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

With a Foundation Establishment cultivator holding the line, no one dared to act presumptuously anymore.

The plump old man, his expression unchanged, held the talisman treasure and looked around, saying, "This fellow Daoist has bid nine thousand five hundred spirit stones. Is there anyone else who wishes to bid?"

"I, I bid ten thousand spirit stones."

Suddenly, a timid voice came, sounding like a young man.

"Hmph, eleven thousand spirit stones."

"Eleven thousand one hundred spirit stones."

The previous old man raised the price again, and another person also called out a price, only one hundred spirit stones more, seemingly determined to win.

For a moment, the cultivators present all turned their gazes to the old man's location, but the old man did not raise the price again.

Instead, the timid voice from before raised the price again, "Twelve thousand spirit stones."

After this price appeared, the plump old man asked three times, and seeing that no one else raised the price, this talisman treasure was sold for twelve thousand spirit stones.

"Thank you all for your support. This auction has come to a successful conclusion."

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Ling left the auction house. He collected all the items he had bid on, which were worth more than six thousand spirit stones in total.

His spirit stones were not enough, and he ultimately settled the balance with five thousand spirit stones and several bottles of pills.

After returning to his cave, Zhang Ling had only six hundred spirit stones left. However, touching the items in his storage bag, he was quite excited, especially about obtaining a Thunderfire Pearl.

With this treasure, he was more confident about the trip to the Blazing Flame Valley. And now, there were still half a month before the Nine Sects' disciple recruitment convention.

In the following days, Zhang Ling wandered around the market, still looking for things to enhance his strength.

And he actually had some gains. As the Blazing Flame Valley was about to open, more and more cultivators came to Falling Star City. The number of people setting up stalls in the market also increased relatively.

It was crowded every day, and Falling Star City gathered a large number of rogue cultivators from the three countries. These people also had many good things in their hands.

Zhang Ling found some unknown spirit herb seeds, including a special vine that could survive in flames, the Fire Star Grass Vine.

This vine was reddish-black and covered with small, fiery red leaves, looking somewhat like ivy.

It was said to grow in the Blazing Flame Valley. The Fire Star Vine had no attack power and was not tough, but it could, to some extent, block the divine sense detection of cultivators.

He could control the vines on his arm to split and parasitize in this Fire Star Grass Vine, forming a fire vine to hide himself.

In addition to this gain, he also bought some other things, such as two or three fire-avoidance artifacts, and fifty or sixty low-level spirit talismans, etc.

These things were mostly exchanged for the pills he refined himself.

Then he went to the earth fire chamber to refine pills again. This time, he refined special pills, including detoxification pills and mana recovery pills such as Returning Spirit Pills.

There was also a cold attribute Frost Pill, which was also prepared for the Blazing Flame Valley. This pill could resist the erosion of fire poison.

After preparing everything, calculating the time, there were only a few days left before the Nine Sects arrived.

……

This day, cultivators on all the streets of Falling Star City were coming and going, heading in one direction.

In the inner city of Falling Star City, there was a large square in front of the City Lord's Mansion, which was now filled with a large number of cultivators.

"Look, what is that?"

Someone shouted, and the cultivators all looked up.

"That is, a big bird!" A male cultivator next to him exclaimed in surprise.

A huge black shadow flew overhead. The big bird was like an eagle but not an eagle, covered with black feathers. Its wings spanned dozens of feet, and a pair of sharp claws, like sickles, gleamed with a cold cyan light.

What a ferocious demonic bird!

Zhang Ling looked up, his face also showing surprise. The huge demonic bird was flying over their heads, like a black cloud passing quickly.

"Eh, there are people on it."

"Someone can tame this kind of demonic bird. What kind of strength is that?"

"Hehe, you little cubs, don't be surprised. This is the Beast Control Sect's spirit beast, the Golden Feathered Eagle. Its strength is comparable to that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator."

A linen-clad old man next to him looked at the demonic bird and sneered.

The Beast Control Sect of Yuan Feng Country, Zhang Ling muttered to himself.

Yuan Feng Country was the strongest of the three countries, and two of its sects were of the Demonic Dao lineage. The Beast Control Sect and the Joyful Union Valley were also neither good nor evil.

If Cang Yun Country and Tian Yang Country had not united to slightly suppress Yuan Feng Country, they would not have been able to maintain the balance of power, forming the pattern of the Nine Great Sects.

Today was the day when the Nine Great Sects held their disciple recruitment convention.

Suddenly, the distant sky changed dramatically, and a huge flying ship floated over. Colorful clouds floated around it, and there seemed to be bursts of immortal music, which attracted the attention of a large number of cultivators.

"The Flying Cloud Boat of the Hao Yuan Sect."

The linen-clad old man looked up and called out the origin of the flying ship, seemingly knowing a lot about the major sects.

At the same time, on the other side, a large area of starlight appeared on the originally blue sky, with human figures flashing, as if someone was driving the starlight from beyond the sky.

This spectacle of observing stars in broad daylight caused another commotion.

"This is the Heavenly Star Rainbow of the Joyful Union Valley."

Someone next to him called out its origin.

It was said that the cultivators of the Joyful Union Valley practiced dual cultivation techniques, and the disciples they recruited were half male and half female, and they would never accept those who were not of superior appearance.

In the following hour, the other sects also arrived one after another. One of the most impressive was the huge flying sword of the Cloud Sword Sect.

There were also the two major Demonic Dao sects. The Giant Demon Sect drove a gloomy black cloud, with countless ghost shadows floating within.

The Blood Bone Sect cultivators rode a huge skull, which was very frightening. The two Demonic Dao sects were more bizarre than the other.

The Demonic Dao techniques were strange, and the law of the jungle prevailed. The disciples of the sects mostly liked to fight and had rich experience in fighting techniques.

The people of the Nine Great Sects all entered the City Lord's Mansion. As time passed, when it was noon, the gate of the City Lord's Mansion of Falling Star City opened.

A team of guards in cyan armor flew out. The cultivation levels of these people were mostly in the late stage of Qi Refining.

Dang… Dang…

As three melodious bells rang around, the voices of the cultivators stopped abruptly.

The surrounding scenery also changed. A large area of auspicious clouds appeared in the sky. Between the clouds, one could still see magnificent palaces and pavilions, and some true spirit figures such as True Dragons and Heavenly Phoenixes appeared in them.

The smoke and haze scattered colors, and the immortal music in the ears was illusory, as if one was living in a dream. Suddenly, a soft voice sounded, pulling the cultivators back to reality.

"The Immortal Dao is vast, and the Human Dao is渺渺. We cultivators are fighting against the heavens for our lives. If we do not advance, we will retreat."

"Fellow Daoists, today is a big day for Falling Star City. I am Han Yun, the Deputy City Lord of Falling Star City, and I welcome you all. Today, the Nine Great Sects are holding a disciple recruitment ceremony here. This is an opportunity for you fellow Daoists."

At some point, a cyan-clothed cultivator appeared in the sky above the City Lord's Mansion. He looked like he was in his thirties or forties, with a refined appearance, stepping on a cloud of auspiciousness and emitting a soft white light, with a rather immortal aura.

The appearance of this person attracted the attention of all the cultivators. This person was actually the Deputy City Lord of Falling Star City, and also a Foundation Establishment expert in the late stage.