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

Watching Li Changfeng leave the bamboo house, Zhang Ling sensed that he had walked ten zhang away before he finally shook his arm.

Green and black spots appeared on it, indicating strong toxicity. A feeling of swelling and burning also came from his left arm, but as the vines slowly moved, the green and black spots gradually faded.

The fight just now was brief. The purple smoke released by the medicine gang leader at the end was obviously poisonous.

The reason he was unharmed was because the vines on his arm seemed to absorb the purple smoke.

Calming the churning blood in his body, he sat down on a bamboo chair to wait for Li Changfeng's return.

...

A quarter of an hour later, Li Changfeng arrived before him with a few items.

Looking at these things, Zhang Ling frowned.

There were only three items: a white jade tablet, a broken short sword, and a palm-sized yellow bag, like a sachet.

These items were carefully preserved in an exquisite box.

Seeing Zhang Ling's expression, Li Changfeng said cautiously, "Immortal Master, these are all the items."

"These scraps are what those two cultivators left behind?" Zhang Ling asked unhappily.

"This humble one dares not deceive Immortal Master. These items are exactly what was left behind by the two Immortal Masters during their fight. There seemed to be a few other items at the time, but they were all destroyed by them."

Li Changfeng felt Zhang Ling's aura suddenly change, scaring him into quickly explaining.

He was afraid that if Zhang Ling was unhappy, he would kill him. After witnessing Zhang Ling's methods earlier, he became even more respectful towards this Zhang Immortal Master.

Zhang Ling stared at Li Changfeng for a few moments, and seeing that the man's expression did not seem fake, he shook his head helplessly.

These three items looked like junk no matter how you looked at them. He couldn't tell if they were real or fake, but he had to put on the right expression to avoid arousing suspicion.

The reason the old man felt so much pressure was because he had inadvertently used that mysterious perception beyond the five senses.

Otherwise, a first-rate martial artist would not have been scared by his few words.

"Forget it, I wasn't expecting much anyway. I'm tired, arrange a place for me to stay."

"Yes, this humble one will go prepare it immediately."

...

For the next half month, Zhang Ling stayed in the bamboo house and didn't go out once, studying the things Li Changfeng had given him.

The three items looked dilapidated, and he studied the yellow cloth bag first. After all, the jade tablet and short sword were very broken and didn't seem to have any value, but the leather bag looked a bit strange.

The yellow bag was made of some kind of animal skin, and the mouth of the bag was tied with a golden thread. It felt bulging to the touch, as if it contained many things.

He used a lot of force but still couldn't tear open the mouth of the bag. Even pulling it with vines didn't change anything; there wasn't even a scratch on the bag.

The things used by cultivators are indeed different, Zhang Ling thought, fearing that ordinary methods wouldn't open it.

Since it was a cultivator's item, cultivators were rumored to cultivate magic power.

Did he need to use magic power to open it?

But he didn't have magic power. Zhang Ling didn't have any hope at first.

But suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to his mind, and he thought of something. He directly mobilized the energy flow in his body and injected it into the bag.

Suddenly, the golden thread at the mouth of the bag loosened, revealing the dark opening of the bag.

"There's hope."

The energy flow in his body was different from the internal force of martial artists. It had been there since the strange vines parasitized his body, and he had never figured out what it was.

He didn't expect it to open this leather bag.

Zhang Ling was overjoyed and looked towards the mouth of the bag, but it was a chaotic mess inside, and he couldn't see anything.

After thinking for a while, he shook the mouth of the bag downwards, and a pile of things fell out onto the ground, surprising him.

First, a few pieces of clothing caught his eye, followed by more than a dozen small stones of various colors. There were also a few porcelain bottles, and finally a few books.

Seeing that nothing else fell out, Zhang Ling looked at the dark opening of the bag and subconsciously released his mysterious perception, instantly probing into the bag. The space inside was not large, only half a zhang in size.

Such a small bag actually contained so many things; it was truly magical.

After playing with the leather bag for a while, he looked at the pile of things on the ground. The clothes were just ordinary clothes and had no research value.

Picking up a cyan stone, these stones were only the size of a thumb and very beautiful, seemingly pieces of jade.

Suddenly, Zhang Ling felt a stream of energy flowing slowly inside the stone. Then he checked the other stones, and they all had a stream of energy inside.

But the feeling they gave was different; some stones were warm, and some were icy. The energy flow inside also seemed to be different.

Putting down the stones, Zhang Ling picked up the few porcelain bottles. Only two of the porcelain bottles had something in them: a cyan porcelain bottle contained three yellow pills, and a white porcelain bottle contained seven milky white pills.

The yellow pills had a cool feeling, and the white pills had a rich medicinal fragrance.

Looking at the pills, Zhang Ling had the urge to eat them, but he resisted. He couldn't take them rashly without figuring out their effects.

Then he focused his attention on the books; this was his goal. Finding a cultivator's cultivation method was the most needed thing right now.

There were six books, and Zhang Ling started flipping through them, using three days to read them.

Until the night three days later, Zhang Ling breathed a sigh of relief, holding a black-covered book and pondering something with a solemn expression.

"Thick Earth Art, an earth-attribute cultivation method. Heaven and earth are divided into yin and yang, and the five elements generate all things. The five elements of spiritual energy are the basic spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Guiding spiritual energy into the body, cleansing the marrow, and condensing spiritual power is called Qi Refining."

This was a Qi Refining cultivation method called Thick Earth Art, with a total of twelve levels, and some spell formulas on it.

Qi Refining twelve levels, and the completion of the practice can reach Foundation Establishment. Qi Refining, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment seems to be the realm division of cultivators.

If mortals want to cultivate immortality, they must have spiritual roots. Zhang Ling didn't know if he had this so-called spiritual root.

As for what spiritual roots are, the cultivation method did not explain in detail.

The other books were not cultivation methods. One was a cultivation experience, one was miscellaneous notes, one was a spiritual medicine atlas, and one was a monster beast illustration.

The last one was a beginner spell collection, but it only had a few pages and was a damaged copy.

He had roughly read through these books and gained some understanding of the mysterious cultivators.

Then Zhang Ling put all his thoughts on the Thick Earth Art.

Although he didn't know if he had spiritual roots, it wouldn't hurt to try.

If he could cultivate, then he would embark on a path different from ordinary people. Longevity and freedom, flying with a sword. Zhang Ling still yearned for it.

After several days of research, he had memorized the first level of the Thick Earth Art by heart.

This was because he had a foundation in martial arts before, and he had already memorized the meridians and acupoints on the human body.

Although cultivation methods are different from martial arts, the basics such as meridians and dantian are the same.

Spiritual roots are the medium that determines whether a person can sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and guiding the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body must also pass through the meridians.

The key to the first level of the cultivation method is to perceive spiritual energy, which is what is said above, the feeling of Qi.

As long as he can perceive the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and introduce the spiritual energy into his body, then it proves that he has spiritual roots and can cultivate.

This step seems simple, but it is an important step in determining immortals and mortals.

Zhang Ling sat cross-legged, adjusting his physical state.

Half an hour later, Zhang Ling felt that he had adjusted to the best state and silently recited the first level of the Thick Earth Art.

This is also a set of breathing methods, but it is different from martial artists condensing their own blood and energy. Instead, it focuses on sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

In this way, Zhang Ling began to cultivate according to the formula on the cultivation method.

As he breathed in and out, his chest and abdomen rose and fell slightly, and his mouth and nose opened slightly. He completely emptied his mind.

To sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, he must abandon distractions and empty his mind. Unconsciously, Zhang Ling's mind became calm, as if he were in nothingness.