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

Chapter Two Hundred and Eleven Trash and Poor Ghosts

Zuo Mo looked at the dozen or so unfamiliar faces in front of him. Some of the people were terrified, but more of them were rebellious.

He was thinking about ways that he could control this group. Presently, Little Mountain Jie was like a cage, a gladiator stadium, the surviving xiuzhe were not average.

“From today onwards I am your Boss, the Big Boss!”

Zuo Mo’s opening did not stir any reaction. Scorn was in most people’s eyes. Zuo Mo had just a one stratum ningmai cultivation. In front of these people, he didn’t have any qualities that he could be proud about.

Zuo Mo didn’t pay any mind to this, and kept on speaking.

“I believe you have all had a taste of the jinzhi. I don’t want to spend more time talking. My goal is very simple, to go through the jie river. As for you trash and poor ghosts, you have nothing to be squeezed out so I don’t have much interest in you.”

The words were nasty to hear, but many people’s wariness lowered.

The expressionless person in front of them did have the qualification to say this. That date seed s.h.i.+p was clearly a rare jings.h.i.+ talismans, a row of seven cinnabar-pattern blue spikes as sharp as teeth, clearly from an crocodile maw. They could smell faint traces of blood from the teeth. The long and elegant body of the s.h.i.+p was surrounded by a ling s.h.i.+eld that occasionally flashed with lightning as it wrapped tightly around the s.h.i.+p.

Each person couldn’t help but drool when they saw the grand talismans and flying swords the three Golden Armor Guards were wearing. If it wasn’t that they had jinzhi in their bodies, these people who have leapt at the opportunity regardless of the risk.

Even the richest person in the group was too embarra.s.sed to open his hundred treasures pouch when facing such a grand scene.

“I hope everyone can have happy interactions. Of course, with your present skill level is hard to make me happy.” Zuo Mo was full of scorn and disdain. “Look at all of you fighting so messily, even worse than wandering bandits, no finesse at all. From today onwards you all have to remember one thing.Gang fighting requires high finesse and is skilled work!”

“You are all very lucky,” Zuo Mo pointed at Gongsun Cha beside him. “Mister Gongsun here, is the best and most famous battle general of Sky Moon Jie. He will personally teach you this profound skill.”

Gongsun Cha smiled shyly, but his face didn’t blush at all. Chun Yu Cheng gaped. This boast was somewhat … …

When the other people’s eyes landed on Gongsun Cha, all the scorn and disdain completely flew away, only leaving behind terror.

Very good, Zuo Mo was extremely content. It seemed that Gongsun s.h.i.+di had already established enough authority with these people.

Just like when one did business, after pus.h.i.+ng for the lowest price, he needed to give the other an incentive to motivate the other person.

“You will be completely transformed, and you will begin a completely different life here. You do not need to worry about ambushes in the middle of the night, you do not need to think about where to escape for safety.” Zuo Mo waved his arms, “You don’t need to worry about anything!”

“The only worry you need to have is whether or not you can satisfy Mister Gongsun.”

Zuo Mo made the last conclusion in an unconcerned tone.

“The jie river will fall under our feet.”

Zuo Mo, feeling very good about himself, moved the group to the side as he and Gongsun Cha started to discuss.

“How long would it take to train these people to have offensive power?” Zuo Mo asked Gongsun Cha.

“Don’t know,” Gongsun Cha spread his hands, “We are all novices.”

Zuo Mo had a headache. Gongsun s.h.i.+di was right. Everyone here were novices, no one had any experience.

Gongsun Cha added, “According to the rules of the wargame, a new troop needs to be trained for over a year to form the most basic offensive maneuvers. Also, the wargames you made were all yaomo style, not xiuzhe, so I have to slowly experiment.”

“We don’t have that much time,” Zuo Mo shook his head. He didn’t believe the yaomo would give them a year.

Gongsun Cha thought for a moment, “Then we can only increase the intensity of the training, or there are ways that we can use numbers to make up for lack of power.”

“Numbers … … it seems that we need a temporary base,” Zuo Mo said solemnly.

———

Zuo Mo chose a mountain valley. Before, there was a little sect here, but the people had left, so the valley did not belong to anyone. The reason he chose this place was because there were ling veins here before.

The reason that the ling energy of Little Mountain Jie had become thin was definitely due to a problem with the ling veins. Zuo Mo wanted to personally see what the ling veins had become.

They had encountered several groups along the way, which they completely taken down. At the beginning, it was the Golden Armor Guards. Later, Gongsun Cha commanded the xiuzhe they had just imprisoned. Compared to the high efficiency of the three Golden Armor Guards, these ningmai xiuzhe of average strength were extremely inefficient.

The novice Gongsun Cha also made many mistakes, but he was not discouraged.

Zuo Mo knew that it couldn’t be rushed, so he slowed down. In any case, there was still the Golden Armor Guards and the date seed s.h.i.+p in reserve. He didn’t need to worry about the problem of safety. It was hard to find the chance for battle. If he didn’t use it, it was really a waste.

Gongsun Cha quickly displayed his talent as a commander. Going from the complete chaos at the beginning to a full-fledged organization, took only a span of ten days.

Over the  span of more than ten days, the troop had quickly expanded to forty people. Twenty eight ningmai, twelve zhuji.

Zuo Mo quickly discovered that setting down jinzhi was not harmless. Each jinzhi required him to put a bit of his consciousness inside the body of the other. Each jinzhi Zuo Mo set would weaken his consciousness.

This was not something that could be avoided. There were no free meals in this world. It was only a weirdo like him that could even set jinzhi before he reached jindan.

Luckily, they did not meet large groups of xiuzhe on the road.

According to Ma Fan, there were countless little groups in Little Mountain Jie, and several that were several hundred strong. Zuo Mo found it strange why the larger groups did not attack the jie river. Later, he found out the Clear Sky Sect that guarded the jie river was supported by a jindan!

Zuo Mo was frightened. No wonder the Clear Sky Sect had the confidence to monopolize the jie river. They had a jindan at their back.

This information instantly made Zuo Mo’s reconsider the difficulty of of breaking through the jie river.

Ningmai had three strata. The most important difference was the difference in the amount of ling power inside the body. The peak of the first stratum, ling power was about ten jing. The peak of the second stratum was approximately thirty jing, and the peak of the third stratum would shoot up to ninety jing.

Of the twenty eight ningmai subordinates that Zuo Mo had, only three had reached the second stratum. The remainder were all first stratum ningmai.

Usually, a ningmai  third stratumcould individually deal with ten first stratum ningmai , or three second stratum ningmai. Of course, this was in theory. Real life was more complex, when taking into account spells, flying swords, talismans, and offensive tactics.

But if a ningmai faced a jindan, they could only escape. What counter-attack? Winning by pitting the weak against the strong, it definitely could not appear.

The difference between jindan and ningmai was not just the difference in ling power, but also the difference in understanding ling power. During the process of entering jindan, xiuzhe would experience a deeper comprehension of the world and ling power.

The same spell before and after jindan would be drastically different in power.

The only way that ningmai could face jindan was to overwhelm them with numbers. As to how many people were needed for victory, both Zuo Mo and  Gongsun Cha didn’t know.

Zuo Mo could only ask Pu Yao.

“Gang fighting? That isn’t easy to say.” Pu Yao rubbed his chin. “It depends on the skill of the other side, their talisman, and the cooperation of your side.”

“If it was those yao soldiers?” Zuo Mo asked.

“If it’s a normal jindan, then a troop of one hundred night stock yao. If the quality of the commander is not too bad, there shouldn’t be a problem,” Pu Yao mused.

Zuo Mo released a breath. Good, at least it wasn’t completely hopeless.

He naturally knew that the group of people he had could not reach the skill level of the yao army, but he could expand in numbers. If one hundred people did not work, then two hundred, three hundred. What he was most worried about was that even numbers would not be enough to make up for the difference.

‘Why is the ling energy of Little Mountain Jie becoming thin?” Zuo Mo asked Pu Yao.

“There are many possibilities, like yao worms that eat ling or Black Line mushrooms. Eating ling is a characteristic of yaomo.”

“Is there a way to reverse  it?”

“You can request someone that is at least yuanying to act, and wait ten years for recovery.”

“Yuanying… …” Zuo Mo was speechless. The strongest xiuzhe that he had encountered up until now was in jindan. To renew the ling veins, it actually needed yuanying. That was a death sentence.

Something only someone in yuanying could accomplish, Zuo Mo didn’t feel he had any chance of success.

However, he still decided to establish his base in this mountain valley. The environment around it was good.

———

Zuo Mo received a large number of yaomo military training methods from Pu Yao and dumped them on Gongsun Cha. Pu Yao was actually kind enough to remind Zuo Mo those were old antiques from thousands of years ago, and they should only be used as a reference.

Zuo Mo was unused to Pu Yao’s sudden change in att.i.tude.

But when Pu Yao drew out the earth energy, Zuo Mo, who had become unfamiliar after a period of time, instantly experienced what was life worse than death!

Even though he knew it was beneficial for his body, he still wanted to cry!

Drawing out the earth energy, when would it end … …

———

Ma Fan nervously stood in front of Gongsun Cha. In his eyes, the delicate and shy young master’s deviousness was enough for any yaomo to die of humiliation. No one dared to disobey his commands. Even the most vicious and rebellious of them all, Lei Peng, was as docile as a kitten in front of him.

“Perform every skill you know once. Do not leave anything out.” Gongsun Cha’s order was not complicated.

“Yes,” Ma Fan slowly learned how to live under Gongsun Cha’s command.

It was very simple. What Gongsun Cha said, then he would do it. If he managed to complete the demand, then everything was wonderful.

Ma Fan started to perform his spells one by one. Luckily, he had no sect or family. He only knew so many spells and quickly finished performing. Gongsun Cha was very interested in his illusory movement method and the three sword moves, and had made him repeat them several times.

Ma Fan had been very worried. What if Big Boss wanted his sword scripture, and wanted him to give it up?

However, he quickly found his worry was unwarranted. After Gongsun Cha recorded it down, he was sent back to training.

On the second day, Ma Fan trembled as he took a jade scroll the smiling Gongsun Cha handed him. After just one look, his little face was the color of dirt!

Translator Ramblings: Jinzhi (??) in this story is an energy construct. Jin (?) is a ban, zhi (?) is a system if it is used as a noun, or restriction when used as a verb along with other definitions. I think ward actually could work as its term except that it is used against people in this story by being implanted in their souls which isn’t something that shows up when I do a google search. It acts here more like a curse or an oath where if Zuo Mo dies, they die too.

Desolate Wood Reef is tiny. In scale, think North America as Sky Moon Jie, and Desolate Wood Reef as Hawaii in the middle of the ocean. Now imagine Zuo Mo and the others turning there and crossing the Pacific Ocean to land in Australia. That would be Little Mountain Jie. I’m being generous with the distances over the water because it took Zuo Mo several months to get to Desolate Wood Reef through flight, and he reached Little Mountain Jie by water also in a few months. Remember, Wu Kong Sword Sect alone had four jindan, and there was also Tian Song Zi. Dong Fu is not the biggest town in Sky Moon Jie, so other towns may have even more jindan. Little Mountain Jie only has one jindan now, and there were not many before the yao came, so Little Mountain Jie is either poor, small, or both.