30: Ghost Face Soul-Eating Vine

The owner of this stall was an old man with half-white hair and a goatee, his eyes flashing with a cunning light from time to time.

"Fellow Daoist, you've come at just the right time! These items are all treasures I just retrieved from the Legacy Immortal Cave of a Golden Core True Person. Don't be fooled by their ordinary appearance; in reality, this is the legendary 'divine objects concealing their own brilliance'."

Seeing Zhang Daobai approach the stall, the goatee old man hurriedly introduced them in a low, mysterious voice.

Zhang Daobai ignored the stall owner's nonsense and lowered his head to scan the items on the stall with his Eye of Appraisal.

[Item: Spirit Jade Medicinal Pill Bottle]

[Item: Bluestone Brick]

[Item: Green Wood Essence Recovery Pill (Efficacy Completely Lost)]

[Item: Medium Grade Magical Artifact Broken Sword]

[...]

As Zhang Daobai scanned these items, he already had a general idea in his mind.

These things likely did come from a Golden Core True Person's Immortal Cave, but they weren't treasures; they were just unwanted trash.

"Eh?"

Just then, Zhang Daobai's gaze was drawn to a black seed with white patterns.

[Species: Ghost Face Spirit Devouring Vine]

[Aptitude: Wood and Poison Attributes, Upper Limit Tier 4]

[Talents: Spirit Devouring, Spirit Nullifying Toxin, Rapid Regeneration]

[Status: Weak Vitality]

[Treatment Plan: Soak in Vitality Lake Water for three days.]

[Evolution Plan: ...]

[Comprehensive Evaluation: Four Stars, Cannot be Contracted]

This was the first time Zhang Daobai had seen the 'Cannot be Contracted' trait, but he quickly understood the reason: it was because this Ghost Face Spirit Devouring Vine lacked sentience.

However, what interested Zhang Daobai wasn't that, but rather the Ghost Face Spirit Devouring Vine's talents.

[Spirit Devouring: Can absorb the spiritual power of prey to quickly replenish its own spiritual power.]

[Spirit Nullifying Toxin: A toxin capable of suppressing the spiritual power within a prey's body.]

[Rapid Regeneration: Can consume spiritual power to quickly recover from injuries, and can even regrow severed limbs.]

Regarding the cultivation plan for the Mist Hidden Insect Mother, Zhang Daobai already had a general direction after leaving the Myriad Beast Pavilion.

First was the Awakening of the Divine Concealment Bug Bloodline, and second was adding a poison attribute to the Mist Hidden Insect Mother, turning the Soul-Bewildering Mist into poisonous mist.

And the Ghost Face Spirit Devouring Vine's Spirit Nullifying Toxin was an excellent toxin.

As long as a Cultivator was struck by this Spirit Nullifying Toxin, their combat power would drop by at least thirty percent before the fight even truly began.

Furthermore, as the toxin accumulated, the effect of the Spirit Nullifying Toxin would only get better and better.

"How much for this seed?"

After snapping back to his senses, Zhang Daobai looked up and asked the goatee old man.

"Fellow Daoist has a good eye! This seed is one of the best treasures from that Golden Core True Person's Immortal Cave. It's a Rank 4 Spirit Medicine seed called the ghost face soul devouring flower."

"If Fellow Daoist sincerely wants it, it's only ten thousand Spirit Stones. Consider it a loss on my part to sell it to you!"

The goatee old man feigned a pained expression and held up a single finger.

Zhang Daobai had indeed heard of the ghost face soul devouring flower. It was a Spirit Medicine that grew in places with many corpses, living by devouring the remnant souls upon them.

Eating it could significantly increase Soul Power and even add a trace of resistance to illusions; it was a treasure many Cultivators dreamed of.

However, even if Zhang Daobai hadn't seen the appraisal information, he wouldn't have believed the stall owner's lies.

"If I remember correctly, the seeds of the ghost face soul devouring flower are supposed to be red, aren't they?"

Zhang Daobai rolled his eyes speechlessly at the goatee old man, looking at him with an expression that said 'don't treat me like a fool'.

"Ah? Uh... maybe I remembered it wrong."

A flash of embarrassment crossed the goatee old man's eyes upon hearing this, and he defensively stroked his beard while feeling a bit guilty.

"Furthermore, the vitality of this seed of yours is practically non-existent. It's almost impossible to grow it successfully."

"I'm only buying it because it looks a bit unique and I want to give it to a Spirit Plant Master friend as a gift. Ten thousand Spirit Stones is absolutely impossible!"

Zhang Daobai directly pointed out the seed's fatal flaw.

"Then you name a price, Fellow Daoist."

The goatee old man's mouth twitched. Seeing that he couldn't scam him, he let Zhang Daobai offer a price himself.

"Ten Spirit Stones!"

Zhang Daobai imitated the goatee old man's earlier gesture and held up one finger.

"Ten Spirit Stones! You might as well just rob me!"

The goatee old man's eyes widened as he cried out in surprise.

"A Spirit Medicine seed that can't be grown is no different from a stone. These ten Spirit Stones are for your hard work," Zhang Daobai explained earnestly.

"Ten Spirit Stones won't do! At least... at least one hundred Spirit Stones!"

After struggling with a conflicted face for a long time, the goatee old man held up one finger and said.

"Deal!"

Zhang Daobai agreed without hesitation, quickly snatched up the seed, and placed one hundred Spirit Stones on the stall.

Although Zhang Daobai was confident he could have bargained for a few dozen more Spirit Stones, he didn't want to waste a lot of time for such a small amount.

Watching Zhang Daobai's lightning-fast movements, the goatee old man couldn't help but be stunned.

Two words quickly surfaced in his mind: 'I've been had!'

"Hey! You..."

The goatee old man pointed a finger at Zhang Daobai, his voice trembling as he wanted to say something,

But Zhang Daobai chose to ignore him completely, turning around and quickly leaving the area.

"Pfft!"

The stall owners on both sides couldn't help but laugh when they saw the goatee old man's aggrieved look.

Usually, they only saw this goatee old man scamming others; they didn't expect to see him suffer a loss today.

Fenglin Market was very large. Even after wandering until near dusk, Zhang Daobai hadn't finished exploring it.

After leaving the goatee old man's stall, Zhang Daobai didn't buy anything else. However, he did hear quite a bit of information about the Xuantian Mountain Range and Purple Maple Immortal City from the passing Loose Cultivators.

"The Chiyang Secret Realm opens in three months."

On the way home from the market, Zhang Daobai murmured thoughtfully to himself.

While wandering through Fenglin Market, Zhang Daobai had heard news about a Secret Realm.

In the Xuantian Mountain Range, there was a Chiyang Mountain. On the mountain existed a small Secret Realm that opened once every fifty years, only allowing Cultivators below the Purple Mansion Stage to enter.

The Chiyang Secret Realm was not controlled by any faction; as long as one did not exceed the cultivation limit, anyone could enter.

However, Chiyang Mountain, where the Chiyang Secret Realm was located, was situated near the inner perimeter of the Xuantian Mountain Range. To reach it, one first had to cross many Yao Beast territories.

Among them, Tier 2 Yao Beasts moved in packs, and there were quite a few Tier 3 Yao Beasts. To safely reach Chiyang Mountain, one would need at least three Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators to lead the way.

So, while no faction restricted others from entering the Chiyang Secret Realm, reaching it safely was definitely not something an ordinary Cultivator could achieve.

"Three months..."

Zhang Daobai walked while lost in deep thought.

Upon returning to the Small Courtyard, Zhang Daobai found that Lin Luoxue had already returned. At this moment, she was in the courtyard holding her sword, contemplating her own Sword Intent.