Zhang Ling waited for a while, and two female cultivators arrived at the door.
A maiden in emerald green, holding a white jade teapot and two cups in her hands, silently poured two cups of fragrant tea, bowed to Zhang Ling, and then left the room.
The other female cultivator possessed the strength of the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. This woman had her hair styled in a bun, wore a long blue and white dress, and her watery eyes held a hint of allure.
When she first entered, this woman was all smiles, seemingly about to say something, but after glancing at Zhang Ling, she revealed a strange expression and sat down across from Zhang Ling on her own accord.
After the maiden left, the woman spoke, "So it's you. Fellow Daoist has actually reached the Pseudo-Core Realm, congratulations!"
Zhang Ling was also taken aback, glanced at the woman's face, and recognized her.
This woman was none other than the female cultivator he had traded with at Snow Moon Tower when he first arrived in Azure Water City, exchanging a White Jade Ganoderma and refining a magical artifact.
Because he wanted to buy spiritual objects to increase his chances of forming a Core, Zhang Ling did not hide his cultivation, but he had used a secret technique to change his appearance. Zhang Ling was quite surprised that this woman could still recognize him.
Could it be that this woman cultivated a pupil technique that could see through disguises, or did she use some secret method? Zhang Ling felt displeased, but his purpose here was spiritual objects, and these matters could only be considered when he had time.
Zhang Ling politely picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"Haha, Fairy Huang, I didn't expect that you were the person in charge here."
"This concubine is just a small manager here. With your current cultivation, Fellow Daoist must be quite confident in forming a Golden Core."
The woman said this with a serious and respectful expression, which made Zhang Ling somewhat unconcerned.
Zhang Ling's mind turned, and he changed the subject, "Fellow Daoist is joking. I have only just made a breakthrough. Forming a Golden Core is not so easy. But I am here indeed to make some preparations for charging towards Core Formation."
The woman was also quite perceptive, her expression changed quickly, and she glanced at the hood on Zhang Ling's head. She giggled and said, "Oh, is that so? We parted in a hurry before, and I still don't know Fellow Daoist's name."
"Wang Feng."
"So it's Fellow Daoist Wang. This concubine is Huang Ying, greetings Fellow Daoist."
"Fellow Daoist Huang is too polite."
"Haha, it's an honor to know a cultivator as strong as Fellow Daoist. I heard that Brother Wang needs Frost Jade Pills and Fire Toad Liquid. These two items are not ordinary, and the Lan Herb Hall's treasury does not have them right now."
"What, you don't have them here either?" Zhang Ling frowned under the hood.
"Brother Wang has come at a bad time. You may not know, but Azure Water City held an auction aimed at Foundation Establishment cultivators half a year ago, and many treasures were used for auction. Among them were three Frost Jade Pills. Now, if you search for these two spiritual objects in the city, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."
Hearing about the auction, Zhang Ling's heart sank. It was not long ago. He couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If he had come out of seclusion earlier, he might have caught up with the auction.
This news also meant that it would be even more difficult for him to find spiritual objects that could help him form a Core.
Seeing Zhang Ling silent, Huang Ying rolled her eyes and said, "If Brother Wang really needs these two spiritual objects, this concubine has some news related to the Frost Jade Pill."
"What news?"
"It's also a matter of our Lan Herb Hall. Recently, an elder of our Lan Herb Hall is going to hunt a high-level demon beast and needs some Pseudo-Core Realm cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment to set up an array to assist. The reward is a Frost Jade Pill. I wonder if Brother Wang is interested."
Hunting a high-level demon beast, Zhang Ling frowned.
He had seen the strength of high-level demon beasts when defending against sea beasts before. They were not comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators, and one strike was enough to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Although his current strength was different from then, the danger was still conceivable.
"Fairy Huang, can you first explain what the Pseudo-Core Realm cultivators need to do?"
"Of course. It's simple. A total of five cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment are needed to jointly set up an array to temporarily trap the high-level demon beast. As for killing the demon beast, it will be left to a Golden Core Realm elder of the Lan Herb Hall. This concubine will also participate in this matter."
"As for that high-level demon beast, it's just a fifth-order demon beast, only good at escaping. Its strength is not very strong. As long as the array can be set up successfully, we will not be in any danger." Huang Ying chuckled and said lightly.
"Fifth-order demon beast?" Zhang Ling smiled wryly and did not answer immediately.
"Brother Wang doesn't have to make a decision now. You can think about it first. We have only confirmed two Pseudo-Core Realm cultivators, and there are still three places. However, other managers of the Lan Herb Hall are also looking for cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Brother Wang also needs to make a decision in a short time. This matter will be filled up in ten days at most."
Huang Ying then took out a communication talisman. Zhang Ling politely accepted the communication talisman. After the two exchanged a few words, he walked out of the Lan Herb Hall.
Standing in the square, he looked back at the Lan Herb Hall and shook his head slightly. Zhang Ling was thinking about the pros and cons of hunting demon beasts.
The danger was self-evident. The only thing to consider was whether it was true that he could not find Frost Jade Pills in the city, as Fairy Huang said.
He had been in Azure Water City for more than twenty years, but he had not had much contact with other cultivators. He was mostly in seclusion, so the news was blocked. He had only just come out of seclusion, so he still needed to inquire about this.
Zhang Ling then walked towards the shops next to him. For the rest of the day, he almost ran through several markets in Azure Water City, entering and exiting some large shops, but the news he got was similar to what he heard from the Lan Herb Hall.
Several of the shops also had news of Frost Jade Pills, but none of them could be exchanged for spirit stones. One shop even said that it was almost impossible to buy Frost Jade Pills in the city in the last ten years.
Ten years was not a long time for Foundation Establishment cultivators, but Zhang Ling had already cultivated to the peak of Foundation Establishment. Even if he took more pills or meditated and cultivated, he would basically not increase his spiritual power.
This was because the dantian was already filled with spiritual power, unless he broke through to the next realm. This was what cultivators called reaching a bottleneck. In this situation, unless there was external force or the assistance of some heaven-defying treasures, it would be impossible to break through.
If it was a small realm, bitter cultivation might still be useful, but breaking through to the Golden Core was a major bottleneck. No matter how hard Zhang Ling cultivated for another twenty years, his strength would not change much.
This threshold blocked countless cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Crossing this threshold meant becoming a Golden Core cultivator. This was a true high-level cultivator.
Golden Core cultivators were respected everywhere. Even in some super sects, Golden Core cultivators were elder-level cultivators. In some small sects, it was common for Golden Core cultivators to be the head of a faction.
In the next two days, Zhang Ling wandered back and forth in the markets of Azure Water City. In addition to large shops, he also entered and exited many small and medium-sized shops. The conclusion he reached was that there were no Frost Jade Pills in ten years, and there was no news of Fire Toad Liquid at all.
Of course, there were not only Frost Jade Pills and Fire Toad Liquid that could increase the chances of forming a Core. There were also five or six other spiritual objects in the Azure Stream Sea, but they were even rarer and more difficult to find.
After Zhang Ling returned to his cave, he also began to consider whether to agree to the Lan Herb Hall's hunting of high-level demon beasts.
...
A few days later, Zhang Ling finally decided to accept the matter. Having made a decision, he immediately took out the communication talisman given by Huang Ying and sent a message. After a while, he received a reply from Huang Ying, asking him to wait for news.
In these few days, he roughly understood the spiritual objects that could increase the Core Formation of cultivators in the Azure Stream Sea cultivation world and some precautions.
Many relevant books recorded that Frost Jade Pills and Fire Toad Liquid were the most common auxiliary Core Formation spiritual objects.
Fire Toad Liquid could make the cultivator's meridians smooth and contained a large amount of spiritual power, but the medicinal power was too strong and needed to be neutralized with Frost Jade Pills.
These two spiritual objects had to be used together to be effective.
The cold and hot spiritual powers interacted with each other. Although the increased probability was not much, it was regarded as a treasure by cultivators facing Core Formation.
Because Core Formation was not 100% certain for the average person, even if it only increased the probability by one or two percent, it was still highly sought after.
Only those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, who were favored by the heavens, could cultivate step by step, and breaking through to the Golden Core stage was only a matter of time. Finding a cultivator with Heavenly Spiritual Roots meant that a Golden Core Realm expert was reserved. This was the difference in aptitude, and other cultivators could only envy them.
The probability of Frost Jade Pills and Fire Toad Liquid increasing Core Formation also varied from person to person. Generally speaking, it could only increase the probability by up to 10%.
Fortunately, taking these two spiritual objects together would not cause any harm to the cultivator's body. In the end, even if the breakthrough was not successful, there would be no danger or aftereffects.
Most of the spiritual objects that increased the chances of Core Formation contained powerful spiritual power, and some special spiritual objects had certain requirements for the spiritual power attributes cultivated by the cultivator. They were even more rare and hard to find. They could not be exchanged for spirit stones.
Of course, Zhang Ling also understood in his heart that since the Lan Herb Hall was willing to use Frost Jade Pills as a reward, things would never be as easy as the other party said, just presiding over the array. There might be other dangers, after all, he was facing a high-level demon beast.
If he went, it would definitely be dangerous.
...
Hmph! Zhang Ling touched his head and sneered.
Although he had many treasures on him, and even the heaven-defying mysterious treasure pearl, he was not confident in facing the bottleneck of the Golden Core.
After all, if he really waited in Azure Water City for a few years, or even more than ten years, he might be able to buy Frost Jade Pills and Fire Toad Liquid, but roughly, these spiritual objects would only appear at some auctions. At that time, without thinking, there would be many cultivators participating, and the risks would be high.
This was still because there was a place on Tianmen Island where the main medicine for Frost Jade Pills could grow. As for leaving this place and going to other places, the probability of finding these things would not be high.
Now that there was an opportunity to obtain Frost Jade Pills, Zhang Ling considered the pros and cons and decided to take a gamble.
With thoughts racing through his mind, Zhang Ling took off a yellow storage bag from his waist. With a flash of spiritual light, many things appeared on the table.
