective at this time. Everyone dejectedly bowed and quickly left. The Chief Elder would do what he said! The Old Forefather would not interfere. There were too many people waiting to enter to the Outer Hall, too many people that could replace them.
When everyone had left, He Xiang collapsed on the chair as though he had been robbed of all energy. His eyes were as dull as those of a dead fish.
Three days, that was the deadline the Old Forefather gave.
If there were no further developments in three days, he wasn’t going to live any longer. Originally, he had wanted to conceal this matter, and had not expected someone to bring it to Old Forefather. The result could be imagined. If he did not display enough ability, he knew very well the outcome waiting for him.
———
Ma Fan chewed a piece of grass in his mouth, looking in boredom at the sky above his head. He muttered, “Troublesome, it really is troublesome!”
The platoon leader tightly followed behind his butt, completely disregarding Ma Fan’s grouching. He was overjoyed at having gotten picked by Ma Fan. He was one of the original ones and very clear as to Ma Fan’s previous position and effect within the troop. Previously, many people had expected Ma Fan would have been the First Division leader.
This platoon leader knew one thing. If he followed behind Ma Fan, he would learn many things.
The xiuzhe under his command did not understand why the platoon leader was so respectful towards this xiuzhe that had been inattentive all this time. In their eyes, the biggest reason Ma Fan did not fit in with the troop was that indifference he exuded.
Idle, lazy, wasn’t those things that the platoon leader extremely disliked?
“They aren’t far from us.” A piece of grass held between his lips, Ma Fan’s words were slightly muddled. The platoon leader listened very carefully. On the way here, he was full of admiration towards Ma Fan’s judgement. Ma Fan raised his eyelids, looked into the distance, and continued, “Let everyone recover their ling power. They will probably encounter us in six hours.”
The platoon leader’s expression tensed.
The slight wind in the air suddenly seemed slightly murderous.
Translator Ramblings: The effects of what Xie Shan and the others did at the village are being seen. Zuo Mo gets the blueprints for his city and we get another glimpse of Wei Cheng Bin. For the person who commented and asked about Wei Cheng Bin, his skill in making small parts is much more profitable at the moment.
My reasoning on why Zuo Mo didn’t really pick Sky Star Lake and the surroundings randomly and it is not plausible to take over Nan Zheng Village. First, Nan Sheng Village is under the control of Clear Sky Sect and there are also local factions. Gongsun Cha’s little militia is enough to defeat a few hundred people but not a few thousand. Secondly, you can think of it as Zuo Mo being located close to the jie river that he came through. He went deeper into Little Mountain Jie. While Nan Sheng Village’s location is not specified, it is most likely much closer to Clear Sky Sect at the other jie river and not so close to where Zuo Mo is now. This way, he has the freedom to expand his territory while still keeping himself under the radar (which Xie Shan and the others ruined.) Lastly, Nan Sheng Village is not a place that is easy to defend. It has almost no defensive measures which are effective. If they took over Nan Sheng Village and tried to hold it against Clear Sky Sect, they would need to fortify it through changing the village. In that case, building a new city might save more effort, especially if it is in a better strategic location and Zuo Mo can design it anyway he wants.