“Yes, I, too, have never heard of a Soul Fusion Stone.”
No sooner had Zhang Ling finished stating the exchange conditions than several voices immediately rang out beside him.
Clearly, there were people interested in what he had brought out. Leaving aside the other two spiritual items he presented, the five Earth Spirit Fruits alone were of considerable value.
These were the main ingredients for refining Core Formation Pills, a Grade Five spiritual medicine. In the hands of a master alchemist, they could potentially yield more than ten Core Formation Pills.
Of course, to refine Core Formation Pills, the other auxiliary materials were not easy to gather either.
In truth, he hadn't expected to exchange for a Soul Fusion Stone at the trade fair. After all, it was the control core for high-level puppets, and puppetry was a rather niche art among the myriad cultivation skills, with very few cultivators mastering it these days.
This was also one of the reasons why he had been unable to find this material.
But since he was already here and a free trade was taking place, he wouldn't come for nothing. He might as well take this opportunity to inquire among the cultivators present.
The more voices asking, the better – this was exactly what Zhang Ling wanted to see.
With so many Core Formation cultivators gathered here, perhaps someone knew news of this material. If he could really find out about the Soul Fusion Stone, that would be best, but even if he couldn't, it wouldn't matter. Adding the exchange condition for Grade Four or Five pill formulas was also a temporary addition.
As many voices rose, there was a small commotion at the scene. Zhang Ling sighed inwardly and said.
“To be honest, fellow cultivators, this old man doesn't know what kind of material a Soul Fusion Stone is. I only know that it is a main material used to refine the control core of high-level puppets.”
“Hehe, it seems that you, fellow cultivator, are a devoted practitioner of puppetry. But this high-level puppetry, which has been lost for many generations, I'm afraid it will be difficult to collect the required materials. Why not change the exchange conditions?”
No sooner had Zhang Ling finished explaining the use of the Soul Fusion Stone than someone laughed strangely. Then, several more voices came, and some even wanted to exchange for his materials with ordinary items.
He rejected them unceremoniously with a voice transmission.
“This old man happens to have a few Grade Four pill formulas here. See if any of them please you, fellow cultivator.”
Suddenly, a voice entered his ears, and a figure similarly shrouded in a layer of gray light landed on the trading platform, throwing out a cyan jade slip.
Zhang Ling flicked his finger, and a ray of light shot out, transforming into a miniature yellow light hand that grabbed the jade slip. A strand of divine sense instantly invaded it, rudely examining the information inside.
“The pill formulas recorded on this jade slip are indeed Grade Four, but this old man has already collected the Red Light Pill, Gale Pill, Azure Jade Pill, and several other formulas. Only the other three formulas are uncommon, but judging from their descriptions, they don't seem to be rare pills for enhancing mana either. Other types of pills are of little use to cultivators like us. I'm afraid they are not enough to exchange for the treasures I have brought out.”
Zhang Ling shook his head slightly, and with a wave of his hand, the jade slip flew back to the person in front of him.
He sneered inwardly. Any cultivator who often practiced alchemy could basically collect these pill formulas with some time.
They were not particularly rare pill formulas. Could it be that he was being treated as a fool?
Hearing his refusal, the person was not angry but laughed strangely and said.
“Fellow cultivator is indeed knowledgeable. This old man is very fond of these Earth Spirit Fruits. Why not take another look at the pill formulas on this jade slip?”
As he spoke, this person threw out another jade slip engraved with flame spirit patterns.
Zhang Ling glanced at the flame jade slip and immediately saw that the flame spirit patterns on it were some kind of restriction, and it seemed to have been engraved just now. Without thinking, he roughly guessed the person's actions.
This person had just taken out an ordinary jade slip recording ordinary pill formulas, obviously intending to test him.
If he had confusedly exchanged his spiritual items, then exchanging for this flame jade slip now would cost even more.
As his divine sense examined this flame jade slip, Zhang Ling's eyes lit up. After a few breaths, he nodded in response.
“It seems that you, fellow cultivator, are also an expert in alchemy. The pill formulas on this are indeed somewhat useful. Since you have taken a fancy to these Earth Spirit Fruits, I wonder how many you plan to exchange for.”
“How about two pill formulas for one Earth Spirit Fruit?” Seeing him nod, the gray light-veiled figure immediately said.
“Are you joking, fellow cultivator? If you have no sincerity, I will wait for other fellow cultivators to come.” Zhang Ling snorted unceremoniously.
“Well, fellow cultivator, don't be angry. How do you want to exchange then? The pill formulas recorded on this jade slip are rare formulas researched by this old man's sect for thousands of years.”
The gray light figure's tone became more urgent, as if he really needed a few Earth Spirit Fruits.
Zhang Ling was silent for a moment and then transmitted his voice.
“Although that is the case, the spiritual medicines used in these Grade Four and Five pill formulas are scarce, and many have become extinct. It is not easy to gather the required spiritual medicines for even three or four kinds of pills. Without the materials, the pill formula is just an empty piece of paper. I collect these pill formulas only for research purposes. If you really want to exchange for Earth Spirit Fruits, then four pill formulas for one.”
“Four pill formulas, isn't that a bit…”
“This is already my bottom line. If you disagree again, then please leave.”
“Alright, let's do as you say. However, the few Grade Five pill formulas among them will have to be calculated separately.”
“That's natural. How about this, three Grade Five pill formulas count as one Earth Spirit Fruit.”
The two exchanged voice transmissions and bargained for a few sentences, and then set the exchange conditions for the pill formulas.
Then, Zhang Ling specifically selected the earth-attribute pills and ice-water attribute pills recorded on the jade slip. Of course, he also selected a few pills of other attributes. In the end, he chose eight Grade Four pill formulas and three Grade Five pill formulas.
The gray light figure was also slightly surprised, seemingly not expecting him to exchange for so many pill formulas at once.
The eleven pill formulas basically exchanged for seventy to eighty percent of the pill formulas recorded on this jade slip. In fact, there were only seventeen or eighteen kinds of pill formulas recorded on this jade slip, and there were exactly three Grade Five pill formulas.
In this way, this person took out a few jade slips, imprinted all the information of the pill formulas he had selected into them, exchanged for three Earth Spirit Fruits, and planned to leave.
“Wait a moment, I wonder if you have the spiritual medicines needed for these pill formulas? If you have seedlings or spiritual seeds of the main materials, you can also take away the remaining two Earth Spirit Fruits.” Zhang Ling suddenly asked.
Hearing his words, the gray light figure hesitated for a moment and stopped for a while, then exchanged for another Earth Spirit Fruit before leaving with a depressed look.
In this way, he collected several missing Grade Four spiritual medicines, including a spiritual seed of a Grade Five spiritual herb called Starlight Grass.
Zhang Ling was also quite pleasantly surprised, not expecting to exchange for four Earth Spirit Fruits at once. Watching the gray light figure leave, he also guessed that this person might be an alchemist from a large force, otherwise he would not be able to produce so many rare pill formulas.
Then, five or six more people came to exchange treasures with him, but in the end, the things they took out were either already collected by Zhang Ling or were not needed, and he rejected them all one by one.
There were also many voice transmissions that entered his ears, wanting to exchange for other materials, but he also rejected them. As for the news of the Soul Fusion Stone, no one knew anything about it.
Zhang Ling looked around and waited for a few breaths, then sighed inwardly and planned to leave.
Suddenly, another ray of light landed on the trading platform, and a graceful figure appeared. It was actually that enchanting purple-clothed female cultivator. This demoness smiled and took out a palm-sized stone box.
“This concubine wants to exchange for this three-thousand-year-old Emerald Green Bamboo of yours, fellow cultivator, but I don't have any pill formulas or Soul Fusion Stones in my hand. However, the things inside are not ordinary spiritual items either, and their value is definitely not below this Emerald Green Bamboo. Fellow cultivator might as well take a look.”
This woman actually took a fancy to the Emerald Green Bamboo, which surprised Zhang Ling.
The Emerald Green Bamboo was a Grade Four spiritual wood, and it was also a spiritual wood with special magical powers. He had only collected two or three kinds of Grade Four spiritual wood in his hand, and the Emerald Green Bamboo was the most valuable.
This item was a spiritual wood that he had specially cultivated, just to exchange for some precious treasures in this kind of occasion.
A three-thousand-year-old Emerald Green Bamboo could nurture a kind of Azure Wood Spiritual Light, which was definitely a top-grade wood-attribute material, suitable for cultivators who practiced wood-attribute spiritual power to refine their natal magic weapon.
The Azure Wood Spiritual Light emitted by the spiritual bamboo was extremely gentle. With this spiritual light, the wood-attribute methods used could be enhanced by one or two points out of thin air. It could also cultivate a kind of Mysterious Wood Divine Power, which was not weak either.
This three-thousand-year-old Emerald Green Bamboo could easily be exchanged for one million five hundred thousand to one million six hundred thousand spirit stones just by exchanging for spirit stones. Just now, several cultivators had offered such prices, but he had not easily taken action.
“Since the fairy is so confident, then this old man will see what it is.”
Seeing that this woman was so confident, Zhang Ling would not refuse. After silently responding, he took the stone box, opened it, and glanced at it. Then, he flipped his hand and put the stone box into his storage bag and said, “Since the fairy is so sincere, then this spiritual wood will belong to the fairy.”
“Thank you.”
The enchanting woman smiled, and also put away the Emerald Green Bamboo and left in a flash.
Zhang Ling did not stay any longer, and also left the trading platform. Immediately, a fat, black-spotted eighth-order demon cultivator came up and exchanged a few treasures.
Returning to the stone pillar where he had been staying, Zhang Ling looked around and noticed that many of the cultivators present had already left.
With a flash of spiritual light in his hand, he also took out the Azure Cloud Pavilion's token, planning to leave. This time, participating in this demon clan business alliance's trade fair could be considered a broadening of his horizons.
He had not only seen so many Core Formation old monsters and transformed demon cultivators, but also exchanged for many things, and several of them had played a significant role in increasing his strength.
A little spiritual power was injected into the Azure Cloud Pavilion's token, and Zhang Ling activated the token, triggering the restriction. A ray of spiritual light descended from the sky, and his figure became blurred, about to be teleported away.
But at the same time, he heard a voice transmission. Zhang Ling quickly glanced in the direction of the auction venue. In the instant he was teleported away, he saw a figure on a stone pillar in a corner seventy or eighty feet away, also in the midst of the teleportation spiritual light.
That figure seemed to glance in his direction as well.
A moment later, a cluster of colored light separated from a cloud of colored mist on the outermost periphery of the island where the Azure Cloud Pavilion was located, and instantly drifted to a place two or three miles away.
The colored light dissipated, and Zhang Ling emerged. He put away the token with a backhand, and looked back at the colored mist. His brows furrowed slightly.
“Could it really be this woman?”
Zhang Ling murmured. In the instant he was wrapped by the restriction and about to be teleported, he heard a voice transmission. It reminded him of a female cultivator he had dealt with once.
If he remembered correctly, that female cultivator seemed to be Ye Zimei, Ding Ruozhao's younger sister.
This woman was able to recognize him even with the chaotic aura of the Mixed Spirit Wood on his body, and in a transformed state. This was a bit strange.
But now Zhang Ling did not have time to consider these things, because the voice transmission from Ye Zimei just now was quite urgent, and revealed a piece of information, saying that his sister Ding Ruozhao had suffered serious injuries and was in critical condition, and asked him to meet at a certain place.
This made Zhang Ling a little embarrassed. Just now, he had only glanced at her in a hurry, and had not recognized whether the person who transmitted the voice was Ye Zimei, but since she could say Ding Ruozhao's name, it should not be false.
Speaking of which, it had been nearly a hundred years since he had seen Ding Ruozhao, the woman with whom he had a close relationship. The last time he met her was when he was in the mid-stage of Core Formation, when he went to Wind and Thunder Island to collect Heavenly Thunder in order to cultivate the Thunder Light Spell, and met the Ding family from which this woman came. After that, he helped the Ding family regain their freedom and leave Wind and Thunder Island, and had never seen her since.
After Zhang Ling successfully formed his Nascent Soul, he had also thought about finding this woman. He had even thought about forming a Daoist couple with her. However, for various reasons, he had not really searched for her.
As for Ye Zimei, he originally thought that this woman had died at the Kunshan Sect ruins when he first entered the Desolate Domain to search for treasures.
But later, he met Ye Zimei again in the Azure Spirit Sea on the fifth floor of the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm. At that time, he saw this woman with that mysterious blood-colored boy.
At that time, his whereabouts were also exposed, and it took him a lot of effort to escape.
The blood-colored boy left a deep impression on him. With Zhang Ling's current knowledge, he was definitely an old monster at the Nascent Soul level, and not an ordinary cultivator. Moreover, he also had a great connection with Tian Chenzi, who had transformed into a white jade skeleton.
The two old monsters seemed to be fighting over a bronze cauldron, which seemed to be a treasure cauldron called the Qianling Cauldron.
Later, when he participated in the treasure snatching conference in the Hidden Demon Valley, an accident occurred, and he met a mysterious cultivator who took this treasure and released a powerful wood demon, causing several demon kings, including the Crimson Fire King, to join forces to kill it.
That bronze cauldron was definitely not an ordinary treasure, and seemed to be related to ancient secrets.
These things flashed through Zhang Ling's mind, but he had never thought that he would hear news of Ding Ruozhao here.
Zhang Ling was a little suspicious in his heart, and for a time it was difficult to judge the truth of the news. But after thinking about it, he still planned to go to the agreed place to take a look.
First, to verify the truth of the news, and second, if Ding Ruozhao was really seriously injured, with his current cultivation, he might be able to heal her. It could also be considered a little selfishness.
