Chapter Seventy Six – Body Cultivating Sword Formation
A sword formation!
This was actually a sword formation! Damn it, why did Shibo throw him into a sword formation? Zuo Mo suddenly thought of the jade scroll in his hand. If the muscles on his face weren’t paralyzed, his expression right now would be deathly pale!
Body cultivation!
To use a sword formation to cultivate the body, which bastard thought of this idea? Zuo Mo wanted to kill them. He wasn’t dumb. Actually, when he had thought of the [Vajra Profound Sutra] on his hands, he instantly understood. These sword energies were extremely small and non-fatal, but they were exceptionally painful when they hit him.
Hard for a normal flying sword to wound… …
Zuo Mo suddenly thought of the phrase and his little heart shook. Was it necessary to first be pierced by countless flying swords to create a thick skin and then cultivate the “hard to be wounded by flying swords”? He almost fainted at the idea. However, he felt that this idea was probably the truth.
In the first wave of swords, Zuo Mo had been struck seven times. It was so painful he howled.
Thankfully, the sword formation gave him time to breathe. The mist gradually dissipated yet Zuo Mo didn’t relax at all. He quickly took out [Vajra Profound Sutra]. If he didn’t guess wrong, the next storm of swords would be coming in a short while. Xin Yan Shibo’s habits were like his sword, he wouldn’t give people time to rest.
Unfortunately, Zuo Mo had guessed right!
Just as he read a bit of the contents, the second storm of swords started.
With no attention to spare for anything else, he suddenly jumped up and the sword energies left continuously from his hand.
Even though he had comprehended sword essence, he was still struck twelve times during the second wave.
This time, he didn’t make a sound. Inside, he repeatedly cursed Shibo and unhesitatingly started [Vajra Profound Sutra]. If he didn’t successfully do one round of [Vajra Profound Sutra] before the third sword storm came, he would just be ripe pickings. He almost couldn’t deal with the second wave of swords. Twelve strikes. The pain reached his bones.
Thankfully, the language of [Vajra Profound Sutra] was straightforward and simple to practice. Before the third wave arrived, Zuo Mo finally completed one round of the [Vajra Profound Sutra]. A faint gold color appeared on his skin. Before he could admire himself, the third wave of swords silently arrived.
Like the rain hitting the leaves, the “pia-pia” rang out in his ears. As expected, the pain lessened. However, this wave of swords were much denser than the last two waves. Zuo Mo might have the vajra scripture but was still dumbstruck.
He didn’t know how many times he was hit. In a daze, he could only hear Pu Yao’s extremely happy roars of laughter.
When Xin Yan Shibo carried a swollen Zuo Mo back to the Little West Wind Yard, the outer sect disciples along the way that saw the scene all had the same expression –– Zuo Mo Shixiong is very pitiful! After they had seen Zuo Mo abuse himself on the mountain roads every day, they didn’t find it strange anymore.
Of course, there were still rumors. Like Zuo Mo Shixiong had offended Xin Yan Shishu so Xin Yan Shishu was exceptionally angry and was personally administering punishment. Or that Zuo Mo Shixiong was practicing a kind of legendary art. This legendary art was exceptionally cruel and that the female disciples in Fragrant Ginger Yard could prove it.
When Zuo Mo had finally recovered in his own little yard, what welcomed him was the sympathetic gaze of the Grey Beaked goose on the rooftop. Zuo Mo climbed up self-mockingly. He finally could rest for a few days. Before leaving, Shibo had said that he would come back in five days. Clearly, the sword formation was not suited to being used every day. He also needed time to practice [Vajra Profound Sutra]. If he didn’t improve before next time, he would die a terrible death.
[Vajra Profound Sutra] had a slight healing effect. After practicing it for a little while, Zuo Mo felt his entire body had become warm. This shocked him slightly. In the scriptures he had practiced before, the most comfortable was [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation]. It was hard to describe the feeling of void. The feelings this time wasn’t as enchanting as cultivating [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation], but for Zuo Mo who was presently wounded, the warm feeling was actually more appropriate.
Also, because it was easier to learn, there were no bottlenecks in [Vajra Profound Sutra]. It wasn’t like [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] which always made him spit blood.
After practicing for four hours, Zuo Mo’s entire body was amazingly relaxed, the marks on his body had also faded. Zuo Mo was overjoyed.
He went to the ling fields inside the valley and felt heartache as he looked at the ling grasses in the fields. He hadn’t taken care of the fields for quite a few days. Some of the more sensitive plants seemed slightly wilted. Zuo Mo gritted his teeth and harvested all those ling grasses that were sensitive and near maturity. He decided to sell all of them. The remaining ling grasses were hardier plants.
It was rare for Shibo to have mercy. With a vacation of five days, Zuo Mo could finally take a breath. Even though he knew that the reprieve was temporary and he would once again enter the nightmare after five days, he still planned on enjoying these five days.
Listening to the sound tablet, Zuo Mo hummed a little tune, his head on his arms as he looked at the jade scrolls that Elder Wei Nan had left.
As soon as he relaxed, he couldn’t help but think of making jingshi! There was no way around it. After soaking in the medicine baths every day, he was in the midst of a great amount of debt and owed Master a lot of jingshi. And now that he was restricted from the dan room, he couldn’t make the Golden Crow pill and had no income. Not only that, he also couldn’t make any progress on the new lingdan.
He suddenly thought of the water method that had been mentioned in Elder Wei Nan’s jade scrolls.
The number of ways to make dan in the world could not be counted. The fire method was the most widespread, and methods involving water and wood were more esoteric. Elder Wei Nan’s knowledge was broad and he was extremely skilled at using whatever was available in the environment to create the greatest value. Zuo Mo admired this very much. In many cases, a person’s circumstances would have all kinds of limitations, and those limits could not be changed. To use disadvantageous circumstances to create good results was undoubtedly an area worthy of deep study.
There was a cold spring in the rock room. It was acceptable for the water method. Most of the dan that could be made by the water method leaned towards the yin and the cold. This was a limit of the water method. But for Zuo Mo, he didn’t have any other choice.
There were many dan recipes involving the water method in the scrolls of Elder Wei Nan. Zuo Mo scanned through and picked a few dan that he could make now, noting down what was needed.
It seemed that he needed to go to Dong Fu.
Even though he had heavy debts, but he didn’t need to pay them off immediately so Zuo Mo still had some jingshi in his pocket. If he sold the ling grasses, which he wasn’t planning on letting the sect sell for him, he would get some more jingshi. He only had five days of vacation. It would take too long if the sect sold it, and no one could know that he had gone to Dong Fu to buy materials. If Master knew he was secretly making dan, Master’s “humph humph” would probably start taking effect. As to the outcome, he didn’t need to even think about it.
Disguising his appearance and concealing his tracks, Zuo Mo had become familiar with doing both.
The effects of the recent training were extremely evident. Zuo Mo flew as he walked, and no longer resembled the weak zombie of the past. He changed his appearance this time to a mundane looking man.
He was very familiar with Dong Fu. The quality of the ling grasses he had wasn’t the best but since he was a ling plant farmer, it was still much better than what normal cultivators could grow so they sold very quickly. He then brought some of the raw materials for the water method.
After finishing what he needed to do, his mind relaxed as he started to wander around.
———
Xiao Huan’s expression was panicked. She spent everyday guarding the Free Market, waiting for the person that had sold her the yin beads. After some time, she rented a stall and after paying a high price, she hung up a sign “Purchasing yin beads at high prices”. She believed, if that waxy-looking man saw the sign, he would come find her.
She had been frightened by Miss encountering dangers. When she found out that Miss had only survived due to the yin bead that she had brought the last time, she knew how to help Miss. If she could buy a few more yin beads, and Miss could forge more yin thunder beads, then she wouldn’t have to worry so much. She regretted very much that she hadn’t brought more the first time.
She stood guard everyday but she never encountered the yellow-skinned man.
She couldn’t help but look at a nearby stall. The stall owner was a youth. His sign was also “Buying yin beads at high price”. Xiao Huan was irritated. She recognized the youth. He was a disciple of Wen Tie sanren.
Many people had seen Miss use the yin thunder bead, and the origins of the yin bead wasn’t a secret.
It wasn’t just Yun Xia that knew how to make yin thunder beads. The method of making yin beads had been lost long ago but the method of making yin thunder beads wasn’t hard to find. Additionally, yin beads wasn’t just limited to making yin thunder beads.
Three thousand years ago, there had been a sect called Devilings Sect which had specialized in making yin beads. Of the various beads that could be made from yin beads, there were also yin thunder beads and yin fire beads as well as others. But the most famous of the Devilings Sect was the Nine Heaven Devilings Formation. The Nine Heaven Devilings Formation, it was formed using three thousand and six hundred beads of various kinds to form the formation. This was a terrifying formation that could even kill fanxu cultivators.
In the past, other than selling yin beads, the Devilings Sect would also sell already made beads as well as simple spells to make them. So things like the yin thunder bead had spread out. Due to the power of the yin thunder bead, and the ease of making them, many xiuzhe would always have some.
In the great battle three thousand years ago, the entire Devilings Sect had nearly been exterminated. The method of making the yin beads had been lost, but the method of making the yin thunder bead had been passed on.
In reality, other than Wen Tei sanren, the others were also trying to buy yin beads. But the others were not as straightforward as Wen Tie sanren. They hired locals to buy yin beads.
Xiao Huan was especially irritated when she saw Wen Tie sanren’s disciple’s disdainful attitude towards her.
“Shameless!” She cursed for the n-th time, but because the other’s cultivation was higher than her, she couldn’t do anything.
It naturally aroused the attentions of all the powers in the free market when a large group of people who wanted to buy yin beads appeared. No matter how much they asked, they still didn’t know what yin beads were. Some brave fellows took some beads to make forgeries of yin beads. The result was they were beaten until they were crippled.
After a few days, the local snakeheads knew that this group wasn’t easy to deal with and so no one tried again.
So when Zuo Mo wandered to the free market, and saw a continuous forest of signs saying “Buying yin beads at high prices”, he was instantly dumbstruck.
Translator ramblings: Fanxu is the cultivation level above yuanying. I haven’t had the time to make the cast list yet but I haven’t forgotten about it.
