A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Rogue Cultivator

Everything depends on yourself.

The Chen family is not a family one should be too close to.

To find a master, one must seek one who has no family.

To avoid endless troubles.

Only after the two had left the area did he give a fire to Junior Brother Zhang and his storage bag.

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. I have killed the Heavenly Bullfrog with my own hands, which can be considered revenge for my junior brother. Junior brother, you can rest in peace. I hope that you will not be so innocent in your next life."

After collecting the seedlings, they immediately fled far away.

Time flies, the third day passed quickly, and the morning of the fourth day arrived soon. In a relatively secluded tree hollow, Wang Li, who had rested for two hours and replenished his energy, slowly opened his eyes:

"I have searched a considerable area of ​​the outer part of the ring mountain range and found all the spiritual herbs needed to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill. It's time to explore the inner basin."

That's where the real treasure trove is located.

Having always been reluctant to engage in fierce conflicts with high-ranking demonic beasts and cultivators from various sects, he could finally act freely.

His plan was to search all eight stone palaces and underground chambers in the basin from the northwest to the southeast to ensure he found the bridal chamber where Nangong Wan and Han Laomo had their intimate moments in the original story, and then open the golden treasure chest.

If we're lucky enough to find it right away, then the remaining time will be enough for Uncle Chen to make a special trip.

However, if he is unlucky and finds nothing he wants in any of the eight underground palaces, then Uncle Chen can only regretfully apologize.

Wang Li is currently located in the southeast of the forbidden area.

The best route for him to travel is clockwise.

In a small basin surrounded by tall, strange rocks, impenetrable to wind and rain, stands an ancient and massive stone palace built of bluestone.

Although the stone hall is large, the entrance is very small, only wide enough for two people to pass side by side.

Before entering the stone hall, Wang Li tried to attack the walls and entrance of the stone hall with the Vermilion Bird Ring surrounded by flames; but he was surprised to find that the Vermilion Bird Ring, when activated at full power, could only leave shallow marks on them.

It appears to be protected by an array or restriction.

Moreover, with his current level of spiritual awareness, it would be difficult for him to penetrate the stone hall and observe the situation inside.

According to the information provided by the Hidden Moon Sect, the Pure Void Sect, and the Blade Transformation Valley, this area is unexplored, and the spiritual herbs present have not yet been harvested. In other words, there are definitely powerful demonic beasts guarding the underground palace of the stone hall.

Or rather, the places Wang Li is about to explore are all dangerous forbidden zones for disciples of various sects.

"As expected, they all secretly wanted to trick me!"

That kid from Qingxu Sect wasn't stupid; he immediately confirmed his identity using a secret technique for sensing fellow disciples, and then tried to play him. Unfortunately, while various sects valued the forbidden area, few were willing to invest heavily! Otherwise, how could Nangong Wan be the only exception who lost her cultivation over thousands of years?

There are many cultivation techniques and secret arts in the cultivation world that have the effect of dispersing internal energy.

If these high-level cultivators were to disperse their cultivation and enter the forbidden area in a group, the secrets and treasures within would likely have been completely unearthed long ago, and the sects that control the majority of it would definitely be able to rise to prominence.

From this perspective, the seven major factions of Yue were failures.

"If I hadn't found the small bottle, and had entered the world of cultivation a decade or two earlier, thus having some preparation time, perhaps I would have taken advantage of the Ascension Token from the Qin family's Golden Light Elder and embarked on a different story path!"

Otherwise, how could a mere Qi Refining stage cultivator or a small-time rogue cultivator escape the calamity of the invasion of various countries by both the righteous and demonic paths?

Wang Li thought to herself.

He has that much self-awareness.

After all, what followed was a war that swept across dozens of countries in the entire Tiannan region! Both the righteous and demonic sides that initiated the war mobilized no fewer than forty Nascent Soul stage cultivators each!

Including the Yue Kingdom, Zijin Kingdom, Yuanwu Kingdom, Tianlu Kingdom, Cheqi Kingdom, Jiang Kingdom, and other large and small countries, it was a tug-of-war between hundreds of Nascent Soul stage cultivators and thousands of Golden Core stage cultivators!

When the demonic invasion came, the mortal realms of Jiang Kingdom and Cheqi Kingdom were completely reshuffled! Wang Li, who was born a rogue cultivator, even if he could survive for a while, how could he possibly survive to reach the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation stage?

Where could a mere Qi Refining stage cultivator hide? And where could he possibly obtain cultivation resources?

"Fortunately, there aren't that many 'what ifs' in this world."

Now that he's received the small bottle, he should live a more exciting life.

With one step, one enters the depths of the stone hall.

Chapter 38 Exploring the Stone Palace Underground Palace 1

The stone hall was very empty. Apart from a dark passage about ten feet long enclosed by a jade railing in the very center of the hall, there was nothing else.

There is a row of steps at the entrance of the tunnel, leading diagonally underground.

If you get closer, you can feel wisps of cool, eerie wind blowing out from it.

Wang Li first released the three small ones and sent the chameleons inside to investigate. After confirming that there were no traces of cultivators but that many spiritual herbs were growing there, he immediately swallowed pills, grabbed spirit stones, and began activating the flying sword talisman outside the passage. However, he was not activating it at full power at the moment, but rather limiting the power of the flying sword talisman.

As soon as the power of the first-class talisman was displayed, he immediately cast a mid-level initial stage shield on himself, and then rode the Wind Chaser Sword, shooting straight into the passage at the speed of wind and thunder.

This is to save time.

When faced with real danger, the flying sword talisman becomes a lifeline to buy time. If the demonic beast inside is not up to par, the talisman can be retrieved and replaced with a magical weapon to slay the demon.

The only loss is a little bit of the talisman's usage time.

Hundreds of steps, just a matter of a few breaths.

At the end of the limited passage was a huge stalactite cave, its walls covered with glittering, glowing stones. Therefore, the cave wasn't pitch black as one might expect; instead, it was surprisingly bright. Wang Li didn't even need to light a lamp.

Upon entering this place, Wang Li scanned the area with his divine sense and found nothing except a pavilion in the center, a seven-foot iron box floating three feet off the ground, and seven or eight rare medicinal herbs scattered around the edge of the stalactite cave.

Are there no monsters guarding this place?

This is obviously impossible.

Without a word, he patted his storage bag and presented thirty Thunderbolt Pearls.

"Boom boom boom..."

The lowest-grade Thunderbolt Pearls have little to no offensive power, but they make quite a commotion, especially in this semi-enclosed space. Even a small commotion is enough to cause a ruckus in the stalactite cave for quite some time. Naturally, the demonic beasts lurking here can no longer sleep peacefully.

Sure enough, in a secluded cave hidden by weeds, a three- or four-zhang-long golden python, its scales gleaming, poked its head out and revealed its form without any emotion.

A top-tier level one demonic beast, the Golden Light Python.

It's clear that this big mudfish, which had just been sleeping soundly, is now very angry because its peace and quiet has been disturbed.

"Hehe, not bad, then, let's go."

"Hiss..."

The snake, its long, protruding tongue lolling out, its small eyes filled with the cold, sinister light of someone eyeing prey, tentatively spit out a wad of phlegm. Wang Li nimbly dodged it using his Wind Chaser Sword, and the next moment, as expected, it lunged forward without a second thought, completely ignoring the ten-foot-long sword tip hovering above Wang Li's head. Or rather, the power displayed by the flying sword talisman was utterly insignificant to it, which was clad in golden armor.

Swish.

The butterfly-like hand left a trail of afterimages as it threw out three low-level and high-level water prison talismans. Three spiral water spheres, each several meters in size, appeared out of thin air in front of and beside Wang Li in a triangular shape. The golden python then plunged into the one directly in front of it.

With this beast's abilities, the Water Prison Talisman couldn't hold it for even two breaths.

But what Wang Li needed was less than two breaths of time.

With a swift flick of his knuckles, he retrieved the other two Water Prison Talismans, intending to save them for later use; then, he activated a low-level high-grade Ice Seal Talisman, instantly transforming the massive water prison in front of him into an ice prison. Even the surrounding air seemed to chill three degrees. The golden python, its head and upper body frozen by a several-meter-thick ice ball, comically hopped its lower body across the ground.

A series of booming sounds suddenly filled the stalactite cave.

However, high-level talismans are not so easy to break, especially when two high-level talismans with overlapping effects are used simultaneously. Moreover, even at an internal price, a single basic high-level talisman would cost at least twenty or thirty spirit stones.

Seven or eight breaths later, just as the giant mudfish was about to break through the ice ball several feet in diameter and emerge from the ice, the flying sword talisman finished charging up and displayed a posture of more than four feet.

The low-level high-level earth prison talisman held between his fingertips flashed with light, seeking only a moment of imprisonment!

The previously restless golden python suddenly slumped its lower body:

dead!

A greatsword, several meters long, shrouded in gray aura and radiating a crystalline brilliance, fell. With a flash of cold light, a staggering golden python, its head severed along with the several-meter-long, already cracked ice ball, was cut off! The cut on the ice ball was as smooth as a mirror, while blood gushed from the cut on the golden python's neck.

As soon as he finished using the flying sword talisman, Wang Li immediately recalled it and cherished it dearly.

Considering that snakes will still bite reflexively after their heads are cut off, and that in his previous life in the countryside they were always buried on the spot, Wang Li was not careless here. Instead, he used a magical rope to wrap the snake's head into a large dumpling before taking it back.

After finishing, suppressing his excitement, he didn't rush to open the treasure chest. Instead, he used his divine sense to check the snake's nest, just in case it was a pair.

The result made Wang Li's eyes light up.

Inside the cave, there was indeed another golden python, though it was several sizes smaller than the previous one, and its aura was only at the level of a high-ranking demonic beast. Beside it were seven snake eggs that emitted life fluctuations.

"Alas, Heaven has a benevolent heart; this time, I will spare your life."

But as soon as Wang Li showed goodwill, the two-zhang-long serpent slithered out of the cave, raised its head, and flicked its tongue at him, looking extremely hostile.

Forget it, let's send this family down to reunite!

No question, kill the snake and collect its body.

He certainly didn't want a monstrous python to suddenly leap out from behind him when he opened the box.

The iron box was encased in a fairly strong barrier, its purpose unknown, but it certainly provided some protection. To avoid damaging the items inside, Wang Li had no choice but to patiently use his magic to wear down this relatively simple barrier. The process of opening the box, however, took him nearly fifteen minutes.

"Huh? The Six Harmonies True Skill? A cultivation technique for the Foundation Establishment stage? And most of the pages are blank! And the books next to it are all miscellaneous opinions?"

What a load of crap.

He had the Azure Origin Sword Manual to acquire, so he had no interest in cultivating such a common and unremarkable technique.

However, one of the magical beads is quite good.

Although Wang Li didn't understand weapon crafting, he immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of the cyan bead inside the box. This place had been sealed off for thousands of years since ancient times. After such a long period, even the finest magical artifacts would have lost much of their spiritual power, perhaps even decaying into a pile of scrap metal. Yet, the cyan bead's spiritual power remained abundant.

After a wisp of magic was infused into it, the entire stalactite cave was illuminated as if it were daytime. The darkness within the cave quietly receded, and the initial chill was replaced by a faint warmth.

"Thank you so much for your kind offer, senior!"

He bowed solemnly to the empty pavilion.

Only then can we gather medicinal herbs.

The eight spiritual herbs ranged in age from two hundred to five hundred years, including some that were exceptionally precious for those in the Foundation Establishment stage, each with different effects. Unfortunately, the two herbs that Uncle Chen needed were not among them.

At the entrance of the passage, Wang Li, who remained calm and composed, rested quietly for half an hour until he had recovered all his magical power before getting up and leaving the place.

Once outside, they immediately recalled the lark that had been on guard outside.

Then, the next stop.

A stone temple in a basin near the due south.