Chapter 324: Chapter 311: Forbidden Land—Cloud Mist Marsh
The Beast Taming Sect issued a bounty for his pursuit, which Zhouyang learned about more than a month after killing Murong Qianqian.
At that time, he was entering an Immortal City and noticed unusual looks from others, which made him keenly aware of something. After inquiring around, he finally learned of the matter.
Upon learning this, he naturally did not dare to linger in the Immortal City any longer. He hurriedly left the city, immediately using ’Rainbow Light Gold Escape’ to travel dozens of miles away. He then utilized the ’Illusory Cloud Ship’ to conceal his whereabouts by hiding amidst the clouds thousands of feet above.
He found himself increasingly fond of the ’Illusory Cloud Ship’ magical artifact, whose attached illusionary divine techniques could transform the artifact into a white cloud or a flying bird during flight.
Such illusions would not be detected unless a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator happened to be on the ground using pupil technique divine techniques to look up at the sky or if divine sense scanned the area, otherwise, it was impossible to notice the existence of the ’Illusory Cloud Ship’.
After all, why would ordinary people use pupil technique divine techniques and divine sense to look at passing white clouds or birds in the sky?
Thus, even though Zhouyang knew that the Beast Taming Sect had issued a bounty to hunt him down, he was still not very worried. After all, those bounties were not tempting enough for Golden Core Stage Cultivators outside the sect to hunt him specifically.
And even if a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator managed to discover or find him, they would also need the capability to take his head.
Furthermore, the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm is vast, and the areas the Beast Taming Sect could influence were just within a million miles from its sect.
Outside that range, few people will recognize the banner of the Beast Taming Sect and risk their lives for mere bounties against someone who dares to kill a Purple Mansion Cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect.
Coincidentally, the Yunxia Country he planned to visit was already over a million miles away from where the Beast Taming Sect was located in Canglong Country, beyond its sphere of influence.
Honestly, Zhouyang was also puzzled as to why the Purple Star Sect, which only had Golden Core Stage Cultivators overseeing it, would set up shop in Yunxia Country, far from its sect, tens of thousands of miles away.
According to the information he gathered in Immortal Sun City, Yunxia Country was located outside a natural forbidden land called ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm. No major sect with Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators existed there, only small sects established by several Golden Core Stage Cultivators.
As for the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’, it covered an extensive area, reportedly twenty to thirty thousand miles broad, perpetually shrouded in thick mist. Once cultivators enter those mists, their divine sense encounters severe limitations, and a peculiar force erodes their flesh.
Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators can stay a maximum of three days in the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ before needing to exit, or their bodies will gradually deteriorate under that peculiar force.
Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators can last half a month, but cannot operate permanently within it.
Moreover, the force that erodes cultivator’s flesh intensifies as one ventures deeper into the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’. At its center, it is said that even Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators cannot completely withstand it.
There were once multiple attempts by Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators to delve inside the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ to uncover the origins of this forbidden land, but in the end, these individuals either returned severely injured or remained tight-lipped, refusing to disclose what they saw within.
Gradually, fewer cultivators aspired to uncover the origins of ’Cloud Mist Marsh’, and more discussed its unique rare spiritual objects, or the tales of fortunate cultivators who obtained treasures within it.
This time Zhouyang went to Yunxia Country, not only to seek revenge on Zhu Ziyu but also to witness the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’. Of course, it would be even better if he could gain something from it.
It’s important to note that although ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ is dangerous and mysterious, the ’Three Wonders of Cloud Mist’ it produces are highly coveted.
The so-called ’Three Wonders of Cloud Mist’ refer to the three spiritual objects produced within ’Cloud Mist Marsh’, which are ’Cloud Mist Immortal Tea’, ’Cloud Mist Pearl’, and ’Cloud Mist Stone’.
’Cloud Mist Immortal Tea’, as its name suggests, is a spirit tea produced within the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’. This spirit tea doesn’t grow on a specific tea tree but can appear on any tea tree inside.
Gathering ten pieces of spirit tea to brew a pot of tea and drink it equates to a Golden Core Stage cultivator’s decade-long cultivation without any side effects whatsoever!
Were it not for the fact that this spirit tea effect was only potent for the first consumption, those Golden Core Stage Cultivators would probably flock to Yunxia Country and other countries bordering ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ for cultivation.
The ’Cloud Mist Pearl’, on the other hand, is a treasure pearl condensed from the essence of mist. Placing this pearl outside one’s grotto facilitates the automatic formation of large areas of mist that conceal the grotto, with the formed mist possessing the same unique power as the mist inside ’Cloud Mist Marsh’.
A single ’Cloud Mist Pearl’ can protect a grotto for centuries, and once the pearl’s mist essence is depleted over the years, simply placing it back in ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ for a period will replenish its power for further use.
The name ’Cloud Mist Stone’ may be ordinary, but it is the most prized among the ’Three Wonders of Cloud Mist’.
This peculiar stone reportedly contains a Cloud Mist Grotto Heaven. If a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator acquires it, it greatly aids in comprehending space laws, allowing them to refine potent spatial treasures.
For countless years, people have occasionally discovered ’Cloud Mist Immortal Tea’ and ’Cloud Mist Pearl’, but rarely have they heard of anyone discovering ’Cloud Mist Stone’.
Mere individuals who found it would probably discreetly offer it to a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator in exchange for rewards, rather than announcing it worldwide, attracting others’ covetousness.
Apart from the "Three Wonders of Cloud and Mist," a large number of spiritual herbs and elixirs grow in the "Cloud and Mist Marsh," including some thousand-year-old spirit elixirs.
The spiritual herbs here, because they mature naturally, have much better efficacy compared to the ones that cultivators use magical techniques to hasten their growth.
Zhouyang knows that many major sects in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm have shops in the marketplaces and Immortal Cities around the "Cloud and Mist Marsh," specializing in buying various treasures that flow out from there.
Therefore, he deduces that the Purple Star Sect opened a branch of the Purple Star Pavilion in Yunxia Country and sent Zhu Ziyu, a Tier Four Middle-Grade Alchemist and Late-Stage Purple Mansion Cultivator, there to oversee it, eyeing the spiritual herb resources from the "Cloud and Mist Marsh" for a share.
Of course, none of this matters, as he is going there to kill.
After three to four months of travel, Zhouyang finally arrived at the location of Yunxia Country.
Because he was already on the wanted list of the Beast Taming Sect, when he reached outside the Seven-Colored Immortal City in Yunxia Country, he activated the "Golden Cicada Concealment Technique," lowering his aura to the Fourth-Layer Foundation Establishment.
Then he used a secret technique to alter his appearance from his handsome face to that of a somewhat dark-complexioned, wooden-looking young man and used the alias "Huang Yi."
Since it’s common for foreign cultivators to enter Yunxia Country to seek treasures in the "Cloud and Mist Marsh," Seven-Colored Immortal City doesn’t strictly check foreign cultivators, and the cultivator registering Zhouyang only has Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation, unable to see through his altered appearance.
So entering the city was smooth for him.
After entering the city, Zhouyang took out a gauze conical hat that can obscure the face and block divine sense detection from others, and wore it to prevent being recognized by some Foundation Establishment or Purple Mansion Cultivators.
There are quite a few in the cultivation realm who do the same; while this might attract more attention, within the strictly no-fighting Immortal City, no one other than the city patrol cultivators has the right to make him remove the conical hat.
Zhouyang’s divine sense is exceptionally strong, so he naturally avoids encounters with patrol cultivators.
Moreover, after entering the city, he directly went to an Immortal Inn, opened a room, and stayed there without leaving.
Not leaving doesn’t mean that Zhouyang can’t learn about the external world.
It must be known that every Immortal City has low-tier cultivators who work as "Wind Media."
"Wind Media" is a noble term for those who gather information and intelligence.
These people are usually local cultivators who grew up in the Immortal City and are familiar with its various shops and often have heard of the high-tier cultivators residing in the city.
If an outsider wants to live in the city or open a shop, they typically spend Spirit Stones to consult these cultivators engaged in "Wind Media" to understand the city’s situation.
After settling in the Immortal Inn, Zhouyang had the inn clerk find a well-known local "Wind Media," and spent Spirit Stones to hire this person to gather information about the Purple Star Pavilion for him, instructing them to notify him if Zhu Ziyu shows signs of leaving the city.
Honestly, doing this can easily alert Zhu Ziyu to his presence.
The low-tier cultivators who work as "Wind Media" are basically opportunists; even knowing he harbors ill intentions toward Zhu Ziyu, they might take Spirit Stones from him and then sell him out to Zhu Ziyu.
But he doesn’t care.
Because he trusts that even if Zhu Ziyu becomes aware someone is targeting him, he surely wouldn’t suspect him.
And he thinks if he were Zhu Ziyu, upon discovering someone is probing for his exit, he would find a way to address it.
After all, Zhu Ziyu cannot remain in the city indefinitely; instead of being shadowed inside the city, it’s better to seize the opportunity to invite some friends and eliminate the shadowing person outside.
If Zhu Ziyu indeed acts this way, then it would mean his end has arrived!
When Zhouyang previously watched Zhu Ziyu’s battle with Jia Yunzhen, if Zhu Ziyu’s strength hasn’t massively progressed, then it’s not difficult for him to kill Zhu Ziyu!
Of course, all this assumes that Zhu Ziyu’s helpers aren’t those Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivators.
Otherwise, facing the combined assault of a Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivator and a Late-Stage Purple Mansion Cultivator, Zhouyang could at most protect himself, and the likelihood of assassination would be bleak.