Several hours later, the secret meeting was nearing its end.
After some of the cultivators attending the meeting gradually left, Zhang Ling also sighed and reluctantly got up to leave.
Exiting Hidden Dragon Pavilion, Zhang Ling looked up at the sky. It was almost dawn, and many mortals and low-level cultivators were appearing on the streets.
With a light stomp of his foot, he transformed into a streak of yellow light, soaring into the sky and heading directly east of the city, intending to use the city's teleportation array to leave Jade Dragon City.
During the free trading session in the latter half of the secret meeting, besides exchanging a few millennia-old spiritual herbs for that eighth-order water-attribute demon core, he also used pills and spiritual herbs to acquire several other spiritual items that would aid his cultivation.
Although these could only be considered minor gains, it wasn't a wasted trip. He was somewhat disappointed that no cultivator had offered top-grade spirit stones, especially the top-grade wood spirit stones he was looking for.
Staying here any longer wouldn't yield any further gains. He would have to look elsewhere.
As for where to go, it wasn't as if he hadn't gained any information. He had overheard some relevant news from a cultivator during the secret meeting.
The Eastern Region's cultivation world was vast, and over thousands of years, there had been several reports of top-grade spirit stones.
In one area, the Green Shade Mountains, it was rumored that someone had found a top-grade wood spirit stone a thousand years ago. This triggered a great battle, resulting in the deaths of several Nascent Soul cultivators, causing quite a stir.
And this Green Shade Mountains had more than once been rumored to have top-grade wood spirit stones. Even earlier, the Dragon family of the royal clan had also collected top-grade spirit stones during a certain period. They had sent cultivators into the mountains and obtained top-grade wood spirit stones.
Being the source of multiple top-grade wood spirit stone rumors, the Green Shade Mountains was naturally no ordinary place.
Speaking of the Green Shade Mountains, Zhang Ling had seen some records in the Eastern Region cultivation world's texts he had previously perused.
The Eastern Region's cultivation world had six great forbidden areas. The Green Shade Mountains was one of them.
It was shrouded in poisonous mist year-round, inhabited by many venomous demon beasts and insects. The core tens of thousands of miles of the mountain range were perpetually covered in the Ten Absolute Poisons, the Seven-Colored Mirage Poison. Even Nascent Soul cultivators would be affected by the mirage poison, unknowingly losing their senses and even getting trapped to death within.
Although most of the poisons didn't pose a fatal threat to cultivators, there were some legendary strange poisons in the cultivation world, known as the Ten Absolute Poisons.
There was the Bitter Poison, undetectable by any means; the Azure Scale Poison, instantly fatal upon contact; the Corpse Viper Poison, and so on, each being extremely toxic.
Moreover, there were varying versions, with more than just ten types. It was said that the most potent strange poison, the Myriad Year Frost, would cause even true immortals to uncontrollably lose lifespan every moment until death.
The Seven-Colored Mirage Poison, while not fatal, would constantly subject cultivators to illusions and inner demons. Even a slight inhalation of the poisonous gas could easily lead to inner demons and cultivation deviation during subsequent cultivation periods.
As for why top-grade wood spirit stones appeared several times in the Green Shade Mountains, it was said that an ancient top-grade spirit stone vein was hidden beneath the mountain range.
This news once led to the Dragon family sealing off the Green Shade Mountains for a period. The Dragon family gathered a group of cultivators to enter the depths, wanting to thoroughly investigate.
But somehow, that group of cultivators suffered heavy casualties, and the Seven-Colored Mirage Poison in the Green Shade Mountains violently erupted, sweeping across a large area, causing many mortals and cultivators to undergo drastic changes in temperament, turning on each other and engaging in mutual slaughter.
In the end, many high-level cultivators had to be dispatched to suppress the situation.
Even so, the Green Shade Mountains also produced some special medicinal poisonous herbs, and the poisonous mist inside would weaken periodically.
Therefore, each time, it would attract many high-level cultivators to venture into it to gather herbs. However, very few cultivators could enter the core area, and even fewer could gain anything.
Besides the Seven-Colored Mirage Poison, the many venomous insects and fierce beasts in the Green Shade Mountains were also a major threat.
The Seven-Colored Mist Poison was indeed a bit troublesome. However, with Zhang Ling's current strength, even if he ventured deep into it, as long as he kept his spiritual power shield activated, there wouldn't be any problems.
Besides the Green Shade Mountains, which definitely produced top-grade wood spirit stones, he had also heard of a few other places that might have produced top-grade wood spirit stones, but their credibility was questionable.
Of course, Zhang Ling believed that if he contacted the Dragon family of the royal clan, he might find top-grade wood spirit stones more easily. But he was reluctant to contact the Dragon family.
The Dragon family had controlled Dragon Marsh Kingdom for such a long time, and it was confirmed that they had a Transformation God cultivator more than four thousand years ago. He didn't know if such an existence still existed today.
Even if they didn't, the Dragon family currently had several Grand Cultivators on the surface. They were the overlords of the Eastern Region's cultivation world. He didn't want to provoke them alone.
Even if he wanted to use some cultivation resources to exchange for top-grade wood spirit stones from the Dragon family in a fair trade, it would probably be difficult to succeed and might even attract covetous eyes.
So, his first consideration was to collect them himself or from other rogue cultivators, which would be best.
But this would also depend greatly on luck. Top-grade spirit stones were extremely rare. Even with the prosperity of the Eastern Region's cultivation world, there probably weren't many.
So, the hope was still too slim. As for whether to go to the Green Shade Mountains to try his luck, Zhang Ling hadn't decided yet.
However, according to the cultivator who gave him the information, there were about three or four years before the poisons in the Green Shade Mountains would weaken. This wasn't urgent, so Zhang Ling planned to leave Jade Dragon City first and go to other prefectures of Dragon Marsh Kingdom to inquire about relevant news.
Zhang Ling was planning his next few years while flying quickly when he saw a black stone hall covered in a faint white light ahead.
He immediately lowered his escape light and landed in front of the hall. There were only twenty or thirty high-level cultivators entering and exiting this hall. The number of cultivators here was extremely small.
This hall was the teleportation hall in Jade Dragon City. Entering it, Zhang Ling happened to hear an extremely dissatisfied, rough voice, and at the same time, he sensed a scorching aura rushing towards him.
"You junior, how dare you speak such nonsense! Am I not allowed to use the teleportation array? When did Jade Dragon City ban the teleportation array?"
Faint flames flickered ahead. Zhang Ling frowned slightly. The scorching aura and pressure were not weak. He narrowed his eyes and saw that the person emitting the scorching aura was actually a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.
It was a burly man with a slightly dark complexion, red eyebrows, and red hair. His eyes were wide, and his fire spiritual power was extremely violent. It seemed like he would start a fight at the slightest disagreement.
Next to him were two other early-Nascent Soul cultivators, a man and a woman. The man was a handsome scholar in a green robe, and the woman was a beautiful cultivator in a black gauze dress with slightly dark skin and a voluptuous figure.
These two also stared at the few Golden Core cultivators opposite them with gloomy expressions.
The few Golden Core cultivators were wearing white Confucian robes, looking like disciples of West Mountain Academy. The leader was an old man with white hair. His face was pale in the face of the burly man's aura.
"Senior, please forgive us. We are only acting under orders. The academy elders have ordered that the teleportation array be temporarily closed for a day, and no one is allowed..."
Before the white-haired old man could finish speaking, the red-browed man's aura increased by another three points. Traces of fire spiritual power gathered into a few balls of black fire in front of him.
"Hmph, close the teleportation array? What kind of rule is this? Does your academy want to confine us all in the city?"
Seeing this, the white-haired old man and the others' faces turned pale, and they retreated several steps. The old man almost fell, appearing extremely embarrassed.
Although their strength was not weak, facing the spiritual pressure of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was like being in a scorching furnace. They were sweating profusely and even forgot to mobilize their own spiritual power.
Just when these Golden Core cultivators were about to succumb to the pressure, a flash of spiritual light appeared in an archway on the right side of the hall, and a black-robed scholar walked out.
"Haha, so it's Fellow Daoist Zhao of the Firewood Sect. Fellow Daoist has quite the temper. Why are you making things difficult for my academy's disciples here?"
The black-robed scholar's words were polite, and he was waving a black jade folding fan in his hand, but his expression became colder and colder as he spoke. With a step, he instantly moved more than ten feet forward. With another step, he arrived next to the few Golden Core cultivators. With a clear snap, the black jade folding fan in his hand gently opened.
A gust of fresh wind shook out, instantly dispersing the firelight that the red-browed man had manifested in front of him.
The red-browed man's face stiffened, and the corners of his mouth twitched. He looked at the black-robed scholar. This suddenly appearing scholar was also a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. His aura was quite gloomy, seemingly stronger than him by two points.
He didn't recognize this person, but seeing the black folding fan in his hand, he suddenly thought of someone in West Mountain Academy. His pupils shrank involuntarily.
"You recognize Zhao, may I ask if you are the Third Academy Master, Mr. Feng?"
"Precisely Feng." The black-robed scholar gently retracted his folding fan, responded, and then continued. "The three fellow Daoists want to borrow the teleportation array, but unfortunately, my academy is currently searching for an evil cultivator, so the teleportation array is temporarily closed. I hope the fellow Daoists will forgive us."
As he said this, his gaze shifted and fell on Zhang Ling, who had just entered. It seemed that these words were also addressed to him. The red-browed man and the other two also noticed Zhang Ling, and after discovering that another early-Nascent Soul cultivator had entered, they indifferently withdrew their gaze.
The red-browed man also chuckled and withdrew his own aura. "So you are besieging an evil cultivator. In that case, the three of us will wait another day."
Although he didn't believe that the person in front of him was saying anything about besieging an evil cultivator, this person was the Third Academy Master of West Mountain Academy. Although he also cultivated Confucian techniques, his fierce reputation outside was not small.
Since this person had said so, it seemed that it would be difficult to use the teleportation array today.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhao, for your understanding. Tomorrow, Feng will personally open the teleportation array and respectfully send off the fellow Daoists."
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Feng is too polite. I wouldn't dare trouble Fellow Daoist..." The red-browed man waved his hand, revealing a smile. Just as he was about to say a few more polite words.
Suddenly, he saw the green-robed male cultivator among the male and female cultivators following the burly man, his figure blurred, and shot out a streak of green light, heading straight for the black-robed scholar.
The black-robed scholar's face, which had been smiling, stiffened, and his expression immediately changed. The folding fan in his hand opened again, and suddenly, the sound of wind howled beside his ears, and a black whirlwind fanned out. At the same time, his figure moved sideways, leaving the spot.
With a magic incantation in his hand, a layer of black spiritual power shield immediately appeared on his body.
But before he could make any extra moves, the streak of blue light actually instantly passed through the black wind mass he had summoned. It was a long blue streamer. Like a long snake, it drew densely packed blue shadows in the air with a single roll.
He had just moved three feet away, and the blue shadows were all around him, quickly compressing, like a blue net, covering him in place.
On closer inspection, it was a blue streamer, a series of long spirit symbols, wrapped into a huge blue light ball.
The white-robed scholar's face immediately turned black, and with a wave of the folding fan in his hand, a piece of black wind wrapped around his body, resisting the shrinking blue streamer.
At the same time, a black light flashed in his mouth, and a white light shot out, with a soft sound, the white light wrapped a crystal clear white light sword, and instantly slashed on the front of three or four entangled blue streamers.
However, there was a tearing sound like tearing cloth, and the blue streamer only dimmed a bit, without any sign of breaking open.
Fortunately, in an instant, the black-robed scholar had already seen that the blue streamer trapping him seemed to only have the effect of trapping enemies, and did not have any attacking power. He also breathed a sigh of relief. A sweep of his divine sense still sensed the situation outside.
The green-robed man who attacked him earlier did not continue to attack him, but instead released a group of dazzling giant fireballs, which had already reached the depths of the hall, next to the seven or eight teleportation arrays, attacking the black light restriction covering one of the teleportation arrays.
Although the black light restriction covering the teleportation array was quite tenacious for a while, it had already appeared under the man's full attack, and the situation of breaking the water became dim and uncertain.
Noticing this situation, the black-robed scholar's face immediately changed slightly, "So it's you." He shouted, and with a flip of his hand, he pinched out a dragon-shaped jade pendant, and crushed the jade pendant in his hand with a bang.
Suddenly, the ground shook, and a black light immediately rose around the teleportation point. The entire hall was covered in a layer of restriction.
"Haha, Long Zhi, you really came. The Academy Master and the Princess will arrive soon, you can't escape."
Surname is Long, could it be a Dragon family cultivator. Zhang Ling, who was not far away, also frowned. He looked at the green-robed man who suddenly launched the attack, and was surprised in his heart.
Looking at the man's aura at this moment, it was not strong and weak, seemingly seriously injured, but his strength was definitely not the early Nascent Soul cultivation that he had just shown.
"Fellow Daoist Wu, what are you doing?"
This was the red-browed man and the beautiful female cultivator also looked surprised. The beautiful female cultivator even screamed in disbelief.
"No, he is not Fellow Daoist Wu." The red-browed man immediately thought of something and whispered with a gloomy expression.
The green-robed man ignored the cultivators present at this moment, and was still desperately attacking the restriction covered on the teleportation array.
Although the black light restriction covered on the teleportation array was quite tenacious in this moment, it had already appeared under this person's full attack, and the situation of breaking the water became dim and uncertain.
Noticing this situation, the black-robed scholar desperately attacked the blue streamers that trapped him, while shouting at the burly man and Zhang Ling.
"Don't let him break the restriction and escape. Fellow Daoist Zhao, and the two fellow Daoists, quickly take down this person. This person is the evil cultivator that my academy wants to besiege. As long as you stop this person, West Mountain Academy will definitely reward the fellow Daoists greatly."
