Zhang Ling left the teahouse and directly flew towards the inner city on his escape light.
Seeing the atmosphere of Myriad Manifestation City and the conversation of those people just now, coupled with what Tu Fei said about the approaching beast tide, it now seems that the news is likely true.
The turbid Qi in the desolate region may have already erupted, but it has not yet spread to Myriad Manifestation City.
It is said that the duration of each turbid Qi eruption varies, with the shortest lasting one or two years and the longest lasting more than ten years.
The time seems short, but the erupted turbid Qi will become increasingly dense. If the turbid Qi eruption lasts for more than ten years, even ordinary cultivators with Heavenly Heart Stones that can resist turbid Qi will find it difficult to resist the erosion of turbid Qi once they go deep into it.
The casualties among mortals will be even more severe. At that time, a large number of mortals will be transformed into new desolate beasts in a short period of time, which will be a disaster for the entire Flowing Cloud Sea.
During the flight, Zhang Ling also became worried. Soon, he arrived at the inner city and stayed there for a few days, confirming the matter through some channels.
Although this matter has not yet spread among low-level cultivators, most high-level cultivators have heard about it.
With the outbreak of turbid Qi and the approaching beast tide, Zhang Ling also needs to prepare for it.
However, with his current cultivation level and the Xuan Turtle doppelganger, he is not too worried.
Three days later, at night, Zhang Ling, wearing a black robe and a hat, concealed his face and suppressed his cultivation to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, entering a street in the southern city.
He activated a letter talisman. Soon, a Foundation Establishment cultivator led him to a shop without a signboard.
Half a cup of tea later, Zhang Ling arrived at a dark wooden house through a small teleportation array, but the door was wide open, and outside seemed to be a street.
"Greetings, fellow Daoist. Each entry and exit here requires an additional three medium-grade spirit stones."
Zhang Ling had just glanced at the surrounding environment when he heard an old voice. He turned his head and saw a redwood counter on the left, behind which sat a white-haired old man.
This person looked at him with a smile, also a late-stage Golden Core realm expert.
Zhang Ling walked towards the door expressionlessly, while throwing out three medium-grade spirit stones, which landed on the counter.
"Hehe, fellow Daoist is straightforward. If you encounter any problems here, you can come to me."
The old man's chuckling laughter came from behind, but Zhang Ling walked out of the wooden house without paying attention and saw the street outside.
This is a ghost market, located hundreds of feet deep underground in Myriad Manifestation City, with only two straight streets, each hundreds of feet long. There are many houses and shops on both sides of the road.
Each shop has a half-丈-sized lantern floating in front of it, emitting a dim yellow light, illuminating the entire street.
Many of the shops have their doors wide open, with stalls set up in front of them, displaying many items. It's like a small market that loose cultivators often enter and exit.
Zhang Ling glanced at the things on these stalls and couldn't help but be secretly surprised. In front of a shop on the left front, there were many items, all of which were magical artifacts, and each one was a top-grade magical artifact.
And there was a faint flash of spiritual light inside the shop. He glanced inside and found several magic treasures placed inside. It seems to be a shop with considerable strength.
In front of a shop on the right, there were several jade boxes, emitting a burst of medicinal fragrance. These were several rare spiritual herbs that were three to four hundred years old, which could be used to refine pills suitable for Golden Core cultivators.
However, there were not many cultivators on the street, only twenty or thirty people, but seven or eight of them were Golden Core cultivators like him.
Zhang Ling did not stop in front of these shops and quickly walked towards the other side of the street.
At the end of the street, there was a two-story pavilion.
This building was dark and oppressive, with a layer of black light all over it, like an iron building. In the entire underground ghost market, only this pavilion was somewhat special, and there were no lanterns for lighting at the door. The door was also wide open, and it was dark inside, with no light visible.
Zhang Ling walked straight in. As soon as he entered, he found that his divine sense was suppressed, and he could only release it for a distance of ten or so feet.
He didn't care about these. In fact, with his current strength, he could forcibly operate the power of divine sense to see farther, but it was obviously unnecessary.
"So a fellow Daoist has arrived."
A playful voice came from all around, a woman's voice, sounding young. But no one could be seen.
At the same time as the voice came, Zhang Ling saw a light appearing several feet in front of him, illuminating a white jade carved square table, and a yellow futon appeared on the ground. At the same time, a figure wrapped in black mist sat on the opposite side.
"Fellow Daoist has come to the Immortal Inquiry Pavilion, do you have something to ask?"
Zhang Ling also flashed and sat on the futon, looking at the cultivator wrapped in black Qi on the opposite side. There was divine sense suppression here, and this person still didn't show his true face, so he was probably not an ordinary cultivator.
"I'm here to inquire about information on a material."
"Oh, that's simple. As long as fellow Daoist can say the name, our Immortal Inquiry Pavilion will definitely give fellow Daoist the answer. However, the spirit stone fee charged will be determined by the Immortal Inquiry Pavilion. Presumably, fellow Daoist is aware of our rules when coming here. If we cannot answer fellow Daoist's question, the spirit stones will be returned twofold. What kind of material does fellow Daoist want to ask about?"
The black-robed person seemed to be a female cultivator, and a gentle voice came out, but the tone was extremely arrogant.
Zhang Ling sneered in his heart. He came here to inquire about the news of the Cloud Swallowing Stone.
This Immortal Inquiry Pavilion is also a force similar to Snow Moon Tower, but it is not on the surface. Some cultivators speculate that the Immortal Inquiry Pavilion may be a hall of Snow Moon Tower, but no one knows for sure. The difference is that the Immortal Inquiry Pavilion only sells information.
Zhang Ling has the Blood Soul Cauldron, so naturally he will not go to Snow Moon Tower again, so he can only come here to inquire. In the mouths of some high-level cultivators, the Immortal Inquiry Pavilion is more accurate than Snow Moon Tower in inquiring about news, and there will never be false news. But the cost is very high.
"I want to know all the information about the Cloud Swallowing Stone."
Cloud Swallowing Stone.
The other party was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "Hehe, so fellow Daoist is looking for this material. This little girl does know about this material, but to ask about this matter, please take out 50,000 spirit stones."
Zhang Ling frowned slightly when he heard this. He thought the cost of asking questions here would be very high, but he didn't expect it to be 50,000 spirit stones. Is the other party raising the price on the spot?
50,000 spirit stones are nothing to him, but it would take ordinary cultivators, even high-level cultivators, two or three years to accumulate them. The offerings of some Golden Core elders of the sect are roughly the same for several years.
Seeming to see that he was a little hesitant, the person on the opposite side said again. "The Cloud Swallowing Stone is an extremely rare material, and it has another name, called the Light Gathering Stone." At this point, this person stopped talking.
Zhang Ling snorted and threw a storage bag onto the table. He naturally didn't feel sorry for the spirit stones, but he didn't want this person to see that he was wealthy.
The person wrapped in black mist glanced at the storage bag and nodded before speaking again.
"Since fellow Daoist has paid the fee, this concubine will definitely satisfy fellow Daoist. The Cloud Swallowing Stone, also known as the Light Gathering Stone, is condensed from the pure cloud Qi between heaven and earth. This object can be used to refine several special pills and can also be used to refine magic treasures. In the Flowing Cloud Sea, there are only three places where it can be collected."
"One place is in the Thunder Cloud Secret Realm controlled by the Thunder Cloud Gate, one is in the Demon Cloud Mountains, and the other is on the Cloud Mountain Peak on Flying Cloud Island."
