Enjoy this breakthrough. Cultivation breakthroughs like this one aren’t going to be very common in this story. Increases in power come through other factors.
I also have a hard time getting a grasp on translating Pu’s dialogue. There’s a lot of suffixes which are just verbal tics and they don’t come across as well as I like. Just imagine him speaking like a demon out for your soul, soft and enchanting. ??
This chapter has been provided to you by me and warlord212.
Chapter Forty Five Struggle
Cold Mist Valley, beside the icy pond.
Zuo Mo looked horrific, his entire body looked like a cooked shrimp, red to the point of dripping blood. b.l.o.o.d.y veins filled his eyes, which were extremely shocking.
In the yard, his body had been like a ball of fire. Right now, he felt his entire body was firewood that had been completely dried and then lit up, and was cracking as it burned!
He looked around, slightly dazed. Everything in his vision seemed to have been twisted by the high temperature. His awareness was muddled. Hot! He seemed to be struggling in a sea of fire, the relentless waves of fire suffocating him. At any moment, it seemed he would turn into dust.
“Eat the fire dragon gra.s.s.”
A far away voice floated into Zuo Mo’s ears.
Instinctively, Zuo Mo shoved the fire dragon gra.s.s in his hand into his mouth. A wave of heat travelled through his mouth into his throat.
Boom!
It was like throwing a pot of hot oil onto fire! In a daze, Zuo Mo felt the sea of fire seemed to have collapsed, and countless fine and scorching flames spread through his organs. The rush of heat was like liquid metal bouncing around in Zuo Mo’s meridians.
“Ah!”
Zuo Mo couldn’t stop himself from screaming. A hot stream rushed into his head. His fragile head seemed to have been branded with hot metal.
Poof! A flame suddenly ran onto his clothing. The fire quickly spread. In the blink of an eye, all the clothing on his body turned to flames. What was strange was the fire didn’t wound Zuo Mo at all.
Zuo Mo was naked in the air, his entire body red like a metal skeleton that just came out of the forge. It was possible to see with the naked eye the waves of hot air that were surrounding his body.
“Ah ah ah ah!”
The howls were deep and rough, like those of a beast. All the blood vessels in Zuo Mo’s body were enlarged, like metal threads that were being burnt as they encompa.s.sed his entire body.
“So pleasing to the ears.” Looking on from the side, Pu Yao’s face was intoxicated as he sighed: “Even the soul is in pain. It’s been so long since I’ve heard such an enchanting sound, I really missed it.”
“Ah ah ah!” Zuo Mo completely lost his mind. He was like a wild beast whose entire body was burning, and howled instinctively. The fire didn’t seem content rus.h.i.+ng inside his body and burrowed out of his skin, shrouding his body. He became a ball of fire. If Zuo Mo was clear headed at this moment, he would be shocked to find the fire that was burning his body was deep red and alluring, extremely similar to the fire in his sea of consciousness.
Looking at the deep red flames that were furiously dancing on Zuo Mo’s body, Pu Yao’s gaze instantly darkened. The corner of his mouth, however, swept up. It was unknown what he had been reminded of.
The sound of Zuo Mo’s howls became even deeper, even rougher. The flames surrounding him seemed to burn even more ferociously.
Pu Yao’s expression changed. After a while, his gaze returned to normal and he said to himself.
“The person you chose, I’ll give him one chance.”
Finis.h.i.+ng, he pointed a finger at Zuo Mo. Zuo Mo seemed to have been struck by a large hammer and was sent flying, landing with a splash in the cold pond.
Zuo Mo was like a stone, quickly sinking. Strangely, the deep red flames around his body were not affected in the slightest by the water, and were still furiously waving.
Just at this time, the ice river in Zuo Mo’s sea of consciousness suddenly started to grind. The icicles crowding in the ice river were pushed by an invisible force and slowly started to flow. The silent and straight ice river, in the blink of an eye, transformed into a river where countless big and small sword energies were moving.
Hiss hiss hiss!
These sword energies followed the surface of the river as they headed for the flames surrounding the river.
As the icy sword essences touched the dancing flames beside the sh.o.r.es, the unexpected happened! The fire grew dramatically. In the sea of consciousness, the fire reached the sky, even the star in the void overhead was almost consumed by the fire. Only the gravestone in the sea of consciousness was still shrouded in the black clouds, not affected in the slightest.
Inside the ice river, the icicles rose up and down even fiercer, the sword essences continuously shooting out with white mist towards the sea of fire.
An astounding change was also appearing on Zuo Mo’s body. A thin layer of ice had appeared on his entirely flushed body. Yet in the blink of an eye, this thin layer would melt and disappear. But after a while, the layer of ice would appear again and repeat.
The cold pond wasn’t deep. Zuo Mo quickly reached the bottom of the pond. The temperature at the bottom of the pond was multiple times colder than the water at the top, no fish or shrimp to be found.
As though it was affected, each time the thin ice appeared, the time it stayed became longer. However, the fires around Zuo Mo’s body wasn’t weakened at all, they were still burning weirdly in the water. A faint light suddenly appeared in Zuo Mo’s chest. This light travelled through Zuo Mo’s channels. Every place it pa.s.sed through, the flame would become smaller but then very quickly, the red flames would once again continue their dancing.
Zuo Mo seemed to have entered a very strange place. He had completely lost control of his body. Hazily, he felt that he was being burned in a furnace, and then suddenly thrown into the polar regions, but no matter the torment, he didn’t have any room to struggle.
“Don’t forget… …”
“Even in death, you must not forget……”
The voice appeared again. A basin of cold water seemed to have been poured over Zuo Mo’s head. His consciousness recovered clarity for a short moment. Upon clarity, the extreme pain of burning and the bone-aching cold flooded him like the tide.
“Ah……” he couldn’t help opening his mouth. The icy pond water instantly poured into his mouth.
There was nothing that could describe his feelings at this moment. His entire body was furiously burning, the extreme pain from his flesh and bones burning bit by bit almost made him faint. The pond water that had poured in almost froze him to an ice cube. His clear mind instantly became dizzy again.
Was this zhuji?
Was this the power of the fire dragon gra.s.s?
That dream… …
In a daze, Zuo Mo’s relaxed hands suddenly turned into fists. His entire body bowed, all the strength in the body gathering at this moment. His eyes widened furiously, bright red.
Who?
Who wanted to control me?
Who changed my face and erased my mind?
Who… … who did it… …
Who f— did it!
From the depths of his mind, countless thoughts uncontrollably streamed through.. From the depths of his body came a pain of his flesh burning and the bone-breaking coldness. Inside his angry eyes, the flames were swallowed by a b.l.o.o.d.y red tide!
Who did it… … who did it … … who did it… …!
b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
The blood in his chest roared. The anger and grief that came from the deepest part of his heart erupted like a volcano. In an instant, it swallowed the fire and the ice.
Zuo Mo seemed to be cursed. He gathered all the energy in his body and threw out his fist!
Accompanied by the deep red alluring flames, his fist heavily smashed onto the rock side of the pond.
Boom!
With Zuo Mo’s fist as the center, a spiderweb of cracks appeared on the rock face. Scorch marks spread out from the center of the impact.
Boom!
Another punch! Stone fragments flew into the water. A few of them brushed past Zuo Mo’s body, creating a few marks. The fresh blood flowed out, quickly dissolving in the water.
Boom boom boom!
Zuo Mo was completely stuck in a trance. His eyes bright red, the tendons tight, he furiously threw out punches. The silent bottom of the pond turned into a muddy mess.
Beside the pond, Pu Yao detected the vibrations of the ground. Looking at the whirlpool that appeared in the body, his expression was normal as he raised a hand and caught a water droplet that flew out from the waterfall. Opening his hand, the water drop floated above his bond, round and clear as it reflected his blood eye.
“You’re still not giving a hand? Do you still stupidly believe he could suppress the fire of the Sky Yao?” A faint mocking smile appeared on his face as he slowly stated: “You are always like this, never listening to me. Three thousand years have pa.s.sed yet you are still so stubborn. Do you not know that your choices are forever this idiotic?”
He gently blew and the perfect water droplet floating in his hand turned to a gust of mist and dissipated into the air.
“Your actions, I was sick of them long ago.” Pu Yao patted his hand, his expression indifferent.
The vibrations under his feet stopped, the pond recovered its quiet.
“It’s done.” Pu Yao’s sharp lips rose and he shrugged: “Haha, this only proved once again your idiotic choices.”
He just turned his head when he stopped in his steps.
Wu Kong Mountain, Xian Yan who had been in meditation suddenly opened his eyes. He jumped up, his body disappearing. In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the peak. A few seconds later, Pei Yuan Ran, Yan Le and s.h.i.+ Feng Rong also flew over and appeared beside him.
The four exchanged looks and with shocked faces, they raised their heads to look at the sky.
Dong Fu, Tian Song Zi was browsing the list that Yu Bai had written.
“This Zong Ming Yan is Zuo Mei Tian’s disciple.” Tian Song Zi nodded as he remarked: “In Dong Fu, if we’re talking about strength, it’s between Zuo Mei Tian and Xin Yan. Zuo Mei Tian had been very fierce in the past, a person everyone was afraid off. This point was very similar to Xin Yan. But I wonder what his disciple is like.”
Yu Bai said respectfully: “This disciple had met that Zong Ming Yan once. Even though we didn’t fight, but this disciple gathers from his composure that he most likely isn’t weak.”
“Haha, there’s isn’t many youths that you call not weak. I heard that Zuo Mei Tian had put in a lot of blood on this disciple. It’s natural he wouldn’t be weak.” Tian Song Zi chuckled: “In the future, Dong Fu is probably yours, Zong Ming Yan and Wu Kong Sword Sect’s Wei Sheng’s world.”
“This disciple will not disappoint Master’s hopes.” Yu Bai responded respectfully.
Tian Song Zi waved his hands: “Don’t care too much about things like reputation. I only hope you can protect yourself in troubled times. This estate, I might not bear to part with it, but your safety is even more important.”
Yu Bai was moved and responded: “Yes!”
Seeing Yu Bai’s face was full of worry, Tian Song Zi couldn’t help but comfort: “This master is only planning ahead. Don’t worry too much. If something really happens, haha, us old people will be at the front.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a name on the list and was slightly shocked: “Hm, when was there a Zuo Mo out of Wu Kong Sword Sect? How is he special?”
“The first time this disciple heard this name, he had been in a conflict with Zong Ming Yan and another Dong Qi disciples. Because he is a ling plant farmer, this disciple had been planning on resolving it. I did not expect that he managed to comprehend sword essence!” Yu Bai added another sentence: “He has not entered zhuji.”
“Oh!” Tian Song Zi’s expression changed: “Another dangerous character in Wu Kong Sword Sect? Comprehending sword essence before entering zhuji. This kind of sword talent, it’s very rare! The heavens really have blessed Wu Kong Sword Sect!”
Between his words, he was slightly envious.
Just at this time, his expression suddenly changed and flew out the window. Yu Bai paused before hurriedly following.
He only saw Tian Song Zi staring in a daze at the sky above.
At the same time, on the highest plum peak of Dong Qi Sword Sect, a long haired black-robed man stood against the wind. With a shocked face, he raised his head to look at the sky.