While traveling, golden runes flashed in Wei Zhong's eyes, and the surrounding scenery immediately took on different colors.
Some were as dull and lusterless as gray stones, while others carried all manner of colors, varying in depth and shade.
This was precisely the effect of the Spirit Seeking Art.
Spirit Seeking Art · Mastery (68%)
In less than two years, Wei Zhong had devoted himself wholeheartedly to this art, advancing from beginner to mastery. In such a short time, he had crossed a distance that many cultivators could not reach even after decades.
Strictly speaking, the Spirit Seeking Art was a special spell that condensed runes within one's eyes. Activating those runes allowed one to glimpse the spiritual energy in the surroundings. The denser the spiritual energy, the deeper the color.
His gaze swept over a faint patch of red beside the cliff. It was a Flame Sauce Fruit, a common fire-attributed spiritual fruit found among these mountains.
Its taste was bitter, but the spiritual energy it contained was quite respectable. It was especially suitable for brewing wine.
Wei Zhong had already gathered a large amount and stuffed it into his Storage Bag.
Thus, he did not stop upon encountering this fruit. Supported by clouds, he continued toward his destination.
While traveling earlier, Wei Zhong had already spotted several streaks of escaping light. They all seemed to be heading toward Mist Ridge Cliff.
It seems too many cultivators entered this time.
Wei Zhong sighed and continued watching the road with his head lowered. He could only hope that, relying on the advantage of his spiritual art, he would discover the Jade Marrow Mushroom first.
As he drew closer to Mist Ridge Cliff, more and more streaks of escaping light appeared. There were seven or eight people in total, most of them Azurewood Sect disciples dressed in blue-white Daoist robes, gathered together.
Rogue Cultivators were rarely seen.
"Could it be that the Azurewood Sect knows what treasures are there? News left behind by the previous group that entered?"
Wei Zhong
With a turn, he cast the Aura Concealment Technique and followed those sect cultivators through the forest and rocky ground below.
Along the way, he unexpectedly discovered that some Rogue Cultivators had the same idea as he did.
Unfortunately, their tracking was somewhat crude. The commotion they gave off was quickly noticed by the disciples above.
"Senior Brother, Rogue Cultivators are following us."
A disciple at the rear spoke to the Qi Refining eighth-layer cultivator leading the group.
The Qingchuan Secret Realm not only contained Jade Marrow Mushrooms, Thousand Knot Flowers, and Golden Ginseng Essence needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, but also all kinds of spiritual herbs required for refining other pills.
Therefore, not every cultivator who entered the secret realm this time had come for Foundation Establishment.
Among this group of Inner Sect Disciples, only one was at the Qi Refining eighth layer. The others were at the Qi Refining seventh or sixth layer.
After discussing for a moment, they halted their escaping lights in place and spoke bluntly to those behind them.
"Fellow Daoists following us, would you be willing to show yourselves and speak?"
Seeing that their tracks had been exposed, all three revealed themselves.
The spiritual pressure around them showed that they were all at the Qi Refining ninth layer.
The Azurewood Sect disciples' hearts sank slightly. The leader spoke first.
"Esteemed seniors, you have all come for Foundation Establishment spiritual herbs, have you not? Unfortunately, we do not know where those herbs are. Could we ask that you cease following us?"
An old man among the Rogue Cultivators, his eye sockets sunken, chuckled.
"My companions and I are not following you. We merely happen to be traveling the same road."
The other two Rogue Cultivators echoed his words.
The eyes of several young Azurewood Sect disciples seemed ready to spit fire, and they moved as if to attack. However, the leading disciple stopped them with a wave of his hand.
"Don't be hasty. Though we outnumber them, our cultivation is inferior. We cannot defeat them."
"Then, Senior Brother, what about the spiritual herbs?"
"Let us first head to the nearby gathering point. There should be senior brothers from our sect at the Qi Refining ninth layer there. We can invite them along and make further plans."
"For now, that is all we can do!"
After communicating through voice transmission, they quickly reached a conclusion.
Though part of the contribution would have to be shared with them, there was no other choice.
With those Rogue Cultivators following them, they would be unable to gather any of the important spiritual herbs.
Watching the two sides confront each other from below, Wei Zhong saw the Azurewood Sect disciples constantly communicating and knew that no good fruit would come from continuing to follow them.
So he secretly changed direction and headed toward a suspicious resource point marked on the intelligence map.
Behind him, those Inner Sect Disciples suddenly changed the direction of their escaping lights, apparently no longer paying attention to the three Rogue Cultivators behind them.
"Wu Daoyou, are we still following them?"
The one who replied was the old man with sunken eye sockets.
"Follow them. Why would we not? What if those people are merely putting on a bold front? Would we not miss out on a precious spiritual herb?
"Besides, with the cultivation of the three of us, who in this secret realm could possibly take us down?"
Afterward, the three turned into streaks of escaping light and continued following them. The difference was that, after being exposed this time, they no longer concealed themselves in the slightest, openly trailing behind those disciples.
As though the cultivators he had encountered earlier had merely been a coincidence, Wei Zhong did not meet any other cultivators for the rest of his journey.
Mist Ridge Cliff was an enormous region, not a single cliff but an unbroken stretch of mountain ridges.
This region was located among lofty peaks and blanketed in clouds and mist, hence its name.
The mist obstructed vision, making distant places impossible to see. Even spiritual sense was nearly useless here, unable to extend beyond the body.
At this moment, even the clouds and mist in the air carried considerable color in Wei Zhong's eyes. The spiritual energy density in this region was exceptionally rich.
No wonder spiritual creatures such as Jade Marrow Mushrooms grew here.
The trouble was finding them. Wei Zhong casually severed the head of a demonic snake that had stretched down from a crack in the mountain above.
Even the number of demonic beasts in this region was far greater than elsewhere.
Wei Zhong searched for spiritual creatures along the cliffside. Passing one peak after another, all manner of spiritual lights flashed through his eyes. After searching for some time, he found quite a few ordinary spiritual herbs, but not even the shadow of a Jade Marrow Mushroom.
Sigh, this is no way to search. If I keep looking like a headless fly, I fear I will find nothing even when the secret realm closes.
A Jade Marrow Mushroom had originally been an ordinary lingzhi mushroom growing upon decayed spiritual wood. It underwent transformation after absorbing the essence of that spiritual wood. Its stalk contained a jade-like substance, which was its essence, and that was how it earned the name Jade Marrow.
Then it should appear white as jade in his eyes.
And there was the decayed spiritual wood. He had searched for so long without seeing any. At most, he had found spiritual plants as thick as hemp stalks.
I wonder how those sect disciples found it.
Wei Zhong searched all around when he suddenly heard the sound of water. Following the sound, he unexpectedly discovered a waterfall in the mountains.
The waterfall was not large, only two zhang wide, yet such a small waterfall carried abundant spiritual energy.
As it crashed onto the rocks below, it gave off rings of multicolored light.
Such rich spiritual energy. Cultivating here for one day would likely equal ten days in the outside world.
Wei Zhong was somewhat tempted, but he understood that now was not the time for cultivation.
Approaching the waterfall, he saw two tree trunks growing from either side, slanting into the flowing water.
They really are spiritual trees.
Delighted, Wei Zhong climbed along the waterfall. The mist grew increasingly dense.
He could barely make out the faint outlines of trees ahead.
Only when he stepped closer did he realize it was a forest of spiritual trees.
I found the right place!
Wei Zhong gripped the spell sword in his right hand more tightly while simultaneously clutching a black bead in his left. His entire body tensed, ready to activate the Golden Body Art at any moment.
With twelve parts caution, Wei Zhong stepped into the forest.
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