I proved immortality with thunder magic.

Chapter 68 Chongming Ruins

On the other side, Zhou Tai ran for more than 20 miles in one breath before finally stopping to rest on a rocky slope.

The trial grounds are only so big; no matter how fast he runs, he can't actually run very far.

Besides, he didn't know how many trial cultivators were hiding in the shadows, ready to ambush him, so he dared not run around recklessly.

Even the choice to rest on this rocky slope was due to the fact that the place was not convenient for people to hide.

He found a large rock on the slope that could be used as cover, sat down against it, and then had the Sharp Claw Wind Owl Laifu fly to the highest point to stand guard and watch over the area below. He also released the Thunder Pattern Frog Yuanbao to keep watch.

After doing all that, he finally breathed a few breaths with some relief and immediately took out his water bottle to drink some water.

Fortunately, the major sects didn't really act recklessly. On the way to the trial grounds, each of their trial disciples received two Bigu Pills.

This elixir is said to be made from a large amount of spiritual rice essence; eating one will allow you to go without food for half a month.

Zhou Tai ate one pill that day, and the pill in his stomach is not yet fully digested. It is slowly releasing its essence and energy to provide nutrition every day.

So now he only needs to drink some water to quench his thirst every day.

It is well known that drinking water helps relieve tension.

After drinking some water and resting for a while, and with neither of his spirit pets issuing any warnings, Zhou Tai's tense mind finally relaxed.

He put away the water bottle and began to check his reserves of magical talismans.

In the previous battle, he had used up a lot of magic talismans. He lost nine lightning spear talismans and twelve lightning strike talismans. He also lost as many as thirteen other first-tier high-grade magic talismans, as well as a rare chain lightning strike talisman.

The consumption of these magic talismans alone cost him more than a thousand low-grade spirit stones.

He now has nearly a third less magic talismans left than when he first entered the trial grounds.

And so far, he has only killed three demonic cultivators!

"Hopefully, the contents of this storage bag will be satisfactory!"

Zhou Tai looked at the several storage bags he had taken from the red-haired strong man, and a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes.

He first opened a storage bag, scanned it with his divine sense, quickly frowned, put the bag down, and replaced it with another.

After examining all three storage bags, Zhou Tai's expression finally improved slightly.

The contents of these three storage bags were barely satisfactory.

Inside, there are not only three Demonic Path Trial Tokens, but also three Immortal Path Trial Tokens.

In this way, Zhou Tai would have five Demonic Path Trial Tokens, enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Item.

In addition, several well-preserved magical artifacts used by cultivators, some auxiliary talismans and pills, and hundreds of low-grade spirit stones were also found in the three storage bags.

As for the magical artifacts and raw materials used by other demonic cultivators, there are naturally some, but they can basically be ignored.

Zhou Tai's Azure Cloud Shield magic weapon had been pierced by the white bone spear, and although it was still usable, he dared not gamble with his life on how long it could last.

He decided to replace the Azure Cloud Shield with the stone tablet magic artifact issued by the sect. This stone tablet magic artifact could summon four stone shields to fly around him at once, automatically intercepting incoming attacks.

But Zhou Tai felt that this was not safe enough, so he selected an iron ring artifact with protective spells from the belongings of the Corpse Demon Sect disciple he had killed a few days ago as a backup.

Nothing happened that night. At dawn the next day, Zhou Tai put away the two spirit pets that had been on guard all night and quickly left the rocky slope and went down the mountain.

Today he needs to find another place to hide.

But shortly after he stepped down the rocky slope, he saw a bird fly swiftly across the sky.

Although the bird flew very fast and was not very big, Zhou Tai still recognized its species and origin at a glance.

That's a kind of scout bird that many disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain would tame, called the "Yellow Flower Magpie".

This kind of magical bird is not large, about the same size as an ordinary peregrine falcon, and its appearance is also inconspicuous.

However, they fly very fast and are quite intelligent; in terms of reconnaissance skills alone, they are far superior to the Clawed Owl.

Furthermore, Zhou Tai knew that cultivators who tamed yellow magpies usually didn't keep just one.

Although he saw the yellow magpie fly away, he had no idea whether there was another one watching him.

After pausing to think for a moment, Zhou Tai had an idea in mind.

He found a grove of trees and disappeared inside. He then quickly threw out a first-grade high-ranking magic talisman called "Mist Sea Talisman." Soon, a large expanse of white mist appeared in the grove, completely enveloping an area of ​​several dozen feet in radius.

This talisman was Zhou Tai's spoils of war, and it's perfect to use it now.

As the white mist dissipated, he activated another talisman, the "Azure Wood Concealment Talisman," and hid motionless within a clump of weeds.

He was clearly sitting in the grass, but to anyone outside, all they could see was a clump of lush weeds. Even with "spiritual vision," no one could detect anything unusual.

This level of camouflage and concealment is so impressive that even a chameleon would be envious.

Soon after, the white mist in the woods gradually dissipated under the mountain breeze, but there was no one in sight in the forest.

A yellow magpie landed on a large tree, its eyes scanning the woods below, a look of human-like confusion in them.

It clearly saw the person enter the woods, but didn't see the person leave, so how come the person disappeared?

Undeterred, it flew around the woods a few more times, but still couldn't find a single person.

This made it droop its head listlessly and land on a tree without moving.

After a while, another yellow magpie flew nearby and called to its mate.

Upon hearing the call, the listless magpie in the tree immediately flapped its wings and took flight, responding with a loud call.

After flying and exchanging greetings in the air for a while, the two magpies flew in the same direction and finally landed on the shoulder of an old Taoist priest in a yellow robe, chirping incessantly.

After carefully listening to the report from the two yellow magpies, the old Taoist priest in the yellow robe smiled and patted their heads, saying, "Alright, alright, I understand the situation now. Thank you for your hard work."

As a reward, he fed each of them a special food pellet.

His gaze then fell upon the grove of trees where Zhou Tai was hiding.

He trusted his two birds. Since the birds said that Zhou Tai had not left after entering the woods, he believed that Zhou Tai must still be hiding in the woods.

He now faces the same problem as Zhou Tai: he doesn't know whether the person hiding in the woods is a demonic cultivator or a disciple of one of the five sects of Heng Kingdom.

After gazing at the woods in contemplation for a moment, he suddenly proclaimed in a loud voice, "I am Pei Hong of the Lingxu Sect. If any of you inside are disciples of the five sects of my Heng Kingdom, please come out and meet me. I guarantee I will not strike you first!"

He paused deliberately after speaking, then continued, "If you, fellow Daoist, are unwilling to come out, to prevent the demonic traitors from being exposed, I, Pei, will have no choice but to set the forest on fire!"

He spoke, but received no response for quite some time.

This made his face darken, and he couldn't help but speak again, "Since you are unwilling to come out, I have no choice but to set fire to force you to come out."

As he spoke, he made a hand seal and cast a spell. With a wave of his hand, a fire snake flew into the forest.

Just then, a water dragon flew out from the forest, extinguished the fire snake on the spot, and then dissipated in mid-air.

"Master Pei, please calm your anger. I am Zhou Tai from Spirit Beast Mountain. Greetings, Master Pei!"

Zhou Tai moved swiftly, emerging from the bushes where he was hiding, and bowed respectfully to the yellow-robed Taoist with a sense of helplessness.

He really didn't want to come out, but since the other side was really going to set the forest on fire, he had no choice but to come out.

"So it's Fellow Daoist Zhou from Spirit Beast Mountain. This humble Daoist greets you."

Pei Hong glanced at Zhou Tai with surprise, then immediately returned the greeting with a single-handed bow.

While maintaining a safe distance of more than twenty feet from the other party, Zhou Tai took the initiative to explain: "When I first discovered that I was being followed by the yellow magpie, I thought I had encountered a villain. In order to escape, I had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure. I hope Master Pei will forgive me."

Pei Hong immediately smiled and nodded, saying, "I can understand Fellow Daoist Zhou's concerns. In this Chongming Ruins, everyone is an enemy and a competitor. If I were in your shoes, I would have made the same choice as Fellow Daoist Zhou."

"The ruins of Chongming?"

Zhou Tai looked at Pei Hong with a surprised expression, keenly grasping the key point in the other's words.

Seeing his expression, Pei Hong looked at him with surprise and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, don't you know? This place was originally the mountain gate of a sect called Chongming Sect. Due to the war between immortals and demons, its lineage was severed, and even the spiritual veins here were scattered and defiled!"

"Fellow Daoist Pei, could you elaborate?"

After a moment's thought, Zhou Tai clasped his hands in a respectful gesture, as if seeking guidance.

He did not deny that he was unaware of the situation, but at the same time wanted to find out the inside story from the other party.

Upon hearing his request, Pei Hong quickly smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course. Then I will tell you what I know. These are what the elders of the sect said before I left, and I cannot guarantee their truthfulness."

After that, he went on to explain the origins of this trial ground.

According to him, this trial ground was originally the mountain gate of the Chongming Sect, a major cultivation sect, and the Chongming Sect at its peak was no less powerful than the current Nanhua Sect.

However, because the battlefield of the war between immortals and demons extended to the Demon Abyss Mountains, the Chongming Sect, a major sect of immortal cultivation, disappeared from then on.

"It is said that the Chongming Sect's mountain gate was used to seal a powerful demon, and the forbidden array outside was also set up to seal that demon."

"Later, for some reason, the demon broke free of the seal and was killed by the immortal master who arrived in time. After that great battle, the Chongming Ruins were completely reduced to ruins."

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, don't be fooled by our predicament. This forbidden formation can't even hold a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Its only purpose now is to hone the skills of us Qi Refining cultivators!"

Pei Hong shook his head repeatedly as he spoke, seemingly sighing over something.

After listening to his words, Zhou Tai looked thoughtful, then suddenly asked, "Shouldn't the high-level cultivators of the five sects know what Daoist Pei is talking about?"

Pei Hong was slightly taken aback, then seemed to understand his meaning, looked at him with sympathy and nodded, saying, "Of course."

"I understand now. Thank you, Master Pei, for clearing up my doubts."

Zhou Tai clasped his hands in a fist and bowed again to express his gratitude, but only he knew the bitterness in his heart.

He had already sensed from Elder Tian Qi's tone that Spirit Beast Mountain didn't care about the results of this trial, nor did it care about the trial disciples.

However, compared to the care and attention that the higher-ups of the Lingxu Sect have shown to their disciples, he still felt hurt and betrayed.

Deep down, Zhou Tai still had feelings for the Spirit Beast Mountain sect, because it was through joining Spirit Beast Mountain that he was able to enter the world of cultivation and become a cultivator.

However, the indifferent attitude of the Spirit Beast Mountain's higher-ups towards the disciples participating in this trial deeply wounded his love for the sect.

Just then, Pei Hong suddenly looked at him and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, have you encountered any demonic cultivators before?"

Upon hearing his question, Zhou Tai's mind raced slightly. After a moment's thought, he selectively replied, "I've encountered them a few times, and I even wiped out a demonic cultivator from the Corpse Demon Sect!"

After saying that, in order to prove that he was not lying, he immediately took out a Demon Trial Token and showed it to the other party.

When Zhou Tai was showing the trial token, he paid special attention to the look in Master Pei's eyes.

The other party first showed a hint of surprise in his eyes, then looked at him with delight and said, "The Corpse Demon Sect is considered to be in the middle to upper ranks among the six sects of the demonic path. Many of its disciples have fellow corpse refiners of the same level as them. Fellow Daoist Zhou was able to kill the villains of this sect, so it seems that your strength is far greater than your apparent cultivation level."

Zhou Tai merely smiled upon hearing this, offering no further explanation. He simply looked at the other man tentatively and said, "Daoist Pei comes from a prestigious sect like the Lingxu Sect; you must have achieved considerable success!"

"This humble Taoist priest, though unworthy, has also eliminated two treacherous demons."

Pei Hong smiled faintly and took out two Demonic Path Trial Tokens from his storage bag to show them.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai was basically certain that the other party meant no harm, and immediately cupped his hands in praise, saying, "Daoist Master, your magical powers are indeed extraordinary. I admire you!"

Pei Hong seemed to sense the change in his mindset as well. Upon hearing this, he immediately became serious and looked at him with a solemn expression, saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, I have a suggestion. Since we have met by chance, why don't we travel together for the time being, so that we can look after each other? What do you think, Fellow Daoist Zhou?"

"Traveling together?"

Zhou Tai looked thoughtful, not surprised by Pei Hong's suggestion.

He had roughly guessed this from the other party's previous gestures of goodwill.

But as the saying goes, you can know a person's face but not their heart. He didn't know if the other party's current goodwill was just a pretense, and if they actually wanted to take advantage of his lowered guard to launch a sneak attack on him from behind.

On the other hand, he has now offended the white-haired witch. If he could have a capable helper, the threat posed by the white-haired witch would be much smaller.

Moreover, if he were to directly refuse the other party's suggestion now, it would seem rather ungrateful and might offend the other party.

After thinking it over carefully for a while, Zhou Tai gradually made up his mind.

He looked at Pei Hong with a serious expression and said, "Traveling together is not out of the question, but to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, we must first agree on three rules!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Hong immediately smiled and nodded to him, saying, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, please speak freely."

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