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

Chapter 88 Wood Pearl (Seeking monthly votes and recommendation votes)

One month later, it was evening.

The old cultivator in black used his escape technique to arrive at a mountain range near the sea in the far west.

This place looked much the same as when he last came; it was still deserted and lacked spiritual energy.

Apart from a few scattered demonic beasts out foraging for food, there wasn't a single cultivator in sight.

Without pausing, he spotted a small mountain and plunged into it.

Suddenly, a cyan array light screen appeared out of thin air in front of him, and the surrounding spiritual energy became quite dense.

The old cultivator in black was startled and quickly turned his escape light, brushing past the light barrier, almost crashing into it.

After stopping, he thought to himself, "Huh, how strange. How come there's an array here? Could someone have already gotten their hands on the Nine-Leaf Fire Lotus?"

The old cultivator in black was both anxious and furious at the thought that the spiritual medicine he was about to obtain might disappear.

He was afflicted with a cold poison a hundred years ago and has been unable to recover ever since. Even now, he still needs to use his magic to suppress it every day.

Fortunately, while searching for medicinal herbs, he accidentally discovered a "Nine-Leaf Fire Lotus" in this place. It was not yet mature at the time, so he left a treasure behind to monitor it.

Just when it seemed that the medicine could be obtained to cure the cold poison, an unexpected change occurred.

He was about to unleash his magic weapon to attack, but looking at the thick array of light in front of him, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"This formation is extraordinary. It's extremely effective at concealing one's aura. I didn't even detect it with my divine sense just now. Moreover, this light barrier can also hinder the detection of divine sense. Could it be that the one who set up the formation is a Nascent Soul cultivator? Well, it's best to be polite first and avoid fighting if possible."

After a moment of contemplation, the old cultivator in black temporarily suppressed his anger.

He politely addressed the person inside the array's light barrier, saying, "My name is Zhao Yan. I wonder which fellow Daoist has set up this array here? Would you be so kind as to show yourself? I have no ill intentions; I am only here to retrieve something."

Meanwhile, Li Shizhou was having tea and chatting with Yuan Yao, who had stabilized her cultivation, in the upper stone chamber.

The moment the old cultivator in black entered the formation, he sensed it through the formation plate. Unexpectedly, the newcomer was a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage, exuding a chilling aura.

However, compared to the Extreme Yin Ancestor he had encountered in the Chaotic Star Sea, this person's aura was significantly weaker, even though both were at the early Nascent Soul stage, and he seemed to be injured.

Although it was somewhat unexpected, with the support of the formation and the teleportation array that allowed him to escape at any time, Li Shizhou wasn't too panicked.

Upon hearing this, he thought to himself, "If they're taking something, could it be the Nine-Leaf Fire Lotus? Only this spiritual herb here could catch the eye of a Nascent Soul Ancestor."

Now that we have the goods, there's no way we'd just give them away.

Besides, many Nascent Soul stage monsters have eccentric tempers and cannot be easily appeased by giving them gifts.

Therefore, Li Shizhou did not show himself immediately, but stayed in the stone chamber to observe the situation.

Yuan Yao, standing to the side, was not as calm as him. Her eyes were full of anxiety, and she frowned slightly as she said, "Husband, what should we do? Should we pack up and use the teleportation array to escape?"

Li Shizhou pulled her into his arms and gently patted her back to comfort her, saying, "Don't be afraid. This person is only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. It will take him quite a while to break the formation. Moreover, he seems to have mistakenly thought that the one who set up the formation was a Nascent Soul cultivator. Let's deal with him for a while first."

Yuan Yao's expression softened considerably after hearing this, and she nodded vigorously.

Seeing that no one had shown up, the old cultivator in black grew even angrier and said coldly, "Fellow Daoist, you are extremely rude. If it is inconvenient for you to show yourself, you should at least respond."

Li Shizhou replied from within the formation, "Senior, please calm down. My master is currently in seclusion. If there is anything, please come back later."

The old man in black said again, "Since your master is unable to go out, then open the formation. I will come in, pick a spiritual herb, and leave."

"It's not that I'm unwilling, but my master specifically instructed me before going into seclusion that I should not receive any guests recently, and that no outsiders are allowed to enter the formation. I hope you will understand, senior."

Just as Li Shizhou finished speaking, the information about the opportunity was updated.

[Daily Opportunity Information]

[Area: Thirty li]

[Danger: Zhao Yan, a rogue cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage, possesses a Wood-attribute Spirit Gathering Pearl in his storage bag. If seized, it can be used to refine a Wood-Generating Pearl. Once refined, it will grant the user one use of the Undying Divine Ability, potentially saving their life in a critical situation.]

"The Spirit Gathering Pearl, isn't that the one that the Old Demon Hehuan used to scheme against Old Demon Han? How come it's on this person? Could it be a different one?"

In the original book, the Old Demon of Hehuan gave Han Li a wood-attribute "Spirit Gathering Pearl" through the Ghost Spirit Sect.

This item can greatly increase the cultivation speed of cultivators with wood spirit roots, but the price is that it will become extremely difficult to break through to higher realms in the future.

The Old Demon of Hehuan did this to prevent Old Demon Han from advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, so as to shorten his reign over the entire Tiannan cultivation world.

If it weren't for the Heavenly Beast's warning, Old Demon Han would have been tricked.

In addition to increasing cultivation speed, the wood-attribute "Spirit Gathering Pearl" can also be used as the main material to refine a treasure called "Wood Life Pearl".

After being fully refined, whether a person's head is severed or their body is cut in two, they can be immediately restored to their original state, which is equivalent to having an extra life.

It is especially attractive to cultivators like Li Shizhou who are reborn, since if his physical body is damaged in the future, he cannot possess another body like other cultivators.

Li Shizhou was pondering whether or not to pull off a heist.

After all, the opponent didn't seem to be very strong.

He now has two advantages: firstly, he has a powerful formation to suppress his opponent; secondly, he possesses numerous magical treasures, ancient artifacts, and talismans at the Nascent Soul level.

Furthermore, the combined attack of the two Purple-Eyed Beasts was quite powerful, and there were also three late-stage Core Formation puppets.

It's not impossible to kill this person and obtain the "Spirit Gathering Pearl".

Just as Li Shizhou was pondering, the old cultivator in black outside had become very impatient. This "Nine-Leaf Fire Lotus" was extremely important to him, and he was willing to offend a cultivator of the same level to obtain it.

So he took out an antique dark green mirror and said, "Since you are so disrespectful to me, don't blame me for being rude."

After speaking, the old monk in black poured his magic power into the mirror and then tossed it into the air.

The dark green mirror flew to the top of the array's light screen dome, emitting a dazzling five-colored glow.

The situation inside was now vividly clear in his mind.

After investigating for a while, the old man in black was furious and said, "You brat, how dare you lie to me! There is no Nascent Soul cultivator inside the formation, and the Nine-Leaf Fire Lotus underground has also disappeared. You clearly stole it."

After he finished speaking, he was about to use his supernatural powers to attack the array's light barrier.

Li Shizhou finally flew out at this moment, and Yuan Yao, worried about her husband, followed him.

After he came out, he pretended to be terrified and said, "Senior, please calm down. I was living in seclusion here when I accidentally discovered the spiritual medicine underground. I saw that there was no protective formation here, so I thought it was unclaimed and picked it. I will now present the spiritual medicine to you."