Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

"Slaying devils?"

Zhang Jing repeated it, then looked at Senior Sister Tong, asking, "Sister, where is the mission located?"

"Yunzhou, Langya County."

Tong Yao answered, her eyes intently fixed on Zhang Jing, seemingly trying to find a hint of fear on his face.

However, the time ticked by.

In the end.

"Oh, Junior Brother, how come you don't seem afraid at all?" Tong Yao asked, astonished.

"This day was bound to come sooner or later. If Sister isn't afraid, why should I be?"

Zhang Jing responded calmly.

Since he started talisman making, he had gained an extra trump card. When the crisis comes, he can throw out dozens of talismans at once, showing his enemies what brute ruthlessness is.

"Boring, I won't tease you anymore."

Tong Yao pouted, then explained in detail:

"A significant devil disturbance erupted in Langya County, and many teams have been deployed there. A vice-captain of the Luodu team is stationed there, but I'm not sure which Senior Brother it is."

"Anyway, Senior Brothers and Sisters, all in the late phase of Qi refinement, are taking the brunt on the main battlefield. We'll be hanging in the rear, hacking low-level devils and collecting their corpses. Once the Senior Brothers and Sisters slay all the devil leaders, the mission is complete."

"It's quite relaxing."

"May I ask, Sister, how long are we supposed to be there?" Zhang Jing asked again.

If it was for too long, he'd have to prepare Spirit Pills and talisman-making materials for cultivation and leveling up his Nine Changes Spirit Star Talisman Script, and for collecting Origin Talisman fragments.

"I can't predict that, but guess it might last a month or two."

Tong Yao speculated.

"In any case, Junior Brother, you should put everything in order. We'll convene outside the Spirit Crane Garden at the break of dawn the day after tomorrow."

"Zhang Jing understands, thank you for the reminder, Sister."

"Alright, I need to leave now. See you the day after."

Having said that, Tong Yao waved her hand nonchalantly and left straight away.

Zhang Jing returned to his cave dwelling, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

It appears he needs to visit the Thousand Law Pavilion tomorrow, to buy more Spirit Pills. Also, he needs to get more Spiritual Paper and Spirit Ink, so as to replenish his talismans promptly, in case he runs out during an emergency.

For this mission.

Zhang Jing prepared for a drawn-out battle.

After sorting out his thoughts, he returned to the Talisman Making Room.

If it weren't for Senior Sister's mission notification just now, he might have been experimenting on whether a middle-grade Spiritual Paper could bear the Dao Pattern of a talisman added with the Taoism Rhyme of Ghostly Python Devouring Void.

A quarter of an hour later.

Zhang Jing stared at the middle-grade Spiritual Paper that had again disintegrated into fragments, not knowing what to say.

Even the middle-grade Spiritual Paper couldn't do it. Surely it wasn't asking him to attempt it with high-grade Spiritual Paper? High-grade Spiritual Paper, made directly from superior beasts' pelage, was much more expensive than middle-grade or low-grade Spiritual Paper.

Left with no choice, Zhang Jing temporarily abandoned the experiment of adding Taoism Rhyme to the talisman.

Checking the time.

He turned to the cultivation room, cautiously took out the Yuanshui Pill that he'd bought for a whopping twenty-eight Tao Merits, and held it in his mouth.

The Five Viscera Guiding Water Elements fully revved up.

The sound of raging waters echoed immediately throughout the cave dwelling.

...

On the following day.

Early morning.

In the cultivation room, Zhang Jing slowly opened his eyes.

The pill indeed matched well with his Cultivation Method's properties. A single Yuanshui Pill, after a night of cultivation, seemed to bring about the same progress as using the Purple Spirit Pill for almost ten days!

At this point, the Spiritual Power in his Dantian had significantly solidified, and for some reason, possibly due to the Yuanshui Pill, Zhang Jing felt that his Spiritual Power had become purer, and his control over water-attributed spiritual energy had strengthened.

Just sitting there cultivating, he could sense the formation of water mist around him.

Given this rate.

With about seven Yuanshui Pills, Zhang Jing was confident he could boost his cultivation to the fourth level of Qi Refinement, thus leapfrogging the threshold between the beginning and middle stages of Qi Refinement.

Unfortunately... there wasn't enough time.

He would have to wait until the completion of his mission before he could breakthrough in cultivation.

Of course, if he was lucky, he might breakthrough to the middle period of Qi Refinement during the mission with the aid of Purple Spirit Pills.

That's right, today he has to go to the Thousand Law Pavilion to buy Spirit Pills, Spiritual Paper, and Spirit Ink.

With that in mind.

Zhang Jing immediately got up and walked out.

...

...

The next day.

Zhang Jing, who had already packed up early, arrived at Spirit Crane Garden ahead of time.

Unexpectedly, there was a man who had arrived earlier and was waiting there.

The man was extremely tall, about one and a half heads taller than Zhang Jing, but he was extremely thin, standing there like a bamboo pole, seemingly at risk of being blown away by the wind at any time.

Contrary to his weak physique, there was a faint fluctuation of spiritual power that far exceeded the third layer of Qi Refinement emanating from his body.

Zhang Jing immediately understood.

He went straight to the man and tentatively asked, "Senior Brother Ding?"

"Junior Brother Zhang Jing?" The man looked down at Zhang Jing in front of him, revealing a rigid smile on his thin face, "Nice to meet you! Senior Brother Yangchu said a lot about how impressive you are, and I was a bit skeptical."

"But seeing you today, it turns out Senior Brother Yangchu was being too conservative, hahaha."

The man's voice sounded cold, but his tone was extremely enthusiastic.

"Senior Brother, you flatter me," Zhang Jing said politely.

"Eh, I'm just speaking the truth. You've only been cultivating for two short months and you've already caught up with Tong Yao and the others. It's a bit... a bit exaggerated," said Senior Brother Ding, somewhat taken aback.

While the two were conversing.

Tong Yao and two other men arrived at the Spirit Crane Garden from different directions at the same time.

"Greetings to Senior Brother Ding."

The three called out in unison.

Senior Brother Ding nodded with a smile.

Then, all three of them turned their gaze to Zhang Jing who was standing next to Senior Brother Ding.

"Junior Brother Zhang Jing, my name is Xia Yuan. Nice to meet you!"

"So this is Junior Brother Zhang Jing, we've heard Tong Yao talk about you every day, and now we've finally met, nice to meet you."

"Zhou Zhi, what are all these nonsense things you're saying every day?"

Hearing this, Tong Yao immediately scolded, then turned her head and explained to Zhang Jing, "Junior Brother, don't misunderstand. Senior Brother Yangchu asked me to take care of you, that's why I talked about you so often."

"Senior Sister, don't worry. I understand." Zhang Jing reassured.

Then he turned to the other two and said warmly, "I'm Zhang Jing, nice to meet Senior Brother Xia and Senior Brother Zhou."

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's go in."

Senior Brother Ding led the way into the Spirit Crane Garden with the mission voucher in his hand. Zhang Jing and the others followed closely behind.

Before long.

Five spirit cranes soared into the sky, flying straight towards Yunzhou.

On the way, due to the great distance, the Spirit Cranes periodically stopped to rest. After a day and a half of such toil, Zhang Jing and the others gradually arrived at the boundary of Yunzhou.

From the high altitude, they looked out over a vast region surrounded by mountains on all sides, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds of majestic cities were dotted across the endless jungle, with villages and towns as numerous as stars being interspersed, and complex roadways crisscrossing like spider webs.

A scene that should have been serene and beautiful.

However, the prevailing aura of countless monsters ruined the beauty of it all.

"This is Yunzhou's Langya County?"

In Zhang Jing's black pupils, blood and fire faintly flickered.

The Spirit Cranes carrying them began to descend rapidly.