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

The second rogue cultivator who came up next brought more than the first, a full fifteen spiritual herbs, but still no Flame Sun Flowers or Celestial Star Grass.

The third rogue cultivator was a middle-aged, fat cultivator who darted forward, grabbed his storage bag, and turned it upside down, spilling more than twenty various spiritual herbs onto the ground. This attracted the attention of many cultivators, and even the Foundation Establishment cultivator inspecting the herbs glanced at the fat cultivator a few extra times.

The fat cultivator looked quite pleased, clearly enjoying the attention.

"Three Flame Flowers, Purple Vein Grass, and, oh, a Flame Sun Flower seedling," the middle-aged cultivator inspecting the herbs suddenly said, raising his hand and grabbing a spiritual herb, examining it closely.

"A Flame Sun Flower seedling, a pity, it's less than ten years old, not very useful."

The male cultivator picked up the Flame Sun Flower, inspected it carefully, and shook his head with regret. Hearing this, the fat rogue cultivator's expression stiffened.

Upon hearing about the Flame Sun Flower, the surrounding rogue cultivators also turned their attention to the spiritual herb. Zhang Ling likewise looked up, seeing the middle-aged man holding a Flame Sun Flower seedling.

"Listen up, the Flame Sun Flower and Celestial Star Grass are both special spiritual herbs. If they are less than twenty years old, don't bother bringing them out. These two spiritual herbs are mainly used for refining Foundation Establishment Pills and have little other use. They can't be transplanted outside, so there's no point in bringing them out."

The long-bearded elder swept his gaze over the crowd, speaking in a cold voice. After speaking, he didn't even look at the fat rogue cultivator.

Time slowly passed, and most of the rogue cultivators had already handed over their harvests. Several individuals did produce Flame Sun Flowers and Celestial Star Grass, drawing envy and jealousy from many cultivators.

...

Zhang Ling bowed to the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, waved his hand, and a flash of white light appeared on the ground, revealing more than twenty spiritual herbs.

The quantity didn't seem like much, but the middle-aged man inspecting the herbs scanned them briefly, revealing a look of astonishment. Among them were two Flame Sun Flowers and half a box of Celestial Star Grass.

Ignoring the other spiritual herbs, he grabbed a fiery red spiritual herb with five bright red blossoms in one hand.

After a few moments, the middle-aged man's lips moved slightly: "Elder Yi, come and take a look, is this Flame Sun Flower already a hundred years old?"

The long-bearded elder, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them upon hearing this and quickly walked over, his eyes lighting up as he scanned the spiritual herb in the middle-aged man's hand.

"Indeed, this Flame Sun Flower is at least one hundred and twenty years old, and its quality is extremely good. In my several trips to the Blazing Flame Valley, I have never seen a Flame Sun Flower over a hundred years old."

The elder turned to look at Zhang Ling and asked, "Young man, how did you obtain this Flame Sun Flower?"

"Reporting to Senior, this junior was lucky enough to see two Rank 1 Peak demonic beasts fighting over this spiritual herb near a geothermal magma pool. In the end, both demonic beasts were severely injured, and I took advantage of the situation," Zhang Ling said with a dry laugh, hesitating slightly before answering softly.

Hearing this, the long-bearded elder revealed a strange expression. The big-nosed demon rat at his feet circled Zhang Ling a few times, making squeaking noises.

"Judging by your harvest, you even have some Celestial Star Grass. These two spiritual herbs alone are enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill. You have quite the opportunity, young man."

"Senior, you flatter me. This junior was just a little lucky."

"Hehe, luck is also part of strength. Without some luck, we wouldn't have reached the Foundation Establishment stage," the long-bearded elder nodded.

After saying this, the Foundation Establishment female cultivator had already finished inspecting the spiritual herbs on the ground. With a point of her finger, dozens of small spiritual characters transformed into spiritual light and flew onto the jade tablet.

Zhang Ling received his jade tablet, thanked the three of them with great joy, and retreated back into the rogue cultivator's ranks.

"Hehe, Brother Zhang, I didn't expect you to find a Flame Sun Flower that's a hundred years old," Mu Xiaoyan's voice transmission came to his ears.

"Just a lucky coincidence."

Zhang Ling smiled wryly in his heart, he was scared just now. He didn't expect that a hundred-year-old Flame Sun Flower could attract the attention of three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Besides this hundred-year Flame Sun Flower cultivated with the mysterious yellow pearl, he also found a twenty-year Flame Sun Flower in the storage bags of the black-robed cultivators. It had already reached the basic requirements for refining a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Next, the cultivators who handed over spiritual herbs had more than the previous rogue cultivators. Several people, like Zhang Ling, simultaneously produced Flame Sun Flowers and Celestial Star Grass, attracting the attention of many people.

Mu Xiaoyan was one of them. She took out a Flame Sun Flower and half a box of Celestial Star Grass. She also had many other spiritual herbs. Although not as much as Zhang Ling, few rogue cultivators could compare to her.

After an hour, all one hundred and twenty-six cultivators had handed over their spiritual herbs.

Zhang Ling calculated that there were more than thirty rogue cultivators who had taken out Flame Sun Flowers and Celestial Star Grass. Including him and Mu Xiaoyan, there were a total of eight rogue cultivators who took out both spiritual herbs.

These eight people had different strengths. One of the female cultivators caught his attention.

She only had the strength of the tenth level of Qi Refining, but she took out three Flame Sun Flowers, all of which met the requirements for refining Foundation Establishment Pills. This woman was none other than the staff-wielding female cultivator who had fought alongside him.

This person ran away during the battle, and later he discovered that someone had already harvested the Flame Sun Flowers in the cave. Zhang Ling thought of this woman, and it turned out to be her.

Zhang Ling's gaze towards this woman turned cold. This person seemed to have noticed someone looking at her, and when she turned her head and saw his gaze, she revealed a hint of surprise.

Zhang Ling shook his head with a wry smile and turned his head, no longer paying attention to this woman.

He sighed inwardly at the different fortunes of each person. Although he despised this woman's behavior of running away from the battle, he admitted that if he were in that situation, he would have done the same.

This made him feel even more deeply about the ruthlessness of cultivators, but he also obtained seedlings and seeds of the two spiritual herbs. Refining Foundation Establishment Pills was no longer just empty talk.

"Brother Zhang, what's wrong?"

Mu Xiaoyan seemed to have noticed his gaze and asked strangely in a low voice.

"It's nothing."

Smiling at the little girl, Zhang Ling's heart warmed. He had initially saved Mu Xiaoyan only because Mu Lao had given him Marrow Cleansing Pills and disguise techniques.

But Mu Xiaoyan was willing to give him the Talisman Treasure in the last few days, Zhang Ling remembered this friendship in his heart.

Soon after, the cultivators of the Nine Great Sects also finished checking the harvests of their own disciples. Under the leadership of several Golden Core experts, Zhang Ling and the other rogue cultivators once again boarded the two paper cranes and flew towards Falling Star City.

Ten teams traveled mightily through the Falling Star Mountain Range. When they came, there were more than four hundred rogue cultivators, but when they returned, there were only about one hundred, with a survival rate of less than 30%.

The disciples of the Nine Great Sects were not much better off. Their situation was basically the same.

Although the sect disciples targeted the rogue cultivators, they also fought each other in the Blazing Flame Valley. Whether it was the righteous path or the demonic path, there were quite a few fellow disciples who fought each other for spiritual herbs, and they were often even more ruthless when dealing with their own people.

There were quite a few who died unjustly.

...