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

It is common for cultivators to be in a situation like Zhang Ling's, which is called San Xiu(散修: Individual Cultivator).

The so-called San Xiu(散修: Individual Cultivator) refers to people who accidentally obtained cultivation methods and possess spiritual roots, thus entering the cultivation world.

In addition to these people, there are also some who are descendants of declining sects or fallen cultivation families.

San Xiu(散修: Individual Cultivator), cultivation families, and sect cultivators are all the cultivators in the cultivation world.

There are invisible rules among the three types of cultivators. San Xiu(散修: Individual Cultivator) are numerous but fight on their own. Although they are free, they are not systematic, and their strength is at the bottom of the cultivation world.

Cultivation families inherit through bloodlines and control certain resources, but they are also restricted by the family itself and are quite exclusive.

Only sect cultivators live the best in the cultivation world. Sects are established by powerful cultivators, exist for a long time, have profound foundations, and have complete spiritual stone resources, elixirs, and cultivation methods.

They often attract a large number of cultivators to join, but it is not so easy to enter a sect.

Sects have many requirements for recruiting disciples in order to select talents with good qualifications and temperament. With such a virtuous cycle, the sect will become increasingly strong.

Not only do San Xiu(散修: Individual Cultivator) regard entering a sect as an honor, but many cultivation families also attach themselves to sects, willing to become vassals of the sect.

Cultivators emphasize the law of the jungle.

Sect forces are powerful, and only by attaching themselves to powerful forces can they preserve themselves. The resources of the cultivation world are also divided up by various sects. Without cultivation resources, it is difficult for cultivators to advance, and this is the main reason.

In the following three days, Zhang Ling was cramming cultivation knowledge in Guangyuanzhai(广源斋: Guangyuan Study).

The summary is one sentence: the cultivation world is a jungle, where the strong are respected, even more cruel than ordinary people. With his current strength of the sixth level of Qi Refining, he can only be considered a very ordinary cultivator in this Falling Star City.

One night, Zhang Ling left Guangyuanzhai(广源斋: Guangyuan Study), strolled around Falling Star City for a while, and then arrived at a bluestone square.

Before him was a stone archway with the two characters Fangshi(坊市: Market) written on it. This is the city's market. Although it was already night, it was brightly lit. The bluestone square was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Many cultivators set up stalls here to trade. They casually placed their items on the ground and erected a sign in front, writing the items for sale, which was a stall.

The people who selected items for trading were also of all kinds. Some were strolling alone, and some were cultivators walking together in twos and threes. People came and went, like a mortal market trading, with a bit of a worldly atmosphere.

In front of most of the stalls, there was a half-person-high lamp, but it was not lamp oil, but a small stone emitting a soft white light.

"This is a moonstone." Seeing this small stone, Zhang Ling secretly marveled. After observing for a while, he had a certain understanding of the items used by cultivators.

Most of the stallholders were San Xiu(散修: Individual Cultivator), and the items were complex, but they were generally divided into several categories. There were various raw materials, spiritual herbs, and spiritual mines. There were also some furs and scales from monsters.

Then there were cultivation methods and spells, but most of them were ordinary five-element cultivation methods. Zhang Ling also found a book of Thick Earth Art in front of a stall, worth five spirit stones.

Few people really buy basic cultivation methods, after all, those who can come here are cultivators. And the most popular items for trading are elixirs and spirit talismans.

Spirit talismans are spells cultivated by cultivators, sealed in talisman paper, with different powers. There are defensive, offensive, and special types of spirit talismans such as flying and stealth.

Most of the spirit talismans are disposable, but they can increase the strength of cultivators in a short time, and are deeply loved by cultivators.

As for magic tools with stable power that can be used repeatedly, there are also. However, the price of low-level magic tools is between fifty and sixty spirit stones, and basically no one buys them.

Firstly, the price is high, and secondly, the magic tools sold at stalls are mostly not very powerful. With a few more spirit stones, you can buy better ones from the shops.

After strolling around for an hour, Zhang Ling came to a stall that he was very interested in.

The stall owner was a young man with messy hair. This person sat cross-legged, not knowing whether he was cultivating or resting with his eyes closed. Beside him stood a wooden sign with the four characters "Lingzhi(灵植: Spiritual Plant) Seeds" written on it. There were seven or eight small cloth bags on the stall, containing some seeds of different colors.

"Fellow Daoist, what kind of Lingzhi(灵植: Spiritual Plant) seeds are these?"

The young man opened his eyes when he heard someone asking, and pointed to the bags on the ground. "These are Iron Thorns seeds, Huang Ming Grass, Frost Frost Flower Flower..."

Zhang Ling's heart moved. Huang Ming Grass and Frost Frost Flower Flower were exactly what he needed. Asked about the price, the stall owner sold low-level Lingzhi(灵植: Spiritual Plant) seeds.

He thought to himself that he had now arrived in Falling Star City, and he would be cultivating here for the next period of time. If he wanted to improve his cultivation quickly, he would have to use elixirs to assist his cultivation.

Collecting these spiritual medicine seeds would also prepare him for alchemy.

Seeing Zhang Ling silent, the stall owner said again: "These are all seeds that I have carefully cultivated. Every seed can survive. The value of four spirit stones a bag is not expensive."

"Fellow Daoist is overthinking. I naturally know the value of these seeds, but I don't have any extra spirit stones in hand recently. I wonder if I can exchange them for elixirs." Zhang Ling took out a jade bottle from his arms.

"Elixir?"

The young man frowned, and without saying anything, he took the jade bottle, opened the bottle cap, and brought his nose close to smell the fragrance of the medicine inside.

"Hmm... the fragrance of the medicine is strong, but the refining technique is too rough. If you want to exchange, an elixir is worth two spirit stones." The young man said after hesitating for a moment.

Huanglong Dan(黄龙丹: Yellow Dragon Pill) is the elixir that Zhang Ling is currently using for cultivation. The young man's cultivation is at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and taking this pill can also increase his cultivation.

Zhang Ling knew that this person was telling the truth, and his alchemy technique was indeed rough. But an Huanglong Dan(黄龙丹: Yellow Dragon Pill) could be exchanged for two spirit stones, which still made him happy.

"Okay, as fellow Daoist said, one elixir for two spirit stones."

"If fellow Daoist takes out fifteen more of these elixirs, these spiritual medicine seeds will belong to fellow Daoist."

Seeing Zhang Ling nod, the stall owner seemed extremely enthusiastic and his expression was completely different from before.

Seeing this person's appearance, Zhang Ling knew that the value of Huanglong Dan(黄龙丹: Yellow Dragon Pill) was even higher than what this person said, but the words had already been spoken, and he really needed these spiritual medicine seeds, so he could only pinch his nose and accept it.

"Fellow Daoist, please keep it." The young man neatly packed the spiritual medicine seeds one by one and pushed them over.

Zhang Ling slowly took out the Huanglong Dan(黄龙丹: Yellow Dragon Pill) from his arms and handed it to the young man, grabbed the spiritual medicine seeds and stuffed them into his arms, and left without looking back. Then he strolled around here for more than an hour, and collected several other kinds of spiritual medicine seeds.

In addition to spiritual medicine seeds, he also bought several spirit talismans, and he bought several of each type of spirit talisman. When he found a place to stay, he would try the power of these spirit talismans.

Finally, he also bought a beginner's spell encyclopedia. These things were all exchanged for with Huanglong Dan(黄龙丹: Yellow Dragon Pill).

Then he left the market and found an inn called Xianlai Inn, spent a spirit stone to stay in it. In Falling Star City, spirit stones are needed everywhere, and one spirit stone can only live in an ordinary inn for ten days.

The room in the inn was not small, and it also came with a simple formation, which was not a waste of spirit stones.

The formation also needs to be activated with spirit stones. Zhang Ling did not save spirit stones on this. He had many secrets on him, and having a layer of formation to protect him would also provide an extra layer of security.

After activating the formation, he sat in the room and thought about his plans for the future.