Zhang Ling's eyes swept across the table, and the first thing he saw were two stacks of talismans.
One stack appeared to have hundreds of talismans, all of which were low-level. The other stack only had about twenty, but each of them was circulating with the power of the five elements. These were mostly second-order talismans, each containing mid-level spells, possessing considerable power.
These talismans alone cost Zhang Ling over thirteen thousand spirit stones. A single second-order talisman was worth between three hundred to seven or eight hundred spirit stones. Among them were also three or four third-order talismans, each worth over a thousand spirit stones.
After glancing at the talismans, Zhang Ling opened a cyan jade box, inside which lay a shimmering white talisman. This talisman was the most precious of them all.
A flash of spiritual light shone in Zhang Ling's eyes, allowing him to see through the white light and clearly discern the appearance of the talisman. It was a yellow talisman with a golden wheel engraved on it.
The golden wheel was not a static object; with a flash of white light, it transformed into a rotating wheel about the size of a soda, spinning incessantly on the two-inch talisman.
“Talisman Treasure Golden Moon Wheel.” This treasure cost Zhang Ling fifteen thousand spirit stones, which he obtained from a merchant alliance called Wanbao. The two stacks of talismans were also acquired there.
After organizing the talismans, Zhang Ling stored them in his storage bag and proceeded to examine the other items on the table, including some pills and jade boxes.
Notably, a wooden box contained two purplish-black pills. These were Thunderstorm Pills, a somewhat strange name, but they were the same as Heavenly Thunder Fire Pearls and similar items, just with a different name. Their power was also similar, capable of threatening Foundation Establishment cultivators.
In addition to these and some other items, he spent a total of over forty thousand spirit stones. He had visited several shops, exchanging the remaining pills he had for spirit stones.
Now, he had basically no spirit stones left.
After organizing these items, Zhang Ling headed towards the medicinal field. He soon emerged and entered another stone room within the cave dwelling. With a wave of his hand, two spirit woods appeared on the ground.
One was pitch black, with cracked flame patterns, a millennium-old Flame Wood.
The other was a cyan-blue bamboo, as thick as an arm. As soon as it was placed on the ground, a layer of white frost formed. This was also a millennium-old Frost Bamboo.
Looking at these two spirit woods, Zhang Ling calmed his mind. He pointed at the Flame Wood, causing it to stand upright on the ground.
Zhang Ling's eyes narrowed, and his hand formed a series of hand seals. Several yellow spiritual powers struck the wood, causing the Flame Wood to tremble. The cracked flame patterns flickered, and with a muffled sound, the entire Flame Wood ignited in a layer of flames.
Zhang Ling gave a low shout, and the flames on the Flame Wood expanded again. As the flames flowed and danced, continuing for an unknown amount of time, the flames turned deep red and were once again suppressed onto the Flame Wood using a secret technique.
At this moment, the Flame Wood became completely red, with only a faint yellow spiritual light flickering at its center. This spiritual light, from a distance, resembled a short sword.
This was the Flame Sword Aura that Zhang Ling had spent a lot of time condensing. Now, he would compress and refine this sword aura into a sword talisman.
Zhang Ling then urged the spell, chanting some incantations in a low voice. With the spell, the yellow sword light in the Flame Wood grew brighter and brighter, its color also changing to a mix of yellow and red.
This process lasted for several hours, exhausting Zhang Ling to the point of being covered in sweat, even with his current cultivation level. The sword aura had completely turned crimson, and the Flame Wood nourishing the sword aura cracked and shattered into countless pieces, falling to the ground.
Zhang Ling held the crimson sword aura in one hand, while the yellow spiritual light in his other hand transformed into tiny threads, wrapping around the sword aura.
Thus, Zhang Ling stayed in the stone room for two full days. When he emerged again, he held two inch-sized sword talismans, one cyan-blue and one crimson, each containing powerful ice and fire elemental spiritual power. The spiritual power on them was extremely unstable.
Carefully pinching the two sword talismans, Zhang Ling was quite surprised. As expected, the sword aura condensed from millennium-old spirit wood was incomparable to what he had before. He could also sense a dangerous aura from them.
If a cultivator at his pseudo-core stage were to take a direct hit from one of these sword auras, they would either die or be severely injured.
Zhang Ling patted his storage bag, and another black inch-sized sword talisman appeared in his hand. This was the sword talisman condensed from the five-hundred-year-old Iron Wood that he had cut down when he planted the Frost Bamboo more than a decade ago.
With three sword talismans, two Thunderstorm Pills, a talisman treasure, and a large number of talismans, plus his Corpse Bear puppet, he was confident that he could safely deal with two or three cultivators of the same level.
These were all the methods Zhang Ling had prepared, just waiting for news from the Orchid Grass Hall.
After organizing all his belongings, Zhang Ling rested in the stone room. The next morning, a sound transmission talisman flew into his cave dwelling.
...
Two days later, Zhang Ling closed his cave dwelling and took the Six甲 Bewildering God Formation with him, heading towards Azure Water City.
Soon after, he arrived at a street with few cultivators in the northern market of Azure Water City. He then walked casually to a small shop with the name White Water Residence.
The shop door was closed, not looking like it was open for business. Zhang Ling looked around and rhythmically tapped the shop door a few times.
After a few breaths, the shop door opened a crack. The person opening the door was Huang Ying. She smiled when she saw him and welcomed Zhang Ling into the shop.
“Brother Wang, please come in quickly, the others have already arrived.”
Entering the shop, it was dark inside. Various miscellaneous items were placed around, including magical instruments, jade scrolls, and a large number of demon beast materials. It seemed to be a general store.
Huang Ying ignored these and led Zhang Ling into the backyard. After passing through a bluestone corridor, they entered an ordinary-looking hall.
As soon as the two entered the hall, several sharp gazes swept over them. Zhang Ling's face darkened, and he fixed his eyes on them.
In the hall, there was a circular wooden table about five or six feet in size, with some chairs placed around it. Two men and two women, four cultivators, were already seated around it.
“Fellow Daoists, this is Fellow Daoist Wang Feng. Like all of you, he is a cultivator recruited by our Orchid Grass Hall.” Huang Ying said with a smile.
“I am Wang Feng, greetings to all fellow Daoists.” A flash of spiritual light shone in Zhang Ling's eyes, and he immediately saw that these people's cultivation levels were the same as his, all having reached the pseudo-core realm.
“Fellow Daoist Wang is too polite, I am Hong Shan.” A middle-aged woman, about forty years old, stood up and said with a smile. Although this woman could not be called beautiful, she had some charm.
