Chronicles of the Green Vine: A Mortal’s Path to Immortality

But what was surprising was that the transparent flying sword, when it was still two zhang (丈: zhang, a unit of length) away from the middle-aged man, took a turn and attacked the female cultivator next to him.

The woman had already recalled her two silver rings and was dealing with Zhang Ling's dagger magic weapon.

Under Zhang Ling's control, the dagger was divided into two short blades, one pitch-black dagger and one smaller, exquisite blade.

Naturally, this woman didn't just have silver ring magical artifacts; she also controlled a square iron shield to block in front of her.

"Brother Wang, save me."

But when she saw the flying sword attacking, the female cultivator shouted with a pale face, and at the same time released a long white silk ribbon to surround her body.

With a strange tearing sound, the transparent flying sword slashed out several white sword lights, tearing the white silk with unparalleled sharpness. Immediately, the spiritual light on this magical weapon flickered uncertainly, obviously unable to withstand the sword's edge.

Zhang Ling, however, braved several large fireballs and quickly approached the female cultivator.

The middle-aged man also realized that the flying sword's target was not him, and quickly activated the command flag. The firelight condensed, and he was about to launch an attack.

When Zhang Ling was still four or five zhang away from the woman, he raised his left hand, and a cyan-green vine shot out quickly, instantly wrapping around the white silk magical weapon. He cast a Giant Strength Technique on himself and pulled with all his strength, pulling the white silk straight. Then, the flying sword shook and immediately pierced a large hole in the white silk.

With two muffled sounds, the woman flew backwards.

Zhang Ling flicked the vine in his left hand like a long whip in the air, and five or six black-cyan vines split out. As soon as these vines landed, they burrowed into the ground, and then five or six thick iron thorns emerged from the soil, like venomous snakes winding towards the male cultivator.

The male cultivator was extremely anxious. The few fireballs that the magical weapon had just condensed were surrounded by iron thorns before they could be fired, leaving him no chance to rescue the female cultivator.

At this time, Zhang Ling was controlling the jade plaque magic weapon, two dagger magic weapons, and the top-grade flying sword Cicada Wing Sword, which was equivalent to controlling four magic weapons at the same time.

He was also somewhat overwhelmed, but the woman had already revealed a flaw, and he was confident that he could kill this female cultivator in a few breaths.

After throwing out the Iron Thorn vines, Zhang Ling quickly flicked his left arm, and the vines circled a few times in the air, instantly wrapping around a silver ring.

The dagger magic weapon and the Cicada Wing Sword followed closely, besieging the female cultivator.

The iron shield outside this woman's body was also a high-quality item among top-grade magic weapons, but it already had several cut marks, and it was probably unable to withstand many more attacks. The female cultivator's face paled, and while controlling the iron shield, she desperately cast a protective spiritual light.

The black light dagger turned into a black line and pierced the woman's protective spiritual light, emitting a harsh sound, dimming the spiritual light on the woman's body.

The woman looked terrified and quickly poured all her mana into the spiritual light shield, while tearfully shouting, "Fellow Daoist, can you spare this little woman? I am also a Hao Yuan Sect cultivator. As long as Senior Brother spares me, I can acknowledge you as my master, slave, or servant, and let Senior Brother..."

Zhang Ling was expressionless and had no intention of showing mercy. He increased his control over the dagger and flying sword, constantly attacking the female cultivator.

With a soft sound, the dagger broke through her defenses before the female cultivator could finish her words, and wrapped around her slender white neck, spraying a burst of blood. The female cultivator's throat made a gurgling sound, and her body softened and fell into the pool of blood.

Without hesitation, Zhang Ling waved his hand, and the two magical weapons swayed, turning to attack the middle-aged male cultivator.

This person had already escaped the attack of the Iron Thorn vines at this time. He happened to see the female cultivator being killed. His expression changed drastically, and he had no more fighting spirit. A flash of cyan light appeared under his feet, and he fled frantically into the distance.

Zhang Ling had no intention of letting this person go. He quickly chased after him. A quarter of an hour later, he retrieved the magical weapons in the mountains and forests three or four miles away.

After a battle, his face was also a little pale, and he had little spiritual power left in his body. The middle-aged male cultivator had also been cut in half and could not be more dead.

Zhang Ling took off the male cultivator's storage bag and cast a Fireball Technique on the corpse to destroy the body and eliminate the traces. Then, with a wave of his hand, he picked up a red command flag. The spiritual light on this object was dim, and there were many cracks.

This was damaged by his Cicada Wing Sword. Zhang Ling felt a pity in his heart. Although this magical weapon was not as good as a top-grade magical weapon, it integrated offense and defense, and its defense and attack were not weak.

Afterwards, he also dealt with the corpses of the other two people and quickly left the place of the battle. Several miles away, he found a hidden place and temporarily rested.

Earlier, he was besieged by these three people. If his spiritual consciousness had not been enhanced a lot after cultivating the Refining Spirit Technique these past two years, surpassing that of cultivators of the same rank, he would have discovered the person who was attacking from behind beforehand.

Even if he hadn't been killed by that person at the time, he would have been besieged by the three of them, and the outcome would have been death.

These three people probably knew that the Ghost Market was open, and they also participated in the Ghost Market just now. They had noticed him a long time ago, so they followed him. They were specifically blocking the road back to the Hao Yuan Sect to intercept and kill lone individuals.

As for which one it was, he didn't know. But the people had already been killed, and Zhang Ling didn't think too much about it.

...

The next day at noon, Zhang Ling returned to the small courtyard in Green Mist Valley. He first checked the storage bags of the three people.

There were a little over a thousand spiritual stones and six high-grade magical weapons, but three of them were already damaged. There was nothing else worth his attention.

After Zhang Ling sorted out his mood, he took out a black lacquered round alms bowl magic weapon. There was a gray-green mist surrounding the bowl, making it impossible to see what was inside.

This was also a special magic weapon, the same type as the Soul Banner in his hand.

Among them was a second-order demon beast soul, which he had exchanged for a four-hundred-year-old Yellow Essence a type of mushroom spiritual medicine at the Ghost Market. Yellow Essence a type of mushroom is a second-grade spiritual medicine. With his estimation, the four-hundred-year-old one was enough to exchange for six or seven thousand spiritual stones.

This was not an ordinary second-grade spiritual medicine like spirit gathering grass. Such a spiritual medicine was enough to be used as an auxiliary spiritual medicine needed for refining the Golden Core pills for Golden Core cultivators.

He took out this spiritual medicine at great risk, but now he had also exchanged it for a second-order demon beast soul, so it was not a wasted trip.

In the following days, he prepared the spiritual medicines needed for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill, and then cut down the iron wood in the spiritual medicine field that nurtured the sword awn.

At this time, the iron wood was grayish-yellow, completely different from the previous cyan-black, and the leaves on it had almost fallen off.

Only a few inches in the center of the trunk remained cyan-black. Under his examination, the sword awn inside had also been stained iron-green.

Afterwards, he also used two thousand spiritual stones from the sect's treasure pavilion to exchange for a Pill Furnace and three pieces of high-grade cold jade.

Then he went straight to a barren black rock valley on the south side of the sect. This was the Hao Yuan Sect's volcano, named Red Flame Fire Vein.

There were many stone houses and other buildings on the nearby stone mountains, as well as several large stone halls. This was where the sect's cultivators refined pills and weapons.