togophonebook Chapter 126 The Journey to Qingluo
Chapter 126 The Journey to Qingluo
Zhang Lin laid out the items one by one on a square table.
First, there are spirit stones: over two thousand low-grade spirit stones and ten mid-grade spirit stones.
For a direct descendant of a noble family who has reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, this amount of spirit stones is neither a lot nor a small amount.
Most of the spirit stones were probably temporarily allocated by Zhou Mingyuan for this operation, and he hadn't had time to spend them yet.
Then came the pills: several Qi-Nourishing Pills, several Qi-Returning Pills, and a bottle of top-grade Breakthrough Pills.
The pill was round and smooth, with clearly discernible patterns, indicating it was made by an inner sect alchemist of the Danxia Sect. Zhou Mingyuan was preparing to use it to break through the four acupoints and three gates.
In terms of magical artifacts, the Wind and Thunder Sword (Superior Grade) has dual attributes and its value is no less than that of top-grade magical artifacts, making it the most valuable item among them.
The sword is forged from wind and thunder elemental minerals, and twelve wind and thunder runes are engraved on the blade. When true energy is injected, the runes light up one by one, and a faint sound of wind and thunder can be heard from the tip of the sword.
The Xuan Turtle Shield had shattered into several pieces, and the remains were of little value.
Besides that, there's the Crimson Sky Sword, an ancient artifact of fortune in the small competition. Zhang Lin still can't get rid of the negative fortune effects on it, so he can only talk less in the future.
There is also a jade talisman with the character "轩" engraved on its surface.
Zhang Lin recognized the jade talisman; it was part of a set with the dark red communication jade slip on Zhou Huaili's person, specifically used for secret communication within the Zhou family.
Among Du Heng's belongings were over a thousand spirit stones, a mid-grade magic weapon, the Green Serpent Flying Sword, three first-grade attack talismans, and a jade slip.
The two outer disciples had a total of over a thousand spirit stones and two mid-grade magic artifacts in their storage bags.
Compared to the previous two Foundation Establishment cultivators, these people together seem extremely poor.
But what Zhang Lin truly valued was not these spirit stones and magical artifacts, but a piece of information he obtained from Du Heng's jade slip.
The jade slip records an auction hosted by the Tianbao Pavilion in Qingluo City. The auction will begin in three months. Participants are not limited to sects or families; they only need to pay a deposit of five hundred spirit stones to enter.
The upcoming auction is a mid-sized event held every six months, far exceeding the scale of the monthly regular auction.
The auction catalogue features a single item: a century-old earth-elemental spirit artifact, Thick Earth Mystic Jade, with a starting price of three thousand spirit stones.
Thick earth and dark jade tablet, a hundred years old, earth system.
Among the nine spiritual items required for the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, the standard answer is the earth-type spiritual item.
Zhang Lin carefully put away the jade slip, then took out a simple blue robe from his storage bag and changed into it.
He re-tied his hair into a bun and tied it up with an ordinary wooden hairpin. He was no longer dressed in the standard attire of an outer disciple of the Danxia Sect, but rather looked like a wandering cultivator in the cultivation world.
As he activated the third-order Concealing Breath Technique, his appearance and figure changed silently in his spiritual sense. His cheekbones became slightly prominent, his jaw widened, the distance between his eyes narrowed, and his height increased by about an inch.
A moment later, the image reflected in the mirror was no longer that of the young cultivator Zhang Lin, but rather a young rogue cultivator in his early twenties with an ordinary appearance.
"Lin Mo, a Qi cultivator from Qingxu Mountain," he whispered to his reflection in the mirror.
As for the so-called Qingxu Mountain, it's obviously made up. The Nine Provinces are vast and boundless; who knows if such a place really exists?
He stepped out of the immortal ship, and the Wind Concealment shrank to the size of a palm. He put the ship into his storage bag, which is a standard feature of flying magical artifacts.
All that remained on the stone slab was a charred explosion site and a few piles of ashes.
After doing all this, Zhang Lin took out the communication jade talisman of Danxia Sect, sat down cross-legged, and contacted Lu Yuanshan.
A moment later, the jade talisman lit up, and Lu Yuanshan's voice came from it, carrying a hint of barely perceptible urgency: "What's the situation?"
Zhang Lin concisely recounted the events surrounding Li Xiao and the Zhou family's ambush, stating that he was killed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Demonic Path, and that he then used his spiritual weapon and formation to kill the Zhou family's Foundation Establishment cultivator in return. Afterward, he encountered Zhou Mingyuan and six others on the immortal ship of the Two Realms Mountain, and killed them one by one.
He didn't hide the fact that he possessed two magical artifacts, nor did he conceal his methods, but he didn't go into too much detail either.
There was silence on the other end of the jade talisman for about ten breaths.
Then Lu Yuanshan's voice rang out again, his calm demeanor now tinged with a hint of coldness: "You did very well."
"The Zhou family has now taken action against a Foundation Establishment cultivator. This is no longer a petty squabble between juniors. You should stay away from here for a while and do not return to the sect for the time being."
"I have my own plans for the coming days. Since the Zhou family dared to touch my people, they will have to pay the price."
"The criminal law elder of Danxia Sect is from the same lineage as the master and disciple. If this matter is brought to the elders' council, with witnesses and physical evidence, the Zhou family will be in deep trouble."
Zhang Lin responded, and then heard Lu Yuanshan say, "You must keep the communication jade slip you seized safe. It is irrefutable evidence that the Zhou family hired someone to ambush and kill the sect's disciples."
"With this jade slip in hand, even if the matter goes to the sect leader, I can still cover for you."
"You and Yu Youwei's family in Chuzhou need not worry. I have already sent people there. If they do not harm your family, fine, but if they make any unusual moves, even the Zhou family itself will not be able to protect them."
Zhang Lin's heart stirred slightly. Since Lu Yuanshan had said these words, it seemed that he had already made a thorough plan.
Lu Yuanshan had shielded him from all the pressure from the powerful families, ensuring his safety. He paused for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Master."
"No need to thank me." Lu Yuanshan's voice was calmer. "You are my disciple, Lu Yuanshan. Anyone who dares to touch you is tantamount to touching Cuiping Peak."
"However, you must also remember that you must not have a direct conflict with aristocratic families before you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, otherwise you will face certain death. Once you reach the Foundation Establishment stage, the world will be much more spacious."
Zhang Lin put away the jade slip, and Lu Yuanshan's last words echoed in his mind for a moment.
After establishing a foundation, the world will naturally become more expansive; this is no exaggeration.
But he also knew that he had to fight for, exchange for, and seize the nine spiritual items needed for Foundation Establishment, one by one.
Thick earth and black jade tablet, that is the next item.
He took one last look at the charred ruins on the stone platform, then turned and walked down the mountain.
The morning light had completely bathed the mountain path, and the dense forest on both sides rustled in the morning breeze. An unidentified bird was startled from the bushes and took flight towards the distant horizon.
Zhang Lin walked steadily eastward along the mountain path.
Only after leaving the territory of the Two Realms Mountain did he take out the immortal boat again. This was to prevent the aura of the immortal boat from being leaked when it was activated, so as not to be captured by the noble families who went to the Two Realms Mountain to investigate.
Qingluo City is located in the south-central part of Yunmeng Continent, at the border of Biluo Palace and Danxia Sect, and is also connected to the nearest Zixia City by a teleportation array.
However, Zhang Lin did not use the teleportation array. Teleportation arrays have teleportation records, and if he had used the teleportation array, the aristocratic families would have been able to deduce his whereabouts from them.
Rather than risk revealing their whereabouts, they'd rather ride in their newly acquired fairy boat.
Finding an open space, Zhang Lin raised his hand and threw out the Wind Concealment Signal.
The palm-sized fairy boat expanded in the air with the wind, transforming into an eight-zhang-long dark blue flying boat that hovered three feet above the ground.
The boat's hull features smooth and simple lines. The original cloud-patterned refined iron has been strengthened and transformed into a dark material that he couldn't name, with a faint shimmering light flowing across its surface, yet it wasn't dazzling.
The wind ripples on the bow of the boat gleamed with a pale blue luster in the sunlight.
Zhang Lin boarded the ship and entered the cabin.
The luxurious furnishings inside the cabin have been removed during the enhancement process, replaced by a simple and practical layout. In the center of the main cabin is a fixed wooden table with a circular spiritual compass embedded in it, which can display the terrain and spiritual energy fluctuations within a hundred miles.
The four walls are made of simple, dark wood grain, without any unnecessary decorations.
The cabin layout, from front to back, consists of the main cabin, a meditation room, and a storage room. Each room is small, but practical in every aspect.
He infused his spiritual sense into the spiritual compass, and a cloud-like map appeared on it, marking the mountains, rivers, cities, and roads of Yunmeng Continent.