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

 

Chapter Seven Hundred and Eighteen – Pseudo-Shen Device The Angel Device Raiment

“It really is a shen device!”

Zuo Mo sighed in praise. He looked down at the blue armor that tightly wrapped around him and the layer of faint but dense flames. The serene blue flames burned soundlessly. When he channeled shen power, the [Angel Device Raiment] would automatically form this kind of water blue flame. This caused the armor that appeared to have been made from layers of clear blue crystal to become even more beautiful.

When Zuo Mo channeled a little over half of his sun shen power capacity, the snowy white wings would give off golden flames. When they moved, sparks would fall. These sparks were miniature shen fire. If one came into contact with it, they would adhere, and burn until everything was ash.

The serene blue and the gold flames intersected and shined, yet they did not give off any presence. Their ability to conceal themselves was greater than any yao art or spell that Zuo Mo knew of.

There was a faint tinge of blood over Zuo Mo’s vision. He could easily see the see through over three zhang of thick rock. Even deeply hidden jinzhi were clear to his eyes.

The more he used it, the more Zuo Mo liked it. There was no hindrance when he channeled shen power into it, and when he wore the [Angel Device Raiment] he could activate a shen technique using less than eight-tenths of the shen power it normally took.

Zuo Mo had Ceng Lian’er try as well.

When Ceng Lian’er channeled moon shen power, the [Angel Device Raiment] would flash with a faint moonlight. What was most fantastical was that when the wings danced, a crescent moon would occasionally appear and the shen power shedding off it was sharp instead.

A Gui was the eeriest. When she wore the [Angel Device Raiment], the dark red mask would become purple, and the snowy white wings would become as black as ink and give off faint black mist. The blue armor would also become pitch black. If she stood there and did not move for over three breaths, she would disappear into the darkness like smoke.

As expected of a shen device!

Before this, Zuo Mo had not thought that the [Angel Device Raiment] would be a shen device. Now that the old man pointed it out, he immediately tried and many places that had puzzled him were now clear.

He reluctantly took the [Angel Device Raiment] off. He now understood its value. The old man was right. The [Angel Device Raiment] was something he desired, but also a hot potato. Also, Zuo Mo was willing to trade it for something useful for A Gui.

The [Angel Device Raiment] was good but Zuo Mo had confidence that he would be able to forge even better shen devices in the future. Strictly speaking, the [Angel Device Raiment] was only a pseudo-shen device, and not a true one.

What worried Zuo Mo more was the Undying Shen power in A Gui that had started to change. Neither Pu Yao nor Wei had heard of the Undying Shen Seal but the two did not feel the old man had been lying.

Zuo Mo moved his gaze away from the [Angel Device Raiment] and asked, “What do you think of the old man?”

“The old man cultivates shen power,” Pu Yao said coldly. His eyes were narrowed. A cold light moved through the blood pupil like a blade revolving in the sunlight.

All the signs indicated that Pu Yao was not in a good mood.

He had always been the strongest support behind Zuo Mo. No matter if it was yao arts, spells, mo skills, he had guided Zuo Mo. Yet in the blink of an eye, as though it was a dream, he found that the world seemed to change. People that cultivated shen power, and were stronger than him had appeared. The strong return of shen power had caused this world to become unfamiliar, and this tide was not something that an individual’s power could reverse.

This made Zuo Mo feel dispirited, and Pu Yao who was extremely competitive disliked this feeling.

“He is very strong. Even in my era, he would be strong!” Wei’s expression was unusually grave. He had existed for longer than Pu Yao, from the last stages of the ancient era to now, and to the era of shen power returning. Those memories that had almost disappeared gradually started to become clear again.

Yet, while he seemed to have known them, the memories felt completely different.

This was going to be a new era.

Pu Yao quickly calmed down, and he buried the cold glint in his eyes. As one of the strongest in the world at his time, Pu Yao possessed a strong mind and unparalleled calmness. “He feels enmity towards you, but it seems that he isn’t your enemy. He is very friendly towards A Gui, and should have a deep connection to her!”

“Yes, even in our era, the Scab Fragrance is a very rare treasure and has unique effects to calm the soul. I hadn’t thought there would be Scab Fragrance here. They definitely have a deep relationship. Otherwise, he would not freely give such a valuable treasure.” Wei nodded and agreed with Pu Yao’s speculation. Wei would only not be a nag when he was discussing serious matters now.

Zuo Mo nodded as well. His thoughts were about the same as the other two.

“He knows my identity, that means that he has paid attention to me for a long time. He has a deep relationship to A Gui, so it is very likely he knows my origins. Next time, I have to learn this!” Zuo Mo had a thoughtful expression. “When the [Angel Device Raiment] is being sold, he will definitely be observing from the shadows. There will be a chance to meet with him again. But the [Angel Device Raiment] is a big problem!”

When he spoke of this, Zuo Mo couldn’t help but grimace. Actually, before the old man’s reminder, he had detected something from the tsunami of invitations. Yet when the secret of the [Angel Device Raiment] being a pseudo-shen device was revealed, he knew that trouble was still ahead of him. It was a good idea to trade the [Angel Device Raiment] for those treasures, but if he was the least bit careless, the situation would spiral out of control.

This was the first pseudo-shen device that had appeared in so many years. There were many people that were willing to risk anything to get it!

“It is slightly troublesome,” Pu Yao said coldly, “If they scheme, your identity is a sensitive one, you cannot expose shen power, Ceng Lian’er and A Gui cannot fight.”

Zuo Mo’s brow furrowed. “Have Rare Artifacts Hall come protect us?”

Pu Yao snorted. “They don’t know that the [Angel Device Raiment] is a pseudo-shen device. If they knew, the first ones with devious ideas will be them. Also, this time, the ones that are coming are the big names, Rare Artifacts Hall cannot stop them.”

Zuo Mo found this was very troublesome.

Pu Yao was right. This time, the ones who had come were big names. Mo Shen Temple, Tian Huan, Kun Lun, the Yao Council of Elders, all the mo marshals, and hidden experts like the old man who were of unknown origins but had unfathomable power … …

If those people tried to do something to him, Rare Artifacts Hall could not stop him. Yet he could not expose his identity and fight.

“Use jinzhi,” Wei suddenly said, “before they react. Set up a large jinzhi, the seal formations and mo matrices jinzhi that Golden Crow Camp have studied are already mature.”

Golden Crow Camp. Zuo Mo stilled. It had been very long since he had communicated with them. The communication was usually one way, where he would send the results of his own studies back to Golden Crow Camp for them to study at regular intervals.

The idea of setting up jinzhi was a good one. If the jinzhi he set was powerful enough, and he was in control, he would not have to worry about anything happening.

But then he thought of the people coming. If they were not marshals, they were terrifying experts like the mo gods. What level of jinzhi could do that?

Zuo Mo did not have jinzhi that could suppress people at the level of marshals and mo gods. If he had a year or more, he might be able to create one, but there was no time for him to think.

Would Golden Crow Camp have such a powerful large scale jinzhi?

Zuo Mo muttered inside.

 

———

 

The present Golden Crow Camp was hundreds of times as large as in the past. Because of their rapid expansion, their original site was unable to hold so many people. The two masters found an intermediate-sized cloud island to be the base for Golden Crow Camp. This island was renamed Golden Crow Cloud Island.

Golden Crow Cloud Island was the most famous center for seals, forging, and mo weapons in Cloud Sea Jie.

Along with the return of Lil’ Miss and Bie Han, Cloud Sea Jie’s rate of expansion rapidly increased. With almost an unstoppable presence, they took dozens of jie in one push. Among those were xiuzhe, mo, and yao jies. Collectively, this was called Mo Cloud Sea.

Mo from Zuo Mo, Cloud Sea for their origin of Cloud Sea Jie

The environment of Golden Crow Cloud Island was outstanding. There was an active volcano was tamed by the Golden Crow Camp using a fire formation that was hundreds of li long. They had also asked the Mist People to find some astounding high quality cold caves under the mountain range of the thick cloud sea.

The previous low level members of Golden Crow Camp were now all in high positions and were influential people.

Wei Cheng Bin started his daily task like usual. His composed face did not have the past wariness and youth. Wei Cheng Bin who had been skilled in making miniature jinzhi was deeply trusted by the two masters. In these years, he had worked tirelessly. Adding to the seal formations and mo matrices in the Pu Wei Library, his present skill level would be that of a grandmaster if he was outside Golden Crow Camp.

But he was willing to stay in the heavily guarded Golden Crow Camp. Other than his research on the topics that interested him every day, the time that he anticipated the most was the reflections that Daren would send through the Ten Finger Prison occasionally.

What Daren sent was the greatest secret in Golden Crow Camp. Other than the core members that could read them, they were not open to outsiders. And Wei Cheng Bin was responsible for receiving them and immediately organizing them.

Wei Cheng Bin liked staying here, mostly because he could see the reflections first. For this duty, he had defeated some strong competitors to obtain this coveted position.

Just like usual, what Daren had learned was passed over.

He methodically imprinted the contents using high level jade scrolls. Like he was savoring delicious food, he read word by word and didn’t bear to finish reading. However, even the longest content would be finished at some point. But when Wei Cheng Bin reached the end, he froze.

Daren required a large scale jinzhi?

He only reacted after a long few moments. Without a second word, he sent out two paper cranes to inform the two masters.

In a short amount of time, all the core members of Golden Crow Camp were gathered in one hall.

Everyone was discussing the meaning of Daren’s words. Of course, Daren’s meaning was very simple. Everyone was just very curious, was Daren going to build a city again?

In the preliminary battle strategies of Cloud Sea Jie, defense had been the most important, so Golden Crow Camp had invested great amounts of energy and resources into that.

The two masters saw more from Zuo Mo’s words – the stronger, the better!

This was Daren’s focus.

The strongest … …

The two exchanged a look. Sun Bao said gravely, “How about that set?”

The entire place immediately became silent. Everyone knew which set Master Sun Bao was talking about. Many people acted to speak but everyone still remained silent.

That set … …

Editor`s note: Ya. I know you.

Wei Cheng Bin – Citizen of Little Mountain Jie, roaming xiu, member of Golden Crow Camp. First appearing in 243, he is a forging xiu of some talent and is coerced by Lei Peng when he shows up to the safe house. After being “recruited” he displays his talent and is favored by Sun Bao. Later in chapter 331, Wan Tian convinces him to study the black fiendish energy. With Wan Tian greatly contributes to the construction and forging of the Crimson Fiend Cauldron.

Translator Ramblings: It’s always good to see minor characters grow up. I think Golden Crow Camp is now a think tank, or is it an university with satellite campuses?

Mo Cloud Sea is one of the things I think just doesn’t translate that well. It sounds better in Chinese.