This chapter has been brought to you by me, WanderingGummiOfDoom, Brian, and warlord212.

Chapter Two Hundred and One – Armed To The Teeth

Zuo Mo was dazzled by the talismans in front of him.

Noticing the change in Zuo Mo’s eyes, Hong Yang was very proud.

He took out a pair of silver wings the size of his palm.

“Look, this pair of Thunder Flowing Light Wings are intermediate fourth-grade. It is the upgraded version of Thunder Wings. As fast as lighting and famed for its speed. This pair of Thunder Flowing Light Wings was forged by jindan experts. Other than its peerless speed, its consumption of ling power was made to be very low. At full speed, it would use one jing of ling power every two hours, and if it was at eighty percent of its speed, it would only use half a jing every two hours. Such a fine item, it only is sixty piece of fourth-grade jingshi!”

Zuo Mo did not hesitate in nodding. “I’ll take it!”

Do you want to taste the extreme speed? Zuo Mo was too familiar with the advertisement for Thunder Wings. Even more this was Thunder Flowing Light Wings, an even better version. It was much faster. Lightning sparked around the palm-sized wings extremely beautifully.

Hong Yang was joyous. Before he could speak, he heard Zuo Mo add, “Four pairs!”

Four pairs! Two hundred and forty pieces of fourth-grade jingshi! Hong Yang felt like a blooming flower, a feeling of happiness spreading through his body. This trip was worth it!

Big customer! Definitely a big customer!

Look, the presence, the spending, this was the biggest whale among whales.

Hong Yang was excited, completely excited. He perceptively discovered just how full Zuo Mo’s wallet was.

It was as though he was shot up with chicken’s blood, he felt the blood in his body burning as though it was exploding. He suppressed the impulse to shout. He sounded the horn of battle!

“Ten Thousand Appearances Gloves, referring to everything in the universe. Low fourth-grade, not extremely fine, but very practical. Wearing these gauntlets it means having the power of ten thousand, one sword strike will be able to break open a mountain, unable to be stopped! If it was just this , I would be ashamed to take it out. Its biggest benefit is it uses almost no  ling power. Even zhuji can wear it. Twenty pieces of fourth-grade jingshi, a beautiful price!”

“Buy!” Putting it on to try, Zuo Mo did not hesitate in nodding. “Four pairs!” He thought of the three golden armor guards wearing the gloves. Adding on their exaggerated red broadswords, they could just charge through his enemies. Zuo Mo couldn’t help but be excited.

“Seven Star Sword Boots, intermediate fourth-grade, the Seven Star Step Method is wondrous, unable to be predicted. As long as you are wearing it, you can easily avoid all kinds of attacks, your steps traceless, the best item for short-range movement. Other than that, it has a Seven Star Sword Formation, if you step in a Seven Stars pattern, the formation would take form automatically, making your attacks undefendable. Each pair is only seventy four fourth-grade jingshi.”

“Buy!” Zuo Mo’s eyes were bright, as he unhesitatingly nodded. “Four pairs!”

Hong Yang completely got into the rhythm, despite having never been as excited as he was now. “Same Heart Necklace. This is a rare upper fourth-grade talisman. It can be called great craftsmanship. It is able to let your mind connect to six others. The best aid to melee fighting! One hundred and fifty pieces of fourth-grade jingshi!”

Zuo Mo’s eyes could not move away. He instantly nodded. “Buy!”

This was truly a good thing!

He instantly got the three golden armor guards to come over. He put on the Same Heart Necklace, and cast the corresponding spell. He instantly felt three clear intangible connections. His mind moved, and one of the golden armor guards suddenly went forward three steps.

Zuo Mo was overjoyed. With this necklace, his offensive strength was elevated.

“This is Snake Pupil Belt … …”

The battle was not finished … …

 

———

 

When Hong Yang went back to his residence, he was still somewhat dazed. What he had experienced today had been like a dream. Zuo Mo had almost cleared out all the talismans in his ring. He had never encountered a customer as rich as this one, it was too scary!

Thinking about the little pile of mini boxes in his ring, the feeling of surrealism became even stronger.

This time, he really made a profit!

 

———

 

Zuo Mo saw the golden armor guards armed to the teeth, and grinned. All fourth-grade talismans that dazzled a person’s eyes. The present golden armor guards could be described by one phrase only — — deadly weapons!

Gongsun Cha and Chun Yu Cheng were dumbstruck. Was this xiuzhe? It was three display racks for talismans!

Any place that a talisman could be hung on the body of the golden armor guard, Zuo Mo did not leave it empty.

Hands holding the crimson fire broadsword, bodies covered in golden armor, feet encased in Seven Star Sword Boots, hands wearing Ten Thousand Appearances Gloves, waist tied with the Snake Pupil Belt, and Thunder Flowing Light Wings on the back!

Red, green, gold, silver, with Zuo Mo’s terrible sense of beauty, there naturally was no beauty here. Everyone’s first thought when they would see this was only be — — nouveau riche! So rich!

It was like those rich country bumpkins plating their teeth in gold, wanting everyone to know.

Even Gongsun Cha and Chun Yu Cheng felt disdain. But other than that, it evoked deep fright. The thick killing intent spilling from the three golden armor guards made one have to directly look and judge the terrifying power contained under this ugly grandeur!

Gongsun Cha and Chun Yu Cheng also received many talismans, mostly for life-saving and escaping. The two of them did not have any fighting power at all. If they had offensive talismans, they wouldn’t even be able to use a fraction of its power. However, the husbandry and butchery jade scrolls and life-saving talismans made the two smile. Especially Gongsun Cha. After he received the white medal, it was hard to progress as jade scrolls were hard to find.

Other than talismans, Zuo Mo had bought large amounts of materials from Hong Yang, especially some fourth-grade materials.

However, this furious shopping spree had emptied him of Golden Crow Fire.

But Zuo Mo did not care. He could gather Golden Crow Fire at any time. It wasn’t difficult for him. With this batch of talismans, to say of nothing else, their offensive power had multiplied. He had the confidence to face anyone under jindan.

However, what he felt demotivated by was the golden armor guards seemed born to fight. Compared to himself, they did not seem to need to practice to easily use the talismans to reach their full potentials. Zuo Mo gaped.

Deeply struck, Zuo Mo could only slowly adjust. Like the Seven Star Sword Boots, if he needed to activate the sword formation, he needed to do seven steps after the other in the correct locations.

 

———

 

When the fully armored golden armor guards appeared on the Desolate Wood Reef the next day, they caused a small disturbance. Any xiuzhe that saw them couldn’t help but have a stunned expression.

Hong Yang didn’t dare to stay long, leaving the next day.

Pu Yao coldly looked at the gradually shrinking black water lake. The black water lake was only a quarter of the size it had been originally. Those human-like monsters were continuously transporting black water from the lake to the altar.

The old-fashioned and crude altar was now completely black without any glow.

“Almost there,” Pu Yao muttered. He blew out black air. Those human-like monsters once again landed in the lake water.

After that, he waved his sleeve. Large amounts of materials were added to the lake water, many of them ones that Zuo Mo had bought from Hong Yang. The black lake water started to bubble, like a boiling pot of porridge.

Pu yao’s right palm opened slightly, a red-black flame appeared at the center of his pal,

Hiss!

His hand did not move, but the red-black flame suddenly turned into a fire dragon and charged at the altar.

The red-black fire flamed as it surrounded the altar, the flames flickering and enchanting.

Pu Yao inhaled deeply, his hands reaching out.

His hands changed movements. His slightly closed bloody eye suddenly widened, commanding lightly, “Rise!”

The altar that was shrouded in fire rose at command and started to fly towards the black lake, only slowly landing as it reached the center of the lake. As it carried the flames that were so red they were almost black, it floated at the center of the lake.

Pu Yao’s expression was solemn, his eyes focused, not daring to slip, as his hands changed shape again.

It was like the fire was poured on oil, spreading across the surface of the black water. In a blink, the entire black water lake was shrouded in flame.

Pu Yao finally released a breath. He reached out his hand, the black water lake dramatically shrinking until it became palm sized. Then the mini lake flew into his hand, the surrounding flame silently burning.

After being forged for many more months, the Nether Pool could form!

A deep exhaustion came from his body. Pu Yao felt unspeakably tired and sighed lightly inside. The present him was so weak.

 

———

 

Zuo Mo’s excitement had not faded. He had never bought so many talismans before, and so many fourth-grade talismans!

The feeling of being so rich was so good!

“Not bad, you are at ningmai.” Pu Yao suddenly appeared, He seemed slightly exhausted. “Then let’s continue with the earth energy.”

Zuo Mo felt as though a bucket of cold water was poured on his head.

Drawing out earth energy! He finally understood what was extreme grief born of extreme joy … …

It was alright though; this had benefits for him, so Zuo Mo comforted himself in this way.

Pu Yao’s actions were unusually fast. In a blink, the earth energy inside Zuo Mo’s body was cleanly swept away. Zuo Mo dropped to the ground, paralyzed, his body occasionally convulsing. Pu Yao glanced at Zuo Mo on the ground. His face showed pleasured, before he disappeared.

Zuo Mo’s mind was blank.

It was four hours later when his numb mind finally recovered.

Why, why was the feeling this time was stronger than before?

Was it a side effect of breaking through to ningmai?

Before, he had assumed that he had gradually adjusted to the pain of earth energy being forcibly drawn out, he hadn’t thought the pain would suddenly increase. Without any preparation, Zuo Mo instantly became a tragedy.

 

———

 

A female stared at the large river in front of her. Behind her was a silent and solemn, well-organized troop.

“Have you found out?”

“Yes!” A middle-aged man said respectfully, “The location of Stars in Daytime is Sky Moon Jie. It was not long ago, about a year ago.”

“One year ago … …” The female sighed lightly. “I’m very curious which daren it is.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes were filled with a fanatical heat. “A daren that could escape from the Yao Forging Tower, it definitely is a daren that managed to survive the Thousand Year Great War!”

“Thousand Year Great War … … a long time ago.”

“Miss!”

“Nothing, I’m just reflecting.” The female smiled. “Our generation is very lucky.”

“Yes!” The middle-aged man couldn’t help but be excited.

“Have there been any suspicious targets?” The female asked.

“Not yet.” The middle-aged male gave a realistic plan. “We have already found the jie rivers to Sky Moon Jie. We only need to lock the jie rivers, and we will have plentiful time to slowly investigate.”

“Alright, it is a stupid method.”

“Yes! Our previous infiltrators were impeded by others, so … …”

“Nothing, stupid methods are more effective sometimes.” The female waved her hand.

“Yes.”

Glancing at the jie river, the female said, “Depart.”

“Yes!”

Translator Ramblings: So I mixed up a thread from the Novel Updates Forum with the Novel Translations subreddit. The discussion about parents was in the general category here.

Daren is the general term used to refer to officials and people of status and power. I’m going to use it a lot because “Honorable Personage,” or “Sir” are not enough to cover the meanings. Going “Greetings to panjandrum/VIP” is also quite awkward.

Zuo Mo throws around his money and has terrible sense about appearances.

Time-travel  and dimensional-travel are very common plot devices. It erases a character’s mistakes, give them foresight and knowledge, and usually sets them up to win when they lost in their previous life if the character is born back in time. There is also being reborn in another person’s body. In dimensional travel, knowledge from one’s modern life becomes an aid if they are reborn in historical times, and they have a small edge if they are born in a different world. Sometimes the rebirth element is almost unnecessary except for the author to easily relate something in the modern world to the setting of the novel without having to explain or show how something works or happens. In novels where the character ends back at a certain point in their life, it is to change a major event that may be their fault. The struggles that character encounters are almost always solved through advance knowledge and the author seems to be unable to think of a plausible solution. If a character ends up in another person’s body, it becomes an opportunity for the author to compare how their characters contrast in dealing with situations. The great majority of the time, the new owner of the body does much better.