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

Chapter 75 Cooperation (Seeking monthly votes and recommendations)

The remaining people also started to work, their movements quite practiced, clearly not the first time they had done this.

Before long, the gaunt youth, looking excited, handed two green crystals to Lin Yuan and said, "Elder, we found two this time."

"Netherworld Beast Crystal".

Li Shizhou recognized the green crystal at a glance. He had seen it in the Star Palace's records before. It was a top-quality material for crafting puppets and one of the treasures he wanted to collect on this trip.

Lin Yuan handed over one of the green crystals and said, "Fellow Daoist Li is truly knowledgeable. This is a good thing. You just exerted a lot of effort, so please keep this Yinming Beast Crystal."

Li Shizhou naturally accepted it without ceremony and then stuffed it into his pocket.

After handing over the items, Lin Yuan continued, "There is a village nearby where humans live. I am unworthy to serve as an elder there. Fellow Daoist Li, please come with us. It is still not safe outside. I can also answer your questions along the way."

Li Shizhou was looking for a human settlement, so he nodded and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Lin."

He dismounted from the Purple-Eyed Bi and walked, while the Crying Soul Beast remained on the Purple-Eyed Bi's back.

Lin Yuan led the way, introducing himself as he went.

It turns out he came from a place called "Tiansha Continent" and was originally a Foundation Establishment cultivator of a sect.

While hunting monsters at sea, I was unintentionally drawn into this place, and more than 20 years have passed since then.

After introducing himself, Lin Yuan then explained the situation of the place in detail.

This place is called the "Land of the Netherworld" because of the presence of "Spirit-Severing Qi," which prevents cultivators from mobilizing their magical power and divine sense.

At the same time, this place will continuously produce a kind of monster called "Yin Beast", which likes to eat human flesh and blood.

Fortunately, there is a chance that "Netherworld Beast Crystals" will be produced inside the heads of these monsters. Many years ago, someone discovered that these crystals could be used to set up formations to defend against attacks from the Netherworld Beasts, which allowed the human race to survive here.

Today, there are seven or eight human villages here, barely surviving by growing some food on limited land.

If you want to get out, the only way is to go to Storm Mountain in the northeast corner. It is said that a passage opens there once every few years, but it is extremely dangerous.

Although Li Shizhou was already very familiar with this information, he still pretended to be shocked or suddenly realized what Lin Yuan was saying from time to time.

After walking about seven or eight miles, a dark stone wall appeared ahead, more than twenty feet high and nearly a thousand feet wide, with many sharpened hardwoods stuck out from the top to increase defense.

A huge wooden suspension bridge sits in the middle of the stone wall, and it is currently closed, with a deep pit dug in front of it for defense.

Lin Yuan had previously described it as a village, but now it actually looks like a small town.

Above the stone wall where the wooden door was located stood more than a dozen burly men holding spears, their eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

Upon seeing Li Shizhou and his group arrive, a burly man with dark skin shouted, "Elder Lin is back. Lower the drawbridge."

The sound of chains rang out, and moments later, the drawbridge was slowly lowered to the ground.

Lin Yuan instructed the gaunt youth, "Go and inform the other elders that we have important guests today, and ask them to come to the council hall together."

Upon hearing this, the boy quickly ran inside.

Lin Yuan then politely said to Li Shizhou, "Fellow Daoist Li, please follow me."

Li Shizhou naturally went along with the host's wishes.

Upon entering, one is greeted by a street more than two zhang wide, with many houses built of black stones on the side, most of which are simply designed.

The most eye-catching feature was a stone platform, thirty or forty feet high, located in the middle of the town, which constantly emitted a pale purple mist that enveloped the entire settlement.

If lightning strikes this direction from the sky, it will be completely absorbed by the fog.

Perhaps because a golden tiger-shaped demon beast was standing next to Li Shizhou, many men and women in the village stood by the roadside to watch, and some even went back into their houses to call their families to come and see the spectacle.

After walking for about half a cup of tea's time, we arrived near the stone platform.

Lin Yuan led Li Shizhou toward a rather tall house next to the stone platform.

Upon entering, one sees three men and one woman, four people dressed in monk's robes, sitting upright on wooden chairs arranged in a semi-circle, with a simple small wooden table next to each chair.

Upon seeing Li Shizhou, Zijing Bi, and Tihun enter, all four stood up, their eyes constantly scanning the man and the two beasts.

One of the elderly men, dressed in a gray robe, cupped his hands and said, "I am Xiao Xingyan. Are you Fellow Daoist Li Shizhou?"

"Friend Xiao, I am Li Shizhou."

"Fellow Daoist, you truly possess extraordinary bearing. Please take a seat." The gray-robed elder said warmly.

Li Shizhou readily agreed, leaving the Level 6 Purple-Eyed Beast and the Soul-Crying Beast at the doorway, and then placing his spear on the small wooden table beside him after sitting down.

With a loud bang, the wooden table shattered instantly, and the silver spear fell to the ground, causing the surrounding ground to tremble violently.

Seeing this, Li Shizhou said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, but my spear is quite heavy and I can't put it into my storage bag here. Please forgive me."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and placed the spear against the wall in a corner.

"It's nothing, just a wooden table. Fellow Daoist's strength is truly astonishing."

The old man in the gray robe smiled and then introduced the others.

These five people were indeed all cultivators and elders of this village.

When Han Laomo first entered the Yinming Land, he encountered a village where cultivators were still being driven by mortals.

The village is quite different now; none of the elders are ordinary people, so it seems these five cultivators have some skills.

After the introduction, the gray-robed elder continued, "Fellow Daoist Li, I wonder how much you know about this Netherworld Land?"

Li Shizhou replied, "Fellow Daoist Lin has already explained it to me in detail on the way."

"I wonder what your plans are, friend. In our village, any cultivator who is willing to stay can become an elder. Although it is not as carefree as outside, it is unique among the villages in this Yinming Land."

The gray-robed old man was a straightforward person, and he went straight to recruiting Li Shizhou.

Li Shizhou replied, "I'm thinking of seeing if I can climb Storm Mountain and then return to the world of cultivation."

The gray-robed elder continued to persuade him, "It's only natural for Fellow Daoist Li to have such thoughts. We were the same at first. However, if I may be frank, even if you are a body-refining cultivator and have a spirit beast by your side, the probability of you being able to leave is extremely low. Why don't you rest here for a few days and then go to Storm Mountain to see for yourself before making a decision?

Li Shizhou came to the Netherworld to collect treasures, so naturally he couldn't agree.

During his journey through the desert, he had seen human skeletons, some still wrapped in monk's robes. One of the storage bags was right next to him, which he casually took.

This suggests that there must be other uncollected storage bags nearby.

Since we can't project our divine sense outwards right now, we can save a lot of time by relying on the people here to collect it.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist. To be honest, I have a family and business outside, and I really can't bear to part with them. However, before I leave, we can cooperate on one or two matters."

",