Chapter Seven Hundred and Fifty Five – Shen Device Part
Zuo Mo was surprised by the attitude that Xi Xuan showed but he quickly understood what Xi Xuan intended. Just like how Xi Xuan was the crux to restraining Kun Lun and Tian Huan for Mo Cloud Sea, Xi Xuan’s only ally in the xiuzhe world was Mo Cloud Sea.
After reading through Xi Xuan’s shen methodology, Zuo Mo understood why Xi Xuan hadn’t kept it a secret. No wonder people said that the true ancestor of the five element shen power was the [Reverse Five Element Shen Methodology] that Shuang Yu had created. In Zuo Mo’s view, Xi Xuan’s [Five Element Shen Power] was middling, and lacked any exceptional qualities. If a normal sect had created this shen methodology, it naturally would be outstanding, but with Xi Xuan’s status as one of the four great sects, it could be seen how sparse its talent was, to have created this mediocre shen methodology.
However, Zuo Mo did not help them advance the shen methodology. He did not dare to underestimate a foundation thousands of years old. Even a rotten boat had three tenths of its weight in nails. If they had the time, who knew if they could recover?
A powerful Xi Xuan definitely would not be willing to be Mo Cloud Sea’s ally.
After thinking for a moment, he called the two masters and gave the jade scroll to them.
Disdainful expressions appeared on the two master’s faces. They naturally looked down on a shen methodology of this level. There were not many that knew that Mo Cloud Sea had more than one shen methodology. Every person’s cultivation base were different, because Zuo Mo’s camp had a lot of xiuzhe, yao, and mo.
With Zuo Mo’s [Mo Cloud Shen Methodology] as the basis, there were many methodologies that branched off. Zuo Mo himself encouraged the creation of these, and would even help them perfect these shen methodologies. He didn’t hide a thing.
In this kind of an environment, the two masters were knowledgeable about shen power and looked down on normal shen methodologies.
“Xi Xuan has declined as expected. This shen methodology is just worth so much,” Master Sun Bao said without any courtesy.
Ji Wei smacked his lips and said, “It would be good if we can get a hold of Kun Lun’s and Tian Huan’s shen methodologies, those two might have some good insights.”
Hearing the two masters’ tone as though they were looking down on the world, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but smile. He then said, “Using Xi Xuan’s shen power to design shen equipment, is two months enough?”
“Two months?” Sun Bao dismissively snorted. “Half a month, only half a month!”
“Half a month!” Zuo Mo had a doubtful expression.
Sun Bao met Zuo Mo’s doubtful gaze and jumped as though he had been slighted. “Daren, if you don’t believe me, Old Sun is willing to be punished according to military law!”
Ji Wei’s face and neck was flushed as though he had been greatly humiliated.
Zuo Mo jumped in fright at the two’s reactions. These people were so proud. However, his attention quickly was attracted by the promise of half a month. “If that’s the case, how many sets can we make before the eighth month of next year?”
Sun Bao thought and said, “It depends on how we make them. If we use all of our power, fifty to sixty thousand will not be a problem. However, that is only if we give up on all other missions.”
“Without affecting the other missions?” Zuo Mo continued to ask.
“Twenty to thirty thousand,” Master Sun Bao sighed in relief. He didn’t want to waste his time on forging these shen equipment. There were countless mysteries in the world of shen power waiting for him to explore.
“Is this a large order?” Ji Wei suddenly said.
“En, for the eighth month of next year, Xi Xuan will take as much as we make.” Zuo Mo nodded.
Sun Bao immediately asked, “What’s the price?”
Ji Wei’s attention was also pulled over. The two’s eyes flashed with light. While Gongsun Cha was the main economic force of Mo Cloud Sea, they also spent the most. Zuo Mo never spared what he invested into Golden Crow Camp. All kinds of high level materials, all kinds of trials, he allowed them to do what they wanted.
It was only Zuo Mo’s unlimited investment that caused Golden Crow Camp to become so powerful. This could be seen from the flames they used to forge. In the past, only core members would have fourth-grade Golden Crow Fire. Now, this had been spread to become the standard flame for the outer members of Golden Crow Camp.
If they were willing to enter the cadet organizations, they would be gifted Golden Crow Fire.
The Golden Crow Fire was harvested from the Golden Crow Macro Formation. While it was not as expensive as it was in the past, it still was significant. Distributing it so widely meant it cost a great amount but Zuo Mo never complained about this kind of investment.
This directly caused the forgers from many places to furiously flood Mo Cloud Sea.
Later, in order to stop this outflow of talents, Kun Lun and Tian Huan had to increase their benefits for production xiuzhe. However, Mo Cloud Sea had already gathered a great number of production xiuzhe. Fourth-grade Golden Crow Fire. So many people would save for their entire lives but not be able to buy it.
Golden Crow Camp was literally a monster that ate gold. The two masters were extremely sensitive to price and profit.
“The price will be dependent on your design, the profit margin will be initially set at two hundred percent.” Once Zuo Mo opened his mouth, he was immediately exposed as an evil businessman.
Master Sun Bao was familiar with forging and said rapidly, “A set of shen equipment’s basic cost is around fifty seventh-grade jingshi. Two hundred percent profit margin, that is one hundred and fifty seventh-grade jingshi. On, that’s about right, the power of the shen equipment will reach about eighty percent of our Mo Cloud System.
Ji Wei’s eyes were bright and his breathing slightly rushed. “Big business! If it is twenty thousand sets, that is two million seventh-grade jingshi. No, we have to make at least thirty thousand sets!”
“There are ways to increase production.” Sun Bao thought as he spoke, “Right now, there are many low-level forgers with Golden Crow Fire. We can have them first forge the ingots for the shen equipment. That way, it will save us a lot of effort. Our shen fire pool is about to be completed. It will be able to be used to improve our efficiency. We can reduce production time. This way, we should be able to produce forty thousand sets!”
“Four million seventh-grade jinghsi!” Even Ji Wei who had seen great amounts before couldn’t help but exclaim and inhale sharply.
That was a terrifying number!
If this spread, it would make all of the xiuzhe world boil.
Zuo Mo’s face was flushed but he did not let the enormous number go to his head. He said with a snicker, “We will not take jingshi, we will take materials. Jingshi is being depreciated now, and the prices of materials is increasing. This way, we will get everything out of Xi Xuan.”
Sun Bao and Ji Wei furiously nodded.
Ever since they entered the era of shen power, the use and value of jingshi continued to decrease. It was not something essential for people to cultivate. The biggest value of jingshi came from the ling power it contained. Yet in the era of shen power, the greatest pursuit was of shen power, not ling power.
Conversely, as a result of the fighting, the prices of materials had risen greatly.
Especially high grade materials. The prices grew so fast it seemed they had a new price everyday. If Zuo Mo and the others hadn’t secretly moved everything out of Xuan Kong Temple’s Dhyana Treasure Pavilion, and all of the high grade materials that Xuan Kong Temple had accumulated over thousands of years had ended up in his hands. He would not have been able to support Golden Crow Camp’s terrifying expenses.
Most of the high level materials in Gongsun Cha’s [City Destroyer] and Bie Han’s [Arsonist] came from that.
The reason that Zuo Mo had not forged shen devices was not because he didn’t have the ability, but he did not have the resources. Each shen device required a piled of high grade materials each that were worth cities.
After forging two shen device raiments, almost all of Mo Cloud Sea’s high grade materials had been used up.
Even Kun Lun and Tian Huan did not dare to casually forge shen device raiments.
Shen device raiments were the ultimate weapon of this era. It represented the peak of forging for this era.
Zuo Mo had thought deeply about forging [City Destroyer] and [Arsonist]. A Gui already had a shen device raiment, that grey set of armor that Zuo Mo named the [Undying Ghost]. Zuo Mo also had the Anti Dragon Claw and the Three Thousand Thread of Worry. While the sum of them together could not equal a shen device raiment, they could compare to pseudo-shen weapons.
Also, Zuo Mo thought that [City Destroyer] and [Arsonist] were of greater use to Mo Cloud Sea.
However, four million seventh-grade jingshi was enough to forge a true shen device raiment!
The excitement the three felt when facing this number could be imagined.
“I will leave this matter to your care,” Zuo Mo said.
Sun Bao jumped up and said excitedly, “Daren, do not worry, this subordinated definitely will not let even one of these four million pieces of jingshi walk away!”
Ji Wei nodded.
“En, en. I’m confident in your work. However, pay attention to keeping this a secret. Don’t let people find out too early,” Zuo Mo ordered.
The two hurriedly acknowledged this, and then impatiently bid farewell to leave.
It was impossible for others to be completely unalerted to a project of such scale. Mo Cloud Sea was filled with spies from all factions. While extermination was occurring constantly, these spies were like weeds that would never stop growing.
As long as this matter was not exposed too early, there was no great worry.
Watching the two leave, Zuo Mo’s face unconsciously turned to that shen device part shaped like a tree branch.
His eyes flashed with emotion. As though she detected his emotions, A Gui silently appeared behind Zuo Mo.
The scars on A Gui’s faces had disappeared. Her face was like the one that Zuo Mo had once seen in his memories. Her face was still expressionless and the mark on her brow was unusually clear.
Her undying shen power had become even more unfathomable.
“I’m fine.” Zuo Mo turned to smile at A Gui and then rubbed her hair.
A Gui’s empty eyes became gentler.
“Let’s go to see.” Zuo Mo pulled A Gui to walk towards the corner. The empty corner suddenly pit up and Zuo Mo and A Gui disappeared in the light.
Zuo Mo and A Gui appeared in a secret room.
There were many things stored in these secret room. Many of the items showed marks of being burned and damaged. They also looked old.
There was a helmet placed at the end of the room.
The helmet was dim. Dozens of thin and long bone spikes fanned out in rows behind the helmet. At the top of the helmet, there was a crescent thin blade coming out of the forehead that arched over top and wrapped around to the back of the helmet.
This was another part of the shen device raiment that his father had forged. It had been placed in Xuan Kong Temple’s Dhyana Treasure Pavilion and then landed in Zuo Mo’s hands. The things in this secret room were all things that Xuan Kong Temple had taken from his home in the past.
When Zuo Mo came near, the dim helmet suddenly lit up with a gentle light.
Zuo Mo stilled, and his mind moved. He took out that tree-shaped shen device part.
The helmet suddenly shook, the dozens of spikes trembling as it gave off a hotter light.
Zuo Mo suddenly felt pain on his hand and he instinctively let go.
The tree branch turned into a streak of light and flew to the bright helmet like a bird return to the nest.
Translator Ramblings: I know Fang Xiang skipped the ratios of upper grade jingshi but does someone want to estimate how many first grade jingshi Zuo Mo is making with this order?