novelapdf Chapter 62 Two and a half years later
Chapter 62 Two and a half years later
Time flies, and two and a half years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Somewhere on the outskirts of the Wanling Mountains, Zhang Lingyu made a hand seal and used his magic sword in mid-air to slash fiercely at the two second-tier demonic beasts, the Vine Cloud Apes, in front of him.
The Vine Cloud Ape was extremely agile, darting back and forth through the forest, and for a time, no one could do anything about it.
"call out!"
Just as it was about to escape its pursuers, two whooshing sounds came from the shadows, and strands of tough spider silk wrapped around its calves.
The vine cloud ape panicked and frantically tore at the spider silk with its strong arms, but the more it tore, the tighter it became. As the toxins on the spider silk continued to invade its body, everything in front of it began to blur.
With such a significant delay, the flying sword from afar pierced through the air and directly severed the heads of the two demonic beasts.
"Done!"
Zhang Lingyu breathed a sigh of relief, letting the two Blazing Spiders take their offspring to eat, while she herself ran to a spirit tree and put three spirit fruits on the tree into her pocket.
During these two and a half years, he rented a cave in Tianliu City and relied on the intelligence system to hunt down monsters on the outskirts of the Wanling Mountains every day to obtain spiritual treasures and opportunities.
Half a year ago, he successfully advanced to the eighth level of Qi Refining with the help of the Crimson Jade Pill given to him by his family.
He gradually gained some fame among the rogue cultivators, and many people, seeing his numerous magical artifacts and high skills, invited him to join their demon-hunting teams.
Without a doubt, they were all rejected.
His purpose in this training was to gain more opportunities. Teaming up with others would not only limit his actions, but he might also have to be distracted by guarding against them while hunting monsters.
With his current strength, he is confident that he can escape even if he faces a third-tier demonic beast.
Moreover, in the past two and a half years, many independent cultivators and even cultivators from some powerful forces have harbored ill intentions towards him. Some have ambushed him in the mountains and forests, while others have secretly followed him when he left the city.
Without exception, they were all killed by him.
Especially about half a month ago, a rogue cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining ambushed them on the way. Although they were injured, they were eventually defeated. After the news spread, things have been much quieter recently.
"It's time to go back."
Zhang Lingyu carefully put away the spirit fruit. He was now quite deep into the outer perimeter. If he went a little further in, he would reach the inner perimeter, which was the territory of the Golden Core Demon King.
So he summoned six Blazing Spiders and led them back to Tianliu City.
Tianliu City is divided into three areas. The outer area is a gathering place for independent cultivators and many Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment families. The inner area is for Golden Core forces. The core area is the residence of the cultivators of the six sects, as well as their respective Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators.
Aside from the core area being exclusively for the six sects, Zhang Lingyu and his companions can enter the inner perimeter or choose to reside there, but the corresponding cost will be significantly higher.
Today, Tianliu City serves as the front line against demonic beasts and is also a good place for disciples of sects and families to train. There are at least nearly 10,000 cultivators here.
To avoid attracting attention, Zhang Lingyu did not go to the inner perimeter. There were also patrol teams in the city, so he was not afraid that anyone would dare to cause trouble here.
"Brother Zhang is back."
When he returned to his residence, the wandering monks in the neighborhood greeted him warmly.
Although he did not team up with others to hunt monsters, he got along quite well with his neighbors. The independent cultivators on this street did not make a living by hunting monsters, but rather by relying on their own skills to make a living in the city.
It offers everything from weapon crafting and alchemy to talisman making.
Sometimes, when they need something, they often buy it directly from Zhang Lingyu, or entrust him to obtain materials from certain demonic beasts.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan, here are the two ironwood wolves you requested."
Zhang Lingyu looked at one of the rogue cultivators and handed over what the other needed. The cultivator surnamed Yuan was also overjoyed and thanked him.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhang. My high-grade Qi-refining magic artifact is only missing the rib of this ironwood wolf."
"It was just something I did."
He smiled, casually accepted the two hundred spirit stones handed to him, and turned to enter his cave.
There weren't many items in the cave; most were things used for daily cultivation. However, to prevent anyone from entering the cave to steal, they spent some spirit stones to purchase a second-tier mid-grade magic array for protection.
Zhang Lingyu didn't rush to cultivate; instead, she took out the Heavenly Jade Pendant and the Jade Spirit Valley Teleportation Token.
During his time in Tianliu City, he never gave up trying to find out about these two pieces of information.
The former knew very little, only that the massive city beneath their feet was built by the Tianliu Sect, but they didn't know why it was destroyed.
However, it is said that the sect's mountain gate still exists, located in a secret realm, usually hidden in the spatial turbulence, waiting for a destined person to obtain the inheritance.
The latter is widely known, and Jade Spirit Valley is even located in Yanxing County. This place is a secret realm of spiritual herbs, which was opened up by the ancient sect, Shenmu Sect.
There are more than one such secret realm; they are scattered in several surrounding countries, and each requires a teleportation token to enter.
The token in Zhang Lingyu's hand can also be called the Divine Wood Token. There are thirty-five such tokens, most of which are held by aristocratic families, while the rest are scattered outside.
The Jade Spirit Valley opens once every two hundred years. As long as the holder stands within a ten-mile radius of the Jade Spirit Valley, they can be teleported inside by the token.
Furthermore, there are cultivation restrictions within the secret realm; only those who have refined their Qi can enter.
Most of the plants inside are second- or third-tier spiritual creatures, but what attracts people the most is a fourth-tier Cloud Dream Glazed Tree deep in the secret realm, which bears three Cloud Dream Glazed Fruits every two hundred years.
This spiritual object is an invaluable treasure for Qi Refining cultivators.
The Yunmeng Glazed Fruit can increase the probability of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage by about 10%, and it does not conflict with a Foundation Establishment Pill or Foundation Establishment Spiritual Item taken at all.
What's even more valuable is that they can slightly improve their qualifications.
This is a rare opportunity for Zhang Lingyu. There are still five years before the Jade Spirit Valley Secret Realm opens, and he can use this time to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining to increase his chances of obtaining the Cloud Dream Glazed Fruit.
He was preparing to digest the results of his work over the past period when a rough voice came from outside.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, someone is looking for you."
"Looking for me?"
Zhang Lingyu was slightly taken aback. What was there to look for about him? And why was he being asked to kill a demon beast?
He stepped out of his cave dwelling and saw three men and two women standing at his door, with Gu Dahai, the rogue cultivator who had called him out earlier, standing beside him.
Seeing the person emerge from the cave, Gu Dahai quickly stepped forward and said:
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, it's them. They specifically asked for you by name."
"Is that so?"
Zhang Lingyu raised an eyebrow and casually checked the group. He found that the leader was a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator, the other three were Qi Refining Level 8 cultivators, and there was one Qi Refining Level 7 cultivator.
The other party had a strong aura of blood, clearly indicating that they had been a regular member of a demon-hunting team for many years.
He showed no interest in this and said, "You all should know me. I never hunt monsters in teams. If you need more manpower, please find someone else."
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