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

“My surname is Wang, and this is my first time here.”

The beautiful woman appeared to be in her early thirties, with a stunning appearance and a voluptuous figure, dressed in a red dress that exuded a sense of nobility. She didn't conceal her cultivation, revealing a ninth level Qi Refining stage.

“Qin Sanniang greets you, Fellow Daoist. Your presence here is a testament to your trust in my Heavenly Jade Pavilion. I heard from the maid that you need magical artifacts and spirit talismans. I've brought a few items; I wonder if they will suit your taste.”

“Fairy Qin is too kind.”

The beautiful woman, Qin Sanniang, took small steps to the side of the table and took out several boxes. “Fellow Daoist Wang, please take a look at these magical artifacts; perhaps there is something you fancy.”

With a flick of her finger, the wooden boxes on the table were opened one by one.

There were five boxes. The first box contained a black iron sword, and the second box contained a small yellow gourd.

The remaining three boxes contained a palm-sized shield, a golden brick, and a red, glittering jade fan, respectively. These magical artifacts shimmered with spiritual light, indicating that they were all of high quality.

The beautiful woman couldn't see Zhang Ling's expression, but she seemed accustomed to such scenes and began to introduce them softly.

“This Black Rock Sword is a mid-grade magical artifact, refined with black rock and several rare materials, making it extremely hard.”

As she spoke, the beautiful woman beckoned, and the black sword came into her hand. The small sword turned into a three-foot-long blade in her hand. She infused a stream of spiritual power into the black sword, and golden纹路 appeared on the blade. The Black Rock Sword left her hand and flew around the beautiful woman.

Seeing that Zhang Ling was unmoved, the beautiful woman smiled.

“Fellow Daoist, take a look at this magical artifact, the Wind Sand Gourd. This is a special magical artifact containing Cold Star Sand, which not only has offensive capabilities but can also form a defense around oneself.”

This time, the beautiful woman didn't activate the magical artifact but handed it to Zhang Ling.

“Fellow Daoist, you can try it.”

Zhang Ling took the yellow gourd and examined it carefully, noticing some dark blue patterns on it. He slowly injected spiritual power into it.

The dark patterns on the yellow gourd instantly lit up and flew in front of him. He used the object manipulation technique to activate it, and a rustling sound came from the yellow gourd.

The next moment, a stream of light blue sand spewed out, gathering into a cloud of blue sand about ten feet in size in mid-air.

Zhang Ling manipulated the star sand, shaping it into various forms.

At this moment, the beautiful woman tapped the ground with her jade foot. A flash of spiritual light appeared in the southeast corner of the room, and a thick, black iron pillar emerged from the ground.

“This iron pillar is made of stubborn stone, which is extremely hard. Fellow Daoist, you can test the power of the Cold Star Sand.”

Zhang Ling didn't hesitate. With a thought, the small patch of star sand gathered in front of him rushed out.

A series of crackling sounds were heard as the star sand struck the pillar, creating sparks. Zhang Ling commanded the blue star sand to return to the gourd.

Looking at the black iron pillar again, it was covered with dense white spots.

The black iron pillar didn't seem to have suffered any damage, but Zhang Ling was overjoyed, secretly thinking that the star sand was quite powerful.

The material of the black iron pillar itself was harder than ordinary magical artifacts. Moreover, it was extremely heavy, making it difficult to engrave array patterns on it. That's why cultivators called it stubborn stone.

Even if this material were made into a magical artifact, ordinary cultivators couldn't use it and often used it to test the power of magical artifacts.

The attack just now caused such damage to the stubborn stone. If a Qi Refining cultivator were trapped within, it would be difficult to escape for a while.

Zhang Ling was very satisfied with this magical artifact, but he didn't express anything immediately, silently placing the gourd on the table.

Qin Sanniang didn't show any dissatisfaction and continued to introduce the other magical artifacts to him carefully.

“Earth Element Shield, a high-quality defensive magical artifact. Once activated, it can quickly gather the surrounding earth and rocks, forming a shield with amazing defensive power within a few breaths…”

Next, the beautiful woman demonstrated the Golden Brick magical artifact and the Jade Fan. They were all high-quality magical artifacts.

“Fellow Daoist Wang, which of these magical artifacts do you fancy?” After introducing the magical artifacts, the beautiful woman sat down opposite Zhang Ling.

Zhang Ling pondered for a moment and then said in a muffled voice, “I want the Golden Brick, the Gourd, and the small Shield.”

Taking three magical artifacts at once, the beautiful woman didn't show any reaction, but surprise flashed in her eyes. “Are you sure, Fellow Daoist?”

The beautiful woman asked again, but Zhang Ling only nodded faintly.

“Since Fellow Daoist is so straightforward, I will calculate the prices of these magical artifacts for you. All three magical artifacts are high-grade magical artifacts. The Golden Brick is three hundred and fifty spirit stones, the Earth Element Shield is four hundred and thirty spirit stones, and the Wind Sand Gourd is five hundred spirit stones even.”

“A total of one thousand two hundred and eighty spirit stones. I can make the decision to give Fellow Daoist a discount and charge one thousand two hundred and fifty spirit stones.”

Over a thousand spirit stones surprised Zhang Ling. Low-grade magical artifacts generally cost less than fifty spirit stones, and mid-grade magical artifacts only cost around one hundred and fifty spirit stones.

High-grade magical artifacts could be bought for three hundred spirit stones, but these three magical artifacts had exceeded one thousand spirit stones.

For a moment, Zhang Ling felt a little embarrassed. Seeming to see his situation, the beautiful woman said with a smile.

“Fellow Daoist, if you don't have enough spirit stones, you can use other items as collateral. As long as it's something of value, we'll give Fellow Daoist a satisfactory price.”

“Very well, I happen to have a spiritual herb here.” Zhang Ling replied, trying to appear calm, and took out a mahogany box.

The beautiful woman opened the wooden box. Inside, there was a vibrant green herb.

“Oh, this is a Spirit Gathering Grass, a second-grade spiritual medicine and the main ingredient for Spirit Gathering Pills. Although it has some value, it can only be considered…”

“No, this Spirit Gathering Grass…”

The value of a spiritual medicine depends on two aspects: grade and age. Grade is the cultivator's classification of spiritual medicines and plants.

Generally, spiritual medicines and plants are divided into nine grades. First grade is the lowest, and ninth grade is the highest. The spiritual medicines that appear among cultivators generally don't exceed fifth grade.

Third-grade spiritual medicines are already rare, and spiritual medicines above fifth grade are rarely seen even by Nascent Soul old monsters.

This is because spiritual medicines above fifth grade have mostly disappeared from the cultivation world.

The age of a spiritual medicine also has a certain limit. A first-grade spiritual medicine will wither after two hundred years, which is also a basis for judging the grade of a spiritual medicine.

Second-grade spiritual medicines generally only grow to five or six hundred years. Only spiritual medicines above the third grade can grow continuously, breaking through a thousand years of age, and even growing for thousands of years is possible.

Spirit Gathering Grass is classified as a second-grade spiritual medicine by cultivators, and it can generally be used to refine Spirit Gathering Pills after ten years of age.

A hundred-year-old Spirit Gathering Grass is already rare, and this Spirit Gathering Grass in the box looks to be a hundred years old. For a moment, the beautiful woman couldn't determine the age of this Spirit Gathering Grass.

“Fellow Daoist Wang, could you wait a moment?”

“Please do.” The beautiful woman said to Zhang Ling and left the room. She didn't take the Spirit Gathering Grass with her.

Looking at the Spirit Gathering Grass in the box, Zhang Ling was also drumming in his heart. This Spirit Gathering Grass was催生 to five hundred years of age using the mysterious pearl.

Because the medicinal power was too strong, it could no longer be used to refine Spirit Gathering Pills. It had been collected in his storage bag. Now that he didn't have enough spirit stones, he could only exchange it for this spiritual medicine.