World of Cultivation

If this was not long ago, he wouldn’t feel it was anything major, but for him at the present, this was undoubtedly a large debt. He could not make Golden Crow pills so his most important income source was cut off. He did have a lot of yin beads but he didn’t dare to sell them. It had caused such a ruckus recently and he had almost lost his little life. If someone found out that he had yin beads, no, if someone knew that the person who was selling yin beads last time was him, then his little life was definitely not going to survive.

Jingshi was valuable but his life was even more precious.

There was still some time until the Fiery Red flower in the ling gardens would mature, and he couldn’t exchange for jingshi right now. He could risk it and sell the Moisture dan. But right now, he only had three Moisture dan. The efficiency of the water method really made people speechless. He could sell the Icy Cloud grass for a pretty good price, but for ling grasses this rare, if he sold it, it would be hard to buy in the future.

Gather together thirty pieces of third-grade jingshi in ten days. These recent days, it kept on circling in his head. Even when he was nourishing his channels, he was still pondering it. But as time passed away, and the deadline of ten days was coming closer, Zuo Mo still didn’t have a solution.

Did he have to go sell some of the talismans?

His gaze landed on the talismans on his own body and ached in pain. These were all the finest of the third-grade talismans. It would be a pity to sell them. As to the vambrace and ling armor Xu Yi Shixiong and Yan Le Shibo sold him, the quality was so-so and wouldn’t sell for a high price.

Why haven’t the people from Ling Ying Sect come even once these days?

If a few more came, wouldn’t this problem be solved? Not just thirty pieces of third-grade jingshi, even if it was double that, it wouldn’t be a problem. The people from Ling Ying Sect didn’t have one cheap item on their body.

Those days were dangerous but he had suddenly became rich. Zuo Mo yearned for those days, the satisfaction and happiness that had risen.

Suddenly, his mind moved. They weren’t coming to find ge, ge could go find them!

Once this idea popped out, Zuo Mo instantly became excited. He jumped up from the floor, limping as he paced back and forth, his mouth muttering.

The first reaction he had was: it was plausible!

However, he restrained the joy inside and started to ponder the problems involved. Being challenged and going to challenge was completely different things. If he went to challenge at someone else’s territory, if he wasn’t careful, he would be swarmed. He needed to make sure the other side would respond, yet wouldn’t enrage the other side so they would swarm him, and he couldn’t alarm the elders of Ling Ying Sect... ...

He needed to think about this, make a good plan... ...

In the dark room, Zuo Mo rubbed his chin, his zombie face expressionless. Only that pair of eyes flashed with the light of jingshi.

———

The Dong Fu Sword Test Conference was an extremely hot topic. From the size and the influence, the Dong Fu Sword Test Conference naturally couldn’t compare to the Sword Test Conference of the entire Kun Lun Realm. However, the generous prizes attracted many young experts who didn’t have much wealth, dramatically increasing the skill level of the Sword Test Conference. As the skill level of the conference increased, some young experts who were not tempted by the prizes into attending left their sects to travel to Dong Fu. This was a rare chance to spar with other sects. They didn’t care about the prizes, but such a great chance to gain experience, it would be too much of a pity to miss it.

For these non-local experts, if they wanted to attend the Sword Test Conference, they needed to start from the Preliminary Sword Test Conference. Consequently, even the preliminary conference became a very popular spectacle, lots of experts and a great viewing experience.

Gu Rong Ping, coming from one of the thirteen primary towns of Dong Fu, Clear Sky Lake, his [Heart Lake Sword] was untraceable. From the first round of the prelims, he was undefeated for all thirteen rounds. His appearance was extremely dignified and handsome, his conduct elegant, quickly becoming the best cultivation partner in the eyes of Dong Fu’s females! Every one of his battles would be extremely noisy, the screams of the females ringing in the years. Starting from the fifth round, those women had formed groups to seek information, and do all kinds of things to disturb the opponent. Gu Rong Ping quickly became the opponent others didn’t want to encounter the most.

Coming from another primary town, Gui Feng was the most eye-catching young talent. His [Little Ghost Sword] was strange and hard to predict, the power was astounding. Adding on his unpredictable footwork, he was labeled the hardest opponent to fight with.

Coming out of poverty, no sect, no family, Nan Men Yang brightened everyone’s eyes. His talent was strange, extreme strength. The second-grade [Vajra Chant] was used with his [Mountain Breaker Sword] for an extremely offensive and powerful style, the broadsword moves strong like they could break a mountain. He attracted the eyes of many sects. Such a great piece of jade, if they would take him in, they would only profit.

Other young experts like Nan Men Yang who didn’t have a sect or family started to come out and display their talents. The Dong Fu Sword Test Conference attracted the eyes of all the powers. Each sect was always hungry for talented disciples. No one who be bothered by having too many geniuses in their sect. A sect’s prosperity and continuation wasn’t dependent on one person.

Sky Moon Jie’s well-known sects, other than sending their disciples for experience, also sent out their elders to discover those youths of great potential. The little sects hoped to rope in those disciples with no family or sect. The bigger sects even dared to go after the geniuses of the small sects.

Persuasion, prices, promises... ...

Even the cause of it all, Tian Song Zi, had never thought that his action of holding the Dong Fu Sword Test Conference would actually cause a shuffling of the powers in Sky Moon Jie.

———

In the stone room, Zuo Mo stretched out, his bones cracking. He expressionlessly opened his eyes, his eyes glowing with a light like that of a wolf.

The damaged channels in his body had fully recovered. His consciousness had also recovered. These recent days, he had cultivated very hard. The progression of [Vajra Profound Sutra] was a surprise to him. He had originally assumed that the gravestone version would be significantly slower. Yet after the initial slow period, Zuo Mo’s progression was extremely quick. However, the unexpected speed of improvement made him insecure. Many times, he had been doubting himself, suspicious that he was cultivating it incorrectly.

Recently, due to the string of incidents that he encountered in cultivation, it made Zuo Mo suspicious of anything to do with Pu Yao. Even though this [Vajra Profound Sutra] didn’t come from Pu Yao, but the gravestone under Pu Yao’s butt.

Other than healing, Zuo Mo spent all his time cultivating.

There were still three days until the deadline. Fully recovered and ready, Zuo Mo decided to set out. He had prepared very well already. Like the lingdan that could restore ling power, even if it was two pieces of third-grade jingshi, Zuo Mo still gritted his teeth and put five on the tab.

Ling Ying Sect was located at Ling Ying Mountain.

Coming to the mountain gate of Ling Ying Mountain, looking at the magnificent gate entirely made out of jade, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but sigh at the wealth of Ling Ying Sect. Ling Ying Sect had nineteen peaks, the area they occupied was more than seven times the area of Wu Kong Sword Sect. Supposedly, Ling Ying Sect had started out with one peak, but the sect leaders had been skilled at management and the other eighteen peaks had all been bought by the sect leaders with jingshi.

Ling Ying Sect’s main gate faced the road, and could be reached by rock stairs. The location was extremely advantageous and many people passed by.

In reality, Zuo Mo’s heart was beating hard. In Dong Fu, Ling Ying Sect’s reputation was much more famous than Wu Kong Sword Sect. Ling Ying Sect had more than a few dozen disciples that were in zhuji alone. No matter how strong you were, if they all attacked you, you couldn’t make it.

But thinking about the three days until the deadline, Zuo Mo felt a burst of courage. Looking at the mountain gates that were carved out of jade, Zuo Mo wanted to tear it down and lug it home, then sell it for jingshi!

Calm! He needed to be calm! Zuo Mo repeatedly told himself.

Thinking about the plan he had made earlier... ...

The disciples from Ling Ying Sect had noticed this stranger very early on.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” A Ling Ying Sect disciple shouted as his brows furrowed, “Don’t you know this is Ling Ying sect?” He scanned Zuo Mo and said scornfully, “Our sect’s rules, those improperly dressed cannot enter!”

The other Ling Ying Sect disciple said discontentedly, “Shidi, don’t waste words with him. Just throw him out!”

This crowd of little minions, Zuo Mo naturally didn’t take them seriously. To say nothing else, but the fact that these two didn’t have much on their body was enough for Zuo Mo to disregard them. He was too lazy to pay attention to them, unconcernedly stating, “Call Wen Fei out!”

The expressions of the two Ling Ying Sect disciples changed. One of them lectured, “You dare to call Wen Shixiong... ...”

“I am Zuo Mo of Wu Kong Sword Sect.” Zuo Mo lazily interrupted.

The lecturing voice suddenly stopped, the faces of the two people changing.

“The Scalping Zombie... ...” The two looked at each other, and the person who had been speaking shuddered. The other person instantly ran towards the mountain.

Seeing the reactions, Zuo Mo was very smug. It seemed that ge did have a reputation. But then he became slightly discontent. This nickname was really not pleasing to the ear!

A short while later, Wen Fei and a group of people dressed in a multitude of colors appeared in Zuo Mo’s vision. Zuo Mo’s mind became alert, the light in his eyes increasing. They were like that of a wolf, having just seen a herd of fat sheep.

Each motion this crowd of people made, Zuo Mo seemed to see human-like structures composed of countless jingshi moving... ...

When Wen Fei saw Zuo Mo, his face instantly became dark. The old hate and the new hate collided and rose. He said coldly, “Brother Zuo coming here today, is it to return the talismans you have borrowed from me and my brothers?”

Zuo Mo silently thought that this person was cunning and really wasn’t a friendly person. He snickered, “Borrow? Is Brother Wen joking? Our sect’s rules, anyone that comes to challenge mush leave behind a talisman to show the result. If this one lost, Brother Wen can also pick a talisman from this one’s body to serve as a memento. This is our sect’s rules, one battle, one talisman! It’s a pity that Brother Wen’s luck wasn’t very good and lost to this one. If Brother Wen wants to take it back, you can challenge me again at any time. However, if Brother Wen loses, you have to pay another talisman~”

Zuo Mo bullshitted.

Having his defeat being mentioned in front of the public, Wen Fei’s face was dark but he could not argue.

Tao Zhu Er saw Wen Fei was on the edge of losing control and thought the little rat was horrid. She could only stand out, “Then why has Brother Zuo come this time? To show off in front of our sect?”

Zuo Mo’s spine straightened, standing taller, the light in his eyes increasing, his two hands fisted as he bowed in the direction of Wu Kong Mountains, his voice deep and grave.

“Miss Tao is joking. There were five shixiong from Ling Ying Sect who came overall to challenge our sect. Our sect leaders have sternly taught us, our Wu Kong Sword Sect may be small, but needs to maintain our reputation. And has also said that matters between disciples should be resolved by disciples. This matter had started because of me and naturally cannot be given to someone else. I have not come with discourtesy but to ask for guidance from five of the Ling Ying Sect shixiong, one by one. After these five fights, no matter win or loss, this matter will be resolved! I heard that the shixiong of Ling Ying Sect have always been magnanimous and the sect’s conduct is just. To be able to spar with five of the shixiong, one by one, this little disciple would be happy even if I didn’t win. Please, help guide me!”

The passer-bys only saw that at the gate of Ling Ying Sect, a thin youth was facing the wealthy experts of Ling Ying Sect, dignified and calm, not afraid, and all stopped in their steps.

The words were loud and clear, extremely resolute. Passing through the air, the listeners felt their blood boil!

Translator Ramblings: Warning, peaceful days are over for a little while.