Mortal: I'm in Tianxing City, intelligence updates daily.

Li Shizhou flew for a short while using his escape light.

The baby carp beast sensed an enemy far stronger than itself approaching from a distance, and a look of terror immediately rose on its baby-like face.

Ignoring the sea serpent demon that was almost within its grasp, it hurriedly dived downwards, heading towards the seabed.

Although Li Shizhou also possessed water-repelling treasures, the seawater here was a deep, dark black, indicating that there might be some powerful monsters lurking below.

So he didn't rush into the water. Instead, a flash of light appeared at his waist, and he released Mo Li, the beast dog.

This beast possesses the bloodline of the Ink Kirin and is also skilled in water escape techniques. Its combat power in water is slightly stronger than that of the Infant Carp Beast.

After entering the water, it was enveloped in a light blue spiritual energy shield and burrowed towards the seabed, quickly closing in on the infant carp beast.

Li Shizhou continued to fly through the air, keeping a constant watchful eye on the dog underwater.

Two figures, one in black and one in blue, rose and fell in the deep sea, chasing each other for two or three thousand miles.

The infant carp beast could not shake off the dog behind it, and its magical power was almost exhausted.

With a determined look, it broke through the sea surface, let out a mournful cry, and spat out several fist-sized blue orbs of light, crackling with lightning, which hurtled toward Li Shizhou.

This ball of light is one of the Infant Carp Beast's trump cards, "Water Divine Thunder".

However, such tricks are not worth mentioning in the eyes of Core Formation cultivators.

Li Shizhou dodged easily with a few quick movements, and at the same time, he waved his hand, unleashing the supernatural secret technique "Golden Flame Blade".

After so many years of practice, and with the advancement to Core Formation, this technique has become much more powerful and can be cast instantly.

In the blink of an eye, a golden blade with crimson flames pierced through the chest of the infant carp beast, and the accompanying flames burned the beast's remains to ashes.

After a short while, the dog emerged from the seabed, carrying several treasures that emitted various colors of light in its mouth.

Li Shizhou took the items into his hands and saw that they were a colorful stone tablet, a piece of red coral, a pearl the size of an egg, and a transparent crystal.

The Infant Carp Beast has a penchant for collecting treasures, but this one is only at level four, so the things it collects are not considered very valuable to a Core Formation cultivator.

So apart from the colored stone tablet, Li Shizhou glanced at the other three items and put them into his storage bag.

He probed the stone tablet with his divine sense and found information on ninety-eight different kinds of magical treasures, including their functions, the materials required for their crafting, and the specific steps involved in crafting them.

Li Shizhou was delighted to have unexpectedly obtained a book while trying to find ancient treasures. He flew towards Tianxing City while examining it.

There were indeed several magical treasures inside that piqued his interest.

It was noon on the second day when they returned to Tianxing City.

Just as Li Shizhou flew to within two or three miles of his cave, he saw two figures emerge from within.

These are two female cultivators dressed as independent practitioners.

One of them wore a veil-like magical artifact on her face; she was the woman Li Shizhou had seen in the market a few years ago, who resembled Fairy Ziling.

She has now reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Today, she is wearing a light purple dress, and her brows seem to have gained a more otherworldly air compared to before.

The other person was only at the Qi Refining stage, around seventeen or eighteen years old, with two buns in her hair, probably just a maid.

The two female cultivators emerged from the cave's array light barrier and, upon seeing Li Shizhou flying towards them, quickly stopped and waited in place.

After a short while, when the person approached, the female cultivator dressed in a light purple dress gave Li Shizhou a graceful bow, appearing extremely dignified.

After bowing, she said softly in a clear and melodious voice, "Junior Wang Ning greets Senior."

Li Shizhou smiled and nodded in response, glanced at Wang Ning a few times, and then flew into the courtyard of the cave.

After watching him leave, Wang Ning took out a flying artifact shaped like a sedan chair and summoned it. Then, lifting her skirt, she and her maid with a bun hairstyle walked up to it.

The palanquin-shaped ritual implement flew around for a while.

The maid with the bun hairstyle said with a curious expression, "Miss, although the spiritual herbs grown by that senior Zhuo Ruting are of good quality, they are not old enough. Wouldn't we be losing money if we bought them at the price you offered?"

Wang Ning chuckled and replied, "Silly girl, what's the loss? We didn't come for the spiritual medicine; we came to make friends with this Core Formation senior."

"Oh, Pearl understands now. So Miss wants to start with his partner first, and then gradually work her way up later." The girl with the bun hairstyle looked enlightened.

"That's right. As far as I know, this senior is not even a hundred years old yet, and there is a high probability that he will enter the Nascent Soul stage in the future. My Miaoyin Sect has never had any dealings with him before, and it would be annoying to make friends with him rashly. So we have to use this compromise method for now. Anyway, this little bit of spiritual medicine won't cost many spirit stones."

The girl with the bun hairstyle rested her chin on her hands, paused after listening, and said, "But this senior seems difficult to get along with. We are both Core Formation cultivators, but the sect leader feels very approachable."

"There are few high-level cultivators who are easy to get along with. This senior is already quite kind. Besides, if he is too enthusiastic, I am worried that he has ulterior motives."

"It must be hard on you, Miss, having to deal with so many different cultivators," the girl with the bun said with some concern.

"What's so hard about sharing my mother's burdens? But speaking of which, this Sister Zhuo is easy to get along with. Even if it weren't for her husband, it would be worth getting to know her and having her as a close friend."

......

Li Shizhou's side.

Just as they entered through the light screen of the pavilion, Zhuo Ruting came over with a bag of spirit stones and said, "Husband, these are spirit stones that someone exchanged for twenty white sesame plants. Take a look."

More than 30 years have passed since she received the inheritance of the spiritual medicine cultivation method. For the first time, she has reaped the rewards, and Zhuo Ruting is very excited.

Li Shizhou took it and probed it with his divine sense. Inside were about a hundred spirit stones of different colors.

He asked with some suspicion, "I remember that the white ginseng you planted is only thirty years old, and it's an ordinary spiritual herb. It shouldn't be worth so many spirit stones, right?"

"Originally, I took it to a shop that buys spiritual herbs, but the shopkeeper only gave me 70% of the amount I have now. However, I met a young woman surnamed Wang who was practicing alchemy. She thought my spiritual herbs were of good quality, so she gave me so many spirit stones. She said she would come to me to buy more in the future."

Li Shizhou understood.

It seems that this Fairy Ziling wanted to befriend him after he reached the Core Formation stage, but since they had no prior relationship, she started with Zhuo Ruting.

In fact, Li Shizhou had neither good nor bad feelings towards the Miaoyin Sect.

This sect is not only a religious organization, but also involved in the collection and trading of intelligence and cultivation materials. After he forms his core, he will need many rare spiritual materials, and it would be appropriate to ask the Wonderful Sound Sect for help at that time.

However, Zhuo Ruting's grandmother was killed by a cultivator from the Miaoyin Sect, so it seems she doesn't yet know Zi Ling's identity.

Li Shizhou felt it was necessary to tell her, so he said, "Do you know that this Sister Wang you mentioned is the daughter of the leader of the Miaoyin Sect?"