Mortal's Purple Sky Cave Heaven

Chapter 462 Strange Seeds

He also specially took out three spirit beast bracelets filled with mature gold-devouring insects and gave them to the three women, Ice Phoenix, for self-defense.

Hearing about the twists and turns and dangers of the mission, even though the incident had passed, the three women still occasionally showed worry in their eyes.

When they heard that the renowned 'True Man Lei Luo' was no longer a human cultivator but Zi Ying, they were all dumbfounded and remained slightly surprised for a long time.

When the three women finally received the spirit beast bracelets, knowing smiles appeared on their beautiful faces once again.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao, Wang Ning, and Nangong Wan, having just experienced the dangers of the wilderness, were exhausted. They each found a quiet spot in the room to meditate, practice their inner energy, and calm their minds.

"I originally planned to go to the trading hall. Now, who among you is going to go with me?" After giving his instructions, Nie Zhaonan looked around and asked.

“We have learned a lot from this trip, and it’s a good time to reflect on it carefully, so we won’t go.” Wang Ning and the other two women exchanged glances, and finally Nangong Wan’s lips moved slightly as she spoke softly.

"When I was in the True Dragon Realm, I spent a long time with Brother Nie, so I will not stay by your side now. Fortunately, my two younger sisters, Song Yu and Yu Ling, are here, and they can accompany Brother Nie." Bing Feng also politely declined.

Being able to spend more time by her husband's side was something that Song Yu's two daughters naturally longed for.

The other women were in the same boat, but they wouldn't let this ruin their sisterly bond. After all, they had known Nie Zhaonan for hundreds of years and were very familiar with his temperament.

The sisters lived in harmony—this was something he didn't say aloud, but all the women understood.

“That’s fine then.” Nie Zhaonan readily agreed and left the room with Song Yu and Ling Yuling.

After leaving the Treasure Pavilion, wanting to spend more time with the two women, Nie Zhaonan did not head straight to their destination. Instead, he walked along other streets with the two women, paying attention to the magical artifacts, treasures, various refining materials, rare talismans, and other items in other shops.

As a result, it broadened the horizons of the three of them.

The things here are naturally incomparable to those on Dragon Island, but compared to the human world, the difference is enormous.

Clearly, due to the abundance of rare materials in the spirit world, these magical artifacts and treasures far surpass their counterparts in the human world in both quality and power.

Even in some large shops, there are imitations of magical treasures for sale.

However, none of the shops carried the higher-tier spiritual treasures.

That's true. Even an ordinary spiritual treasure is something that any Nascent Soul cultivator could possess.

As for the talismans and secret symbols, they were all incredibly diverse, leaving the three of them quite dazzled. The prosperity of talismans in this world was incomparable to that of the talismanic arts in the human world.

Among some high-level talismans, there are also several types written in the celestial script, known as Silver Tadpole Script.

The power of these talismans is naturally incomparable to that of ordinary talismans, but most of them are auxiliary or defensive talismans; I have never seen an offensive talisman.

Moreover, the quantity is extremely limited, and the prices are all shockingly high.

Seeing this, Nie Zhaonan recalled Chen Qiaoqian, who, back in the human realm, had devoted herself to comprehending the half-page of the Golden Jade Book that recorded the way of talismans and had studied the art of talisman making.

Now, more than 600 years have passed, and her cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul stage. She must have also made considerable progress in the art of talismans.

Although the half-page of the Golden Jade Book contained incomplete information on the art of talismans, it still contained four complete methods for refining talismans.

The 'Taiyi Huaqing Talisman' is an auxiliary talisman that can conceal one's form and aura, and its crafting method is naturally the simplest.

The 'Nine Palaces Heavenly Qian Talisman' is a spiritual talisman that can trap high-level cultivators, and its difficulty is much higher. If Chen Qiaoqian can refine this talisman at this time, it will be enough to make him feel gratified.

As for a shadow puppet talisman called 'Jia Yuan Fu', even if one has thoroughly understood the method of refining this talisman, without reaching the Void Refinement stage, one simply does not have enough mana to support the refinement of it.

The last type of talisman is the only offensive talisman recorded in the half-page of the Golden Jade Book—the 'Heavenly Spear Talisman'.

The power of this talisman is so great that even a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would have no hope of surviving it. It is conceivable that to refine this talisman, one's own cultivation level must reach an extremely high level, which is beyond Chen Qiaoqian's reach in a short period of time.

With this in mind, Nie Zhaonan led the two women straight to their destination, the huge trading stone hall called 'Tai Xuan Hall'.

Because there are cultivators from both the human and demon races in the hall, in order to prevent any conflicts from breaking out during the transaction, all cultivators entering the hall must receive a special magic artifact.

The human cultivators received a jade pendant the size of a palm.

As long as this jade pendant is worn, a white cloud will immediately cover the wearer's figure, and at the same time temporarily restrict the wearer's cultivation level, in addition to the restriction array set up by the Tai Xuan Palace itself.

If an ordinary cultivator recklessly uses their magic power in the hall, not only will they be unable to unleash their full strength, but they will also be instantly teleported out of the stone hall and unable to re-enter it for a short period of time.

Meanwhile, the demon race had to receive a black banner and release a cloud of demonic energy to conceal their appearance.

After Nie Zhaonan paid a considerable amount of spirit stones at the palace gate and received the jade pendant from the guard, he, along with Song Yu and Ling Yuling, walked through a long corridor and entered a large gate, enveloped in white mist.

As a result, a huge hall hundreds of feet wide appeared before them, and on the far opposite side was another identical palace door, which seemed to lead to the demon race's territory.

Within this enormous hall, there were a few hundred scattered individuals from both the human and demon races, each enveloped in white mist and black aura respectively.

Fifty or sixty people had already sat cross-legged on the ground on both sides, with several items placed in front of them. They remained silent, and not a sound came out.

Most of the other people were also standing in front of these stalls, either carefully observing the items or silently communicating with the stall owners.

Some people wandered around the hall casually, occasionally exchanging a few words with other beings before retreating to a corner to whisper amongst themselves. This was undoubtedly a discussion of matters strictly forbidden or taboo by both the human and demon races.

After looking around and getting a general idea of ​​the situation, Nie Zhaonan leisurely walked towards the nearest stall.

Song Yu and Ling Yuling followed closely behind him, equally interested in the place.

This stall is set up by a demon cultivator, with a dark ore the size of a head in front of him, exuding a chilling aura.

There was another blood-red crystal, which had a pungent, fishy smell and resembled the inner core of some kind of beast, but its origin was impossible to discern.

Nie Zhaonan and his two companions had no interest in either of the items; they merely glanced at them before moving on to the next stall.

The stall owner, hidden in the white mist, was clearly a human cultivator. On his stall in front of him were three strange items.

A pale green, perfectly round seed, about the size of a thumb, resembling the seed of some kind of medicinal herb.

The other was a viscous, transparent liquid in a bowl-shaped container, sparkling brightly.

The last item was a piece of black wood, with a faint demonic aura swirling around it.

Nie Zhaonan curiously examined the three items, his divine sense sweeping over them before finally settling on the pale green seed.

The seed's surface was exceptionally plump and round, but the wood elemental energy it contained was extremely thin, making it seem like a dead object, devoid of any vitality.

It struck him as very strange!

Nie Zhaonan, who was already interested in various spiritual plants, was now filled with curiosity. However, he was too eager to ask questions. After looking around for a while, he quietly left and continued walking towards the next stall.

Almost at the same time that Nie Zhaonan was casually strolling around the Tai Xuan Hall, Zhao Wugui appeared in a mysterious hall in Tianyuan City and whispered something to the Lei Luo Zhenren above.

"So, apart from the Long family members who perished, everyone else is safe and sound?" After listening to Zhao Wugui's account, Master Lei Luo frowned.

“Master, we have already done our best. But with the appearance of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and only Fellow Daoist Longyang perishing, we are already extremely fortunate.” Zhao Wugui sighed and couldn’t help but cough a few times.

"This trip is indeed not your fault." Master Lei Luo's face was expressionless, then he suddenly asked:
"How did Nie Zhaonan manage to escape from Zi Ying's clutches?"

"It seems that Fellow Daoist Nie's master prepared some methods for him," Zhao Wugui replied simply after thinking for a moment.

However, he felt a little bitter. Although he had also become a disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was at most a nominal disciple.

It's already the limit for me to hear some teachings and experiences on spiritual practice; I certainly don't expect my master to bestow any treasures or methods for self-defense.

“Your injuries are quite severe this time. You will not be able to carry out any missions until you have recovered. This bottle of pills will be of some use to you at this moment.” Upon hearing this, Master Lei Luo nodded expressionlessly, and with a flick of his sleeve, a dark green jade bottle slowly flew out.

"Thank you, Master."

Zhao Wugui took the jade bottle with great joy, flipped his hand to put away the pills, and when his hand returned to its original position, a jade slip appeared in his hand.

He held up the jade slip respectfully and said:

"These are some things we found about the Shadow Clan on this trip."

"I understand. Your injuries are also quite severe. You should leave immediately to recover."

As this sound rang out, the jade slip floated slowly upwards on its own.

"Disciple retire!"

Watching Zhao Wugui's figure leave the main hall, Master Lei Luo held the jade slip but didn't even glance at it. With a slight tightening of his hand, the jade slip silently turned into powder and drifted down.

"Which Purple Shadow was sent by the clan? Even if Nie Zhaonan has some means to contend with a Nascent Soul cultivator, he is only at the Void Refinement Realm. Can such methods last long?"

"To be a Saint-level being, you were so easily forced back!"

"waste!"

Lei Luo Zhenren's face was ferocious and extremely ugly. Behind him, a purple shadow was waving its claws wildly and roaring silently, which was extremely creepy.

"Let's assume he's successfully completed this special mission; the next two won't be so easy."

After an unknown amount of time, murmurs echoed within the hall, but the only figure had vanished without a trace.

On the other side, inside the Tai Xuan Hall, Nie Zhaonan and his two companions walked slowly, passing by each of the stalls. When they encountered something unfamiliar or interesting, they would pause and examine it carefully.

But from beginning to end, he didn't ask a single question, and seemed completely indifferent to these stall owners.

Although there are many treasures here, nothing that truly moves him has not yet appeared.

However, Song Yu and Ling Yuling each took a fancy to two items and bought them with some spirit stones.

Nie Zhaonan glanced around, hesitating whether to leave, when he suddenly remembered a strange seed and walked over on a whim.

"What is the origin of this item? Fellow Daoist, could you please tell me?" Nie Zhaonan walked up to the stall and asked casually.

At the same time, he grabbed the round, light green seed without hesitation and took it into his hand, stroking it with his fingers.

"Origin? I obtained this from an ancient, desolate ruin. After consulting numerous ancient texts, I managed to glean some clues. This seed is also extraordinary; it is an ancient spiritual plant born at the dawn of a new world, which has now matured and produced fruit. As for its specific use, I naturally have no idea." A hoarse, aged voice emanated from the white mist, suggesting that the stall owner was an old man.

"An ancient spiritual plant, this thing is actually quite interesting." Nie Zhaonan examined it several times with one hand, muttering to himself.

The most famous of the ancient spiritual plants is undoubtedly the one named 'Xuantian'.

"Hehehe, it is rare indeed. But with your discerning eye, you should be able to see that this seed has long since lost all vitality and cannot grow. Otherwise, given its reputation, it would have been auctioned off long ago. But even so, it can still be used for refining weapons. What, have you taken a fancy to this, fellow Daoist?" The old man chuckled strangely, not bothering to hide anything.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that the name of this ancient spiritual plant is indeed somewhat attractive to me. Fellow Daoist, what do you plan to exchange this for?" Nie Zhaonan played with the seed in his hand for a while before replying calmly.

Upon hearing Nie Zhaonan's apparent desire to exchange for the seeds, the old man in the white clouds paused, sizing Nie Zhaonan up and down, then glanced casually at the two women beside him whose cultivation was not inferior, before speaking in a hoarse voice:
"Although I have not yet found a way to maximize the effectiveness of this seed, the value of something related to ancient spiritual plants is hard to estimate."

"Well then, I have only recently advanced to the Void Refinement stage and am preparing to refine a batch of 'Stabilizing Yuan Pills' to stabilize my cultivation level. I am still missing three ten-thousand-year-old spiritual herbs of any kind. If you can provide what I need, you may take this seed."

"Of course, if you have top-grade spirit stones or treasures of equal value, I will not refuse them either."

"How did you know that I possess spiritual herbs?" Nie Zhaonan glanced at the old man thoughtfully and asked calmly.

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(End of this chapter)