Pan Xuan turned her head and saw a pretty girl in front of her with a colorful wreath in her hand. If it was any other time, it would definitely attract her attention.
"Thank you, Xiao Ying." However, she felt that the beautiful wreath could not arouse her interest. She took a look and turned her head back.
Looking at the clear stream, her haggard face was reflected in it. She gently touched it with her hand. Ever since she heard that Gu Zheng was her enemy, people had been laughing at her.
They said that she had eyes but failed to see. She actually fell in love with an enemy and she did not even know his identity.
Although many people said that he was one of them and that others were slandering him, he was now missing and there was no way to prove that he was one of them.
This made many people who did not know him subconsciously think that he was an enemy. They looked at her differently and made her suffer a lot.
Pan Xuan stared at the reflection in the stream, which suddenly turned into his face. That determined face was looking at her intently. Pan Xuan couldn't help but reach out to touch the face opposite her.
However, as soon as she touched the water, little ripples rose from it and spread out. When it returned to its original state, she realized that it was all her own illusion. Her face was still on the water.
"Sigh." A soft sigh came from her mouth. She hugged her knees and started to stare blankly. She did not know what to do, even if she believed that he was not an enemy.
However, those words still affected her, especially when she knew that You Xing's rebellion was spread by Ou Yangping.
She did not know what to think. In her heart, even if he was an enemy, she still thought of him. It seemed that he had entered her heart in this short period of time.
The girl behind her looked at her and the wreath in her hand slipped down silently. She was sent by the protector to comfort Pan Xuan and not to hurt herself like this.
However, for the past few days, no matter what she did, she was like this. She was listless and did not want to talk to anyone.
She remembered that when she first saw her, she was so strong and did not want to admit defeat. Now, she could feel the weakness in her body. It was so heartbreaking.
"By the way, Miss Pan, I remember that the special envoy issued a conscription order. I remember that there's a mission for some people to go out and gather information. You can accept it. Ask those tribesmen who are alone outside if they've seen her," Xiao Ying suddenly said.
She didn't want to see him become so haggard. She might as well find something for him to do. She remembered that this mission didn't allow him to go too far, so it was just right for her.
"Is that so." Sure enough, when Pan Xuan heard this, the focus in her eyes came back. After waiting for a while, Pan Xuan stood up and said in a firm tone.
"Let's go."
No matter what, she wanted to ask him personally. No matter the result, she understood.
At the same time, Gu Zheng also came out of the tavern and walked towards the recruitment point with a few people.
He had already learned that the special envoy now needed members to patrol along the border and start keeping watch along the way to see if the enemy had arrived earlier.
Gu Zheng had made friends with a few like-minded friends in the tavern. After drinking, they set off to apply for the job.
From the information gathered in the tavern, the special envoy also spread some accurate information to everyone.
On one side of the valley, there were already rebels who had joined. Moreover, the leader of the rebels was a peak Grand Heavenly Realm. There were many warriors under him who could fight. It was suspected that they had escaped from the ancestor's seal.
Now, they had all gathered together. Now that the ancestor has gone out, we will defend here and wait for the teleportation formation to open.
At that time, once the reinforcements arrived, it would be their time of death. Now, everyone is required to listen to the special envoy's orders. Fighting is strictly prohibited, and no one is allowed to go out.
Hearing this, Gu Zheng had a rough idea. He didn't expect them to be so united. Moreover, they also mentioned the rebel You Xing. This meant that Elder Xiong had already received the stone tower.
His efforts weren't wasted. He just had to think of a way to escape.
Soon, the group arrived at the temporary recruitment point.
"Sir, we request to fight." A mighty man walked out from among them and said to the leader.
"Are you a small team?" A few people together were very upright. If they came alone, this side would assign them.
"Yes, we are together." He said respectfully. He was only a late-stage Jin Xian, while the one in charge here was a peak.
"Report your names and cultivations one by one." The person in charge took out a purple wooden token. He held a brush in his hand and waited for them to register.
"I am the temporary leader of this team, Gao Feng. I'm a late-stage Jin Xian." Gao Feng said his name first.
The person in charge shot out a purple crystal light from his brush. He wrote on the token in a flamboyant manner, then passed it to Gao Feng.
"Just imprint your Divine Sense on it. It's mainly to prevent it from being used by others. I don't know if there are any spies here." The person in charge reminded Gao Feng of some things to take note of and explained the use of the wooden token.
"Especially the puppets that surrendered before. You guys have to be more careful. If it wasn't for the protector stopping everyone, everyone would have died. Even so, a few unlucky ones died."
After Gao Feng took the token, the originally ordinary wooden token was imprinted with his Divine Sense. The token emitted a purple light and spun slightly. Then, it retreated to the side.
"Qiu Ning, late-stage Jin Xian." A female Shura walked up and took the wooden token. Then, she retreated to the side.
"Ma Pingqing, mid-stage Jin Xian."
"Mu Xiaofan, mid-stage Jin Xian."
"Long Tian, mid-stage Jin Xian."
When it was his turn, Gu Zheng reported the fake name he used. His aura was also disguised as mid-stage Jin Xian.
Because the thing that the two brothers smeared on him could not only change his aura, but he could also control it at any time to hide his cultivation.
This thing was simply a treasure. If they said that they didn't have anymore, Gu Zheng would definitely ask for more.
Not to mention robbing, at least at the critical moment, he could pretend to be an enemy. For example, he could transform into an Shura. With his aura, no one would be able to recognize him. He could directly find the right time to escape.
He imprinted his own Divine Sense on the wooden tablet and retreated to the side.
"Alright, you guys go back and wait for further notice. If there's any news, it will be sent directly to the higher-ups." The person in charge took out a black wooden palanquin and handed it to Gao Feng.
"Alright, Sir. We'll take our leave first." Gao Feng took Gu Zheng back directly. They would wait at the tavern and wait for the higher-ups to assign them a task.
Five minutes after they left, two figures arrived. When the person in charge saw them, his face was full of smiles. He couldn't go out to welcome them because of his duty.
But when he saw them coming, he still greeted them from afar.
"Miss Pan, Miss Xiao Ying, are you here to take a look at the situation here?"
"No, Miss Pan is in a bad mood. We're here to see if there's anything we can do. You won't refuse, right?" Xiao Ying spoke up for her. She wasn't strong enough, so she could only stay at the back. In fact, she had been doing the work at the back.
"You're welcome. We can't wait to welcome you. We need an expert like Miss Pan." The person in charge quickly smiled apologetically.
"If Miss Pan wants to go out on a mission, it doesn't matter how close the distance is. This shouldn't be too difficult." Xiao Ying purposely asked this question, afraid that he would find something easy to do.
"How can that be? An expert like Miss Pan is needed at the right place." The person in charge really thought so. She could lead the first team to patrol. But after hearing Xiao Ying's words, he obviously couldn't do that.
"Let me see." The person in charge quickly took out a jade butterfly and searched on it. "Found it. There's a mission that fits your requirements. It requires you to patrol the border alone for a day. The minimum requirement is to be at the peak of Jin Xian."
"How about this one? If you need it, I'll take it for you." The person in charge looked at them. This was the only mission left outside. The others had already been assigned. But this mission was also the most dangerous one. He really didn't want Pan Xuan to take it.
He also knew about the rumors outside and understood what she was thinking.
"This is it. Don't talk nonsense. Take it quickly," Pan Xuan said directly.
Her cold voice sent a chill down the person in charge's spine. He quickly took out an orange jade tablet. After inputting some information on it, he carefully handed it to Pan Xuan.
"You just have to use your divine sense. After you're done, you can go to the training ground behind. There will be people there to receive you."
Pan Xuan directly activated the jade tablet and walked away without looking back.
"Thank you. Her temper hasn't been very good these few days. Please forgive her." Xiao Ying quickly apologized to the person in charge and chased after her.
The person in charge didn't mind. A few more waves of people should be enough. Most of them had already been mobilized. Even so, the number of people was still a little low.
At this moment, in the central tower, the left and right protectors were sitting opposite each other. Their palms were pressed against each other. Layers of smoke rose from the left protector's body.
The two of them stopped at the same time. The left protector slowly exhaled.
That breath turned into a piece of blue ice in the air. The left protector grabbed it tightly. When he opened his hand, it had already disappeared.
"Are you feeling better?" The right protector looked tired. Seeing that the blue light on the left protector's face had disappeared, he felt that the cold poison was almost gone.
"Still a little short. Two more times and I'll be fine." The left protector shook his head and said.
"Is that bear so powerful that it can make you so miserable?" The right protector couldn't understand. He asked while catching his breath.
"If it's just cultivation, realm, and magic treasures, I'm on par with her. But her strength is too terrifying. Once she explodes, I don't think the two of us have a chance of winning." The left protector sighed. A trace of fear flashed across his eyes.
"Is she that terrifying?" The right protector knew that he wouldn't lie to him, but he still didn't dare to believe it.
"I'll tell you the process so that you won't be at a disadvantage." The left protector felt that he could rest for a while and treat him later.
Other than activating the protective formation, the right protector was treating him all the time. He was really curious.
When he went, he was confident. He also knew that it would be easy. In the end, he was directly at the top of the tower and activated the protective formation.
That sorry state of Xiao Chen's made his heart tremble. He thought that Xiao Chen had made a saber and was surrounded by the other party. However, what Xiao Chen said made him tremble with fear.
"If it wasn't for the other party's scruples, I wouldn't have been able to come back."
It turned out that when You Xing entered the Black Peak, the left protector couldn't sense the exact location of the stone tower.
This shocked him. He originally wanted to take the opportunity to see who was behind all this. When the Shura people returned, he felt that there was a mastermind behind the scenes. Moreover, there was definitely a Zenith Heaven behind the scenes.
Originally, he suspected that Qin Chang was an Old Man or a woman. But after thinking about it, they didn't have the guts. A part of their minds was imprisoned here. Unless they were courting death, they wouldn't dare to do so.
The left protector felt that he should go over and take a look. He already had a red glove here. It wouldn't be a problem for him to go out for a while.
After discussing with the right protector, he left everything to him and secretly left this place.
In a few days, he had already arrived at the place where the stone tower had disappeared. He saw that there was nothing unusual around him. He could even smell the stone tower's aura in the air.
Moreover, the stone tower had been destroyed by his Dharma treasure. Could it be that the other party did this on purpose? But what was the other party's motive?
The left protector looked around. He only felt that something was wrong. It was as if someone was looking at him. However, there was no one around.
In this place, he didn't have any so-called restrictions. He also had the item given to him by the Patriarch. He could completely ignore the restrictions of this space.
"Since you won't come out, I'll force you out." The left protector trusted his intuition. This meant that someone was spying on him. Moreover, the person was quite strong.
A wave of air erupted from the left protector's body. It formed a blood-colored circle that swept out. When it encountered the tall trees, it directly passed through them without causing any damage.
A feeling appeared in his heart. However, before he could grasp it, it disappeared in a flash.
Since he had discovered something, more circles began to appear on the left protector's body. One by one, they surged out in all directions. It was like a stone thrown into a lake, causing circles of ripples.
However, he caught the feeling that something was wrong.
"Let's see where you're hiding." The left protector looked at a place not far in front of him. To him, it was just an ordinary tree. However, this was the place that made him feel touched.
He directly took out a blood-colored trident. The two tips emitted blood-colored light and rushed towards the tree.
Just as the trident was about to reach it, a round hole opened in the tree. A palm stretched out from inside and slapped the trident away. It directly fell to the side.
Immediately after, the round hole expanded again until a figure came out from it. Only then did it quickly close and return to normal.
However, the left protector took advantage of this opportunity to scan the inside.
The shock in his heart was unparalleled. A huge mountain peak was covered by an even bigger formation, blocking him from prying into it.
There was also a stone tower halfway up the mountain. No wonder he couldn't sense it. It turned out that it was already hidden here.
Elder Qin and You Xing were also inside. After confirming that they had betrayed them, he originally wanted to order them to kill themselves. However, there was also a formation around the mountain.
It didn't block the divine sense but it would filter the information carried.
When the hole completely closed, he looked outside. I want to see who dares to go against us.
"So it's you. I thought the old ancestor had dealt with you. So you were hiding here. It's fine if you drag out an ignoble existence, but you still dare to come out and go against us." The left protector laughed sinisterly. They had met ten thousand years ago. At that time, he looked down on them. Now, he still looked down on them.
He wore a white woolen robe. His cold face was tense. His body emitted the aura of a giant thousands of miles away. Faint smoke lingered around him. His blue eyes stared lifelessly at the left protector as if he was staring at a dead person.
The left protector's heart went numb. Just as he was about to make a move.
Old Xiong suddenly spoke.
"I remember you. You once appeared ten thousand years ago." She still had that cold look, which made the left protector furious.
Although he didn't expect her to be the mastermind, they were both peak Grand Heavenly Immortals. When had he ever been ignored like this?
"Hmph, you sent people to steal the stone towers. You didn't expect me to have a backup plan. I found you directly. Let me tell you, your good days are over." The left protector looked at her with a gloomy gaze.
"I will kill you. Then, I will go in and kill everyone. I will let you know the consequences of disobeying the old ancestor's orders. I will leave your corpses here forever so that you can see the consequences of rebelling in the future."
"If you're done, then scram. I don't want to make a move now." Old Xiong raised the corner of his eyes and looked at the left protector. His tone was impatient, as if he was shooing away a bug.
"You …" The left protector couldn't remember how many years it had been since he was humiliated like this. Ever since he ascended to peak Grand Heavenly Immortals, everyone who saw him was respectful.
However, he quickly controlled his emotions. Old Xiong looked at him as if he was looking at a clown.
"Alright, alright. Let me see what you're capable of." The left protector was so angry that he laughed. The other party knew that they had been locked in here tens of thousands of years ago. In addition, the spiritual energy here was no longer suitable for them.
He didn't believe that she could still maintain her peak combat strength after so many years of wear and tear.
His hands trembled rapidly. Dozens of blood mists surged out from his sleeves. In a battle here, the time and place were on his side. It would strengthen the power of all his spells.
In a battle of the same level, sometimes, a little advantage could be turned into victory.
Dozens of blood mists moved back and forth in the air, pouncing towards Old Xiong.
From Gu Zheng's point of view, each of these blood mists wasn't inferior to the longsword that once flew over. Even the left protector now believed that the person who stole the stone towers was Old Xiong.
With a whoosh, an ice needle appeared in front of Old Xiong. It was only the size of an ordinary finger. Phantoms jumped out of his body and appeared in the air in the next second.
But when the tip of the needle pointed at the left protector, she felt a chill run down her spine. Although she didn't care about the other party, she was still on high alert.
She knew that someone would come looking for her when she stole the stone towers. That was because of the spiritual energy inside. To people like her, wine was a delicious meal. Even though she knew it was a trap, she still swallowed it in one go.
Several hundred phantoms of ice needles appeared in the air. They floated side by side and suddenly grew ten times thicker. They also sped up.
The fire snakes that filled the sky spat out even more powerful fireballs in the air. They formed a straight line, but when they hit the ice needles, they only created sparks. Each ice needle could withstand at least a few fireballs without being damaged.
Each needle emitted a cold light as they pierced towards the fire snakes. Although the fire snakes did their best to twist their bodies, there were just too many of them. They managed to dodge some of the needles, but even more were behind them.
Dozens of dazzling fireworks exploded in the air, forming dozens of beautiful fireworks.
Amidst the dazzling fireworks, the ice needles broke through.
Before the fire snakes scattered, the left protector opened her mouth and spat out a blood-green flame. The green flame grew in the wind and turned into a fierce beast.
The word 'King' was carved on its forehead. Its eyes were as big as lamps. It had six claws and two wings. Its blood-red scales shone brightly. Every feather on its wings could be seen clearly. It was unknown what kind of strange beast it had transformed into.
As soon as the strange beast landed, it spread its wings and flew into the air. Green and white flames brewed in its mouth. A pillar of fire as thick as a thigh shot towards the ice needles.
It was so powerful that it seemed like it could destroy everything in front of it.
A sharp piercing sound rang out in the air. All the ice needles quickly merged into one. The originally white ice needles turned sky-blue and fearlessly rushed towards the flames.
As if they were going against the flow, the flames were split in two.
However, the flames continued to burn, and the speed of the ice needles became slower and slower. The tips of the ice needles were also not as sharp as before, and gradually, they could not resist the corrosion of the flames. When they were a few body lengths away from the enemy, they finally evaporated completely.
Only then did the strange beast close its mouth. Its pair of green eyes stared at Elder Xiong and roared at him. Drops of green liquid dripped from its sharp teeth onto the ground. Accompanied by the smoke, it corroded small holes in the ground.
The claws under its feet left marks on the ground. It was ready to attack at any time.
"Zha." The left protector pointed with her finger and spat out a thunderous sound. A line of blood shot out from her hand. When it touched the strange beast's forehead, it turned into a blood-red light that surrounded the strange beast.
The strange beast suddenly roared. Its body continued to grow. In a short period of time, its body had doubled in size and was still growing.
When it completely stopped, a huge strange beast appeared in the air. Elder Xiong was only the size of an ant in front of it.
At this moment, the strange beast's appearance was even more lifelike. Even some exposed parts of its body had blood-red patterns. Flames that were dozens of feet tall grew on its body like hair.
The huge beast looked down at Elder Xiong. It directly used its cold finger to crush Elder Xiong.
A huge pressure descended from the sky. Under this pressure, the thick trunks of the trees in the surrounding area bent and trembled.
Elder Xiong raised his head and looked up with his emotionless eyes. His hair was blown by the wind pressure.
Elder Xiong slowly raised a finger and pointed it at the sky.
Even Elder Xiong could clearly see the sharp red light flowing on the fingernails. Streaks of red energy were shot out first.
Elder Xiong didn't expect this scene. A blue light rose outside him and blocked the Qi. However, he couldn't reach out his hand to block it.
The strange beast smiled. However, it looked very terrifying.
The finger that was originally a single finger instantly turned into a palm and pressed down on Elder Xiong.
With a loud bang, a huge crater appeared in that area. Even the surrounding trees disappeared without a trace. It was as if they had never existed. Dust filled the sky and covered that area.
Half of Xuan Feng's body was exposed behind him. This attack had caused him to lose his balance.
"Haha." The Left Protector laughed happily. Looking at the other party's calm expression, he felt annoyed. He felt that the other party was a hermit. He was caught here by the ancestor, but he still had a noble and virtuous appearance.
He had seen with his own eyes that the other party's defense had been broken. This time, he would suffer a lot.
Suddenly, the dust in the sky was blown away by a hurricane. Elder Xiong floated above the huge pit. His face was as cold as ice and traces of killing intent flowed out from his eyes.
Although he didn't cause any harm to himself this time, the other party had truly angered him.
She opened her small mouth slightly and a wisp of cold air appeared. It quickly rose up.
Her jade-like hand touched her waist and a few small balls that emitted cold air were shot into the sky. They formed a triangle and exploded in the air, forming a pure ice that surrounded the ball of cold air.
The Left Protector was still looking at the other party without any trace of injury. He was surprised that the other party's defense was so strong. He saw that the ice crystals in the sky had already begun to fuse into one. He couldn't stop it in time.
Soon, a giant ape covered in blue ice crystals appeared in the sky. Its size was almost the same as his strange beast. As soon as it appeared, it took out a huge fist and rushed toward the strange beast.
It was as fast as the wind. Although the giant ape's body was so big, its speed wasn't slow.
Facing the strange beast's evasion, it directly accelerated and punched a big hole in its wing. Its entire body was sent flying.
In mid-air, a pink mist fell from the sky and directly entered the wound. When the strange beast stabilized its body, the wound on its wing had already recovered.
"Roar." With a furious roar, the strange beast spread its wings and flew up into the clouds.
The huge ape also wanted to fly up, but it was only halfway there when an invisible pressure made it unable to move. The laws of this world were suppressing it.
When the strange beast appeared again, it was already behind the huge ape. The light on its body was even more dazzling.
It slightly flapped its wings and the flame feathers on its wings shot out. Flames surrounded it. When they scattered, they had already formed several inch-long blood-colored swords that shot toward the huge ape.
The huge ape's hands were filled with white light. As it opened its hands, it directly raised a huge two-handed ice shield. It was several meters thick and erected it above its head.
"Dong Dong."
The blood-colored swords completely covered the ice shield. They were densely piled on top of the shield. They were all blocked by the ice shield.
The blood-colored swords began to shine intensely on the ice shield. Scorching heat spread from them and the surface of the ice shield began to melt.
Some fine cracks appeared in the middle of the shield. The huge ape turned pale with fright. It hurriedly spat out ice Qi in an attempt to freeze all the swords.
Above, he raised his hand and shot out another plume of feathers. Although it wasn't as many as the previous time, he retracted his wings and dove down like a sharp arrow, following closely behind the small sword.
Twelve shining claws were ready to attack, waiting for an opportunity to heavily injure the opponent.
Below, Old Xiong frowned. The opponent's recovery was too fast. He had to think of a way to heavily injure it.
Old Xing raised his hands and an ice sword shot up from below. As it rose, it continuously grew bigger. However, looking at its speed, it was too late.
At the same time, numerous ice swords appeared beside him and shot toward the Left Protector.
The Left Protector chuckled. A red blood mist formed outside and directly blocked the opponent's attack. At the same time, he controlled the huge beast to spit out fireballs again and again. The fireballs bombarded the ice shield, making it look even more broken.
In this situation, the ice shield could no longer block the next attack. Without any other choice, the huge ape tossed the shield in its hand up and directly detonated it. Along with the swords on it, it exploded into pieces.
The ice shards that filled the sky formed a layer of defense. However, this layer of defense was like a thin layer of paper. It was like an illusion that could be broken with a single poke.
Even though the huge ape was doing its best to shoot out ice Qi from below to reinforce this layer of defense.
However, after losing half of its swords, it had already broken through this layer of defense.
The small swords took the lead and rushed up. Although the huge ape waved its two huge hands and continuously tried to hit them halfway, the small swords nimbly dodged them and still appeared somewhat clumsy.
Only a few of them were sent flying by the huge ape. The rest of them found openings and stabbed into various parts of its body.
They left large holes in the huge ape's body. Moreover, the small swords clearly could have pierced through, but they stayed in the huge ape's body.
There were many red marks on its legs, arms, and even its chest. Moreover, they were flashing with red light.
Seeing this, the strange beast was overjoyed and accelerated again.
A blue light surged from the huge ape's palm. Looking at the strange beast's trajectory, it directly slapped at the strange beast.
If it landed, it would be able to smash the other party into a pile of meat paste.
How could the strange beast be hit by the other party? It nimbly turned around and changed direction from the side.
Two sharp claws directly grabbed the huge ape's shoulder from the side, taking away a large piece of ice shards from the fan, revealing a hole. Bits of blue mist flowed out from it.
Another loud sound rang out. It turned out that the strange beast had also left two streams of red Qi in its claws, which exploded at the wound. This time, the huge ape's shoulder was almost blown off.
The huge palm that did not hit the strange beast did not stop. Instead, it continued to slap down. The two palms came together, and a blue light instantly burst out, directly forming a shield.
Ever since it saw the strange beast fly up into the sky, it knew that if it continued to be in a stalemate with the strange beast, it would be far from disadvantageous to itself. It had long thought of a solution. Otherwise, it would directly get rid of the small swords in its body.
In the outside world, this bit of magical power was really useless. But here, with the support of the environment, it would rather perish together with the strange beast's magical power. It was also worth it.
Just as the strange beast was about to fly away from the side and attack again, it suddenly discovered that a blue shield had appeared in the sky.
"Bang, bang, bang." The strange beast's attacks were all blocked. When it turned its head, it realized that it was the huge ape's doing.
However, an ice sword had already silently flown in from the outside. It was instantly grasped by the huge ape, turning into a wave of coldness that appeared in the surroundings.
Originally, it could have run out of here smoothly. But now, its path was actually blocked. The huge ape originally did not think of blocking it, but was actually waiting for this moment.
In its frightened eyes, the huge ape had already raised its ice sword, and a terrifying aura had already locked onto it. Bits of a snowstorm had already begun to appear in the shield. It had nowhere to hide, and nowhere to run.
The dense snowflakes were blown back by the wind from the ice sword, and it already felt a bone-piercing coldness. Its body felt its mind freeze, and the flames on its body were already a little weak, no longer as powerful as before.
The huge ape had already turned around, and in the next second, it aimed at the strange beast and slashed. Suddenly, the small swords on its body lit up with a red light, and began to explode one by one.
The huge ape's body directly exploded into thousands of holes. One of its legs was even broken, and most of the small swords were embedded in it.
However, because it was frozen just now, it was slower by a beat. The ice sword was already heading towards its body.
A cloud of mist appeared around its body. The flames on its body had already been extinguished, and all of them were injected into it. It blocked in front of it, hoping to block the other party's attacks to the greatest extent.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
