Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Three – Bountiful Harvest (2/2)

Other than flying swords, there was a variety of talismans that broadened Zuo Mo’s horizons. There were some extremely obscure ones, like nets. One Blue Light Net, third-grade, when it left the hand it would become a blue ball of light, if one came close then it would turn into an enormous net that would quickly close.

The wealth of the zhuji was limited. Those that were rich were the several ningmai, especially Zhang Hao. This guy had two dimensional rings to start with, and the riches inside were numerous. Also, the guy had been very picky, and what he had kept were very good items.

Like the materials he collected were not of low grade. The majority were third-grade, and he had some fourth-grade materials.

What excited Zuo Mo the most were five fox teeth. These five fox teeth clearly came from the same yao fox. Each tooth was pure white with no impurities, shining like porcelain. A fragrance that was like orchids and plums spread. The appearance showed it definitely belonged to the top third-grade materials.

The quality of the Water Drop sword was very good. If he forged in the fourth-grade Crimson Fire Rock that he had, the two qualities of fire and water could reach the demands of Li Water sword essence. Adding on the Teeth Vine, and these five fox teeth, and the Blue Icicle Crystal he had traded for from the red-robed male, he had managed to gather the materials for four of the five flying swords. Instantly, he felt the five essence sword set was not far.

He was only lacking proper earth-based material before his five essence sword set could be realized!

Most of the talismans on Zhang Hao’s body were not ordinary, but most had been damaged. Zuo Mo felt a great pain. Those were all lost jingshi!

The other talisman that peaked Zuo Mo’s interest was a cloak. This cloak was called [Shadowless]. It was as thin as a cicada’s wing and hard to detect with the naked eye. If worn on the body, it would seem to disappear. However, even though he could not see it, Zuo Mo could still feel the existence of the cloak. This [Shadowless] cloak’s only purpose was to conceal his body. Zuo Mo was even more surprised that it was a fourth-grade cloak!

He tried it on, and the effect was outstanding. He couldn’t find a trace even if he used his consciousness to search.

Good thing!

This was definitely a good thing!

Zuo Mo instantly recognized the value of the cloak. This was a wonderful talisman to make an escape! If things were going badly, he could wrap the cloak around his body and no one could find him.

He found it somewhat strange the person he had killed didn’t use a talisman as good as this, and used a third-grade cloak.

What Zuo Mo didn’t realize was the Black Wind Bandits had run rampant for years. Other than being defeated by Wei Sheng recently, when had they ever been forced to escape? When Zhang Hao first got the cloak, he treasured it. Then he found he didn’t have a use for it at all. While the cloak could conceal him, it basically had no defensive power, so Zhang Hao switched to a third-grade talisman that could increase his defenses and was beneficial to charging and fighting.

Zuo Mo naturally wouldn’t be polite, cheerfully putting the cloak on.

With two extremely fine talismans as the opener, Zuo Mo instantly looked down at the remaining talismans.

However, these people all had a unique quality of carrying many jingshi on their body. Zuo Mo understood after thinking about it. These wandering bandits travelled everywhere. Nothing was as useful as jingshi, so they could buy whatever when they got somewhere.

All of this was Zuo Mo’s now. This was an enormous sum. Like Zhang Hao. He had more than ten pieces of just fourth-grade jingshi.

When he put all the jingshi in front of him, he was stunned! He felt that his eyes were filled with jingshi.

Even the best talisman, if put together with jingshi of equivalent value, it didn’t have the same effect as piles of jingshi.

After a long while, he finally recovered from the shock of the mountain of jingshi, his blank eyes becoming clear.

He took a deep breath, and hurriedly swept the jingshi into his ring. Continuing to judge the other talismans, his mind was slightly inattentive.

“Hm!” Pu Yao’s voice suddenly came into Zuo Mo’s ears.

Zuo Mo shook and suddenly refocused. He found that Pu Yao had appeared at some unknown time beside him.

Pu Yao stared at a white bone on his hand, his eyes unmoving.

Zuo Mo instinctively waved the bone, “Problem?”

Pu Yao was still staring at the bone, his hand reaching out, “Let me see.”

“Oh,” Zuo Mo instinctively handed over the bone.

Once he handed it over, he instantly realized, and regret blossomed. He was an idiot. Something that even Pu Yao was interested in, it definitely was something good!

Having landed in Pu Yao’s hands, it definitely was using meat buns to hit a dog, it would never return!

As expected, Pu Yao flipped his hand, and the bone disappeared. He was very natural in saying, “Oh, I’ll take the bone.”

Zuo Mo instantly wanted to spit blood. He knew he definitely wouldn’t be able to take it back. He responded quickly, “Then what do you trade for it?”

“I’ll give you a batch of little yao guards,” Pu Yao didn’t give Zuo Mo the grounds to bargain.

“Little yao guards? What’s that?” Zuo Mo’s attention was instantly attracted.

Pu Yao snickered, “You’ll know when it is time.” Finishing, he disappeared.

Dejectedly, Zuo Mo could only go back to his pile of talismans in hopes he would find a few more fine ones. It was a pity that his good luck seemed to have been used up. The rest were all very average and made him even more depressed.

When he finished sorting out the last talisman, he suddenly heard a light laugh from the sky,“Brother Zuo really had a good harvest!”

Translator Ramblings: Yes, the crocodile spikes are water element as well, but since he already has the sword to stand in for the water element, the spikes are not needed for his sword set.

Thanks for all your comments. I have to say it is humorous when I read comments about the story’s pacing. I think the Sword Test Conference is the greatest example and you guys have learned. Great foundation work long before the actual event, descriptions of everything that goes on from different perspectives, and then Zuo Mo does his thing in a relatively few chapters. Expect more of that. *evil laughter*

Something that is lacking in this story is the “trash,” “garbage,” “useless person” talk and labels. Battle Through The Heavens and other early stories got popular and they inspired many other stories that started with the same premise, an “untalented” youth that astonishes his critics and then defeats his enemies.

In a way, it is humorous if these people are described at a young age in the story, ie. teens. What’s wrong with a little rivalry and trash talk between children? Then you have fully grown adults being reincarnated, and getting into a rage, and humiliating the people who bullied the past “him.” The answer that Zuo Mo might give to these people would be something like “Will this make jingshi? Time is jingshi!”

Zuo Mo is an independent person without any support net who has to worry about his living expenses and how to survive. Rivals, bullies, and “mortal enemies” drop down the priority list when a person is trying to not starve. In a dog-eat-dog world, it is a luxury for those that have money and spare time to indulge in. Those who are low level workers on the poverty line like Zuo Mo and Old Black think more about survival. Don’t expect young-master syndrome until we really meet some rich people.