Zhang Ling had already slain more than a dozen ghost-face bats. Along the way, their massive group had been attacked by hundreds of these bats.
The ghost-face bats were numerous and varied in strength, ranging from first-tier to third or fourth-tier.
However, no high-level demonic beasts appeared, and the Golden Core experts leading the group did not intervene. The ghost-face bats they encountered were all killed by the vast force of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
These demonic beasts showed no fear despite facing so many of them, behaving like the savage beasts of the desolate regions, devoid of intelligence and only knowing slaughter.
Zhang Ling had learned about this situation when he first arrived at Waterlight Island. Apparently, the valley had suddenly transformed into a Yin煞之地, releasing a large amount of Yin-cold ghost mist, causing the demonic beasts in this area to mutate.
Zhang Ling's team consisted of eight people, led by a middle-aged man from the Wang family. This man was a head taller than ordinary people, with a scar on his face, making him look quite fierce, and his cultivation was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Apart from him, the remaining seven, including Zhang Ling, all displayed mid-stage Foundation Establishment strength.
"Oh, there are several Frost Dew Grasses growing there."
A corpulent middle-aged man beside him chuckled and quickly walked a few steps, reaching a spot a dozen yards ahead, where several small grasses emitting a faint green light grew beneath a black rock.
Without hesitation, the fat cultivator flashed a light from his hand and plucked the lush green grasses, quickly storing them in his storage bag.
The others in the team didn't react much to this. They had picked some spiritual herbs along the way.
Those small grasses were Frost Dew Grasses, second-grade Yin-cold attribute spiritual herbs with some value. Zhang Ling had also collected two or three.
They had been informed when they joined the summoning order that once they left, they could only keep half of the spiritual objects they found, with the remaining half belonging to the four major families.
This condition naturally made many Foundation Establishment stage rogue cultivators resentful, but in order to enter the Yin meridian, they could only grit their teeth and accept it.
Zhang Ling wasn't worried about this condition. The Two Forms Gourd, his natal magic weapon, contained an inner space that could store a certain amount of things.
However, living creatures couldn't stay in the gourd for long. Spiritual herbs and the like would be corroded by the azure and white Qi inside after at most a dozen days.
Demonic beasts and other living beings would also be devoured by the azure and white Qi. Even corpse monsters like the Corpse Bear would be devoured in a short time.
Only Zhang Ling himself was unaffected by this.
Of course, spiritual mines, soil, magic treasures, and magical instruments were not affected by this. On the contrary, after being continuously tempered by the azure and white Qi inside, some impurities would be removed. This effect was actually very similar to refining magical instruments and removing impurities from materials.
However, the time it took to remove impurities was not as obvious as using pill fire or earth fire, seemingly just a mediocre effect.
But in Zhang Ling's view, this was the reason why the azure and white Qi could continuously temper the magic treasures stored within, allowing them to advance. There were still many mysteries he couldn't understand.
Thus, the group continued to walk through the ghost mist towards the interior of the valley. The environment inside had been eroded by the ghost mist, and ordinary trees and flowers were all gray and withered.
They were now in a rocky area, with ghost-face bats emerging from the mist from time to time to attack them.
In addition, another type of green-haired wolf with great speed appeared, the Azure Shadow Wolf. Their strength was also mostly at the second or third-tier demonic beast level.
They were also numerous, posing some threat to the group. Fortunately, the Golden Core experts leading the team also took action. The nine Golden Core experts attacked together, instantly killing most of the demonic beasts blocking the way. The morale of the group soared, and they quickened their pace, advancing mightily.
As time passed, more than an hour had passed since they entered. They were all cultivators and moved quickly, having searched a large area, but they hadn't found many Yin-cold spiritual objects. Apart from some spiritual herbs, they hadn't found anything else, which seemed different from the rumors.
Many people were puzzled and even dissatisfied with this. The team also began to become noisy, whispering to each other. Several rogue cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment wanted to leave the team and search alone, but this action was stopped by the people from the four major families leading the team.
Although the crowd was angry, no one had the courage to act alone. This would definitely anger the people from the four major families and even those high-level cultivators, and the consequences would definitely not be good.
Although Zhang Ling also had doubts about this, he didn't act rashly.
In his observation, the Golden Core experts leading the way, especially the four old ancestors of the four major families, seemed to be deliberately leading everyone in one direction.
The four major families must be plotting something. Thinking of this, Zhang Ling couldn't help but touch the red wooden token on his waist.
The token they received contained a special pill. The four major families must have a hidden conspiracy in issuing these tokens.
The team moved forward in a somewhat suppressed atmosphere, and some time passed again.
As they continued to delve deeper into the valley, the surrounding ghost mist had changed. It was no longer grayish-white but gradually turned red, as if filled with a layer of blood.
At the same time, some shriveled corpses of demonic beasts could be seen on the ground, including the ghost-face bats that had attacked them earlier, as well as some demonic beasts they had never seen before. The blood of these demonic beast corpses had been sucked dry, leaving them in a withered state.
The discovery of these situations made everyone uneasy.
At the same time, some cultivators seemed to be affected by the ghost mist. Not only were their faces pale, but some even attacked randomly.
Fortunately, their attacks mostly hit the ghost mist. According to them, they suddenly saw some shadows of other demonic beasts, which was why they attacked.
This situation only happened to some cultivators with lower cultivation levels, obviously due to the illusion caused by the ghost mist.
Even so, with several Golden Core experts guarding the formation, the team didn't experience too much commotion.
...
Suddenly, bursts of wailing laughter echoed from all directions, as if they were surrounded by a large number of demonic beasts. Many people appeared panicked.
Hiding in the team, Zhang Ling carefully released a wisp of divine sense to explore the surroundings, and his expression also became serious.
Looking around at the ghost mist again, he could see lanterns of blue-green ghost fire floating out. Dull thumping sounds were mixed in, seeming both far and near, making it difficult to hear clearly for a time.
