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

Three days later, Zhang Ling gazed at a mountain forest shrouded in a misty aura in the distance, a peculiar look in his eyes.

The trees on this mountain were somewhat unique, mostly blackish-red, growing in a twisted and contorted manner, like bizarre giant snakes standing on the ground. The branches also had bright red leaves, giving off an eerie feeling.

Occasionally, strange bird calls could be heard, indicating that this was not a good place. After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Ling still took his magical artifact and entered.

Although such places are more dangerous, the rewards are often greater. Moreover, once he crossed this mountain, he wouldn't be far from the central area.

A quarter of an hour later.

Zhang Ling glanced behind him and snorted. "This group of demon beasts is really troublesome." At this moment, his appearance was not good, with some burn marks on his clothes.

Zhang Ling moved quickly through the forest, wind beneath his feet. Behind him, flames lit up, and balls of fire flew towards him, blasting apart several large trees beside him.

About twenty yards behind him, many black-furred squirrels appeared. Each of these demon beasts had mid-stage Rank 1 strength, numbering thirty to forty. They all had their big tails cocked, and with each flick, they launched more than a dozen fireballs. The fireballs were the size of fists, but there were too many of them.

Even those with some strength wouldn't dare to face them head-on. Zhang Ling frequently touched the storage pouch at his waist, releasing several talismans that transformed into wind blades, ice cones, and other attacks, throwing them towards the rear.

Explosions resounded continuously, smoke and flames intertwined.

After throwing out the spiritual charms, Zhang Ling sped up his escape. The demon beasts behind him let out a series of strange cries, turning into streaks of black shadows, chasing relentlessly.

Until an hour later, he finally shook off the demon beasts behind him, hiding his aura in a huge hollow of a dead tree.

Alas!

Zhang Ling sighed. He had been in Blazing Flame Valley for four days, and although he had gained some spiritual herbs and other harvests, he had not yet found the two main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

At this moment, his mood was somewhat complicated. The closer he got to the center of Blazing Flame Valley, the stronger the demon beasts he encountered, and his life was constantly in danger.

After resting in the tree hollow for an hour and restoring his spiritual power, he set off again. With his speed, as long as he didn't encounter any more demon beasts, he would be able to cross this mountain in another hour or two.

But soon after, he encountered demon beasts again.

Ahead, a giant red rat blocked his path. The demon rat was half a man tall, with blood-red eyes staring at him, looking like it had met an enemy.

As soon as he saw this beast, Zhang Ling immediately recognized it as a "Bloodthirsty Rat." This kind of demon beast wasn't strong, only equivalent to a Qi Refining mid-stage cultivator, but it was naturally ferocious and bloodthirsty.

The Bloodthirsty Rat snorted a few times, its entire body enveloped in a layer of faint red spiritual light, and charged fiercely.

Zhang Ling's expression remained unchanged. When the beast was five or six yards away from him, he waved his right hand, and a black long sword flashed, hitting the demon rat.

With a whoosh, the Bloodthirsty Rat was neatly split in half from its nose to its tail, its colorful internal organs spilling all over the ground, cut in two by a single sword strike.

Looking at the dead Bloodthirsty Rat, Zhang Ling shook his head slightly and left the area with a few flashes. As for the materials on the beast's body, he was too lazy to collect them.

He had killed more than twenty demon beasts in the past few days, including a Rank 1 late-stage demon beast. The storage pouch had limited space and was already more than half full. He wasn't in the mood to collect materials that weren't valuable.

As for the storage pouch of the dwarf he had killed, he had thrown it away directly because the person was a cultivator from the Beast Control Sect. Although it was a pity, he did so to avoid being targeted by the Beast Control Sect's cultivators after he went out.

After all, he was just a small rogue cultivator, and being targeted by sect disciples was not a good thing.

In the next hour or so, Zhang Ling encountered four more Bloodthirsty Rats. He easily solved them all.

At this moment, he looked at a Bloodthirsty Rat he had just killed and found a thumb-sized, purplish-red stone in the demon rat's severed corpse.

This was a Purple Flame Stone, extremely hard. It was a unique spiritual ore of Blazing Flame Valley and could be used to refine magical artifacts. This small piece of Purple Flame Stone was worth three to four hundred spiritual stones.

With a wave of his hand, Zhang Ling took the Purple Flame Stone into his hand. However, he thought of a rumor in Blazing Flame Valley.

Legend has it that Purple Flame Stones are only produced near underground fire magma, an environment common in Blazing Flame Valley. At the same time, this environment is also suitable for the growth of Flame Yang Flowers. Therefore, it is rumored that in Blazing Flame Valley, as long as you find Purple Flame Stones, you can find Flame Yang Flowers.

Now that he had found a Purple Flame Stone in the body of this Bloodthirsty Rat, could it be that there were Flame Yang Flowers nearby? Zhang Ling pondered for a moment, changed the hand seals, and a yellow spiritual light shot towards the demon beast's corpse.

After a few breaths, the spiritual power floated out of the demon beast's corpse and turned blood-red. With a wave of the magic, the spiritual power gradually compressed into a red, hazy blood bead.

After the blood bead formed, it shook a few times and quickly moved in one direction. Zhang Ling grinned and followed closely.

This was a method of using spiritual power. As long as you inject spiritual power into an object and then take it out, it will be stained with the object's original aura.

Whether it is a dead object or a living thing, it has its own special aura. As long as you grasp the special aura, you can use it to find things. Demon beasts also have their own aura. Although this Bloodthirsty Rat was dead, its aura had not completely disappeared. He used this method to extract a trace of the demon beast's aura.

As long as he followed this aura, he could roughly investigate the Bloodthirsty Rat's range of activity. Although this method was somewhat clumsy, it could be used to find traces of the Flame Yang Flower.

The aura on the blood bead could only last for a while. He had to hurry.

Whether he could find it or not, he had to try. Zhang Ling was in this mindset as he searched nearby. After all, the Flame Yang Flower was the main ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill and could not be easily abandoned.

There are many such spells in the cultivation world, and they can also be used to track others.

Some people who practice blood-path cultivation methods use more sophisticated secret techniques that can use the power of blood to find cultivators within a certain range. They are often marked on other cultivators by some evil cultivators in order to track and intercept cultivators.

Cultivators can cultivate many spells. Whether or not they can exert wonderful uses depends on the cultivator's understanding.

Two hours later, the sky gradually darkened. Blazing Flame Valley is constantly eroded by heavenly fire, and some places often emit scorching flames. Although there are also day and night, the sky in Blazing Flame Valley at night is only a little darker, presenting a blackish-red color.

At this moment, Zhang Ling was standing behind a large tree, constantly observing a stone cave not far away. "The aura is strongest here, it may be the Bloodthirsty Rat's lair." The blood-colored bead floating in front of him had dimmed a lot, and would naturally dissipate after a while.

He did not rush into the stone cave in front of him. First, he released his divine sense to carefully observe the vicinity to prevent traces of other demon beasts and cultivators.