Chapter 283 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (d)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

As the final glow of dusk disappeared into the horizon, the lanterns of Dawn City lighted up its streets. A cool autumn breeze blew through the city but did not affect the liveliness of its people. On the contrary, more people came out to enjoy a good drink with friends thanks to the cooler air.

It was wonderful to sit around a warm stove enjoying heated wine with a side dish of sliced beef, peanuts, Crystal Pork Shoulder and little rice balls. Right now, the liveliest places were taverns and restaurants.

Outside the walls of Dawn City, the man in grey watched the cheerful sight with a gloomy expression.

“Did you catch those three beasts?”

“They ran into the deeper part of the Spiritual Beast Mountain Range, we cannot enter that forbidden area. Our Cultivation is not high enough, we dare not approach…” the subordinates reported with trembling voices.

“Useless waste of space!” the man in grey swept a cold eye over them before turning his gaze back to Dawn City. “Leave those Metal Eating Beasts for now. Still, we cannot let evil-doers go unpunished. For the sake of protecting these ignorant and cowardly mortals, we Enforcers risked their lives fighting against foreign enemies. However, the ones here actually colluded with those wretched beasts. If we don’t teach them a lesson now, they would act even bolder in the future.”

The subordinates paused. However, seeing an opportunity to redeem themselves, they ventured to ask, “My lord, what do you wish us to do?”

The man studied the Chinese banner in his hand, greed lighting up his eyes. “Those mortals colluded with those beasts, therefore it is only right to use them as bait to lure those freaks back. You there, set up the formation now.”

When the order came, all were shocked.

“But, what if the beasts don’t come?” someone asked.

“If they don’t come, these mortals must pay their sins with their lives. If you don’t give them a severe warning, these people would only be disobedient.”

“But…” the person clearly wanted to say something but he was pulled down by his companion.

“Do as the lord says. Otherwise, we’d be the unlucky ones. So what if a few mortals die? It’s not like we know them anyway.”

The person’s lips moved but no sound came out. After all, compared to the lives of mortals he did not even know, his own life was more precious.

There were 10 people within the entourage. 8 of them surrounded the city facing the direction according to the Eight Diagrams Array while 2 stood in the centre. The grey cloaked man teleported to the sky above Dawn City the moment they got into their position.

He stood in mid-air. He held out the Soul Drawing Banner at the exact centre above Dawn City and began to recite the curse.

If someone were to look down at Dawn City from this height, they would see a black mist slowly pervading the entire city… If Shiyu had been here, she would have recognised this black mist as something that had invaded Leisurely Cloud’s 11th Martial Uncle’s body…

In Dawn City, two elders from Dawn Academy suddenly opened their eyes in alarm. However, they were not sure what made them so anxious.

At the same time, at the City Lord’s Estate, Elder Ding also felt uneasy.

He had gone to check his grandson’s Cultivation progress. He intended to send the boy to the Imperial College after the Lunar New Year but a sudden feeling of unease overtook his heart and he held his breath, trying to discern what was wrong with his surroundings.

Ding Qi looked at his grandfather with surprise. Why was grandfather so alert? “Grandpa…”

“Hush,” Elder Ding shushed the young man with a gesture. He strained his senses but could feel nothing wrong. However, the lingering anxiety in his heart persisted.

[1a] “My dear grandson, focus on your Cultivation for now. I’m going to see your father,”

Not many people experience the same sudden anxiety. Most slept peacefully, still stuck in their sweet dreams. At the Shi Estate, Madam Shi and Patriarch Shi were sitting together in their house. The man was practising his calligraphy while the woman was making stockings. The two chat now and then, speaking of nothing. The content of their talk was not particularly romantic but there was warmth in their tone.

The black mist crept over the entire city and by the middle of the night, it was as though a thin black dome had covered the whole city.

If anyone were to look up into the sky now, they would notice that the stars had been blotted out. Nevertheless, it was not unusual to not see stars in the sky. Perhaps, it would rain tomorrow…

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On the same night, Shiyu had captured all the loose wisps of Qi of Origin. After making sure there were no more stray purple wisps floating about, she settled down to stroll through the different shifting waves of colour, admiring the scenery as she went.

However, no matter how beautiful the sight, seeing everything alone soon became rather meaningless. There is no one to share this sight with, so what’s the point?

Thus, she began to withdraw her soul back to her body. After 10 days of non-activity, the once weak body began to fill with energy.

Fat Cat was the first to notice this, followed by Elder Feng’s group at the bottom of the mountain. Gradually, the students of the College stopped what they were doing and looked towards the back mountain.

Now that Shiyu’s spirit has returned to her body, the energies of heaven and earth began to agitate and swirl around her, rushing to help power her breakthrough.

Elder Feng sighed with relief. Looks like the long waiting period was not in vain. Elder Gu and the other elders looked at each other with joy on their faces.

However, their happiness did not last long. Soon, another burst of majestic energy spread like Mount Tai from the direction of the private villas.

Sensing the sudden surge of movement, the three elders’ expressions changed.

“A double breakthrough attempt?”

“No… it’s over now…”

The amount of Spiritual energies needed for a Divine Transformation breakthrough is astronomical. Unlike Core Condensation breakthroughs, even multiple ones, it could not be remedied through rare medicines.

With two people breaking through at the same time, one or both would fail due to the lack of Spiritual energies in the Ninth Realm, even under the special Heaven Switching Array.

No matter what, the elders did not want anyone to fail. However, now that this happened, it is all up to fate now.

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Lin Fan, Feng Luo and a few others stood outside the Villa.

[2] They stared up the roof of the Villa where Qing Chen had situated himself to meditate, then towards the mountain peak where energies were swirling around Shiyu in disbelief.

What kind of ridiculous situation is this?

Why did these two suddenly decide to break through at the same time?

“Can’t they stagger their breakthrough times?” Feng Luo said faintly.

[3] Whether it’s Shiyu or Qing Chen, they could not bear to see either fail in their breakthrough.

Shiyu had been with them since the very beginning. Like Lin Fan, she was practically the soul of the team.

As for Qing Chen, although this guy was [3] an import from Leisurely Cloud Sect with a cold and introverted personality, he was someone who was really thoughtful and took his responsibilities seriously. Although nobody voiced it, they all felt that he was a very good person and a great leader of the team.

Regardless of who fails, it would be very painful.

Suddenly, the Spiritual energies above the Villa shuddered and began to collapse. [3] The vortex of energy that had built up around Qing Chen broke down and began to dissipate.

Feng Luo’s eyes widened, “Surely not!?”

However, even as they stared up at Qing Chen, his eyes slowly opened.

[3] He exhaled once, letting the energies within leave his body.

[3] He had actively given up this opportunity to breakthrough.

[Gumihou: It’s… rather in character for Qing Chen to do this.]

We now have Glossaries for Character, Cultivation Terms, Clan Names, Restaurants & Places

[1] Deleted Stuff:

[a] This feeling made him a little anxious

Yes, yes, this is already the third mention, enough already.

[2] Added Details for Logistic Purpose: No detail on where Qing Chen was aside from ‘sitting there’

[3] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Write a more realistic vortex or energy thingy as well as some Qing Chen info.

 

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