"Hehe, please come in, friend Zhang. I didn't expect you to reach the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. Your future is limitless," this person complimented him first.
Zhang Ling shook his head, smiled, and said casually, "My cultivation level is just a fluke breakthrough. Fellow Daoist(道友: fellow Taoist, a respectful term for a cultivator) Fire Dragon, hasn't your cultivation also greatly improved? You've already reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm."
Hearing these words, Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) seemed quite pleased and chuckled.
"I wonder what you invited Zhang here for."
Seeing him ask directly, Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) didn't beat around the bush. He took a sip of fragrant tea and began to speak about the matter.
"Meeting you at the market today can be considered fate. I am currently looking for a cultivator proficient in earth-attribute techniques. I have an opportunity; I wonder if you are interested."
As he spoke, Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) glanced at Zhang Ling but didn't see any expression on Zhang Ling's face. He smiled and said a few words: "We have discovered an ancient cultivator's remains."
Zhang Ling instantly understood. It seemed that Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) might have found an ancient cultivator's ruins and invited him to explore for treasure.
Zhang Ling frowned, genuinely considering it in his heart. Exploring ancient cultivator ruins carries many dangers, but the opportunities are also significant.
"My friend recently discovered ancient cultivator ruins on a deserted island. However, there is a troublesome earth prison array there. It requires three cultivators who practice earth-attribute techniques to work together to have a chance to break it. We are still short one person. If you are interested, we can explore for treasure immediately. Such an opportunity is not to be missed..."
As Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) spoke, he took out a fist-sized precious pearl from his storage bag. Zhang Ling recognized it at a glance as a image-recording pearl. However, he asked in surprise, "This is?"
"This image-recording pearl contains some information about that ancient ruins, which can verify the truth of what I said. You can take a look first and then decide; it's not too late," Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) chuckled, revealing a somewhat mysterious expression.
Zhang Ling smiled, and without being polite, he raised his hand and draw the white image-recording pearl into the air, and a wisp of yellow spiritual light struck it.
Instantly, the precious pearl lit up with dazzling white light. The naked eye could not see the situation in the light, but a sweep of divine sense could observe the recorded picture information inside.
As time passed, Zhang Ling's expression became solemn.
" Ancient cultivator ruins," Zhang Ling murmured after withdrawing his divine sense.
Then he asked Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) about the specific situation.
Then the two stayed in the quiet room for over an hour, and then Zhang Ling left. He did not immediately agree to this matter.
Instead, he said he would consider it and give him an answer in three days. Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) also nodded, saying there was no rush. There was still more than half a month before the time agreed upon by several people, and he could consider it during this time.
Then, Zhang Ling no longer had the mood to stroll around Wanxiang City and returned to Fire Cloud Island.
Ancient cultivator ruins are often discovered in the cultivation world, but most people who enter them gain nothing and even face great risks.
Some strange places even seal powerful demons. Once released, they will cause chaos in the cultivation world. This kind of thing has happened several times, and each time a large number of cultivators die.
And the secret realms controlled by some families or sect forces are mostly this kind of ancient cultivator ruins, but these are controlled by a single force or several forces together, and outsiders have difficulty entering.
Ancient cultivator ruins still have high value in the eyes of cultivators. This represents opportunity. Some people can bring out ancient cultivation methods, pills, or other treasures from the ruins. Among them, some people's cultivation advances rapidly and they become a strong figure.
In general, the discovery of ancient cultivator ruins is very attractive to cultivators. This is a rare opportunity, and it is possible to discover some good treasures inside, more or less. Of course, luck also plays a big role.
Just like the Kunshan Sect base he and Ding Ruozhao and others found in the desolate region before, it was also an ancient ruins, and they obtained many ancient cultivation methods there.
However, Zhang Ling has not yet decided whether to go or not, after all, ancient ruins have great threats.
However, Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) gave him some pointers when he had just formed his core, and he had contacted this person several times afterwards. He still had some friendship, so he did not refuse outright.
Time passed quickly, and a few days passed in a flash.
Zhang Ling finally agreed to Fire Dragon Shangren's(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) invitation to explore the ancient ruins.
The biggest reason was that his cultivation progress had encountered a bottleneck, and perhaps traveling outside might allow him to break through his cultivation.
Of course, he was also very interested in ancient ruins. If he was lucky, he might have some good gains.
Of course, to be on the safe side, Zhang Ling brought the corpse bear, two-tailed cat, and spirit insects with him. With these aids, his strength was definitely comparable to a late-stage Golden Core realm expert.
In addition to the ancient treasures and magic weapons on his body, as long as he didn't encounter an old monster at the Nascent Soul level, Zhang Ling believed he wouldn't have much of a problem.
Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) was naturally very happy to see him agree to the treasure hunt.
The two stayed in Wanxiang City for a few more days, and then flew directly towards the east of Wanxiang City. Their destination was not the desolate region, but deep into the human territory.
According to this person, the location of the ancient ruins was on a deserted island 100,000 miles east of Wanxiang City.
Thus, after flying for seven or eight days, they finally saw a large island.
From a distance, the island was extremely large, with an area of over a thousand miles. It floated in the sky like a monster.
As soon as they entered the area within dozens of miles of the island, Zhang Ling sensed a bone-chilling strong wind blowing in the air. From time to time, he could see wind clusters forming in the air with the naked eye.
These wind clusters rotated rapidly. The weak ones were like a gentle breeze, and the strong ones had considerable offensive power.
He and Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) had now activated their spiritual energy shields. The whirlwind struck their bodies, emitting a hissing sound as if they were attacked by wind blades.
This was astral wind from between the heavens and the earth, which often formed in the Flowing Cloud Sea. Low-level cultivators who entered it without protective measures were in great danger. However, it was nothing to Golden Core cultivators.
Fire Dragon Shangren(上人: a respectful title for a senior cultivator) led Zhang Ling to fly towards the deserted island without hesitation. The two flew directly to the central area of the island, and then fell directly from the sky.
The central area of this island, hundreds of miles in area, formed a windless zone, unaffected by the astral wind.
They landed on a small mountain. Zhang Ling released his divine sense to investigate again. With the increase in his cultivation, the range now covered more than twenty miles in radius.
In a few breaths, he roughly investigated the surrounding situation.
There was not much vegetation on the small mountain. There were some shrubs, flowers, and other low vegetation, but there were very few trees. What was quite strange was that some blue stones were exposed in the soil under their feet. These blue stones looked like quartz crystal lumps, which looked very beautiful.
