This vaguely discernible middle-aged figure is the transformed essence of a cultivator, having retained only his essence, it's clear this person has already lost his physical body.
However, Zhang Ling was momentarily stunned by the green orb that was just spat out. But in the next moment, he realized that it was this person's Jindan(金丹: Golden Core).
This proves that this person was also a Jindan cultivator before. Judging by the extent, it seems to be the cultivation of the middle stage of Jindan. I don't know how he ended up with his body destroyed, leaving behind his essence, attached to a piece of magical artifact on the young man's body.
This is quite strange.
Although this person only retained his essence, his soul power is still intact, not a remnant soul. He possesses the ability to seize a body. As long as he seizes the young man's body, he can be reborn and slowly recover his cultivation.
Why hasn't he done so? Zhang Ling pondered slightly in his heart, but without much thought, he coldly asked, "Who are you, and what is your relationship with him?"
"Uh, junior Ye Zhen, the person on the ground is my family brother. We... we entered the outer area of the Demon Wind Mountains with a group of cultivators not long ago to train, but we encountered evil cultivators. This junior self-detonated his physical body and natal magic weapon... and barely escaped. We can offer the storage bags on our bodies to the senior, please spare our lives."
The essence of the middle-aged man also noticed Zhang Ling's strength at this moment, revealing a panicked expression, and stammered a reply.
"You are quite sensible."
Zhang Ling smiled strangely, glanced at the unconscious youth on the ground, and with a wave of his hand, two black storage bags flew to his eyes. He released a wisp of divine sense, broke the restrictions on the storage bags, and began to check the contents inside.
Both storage bags are high-level storage bags, so naturally there are restrictions. But with his current Nascent Soul divine sense power, he broke them instantly.
The essence of the middle-aged man breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing this scene, but then hesitated and said again, "We are still cultivators of the Ye family in Dafeng City. Our Ye family also has a Nascent Soul ancestor, named Feng Huo Zhenren(风火真人: Wind Fire Real Person). I wonder if the senior recognizes him."
"Hehe, so you are cultivators of the Ye family in Dafeng City."
Zhang Ling checked the contents of the two storage bags, and said casually without turning his head, as if he really recognized some Feng Huo Zhenren. As for Dafeng City, he had some impression, it seemed to be a small and medium-sized immortal city near the outer edge of the Demon Wind Mountains, which seemed to be controlled by a cultivating family.
"Senior really recognizes my family ancestor, that's great. Please, senior, for the sake of my ancestor, let us leave."
The meaning of this person's words seemed to be to seek a way to survive by borrowing the name of the family ancestor.
Zhang Ling was silent for a while, as if thinking. Suddenly, he released another wisp of spiritual power and hit the unconscious young male cultivator on the ground.
"Senior, you."
The essence of the middle-aged cultivator immediately shouted, seemingly very concerned about the young man on the ground.
However, this wisp of spiritual power did not harm the young man, but after turning around on his body, it pulled off a small seal flashing red light from his neck.
This object is only the size of a thumb, black and red all over, and seems to be carved from some kind of precious jade, emitting a faint spiritual light, and looks like just a magic weapon.
Seeing him pull out the red seal, the essence of the middle-aged cultivator became even more flustered, and quickly said again, "Senior, this thing is a token of the Ye family, and has no substantial use."
"A token can be carved with red phosphorus precious jade, it's not an ordinary thing, right."
Zhang Ling smiled, directly grabbed the seal in his hand, and checked it with great interest.
The top of the seal is carved with a lifelike coiling dragon, with an imposing manner, and only a simpleYe character is engraved on the bottom. It seems to be just an ordinary object.
But the material used is red phosphorus precious jade. This material is a top-notch fire attribute spirit jade. Just such a small piece is worth 200,000 spirit stones. He doesn't believe that this is really an ordinary token.
However, after scanning it several times with his divine sense, except for the coiling dragon on the top and the Ye character engraved on the bottom, there was no trace of being refined at all. It is obviously not right to use a valuable precious jade to make a token.
Zhang Ling turned his eyes and looked at the essence of the middle-aged cultivator again, revealing a smile that was not a smile.
"Senior, this... this is really just a token."
The essence of the middle-aged cultivator felt like he was on pins and needles being watched by this kind of gaze. His face was stiff and pale, but he still answered with a stiff upper lip.
Zhang Ling naturally wouldn't believe this obvious lie.
"Whether what you said is true or not, I can naturally judge. If it is the truth, this venerable will let you leave. But if it is a lie..."
His voice was calm, but the middle-aged cultivator's face changed drastically after hearing it, and his mind fell to the bottom all of a sudden. He immediately thought of something and begged bitterly, "Senior, please spare me."
Zhang Ling stopped talking, mobilized his divine sense power to envelop the essence of this person, and planned to use the Soul Searching Technique.
He and Xuan Gui had jointly used the Soul Searching Technique before. At that time, it had some burden on his own soul, but he has now entered the Nascent Soul stage, and there is no problem in using the Soul Searching Technique alone.
The essence of this middle-aged man and the young man on the ground are obviously not ordinary people, and I don't know what secrets are hidden. Using the Soul Searching Technique is the fastest way to verify their identities.
Of course, after using the Soul Searching Technique, their divine consciousness may be chaotic and become idiots, but this is not what he has to consider.
Zhang Ling doesn't think he is a good person, especially since this is the Demon Wind Mountains, and these two people suddenly appeared near his cultivation cave. Naturally, he has to investigate first.
"Senior, stop, he is just a collateral clan uncle of mine, how could he know everything? I am a direct descendant of the Ye family, and I am willing to tell the secrets of this thing."
At this time, the young cultivator who was originally unconscious on the ground coughed a few times and woke up.
"Ming'er, what are you talking about? This thing is related to the lifeline of my Ye family, how can outsiders know about it."
The essence of the middle-aged man's face changed drastically, and he shouted at the young man.
"Hmph, Seventh Uncle, in front of a Nascent Soul cultivator, what difference does it make whether we tell or not? If we want to live, we can only tell the truth."
The young man looked at the middle-aged cultivator who was imprisoned by Zhang Ling, shook his head and said leisurely.
"Ming'er..."
The middle-aged man smiled miserably when he heard this, and stopped talking, looking dejected.
The young man then said leisurely, "Speaking of which, I have to thank the senior for saving my life, otherwise, if I was seriously injured and discovered by a high-level monster, I am afraid that I would have died long ago."
My name is Ye Chenming, this is my junior's Seventh Uncle, we are both Ye family cultivators, but not long ago, my Ye family suffered a catastrophe, and Seventh Uncle took me and fled to the Demon Wind Mountains.
The young man spoke fairly calmly, except for an occasional trace of regret in his eyes, there was nothing unusual.
Zhang Ling always paid attention to the person's expression with his divine sense, and the subtle changes on his face could not escape his divine sense observation.
His expression when he spoke combined with his words were all normal reactions. What he said at the moment was mostly the truth.
Of course, he would not simply believe these words, and suddenly asked calmly, "Why did you enter this Demon Wind Mountain?"
The outer area of the Demon Wind Mountain often has some cultivators hunting monsters, and there are also several small and medium-sized immortal cities nearby, gathering a lot of cultivators.
But few cultivators dare to enter the hinterland of the Demon Wind Mountain. Once they enter the 50,000-mile area of the Demon Wind Mountain, the probability of encountering high-level monsters greatly increases.
One of these two is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and one only has essence left, how dare they enter the Demon Wind Mountain?
Since their family suffered a disaster and escaped, even if there are still people chasing them, the best choice is the human race area.
As long as they pass through some market's teleportation array, or even find a deserted island to hide, it is less dangerous than entering the Demon Wind Mountain.
Ye Chenming hesitated for a moment and said again, "This seal is a family heirloom token of my Ye family, and holding this thing can open the Ye family's secret treasure vault."
"Secret treasure vault."
Zhang Ling couldn't help but glanced again at the fiery red seal he was holding in his hand, and thought to himself, no wonder the essence of the middle-aged man just now was unwilling to tell the truth.
"Senior, this token can only be owned by the direct descendants of the Ye family. And I am the direct grandson of the ancestor. If it weren't for the family upheaval, I would have been able to own this thing after I advanced to the Golden Core stage."
Ye Chenming also looked at the seal with a complex expression.
"You are willing to tell such secrets, aren't you afraid that I will embezzle your Ye family's treasures?"
Zhang Ling glanced at this person.
"Hehe, I naturally want to open the treasures left by the family, but I am now powerless. Moreover, this token is not the only one, there is another one exactly the same, in the hands of my half-brother, this time the change in my Ye family was also caused by my beastly brother, uniting with outsiders. The Ye family is now divided and no longer has the glory of the past."
Ye Chenming said with cold eyes and hatred, while tearing open his robe, revealing his left arm.
There were actually several cyan-black thin lines on his left arm, extending all the way to the shoulder, looking like some kind of spiritual纹(灵纹: pattern).
Zhang Ling expressed soft surprise when he saw these spiritual patterns, and after carefully sensing them, he immediately sensed a trace of yin and cold energy emanating from them.
Although he had scanned the person's condition with his divine sense just now, and also found a trace of cold energy on his body, he didn't pay attention to it. He originally thought that it was caused by the young man being previously frozen in ice and seriously injured.
Now, after careful sensing, he keenly sensed that the spiritual纹(灵纹: pattern) on his left arm was emitting not ordinary cold energy, but a quite pure yin and cold energy. This seems to be some kind of cold poison.
"This is the Ice Soul Poison secretly passed down by my Ye family, a strange poison condensed from several kinds of yin and cold poisonous herbs. The Ice Soul Poison I contracted has been condensed for more than 300 years. If I hadn't taken several kinds of spiritual pills to suppress it temporarily, I would have been poisoned long ago. The reason why Seventh Uncle and I entered the Demon Wind Mountain this time was also to find the secret treasure vault of the family, which contains a piece of fire yang jade that can resolve this poison."
"However, I have also used up the pills on my body. In another day, the Ice Soul Poison will not be able to be suppressed. Fortunately, I have now met a senior, this matter is easy to solve. As long as a Nascent Soul senior is willing to regulate the spiritual power in my body a few times, they can force out this 300-year-old Ice Soul Poison. As long as the senior saves my life, I am willing to offer the treasures of the family's secret vault."
Ye Chenming swayed and stood up, saying sincerely. As if he regarded him as a life-saving straw.
After Zhang Ling heard this person's experience, he pondered for a while with a blank expression.
"Since you are willing to offer the secret treasure, it is not difficult for this venerable to drive away the cold poison for you. However, whether what you said is true or false remains to be verified. I want to search your soul, you'd better cooperate."
Saying that, he quickly flicked his fingers, and a yellow spiritual light instantly hit Ye Chenming. This person's face stiffened, and his figure was fixed in place.
Looking at this Nascent Soul old monster walking step by step, Ye Chenming's face was uncertain for a while, and finally he exhaled, as if resignedly said, "Since senior wants to search the soul, junior will cooperate, and only ask senior to keep his promise."
Zhang Ling just nodded slightly, and instantly came to the person in front of him and said calmly, "Since you are willing to cooperate, then relax your mind. Forced soul searching, although it will cause great trauma to your soul, but if you sincerely let go of your mental guard, the damage to your soul will not be so great."
Ye Chenming nodded when he heard this, and his face looked a little better.
Zhang Ling released the power of his divine sense without hesitation, invaded the person's soul, and began to use the soul-searching technique.
At the beginning, Ye Chenming's mind was still guarded, but when he was clashed by the power of his divine sense, his face immediately turned pale, and then he gradually let go of his mind and defense, allowing him to search his soul.
The next soul search was even easier, without any obstacles.
When performing the soul-searching technique, the greater the difference between the divine senses of the two, the easier it is. If the cultivator being searched resists more, there is also a great possibility of failure. The more fragmented the information that can be obtained.
This situation is forced soul searching. The cultivator being searched has only one end: disordered consciousness, becoming an idiot. This is why everyone fears the soul-searching technique.
The essence of the middle-aged cultivator who was still trapped in the spiritual light hand saw this scene, his eyes were also extremely complicated, and his whole soul was constantly trembling, but he could only watch all this helplessly.
Although Ye Chenming let go of his mind, the damage caused by the soul search also made his face painful, but he gritted his teeth and didn't say a word, his expression was still considered firm.
Zhang Ling also thought highly of this young man in his heart. If he faced other cultivators searching his soul, he might not have this calmness.
However, he would not put himself in such a situation. And this person willingly being searched, is also caused by the fact that their strengths are too different.
In the end, strength determines everything.
Not long after, Ye Chenming was lying on the ground covered in cold sweat. He was trembling all over, and his face was extremely pale. He felt that everything in his eyes seemed to have multiple afterimages. This situation almost made him faint.
Zhang Ling ignored this person, stood quietly beside him, recalling the information he had obtained from the soul search in his mind.
Ye Chenming did not lie. The red seal he was holding in his hand at the moment was indeed their Ye family's inheritance token, which could open the treasure vault privately hidden by the Ye family's ancestor.
The Ye family was also as powerful as the middle-aged man's essence said just now, and they controlled Dafeng City alone.
Their Feng Huo ancestor was indeed a Nascent Soul cultivator, who broke through to the Nascent Soul realm six hundred years ago, and the Ye family's strength had greatly increased, and they had been managing Dafeng City for six or seven hundred years.
