But just after leaving the stall area, a sudden burst of noise erupted, with someone exclaiming in surprise.
"Look quickly, a Nascent Soul stage senior has arrived!"
"Huh, that looks like our Holy Temple's Earth Demon Beast. Could it be an elder from the Holy Temple who's coming?" A gaunt young man not far from Zhang Ling looked up at the sky, exclaiming with a face full of longing.
Zhang Ling also stopped and looked towards the city gate. He saw a cloud of grey flying towards them. The cloud was very thin, but there was a series of beast roars within it.
Squinting his eyes, he could make out a ferocious-looking demon beast in the grey cloud.
How should he describe it? The demon beast looked like a flood dragon, yet also like a giant centipede, over twenty zhang long. Its abdomen was covered with pairs of cyan-black centipede legs, and its back had sharp cyan-red bone spurs, but the monster's head was a huge dragon head, strangely with three pairs of blood-red eyes.
The aura it emitted was not weak; it was actually a seventh-order demon beast.
"Is that the Earth Demon Beast? I saw its illustration in a book a few days ago," Zhang Ling muttered to himself.
The Earth Demon Beast is said to be a powerful demon beast raised by the Demon Soul Hall. Its potential is quite good; it can reach the fifth order upon adulthood, and if it has the opportunity, it may even break through to become an eighth-order or higher demon beast.
At this moment, the Earth Demon Beast was biting a jet-black chain in its mouth, clattering loudly, pulling a black-red chariot behind it.
The chariot was three zhang long, carved with dragons and phoenixes and imprinted with many demon beast patterns, looking extremely luxurious. A layer of dark light shone on it, and there were several figures sitting inside, making it difficult to see clearly.
However, Zhang Ling's eyes flashed with a blue light, and he sensed that there were actually only two cultivators in the chariot: a young man in the early Nascent Soul stage and a grey-haired old man in the mid Nascent Soul stage.
Zhang Ling glanced at them and lowered his head slightly because he sensed something strange about the young man in the early Nascent Soul stage. He didn't seem to be a Different Demon Race cultivator.
This person exuded an aura of Yin energy, which was different from the carefree demonic energy of the Different Demon Race.
Many of the demonic cultivation methods practiced by the Different Demon Race also lean towards Yin attributes. However, the Yin energy exuded by the young man on the chariot was extremely pure, more like a ghost cultivator, without a trace of demonic energy.
While Zhang Ling was puzzled, the chariot moved extremely fast, flying overhead in the blink of an eye, heading directly towards the mountaintop along the heavenly stairs.
Was his perception wrong, or was that really a ghost cultivator?
Watching the chariot disappear into the distance, Zhang Ling stroked his chin. From the books he had read about the Different Demon Race, there were indeed ghost cultivation methods.
However, it seemed that there were very few, if any, Different Demons who practiced ghost cultivation methods. Generally, it was only due to some special reason that they would cultivate this type of method.
The same was true for Human Race cultivators; there were not many cultivators who practiced this path.
But even if a Different Demon converted to the ghost path, their innate demonic energy would not change unless… they abandoned their physical body and only cultivated with their spiritual body, becoming a true Yin spirit body.
But even if a cultivator's physical body was destroyed, there was still a chance to seize another body. Would anyone really do that?
Zhang Ling pondered for a moment and shook his head. Following the scattered crowd, he slowly walked along a street.
At the same time, the chariot had reached the mountaintop, passing through a golden cloud of mist, and saw the thick ice and snow accumulated on the summit of Golden Goose Mountain.
A black wooden tower stood in the ice and snow. The wooden tower had nine floors, each three zhang high, looking majestic, but standing alone in the vast expanse of white ice and snow, it was very desolate.
At this moment, two Nascent Soul cultivators, a man and a woman, were standing above the wooden tower. Judging from their aura, they were both in the early Nascent Soul stage.
The man was a burly man with a bare upper body, strange black cloud patterns tattooed on his shoulders, and several iron rings around his neck. He stood in the wind and snow with his arms crossed, seemingly not feeling the cold at all.
The woman was wearing a white robe, her face covered with a light veil, making it impossible to see her features clearly, but strands of her black hair moved with the wind, giving her a sense of ethereal detachment. She was not old, appearing to be only in her twenties, and was speaking to the man.
"Fellow Daoist Mo, are you sure that person will come? I was ordered by my master to come and assist in this operation. If that person doesn't come, it will be difficult to explain."
"Fairy Bing doesn't need to worry. This operation is not just us; the Holy Temple will also send elders to assist. That monster needs a magic weapon. That broken sword passed down in Golden Goose Mountain will definitely interest that person. Taking advantage of this trade fair, Fellow Daoist Ying and I have already spread the news. He will definitely come," the burly man said with a confident smile to the woman.
However, a strange look appeared in the depths of his eyes. The Ice Fairy in front of him was said to be a cultivator who had just advanced to the Nascent Soul stage not long ago.
With such cultivation, although she was in the same realm as him, the burly man believed that he could definitely win easily. He felt a bit of disdain in his heart.
Nascent Soul cultivators in the new realm mostly still use spells and divine powers from the Golden Core stage. They naturally cannot be compared with seasoned Nascent Soul cultivators like him.
If it weren't for her being from the Heavenly Yin Sect and this operation needing a treasure from the Heavenly Yin Sect to help, he wouldn't have allowed a cultivator from the Heavenly Yin Sect to participate.
The Heavenly Yin Sect is a rather special sect in their Northwest region. This sect bears the responsibility of resisting the ice sea demon beasts, and most of its members are female cultivators, making them difficult to provoke.
The Heavenly Yin Sect generally rarely participates in the actions between their tribes, at most only obeying the Holy Temple's dispatch.
It is said that the Yin婆, the old woman of this sect, has some grudges with the Shadow Old Demon of the Shadow Fiend Tribe.
He wondered if this was the reason why this old woman was unwilling to cooperate with this operation, and instead brought such a newly advanced disciple, being somewhat perfunctory.
"Fellow Daoist Mo, this little girl heard that the person we are going to encircle and suppress has massacred many clansmen. Is this true?" Ice Fairy suddenly asked again.
"Oh,Fairy has also heard of this matter. Yes, that person did indeed do such a thing, but it's not like the rumors outside. Do you know about the opening of Wind Demon Island in the outer sea a few years ago?" The burly man hesitated for a moment and asked in return.
"Wind Demon Island, I naturally know. At that time, my master also brought disciples of this sect to enter, but after returning, none of the disciples who went with her returned. According to my master, the magic spring in Wind Demon Island had a riot, and the demon beasts on the island went crazy. It seems that two Nascent Soul fellow Daoists also died in the magic spring. If it weren't for the Dragon Elder of the Holy Temple reinforcing the seal, I'm afraid the casualties would have been even more severe," Ice Fairy said, nodding after a moment of silence.
"Hehe, that's just the Holy Temple's explanation to the outside world. Doesn'tFairy have any doubts? The person we are going to encircle and suppress was also in the magic spring at that time," the burly man revealed a strange smile.
"Are you saying that this matter is related to the magic spring?"
"That's right. The Bloodlight Old Demon we are going to encircle and suppress was the leader of the opening of Wind Demon Island a few years ago. After this person returned, his strength soared in a short period of time, and then he committed the act of slaughtering his own clan, and successively killed members of my Black Cloud Tribe and several other tribes. This is unlike the Bloodlight Old Demon himself."
"A great change in temperament. Are you saying that Bloodlight Old Demon has been seized by someone?" Ice Fairy's beautiful eyes blinked, revealing a surprised expression.
However, the burly man only shook his head and remained silent for a moment before nodding again. "Mo doesn't know whether Bloodlight Old Demon has been seized by other cultivators. But his great change in temperament and soaring strength are very similar to a situation recorded in ancient books."
"Although we Different Demons are born with demonic energy, we are originally human and not ancient demons. Absorbing too much pure demonic energy in a short period of time will not only cause our own strength to soar, but also greatly change our temperament. Being backlashed by the demonic energy may lead to confusion and turning into a monster that only knows how to kill. This is extremely similar to the situation of Bloodlight Old Demon."
"Demonic energy backlash? That's unlikely, right? Fellow Daoist Bloodlight is a cultivator in the mid Nascent Soul stage."
"What's impossible about that? It's not like there's no precedent. As far as I know, Bloodlight Old Demon has been stuck in the mid Nascent Soul stage for several hundred years, and his lifespan seems to be running out. If he covets demonic energy and wants to use it to quickly advance his cultivation, being backlashed by the demonic energy would explain it.
Over the past ten thousand years, this type of situation has happened many times in our Different Demon Race. However, in our Northwest region, there hasn't been a case of a cultivator above the Nascent Soul stage being backlashed by demonic energy.
Hehe, if this method of quickly advancing could succeed, how could the strength of our Different Demon Race still be suppressed by the Human Race?" As he spoke, the burly man's expression changed several times, and he couldn't help but sigh.
"According to what Fellow Daoist said, if Bloodlight Old Demon is really backlashed by demonic energy and his temperament has greatly changed, then his mind must be extremely confused. How could he still be conscious enough to snatch the magic weapon left behind by the ancient demon?" Ice Fairy frowned and suddenly asked, thinking of something.
"This…" The burly man was also stunned upon hearing this. He shook his head and was about to say something when he suddenly turned his gaze to the front. He saw a flash of black light in the clouds, and the Earth Demon Beast, pulling the chariot, quickly approached them.
Ice Fairy's gaze also turned to that side, looking at the chariot.
"Hehe, the people from the Holy Temple have arrived. Perhaps they have the answer to Fairy's question." The two exchanged a glance and greeted the chariot.
…
On the other hand, after seeing the chariot pulling the Nascent Soul old monsters leave, Zhang Ling naturally had no intention of wandering around. Moreover, as it was getting late, he planned to find an inn to temporarily settle down and rest.
"This senior, do you need a carriage?" Just then, an aged voice came from behind.
Looking back, he saw a giant wolf with a single horn on its head pulling a black carriage, led by an old man who was smiling at him.
"This old man is a native cultivator of this city and is willing to serve senior. If senior has anything to ask, I will know everything and say everything without reservation." The old man was gaunt, dressed in sackcloth, and his hair was messy with only a few strands left. He also had a pair of prominent ears, but his eyes were bright, making him look quite shrewd.
There were aerial restrictions in the city, so there were many of these types of carriages for transportation. Especially near the city gate, there were many parked. Zhang Ling had originally planned to call for a carriage, but he didn't expect someone to approach him first before he could even speak.
Scanning the surroundings, he saw seven or eight other carriage owners on both sides of the street looking towards him. Some of them had unfriendly expressions, but they were not directed at him, but at the old man.
It seemed that they were somewhat dissatisfied with the old man for stealing their business. If they could serve such a Golden Core stage senior, they might get more rewards.
"Fellow Daoist has Foundation Establishment stage cultivation, how can you be willing to do this hard work?" Zhang Ling nodded slightly and asked.
"Hehe, I'm ashamed to show myself to senior. I'mLuoshan, my cultivation is not worth mentioning, I just want to take advantage of the trade fair to get more business," the old man said with an embarrassed smile, looking rather awkward.
Zhang Ling didn't say anything more. The gaze under his cloak flashed with blue light, and he waved his hand. The old man's face lit up with joy as he pulled the beast tide to the front.
"It's an honor for this old man to serve senior, please." Zhang Ling flashed and sat on the beast-drawn carriage.
"I wonder where senior wants to go."
"First find a quiet inn."
"This junior understands."
The single-horned giant wolf howled and pulled Zhang Ling speeding along the street. Sitting in the carriage, he didn't feel bumpy. Instead, Zhang Ling closed his eyes to rest.
After turning two long streets, the old man driving the carriage became somewhat absent-minded, occasionally looking at the storage bag on his waist, his expression becoming somewhat hesitant. At this moment, there were far fewer people around.
"Does Fellow Daoist have something to show me?"
Suddenly, a clear and cold voice came from behind, causing the old man to shudder, a layer of fine sweat appearing on his back. "Uh, haha, why does senior say that?" The old man turned his head stiffly, squeezing out an ugly smile.
"Is that so?"
Zhang Ling opened his eyes, intentionally or unintentionally glancing at the storage bag on the old man's waist. He also smiled. "Fellow Daoist is not just at the Foundation Establishment stage, right? If I'm not mistaken, you used to have Golden Core stage cultivation, right?"
As Zhang Ling spoke, his gaze became cold. The old man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.
For a moment, the two of them became extremely quiet, without a sound. Even the giant wolf pulling the carriage seemed to sense something and slowed down.
In fact, when the old man stopped Zhang Ling, Zhang Ling naturally used his divine sense to scan the old man's cultivation. From the outside, the old man was at the early Foundation Establishment stage.
But how could he hide it from the divine sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator? He saw through the old man's true cultivation at a glance. It was just that the old man was indeed at the Foundation Establishment stage now, the aura on his body was not fake. Instead, it seemed like he had been seriously injured and his cultivation had fallen.
Having exposed the old man's original cultivation, the old man was naturally shocked. Such a strange guy suddenly approached him, and Zhang Ling also wanted to see what his purpose was.
And from the fact that the old man occasionally looked at the storage bag on his waist after getting in the carriage, his expression was also strange. Zhang Ling didn't want to beat around the bush and asked directly.
After a moment of silence, the old man's expression eased, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hehe, senior is highly skilled, able to see through this old man's original was indeed at the Golden Core stage in his early years, but now his cultivation has fallen. That's why I'm eking out a living in this place. My current true cultivation is indeed at the Foundation Establishment stage, there was no intention to deceive," the old man said, taking off the storage bag from his waist.
"However, there is indeed a bit of selfishness in me pulling senior. I have a strange treasure in my hand, but I can't figure out what it is. If senior is interested, I can sell it to senior."
