Chapter 72 Dongting Secret Realm

Chapter 72 Dongting Secret Realm

Chapter 72 Dongting Secret Realm
Wei Zhong came out of confinement. Xie Linghua saw Wei Zhong and immediately stood up and said in surprise: "Master!"

Wei Zhong smiled at him and looked at Ling Ziwei who was standing beside him, and thanked him: "Thank you, Brother Ling, for your protection these days."

"You're welcome," Ling Ziwei asked immediately, "Brother Wei, is this successful?"

"Of course it worked. It was all thanks to the more than one hundred Bailing Water Stones that Fairy Ling brought. Otherwise, the one hundred that I collected would not be enough."

"It's good that it's done. Daoist friend, do you need the Thousand Spirit Water Stone to advance to the Thousand-pound Realm?"

Wei Zhong shook his head slightly: "There is no rush for this matter. I still want to practice for a while and try to enter the late stage of foundation building first. I will consider this matter after I have strengthened my strength a bit."

Ling Ziwei was slightly disappointed: "Then fellow Daoist should practice first, and come to find me after you reach the late stage of foundation building.

I know that there are Thousand Spirit Water Stones in several secret places. If you follow me, you will definitely reap a lot."

Wei Zhong found it a little funny, and said with a folded hand: "I will definitely go and nag the fairy when the time comes.

In addition, I would like to trouble you to give a reasonable price for the Bailing and Qianling water stones. After all, they are the resources of the Ling family. If you give them to me for nothing, I am afraid that the elders of the Ling family will complain about you. "

Ling Ziwei groaned for a moment and said: "That's fine, Brother Bailing Shuishi can just pay the market price, either spirit stones or spirit pills will do.

As for the Thousand Spirit Water Stone, you don't need it. I asked for it from my brother as a gift of friendship."

Wei Zhong shook his head: "That won't work. The Thousand Spirit Water Stone is not an ordinary thing. How can I just give it away? If it really doesn't work, I will return it to Daoist Fellow Yu Linghua later."

After saying this, he handed him a storage bag: "It contains thousands of low-grade spirit stones, as well as various levels of Qi-nourishing pills and Qi-combining pills, all of which are various spirit pills commonly used by cultivators."

Ling Ziwei had no choice but to take the storage bag: "Then I'll follow you, fellow Taoist. This matter is done, I will leave now."

After saying this, without waiting for Wei Zhong to reply, he controlled the flying sword and turned into a stunning streak of light and left.

Xie Linghua chuckled: "Master really doesn't understand romance."

Wei Zhong rolled his eyes at her and asked, "Tell me, is there anything important that needs to be done during my seclusion?"

In fact, it took Wei Zhong only half a month to forge his spiritual body this time. The "Spring and Autumn Water Refining Art" greatly accelerated the process.

Xie Linghua then told the story of Taoist Qingze's arrival.

"Qingze asked me to make an elixir?"

"Could it be a second-level realm-breaking pill?"

Wei Zhong couldn't help but think of the spiritual fruit he obtained in the tide.

Sure enough, less than seven days later, Taoist Qingze rushed to Yunxia Island again.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, I've been waiting for you to come out of seclusion for a long time," Taoist Qingze, dressed in a yellow robe, stepped onto the Spirit Island from the back of the spirit turtle.

Wei Zhong looked at the spirit turtle at his feet. It was the same one that appeared during the treasure hunt during the tide watching a few days ago.

He immediately exclaimed in admiration: "Fellow Daoist Qingze's beast taming technique is truly profound. He can actually tam so many second-level spirit beasts."

"Haha, it's just a trifle. Fellow Daoist Wei's spirit bird is also extraordinary, but it makes me very jealous."

Hearing this, Jiucai on the branch opened his eyes, looked at Qingze with a stubble on his face, and then closed his eyes again to rest.

Wei Zhong laughed and invited him to sit in the pavilion on the edge of the cliff.

He poured him a cup of spirit wine and asked, "I heard that you asked me to make an elixir. What kind of elixir do you want?"

Qingze drank the wine in the cup and said, "Second level realm-breaking pill, are you sure about it, fellow Daoist?"

'Sure enough. ’

Wei Zhong pondered for a moment: "The elixir that can be used to break through from the middle stage of foundation building to the late stage is no joke. I only have a 50% chance of success."

Wei Zhong stretched out five fingers and answered.

But when Qingze heard this, he replied with some surprise: "That's enough.

I have collected enough spiritual medicines, and I can give them to you to make pills. I wonder what kind of reward you want?"

Wei Zhong was greatly surprised, but still stated his request: "I don't need spirit stones, but after the spirit pill is made, if there are multiple pills, I need to take one of them."

Qingze clapped his hands: "No problem."

Wei Zhong was somewhat uncomfortable with Qingze's straightforwardness. In the past, when he refined any rare elixir, he always had to bargain with others.

The two of them toasted each other, and Wei Zhong asked with some curiosity:
"I heard that you came to see me a few days ago, but I have been in seclusion for many days. Why didn't you find another alchemist to refine this pill?"

When asked this question, Qingze became a little angry:
"It's all Zhu Shen's fault. He's really petty and vindictive. Last time, we had a conflict while watching the tide and snatching treasures.

When I needed to make an elixir, I don't know what means he used, but none of the nearby alchemists were willing to take on the commission.

Those who have the courage to take on this pill commission have a very low success rate, far inferior to Fellow Daoist Wei."

Wei Zhong then realized that this was the reason. It seemed that Zhu Shen had a deep misunderstanding of Qingze regarding the treasure-grabbing incident.

Of course, there are reasons for this.

"Ahem, if you need to make an elixir in the future, you can come to me. As long as I have time, I will not let you down."

"Thank you very much, Fellow Daoist Wei."

After drinking and having fun, Qingze left behind the elixirs needed for alchemy and turned to leave.

Wei Zhong agreed with him that he could come to get the elixir in ten days.

Then Wei Zhong came into the cave with the spiritual medicine in his hand and took out a water-blue alchemy furnace.

This alchemy furnace was customized by Wei Zhong for the water alchemy method, not the traditional one that uses spiritual fire to make alchemy.

Wei Zhong took out the Yuanshui bead that he had condensed for a long time. The black bead was the size of a palm, as black as ink, and its smooth surface was shining with a bright black luster.

At this time, the Yuan Shuizhu has reached the top grade among the second-grade magic tools, which is superior to the general second-grade top grade magic tools on the market.

If Wei Zhong was a Jindan cultivator at this moment, he could refine it a little and upgrade it to the third level, making it a magic weapon.

Stuff the Yuanshui beads into the lower layer of the alchemy furnace, this is Wei Zhong's "spiritual fire".

The Yuanshui beads are originally made of highly concentrated water spiritual power, and are perfect for refining spiritual liquid or making pills.

Moreover, as Wei Zhong's natal magic weapon, he is very adept at using it and is quite skilled in refining pills.

Wei Zhong took out the elixirs left by Qingze, placed them on the ground in different categories, and then refined them one by one according to the order.

The time spent on refining the elixir was quite long, mainly because Wei Zhong had not refined many second-level realm-breaking elixirs. He had only made them once three years ago for a fellow foundation-building practitioner.

Although the pill was successful that time, it was only one, and it was of inferior quality and not very useful.

Therefore, we were much more cautious this time to ensure that no mistakes occurred in the early stage.

After one day, most of the alchemy process has been completed. The spiritual liquid in the furnace is constantly condensing and is about to become a pill.

Wei Zhong's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he pointed to the bottom of the furnace. Suddenly, the Yuanshui beads began to spin wildly, and the rolled-up spiritual energy cyclone began to oppress the spiritual liquid in the furnace.

"combine."

Wei Zhong slapped the furnace cover, and three pills shot out instantly. Wei Zhong's spiritual power condensed into a big hand and took them into his palm.

"Three pills were made, all of them are of medium quality. Not bad, not bad, a big improvement over the last time."

Wei Zhong accepted one with satisfaction and put the other two in a jade bottle.

He came out of seclusion and called Xie Linghua, put the bottle of elixir in her hands, and told her to hand it to Taoist Qingze when he arrived.

Then his figure flashed and disappeared.

"The master is really hardworking!" Xie Linghua sighed, put away the pill bottle and left.

However, what he didn't know was that Wei Zhong did not return to the training room to meditate, but instead used the breath-concealing and invisibility techniques to leave Yunxia Island.

When the island was no longer visible from afar, Wei Zhong took out a fiery red second-level flying sword, changed into a black robe, and hung a magical wine gourd around his waist.

He touched his face with his hand, and suddenly he looked different.

Looking through the river, he seemed somewhat similar to the previous casual cultivator alias Chu He.

Riding on the flying sword, Wei Zhong flew straight in one direction. This time he had made an appointment with his fellow travelers to explore the secret realm of Dongting Lake together, and he couldn't break the appointment.

After flying to a small island in the river, Wei Zhong put away his sword and landed.

The island is not big, only ten feet square. Because it is often flooded by the river, there are no plants on the island, only some dark green moss on the sand.

There was a stone pavilion on the island, where four people were already waiting. Some of them looked familiar, but some looked unfamiliar to Wei Zhong.

Seeing Wei Zhong fall, a young Taoist with a youthful look suddenly laughed: "Fellow Daoist Song, I finally got you here."

Then he pointed at Wei Zhong and introduced him to everyone: "This is Fellow Daoist Song Zhong. He has explored many secret realms with me before. For the sake of safety, I specially invited him to join us on this exploration trip."

This young Taoist is named Lan Fangyi, also known as Xugu. He is a fellow Taoist who Wei Zhong has met in the past eight years and is in the middle stage of foundation-building.

"Fellow Daoist Lan, our exploration of the secret realm this time is extremely important. It would be inappropriate to invite a fellow Daoist who is in the early stage of foundation building," asked another one of the four.

Wei Zhong looked unfamiliar. He looked like a fifty-year-old man, with grey hair and beard, face full of wrinkles, and a pair of eyes that were slightly bulging, making him look angry and ferocious.

"Humph," the other person beside him was immediately surprised after hearing what he said, "Fellow Daoist Song is not just an ordinary person in the early stage of foundation building, his fighting skills may not be worse than yours, Old Monster Tan.

Besides, I am also in the early stage of foundation building. You are looking down on me, Mou Yuanfeng, by saying this."

"Ahem," Lan Fangyi tried to smooth things over and said to Wei Zhong, "This is Fellow Daoist Tan Bo, who is in the middle stage of foundation building and is good at formation.

He is a man of straightforward words, so don't take his words to heart, Fellow Daoist Song."

Wei Zhong glanced at Tan Bo, then said to Lan Fangyi: "Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Xugu, I am not such a petty person.

In addition, it seems that this exploration of the secret realm is unusual, so please ask Daoist Xugu to explain in detail."

"Let Brother Shang explain this matter. After all, it was Brother Shang who discovered the secret place."

Wei Zhong followed Lan Fangyi's gaze and looked at the fourth person who had never spoken. This person's name was Shang Mengchun, and he was in the middle stage of foundation building.

He was thin and slightly shorter than ordinary people, and the loose Taoist robe he wore looked quite funny.

But Wei Zhong never judges people by their appearance. He is not an ordinary cultivator either. He can even be said to be a genius among the casual cultivators.

After practicing Taoism for over a hundred years, he was not only a second-rank talisman master, but also a second-rank formation master and weapon refiner, and had mastered countless other first-rank arts.

In total, he even specializes in a few more ways than Wei Zhong. The only shortcoming is that he seems to have dabbled in too many areas, resulting in him not being proficient in any of them. Among the three second-level skills, only the way of talismans is worth mentioning, and the other two are mediocre in strength.

"In that case, let me explain.

A few days ago, when I was exploring alone, I found a secret place in the Dongting Secret Realm. The restrictions there were connected and had formed a formation. I found a Xuanming grass in it, which is estimated to be about a thousand years old. "

"Xuanming grass, could it be the Xuanming grass needed to refine the Dust-Reducing Pill?"

Wei Zhong was greatly surprised. As a second-level alchemist, Wei Zhong naturally knew that this was one of the spiritual herbs used to refine the third-level elixir, the Dust-Reducing Pill.

The Dust-Reducing Pill, as one of the elixirs that can increase the chances of forming a pill for foundation-building cultivators, is sought after by countless foundation-building cultivators.

"Yes, it is this grass. I see that this spiritual grass is two feet tall, with more than ten nodes on its stem. It is definitely over a thousand years old and can be used to refine Dust Reducing Pills."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hearts of several monks present instantly became excited.

Even Lan Fangyi, who had known about this for a long time, was no exception.

"Why didn't you pick the spiritual herb, but invited me to wait for you?"

Shang Mengchun's thin face flushed slightly: "I, I was also chased by a group of spirit beasts, and I accidentally discovered the location of the spirit herb while fleeing in panic.

Moreover, the spiritual herb is in a broken formation, and my formation skills are not enough to break it, so I invited Fellow Daoist Tan to come here."

"Well, could Fellow Daoist Shang tell us more about the spirit beast and the formation? Your expression is so vague that I am worried about you going with me," Wei Zhong said with his hands spread out.

"Fellow Daoist Song Zhong, let me speak about this matter," Lan Fangyi interrupted when he saw that Shang Mengchun couldn't express himself clearly.

“The group of monsters that were chasing after Fellow Daoist Shang were a group of white-browed red monkeys, most of which were first-level, with only a few being second-level.

The reason why Fellow Daoist Shang was being hunted down was because he accidentally entered its territory. This time, if we proceed carefully, we will most likely be able to avoid this group of monsters.

In addition, the formation that Fellow Daoist Shang mentioned is a fourth-order residual formation."

"Level 4?" Wei Zhong exclaimed in shock.

The fourth stage corresponds to the Nascent Soul stage. It is simply courting death for a few foundation-building cultivators to plot against the spiritual creatures therein.

Seeing that "Song Zhong" was about to leave and never come back, Lan Fangyi quickly added:
"Fellow Daoist Song, please be patient. Although this formation is of the fourth level, it is already in tatters.

Its grade has long since dropped, and it is not an exaggeration to classify it as a third-order incomplete formation now.

My fellow Taoists and I have already prepared the second-order forbidden cone. With the attainments of Daoist Shang and Daoist Tan in the art of formations, we can proceed step by step. It is entirely possible for us to obtain the thousand-year-old Xuanming grass.

Moreover, how can a place where the thousand-year-old Xuanming grass can be born be an ordinary place? Maybe there are even more rare spiritual creatures waiting for us there."

After hearing his explanation, Wei Zhong's expression looked a little better.

"It's a pity that we failed to collect the third-level forbidden cone, otherwise this matter could have gone more smoothly," Shang Mengchun said with some regret.

Wei Zhong's heart moved.

"A third-level forbidden cone. I have this thing myself."

I earned some spiritual stones in the past few years and specially prepared some strange and weird things.

The Breaking Ban Cone is one of them. It can quickly create a gap in the third-order formation and is an extremely useful tool for dealing with trapped formations.

The only drawback is that it is expensive and is a disposable item.

However, Wei Zhong did not say anything when he took it out. Wei Zhong did not have many of these things, only two, and they had to be used to save his life, so they could not be wasted here.

Since these people are so confident, let's follow their plan.

"It's okay. With me here, I believe we can take down the remaining formation," Tan Bo said confidently, "but I have made it clear that I will contribute and most of the treasures will go to me."

Lan Fangyi heard this and retorted: "Fellow Daoist Tan wants to take most of it, but it's a bit greedy. Where does this put the four of us?

The treasures will be distributed according to each person's contribution. If you can really contribute most of the effort, it's not a bad idea to give most of it to you."

After these words were spoken, the other three people, including Wei Zhong, all nodded.

"I wonder when we will set off? Are there other fellow Taoists going with us?" Wei Zhong asked at the right time.

Lan Fangyi shook his head: "Fellow Daoist Song is the last one, and we were just waiting for you to arrive. There is no time to lose, shall we set off now?"

"can."

"can."

······
The four of them had no objection, and they controlled their lights and headed towards the entrance of the Dongting Secret Realm.

Luohe Prefecture is different from Mangyuan Prefecture. Not only is its territory larger, it also has more secret realms, and some of them are open all year round, like the Dongting Secret Realm.

"I heard that many secret realms have disappeared in recent years. Do you know the reason?" Wei Zhong asked curiously.

Shang Mengchun replied: "Most of the secret realms that Fellow Daoist Song mentioned are too dilapidated, and the space itself is not very stable, so they are directly absorbed by this world.

It didn’t disappear, but became a part of this world.”

"Oh?"

"I didn't expect to hear a similar explanation here as the one I heard in Mangyuan Prefecture before."

"Could it be that Fellow Daoist Song came from other prefectures? Not many secret realms in my Luohe Prefecture have been destroyed in these years," Tan Bo asked tentatively.

"I don't need to worry about where I came from, Fellow Daoist Tan. Instead of asking about my background, you might as well think about how to deal with the remaining formation later. Fellow Daoist Shang has not prepared many second-level forbidden cones."

"Hmph." Tan Bo uttered a muffled grunt and stopped asking further questions.

During the conversation, Wei Zhong and others approached the entrance to the Dongting Secret Realm.

This entrance is located in a large waterfall on the Luo River that stretches for several miles, hidden behind the waterfall.

The secret realm is open all year round, and no one charges for it.

When the five people arrived, there were monks coming in and out nearby.

The other four people used their own methods to cross the waterfall. Wei Zhong used the Black Water Spirit Robe to radiate outwards and easily lifted up the falling water.

This is the change Wei Zhong discovered after he practiced it to the mastery level. The thin film formed by the Black Water Spirit Robe is no longer limited to the body surface, but can radiate outwards and form various shapes.

In addition, it also has the ability to repel water.

After crossing the waterfall, there is no rock behind, but a gray-white space passage.

The five of them crossed over together, and the surrounding scene changed instantly.

A feeling of dizziness came over Wei Zhong's head, and it took a few breaths for him to feel better. He opened his eyes and looked around, and saw a small complex of buildings.

There were also monks coming and going, and the sounds of their hawking and shouting were endless.

It doesn't have the atmosphere of a fairyland at all, instead it looks a bit like a mortal market.

This is the resting place built by the monks in the secret realm.

Five people walked out of the teleportation array under their feet and started to move away from here in one direction.

After flying for half a day, Wei Zhong and others finally reached their destination.

Shang Mengchun pointed to a patch of red woods ahead and said:
"The autumn maple forest ahead is where the group of white-browed red monkeys live. Everyone, be careful and don't let them find you."

Everyone put away their magic swords and dropped them to the ground.

Wei Zhong put away his magic sword and used some of his breath-retaining skills. He did not dare to use all his strength to conceal his breath, fearing that it would arouse other people's associations.

Tan Bo looked back at Wei Zhong in surprise. He never expected that this young cultivator in the early stage of foundation building had such ability.

Shang Mengchun took out four talismans and handed them to everyone.

"This is a top-grade breath-suppressing talisman, which I am giving to all of you Daoists." He then glanced at Wei Zhong and asked, "Daoist Song, you should follow the usual practice. You don't need this item, right?"

Wei Zhong nodded.

'The breath-retaining effect of this talisman is barely comparable to my current breath-retaining technique, so there is naturally no need to spend extra effort on using it.'

Tan Bo shook the talisman in his hand: "A first-level breath-suppressing talisman, this is not enough to avoid those foundation-building spirit beasts."

Shang Mengchun retorted: "If Daoist Tan has a better way to suppress his anger, you can share it with everyone. It is not a bad idea to count it as a contribution."

"Alright, alright," Lan Fangyi took out five small brown bottles and said, "This is a special animal repellent incense made for these monkeys. Please apply it on your bodies.

With this item, plus Fellow Daoist Shang's Breath-Suppressing Talisman, we will have a much better chance of getting through this place."

Wei Zhong found that there was some kind of black powder in the bottle, which gave off a pungent smell.

Keep the black water spirit clothes on your body until it becomes a thin transparent layer, and pour the powder in the bottle from head to toe.

The five people got ready and headed towards the autumn maple forest.

Shang Mengchun’s rumored voice came to Wei Zhong’s ears: “This group of white-browed red monkeys, led by the second-order, occupy most of the territory in this autumn maple forest.

We just need to be careful to avoid the territory of those monsters and then we can go to that secret place.

Everyone, be careful not to cross this stream."

Shang Mengchun pointed to a stream at his feet and said.

Wei Zhong looked up into the sky and saw red-haired monkeys jumping around on the treetops above his head, but they had no intention of crossing the stream.

"The one above your head is a white-browed red monkey. The one with white eyebrows is a first-level monkey, but if you see a monkey with yellow eyebrows, you have to be careful.

It is most likely a second-order existence, the same level as you and me.

"If you can avoid it, avoid it. Don't fight it unless it's absolutely necessary. If you wait until it gets entangled with a large number of its own kind, it will be difficult to escape from it."

Shang Mengchun kept reminding everyone while leading them forward.

After walking for an unknown distance, they came to a broken forest. The trees here had become much less numerous, and only occasional roars could be heard from the distant forest.

Pointing to a narrow passage in the forest, Shang Mengchun led everyone in.

Not long after the five people entered, a majestic monkey about ten feet tall walked out of the forest. Different from what Shang Mengchun described, its eyebrows had completely turned golden, and its hair was also bright red, like a burning flame.

(End of this chapter)