This chapter has been brought to you by me, WanderingGummiOfDoom, and cactuar0.
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Five – Great Pine Pavilion
Dong Fu Hall was the residence that the Dong Fu Xianren had left behind. It was the most complete and best residence in Dong Fu. Other than the dense ling energy, there were many marvelous features to the residence itself, like the Great Pine Pavilion. The Great Pine Pavilion was similar to Wu Kong Sword Sect’s sword cave, it was a whole other world. When compared to the tightly held secret of Wu Kong Sword Sect’s sword cave, Dong Fu Hall’s Great Pine Pavilion was famous.
The world inside the Great Pine Pavilion was high and steep, full of mountainous peaks. The area was extremely large. Ling beasts were raised by the master of Dong Fu, and it had been this way in every generation. Most of these were vicious and wild beasts. The disciples of each generation, after they reached ningmai, would be allowed to gain experience in the Great Pine Pavilion. This was why in all the casinos, the wagering favored Yu Bai so much. While other people the Great Pine Pavilion was unfamiliar, to Yu Bai it was his backyard.
A Secret Paradise talisman like the Great Pine Pavilion needed great power to create. Almost all large sects that had some foundation, when their founders created the sect they would spend great amounts of power to create a secret world to become the base of their sect. Inside the Great Pine Pavilion, any battles by xiuzhe under jindan stage, no matter how they fought, there would cause no damage. Of course, the ling beasts that were being raised there were not immune.
In all of Dong Fu, only Dong Fu Hall and Wu Kong Sword Sect had a Secret Paradise talisman, but almost none knew about the sword cave of Wu Kong Sword Sect.
The elders and sect leaders of the other sects could only stare with jealous eyes as Tian Song Zi opened the Great Pine Pavilion. Among them, the sect leader of Ling Ying Sect was especially jealous. This was an indicator of how deep a sect’s foundation was. No matter how wealthy Ling Ying Sect was currently, in the eyes of those slightly high-level xiuzhe, they were just a nouveau riche sect.
A Secret Paradise talisman was not something that could be bought with jingshi. Other than the great power it took to create the talisman, it cost a large price. Other than making them for their own sects, no one would ever make a Secret Paradise talisman to sell.
Pei Yuan Ran and the others were very calm. The secrets of Wu Kong Sword Sect’s sword cave was comparable or even better than Great Pine Pavilion. Even when they themselves discussed the sword cave, they would sigh at the great power of the ancestral founder. The four of them may be in the stage of jindan and rank among the top experts of Sky Moon Jie, but they did not have the power to make a Secret Paradise talisman.
The one hundred competitors attending the last round stood there silently, but curiosity came onto many of their faces. Many of them had never entered a Secret Paradise talisman before, and were extremely curious. The disciples of larger sects, like Gu Rong Ping, either had a calm face or were looking arrogantly at the other people, feeling superior to the others.
———
Around the Great Pine Pavilion, the [Mirage Illusion Formation] slowly activated, the seven colored light swimming around like countless fishes flying. Slowly, above the Great Pine Pavilion, a faint image appeared.
The image quickly grew larger and became clear until it covered all of the sky above Dong Fu. Presented in front of everyone was a serene and peaceful world.
Row after row of mountain peaks with steep slopes that were so elegant as though they were drawn. Between the mountains, ling beasts could be seen moving.
Such a clear and gigantic illusion, it was very rare to see. Many people sighed in amazement. The xiuzhe who had come from long off were celebrating that they had made the journey. It was very rare to see such a spectacular event.
No matter if the people were floating in the sky or on the ground, they could easily see this gigantic mirage.
At this time, Dong Fu formed an extremely strange spectacle. Countless xiuzhe had packed in the sky, low and high, some flying around as they adjusted their angle, and sigh with wonder. On the ground, people took out recliners, some crouched on the rooftops, as they raised their heads to look at the enormous mirage in the sky.
They were all xiuzhe!
Tens of thousands of xiuzhe were gathered in Dong Fu. Looking from a distance, they appeared to be packed densely like ants.
“Such a grand picture!” A non-local elder of a sect couldn’t help but praise, “Spectacular!”
“Tian Song Zi really has the breadth of spirit, no wonder he is the master of Dong Fu.” An elder beside him said, “Such a grand event. If this was held every few years, it would be a beneficial matter!”
“That’s hard! The number of sects in Sky Moon Jie that have a Secret Paradise talisman can be counted on the hands. Even if they had one, who would be like Tian Song Zi and bear to let it be used for a competition?”
“Exactly! Who doesn’t hide the Secret Paradise as deep as they can? It really is the first time someone has acted this way. I wonder what he is thinking?”
“I’ve seen Tian Song Zi before. He’s not stupid. He definitely has his own thoughts.”
… …
As they discussed, the topic of the elder’s discussion veered off-topic.
“Who do you feel is going to win?” One of the elders suddenly asked.
“Gu Rong Ping!”
“Gu Rong Ping!”
“Naturally, it is Gu Rong Ping. Heart Lake Sect has deep foundations and is one of the top sects in Sky Moon Jie. Gu Rong Ping is one of those genius seen every hundred years. It would be hard to find someone that could be comparable to him.”
Everyone was in consensus on this point.
“Other than Gu Rong Ping?” An elder who rarely spoke suddenly opened.
“That Su is very mysterious and pretty powerful.”
“Gu Feng’s [Little Ghost Sword] is extremely experienced. I favor him.”
“Wei Sheng’s two battles were clean and quick. But I haven’t heard of this Wu Kong Sword Sect. It’s probably a small sect.” An elder said hesitantly.
“Speaking of this Wu Kong Sword Sect, it should not be underestimated. The three disciples it has attending the competition all entered the last round.”
Hearing this, the elder who was favoring Su sneered, “We shouldn’t even speak of this matter. That guy that looks like a zombie had a bye to get into the last round. We can only say this Wu Kong Sword Sect is on pretty good terms with Tian Song Zi.”
Another elder instantly objected, “Even though this guy’s cultivation is a bit low, but he’s still skilled.”
The elder that favored Su asked in response, “Do you favor him?”
“Not possible!” The elder shook his head. “The gap between the stages of ningmai and zhuji is too large. There is also Chao An as the precedent. When his opponents see him, they would not be light on their guard. He’s just a zhuji, how many skills can he have? He probably has used up most of them. His elders must be wanting him to get some experience.”
“Does someone favor him?” The elder that favored Su asked the other people.
“Ha ha! If someone favors him, then I would really admire the person!”
“Ha ha… …”
… …
The crowd of elders discussed interestedly. The ones of the same sect would communicate and see if there were suitable seedlings.
———
Between the xiuzhe, Zuo Mo turned his head around and looked. Even though his zombie face was expressionless, but curiosity flashed in his eyes.
Privately, he was conversing with Pu Yao.
“Pu, if you compare this Great Pine Pavilion to the sword cave, which one is better?”
“All trash.” Pu Yao’s voice was full of disdain.
Zuo Mo instantly was speechless and rolled his eyes. With the same tone, he shot back, “Aren’t you a Sky Yao? Can you make one?”
Pu Yao did not know shame. “I play with things that should not be played with. This is not interesting.”
Zuo Mo finally knew why he was only a zhuji xiuzhe and Pu Yao was a Sky Yao. This was a direct ratio to the thickness of the face.
Hmm, he suddenly noticed that Gu Rong Ping seemed to have swept a look in his direction. Even though Gu Rong Ping had disguised it well, but Zuo Mo sensitively caught the strange emotions contained in that look.
No way!
Such a little person as him was not worthy of Gu Rong Ping’s interest. It must have been that he sensed it wrong.
“Careful!” Pu Yao suddenly said heavily.
Zuo Mo paused. “What is it?”
“Just now, someone used a detection spell.”
“Detection spell?” Zuo Mo was dumb, and then said in shock. “No way!”
He was preparing to look around when Pu Yao immediately shouted, “Don’t look!”
Zuo Mo instantly didn’t dare to move, obediently standing on his spot. He rarely saw Pu Yao this nervous, as though he was facing a great enemy.
Someone had used a detection spell. He deliberately pretended to casually sweep across the surroundings. No one seemed to be behaving strangely. Even Gu Rong Ping didn’t seem to detect that someone had just used a detection spell.
Zuo Mo was shocked. To be able to use a detection spell on this many people, but no one had discovered it, the caster’s cultivation must be terrifying!
“Humph, it seems someone is targeting me.” Pu Yao snorted coldly, but there was no fear in his words.
“How do you know it is to catch you?” Zuo Mo reflexively followed up.
“Isn’t it just the [Fire Eye]? I’ve encountered it a few times before.” Pu Yao’s tone turned colder, filled with dislike. “It’s just as bothersome as the Dhyana’s [Sky Eye] abhinna!”
Hearing such hate filled words, then thinking of Pu Yao’s tendency to want to get even, Zuo Mo didn’t even need to think to know that Pu Yao had definitely suffered before due to this spell. He instantly became nervous. “Has the other found you?”
Hearing this, Pu Yao instantly became smug. He snickered, “That person would never think that I am in your sea of consciousness. This fire eye might be powerful, but it can only detect the energy of yaomo. Don’t worry, as long as you act normal, the other would never think of it.”
“That’s good.” Zuo Mo’s heart landed.
Just at this time, Tian Song Zi stood up. All the eyes gathered on his body.
Tian Song Zi was very good at keeping his composure. He didn’t seem to notice as he said calmly, “Prepare now. I will now send you into the Great Pine Pavilion.”
Finishing, he started to cast a spell. His legs stood steadily, ling power spraying out of his lightly moving palms.
Everyone suddenly found the average looking figure of Tian Song Zi suddenly became towering figure, like a millennia old pine tree, weathered yet strong. His legs seemed to reach deep into the ground like countless roots, steady as a rock, unmoved by wind or rain. The rippling pressure almost covered all of Dong Fu.
Other than the jindan xiuzhe that were calm, the xiuzhe under the stage of jindan, even Gu Rong Ping who really conducted himself elegantly, changed expression. Yu Bai looked with a hot expression at Master, his heart filled with pride. Wei Sheng seemed to be affected. There was no retreat on his face. He raised his head, the light in his eyes bursting, the two hands by his side unconsciously turning to fists.
Wow, such a powerful old man! Zuo Mo gaped inside. But comparing Tian Song Zi and Second Shibo, he still felt that Second Shibo was more scary.
“Ho!”
Tian Song Zi bellowed.
Countless lights rose up under the feet of the one hundred xiuzhe. The light flashed, and they disappeared.
Translator Ramblings: I don’t get the elders sometimes … … and what Wu Kong Sword Sect did in the past. Remaining so low-key until now … … if Zuo Mo hadn’t ended getting picked up by Pei Yuan Ran, Wei Sheng wouldn’t have had an apparition, and then … … seriously, Wu Kong Sword Sect has enough assets to rival Dong Fu Hall.
Thanks for the chapter 🙂
I feel you…. but at the same time the jindan elders of the sect didn’t have 4 jindan elders when they were zhuji or ningmai… so they, themselves could not use the cave to become the best sect …
the Wu Kong sect is like a fallen champion…. that is trying to train his successor … which will own the world.
It just takes 2 jindan members to open the cave, but the previous generation didn’t even have that much (at least, not when the talented disciples were coming up).
But with their maniacal focus on being sword xiu, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the reasons for their fall was simply a lack of farmers to provide cheap resources or pill makers or forgers to create medicines & items for cultivation. Even now, it takes a concerted effort by 2nd and 4th shishu to develop just 1 talent, but their myopic eyes still can’t see the value of having multiple alchemists or blacksmiths 😡
Thanks for the new chapter!
Thanks for the chapter
Thank you very much for the translation, translators! Many thanks towards the Author!
Thanks for the chapter…I’m always waiting them before I go to sleep. (This chapter 21 pm my time so it’s good 😀 unlike yesterday :p )….
Also next on badass main cast : asskicking ,shock and lots of asskicking.
It may have a few really good assets, but it can’t use them freely and doesn’t really have the strength to protect them. It could raise one, maybe two really good disciples, but it doesn’t have the resources for more.
The sad thing is, that what they need the most is a ling plant farmer, dan master and formations master, not another sword cultivator. If they had someone (or multiple someones) who were really good in these fields (especially ling plant farming) then they could raise dozens or even hundreds of above average disciples. By having them compete with each other, their level could be raised even further and their hidden resources could be used to their fullest potential. Basically, the sect’s problem is that its too focused on the sword and is devaluing the support paths that are absolutely necessary to develop powerful sword cultivators.
To put it another way, they’d rather develop their power than their foundation, which is very short sighted and most likely the reason why the sect is so weak even with the resources their ancestor’s left behind.
I beg to differ. I think the reason why they aren’t developing a lot of non-sword xiuzhe is because they don’t want to become like Ling Ying Sect. Let’s say they have x amount of resources. They could spend those resources equally on Wei Sheng and other zhuji, but that would result in none of them becoming ningmai in time for this competition. And no matter how much non-sword xiuzhe can make, that still can’t be compared to ningmai’s income level, so it’s more efficient to develop one zhuji given that he has enough talent. Plus, not everyone are freaks like Zuo, the sect does have a lot of farmers, and others, but it only has several zhujis, all because that everyone else isn’t talented enough to ‘waste’ resources on them, given how poor the sect already is.
You’re missing the fact that just in this competition, Wu Kong sword sect has 3 competitors and could only afford to properly support one of them. Both Luo Li and Zuo Mo have struggled to qualify based on their own efforts, with the sect having no time or spare energy to assist them due to the extreme shortage of supporting cast 🙁
Given that Zuo Mo is the 2nd best dan maker in the sect, its a good example of how little Shi Feng Rong has developed the local talents. Similarly, Xin Yan is mainly teaching forging to only 1 disciple, when there would definitely be more people interested in the inner & outer sect who could help do some of the easier assembly work during times when high output is needed.
Imagine that Zuo Mo was recruited elsewhere after getting the Spring Sprout medal, then the sect wouldn’t even benefit from the Golden Crow Pill’s income and might not be able to properly train their sole golden egg Wei Sheng either 😛 . They’d also have to buy many more herbs outside at full market price for the medicines used, and we’re also told not all of them are actually available for purchase in the market anyway.
But Zuo wasn’t this good, until very recently, so I think it makes sense that they have missed his talent (plus, we have to admit that Yao have benefited Zuo a lot). And Luo Li have been in the sect for a long time, but even he wouldn’t become ningmai if he didn’t tie with Zuo. Basically I think it’s about the return on investment kind of a thing. Luo has been outstanding before, but his talent wasn’t enough to invest all resources on him, while Wei Sheng is on a completely different level.
Cactuar is spot on. It’s like they are trying to compete in the F1 but only bothered to hire a single mechanic for both of their cars.
I was speaking more about their attitude towards the MC than anything else. Rather than being happy to have such a talented crafter, they’re upset and want to punish him for not abandoning his support activities to become yet another sword cultivator.
I don’t know what you mean when you say “like the Ling Ying Sect.” If you mean to say that the Wu Kong Sword Sect has more and better ningmai, that’s obviously untrue. If you mean that they didn’t want to become reliant upon talismans, well… a) farming and crafting and selling the products doesn’t necessarily lead to a reliance upon talismans, and b) the Wu Kong Sword Sect isn’t trying to not become reliant on talismans, they’re just hella obsessed with swords, as per their name. Also, while most of the sect members aren’t talented, they also aren’t supported. The entire first book was the MC complaining about how farmers and crafters aren’t given much love by the Sect, with the caveat that the Sect wasn’t a bad place to live, just overly focused on the sword. If the Sect “‘wasted'” resources on the farmers by either spreading knowledge (e.g. offering access to Five Element texts in a free version of that for-cost library) people would be able to develop better skills, and thus get better farming techniques, and thus become better farmers who would make more money for the Sect which would allow them to headhunt and support better swordsmen. This has occurred in the story for the inner sect. Plus, the MC’s big success was a result of luck (acquiring five super good and free fields, aka extra income; and a ling vein which enhanced his power and let him practice more), knowledge (buying the five elements scroll), and practice (him being driven by money). The Wu Kong Sect, were it smart, would attempt to replicate this.
Don’t forgot your paragraph spacing! Evenly if you’re not high or tired!
Sorry! Tired, but really it’s just that I typed it out during a class. >.< Is there an edit-post button on this blog style?
Thanks for the chapter WYHCWE, WanderingGummiOfDoom, and cactuar0!
Thanks for the chapter. While Wu Kong Sword Sect has good foundation along with their secret Sword Cave, they don’t have enough wealth and resources. And they also didn’t have disciples that were talented enough to be recognized by other sect in Dong Fu. So up until now, they still remain as a small sect.
Second shibo is famous, I wondered why they remaining low-key. Not many people know that second shibo is one of the elders in Wu Kong Sword Sect. The narration even mentioned that the elders are ranked among top experts in Sky Moon jie. Powerful elders can attract talented ppl to join. Some rich ppl maybe even willing to pay to enter the sect xD
But we don’t need to worry, after this Sword Test Conference, surely Wu Kong Sword Sect will be known in the entire Sky Moon Jie ^^
thanks for the chapter
They disappeared and were never seem again.
The End.
..
..
O.o
XD
Thanks for the translation!
thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you so much!! 😘😘😘
thanks for the hard-work!!
I’ve been rereading this novel from the first chapter and I can’t keep myself from appreciating how much effort the author expended to slowly build the world and flesh out the magic/cultivation system. I never liked how chinese novels usually explain at the very first few chapters the entire system without any sort of flow but just blatantly listing down descriptions like they were handing out brochures!
On another note, the biggest problem Wu Kong Sword Sect probably has is their management. Clearly, the elders are short sighted and are too obsessed with sword cultivation that they disregard talents in other areas. It’s probably the fault of their previous elders. The pressure from elevating or even just continuing the sect’s direction (sword cultivation) must have drove them to tunnel vision. In addition, because their sect is small in a relatively small jie that is part of a small-medium realm (?) that emphasizes the importance of, again, sword cultivation you can hardly blame their focus.
In my first reading I used to get really mad at the Shishus and Shigu for not looking closely at Zuo Mo and his brilliance + the benefits they could receive from nurturing his other talents. After starting from the beginning, I can see how they might have failed to look further especially in a world where “face” is of the utmost importance aside from cultivation. It’s almost like a religion. You can’t just be pissed and shove your opinions at someone who has been ingrained with a certain belief and ideology for years because you can see otherwise. I still find the elders stupid (really!!!!) How small minded they are (!!!!!!)… but in relation to all this it’s understandable.
I totally agree with you. They are “small minded” in that they are not able to accept and see the true value of something that runs to what they have been taught and told which is the sword. In their way, they do try to help and these is a mix of good qualifies and flaws in them.