Approaching Black Fiend Peak, Zhang Ling descended and landed at the foot of the mountain, in a small market town. It was sparsely populated with only a few hundred cultivators.
Walking along the only main road to its end, he saw a small stone hall. The entire hall was red and black, shrouded in a layer of black light, seemingly built from special spirit ore.
"May I ask, Senior, are you here to rent a Nether Fiend spiritual vein?" Several guarding cultivators stood on either side of the stone hall. Upon seeing Zhang Ling's arrival, one of the black-armored guards immediately stepped forward to inquire.
"Indeed, I am here to borrow the Fiend Qi of this place," Zhang Ling replied. He had learned about the rules here in Blue Night City.
"Then please follow me to the side hall, Senior, and rest for a moment. I will inform the Mountain Guarding Elder to process a passage token for you."
Following the guard, he waited in the side hall for a moment before a high-crowned cultivator appeared.
"So a fellow Daoist has arrived. I am Tao Zhang of the Cold Moon Academy, sorry to have kept you waiting," the high-crowned cultivator, dressed as a Confucian scholar, looked old with gray hair, but his complexion was ruddy, and his aura was not weak, possessing a mid-Nascent Soul cultivation.
"Greetings, Mr. Tao," Zhang Ling stood up and returned the greeting. Confucianism was prevalent in the Eastern Domain's cultivation world, and Confucian cultivators were often addressed as 'Mister'.
"You are too kind, may I ask for your esteemed name?" Tao Zhang stroked the three strands of his beard, looking Zhang Ling up and down, with a glint in his eyes.
Observing the person before him, also with a mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, and an aura even stronger than his own, Tao Zhang was inwardly startled.
In the entire Earth Spirit Prefecture, there were only six or seven cultivators with mid-Nascent Soul strength year-round. Even including the nearby prefectures, there were not many with this level of cultivation.
Moreover, he was mostly familiar with them. The young man before him was highly skilled but extremely unfamiliar, clearly an outsider.
"My name is Zhang, a nameless rogue cultivator."
After briefly chatting about a few topics, they got down to business. "Tao Fellow Daoist, how does one rent the Nether Fiend spiritual vein here?"
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, the Underworld Fiend spiritual vein beneath Black Fiend Peak is a rare Nether Fiend spiritual vein in the entire Dragon Marsh Kingdom. The cultivation techniques I practice also require the assistance of Fiend Qi, so I serve as the Mountain Guarding Envoy here. Whether it's used to refine magical treasures or cultivate techniques, it's sufficient to meet our needs.
Although the Fiend Qi in this spiritual vein varies in strength, it has been gathered by us using a large array and is roughly divided into three grades. The Fiend Qi gathered on Black Fiend Peak is the weakest, capable of meeting the needs of low-level cultivators. The area a thousand feet below the foot of the mountain is classified as the second grade, basically meeting the needs of all Golden Core cultivators.
As for us Nascent Soul cultivators, whether it's cultivating techniques or secret arts, the required Fiend Qi intensity is sufficient when going two to three thousand feet deep. I wonder which grade of Fiend Qi cave does Fellow Daoist intend to rent?" Tao Zhang explained to Zhang Ling while waving his hand, causing a black scroll to float out from his sleeve.
With a flick, it unfurled, depicting the entire Black Fiend Peak, as well as a panoramic view of the depths of the mountain's underground, thousands of feet deep. It also shimmered with hundreds of light spots, some green, some red.
Zhang Ling's gaze fell on the picture. After considering for a moment, he selected a location three thousand feet underground. The concentration of Fiend Qi he needed was considerable, so naturally, the stronger the Nether Fiend Qi, the better.
Then Mr. Tao quoted a price, which truly made Zhang Ling feel depressed. The cost was indeed not low.
A Fiend Qi cave three thousand feet deep cost more than thirty thousand spirit stones to rent for a year. And the minimum rental period was three years. He did not intend to cultivate here for a long time, so he only rented it for three years.
After paying the spirit stones, Zhang Ling received a restriction token. Led by the man, he arrived at a secret room with a small teleportation array.
As the teleportation light dissipated, they were teleported to a small square stone house, where two Golden Core cultivators were guarding.
Seeing Tao Zhang bring other cultivators, the two immediately paid their respects.
Tao Zhang casually waved his hand, ignoring them, and directly led Zhang Ling out of the teleportation stone house. Outside was an extremely empty underground cave, appearing gloomy and dark.
It also floated with a faint blue-black mist, which was the Underworld Fiend Qi of this place. He could also sense a trace of coldness. Thick ice crystals had formed in many places.
Zhang Ling released his divine sense and slightly examined the area, discovering that he was in an extremely vast underground cave. Overall, it resembled a huge, deep well-shaped vertical shaft, with rings of corridors connecting up and down.
The entire space was divided into several layers, each separated by a hundred feet, with many stone caves with tightly closed doors built on each layer.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, please, the Fiend Qi cave you rented is on the lowest level. By the way, I have something more to say, this place is equipped with an array, so you can cultivate with peace of mind. If you want to leave, you can directly use the passage token to leave through the teleportation array here," Tao Zhang said while leading Zhang Ling, and at the same time instructed him.
Along the way, Zhang Ling indeed sensed several dangerous auras. There were also several places where the aura of Nascent Soul cultivators was faintly present.
He naturally understood the meaning of the man's words. This place was equipped with a powerful array, obviously to guard against them, these Nascent Soul old monsters, from causing trouble.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the lowest level. The bottom layer was very large, with a size of dozens of miles. In the entire ring area, there was a cave every three to four hundred feet.
In the central area, there was also a huge spirit light pillar emitting blue-black light, with a large amount of Underworld Fiend spiritual Qi constantly emerging from it.
Zhang Ling took another look and recognized that this was a huge Spirit Sealing Pillar, with densely packed runes engraved on it. It seemed that what was suppressed below was the array's core.
Tao Zhang led him to a black stone door ten feet high, then took his leave.
Zhang Ling lightly flicked his finger, and a round token accurately embedded into a groove on the stone door. With a muffled boom, the stone door of the cave opened.
Entering it, the space inside was also not small, about a hundred feet wide. It was also separated into seven or eight different cultivation stone rooms.
Zhang Ling checked it and found that it was also equipped with a medium-sized Fiend Gathering Array, which made him quite satisfied.
Although the Fiend Qi intensity in the entire cave was not as strong as that of a high-grade spiritual vein, it was not much different. It was enough for his cultivation.
Then, after spending a little time arranging two sets of arrays in the cave, he entered a cultivation quiet room and began to cultivate the Blood Fiend Divine Light.
This divine power was cultivated by combining one's own blood Qi with several kinds of Fiend Qi. Its power was not weak. According to the introduction on the Glazed Demon Body technique, once swept by the Blood Fiend Divine Light, it was extremely uncomfortable.
Although for Nascent Soul cultivators, being bombarded was not fatal.
But being contaminated by the Blood Fiend would be difficult for Nascent Soul cultivators to get rid of in a short time, like a maggot attached to the bone. It would corrode their own blood Qi bit by bit, causing them to experience blood Qi decay, thereby affecting their control over their own spiritual power.
In a battle, once the spiritual power was not running smoothly, it was a fatal threat to all cultivators.
Zhang Ling first sat in the quiet room for more than an hour, adjusting his state of mind. He took out some bottles, jars, and other materials and placed them in front of him.
A black light flashed beside him, and at the same time, he released the Nascent Soul puppet. "Guard outside," he whispered. The Nascent Soul puppet instantly walked out of the quiet room and guarded outside like a statue.
Then he released a monster with a height of seven or eight feet, it was the Night Owl Corpse Demon he had subdued.
With a wave of his hand, a light green round bead floated above his head. This treasure was the last Corpse Pill left in his hand. It was also the highest grade, the ninth-order Corpse Pill he obtained from the Corpse Infant.
At that time, he obtained several Corpse Pills, the highest grade was the ninth-order Corpse Pill, and there was also an eighth-order Corpse Pill. The eighth-order Corpse Pill had already been refined and absorbed, which allowed his cultivation of the Glazed Demon Body to make a breakthrough.
Now, taking out the remaining ninth-order Corpse Pill was naturally to use the Corpse Fiend Qi on it to continue cultivating.
Releasing the Night Owl Corpse Demon was also to assist in cultivation. Corpse Pills were things that contained a strong Corpse Poison and Corpse Fiend Qi.
He needed to borrow the Corpse Fiend Qi to cultivate, but he did not need the Corpse Poison. For other cultivators, the Corpse Poison on it could only be eliminated by soaking it in some spiritual liquid or using other secret methods. This would consume a lot of time.
But he had this Corpse Demon in his hand, as long as he controlled the Corpse Demon to absorb the Corpse Poison on it, it would be fine. On the contrary, it could slightly enhance the strength of the Corpse Demon.
It could be said to kill two birds with one stone.
With a thought from Zhang Ling, the Corpse Demon screamed and opened its tattered mouth, spitting out a wisp of Corpse Fire, which wrapped around the ninth-order Corpse Pill.
The Corpse Pill spun around, and a layer of emerald green mucus emerged from it. When burned by the Corpse Fire, it turned into a stream of green smoke and was inhaled into the Corpse Demon's mouth.
At the same time, strands of gray spiritual power, which was the Corpse Fiend Qi, floated out of the Corpse Pill.
At this time, Zhang Ling had already removed the clothes from his upper body. His fingers moved continuously, and some liquids and powders of various colors floated out of the bottles and jars placed in front of him, surrounding his body. Forming a circle of colorful water flow.
These mixed materials were a kind of auxiliary body refining spiritual liquid recorded in the Glazed Demon Body.
As the Corpse Fiend Qi merged into it, the colorful water flow immediately made a crackling sound, exploding some colorful bubbles, appearing extremely strange.
Zhang Ling's hand seals changed, and in the blink of an eye, his body became red, and his black hair also turned into blood hair. His entire body swelled twice in size, like a blood man, even more demonic.
Looking closely, one could also find countless dense blood-colored threads wandering on the surface of his body. These threads were the parasitic vines in his body.
This scene lasted for a moment, and the blood light emanating from Zhang Ling's body became more and more intense. The blood-colored threads also broke out of his body and quickly weaved into a large net outside his body, covering his entire body.
The Fiend Qi array in the quiet room was also opened by him. In the blink of an eye, a layer of Underworld Fiend Qi floated from the ground, spreading throughout the stone house.
Only the location where Zhang Ling was emitted layers of blood light, and the Corpse Pill above his head constantly emitted Corpse Fiend Qi.
The blood light rose and fell like layers of light waves, and the Corpse Fiend Qi and Underworld Fiend Qi were constantly absorbed by Zhang Ling.
Occasionally, Zhang Ling also made a few muffled groans. It was not easy to have Fiend Qi enter the body, especially the Underworld Fiend Qi, which carried the power of Yin coldness, was like being in an extremely cold storm. The Corpse Fiend Qi could corrode oneself even more.
Of course, in order to cultivate this method, he did not use his main Earth attribute spiritual power to resist. He only used the blood Qi power produced by cultivating the Glazed Demon Body.
The blood fiend condensed from his own blood Qi was not the power of Yin Fiend, but belonged to the power of Yang Fiend. Such Yin and Yang harmony was the core of cultivating the Glazed Demon Body.
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