However, since he was primarily focused on cultivating immortal techniques and his spare time was limited, Zhang Ling naturally didn't dedicate too much attention to the Fiend Slaughtering Art.
But now, upon seeing the Supple Bone Art and finding it suitable for cultivation without consuming too much time, he decided to practice it.
Mastering the Supple Bone Art wouldn't significantly increase his strength; at most, it would make his movements more elusive, potentially offering surprising effectiveness in evading attacks from other cultivators. This was why Zhang Ling valued the Supple Bone Art.
Additionally, he discovered three identical tokens in the storage pouches of these three individuals, inscribed with the ancient characters for 'Changyue Sect'.
Zhang Ling searched his memory and recalled some information. The Changyue Sect was a mid-sized sect, typically with three or four Nascent Soul elders overseeing it. It could be considered a significant power.
He immediately destroyed the three tokens, along with any other identifying items and their storage pouches, to avoid attracting trouble.
In the following days, Zhang Ling continued hunting desolate beasts while simultaneously studying the Supple Bone Art. Time passed quietly in this manner.
Five years later, Zhang Ling gathered all the necessary demon cores and concluded his journey in the desolate region, returning to his cave on Fire Cloud Island.
Upon returning to his cave, he began refining Spiritual Breath Soil using earth-attribute and metal-attribute demon cores.
Over the past few years, he had lured and killed over a hundred high-level desolate beasts using the Heavenly Demon Incense, including more than sixty Rank 5 demon cores.
The remaining cores were mostly Rank 6, and he even managed to kill two Rank 7 desolate beasts, obtaining their Rank 7 demon cores. Obtaining these two Rank 7 demon cores cost him several damaged formations.
However, considering the price of Rank 7 demon cores, it was still worthwhile. They contained extremely abundant spiritual power, with one core being equivalent to ten Rank 5 demon cores. They were also highly sought after in the market, virtually unobtainable with spirit stones.
Demon cores of this grade were excellent for both refining weapons and pills, making them precious to Golden Core cultivators like him. Even Nascent Soul-level experts often collected demon cores of this grade.
After all, Rank 8 demon beasts could transform into human form, and they represented a watershed moment, possessing strength comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators and intelligence no less than that of humans. Moreover, they often surpassed human cultivators in strength.
In the desolate region, Rank 8 desolate beasts, comparable to Rank 8 demon beasts, did not transform but were still as strong as Nascent Soul cultivators, making them exceptionally difficult to kill.
Rank 7 demon cores were the highest-grade demon cores available on the market.
Refining ten thousand catties of Spiritual Breath Soil required over thirty Rank 5 earth-attribute demon cores and seven or eight metal-attribute demon cores, along with other metal and earth-attribute materials.
Although these materials were numerous, they were all available for purchase in the super-city of Myriad Manifestations City, and he bought them all with spirit stones.
Once everything was prepared, he began refining the Spiritual Breath Soil. The refining process wasn't complex, just time-consuming.
And so, a year and a half passed in this refinement.
On this day, Zhang Ling emerged from the cave with a joyful expression, holding a gourd about ten feet in size. He stomped his foot and flew into the air, casting several spells on the gourd, causing it to spin. Then, a yellow light flickered at the mouth of the gourd, and a rustling sound came from within.
A flash of yellow light occurred, and a cloud of yellow sand shot out, transforming into a giant yellow sand sword that directly struck a large rock.
Instantly, the large rock was split into several pieces. Then, the yellow sand sword swayed and transformed into streams of quicksand, dragging several rocks into the sky. After a series of bangs, the shattered rocks turned into dust.
The hand seals changed again, and the yellow sand flowed and solidified into a series of earthen-yellow spears, quickly dancing in the air.
Zhang Ling shouted silently in his heart, and the spears shot out all at once, leaving arm-thick holes in the ground.
With a thought, the holes in the ground began to rustle, and the ground within a dozen yards churned, causing large areas of earth and stone to collapse.
He didn't stop there; his hand seals continued to change, and the collapsing earth and stone spun, as if attracted by something, gathering towards the center.
After a few breaths, a giant earth ball with a diameter of seven or eight feet formed, covered with a layer of glittering yellow sand, looking like an earth ball emitting yellow spiritual light.
Several rays of light entered the earth ball, causing it to spin and emit a layer of golden light. The size suddenly shrank, and after the spiritual light dissipated, the earth ball turned into a giant yellowish-brown rock.
With a loud bang, the stone ball crashed to the ground, leaving a deep pit.
"Hmph, this semi-finished Heavenly Star Sand isn't weaker than ordinary magical treasures. Not bad..."
Zhang Ling muttered to himself. Then, the stone ball on the ground shattered, and grains of yellow sand flew out, all gathering in front of him in a short while.
These sand grains looked like ordinary yellow sand, but they were semi-finished spiritual sand refined from the Spiritual Breath Soil over the past year using alchemic fire.
This yellow sand wasn't yet Heavenly Star Sand; it still needed one last step: fusing with Heavenly Star Stone and a Yao Stone to become complete Heavenly Star Sand.
He had collected another piece of Heavenly Star Stone during this period, but he was still far short of enough Heavenly Star Stone to fuse with ten thousand catties of spiritual sand.
Heavenly Star Stone could improve the activation of the yellow sand. But as for the most crucial Yao Stone, there was still no news.
Zhang Ling couldn't help but sigh. With a flash of spiritual light, the green gourd reappeared, collecting all the yellow sand inside.
It seemed that finding a Yao Stone would require more time and effort.
But there was no rush. He planned to stay put during this time, keeping an eye out for this matter while also handling some miscellaneous affairs.
...
A layer of pale white mist floated in the spirit beast room. Zhang Ling pushed the door open and scanned the room, spotting two white, fluffy objects crawling slowly among a pile of ice mist grass in the corner.
With a wave of his hand, the two white objects landed in his palm. They were two jade-white, half-foot-long worms that looked chubby. Their abdomens had pairs of small, black-spotted feet, but the heads of the two worms were slightly different: one was cyan-black, and the other was purple-red.
The cyan-black one was female, and the purple-red one was male. These were the two ice silkworm larvae he had recently tamed.
Zhang Ling released his divine sense to sense their condition. After several years of nurturing, both larvae had reached the late stage of Rank 1.
