Zhang Ling exhaled a long breath, looking at the two-tailed cat lying on the ground, temporarily unconscious.
At this moment, the little guy's image was strange. The original red and yellow fur on its body seemed to be dyed, and some irregular white and blue spiritual patterns appeared.
Especially one of the tails on its back, which had turned completely blue, was extremely strange.
Zhang Ling picked up the two-tailed cat, touched its fur, and sensed the changes in the fire spiritual power within the little guy's body. There were now two clusters of spiritual fire in the two-tailed cat's body, which he had temporarily sealed in its dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body) using secret techniques.
Although demon beasts are different from humans, they also have special spiritual apertures such as the dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body) and the sea of consciousness that human cultivators can sense.
Using his divine sense to look inside the two-tailed cat's dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body), he could see a deep red inner core constantly rotating. This was the seventh-order inner core that the little guy had cultivated.
Containing powerful fire spiritual power, and unlike ordinary demon cores, this inner core was also burning with a layer of yellow-red flames on the outside, intertwining and changing, filling the entire dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body).
This was the Meteor Fire. Although the two-tailed cat had refined most of it, greatly increasing its strength, it had not completely mastered this spiritual fire.
At the same time, a faint layer of deep yellow fluorescence lingered in the two-tailed cat's dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body), like a layer of mist, protecting the entire dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body).
This was Zhang Ling using his own spiritual power to seal the little guy's dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body). Otherwise, with two different fire spiritual powers clashing, the two-tailed cat would end up self-immolating.
Occasionally, a trace of yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold energy would emanate from the spiritual light, turning into strands of blue-white flames, constantly intertwining with the yellow-red flames, forming a strange scene.
"The power of the Ghost Fire is still not enough. At most, it can only suppress it slightly," Zhang Ling muttered in a heavy voice.
With a single hand, he pinched a magic seal and shot out a series of yellow spiritual lights into the two-tailed cat's body, further stabilizing the little guy's dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body).
After finishing, he patted the two-tailed cat's head. The little guy shuddered and woke up, jumping to the ground and twisting its body, rolling around, sensing the changes in itself.
At the same time, it meowed and howled at him, seemingly questioning something.
"It's just a temporary suppression of your strength. Once you completely master the spiritual fire in your body, you will recover," Zhang Ling snorted helplessly.
Temporarily sealing the yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) fire in the two-tailed cat's body, allowing it to refine it on its own to balance the extremely yang(阳: Yang - positive/light energy) Meteor Fire, was the only way to avoid harming the little guy's life.
With the two-tailed cat's dantian(丹田: Dantian - energy center in the body) sealed, the little guy's strength naturally decreased a lot.
Now, the demon power that the two-tailed cat can use is only at the level of a fourth-order demon beast. Of course, the physical strength of a high-level demon beast has not changed.
It will only release a small amount of yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) fire every day, allowing the two-tailed cat to refine it steadily.
Ghost Fire was not actually the first cluster of yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) fire that Zhang Ling had collected. In a few months, it was already the third spiritual fire he had collected.
The first one collected was a Bone Fire, which is the most common type of yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) fire and also the least powerful. The two-tailed cat refined it in a few days, but the effect was very poor, unable to balance the Meteor Fire at all. Instead, it was assimilated by the fire spiritual power transformed by the Meteor Fire.
The second yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) attribute spiritual fire was a cluster of Ice Spirit Flame, which is a flame with ice-cold attributes. Its power was much stronger, roughly equivalent to Xuan Yang Fire.
And the Ghost Fire collected today was the most powerful, but now it seems that it is still far from enough.
Zhang Ling frowned slightly as he looked at the two-tailed cat's depressed behavior, thinking that to completely balance the Meteor Fire, he would have to collect even stronger yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) attribute spiritual fire.
He wondered how much time he would waste searching, and he sighed.
Touching the two-tailed cat's fur, feeling the little guy's body temperature fluctuating between hot and cold, Zhang Ling smiled again. He naturally would not give up. Although it would waste a lot of time and delay his own cultivation.
After comforting the spirit beast for a while, Zhang Ling put the two-tailed cat into the spirit beast bag and sat down to meditate.
The next day, he left the market.
......
Thousand Caves Mountain Range is a continuous hilly environment. There are more than a thousand large and small peaks, encompassing the surrounding tens of thousands of miles.
This area does not have towering giant mountains, but is mainly composed of low mountains and some swamp environments.
Thousand Caves Mountain Range is located in the northeastern region of the Different Demon Race, and there are no large sects or Different Demon Race tribes nearby. There are only a dozen small and medium-sized tribes.
Low-level cultivators often enter Thousand Caves Mountain to pick spiritual herbs. Although there are no good spiritual veins in Thousand Caves Mountain Range, and no rare spiritual objects are born, there are still many ordinary spiritual herbs, and many low-level demon beasts live there. For low-level cultivators, it is a good place to practice.
Cultivators above the Golden Core stage rarely come to this area.
However, in the recent half month, Thousand Caves Mountain Range has been quite restless. In a certain canyon, a large amount of yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) wind and black mist suddenly emerged. All the low-level cultivators who entered it have disappeared.
It is said that several Golden Core cultivators entered it to investigate, but they have also disappeared without a trace. Therefore, during this period, very few cultivators have entered Thousand Caves Mountain.
However, there is one exception. A black escape light entered the Thousand Caves Mountain range and flew towards the area where the yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) wind and black mist suddenly appeared. The figure in the escape light was Zhang Ling.
That strange area was the target of this trip.
At this time, he suppressed his cultivation to the late stage of the Golden Core realm and was rushing on his way, covered in dust. It has been more than a year since he obtained the Ghost Fire.
He came here to solve the situation of the two-tailed cat.
A few days ago, Zhang Ling accidentally inquired about the situation in Thousand Caves Mountain Range in a fairy city and decided to come and take a look. Maybe he could gain something.
Counting up, in these two years, he has traveled through many territories of the Different Demon Race. He is not far from the human territory. If it were not for solving the matter of the two-tailed cat, he would have left the territory of the Different Demon Race long ago by flying with all his strength.
Now that he has arrived at Thousand Caves Mountain Range, he can return to the Twelve Immortal Cities in a month.
If he still cannot collect the yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold attribute spiritual fire that balances the fire spiritual power of the two-tailed cat, Zhang Ling can only give up for now and wait until he returns to the human territory.
While thinking in his heart, Zhang Ling suddenly moved slightly and looked towards the right. He sensed that there were two cultivators over there, who seemed to be heading to the same place as him.
This is already the depths of Thousand Caves Mountain Range. Isn't it said that very few cultivators come here? Those two are still two Golden Core cultivators. Both have late-stage Golden Core cultivation and are not weak.
Could these two be like him, also here to investigate the suddenly appearing yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold mist, Zhang Ling guessed. At this time, the two people were talking, and he slightly expanded his divine sense to hear some news.
The two people did not use sound transmission, but only spoke in low voices. It was easy for Zhang Ling to eavesdrop on their conversation. Even if the two people used divine sense sound transmission, there would be no secrets in front of a Nascent Soul-level cultivator.
"Brother Lin, is what you said true? There really is a treasure over there? I haven't heard of any news about this," an old man with a red face and not much hair on his head asked his companion dryly with a disbelieving look.
His companion next to him was a short middle-aged cultivator, younger than the old man, but also with a wrinkled face and not young. He smiled.
"Brother Wang, you also know that I come from the Zisha Tribe. Although I am not valued due to my qualifications, Lin is still somewhat fortunate and has climbed to my current cultivation. Although I often consider myself a rogue cultivator, when I returned to the tribe a few days ago, I accidentally ran into an old friend. I got a message from him, saying that a Nascent Soul elder in the tribe has begun to pay attention to the situation in Thousand Caves Mountain Range.
A day ago, my Zisha Tribe sent several fellow cultivators to enter this place to investigate. The message they sent back was that there is an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. What does this mean? It goes without saying. We are entering this place at this time, maybe we can fish in troubled waters and get some benefits."
"Your Zisha Tribe is also paying attention to the situation here. It seems that the rumor is likely to be true." The old man's eyes lit up, as if he had remembered something. He stroked his beard and began to think.
"Brother Wang, have you heard any news?"
"Hehe, it's hard to say. This old man also inquired about some news in the Ghost Market, saying that someone had seen high-level demon ghosts appear here, and it is said that there are ghost king-level demons. Some people also said that a powerful ghost cultivator is practicing secret techniques inside, causing this commotion. Although these rumors are unbelievable, we don't know if they are true or false.
But listening to your meaning, it has now attracted the attention of nearby tribal forces. In this case, it may be possible to get some benefits." The old man touched his head with only a few hairs and showed a very interested look.
"Whether it's true or false, with the strength of the two of us, even if there really is a demon ghost born, it's not a problem for us to retreat safely. You and I both practice yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold attribute demonic arts, and we have both reached a bottleneck. Let's just treat it as a treasure hunt. If we really have the opportunity to find some treasure or spiritual object, then we will make a lot of money." The middle-aged cultivator surnamed Lin narrowed his eyes and looked forward, saying in a muffled voice.
"Brother Lin's courage is good. This old man has heard that several Golden Core cultivators have disappeared over there. It's quite dangerous, right?" The red-faced old man laughed strangely.
"What... Brother Wang is afraid?"
"What is this old man afraid of? Just like Brother Lin said, with our cultivation, exploring this kind of special area, although there are some risks, if we hit the jackpot, the rewards will be great. This old man's lifespan is not much, and it is not very useful to practice hard anymore. Since Brother Lin dares to take the risk, Wang will naturally accompany him at the cost of his life." The red-faced old man snorted with a calm expression, but his eyes were slightly more serious.
"Haha, I knew that Brother Wang is not a timid person..." The two people in the distance flew quickly while talking.
Their words fell into Zhang Ling's ears without missing a word. "Ancient cultivator's cave dwelling, ghost. It's similar to some of the information I heard." Looking at the two people leaving, Zhang Ling's figure blurred and flew past from the other side.
The situation described by these two people is similar to what he knew. But the Zisha Tribe also sent people here to investigate. It seems that the large and small forces near Thousand Caves Mountain Range have also begun to pay attention to the situation here.
There may already be many cultivators who have entered it. After all, the changes here have been happening for half a month. But except for hearing that several Golden Core cultivators have disappeared, no other news has come out.
It seems that there really is something strange.
Zhang Ling thought in his heart and accelerated his escape speed. No matter what is strange, he will check it out. With his current strength, he doesn't need to worry too much about safety issues.
He had roughly understood the forces near Thousand Caves Mountain Range before he came. In addition to the Zisha Tribe and the Tianfeng Tribe, there are several other tribes with Nascent Soul cultivators guarding them.
The other small forces simply do not have Nascent Soul-level cultivators.
Within tens of thousands of miles nearby, there are only seven or eight Nascent Soul cultivators in total, and only the Tianfeng Tribe has a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator named Mad Wind Old Monster.
In other words, no cultivator in this area can threaten him.
A quarter of an hour later, he saw a gray-black mist. The area covered was very wide, and everything was gray and black. The wailing wind came from all directions, and it felt a bit eerie to hear in his ears.
The sky was also gray and gloomy, extremely depressing. It was also a bit colder here.
Zhang Ling didn't care about these. The wailing wind was very common in Thousand Caves Mountain Range, especially in the central hundreds of miles of the mountain range, which was also called Night Cry Ridge by those who were interested.
It is said that the terrain here is special. The mountains have many collapses, and there are many caves underground. The flowing wind force is magnified many times when it comes here, thus forming a wailing sound.
It is like this every day, and it actually does not have much impact on the cultivators.
His divine sense extended forward to investigate. The area within a hundred miles ahead was like this. He also investigated in several directions.
Zhang Ling concluded that this yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) wind mist covered at least a thousand miles in radius. At the same time, he also detected many demon beast auras inside. They were all low-level demon beasts, so naturally there was no danger.
After observing in the vicinity for a while, he entered it. In addition to the large area covered by this yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) wind mist, the yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) evil energy was not very strong.
Zhang Ling speculated that there might be a large yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) evil earth vein underground, which could form such an environment. But this yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) wind mist suddenly appeared, which was a bit unusual.
Suddenly, a strange cawing sound came from the side. A black shadow rushed over.
Zhang Ling expressionlessly patted the spirit beast bag and released the two-tailed cat.
The little guy rolled in the air and threw out two fireballs with a flick of its tail. With a loud bang, the black shadow exploded into a ball of sparks. A broken corpse fell down. It looked like a giant crow, half a zhang in size.
Zhang Ling glanced at it and didn't pay attention to it anymore. This was just a common yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold demon beast, a Bloodthirsty Bird.
The two-tailed cat was very interested and landed next to the corpse of the Bloodthirsty Bird, poking it with its paws. Seeing Zhang Ling walking away, the little guy meowed and turned into a fiery red shadow to follow.
In the past two years, the fire spiritual power in the two-tailed cat's body has not been balanced. But it is not that it has not had any effect at all.
He collected five or six kinds of yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold attribute spiritual fires and let the two-tailed cat refine them. There was no problem in sealing part of the Meteor Fire's fire spiritual power with these yin(阴: Yin - negative/dark energy) and cold spiritual fires.
At this moment, the two-tailed cat only showed the strength of an ordinary fifth-order demon beast. As long as it did not mobilize too much fire spiritual power, there would be no problem of fire spiritual power riots.
