A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 366 Earthly Fiend Body Tempering

Upon hearing this, Old Ghost Tong's eyes, which had been slightly narrowed on his sallow face, suddenly opened, a glint of light flashing in them, and his voice carried a hint of suppressed excitement:

"Mid-grade wood-attribute spirit stones! And all of them are of excellent quality! And the quantity is so huge... Do you mean that Lu Xuan has discovered a high-quality wood-attribute spirit stone vein near Qinghu Lake?"

No wonder! No wonder this person has been rooted in Qinghu Market for over a hundred years, seemingly running the market, but actually secretly mining spirit stones.

This conjecture instantly ignited the flames of greed in their hearts! A newly discovered high-quality spirit stone vein, especially a pure wood-attribute vein, is of immeasurable value! It's enough to make any sect envious and drive any Core Formation cultivator mad!

"That must be it!" The old ghost licked his slightly chapped lips, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

"Otherwise, there's no way to explain where he got so many spirit stones! We must capture him today and force him to reveal the location of the mine! Perhaps there are other treasures hidden within it!"

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the resolute determination and killing intent in each other's eyes. Without further restraint, they each spat out a mouthful of blood essence, merging it into the dark cloud beneath their feet. The cloud suddenly churned and expanded, its speed abruptly increasing, and the distance between it and Lu Xuan began to close visibly!

However, neither Lu Xuan, who was fleeing for his life, nor the two elders, Tong Gui and his companion, who were relentlessly pursuing him and thought they had discovered a great secret, noticed that deep within the clouds behind them, a cloud of water vapor so faint it was almost blending into the sky was following them silently at the same considerable speed.

Inside the water vapor cloud, light and shadow distorted slightly, and a slender figure dressed in a moon-white robe, holding a white jade folding fan, with his face shrouded in a light mist, making it impossible to see his specific features, was quietly floating.

His gaze seemed fixed on the three streaks of light chasing ahead, and he muttered to himself:

"I never expected to witness such a spectacle while patrolling the sect's territory. The 'Two Elders of Child Ghost' from the Ghost Spirit Sect are chasing after that Three Yang True Man. Could it be that the Ghost Spirit Sect intends to monopolize Qinghu Market?"

He didn't rush to intervene, but rather followed closely behind like an outsider, as if waiting for something.

Just as the man in white, relying on his superb stealth skills, followed behind the two elders, Tong Gui and his companion, watching the chase and escape with great interest, and secretly pondering what the Ghost Spirit Sect was up to,

He suddenly frowned, the playful smile on his face vanished instantly, and a hint of surprise and uncertainty flashed in his eyes.

"Huh? Something's not right... the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around here..." the man in white muttered to himself, subconsciously focusing his attention to sense it.

He keenly sensed that the originally calm and flowing spiritual energy of heaven and earth was now becoming subtly restless, and was slowly converging and flowing in the general direction of Qinghu Market!

"Spiritual energy is spontaneously gathering..." The white-robed man's eyes narrowed, and a possibility flashed through his mind.

"Could it be that a cultivator ahead is breaking through a major realm bottleneck and condensing their golden core? No, the spiritual energy fluctuations caused by condensing a golden core usually only cover a radius of a hundred miles, and they wouldn't sweep over spiritual energy so 'domineeringly' that it extends to a greater distance... Could it be..."

Just as he was secretly wondering and speculating, Lu Xuan, who was fleeing for his life ahead, also suddenly noticed the abnormality of the surrounding environment!

"What's going on?!" Lu Xuan endured his injuries and urged his escape light, only to be shocked to find that the spiritual energy in the surrounding world was being pulled by an invisible giant hand and was rushing toward the direction he was heading at an increasingly faster speed!

The intense flow of spiritual energy even slightly affected his escape light, making it somewhat sluggish and unstable.

"The speed and scale of this gathering of spiritual energy...!"

The Nascent Soul Celestial Phenomenon! This thought exploded in Lu Xuan's mind like a thunderclap!

He suddenly remembered something, his eyes widened abruptly, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. He stared intently at the direction of Qinghu Market ahead, his heart pounding wildly!

"Could it be... Senior Luo? Is he trying to break through the Nascent Soul bottleneck? No, that's not right! Wasn't Senior Luo already a Nascent Soul cultivator? Could it be that he's been hiding his cultivation all along, or... trying to reach an even higher realm? Or perhaps..."

Countless guesses flashed through Lu Xuan's mind in an instant, but no matter what, the earth-shattering spiritual phenomenon in front of him coincided with the direction of Luo Ming's cave, which made him almost certain that the source of this change was most likely the mysterious "Senior Luo"!

For a moment, he was shocked, bewildered, and filled with a strange mix of anticipation and unease.

……

The two elders, Tong Gui and his companion, who were hot on their heels, naturally noticed the dramatic changes in the world ahead.

The two of them slowed down their escape speed almost simultaneously, staring in astonishment at the huge spiritual energy vortex in the distance sky, which was gradually taking shape, already more than a hundred miles in diameter, and was still expanding wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye, like an inverted funnel!

At the center of the vortex, faint sounds of wind and thunder could be heard, stirring up the clouds below and causing the light to flicker.

"This...this is?" The withered old ghost gasped, his voice trembling. "A Nascent Soul phenomenon! Someone is condensing their Nascent Soul here! What audacity! To dare attempt to condense their Nascent Soul in such an unprotected place, aren't they afraid of being disturbed, failing at the last moment, or even dying?"

The old ghost beside him also had a fluctuating expression, both surprised and suspicious. He quickly scanned his surroundings, especially the direction of Qinghu Market, and whispered, "Judging from the center of this gathering of spiritual energy, it seems to be in Qinghu Market... Could it be that some reclusive cultivator has chosen to cultivate here to break through their limitations? But that's too risky!"

The two exchanged a glance and both saw the seriousness and a hint of...greed in each other's eyes.

Reaching the Nascent Soul stage is no easy feat; if one fails, they can take advantage of the weakened state...

"This matter is of utmost importance!" A glint flashed in Old Ghost Tong's eyes, and without hesitation, he patted his storage bag again, this time taking out a talisman that was entirely golden, covered with runes, and radiating strong spatial fluctuations.

He bit his fingertip, forcing out a drop of blood essence onto the talisman. At the same time, he chanted incantations and quickly said a few words to the talisman. Then, he threw the talisman towards the direction of the Ghost Spirit Sect's branch altar in Yue Kingdom!

"call out--!"

The golden talisman transformed into a barely perceptible golden ray and vanished into the horizon. This was none other than the "Golden Sword Transmission Talisman," a special device within the Ghost Spirit Sect used for emergencies and for traveling thousands of miles in an instant!

There are rumors of a rogue cultivator attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul stage near Qinghu Market. This must be reported to the sect immediately! Whether it's recruiting, sabotaging, or taking advantage of the chaos, the sect's higher-ups need to make a decision.

After doing all this, the two elders, Tong Gui and Gui, stopped chasing Lu Xuan. Instead, they tacitly slowed down and kept their distance, watching the increasingly terrifying vortex of spiritual energy from afar with vigilance. At the same time, they spread their divine senses to guard against cultivators who might come from other directions.

Lu Xuan's life or death, and the possible "spirit stone mine," seemed to become less important in the face of a cultivator who was condensing his Nascent Soul.

……

Outside Luo Ming's secluded cave in Qinghu Market.

The entrance to the cave, which was originally silent with only layers of arrayed spiritual light flowing around it, has now undergone a dramatic change.

A small, silver wolf phantom, only about a foot in size, with shiny silver fur and an elegant posture, was quietly lying on a strange little banner that was only three feet long, completely black, floating in the air, with its surface moving without wind and emitting a faint aura of ghostly spirits.

Her clear silver eyes were fixed intently on the immense spiritual energy surging from all directions, even from the depths of the earth, like rivers flowing into the sea, converging on the tightly closed stone door behind her. This energy formed an ever-growing invisible vortex above the cave, emitting a deep rumble.

There was no panic in Yin Yue's eyes, but rather a hint of anticipation. Through the soul contract, she could vaguely sense that Luo Ming in the secret chamber was currently in a profound and mysterious breakthrough state, his blood and qi boiling like the sea, and his life essence undergoing an astonishing transformation.

"Is he about to take that step so soon? Much faster than I expected... It seems that while that drop of Xuanwu true blood brought trouble, it also greatly stimulated his physical potential..."

Yin Yue pondered, slightly surprised by Luo Ming's rapid progress. She lay prone on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, her little paws unconsciously fiddling with the tassels on the banner, her silver eyes flashing as if she were lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Qinghu Market was in complete chaos, with chickens flying and dogs barking about!

Most of the cultivators in the market were at the Qi Refining stage, with a small number of Foundation Establishment cultivators mixed in. They had never seen such an earth-shattering phenomenon.

The terrifying spiritual pressure that pressed down like the sky collapsing caused many low-level cultivators to feel difficulty breathing, dizziness, and unsteadiness. They fell to the ground, their faces pale, looking in terror toward the center of the spiritual energy vortex, but they could see nothing but the heart-palpitating pressure.

One of the elderly men, with white hair and a cultivation level in the late Foundation Establishment stage, had a look in his eyes that, besides fear, also contained an indescribable envy and...doubt.

"The Nascent Soul phenomenon... This is indeed the 'whale swallowing a hundred miles' phenomenon that can only be caused by the condensation of the Nascent Soul! When I was traveling in the Yuanwu Kingdom, I was fortunate enough to see the scene of the Nascent Soul condensing from afar, and it was just like this!" The old man murmured in a low voice, his tone certain.

But then, he frowned, looking at the ground of Qinghu Market. "But... something's not right! When a cultivator condenses their Nascent Soul, they should draw upon the purest spiritual energy of the five elements in the world, drawing it into their body to forge the Nascent Soul. Why... why is there such a strong aura of earthly evil surging here?"

As if to confirm his doubts—

"Boom—!"

A deep, heavy roar, as if it came from the depths of the underworld or the awakening of a primordial beast, resounded.

Immediately afterwards, the ground where the entire Qinghu Market was located began to tremble and shake violently and irregularly!

"Snap—!"

A deafening roar, as if the earth had been forcibly torn apart, erupted on the central street of the market!

The ground, which was originally reinforced by the "Azure Water Profound Wave Array" and paved with hard bluestone slabs, suddenly cracked open with a huge fissure that was more than ten feet wide, bottomless, and with jagged edges!

The ground, which was originally reinforced by the "Azure Water Profound Wave Array" and paved with hard bluestone slabs, suddenly cracked open with a huge fissure that was more than ten feet wide, bottomless, and with jagged edges!

The cracks were not filled with soil or rocks, but rather with a surging, dark gray "earthly evil energy"!

Just as chaos reigned in the market and the earthly evil energy surged forth, four streaks of light flew almost simultaneously to the vicinity of Qinghu Market. They hovered high above, looking down with astonishment and uncertainty at the terrifying scene below where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the earthly evil energy intertwined, collided, and surged wildly toward a certain cave.

It was Lu Xuan, who had finally escaped the pursuit and taken the opportunity to flee back to the vicinity, as well as the two elders, Tong Gui and Er Lao, who had temporarily put aside the pursuit and were attracted by the strange phenomenon, and the white-robed cultivator who had been hiding his figure and had finally revealed his true appearance.

The four of them had long forgotten their previous grudges and objectives; all their attention was now drawn to this unprecedented breakthrough phenomenon.

At this moment, the white-robed cultivator's usual composed smile had vanished, replaced by deep astonishment and a hint of disbelief. He stared intently at the strange phenomenon below, where the earthly evil energy and spiritual energy intertwined, especially the scene of the earthly evil energy actively surging towards the cave, and exclaimed in a low voice:

"Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend Body Tempering... This is... a phenomenon called 'Earthly Fiend Spirit Attraction' that only occurs when a body cultivator attempts to break through to the 'Golden Body Dharma Form'! Could it be that the person who broke through here in seclusion is someone who has raised their body tempering realm to the Nascent Soul level?"