Zuo Mo overcomes his own mind. (I think he might have had slight PTSD but that’s just me).
Thanks for all your comments!
Chapter Fifty Nine Practicing Sword In The Water
Zuo Mo was stunned. The picture inside the jade scroll gave him an earth-shattering shock!
The following days, he would wake up at night. The b.l.o.o.d.y and terrifying scene tormented him like a nightmare.
In the ling fields, he dazedly sat, his mind unfocused, his complexion extremely poor. Looking at the ling gra.s.ses and herbs that were growing well in the fields, he suddenly felt that his life had changed a lot, completely different than before.
Why was it like that?
He asked himself.
He suddenly remembered that strange dream that had puzzled him for two years. The slightly familiar voice in the dream. Unconsciously, he couldn’t help compare the nightmare of the last two days to the frequently repeating dream. Compared to the nightmare of the last few days, the usual dream didn’t have a bit of blood. But whenever he was shocked awake, it was like he had been lifted out of the water, his entire body soaked.
It clearly wasn’t a b.l.o.o.d.y and scary dream but it always made him so nervous, terrified. Yes, terrified. When he woke, other than sweat, there was also his stiff body. He didn’t know when he was dreaming, what his sleeping body was like. But undoubtedly, he was definitely afraid. But he didn’t know what he was afraid of.
That dream, it was the reason that he was pursuing power. He believed that there was really something behind the dream.
That “You must not forget even in death,” d.a.m.n it, what is it!
Suddenly the blood and the headless corpses became less scary in Zuo Mo’s eyes. For some reason, the frequent yet not scary dream, the terror that it brought Zuo Mo far outweighed those b.l.o.o.d.y scenes.
What was he doing?
Zuo Mo suddenly seemed to have woken up. He hit his head heavily.
Why did he get scared by just that scene? To search for the answer, wasn’t he willing to put his life on the line?
This world, what was more frightening than having the same dream repeating each night? This world, what was more frightening than clearly knowing you had something important you shouldn’t forget but could not remember? What was more frightening than have your features changed and mind erased but you were still safe?
Zuo Mo’s blank eyes slowly focused, his eyes resuming clarity and brightness.
What was he afraid of?
Wasn’t it just his life?
He told himself inside. If he wanted to search for answer, he would definitely encounter people countless times more dangerous, and more powerful. If he couldn’t get through this barrier, if he retreated from this step, how could he search for answers?
The person who changed his features and erased his mind was a powerful person who even Master was wary of!
Zuo Mo stood up. After thinking it through, his mind became clear. Unknowingly, his mental state and cultivation improved hugely. He had comprehended something. Cultivation, it was to have a steady heart, and not waver!
Once again, he took up the ice crystal sword, once again starting to practice. There wasn’t loss, there wasn’t confusion. He was even more hard-working than before. He needed to catch up all the time he had wasted previously.
In the time of two months, Zuo Mo didn’t leave the mountain valley. Seeing that there was only one month until the sect a.s.sessment, Zuo Mo still didn’t have any hint of the Li Water sword essence.
Twenty thousand and one!
The familiarity of the sword moves had progressed to an abnormal level. Zuo Mo was suspicious that even the person who made this sword scripture wasn’t as familiar as him on the sword moves. Seven sword moves. He had changed it twelve times. Countless practice allowed him to know every detail of the sword moves like the back of his hand. The places where he made alterations, it was places that he thought the sword move would become more logical and effective.
Even though he was very uncertain, he still made the change. He was extremely cautious and prudent about the twelve changes. Each change, he had spent large amounts of effort. Practicing over and over to confirm before finally clinching it.
On the sword moves, there wasn’t any more possible progress.
When he realized this, there was only one month until the sect a.s.sessment.
He decided to do something different.
There was a large river below Wu Kong Mountain. The records room of Wu Kong Mountain had been build beside the cliff. This river couldn’t be considered wide but it ran fast. The locals called it Sky Shaking River
Zuo Mo came to the sh.o.r.e. Looking at the rus.h.i.+ng water, he gritted his teeth, and carrying the ice crystal sword, he jumped into the river.
Entering the river, he felt the surroundings become quiet. The rapid river water almost swept him off his feet. He forced himself to steady and started to do the sword moves of [Li Water Sword Scripture] in the water.
This was the solution he had thought off.
Just when he didn’t know what to do, he suddenly remembered a sentence that Pu Yao had said. Pu Yao said for him to find a river and see what water was like. Because what he had seen in his sea of consciousness had been too shocking, he had simply forgotten Pu Yao’s words. Only yesterday did he remember. In the past, practicing finger motions in the water was also this method and it allowed his finger motions improve rapidly.
Actually, where he wanted to go was the large waterfall that Wei Sheng s.h.i.+xiong had written about but there wasn’t enough time.
With no other alternative, he could only choose the Sky Shaking River under the mountain to cultivate.
The Sky Shaking River, while not as large as the large waterfall, the currents were extremely rapid. And because there was a dense layer of rock on the riverbed, there were countless whirlpools in the undercurrent. If he wasn’t careful, it was extremely easy to be washed away by the water. Zuo Mo cultivated [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] and his breathing was unique compared to normal people. This allowed him to be able to stay under the water for a longer period of time.
If one hadn’t practiced spells like [Art of Water Manipulation], they couldn’t stay long in the water. Of course, if they had talismans such as a Water Bubble, then it was a whole other discussion.
Zuo Mo had broken through to one breath in the cold pond and wasn’t afraid of water. But the restless river water and the silent and icy pond water gave Zuo Mo completely different feelings.
The cold pond in Cold Mist Valley was like a bottomless hole. Sinking down, it was like entering a silent world, everything on the outside blocked off. There were no currents, no whirlpools. The further down, the more the coldness could be felt. It just silently released its will.
And Sky Shaking River, jumping in, Zuo Mo felt he went from a noisy world into another noisy world. The slapping of the current, the sound of the foams, the innumerable undercurrents and eddies deep down, it pull on everything in the river. It was like a wild stallion, violent and mad, completely lacking the serenity of water. It was continuously roaring, surging endlessly.
He quickly felt it a strain.
The so-called manipulation of sword, it meant using a strand of spirit to control the flying sword. A sword that had been impressed would have the unique impression of the owner’s spirit. And the owner only needed to maneuver one strand of spirit to control the flying sword. They also didn’t have to worry that their sword would be controlled by someone else.
But in the water, using the spirit to maneuver the sword became much more difficult. Especially since the flow of ling energy was also affected.
It wasn’t easy in the first place to get to a calm mind. Due to the undercurrents at the bottom of the river, the water flowed quickly. No matter if the body was controlled in the water, there was still the feeling of countless hands pulling at the body. This effect of this outside force easily distracted cultivators. And any change in the ling energy would create a huge perturbation for the flying sword.
The smooth sword moves that were so familiar on land, not one of them could be completed in Sky Shaking River!
Zuo Mo’s eyes couldn’t help but light up. What he was afraid of was he would not know how to continue. Just like someone who wanted to dig a mountain road. What he was most afraid of being ignorant of which direction to dig, not knowing his own location. And if he knew where he was, even if there was a mountain blocking, Zuo Mo wasn’t afraid.
He had a feeling he found the right path. He started to faithfully practice his [Li Water Sword Scripture].
Li Water Sword Scripture was a water element sword scripture. When it was done on the ground, it would have a faint water vapor. But in the water, the power of [Li Water Sword Scripture] increased exponentially. It didn’t need much ling energy to have multiple shapeless water swords spreading out in the water. Zuo Mo felt that it was like he was an infant holding an ax. One careless mistake, if it wasn’t too much strength, it was a wrong direction. Adding on the battering of the river water, the disturbance of the currents and eddies, his sword moves were hurtful to the eyes.
But he wasn’t discouraged. He started to scrupulously practice [Li Water Sword Scripture].
After a few days, what Zuo Mo felt most profoundly about, wasn’t his sword moves, but the imprinting method of [Li Water Sword Scripture]. The [Li Water Sword Scripture]’s imprinting method for the sword was to nurture one drop of water essence in the flying sword. It could respond to the [Li Water Sword Scripture] not just aiding in the manipulation, the strength also increased.
How could the humidity on the land be as plentiful as in the river? Zuo Mo had practiced for so long in the yard but the amount of water essence he had acc.u.mulated was far less than what he got these few days. Before, the water crystal in the ice crystal sword was the size of a mung bean. It was now the size of a soybean.
And the appearance of that water essence droplet in the ice crystal sword was different at the core. The previous water essence droplet, it had been created from the water from the valley. There were large amounts of ling gra.s.ses and herbs growing in the valley that affected the water vapor in the valley. The water essence formed before was gentle and full of vitality. But the enlarged water essence was created by extracting the essence from the Sky Shaking River. It held some of the attributes of the Sky Shaking River. The warm quality had vanished and it became hyperactive.
This change was both good and bad. The good was that it was much stronger than before. The bad was the ease of manipulation wasn’t as good as before.
Evaluating it, Zuo Mo still felt the present state wasn’t bad. The water essence droplet had gotten much larger. As to purity, it needed to be refined slowly.
The next seven days, Zuo Mo was almost always practicing in the water. He could stay for a long time in the water, but due to the fact that the ling energy used underwater was multiple times what was used on land, after practicing for a length of time, he had to meditate to recover ling energy.
But the river was very far from the rock room and it would be extremely eye-catching to travel back. Zuo Mo decided to meditate in the river.
Zuo Mo had never tried before to meditate in the river, much less such a strong river.
Quite a few times, he wasn’t successful. After failing over ten times, he finally managed to grasp the trick and started to meditate in the water. He didn’t know that staying in such a special environment in the water was extremely helpful for his [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation]. Unknowingly, his [Embryonic Breathing Spiritual Cultivation] broke into second breath.
In his sea of consciousness, another star appeared. But this star was dull and colorless, far less blinding than the other one.