An hour later, they arrived at Vientiane City.
Zhang Ling walked on a wide street, heading towards a white light curtain a hundred zhang ahead. Passing through the light curtain meant entering Vientiane City.
But after walking for a while, he noticed that Vientiane City seemed to have undergone some changes. Most of the buildings along the street were covered with spiritual light, indicating that they were closed.
Moreover, the cultivators on the street were walking in twos and threes, with solemn expressions on their faces.
Usually, this street was bustling with people, with many cultivators, and high-level cultivators could often be seen, but today it seemed a bit desolate, and the flow of people had decreased by more than half.
Zhang Ling looked up at the sky; it was noon. This was very unusual. Could it be that something major had happened?
After passing through the light curtain, he arrived inside Vientiane City.
Zhang Ling slightly released his divine sense and sensed the surroundings, discovering that the number of cultivators on the nearby main roads had also decreased significantly.
It seems I need to inquire about some news first, he thought. He headed directly towards a nearby market.
This was an outer city market called White Cloud Market. There were hundreds of such small markets in Vientiane City. They had the highest daily traffic, and mostly sold items suitable for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Of course, occasionally things needed by high-level cultivators would appear.
After entering White Cloud Market, there were more cultivators. However, the atmosphere between cultivators was not as lively as usual.
After wandering around the market, Zhang Ling walked into a teahouse with a plaque that read 'Little Wind Teahouse,' which was filled with many cultivators.
He went straight to the third floor, ordered a pot of Azure Cloud Spirit Tea, and sat in a corner near the window, carefully savoring it. At the same time, he released his divine sense to listen to the conversations of the surrounding cultivators.
After completing the second part of the Nine Yuan Refining Divine Art, his divine sense strength had increased a lot. The detection range alone had increased by four or five li compared to before.
This was roughly equivalent to an increase of more than 10% in divine sense strength. Compared to ordinary Golden Core late-stage cultivators, his divine sense strength exceeded a range of seven or eight li.
It didn't seem like much, but it brought many benefits.
With his current divine sense strength, as long as he was careful, probing the sound transmissions of ordinary Golden Core cultivators would not be a problem.
Moreover, there were no other Golden Core cultivators in the teahouse. He had scanned it once when he came in, and the highest cultivation level was only a few Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivators.
Several Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivators were sitting at a table on the other side of the third floor, discussing something.
These were the most powerful people here, and they were communicating using sound transmission, with a layer of protective cover outside.
Zhang Ling silently released a wisp of divine sense and invaded it, immediately hearing their sound transmission.
One of them, a fat cultivator in a yellow shirt with a big belly, was holding a middle-grade fire spirit stone, but looked hesitant.
A short-haired woman next to him asked a black-robed man sitting opposite her.
"Fellow Daoist Wu, you've given us so many middle-grade spirit stones, it can't just be to recruit the two of us, right? Even a Golden Core cultivator would be tempted by these spirit stones. You might as well just say what you want."
"Haha, you two are indeed discerning people, then Wu will not beat around the bush. Do you recognize this token?"
Although the black-robed man covered his face, Zhang Ling could see at a glance that he was a middle-aged man in his forties, but his sound transmission was very young.
"Eh, this is the Sky Eagle City Elder Token. Could it be that Fellow Daoist is an elder of Sky Eagle City?"
"Hehe, Wu is the Foreign Affairs Elder of Sky Eagle City." The short-haired beautiful woman suddenly thought of something when she saw the token, glanced at the fat cultivator, and said.
"So that's how it is. Could it be that your city wants to recruit our family's old ancestor?"
"Haha, Madam is so intelligent that she guessed Wu's intention. That's right, although our Sky Eagle City is just a medium-sized immortal city, the entire Sky Eagle Island is under the control of our Wu family. The Nascent Soul ancestor of the family is very eager for a Golden Core peak expert like the Wang family ancestor. As long as you two can persuade your family's ancestor to join Sky Eagle City, Wu..." The black-robed man said with a chuckle.
But before he could finish his words, the fat cultivator, who had not spoken all along, frowned and opened his mouth.
"Fellow Daoist Wu's family is a top-notch cultivation family that controls a medium-sized island, and there is even a Nascent Soul ancestor in the family. Its power is naturally not comparable to our Wang family's. But does Fellow Daoist think that a little bit of wealth will make our Wang family submit?"
"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Wang has misunderstood. Our Wu family does not want to annex the Wang family. But recently, something big is about to happen in the entire Flowing Cloud Sea. Our Wu family is just trying to recruit some strong people to help."
Zhang Ling shook his head when he heard this with his divine sense. These people seemed to be talking about the secrets between two cultivation families, and he had no interest in listening anymore. He was about to withdraw his divine sense, but then he heard the short-haired beautiful woman ask with a surprised expression.
"With the strength of Fellow Daoist's family, you still need to recruit help. Could it be that the thing that has been rumored recently is really coming?"
The black-robed cultivator nodded.
"The turbid Qi in the desolate area is erupting, and a desolate beast tide is coming. Although our Sky Eagle City ancestor has Nascent Soul strength, Sky Eagle City's location is a bit special. In the past, during such natural disasters, our Wu family would move the entire family to Vientiane City to resist the beast tide. But for hundreds of years, the Wu family has been operating Sky Eagle City on a small scale. It would be a pity to give up Sky Eagle City so easily and let the beast tide trample it. I'm afraid that the entire Sky Eagle City will no longer exist afterward. If your Wang family can help, coupled with the fact that our Wu family has recruited many Golden Core experts, it may be possible to resist the beast tide."
"Hehe, resist the beast tide, Fellow Daoist must be joking. In the past, when beast tides erupted, quite a few medium-sized immortal cities were destroyed, and Sky Eagle City's location seems to be close to the desolate area, right? The impact of the beast tide must be significant." The fat cultivator said with a cold snort, not taking it seriously.
"Fellow Daoist Wang also doesn't know, although Sky Eagle City's location is close to the desolate area, it's only on the edge. Every time a beast tide strikes, only some sporadic desolate beast groups strike. With the ancestor guarding it again, it is very likely to resist the beast tide. Furthermore, does Fellow Daoist think that the Wang family will be spared when the beast tide erupts? Every time a beast tide erupts, the Ten Great Sects and Vientiane City will gather the entire human race to resist. Even mortals cannot escape."
"Moreover, our Sky Eagle City received a summons from Vientiane City half a year ago and was listed as the second line of defense against the beast tide. Although the area where Fellow Daoist's family is located is in the interior, it will inevitably follow the orders of the Ten Great Sects and Vientiane City. If you are assigned to the first line of defense, I'm afraid it will be more dangerous than Sky Eagle City."
The black-robed man's words made the fat cultivator and his wife's faces turn ugly.
While these people were talking, the place where Zhang Ling was just now was already empty, and only a spirit stone was left on the table.
