The entry for cultivating immortality states that after dying a hundred times, I attained immortalit

The carrion vulture swooped down, its wings flapping and stirring up gusts of foul wind.

Jiang Bai narrowed his eyes, gripping the Thunder Fang Sword tightly in his left hand.

Even if all the remaining spiritual energy in his dantian were poured in, it would be difficult to generate even a fraction of lightning.

The Bone-Rotting Vulture was almost upon them.

Jiang Bai suddenly loosened his grip on the sword, and the Thunder Fang Sword immediately fell into the mud.

The rotten bone vulture's sharp beak was about to pierce his chest, but it suddenly stopped a foot away from his heart, tilting its ugly, wrinkled head slightly.

It had probably never seen its prey willingly give up its resistance.

In that moment of distraction, Jiang Bai's gaze fell on the neck of the Bone Vulture, where there was a wound.

He had read in the Jiang Family Miscellany that if the Bone Vultures of the Desolate State lived long enough and ate enough, some of them could develop some intelligence, roughly equivalent to that of a human child.

This kind of monster holds grudges, but it also remembers kindness.

We have no choice but to take a gamble.

Jiang Bai pointed to the wound on the neck of the Bone Vulture, then to himself, and then made a "healing" gesture with his left hand.

The Bone Vulture tilted its head.

Jiang Bai stopped moving and just stared intently at it.

After a while, the Bone Vulture suddenly let out a screech. Instead of pecking down, its huge beak reached to the side and grabbed Jiang Bai's clothes at his waist. Then, it flapped its wings violently!

huh~~

Jiang Bai was lifted up and quickly driven away.

Air is forced into the mouth and nose.

He barely managed to open his eyes and look down.

The Kurosawa Marsh unfolds beneath your feet, with muddy puddles, withered reeds, and scattered animal bones all turning into blurry patches of color.

The Bone Vulture didn't fly very steadily; the wound on its neck forced it to adjust its posture every now and then.

Jiang Bai was suspended in mid-air, his wounds throbbing in the wind.

He simply stopped struggling and let the bone vulture carry him away to the southwest.

After flying for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a steep black rock wall appeared ahead.

There was a huge hollow halfway up the rock wall, with piles of white animal bones at the entrance, some still covered with rotting flesh, emitting a strong stench.

It is the nest of the Bone Vulture.

It folded its wings and landed on the pile of bones at the cave entrance, then released its grip and threw Jiang Bai to the ground.

Jiang Bai rolled twice before stopping, his back hitting a leg bone, causing him to groan in pain.

A chirping sound came from deep within the nest.

Two fledglings stumbled out of the shadows. They were much smaller than adult carrion vultures, their feathers not yet fully grown, their bare skin a pinkish-gray hue, and faint green flames flickering in their eye sockets.

The fledgling bird smelled the blood and excitedly pounced on Jiang Bai, its sharp beak pecking straight at the wound on his right arm.

Jiang Bai slapped the ground with his left hand and rolled to the side to avoid the first peck.

But the second chick had already pounced in front of him, its beak about to pierce his eye socket.

He reached into his storage bag with his left hand, took out a small jade bottle, bit off the stopper with his teeth, and poured out two pale yellow pills.

This is the lowest-grade healing pill, practically useless to him in his current state, but...

Jiang Bai threw the pills at the fledglings.

The fledglings were taken aback. They lowered their heads to sniff the pills, hesitated for a moment, then picked up one and swallowed it.

Seeing this, the other chick also came over and ate the remaining grain.

After the pill entered their stomachs, the fledglings glowed with a warm light. They shook themselves comfortably, stopped attacking Jiang Bai, and instead circled around him twice, chirping contentedly.

The Bone Vulture stood at the cave entrance, its ugly head tilting slightly again.

Jiang Bai struggled to sit up and pointed again at the wound on the neck of the Bone Vulture.

This time, he stopped gesturing and directly activated the "Hundred Poisons Tempering Technique".

The meager spiritual energy in his dantian was completely extracted and flowed along his meridians to his left index finger.

Jiang Bai raised his finger, and a very faint dark green halo appeared on his fingertip.

This is the "Blood and Flesh Guiding Method" recorded in the Body Tempering Technique. It is originally used to guide the accumulated toxins in the body, and it is just right to use it to draw out the poisonous blood from the wound of the Corrupted Bone Vulture.

The Bone Vulture stared at the dark green halo, making a low gurgling sound in its throat.

It took two steps forward, lowered its huge head, and brought the wound on its neck close to Jiang Bai.

A strong, fishy stench hit me.

Jiang Bai held his breath and pressed his left index finger against the edge of the wound.

The spiritual energy slowly seeped in.

The Bone Vulture's body stiffened abruptly, a painful hiss escaping its throat. Its wings instinctively tried to flap, but it forcibly restrained itself.

Jiang Baineng felt a sticky sensation on his fingertips. Deep inside the wound, there was a blackish-purple poisonous blood that had blocked the meridians, preventing the wound from healing for decades.

He guided her step by step.

The dark green halo pierced the stagnant poisonous blood like fine needles, drawing the viscous, dark purple blood outwards. In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the first drop of poisonous blood seeped from the wound, dripping onto the pile of bones with a soft "sizzle," corroding a small pit.

The Bone Vulture trembled slightly, but the green flames in its eye sockets brightened a bit.

Jiang Bai continued his actions.

Sweat dripped from his forehead, and the spiritual energy in his dantian was almost depleted. But he dared not stop; his left index finger remained as steady as a rock, slowly drawing out the poisonous blood. The dark purple color in the wound gradually faded, revealing tender new flesh underneath.

About an incense stick's time later, the last stream of poisonous blood was drawn out.

Although the wound on the rotten bone vulture's neck was still gruesome, the edges were no longer blackened, and the meridians had regained their flow. It tilted its head back and let out a long, pleasant cry, then flapped its wings sharply!

call--

A strong wind swirled within the nest, making the pile of bones rattle and clatter.

The sound echoed between the rock walls, carrying far and wide.

The Bone Vulture lowered its head, gently touched Jiang Bai's shoulder with its beak, made a "gurgling" sound in its throat, and the green flames in its eye sockets flickered much more gently.

Jiang Bai slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

That last act nearly drained him of his last bit of spiritual energy. But it was worth it.

He sat cross-legged and began to circulate the "Hundred Poisons Tempering Technique" again. The surrounding poisonous miasma slowly gathered, seeping into his body through his skin. Under the effect of [Poisonous Miasma Symbiosis], it transformed into a warm stream, nourishing his withered meridians.

Two baby birds came over and lay down next to him, one on each side, making contented purring sounds.

The Bone Vulture crouched at the entrance of the cave, like a black sculpture, its eerie green eyes gazing at the gray sky outside the nest.

The sky gradually darkened.

Jiang Bai finished his practice; his injuries had healed somewhat, at least his breathing was a little easier.

He sat down against the rock wall, took out half a pot of water from his storage bag, and sipped it.

"Look," he suddenly said, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to the Bone Vulture, "this world is quite interesting."

The Bone Vulture turned to look at him.

"You brought me back to feed your cubs, that's only right." Jiang Bai took a sip of water. "I healed your wounds to save your life, it's a win-win situation. Simple and clean."

"But those guys robbed me before because of greed; I bombed them because of ruthlessness. Greed versus ruthlessness, it all comes down to who has the faster blade." He paused, "But what good is a faster blade? After bombing them, I'm still half-dead, and then you come again."

The carrion vulture made a "gurgling" sound from its throat, as if in response.

Jiang Bai smiled and continued, "I used to think that cultivating immortality was just about climbing up step by step, and once you reached a higher realm, you could live a carefree life. But now I see, there's no such thing as carefree life."

"When you're practicing Qi Refining, you're afraid of Foundation Establishment; when you're in Foundation Establishment, you're afraid of Golden Core; and when you're in Golden Core, you're afraid of Nascent Soul. You're afraid of enemies, sects, heavenly tribulations, and karma." He shook his head. "It's so good to be like you. When you're hungry, you hunt for food; when you're tired, you return to your nest; when you're injured, you just wait to die—or wait for a fool like me to heal you."

The Bone Vulture tilted its head, then suddenly got up and walked deep into the nest, carrying back half a swamp crocodile carcass, which it threw in front of Jiang Bai.

The swamp crocodile had been mostly eaten away, but only one hind leg remained.

Jiang Bai was taken aback for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "Thanks."

He took out a tinderbox from his storage bag, gathered a few dry animal bones for firewood, and started a small fire in a corner of the den. He placed the swamp crocodile's leg over the fire to roast it, and the grease dripped out, making a sizzling sound.

When the meat was half-cooked, Jiang Bai tore off a strip and handed it to the baby bird that was watching eagerly beside him.

The chicks happily began to peck at the food.

He tore off another strip and threw it to the Bone Vulture.

The bone-decaying vulture lowered its head, sniffed the food, and slowly ate it.

Jiang Bai ate about half of it himself, carefully wrapped the rest in oiled paper, and put it into his storage bag. The firelight flickered, and the shadows of the one person and three birds in the nest swayed on the rock wall, creating a strangely warm atmosphere.

As night deepened, the sounds of fighting suddenly came from below the cliff.

Jiang Bai walked to the cave entrance and looked down.

On the clearing at the edge of the Black Swamp, two groups of cultivators were locked in fierce combat. One group, consisting of about seven or eight people, wore uniform gray short jackets; the other group, dressed in disheveled clothing, numbered only five. Swords flashed, and sparks from exploding talismans occasionally ignited the battlefield.

The group in gray jackets clearly had the upper hand.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the disheveled side collapsed, abandoning two corpses as they fled in panic. A scarred man stepped out from among the victors, stomped on one of the corpses, and laughed loudly:

"The rules of the desolate state are: the winner takes all! Hand over the spoils, and we'll spare your lives!"

Among the fleeing cultivators, one turned back and tossed a cloth bag. The scarred man caught it, opened it, glanced at it, and laughed even more wildly: "If you'd been this sensible earlier, why did two people die in vain?"

After the battle ended, the victor looted the spoils and left triumphantly.

The open space returned to deathly silence, leaving only two gradually cooling corpses.

Jiang Bai stood at the cave entrance, the night wind ruffling the tattered corners of his clothes.

He watched for a long time until the two corpses were slowly covered by poisonous insects crawling out of the swamp before turning back to his nest.

"So this is the desolate state." He sat down against the rock wall and murmured to himself, "There is no right or wrong, only life and death, strength and weakness."

The Bone Vulture crouched beside him, its eerie green eyes gazing at him with a look of half-understanding.

……

Three days later.

Jiang Bai opened his eyes from his meditation.

The crack in the wound on his right arm had mostly healed, and the dark green crystals had all fallen off, revealing the new flesh underneath, though it still had a slightly bluish tinge. The spiritual energy in his dantian had recovered to the level of the third level of Qi Refining; although it was still weak, he could at least activate some low-level spells.

He got up and stretched, his bones making soft "crackling" sounds.

The bone-rotting vulture walked in from the cave entrance, carrying a fat swamp rat in its mouth, and threw it at Jiang Bai's feet.

"I'm leaving," Jiang Bai said.

The Bone Vulture made a gurgling sound in its throat, and the green flames in its eye sockets dimmed slightly.

Jiang Bai took out the bottle of low-grade healing pills from his storage bag, poured out five pills, wrapped them in oil paper, and placed them in front of the Corpse-Boned Vulture: "Buddy, see you again in the martial world."

The Bone Vulture lowered its head to sniff the oil paper package, then raised its head and gently touched Jiang Bai's shoulder with its beak.

It turned and walked to the cave entrance, crouching low.

Jiang Bai was stunned for a moment, then he understood. He flipped over and climbed onto the back of the Bone Vulture, grabbing the sparse feathers on its neck with both hands.

The Bone Vulture flapped its wings and burst out of its nest.

The wind whistled past its ears, and the Black Swamp rushed past its feet. This time, the Bone Vulture flew very steadily. After the wound on its neck healed, its wings flapped in a coordinated and powerful manner, and its speed nearly doubled.

After flying for about an hour, a cluster of sparse buildings appeared ahead.

It was a market built on Black Rock Slope, surrounded by a simple wooden fence, with dozens of tents and sheds inside, and people could be vaguely seen moving about.

The bone vulture landed about half a mile outside the market.

Jiang Bai jumped off the bird's back and patted its neck: "Let's stop here. If we go any closer, those cultivators will keep an eye on us."

The Bone Vulture rubbed its beak against his arm, let out a long cry, flapped its wings and took flight. After circling twice in the sky, it turned and disappeared into the gray horizon.

Jiang Bai watched it leave before turning and heading towards the market.

He found a puddle in the swamp, quickly washed his face, and then took out a piece of gray cloth from his storage bag. He tore it into strips and wrapped it around half of his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. His clothes were already tattered and covered in mud, so there was no need for him to disguise himself.

As I approached the market, I saw an old man dozing off by the wooden fence, with a broken bowl in front of him.

Jiang Bai took out a few pieces of swamp crocodile scales from his storage bag—they were specially peeled off three days ago when he was roasting crocodile legs—and threw them into a bowl.

The old man opened one eye, glanced at the scales in the bowl, then closed his eye and waved his hand.

Jiang Bai walked into the market.

The inside was more bustling than the outside. Dozens of stalls lined both sides of the muddy road, selling a wide variety of things: animal hides, bone tools, dried poisonous herbs, suspiciously colored pills, and rusty weapons. Most of the stall owners had fierce faces, scarred bodies, and warily scanned every passerby.

The customers were all dressed like independent practitioners, chatting in small groups while their eyes kept glancing around.

Jiang Bai walked up to a stall selling general merchandise.

The stall owner, a one-eyed man, was whittling an animal bone with a bone knife. Seeing Jiang Bai stop, he asked without looking up, "What are you looking at?"

"Map," Jiang Bai said.

The one-eyed man pulled a roll of yellowed animal hide from under his stall and threw it on the table: "Ten swamp crocodile scales, or something of equal value."

Jiang Baiyou took out a few scales.

The one-eyed man then looked up, sized him up for a few moments, and then removed his scale armor: "New here?"

Jiang Bai did not answer, but unfolded the animal skin map to examine it.

The map was roughly drawn, but all the necessary locations were marked: Black Swamp, Blood Fang Village, Bone Hill Village, and Poison Ivy Village—these were the three major independent cultivator villages on the edge of the Desolate State, each occupying a territory. The currency was labeled "Blood Crystal," a red crystal produced from the Desolate State's mines, containing mixed blood energy that could aid in body-refining techniques.

"Where is the ancient cultivation cave?" Jiang Bai asked.

The one-eyed man scoffed, "You want to go and die too?"

Ask.

"North, at the end of the Black Swamp." The man pointed on the map with his bone knife. "It will open in three days, but you need an 'Entry Iron Token' to get in. One token can be exchanged for three bottles of Qi Gathering Pills. Do you have one?"

Jiang Bai shook his head.

"That settles it then." The man continued shaving the bone. "Those who tried to force their way in without an iron token have died at least twenty times in the last half month. The worst among them were at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Someone like you..." He glanced at Jiang Bai, "would complain about not having enough meat to feed the snakes."

Jiang Bai put away the map and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute," the man suddenly called out to him. "If you really want to go, there's an old cripple at the west end of the market who sells all sorts of strange junk. He might have some other information—but it won't be cheap."

Jiang Bai nodded and walked towards the west.

After walking through half of the market, I saw a dilapidated shed in a corner.

In front of the shed stood a crooked wooden table, on which lay a few scattered items: a rusted bronze mirror, half a broken sword, and several dull-colored bone fragments. Behind the table sat an old man with one arm, wearing a dirty gray robe with his left sleeve hanging loosely, and holding a pipe in his right hand, squinting as he puffed out smoke.

Jiang Bai's gaze fell on a corner of the table.

There was a palm-sized bronze fragment with irregular edges and blurry patterns on its surface; it looked quite ordinary.

But the bronze ring in his arms—the one he had obtained in the ancient secret chamber of the Poisonous Mist Cave—suddenly became slightly warm.

It's very slight, but it's real.

Jiang Bai stopped in front of the stall.

The old man raised his eyelids, his cloudy eyes sweeping over him, took a drag of his cigarette, and slowly exhaled: "What do you want to buy?"

"Take a look." Jiang Bai reached out and picked up the bronze fragment.

It felt cool to the touch, and the textured surface had a very subtle, raised feel. The ring in my pocket grew even warmer.

"Where did this fragment come from?" Jiang Bai asked.

The old man took another drag of his cigarette. "I picked it up north of Kurosawa. What, you recognize it?"

"I don't recognize it, but the pattern seems interesting." Jiang Bai put down the fragment. "How much?"

The old man stared at him for a few moments, then suddenly laughed, revealing a set of yellow teeth: "Kid, you're covered in injuries...you just barely escaped death in the swamp, didn't you?"

Jiang Bai didn't say anything.

"To survive, buying junk isn't enough," the old man tapped his pipe. "You have to exchange things for information."

Jiang Jiangbai sat down on a small stool in front of the stall, took out a low-grade spirit stone from her storage bag, and placed it on the table.

Spirit stones are extremely rare in the desolate state—the currency here is blood crystals.

This spirit stone was brought out from Black Fiend Valley; it is crystal clear and has a faint milky white halo.

The old man's pupils contracted slightly.

He put down his pipe, picked up the spirit stone, examined it closely for a moment, then looked up at Jiang Bai: "An outsider?"

Jiang Bai grinned, and the cloth strip covering his face moved slightly: "Use it to exchange for your fragment, plus a message."

"What news?"

"Is there a way to enter the ancient cultivation cave without an iron token?"

The old man was silent.

The noise of the market seemed to fade away suddenly, leaving only the rustling of tattered cloth in the wind around the stalls.

After a long while, the old man put the spirit stone into his pocket and said in a low voice, "Yes. But that's a path to death."

Tell me about it.

The old man pointed north outside the market: "There's a Poison Dragon Pool in Black Swamp, and the underground current at the bottom of the pool leads to a tomb chamber on the side of the cave. Sixty years ago, that underground current hadn't been blocked yet, and I crossed it once when I was young."

Jiang Bai stared at him: "And now?"

"Now?" The old man smiled bitterly. "A black water serpent has come to the pool. It has the cultivation of a Foundation Establishment cultivator and has been guarding it for sixty years. Over the years, those who have tried to enter through the hidden current have all become its snacks."

He paused, then said, "If you really want to die, go north for thirty li, and when you see a depression covered with purple poisonous miasma flowers, turn west and go another ten li, and you'll reach Poison Dragon Pool. The water is black, and there are seven black stones, each as tall as a person, arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper on the bank. They're easy to spot."

Jiang Bai stood up and picked up the bronze fragment.

Thanks.

He turned to leave, but the old man suddenly called out to him again: "Young man."

Jiang Bai turned his head.

The old man took a drag of his cigarette, the smoke blurring the expression on his face: "Sixty years ago, that Black Water Serpent was at the peak of Qi Refining. It broke through by eating the corpses of three Foundation Establishment cultivators. What it guards... might be more than just the pool."

"What do you mean?"

"It means," the old man tapped his pipe, "that it might be guarding something at the bottom of the pool. And that thing might be more valuable than the treasures in the ancient cultivator's cave...

Jiang Bai nodded, turned around, and disappeared into the crowd at the market.

The old man watched the direction where he disappeared, slowly finished his cigarette, tapped the ash on the table, and muttered to himself, "Another one who's just throwing his life away... There are so many fools these days."