Immortality and cultivation begin with drawing talismans.

Chapter 250 The Secret Deep Within the Cloud and Mist Mountains

Deep in the misty mountains.

The mist hidden among the towering trees shimmered with a faint purple hue in the sunlight.

The surroundings were completely silent, as if no life had been found.

"What terrifying miasma! I'm afraid that an ordinary Core Formation cultivator here would be lucky to unleash sixty or seventy percent of their combat power."

As they ventured deeper, Lin Chang'an couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease.

However, the Phoenix Bird was different. As a naturally poisonous creature and the nemesis of evil spirits, it was now excitedly gazing into the depths of the miasma, as if there was something delicious to eat.

The terrifying miasma had no effect on the Phoenix Bird, since it harbored a wisp of golden divine flame within its body.

The miasma that has just been inhaled will be refined by the golden divine flames within the body in an instant.

However, Lin Chang'an still infused the Phoenix Bird with his own magical power.

"Although I am not afraid of miasma, my magic is of great help in recovery and healing."

Only the Green Horned Ox looked aggrieved, gazing longingly at its owner and the phoenix perched on its horn.

This is too much of a bully. As a beast, it instinctively sensed something terrifying deep within the valley.

Seeing the Green Horned Ox in this state, Lin Chang'an couldn't help but shake his head and say:

"Don't embarrass yourself. After we kill these two venomous creatures, we'll find you an earth-attribute demon core. You'll have a chance to advance to the third rank within ten years."

Tempted by the prospect of evolving to the third stage, the Green Horned Ox couldn't help but swallow hard. Evolution is an instinct for all living beings, especially for demon beasts, whose bloodlines are constantly urging them to evolve.

No monster can resist the temptation of evolution.

Just as no cultivator can resist a powerful temptation.

The magical artifact, the Blood Fiend Sword, was now in Lin Chang'an's hand.

This sword is entirely blood red, faintly exuding a murderous aura. It had already been refined by Lin Chang'an, and although it was not his natal magic weapon, it could not unleash its full power.

However, as a sword cultivator, this magic weapon is a mid-grade third-tier item, which is far more useful to Lin Chang'an than an ordinary low-grade third-tier magic weapon.

Not to mention the bloodthirsty aura, which has the effect of breaking through armor and protective spiritual light.

"The two mid-stage third-tier poisonous insects have indeed not evolved, and one of them even seems to have reached the peak of the mid-stage third-tier."

Lin Chang'an, who was holding the Blood Fiend Sword, closed his eyes and used his powerful senses to directly detect the exact location of the two poisonous insects hidden in the valley.

Although miasma can block divine sense, it cannot block his perception or his spiritual eyes.

The next moment, Lin Chang'an opened his eyes, a blue light flashing in them. Through the layers of poisonous miasma, he directly saw the two poisonous insects hidden in the valley.

These two venomous insects were wriggling all over, their snow-white bodies covered in fuzzy bristles that clearly indicated their potent poison.

The third-tier demon beast seemed to sense danger instinctively, instantly turning its head to look in Lin Chang'an's direction. The next moment, it let out a sharp cry that was inaudible and directly attacked the divine sense.

"Psychic attack!"

Seeing this, Lin Chang'an actually smiled.

"As expected, they are two poisonous insects with the wood element."

Among the five elemental monsters, most of the wood-attribute monsters are spirit insects.

The next moment, a phoenix cried out, carrying array flags and array plates in its beak.

Under the shimmering golden light, the array of flags around the valley was perfectly arranged in a short time.

Lin Chang'an, holding the array plate, made a hand seal and shouted coldly. In an instant, a crimson barrier rose around the valley.

Formation: Blood Fiend Crimson Sun Formation
"Now, these two poisonous insects have no way to escape."

As the barrier appeared, the two poisonous insects sensed the danger and let out a series of roars, while a thick green, highly poisonous fog emanated from their bodies.

However, the two poisonous insects were met with a golden lightning attack from the Phoenix Bird. At the same time, Lin Chang'an also used his supernatural power, the technique of creating an avatar.

A clone exuding the aura of a fake core appeared. With a hand seal, two terrifying sword beams appeared and flew up to the left and right of the main body.

"After losing its ability to poison and without its carapace as a weapon, the combat effectiveness of this soft-bodied venomous insect has been greatly reduced."

Lin Chang'an sneered, but dared not be careless in the slightest, after all, even the weakest of them were still two third-tier demonic beasts.

He held the magical Blood Fiend Sword and used the supernatural power 'Sword Shadow at Will'.

With his cultivation at the early stage of Core Formation, he had already mastered this divine ability. Under the flash of three golden sword beams, each sword beam exuded power no weaker than a low-grade third-tier magic weapon.

Acting on impulse, three sword beams and two sword beams from the clone, a total of five sword beams, directly attacked one of the poisonous insects.

"puff!"

As the green poison sprayed down, the sword light formed from condensed magical power hissed and corroded, potentially severely damaging the magical artifact's spiritual essence.

However, the sword light formed by condensed magic power pierced through the poisonous mist in an instant. Under Lin Chang'an's spiritual eyes, the two poisonous insects had nowhere to hide.

puff!

Although the sword beams were greatly weakened by the corrosive poisonous fog, the five sword beams still pierced the body of one of the poisonous insects.

The next moment, the venomous insect, in pain, roared and twisted its body wildly.

"Psychic attack!"

Lin Chang'an and his clone naturally wouldn't rush forward rashly, since divine sense attacks are the most unpredictable and the most difficult to defend against.

"However, using the sword light technique only once consumes a lot of mana, but more importantly, it damages the meridians in the body."

With a solemn expression, Lin Chang'an watched helplessly as the five sword beams gradually collapsed and dissipated into specks of spiritual light under the corrosive effects of the poisonous blood.

However, he could feel the injuries he had sustained from using his divine power earlier, his meridians were damaged by the sword energy, but his terrifying self-healing body was rapidly recovering.

Even his magical power was recovering at an extremely fast pace.

"Even the Blood Fiend True Man, who was at the peak of the late Core Formation stage, was very cautious when he first cultivated this divine ability, but with my self-healing body, it is simply perfect."

What other cultivators feared as backlash was something he could recover from in an instant, and even excessive consumption of his magical power was within his acceptable range.

As for the clones, they are even more so, as they are based on the leaves of the Xuan Tian Immortal Vine, and their self-healing power is by no means weak.

Lin Chang'an and his clone transformed into two streaks of light, moving around the two third-tier poisonous insects and constantly unleashing their sword beams to launch attacks.

The Phoenix Bird, however, let out an excited cry, showing no fear of the ear-piercing divine sense attack, and even exhibiting a natural advantage against the poisonous insects.

Lin Chang'an himself was already at the early stage of Core Formation, and with the addition of the magic weapon Blood Fiend Sword and supernatural powers, his combat strength was already extremely strong. He even had to add a clone with the cultivation of a pseudo-Core Formation.

As a result, it was not as fast as the Phoenix Bird in dealing with a third-tier poisonous insect.

Like a golden lightning bolt, the phoenix bird instantly snatched up a poisonous insect and soared into the sky.

In its terror, the poisonous insects spewed out a terrifying green venomous mist, but the phoenix, flying at high speed, left a long trail of green venomous mist in its wake.

Under the bright sunlight, the phoenixes emerging from the poisonous fog had glossy, smooth feathers, and the damp fog had no effect whatsoever.

Instead, it provoked the Phoenix Bird's ferocity, and its sharp beak instantly pierced through the body of the third-tier poisonous insect.

"puff!"

A greenish-blue demon core was directly snatched into the mouth of the Phoenix Crying Bird, while the huge soft-bodied poisonous insect under its claws had already lost its life.

"So fast!"

Lin Chang'an was shocked to see this, but upon reflection, he realized it was normal.

If it were a venomous insect like a scorpion, it would still possess formidable fighting power even after losing its venom. However, for soft-bodied venomous insects like this, it can be said that all their abilities lie in their venom.

Once the poison loses its effect, let alone a mid-stage Tier 3 poisonous insect, even a late-stage Tier 3 poisonous insect will experience a significant reduction in combat power.

Therefore, it's normal that the Phoenix Bird was able to resolve the battle so quickly. The cultivation world has never lacked such restraint battles, with natural counters between demonic beasts and even elemental advantages.

Even among cultivators, there exists such extreme restraint. For example, some extremely powerful demonic and evil techniques are also restrained by techniques like lightning and yang.

"It was definitely the right decision to come to the Cloud Mist Mountains this time."

The battle ended quickly, and the other poisonous insect, under the return of the phoenix, had its demon core pecked out.

Of course, the formation also played a role in trapping them; otherwise, the Phoenix Cry Bird wouldn't have been able to so easily kill two mid-stage third-tier poisonous insects once they burrowed underground.

……

"I didn't expect the battle to go so smoothly."

Looking at the two cyan wood-attribute demon cores in his hand, Lin Chang'an couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

It's a pity that these poisonous insects have little value in other aspects.

"These soft leathers are not even qualified to be used to make talismans."

Lin Chang'an shook his head regretfully. Apart from the demon core, only the venom sac inside the body of this soft-bodied venomous insect has any value. Otherwise, it is completely unworthy of the title of a third-tier demon beast.

This is why most cultivators dislike hunting these poisonous insects.

The risk factor is extremely high, but the return rate is disproportionately low.

If it weren't for his immunity to similarly potent poisons and the presence of the Phoenix Bird, one can imagine that a Core Formation cultivator whose combat power was weakened would have to constantly be wary of this potent poison during battle.

How risky would such a battle be?

"Owner!"

After landing, the golden phoenix looked at the two dead poisonous insects with a clearly greedy expression.

Seeing this, Lin Chang'an waved his hand and said with amusement, "Eat up, these things are the most valuable to you anyway."

Upon receiving the response, the phoenix became excited and began to eat the soft, white, poisonous insect corpse.

"Moo!"

The Green Horned Ox that came out at this moment couldn't help but show envy when it saw this scene.

The corpse of a third-tier demon beast is a great tonic.

According to the instincts of demonic beasts, the strong are respected. This poisonous insect was hunted by the Phoenix Bird. Although the Green Horned Ox was envious, it could only watch helplessly.

Upon witnessing this scene, the highly intelligent Phoenix Bird let out a few crisp cries, and the Green Horned Ox mooed excitedly a few times.

Then they went up and ate the remaining half of the poisonous insect carcass that was the Phoenix Bird.

Seeing this, Lin Chang'an couldn't help but smile and nod. The Phoenix Bird's high intelligence also had its advantages.

Ordinary spirit pets would not easily share their prey with others.

He won't directly intervene, because raising a spirit pet doesn't mean you can control it at will.

Otherwise, the higher the cultivation level of the spirit pet, the more its intelligence will gradually develop, and it might betray you one day when it encounters danger.

In the cultivation world, there are countless examples of pets betraying and devouring their masters when the masters are seriously injured and weakened.

"You really dare to eat that? Be careful, it might poison you."

Lin Chang'an couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, but still stepped forward to infuse the Green Horned Ox with his own magic power.

This insect is poisonous all over. Although the chances of the Green Horned Ox being poisoned to death after eating it are not high, he doesn't want to take that risk.

After the battle, Lin Chang'an carefully searched the vicinity for some spiritual plants. There are usually some precious spiritual herbs near the territories of third-tier demonic beasts, especially poisonous insects.

Although they were just a few poisonous flowers that were about three hundred years old, they still made up for the value of the lower three-tier monsters.

……

"Unfortunately, the monsters in the Cloud Mist Mountains are different from those in the Monster Sea Abyss; third-tier monsters are not so easy to find."

After cleaning up the battlefield and putting away the formation, Lin Chang'an looked into the depths of the Cloud Mist Mountains and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

This time, he was able to find the third-tier demon beast's lair thanks to the fragmented memories of the Blood Fiend True Man.

Otherwise, ordinary third-tier demonic beasts are extremely intelligent and will try their best to hide their lairs.

Therefore, among cultivators, the lairs of high-level demonic beasts are also extremely valuable clues, and cultivators often sell information about high-level demonic beast lairs to earn spirit stones.

"We are still short of three Spirit-Replenishing Pills made from mid-grade third-tier demon cores."

Looking at the two wood-attribute demon cores in his hand, Lin Chang'an nodded secretly.

The values ​​of the five elemental demon cores are roughly the same, unless they are exotic demon cores, such as those with attributes like ice, lightning, wind, yin, and yang, which are more valuable than those of the same level.

Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult for him to exchange for another type of demon core.

"A low-grade third-tier demon core is worth around 50,000 to 60,000 mid-grade spirit stones, but a mid-grade third-tier demon core's value skyrockets to around 150,000 mid-grade spirit stones."

Often, it was even a matter of bartering.

Lin Chang'an's eyes flickered as he pondered the materials for the Spirit Replenishing Pill.

He doesn't have that many spirit stones. If he wants to hunt demonic beasts, he'll have to go back to the Tongtian Mist Sea to find those Yin Spirit Beast Kings.

After all, thanks to the Phoenix Bird's attributes and absolute species restraint, apart from poisonous insects, these Yin Spirit Beast Kings are the safest.

"However, among the fragmented memories of this Blood Fiend True Man, besides the first secret realm of the Demon Beast Sea Abyss, the Cloud Mist Mountain Range was the most memorable."

At this moment, Lin Chang'an frowned, recalling the fragmented memories he had obtained back then.

The secrets hidden deep within the Cloud and Mist Mountains seemed to be far greater than he had imagined.

After the death of Blood Fiend True Man, Lu Zhenjun was able to form his Nascent Soul through some fortuitous opportunity deep within the Cloud Mist Mountains.

Even the previous leader of the Xuan Yin Divine Sect, a Nascent Soul cultivator, perished here.

And there are also secret realms of ancient cultivators, which even contain the legendary Fusang Divine Tree.

"What secrets lie deep within the Cloud Mist Mountains that even Nascent Soul cultivators have perished there!"

Relying on the fragmented memories of Blood Fiend True Man, Lin Chang'an couldn't help but look up into the depths of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

When Blood Fiend True Man encountered a terrifying being, he could only flee. He didn't even consider this place. Even if it had the opportunity to form a Nascent Soul, it was not a place he could go to now.

"At the very least, if your strength hasn't reached the late stage of Core Formation, you absolutely cannot go to this place."

Even the Blood Fiend True Man, who was at the peak of the late Core Formation stage, had perished. He had only just formed his Core and didn't want to take such a big risk.

Even though he was unafraid of poisons of the same level.

"However, in the fragmented memories of the Blood Fiend True Man, there is another place where a swarm of poisonous bees dwells, and the miasma is extremely fierce."

However, there is a sacred spring here that has been polluted by miasma.

According to his memory, the Blood Fiend True Man was only focused on finding the opportunity to reach the Nascent Soul stage. Although the polluted spiritual spring was also extremely precious, it was clearly not attractive enough.

"I'm afraid that the Blood Fiend True Man was actually a stepping stone for this True Lord Lu."

Lin Chang'an shook his head. It was no wonder that the Blood Fiend True Man still harbored such deep resentment before his death.

However, this spiritual spring held immense appeal for him.

After all, his natal spiritual plant needs this item.

As for being contaminated by poisonous miasma, his natal spiritual plant is not afraid of that stuff.

(End of this chapter)