Mortal: I have a Spirit Gathering Cauldron

A dizzying teleportation.

Lin Feng landed safely on the ground.

He quickly darted into the surrounding woods, then changed into the gray-green clothes he had prepared. From a distance, he blended into the environment, and with the addition of an invisibility talisman, he was even less likely to be spotted by people in the distance.

That was enough for him.

The sky was hazy and gray, as if covered by a dirty veil, making it impossible to tell whether it was day or night.

However, the fluctuations of spiritual energy will vary with the time of day, being weakest at midnight and strongest at noon.

After hiding for a while, Lin Feng crawled out of the tree hole and stretched his somewhat stiff body.

He surveyed the surrounding terrain and confirmed that he was in the outer perimeter of the forbidden area.

This rotten land covers an area of ​​several hundred miles. To the south is a low hill, to the east is a dried-up riverbed, and to the north, a dark green forest can be vaguely seen.

According to the original description, the Crimson Forbidden Land is divided into three areas: the outer area, the middle area, and the core area.

The outer area has the weakest spiritual energy and the fewest spiritual herbs. Most of them are decades old, and you can occasionally find herbs that are a hundred years old.

The central region is rich in spiritual energy and has many hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, but it is also home to many demonic beasts. The core region has the richest spiritual energy and contains thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, but it is also shrouded in mist and poisonous miasma, and is home to demonic beasts of the level of the Black Dragon.

"Search the outer perimeter first, then head towards the center," Lin Feng decided.

He concealed his aura and moved silently through the decaying ground.

After walking for about an hour, Lin Feng found three medicinal herbs by a dry riverbed: two Ganoderma lucidum plants that were fifty years old, and one Polygonum multiflorum plant that was fifty years old.

It was in average condition and not very valuable, but he still put it in his storage bag.

Even a mosquito's leg is still meat.

After walking for another half hour, Lin Feng arrived at a low hilly area.

The stench of decay had lessened, and a faint, sweet scent of spiritual energy could be detected in the air.

He stopped and scanned his surroundings with his divine sense, suddenly sensing a fluctuation of spiritual energy ahead.

someone.

Lin Feng immediately lowered his body and hid behind a rock, cautiously extending his divine sense.

Several hundred feet ahead, a male and a female cultivator stood in front of a mountain wall, seemingly discussing something.

The male cultivator wore a white robe and a jade belt. He was handsome and appeared to be in his early twenties. His cultivation level was not low, at the twelfth level of Qi Refining. A token with a crescent moon engraved on it hung from his waist.

The female cultivator was also dressed in the white robe of the Hidden Moon Sect. She had a beautiful face, a slender figure, and a cultivation level of eleven levels of Qi Refining.

"A disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect." Lin Feng narrowed his eyes.

The Hidden Moon Sect is the head of the seven sects in the Yue Kingdom, possessing the strongest power and the most arrogant disciples. Neither the man nor the woman appear to be benevolent.

Lin Feng held his breath and quietly moved closer.

He dared not get too close. He stopped about several hundred feet away from the other party, hiding behind a clump of bushes to observe secretly.

"Senior Brother Zhao, are you sure this is the place?" the female cultivator asked, her voice soft and sweet, with a hint of coquetry.

"There's no mistake," the male cultivator said, pointing to a crack in the mountain wall.

Lin Feng looked in the direction the male cultivator pointed.

The cliff face is about three zhang high, and its surface is covered with dark green moss. Near the bottom, there is a thin crack, about two chi long and one zhi wide, which is almost invisible if you don't look closely.

"Sense carefully. There is spiritual energy overflowing from the crack, and the concentration is not low. This is the location of the Jade Marrow Fungus recorded by our ancestor. Back then, our ancestor only made a record to leave for future generations because the spiritual herb was too young."

Chalcedony Mushroom!

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

Jade Marrow Fungus is one of the main ingredients in Foundation Building Pills, and a hundred-year-old Jade Marrow Fungus can sell for thousands of spirit stones. Moreover, this thing has very strict requirements for its growing environment.

Lin Feng licked his lips, not in a hurry to make a move.

The two disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect had clearly also discovered the spiritual medicine in the crack and were trying to break through the mountain wall. The rock in the mountain wall was hard and difficult to damage with ordinary magical artifacts, so it would take some effort.

"Senior Brother Zhao, shall we try using a fire-attribute magic weapon?" the female cultivator suggested.

"No, fire will damage the spiritual herbs inside." The male cultivator shook his head. "I'll try using the wall-breaking cone."

The male cultivator took out a cone-shaped magical artifact from his storage bag. It was jet black, with a sharp tip that gleamed with a cold light. He activated his spiritual power, and the wall-breaking cone transformed into a streak of black light, crashing fiercely into the mountain wall.

"boom--"

Rock fragments flew everywhere, leaving a crater the size of a bowl on the mountainside.

The male cultivator frowned: "Too slow. At this rate, it will take at least two hours to break through."

Lin Feng hid behind the bushes, his mind racing.

He now has two choices.

First, wait for the two to break through the mountain wall, then ambush them while they go inside to collect herbs, killing them and stealing their treasure. This is the most direct and profitable option, but also the riskiest.

Most of the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect have life-saving methods. He can win one-on-one, but he will have to work hard to win one-on-two, and it is easy for the opponent to escape.

Second, reveal yourself, pretend to bump into them by chance, and propose to break through the barrier together, splitting the elixir equally. This is less risky, but the returns are also smaller.

Lin Feng thought for a moment and chose the second option.

It wasn't out of kindness, but because he needed to confirm how many Jade Marrow Ganoderma lucidum plants were inside the crack. If there were only one or two, the other party definitely wouldn't agree to split them equally, and he would still have to resort to violence. If there were three or four, splitting them equally would be acceptable.

He stood up and deliberately broke a dead branch.

"Click—"

The crisp cracking sound was particularly jarring in the silent, decaying earth.

"who!"

The male cultivator turned around instantly, the Wall-Breaking Cone hovering in front of him, surging with spiritual energy. The female cultivator also took out a cyan flying sword, warily watching the direction from which the sound came.

Lin Feng emerged from behind the bushes, raising his hands slightly to indicate that he meant no harm.

"Fellow Daoists, I am Lin Feng, a disciple of Huangfeng Valley. I was passing by when I sensed fluctuations in spiritual energy here, so I came to take a look," he said neither humbly nor arrogantly. His gaze swept over the two of them, finally settling on the crack. "It seems you two have also noticed it."

The male cultivator looked him up and down, his gaze lingering for a moment on the Yellow Maple Valley token at Lin Feng's waist.

"From Yellow Maple Valley?" The male cultivator's tone carried a hint of disdain. "Just you alone?"

"Alone." Lin Feng nodded.

"You dare to show yourself alone? You've got some nerve." The male cultivator's lips curled into a half-smile. "I am Zhao Heng from the Hidden Moon Sect, and this is my junior sister, Su Wan."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Zhao and Fellow Daoist Su." Lin Feng clasped his hands in greeting.

Zhao Heng stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly asked, "Fellow Daoist Lin, are you interested in what's inside this crack?"

"A century-old elixir, who wouldn't be interested?" Lin Feng smiled. "However, since you two discovered it first, I wouldn't dare to steal it from you. But..."

He paused, then said, "The rock in this mountain is incredibly hard. It will probably take you two quite a while to break through. Why don't you add me? The three of us working together will be much faster. Once we get the spiritual medicine, how about we split it equally?"

A strange light flashed in Zhao Heng's eyes, and he exchanged a glance with Su Wan.

Su Wan nodded slightly.

"Alright," Zhao Heng readily agreed. "However, Fellow Daoist Lin, we'll have to see the goods before deciding how to divide the spiritual herbs. What if there's only one of each? We can't just split it into three pieces, can we?"

"That's natural." Lin Feng nodded. "If there's only one, we'll split it equally among the three of us, converted to spirit stones at market price. If there are three or more, each person will receive at least one. What does Fellow Daoist Zhao think?"

"Can."

The three reached a simple agreement and began breaking down the wall.

Zhao Heng used the Wall-Breaking Awl, Su Wan used a flying sword, and Lin Feng took out a mid-grade attack magic weapon. He couldn't bear to use the Wind-Breaking Spear, as that thing was too conspicuous.

The three of them attacked the mountain wall at the same time, and the efficiency was indeed much faster.

Gravel flew everywhere, and the cracks grew wider and wider.

An hour later, a hole appeared in the mountain wall, big enough for one person to pass through.

A rich spiritual energy emanated from the cave, mingled with the sweet scent of the spiritual spring. Lin Feng took a deep breath, feeling every pore on his body relax and open up.

"It's open." Zhao Heng put away the wall-breaking cone and was the first to crawl into the hole.

Su Wan followed closely behind.

Lin Feng was the last to go in.

The cave was not large, about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) in size. The cave walls were damp and covered with dark green moss.

In the center of the cave is a small spring, its water crystal clear and exuding a faint spiritual aura.

Beside the sacred spring, five jade marrow mushrooms grow quietly.

Each plant is about the size of a palm, pure white, and crystal clear, as if carved from jade.

The caps of the sesame plants have fine patterns. Lin Feng glanced at them and found that all five plants were over two hundred years old, with the largest one being at least three hundred years old.

Five century-old jade marrow mushrooms.

Lin Feng's breath hitched slightly.

Five century-old Jade Marrow Ganoderma can be exchanged for nearly two Foundation Establishment Pills.

"Five plants!" Su Wan exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Brother Zhao, we've struck it rich!"

A glint of greed flashed in Zhao Heng's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. He turned to Lin Feng and asked, "Fellow Daoist Lin, how should we divide the five Jade Marrow Mushrooms?"

Lin Feng pondered for a moment: "Five plants are hard to divide. How about this, I'll take one, and you can take the remaining four. You can give me some spirit stones in return, how about that?"

Zhao Heng shook his head: "That's not appropriate. We agreed to split it equally, so everyone should get the same amount. Five bushes are hard to divide, so perhaps..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Let's harvest the Jade Marrow Ganoderma first, and then discuss how to divide it. What does Fellow Daoist Lin think?"

Lin Feng sneered inwardly.

Why don't you harvest the Jade Marrow Mushroom first? After harvesting it, there's no way you, Zhao Heng, would obediently divide it equally.

But he remained expressionless and nodded, saying, "Alright."

The three walked toward the sacred spring.

Lin Feng bent down and reached out to pick the nearest jade marrow fungus.

Just as his hand was about to touch the chalcedony fungus, he heard the sound of wind breaking behind him.

Lin Feng's lips curled up slightly.

We were on guard against you.

He didn't turn around, but shifted his foot and moved half a foot to the left.

Swimming Dragon Steps.

A streak of dark light flew past his right shoulder, the force of which tore his robes. It was Zhao Heng's Wall-Breaking Awl.

At the same time, Lin Feng's right hand, hidden in his sleeve, had already activated the Ice Sword Talisman.

The cyan talisman transformed into a small, crystalline blue sword, which shot out from his sleeve and headed straight for Zhao Heng's chest.

"ah--"

The black shield Zhao Heng hastily conjured was instantly pierced, and he screamed as he flew backward, a large, blue, icy hole piercing through his chest. He crashed to the ground, twitched twice, and then lay still.

An elite disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect, at the twelfth level of Qi Refining, was killed in one move.

Su Wan froze for a moment, then let out a scream and turned to run away.

Lin Feng didn't rush to chase after him. Instead, he walked to Zhao Heng's corpse and fired a fireball to finish him off. Finishing off someone is a basic maneuver.

Once he was certain that Zhao Heng was dead, Lin Feng activated the Qingfeng Banner, flashed away, and chased after him.

Su Wan was stopped after running less than a few hundred feet.

She stood on the decaying ground, her face deathly pale, her whole body trembling. She held the azure flying sword in her hand, unsure whether to raise it or put it away.

Lin Feng held the Wind-Breaking Spear, its tip pointed at her throat, his face expressionless.

"Fellow Daoist...please spare my life!" Su Wan threw down her flying sword and knelt on the ground with a thud. "This humble woman is willing to serve you with my body, to be your slave from now on, and to have no other intentions!"

As she spoke, she reached out and unbuttoned her blouse.

Her white robe slipped down, revealing her snow-white shoulders and collarbone. A pair of full breasts seemed ready to burst forth, trembling slightly with her rapid breathing.

Lin Feng's gaze lingered on her two voluptuous mounds for a moment, slightly dazzling, and a hint of desire flashed in his eyes.

Su Wan keenly sensed this hint of interest and felt reassured.

She raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears, looking at Lin Feng with a pitiful expression: "Fellow Daoist, I was forced into this situation. Senior Brother Zhao was planning to ambush you; I had no idea. Please spare my life, I'll do anything..."

As she spoke, she shook and trembled the evil on her chest.

Lin Feng didn't speak, his gaze sweeping over her as if assessing something.

Su Wan was secretly pleased, thinking she had succeeded. She had seen too many men like this, who said no but their bodies said no.

"You're testing my weak point!"

Lin Feng, a wicked smile playing on his lips, slowly walked up to Su Wan: "I was just ambushed by your companion, and I'm furious."

After saying that, he placed a palm on the beauty's head and slowly pressed down.

Su Wan smiled charmingly.

"Fellow Daoist, let me serve you well..."

She closed her eyes, tilted her head back slightly, revealing her slender neck.

Suddenly she felt a tremendous force coming from above her head.

Lin Feng placed his palm on the top of her head, his magical power surging, and a violent surge of spiritual energy poured into her head.

Su Wan's smile froze on her face, her pupils filled with terror and resentment.

"you......"

"I'm interested in beauties." Lin Feng looked at her expressionlessly. "Forget about femme fatales."

He released his grip, and Su Wan's body fell limply to the ground.

Lin Feng squatted down and pried open her right hand, which was tightly clenched in her sleeve.

A flying needle was hidden in his palm, its tip gleaming with a cold, eerie light.

Lin Feng put the flying needle into his storage bag, stood up, glanced at Su Wan's corpse, and took her storage bag. "She was good-looking, but too vicious. What a pity."

He turned and went back into the cave.

Zhao Heng's body had already turned to ashes. Lin Feng searched the storage bag and magical artifacts beside him.

Two storage bags, with quite a lot of things inside.

Lin Feng didn't rush to count them. Instead, he carefully picked the five Jade Marrow Fungus, put them in a jade box, affixed a spirit-sealing talisman, and put them into his storage bag.

After doing all this, he stood up and looked around.

The surroundings were completely silent, with no trace of anyone having passed by.

"It's time to go."

Lin Feng activated the Qingfeng Banner, his figure transforming into a wisp of green wind, disappearing into the dense forest.

An hour later, Lin Feng found a hidden stone cave.

The cave is located on the back of a small hill, and its entrance is blocked by a huge rock, making it almost impossible to spot without careful observation.

He sat down cross-legged and began to take stock of his spoils.

In Zhao Heng's storage bag were: three hundred-year-old spiritual herbs, more than two hundred low-grade spirit stones, a high-grade defensive magic weapon, several bottles of pills, and a jade slip containing the "Basic Cultivation Method of the Hidden Moon Sect".

In Su Wan's storage bag: a fifty-year-old spiritual herb, more than eighty low-grade spirit stones, a pile of rouge and powder and clothes, as well as the flying needle and flying sword magic weapon.

"Poor bastard." Lin Feng curled his lip.

The disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect may look glamorous, but their actual wealth is just so-so. However, those three hundred-year-old spiritual herbs are indeed valuable, and with the addition of five jade marrow mushrooms, he now possesses eight hundred-year-old spiritual herbs.

"Eight hundred-year-old spiritual herbs are enough to exchange for two Foundation Establishment Pills," Lin Feng calculated.

He put the useful items into his storage bag, threw away the useless ones, and then took out a high-quality Yellow Dragon Pill to consume, beginning to restore his magical power.

Although the battle was brief, activating the talisman consumed a significant amount of his magical power. Talismans are powerful but also consume a lot of energy; using an ice sword talisman once consumed nearly 30% of his spiritual power.

"I still have three uses left with the talisman, so I need to use it sparingly," Lin Feng murmured.

He closed his eyes, and his spiritual energy slowly circulated through his meridians.

The second day in the forbidden area passed just like that.