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

Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty – The Fatal Rotten Metal Silver

Bao De really had his vision broadened in these past days.

The troop in front of him was different than any other that he had been a part of before. Three people to each squad, that Three Talent Formation, that was a pleasure and a pain, enough ling grains, and there were rewards for the people placed under jinzhi … …

He looked at these old-timers who were now like children fighting to be first. There was no conspiracy, everything was done in broad daylight, it was so simple it could not be any more straightforward, but the troop had transformed by such a direct method.

The longer he stayed, the more he felt just how powerful the boss of this group was. It wasn’t a power that people could see at a simple glance, but a calm power hidden behind fog and mist. Even though everyone was afraid of Lil’ Miss, Bao De had been a leader; and he could tell who was truly in charge.

With such finesse, he wouldn’t be an ordinary person in the future. To follow such a boss, the future wouldn’t be too hard.

But Boss was a little guy around twenty something that had just entered ningmai first stratum … … the luck … …

No matter how many thoughts swirled in Bao De’s mind, his training amount would not lessen compared to the rest. His past identity as the leader and his ningmai second stratum cultivation did not give him any privileges. What made him feel helpless and depressed was the fact the other two people in his little troop were furiously training.

It was just a few talismans; was it worth all this? Having been a leader, Bao De naturally wouldn’t care about just third-grade talismans.

Yet he did not want to get into conflict with his teammates, due to dragging them down, and had to furiously train as well. There was no way around it. Lil’ Miss’ rewards were based on combat units, other than being like Ma Fan who was a combat unit on his own. Adding on that Lil’ Miss was staring from the side, he did not dare to slack.

Do not offend Lil’ Miss in any circumstance.

This was the most widespread phrase in the camp.

However, hm … … wasn’t that Boss? Bao De saw Boss holding a strange object and walk into the camp out of the corner of his eye.

He secretly paid attention. However, with his distraction, the Three Talent Formation that had been flowing smoothly came to an abrupt halt. With the pause, the rhythm of the entire team was disturbed. The three people had to stop. Seeing the dissatisfaction in the two people’s eyes, Bao De hurriedly apologized. He could offend anyone except his teammates. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even know how he died on the battlefield.

 

———

 

Gongsun Cha saw Zuo Mo hold something strange and couldn’t help but ask in curiosity, “Shixiong, what is this?”

“Ling processing … …” Zuo Mo stopped. He raised the ugly object in his hands in front of his face. Uh, what should he call this?

It could barely be called a talisman. But there were many kinds of talismans. This thing, which category did it belong to? Treasure box?

A strangely shaped box, the box was covered in holes and crack, patched with shapes of various colors and sizes, which made it hard to look at.

“Ling Processing Formation.” Zuo Mo pondered and decided to change its shape for next time. Otherwise, it would be hard to even name such an object.

“A bit ugly,” Gongsun Cha gave a fair review. Seeing the unfriendliness in Shixiong’s eyes, he hurriedly tried to move on, “What’s the use of this?”

Speaking of the use of this object, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but be smug. “Oh, not that much. It can just process the ling power in the jingshi, and get rid of impurities.”

“Get rid of the impurities in the ling power of jingshi … …” Gongsun Cha first stilled but he quickly responded. His eyes suddenly widened, his voice unconsciously raising, “Get rid of the impurities in the ling power of jingshi?”

Gongsun Shidi’s reaction made Zuo Mo even more proud, “Exactly!”

Gongsun Cha’s eyes lit up, his voice tinted with excitement, “It can replace ling grains?”

“Exactly!” Zuo Mo felt his body was unspeakably comfortable. He snickered. “I tried already. The effect is pretty good. Taking it here was to find someone to try it out.”

Without another word, Gongsun Cha stood up, swept the people training, and saw Lei Peng and the other two who had just finished. He beckoned, “Lei Peng, you three come over.”

Hearing the summons of Lil’ Miss, the three hurried over.

Gongsun Cha turned around and asked Zuo Mo, “Shixiong, how do you use this?”

“Oh, put your hand on top of this, and start your scripture.” Zuo Mo put his palms on the two round formations on top of the box.

Gongsun Cha said to Lei Peng, “You try.”

“Oh,” Lei Peng said with confusion. He didn’t understand what this garbage in front of him, but he still complied in putting his hands inside the round formations and started his scripture.

“Huh!” Lei Peng gasped – ling power!

A stream of ling power was absorbed through his palms and quickly flowed along his channels. Such pure ling power! He was overjoyed. Such pure ling power, it meant that he didn’t have to spend so much energy on processing ling power! Endless ling power burrowed through his palms into his body. In a quick while, he felt the empty channels inside his body feel full.

Only now did he suddenly realize the use of this thing!

Why was Little Mountain Jie so terrible right now?

The most important reason was that the ling energy in the air had become thin, so thin that it could not be absorbed into the bodies of xiuzhe.

Everyone knew that the ling power of xiuzhe was obtained from the world of nature. The ling energy in the air was the most important source. After these ling energy were taken into the body, they were processed and turned to even purer ling power to be stored in the channels of the xiuzhe. The ling energy becoming extremely thin in Little Mountain Jie meant that the biggest source of ling energy for xiuzhe had been cut off.

Xiuzhe were forced to find other ways, like consuming ling grains. The ling power contained in the ling grains were easy to absorb, and were not harmful. The jingshi that people usually used contained more ling power than ling grains, but due to the impurities in the ling power of jingshi were more domineering than the impurities of the ling energy of the air, it was much harder to absorb. If it was used in the long term, it would damage the body.

Only some large sects had secret methods to resolve the impurities in the jingshi.

Secret method … …

When Lei Peng’s hands left the box, his mind seemed to be wandering, his expression slightly strange.

Nian Lu looked in puzzlement at Lei Peng, it was very rare to see Big Peng have this expression. He couldn’t help but look again at that extremely strange and hideous box. This garbage had a use?

When his hands left the box, his expression was also strange, muttering something continuously in his mouth like he had seen a ghost.

After Zong Ru tried, his expression could not disguise his shock.

No matter what waves had been stirred up in the three people, Zuo Mo and Gongsun Cha were very satisfied with the result of the experiment. The remainder was to slightly modify the appearance. It really was too ugly, even Zuo Mo himself found it hard to tolerate.

Gongsun Cha’s sparkling eyes tightly locked on the extremely ugly box. He was very clear what this object meant for them! As long as they had this, there was one less chain that was on their necks!

In the present Little Mountain Jie, the price of ling grains had been inflated to a ridiculous price. In reverse, due to the lack of goods, the utility of jingshi was much less. It was common to see jingshi that had been thrown away. The rare ling grains had become the most common currency in Little Mountain Jie.

“But there is a problem.”

Zuo Mo’s words pulled Gongsun Cha back. He jumped, “What problem?”

“If we are producing in large quantities, we need lots of Rotten Metal silver,” Zuo Mo’s tone was slightly bitter, “I still have some, but it is just enough to make a few.”

Gongsun Cha stilled, and thought it was unfortunate. He hurriedly asked, “Is this Rotten Metal silver very rare?”

“It is a very common third-grade material.” Zuo Mo spread his hands. “I’ve used a lot so there’s not much left.”

“This problem … …” Gongsun Cha thought and then raised his hands, indicating for everyone to gather.

Everyone stopped their training, looked at each other, before gathering. Their expressions were all puzzled. Lil’ Miss had never interrupted their training before.

“Who knows where there is Rotten Metal silver?” Gongsun Cha asked.

Many xiuzhe were confused. What was Rotten Metal silver?”

Suddenly, a person raised their hands, “I know.” That person was Bao De.

“Where?” Gongsun Cha stared at Bao De.

When he met Lil’ Miss’ sharp eyes, a cold sweat ran down Bao De’s body. However, he had been a leader before, and suppressed the shock inside, pretending to be calm. “This one doesn’t know about the finished product, but this one knows a Rotten Metal silver mine.”

“Mine!” Zuo Mo’s eyes brightened. “Where?”

Bao De swallowed and obediently responded, “A place about three hundred li from here, called Stone Mountain Beach. Before, it was the location for a sect of Spell Sword Sect, now it’s possessed by a group.”

Zuo Mo turned to look at Gongsun Cha. Gongsun Cha instantly understood what he meant. He wanted the mine. Gongsun Cha was slightly puzzled. Even if they had the mine, there was no one to do the mining. However, since Shixiong said he wanted it, then it meant he had a way.

He turned to stare at Bao De. “How many people are there? What are their origins?”

Bao De hurriedly said. “About sixty or so people. The head, Xie Shan, is vicious and cruel. Ningmai third stratum. His subordinates are all above ningmai. They heard that Spell Sword Sect had ling grains, so they massacred Spell Sword Sect and took over Stone Mountain Beach.”

He then carefully said, “If Boss wants it, you can buy it at very low cost from Xie Shan’s hands. This one has some relationship with him … …”

“No need,” Gongsun Cha waved his hands, and then said, “Continue training,” to hurry the people away to cultivate. Bao De’s words were choked up in his throat. However, he perceptively went to train.

“What do you plan on doing?” Zuo Mo asked in curiosity.

He knew that Shidi definitely had an idea.

“We can beat them until they are crippled,” Gongsun Cha said unconcernedly. “There is no reason to give them any jingshi. They want to take food from our mouths, hmph hmph!”

Zuo Mo shook his head helplessly. Gongsun Shidi’s battle mania was acting up again!

Xie Shan’s group was really pitiful!

He couldn’t help but feel sympathy, but when the words reached his own mouth the only thing that came out was, “Hurry!”

 

Translator Ramblings: Incremental progress. Lacking supplies is a rational event after being a mad scientist for a week.

Thank you all for your comments about my question. It’s motivating to hear what you guys say. There was a very wide range of response from reading it, to reading some parts, to not reading. I would rather translate than edit which is why edits are so slow.