During Zhang Ling's search for the spiritual herbs he needed, a small episode occurred.
It was somewhat related to the Yuan Ling Water. The recipe for Yuan Ling Water was easy to obtain, but the required spiritual herbs were rare.
While collecting spiritual herbs, a force called the Apothecary Sect saw through his intentions and tried to recruit him.
According to the steward who extended the invitation, the Apothecary Sect had considerable power. Joining them would grant him a bottle of Yuan Ling Water.
The Apothecary Sect would also fully assist him in forming his core.
Because of this, Zhang Ling had seriously considered it, but there is no such thing as a free lunch. Naturally, there were many restrictions and taboos.
First, although the Apothecary Sect would provide a bottle of Yuan Ling Water, Zhang Ling had to make a Heart Demon Oath to become a temporary steward of the Apothecary Sect. He would only receive the Yuan Ling Water after working for the Apothecary Sect for ten years.
Zhang Ling could barely accept this condition, but the second condition was very different.
The second constraint was that if he ultimately failed to break through to the Golden Core stage, he would have to work for the Apothecary Sect for fifty years for free.
However, if he broke through to the Golden Core stage, the Apothecary Sect would treat him as an elder instead.
Zhang Ling would naturally not accept fifty years. The value of a single bottle of Yuan Ling Water was too low. Most cultivators would probably not accept it.
But there were always some cultivators who would make that choice.
After all, this was one of the few opportunities on the market to obtain items helpful for forming a core.
Of course, the Apothecary Sect was not the only force. Other major forces also released spiritual objects to lure some pseudo-core cultivators.
These forces did this naturally to recruit cultivators with considerable strength. If some rogue cultivators could really become Golden Core cultivators, they would often join their forces, thereby strengthening them.
Of course, these forces were not afraid of cultivators going back on their word. They themselves had a lot of background. After all, the strength to produce core-forming spiritual objects was not small, and most of them had Nascent Soul-level old monsters as backers.
Even the Golden Core cultivators who were recruited would often not offend these forces.
And the conditions for these forces to recruit cultivators were different. For example, the Apothecary Sect required considerable skill in alchemy.
They noticed Zhang Ling because he had taken out a lot of pills in their shop to exchange for spirit stones before.
A major reason for this phenomenon was that there were many rogue cultivators in the Flowing Cloud Sea's cultivation world.
The rogue cultivators here lived much better than the rogue cultivators in the North Yuan cultivation world.
In the Flowing Cloud Sea, rogue cultivators could exchange their cultivation resources by hunting desolate beasts. Not to mention those Nascent Soul-stage old monsters, there were many rogue cultivators with Golden Core cultivation.
But Zhang Ling had his own plans for forming a core. Since he couldn't directly obtain Yuan Ling Water, he could concoct it himself. Now, he had basically collected all the spiritual herbs needed for Yuan Ling Water.
With the mysterious pearl in hand, the age of the spiritual herbs was not a problem for Zhang Ling.
Even so, Zhang Ling was still apprehensive about attacking the Golden Core stage. In addition to collecting spiritual herbs and auxiliary spiritual objects for core formation, he also consulted many cultivation classics.
The two or three kinds of auxiliary spiritual medicines he prepared did not mean that using them together would immediately increase the probability of core formation by a large margin.
According to a large number of books, even cultivators like him with several core-forming spiritual objects would at most have a half-percent higher success rate than other cultivators.
But it was always much better than cultivators who did not take spiritual objects, and during this time, these preparations alone cost him more than 20,000 spirit stones.
At the same time, Zhang Ling was constantly consolidating his cultivation.
There was also a happy thing.
The "Earth Spirit Bees" obtained from Huang Ying, the honey of this kind of spirit insect, really had a lot of effect on him.
Zhang Ling obtained a total of three Earth Spirit Bee nests, each nest had a queen bee, and there were more than a thousand ordinary Earth Spirit Bees.
But these Earth Spirit Bees were just larvae, and they were not easy to cultivate. They could not produce honey yet.
He had asked Huang Ying about this matter. These Earth Spirit Bees were originally entrusted to this woman by Elder Chen because he didn't have time to take care of them.
The strength of the mature Earth Spirit Bees was not weak. If thousands of mature Earth Spirit Bees were dispatched together, it would not be a problem for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
If it reached tens of thousands, it was said that it would have a certain deterrent effect on Golden Core cultivators.
And Elder Chen raised more than 5,000 mature Earth Spirit Bees, but after his death, most of the mature Earth Spirit Bees died violently.
Only a few newly raised queen bees were left, and he didn't have time to plant a restriction before they could reach his hands.
He could judge that the honey of the Earth Spirit Bees was useful because he took a few drops of the honey left in Elder Chen's storage bag every day for several months.
These honeys were produced by mature Earth Spirit Bees. With uninterrupted consumption, the spiritual power in the dantian was slowly compressed.
The effect was not obvious, but it also surprised Zhang Ling. These honeys actually had the effect of compressing spiritual power and condensing true essence.
These compressed spiritual powers were more pure, and at the same time, his dantian had some space left. After taking the elixir, the total amount of spiritual power in his body increased again.
Although it was very small, this phenomenon meant that as long as there was a steady stream of Earth Spirit Bee honey, the spiritual power in Zhang Ling's body could still improve a lot.
The Dry Earth Skill he practiced was originally a not weak technique. In addition to the attached magical powers, the earth spiritual power cultivated was originally relatively condensed. Refining the spiritual power again would invisibly increase the probability of forming a core.
With Zhang Ling's knowledge, if the spiritual power in his body was completely refined, it would at least increase the probability of forming a core by another 10%.
However, this process was very long, and there was not much Earth Spirit Bee honey left, which could only supply him for a few months.
Zhang Ling also began to raise the three queen bees and thousands of Earth Spirit Bee larvae.
Originally, he had no experience in controlling insects, but fortunately, he found basic insect breeding classics in Elder Chen's storage bag. There was also a jade slip that recorded Elder Chen's points in cultivating Earth Spirit Bees.
Among these books, there was also a book called Ancient Strange Insect Records, which was a record book summarized by later generations.
According to the spirit insects that appeared in ancient times, the characteristics and other related information of these insects were recorded on it.
Zhang Ling flipped through it several times, and was greatly surprised, which made him gain a lot of knowledge.
There were as many as thousands of spirit insects recorded in it, and there were even some strange strange insects, all of which had some magical powers.
Most of the spirit insect introductions on it were also equipped with simple illustrations. Some powerful spirit insects were wild and exotic species, and had some special magical powers.
Like a wild and exotic insect called "World Devouring Insect".
It is said that it feeds on interfaces and has swallowed several interfaces. It is not something that monks can resist. Legend has it that even true immortals can only be swallowed when facing this exotic insect.
There are also other strange insects with considerable power, such as the Soul Singing Worm Mother, the Abyss Blood Gu, the Six-Winged Golden Cicada, and the Gold Eating Insect. None of them can be resisted by monks.
In this Strange Insect Records, there is also a Strange Insect List, which was ranked by later generations according to rumors. More than half of the spirit insects in it have not been seen since ancient times.
However, Zhang Ling was interested in reading it, and roughly understood these rumored exotic insects, which can be regarded as increasing his knowledge, and he also saw the information of the Earth Spirit Bee on the Strange Insect List.
The Earth Spirit Bee is a spirit-devouring insect. The so-called spirit-devouring insect is a type of spirit insect, not referring to a single species.
This type of spirit insect grows by devouring spiritual energy, and its strength and magical powers are also different. Among them, the Gold Eating Insect is the strongest of this type of spirit insect. It is rumored that it devours everything.
The Earth Spirit Bee is ranked 123rd on the Strange Insect List. The Earth Spirit Bee is a spirit insect that has mutated after absorbing the spiritual power of the earth veins. It likes to devour various spiritual flowers.
Don't look at the Earth Spirit Bee being ranked in the 100s, but the top 30 spirit insects on the Strange Insect List have long been extinct.
As long as it is a spirit insect before the 200th place, ordinary monks cannot see it. Elder Chen was able to find the Earth Spirit Bee, which was also due to some chance.
The strength of an Earth Spirit Bee is not very strong, but tens of thousands of them are very terrifying. Its strength is secondary. The Earth Spirit Bee can be ranked 123rd, naturally it has its own unique features.
According to records, Earth Spirit Bees like to devour various spiritual flowers, especially spiritual herbs and flowers containing earth spiritual power.
Earth attribute spiritual power is the most gentle among the five elements of spiritual power, so the honey it brews can be taken directly. Its greatest effect is to wash the spiritual power of monks.
Taking Earth Spirit Bee honey for a long time, the spiritual power in the monk's body will be much more than that of ordinary monks, even increasing by one or two times is possible.
This is the benefit of refining spiritual power. This is why honey can increase the chances of monks forming a core.
Especially the honey of the Earth Spirit Bee contains a lot of earth spiritual power, which has the best effect for monks who practice earth attribute exercises.
In addition, there is also a toxin on the tail hook of the Earth Spirit Bee, which also has some special uses.
After understanding the Earth Spirit Bee, Zhang Ling also knew that these spirit insects were not easy to cultivate. It would take a lot of time to cultivate the Earth Spirit Bee to maturity.
But in order to have more chances to form a core, the Earth Spirit Bee still needs to be cultivated.
Next, while Zhang Ling prepared for the Golden Core affairs, he put part of his mind on raising Earth Spirit Bees.
For this reason, he also specially purchased a spirit beast bag for cultivating spirit insects from a large shop. It cost nearly 10,000 spirit stones.
The large expenses in the past few months have also made Zhang Ling a little overwhelmed, but for his great cause of forming a core, these expenses are worth it.
In this way, Zhang Ling wandered between some small and medium-sized islands, while cultivating, while paying attention to the spiritual objects that assisted in forming a core.
In this way, Zhang Ling did not have a fixed cultivation place, and spent three years drifting along the way.
……
On this day, Zhang Ling was driving a magic weapon, a sky blue flying boat, and was traveling quickly in a cloud of clouds.
The blue flying boat is a top-quality flying magic weapon, which is half as fast as his original flying magic weapon in terms of speed, and there is a layer of light blue and white thin aura floating around it.
This is a layer of secret shield, which is built into the blue flying boat, and Zhang Ling only needs to use a small amount of spiritual power and spiritual consciousness to drive the flying boat.
Most of the spiritual power driving the flying boat is provided by spirit stones. This magic weapon is also a top-quality magic weapon. In fact, this type of special magic weapon that can be driven by spirit stones is called a spiritual weapon, and its cost is much more expensive than ordinary magic weapons.
This treasure was found in Elder Chen's storage bag and is now used for traveling. Not only is it surprisingly fast, but it also has a hidden effect, which Zhang Ling is very satisfied with.
At this moment, Zhang Ling is rushing to a large island called "Flying Cloud Island", which is one of the major islands controlled by the human race. It is known as the most prosperous human race's base. There is a large fairy city on it called "Myriad Manifestations City".
Zhang Ling had heard the three words "Myriad Manifestations City" countless times.
Its own location is special, located at the junction of the human race, the demon race, and the wilderness. One side of it is靠着 the wilderness, attracting a large number of monks to come here to kill desolate beasts.
An important role is to protect the human race. It can be said that the monks of the entire Flowing Cloud Sea yearn for the real fairy city. It gathers most of the elite monks of the human race, and it is said that there are seven or eight Nascent Soul monks stationed there all year round.
Zhang Ling had long yearned for Myriad Manifestations City, and this city not only has the human race, but in the east and west directions of Myriad Manifestations City, there are two medium-sized islands thousands of miles away, one is called Demon Hiding Valley, and the other is called Crescent Peak.
Demon Hiding Valley knows what kind of place it is by hearing the name. This is a special island. It is covered by a layer of mist all year round. This island is only opened once every hundred years. Usually human monks are not allowed to set foot on it.
Because this is the only force established by transformed demon races, it is said that there are many transformed demon beasts whose strength has reached the transformed demon beast.
This is a real demon cultivator, and each strength is comparable to an old monster in the Nascent Soul stage.
Why is there such a demon force? It is also because Myriad Manifestations City is close to the wilderness, and Demon Hiding Valley is the only special place where the human race connects with the demon race.
Crescent Peak is also a special place, gathering a large number of demon refiners. There are also some demon refiners whose strength has reached the Nascent Soul level. These people are also human monks.
It's just that the demon refiners have practiced special exercises. This is similar to those alien demon races in the North Yuan cultivation world.
And in the Flowing Cloud Sea, there is the threat of wild beasts in the wilderness, and the human race can unite with the demon race. This kind of alien human monks are naturally more acceptable.
It is not as opposed to the human race and the alien demon race in the North Yuan cultivation world.
Zhang Ling understands the situation of Myriad Manifestations City, naturally he is also preparing for forming a core.
The most taboo thing for monks to cultivate is to be disturbed by others, not to mention the breakthrough of the Golden Core, such a big bottleneck. The most taboo thing is great joy and great sorrow, and the absorption of certain heaven and earth spiritual energy when forming a core.
Therefore, finding an island with a little spiritual energy to retreat and form a core is the best choice.
Zhang Ling thought to himself, planning to condense the golden core in Myriad Manifestations City.
Although Myriad Manifestations City is close to the wilderness, there is a certain risk, but wild beasts will form a beast tide every few hundred years. In normal times, Myriad Manifestations City is naturally the best place to practice.
In the news Zhang Ling heard, the last wild beast attack only happened more than a hundred years ago, and there will basically be no wild beast attacks in the next two hundred years.
Since Myriad Manifestations City is so prosperous, it also absorbs a lot of cultivation resources. Maybe one or two kinds of spiritual objects that assist in forming a core can be found there. This is also one of his important purposes.
