Immortal Venerable of the Beast Race
Chapter 457 - 365 Ghost Creatures Rampant_1

Chapter 457: 365 Ghost Creatures Rampant_1

The Qinglian Oasis is located in the northwestern part of the Western Desert Cultivation Realm and is also the site of the Qinglian Marketplace.

The Qinglian Marketplace is one of the foremost marketplaces in the Western Desert, bustling with merchants and rich in cultivation resources.

The Qinglian Marketplace is built upon a high mountain, with structures stretching from the base to the summit, where a large number of cultivators can be seen moving about.

Shen Long strolled through the bustling streets, looking around curiously.

After leaving the Heavenly Sand Ruins, Shen Long had visited several marketplaces, selling off unneeded materials and purchasing a batch of cultivation resources.

In the meantime, four of the Four-Winged Fire Ants advanced to the fourth stage, while many of the third-stage Gold-Winged Fire Ants failed to break through to the fourth stage and perished under the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Gold-Winged Fire Ants weren’t mutants, and they didn’t attract special tribulations; still, the third-stage Gold-Winged Fire Ants died under the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulations. The Four-Winged Fire Ants had stronger defenses and were able to withstand the tribulation, advancing to the fourth stage. This also illustrated the rarity and the difficulty of crossing tribulations for high-level Spirit Insects.

Of course, in the end, it was still a matter of insufficient resources. Shen Long had obtained materials for fourth-stage artifact refining, which were mostly fed to the Gold-Winged Fire Ant Queen and the twelve Four-Winged Fire Ants, as their defenses were somewhat stronger.

Shen Long had annihilated two Nascent Soul Stage Corpse Kings, acquiring quite a few fourth-stage metal ores. These materials had all been obtained by the Corpse Kings from slaughtering Nascent Soul Cultivators and now belonged to Shen Long.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Shen Long appeared at the entrance of a yellow pavilion. On the square plaque hung above, three golden characters read "Qixia Pavilion," a shop established by the Qixia Alliance.

Shen Long stepped in. The lobby was spacious and bright, with a group of green-robed attendants introducing merchandise to customers.

A medium-statured man in green robes quickly came over, bowed, and said, "Welcome, Senior, to our store. How may I assist you?"

"I want to discuss some matters with your shopkeeper, take me to see him," Shen Long instructed.

The man in green robes replied and hurriedly led the way.

Shen Long followed the green-robed man to the ninth floor, where a plump lady in a white dress was perusing an account book.

The lips of the green-robed man moved slightly, and with a gesture from the lady in white, he was dismissed.

"My name is Mu Xue. What can I do for you, Taoist Friend?" the woman in white asked politely.

"I’m looking for Thunder Attribute mid-grade Spirit Stones. Does your store have any?" Shen Long asked.

He had destroyed the Corpse Kings and obtained a fourth-stage Puppet Beast that required Thunder Spirit Stones to power it. While Spirit Stones of the Five Elements were common, those with wind, ice, and thunder attributes were quite rare.

"Mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stones!" Mu Xue frowned and said, "We do have mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stones, but we’re not selling them. We’re actually buying such items. If Taoist Friend can produce any of the items on this list, we can trade them for you for mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stones."

She handed Shen Long a white Jade Slip.

After scanning the Jade Slip with his Divine Sense, Shen Long gave a faint smile, took out a blue porcelain bottle, and handed it to Mu Xue, saying, "This has twenty drops of Myriad Poison Paste in it; one piece of mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stone is certainly not enough."

Mu Xue took the blue porcelain bottle, removed the cork, and a pungent smell wafted out, making her feel a bit dizzy. Once she confirmed it was really Myriad Poison Paste, she quickly corked the bottle again.

"Twenty drops of Myriad Poison Paste for two mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stones," Mu Xue stated.

"Four pieces. Myriad Poison Paste is no ordinary item," Shen Long bargained.

"Three at most, mid-grade Thunder Spirit Stones are quite rare too, and we don’t have any more than that," Mu Xue replied.

After a moment of contemplation, Shen Long agreed.

Mu Xue took out a white Messaging Plate that twinkled with Spiritual Light, input a spell, and gestured slightly.

"Please wait a moment, Taoist Friend. By the way, may I know how to address you?" she asked.

"Shen Long!" Shen Long replied honestly; it was just a purchase, after all.

"So it’s Taoist Friend Shen; I’ve long admired your reputation," Mu Xue said with a deeper smile.

After chatting casually for a while, a ruddy-faced, green-robed elderly man came over.

"Pass the items to Taoist Friend Shen," Mu Xue instructed.

The green-robed elder took out an exquisitely crafted green jade box and handed it to Shen Long.

Shen Long opened the jade box and saw three silver stones inside. After careful inspection to confirm they were Thunder Spirit Stones, he nodded with satisfaction, pocketed the box, and headed downstairs.

Once out of Qixia Pavilion, Shen Long ambled along the street.

A cup of tea’s time later, he arrived at a vast Azure Stone Plaza where many cultivators set up their stalls offering a wide variety of goods.

"Senior Shen! What a coincidence!"

A familiar female voice rang out.

Shen Long followed the source of the sound and saw Mu Weiwei.

Mu Weiwei walked over quickly, bowed, and said politely, "Senior Shen, I’ve acquired a few good items. May I have a word with you in private?"

Shen Long nodded and went with Mu Weiwei to a tea house, where they took a private room.

"Senior Shen, these are two fourth-grade Four-Winged Fire Ant inner cores that I’ve collected."

Mu Weiwei took out a red jade box and handed it to Shen Long.

Shen Long opened the jade box, which contained two red demon cores.

"I’ll accept the demon cores, and, by the way, keep an eye out for Thunder Attribute spirit stones for me, I won’t shortchange you."

Shen Long took out a cyan porcelain bottle and handed it to Mu Weiwei.

Mu Weiwei readily agreed and accepted the cyan porcelain bottle.

"By the way, Senior, a large number of ghost creatures have suddenly appeared in the Western Desert. Do you know the reason?"

Mu Weiwei asked.

"Ghost creatures? I have no idea! Where did these ghost creatures come from?"

Shen Long asked, puzzled.

"I’m not sure either, it’s said that they suddenly popped up, causing chaos everywhere, and many cultivators have fallen victim."

Mu Weiwei said.

There was a knock on the door from outside, Shen Long frowned slightly, and Mu Weiwei, being considerate, opened the door to see a ruddy-faced old man in green robes standing at the doorway.

"Senior Shen, Elder Mu has urgent matters to discuss with you. Is it convenient for you to talk now?"

The old man in green robes asked politely.

"Urgent matters?"

Shen Long was slightly startled, wondering if it was the Myriad Poison Paste.

He nodded and instructed, "Okay, lead the way! We’ll meet again another time, Junior Mu."

Shen Long followed the old man in green robes to the Qixia Pavilion and saw Mu Xue on the ninth floor. Besides her, there were three other men and one woman, all Nascent Soul Cultivators.

"Taoist Friend Shen, a large number of ghost creatures have suddenly appeared in the Western Desert Cultivation Realm, causing harm everywhere. A family with the surname Chen has been attacked by ghost creatures. I would like to invite you and Taoist Friend Ye and others to go to the Chen Family’s aid. Once the mission is accomplished, I will reward you with five medium-grade Thunder Spirit Stones. How about that?"

Mu Xue conveyed to Shen Long through a messaging spell.

"How far is the Chen Family from here? Why don’t they just teleport away? Don’t they have a Transference Array?"

Shen Long asked in confusion.

"The Chen Family is not very far from here. Taoist Friend Ye has a Flying Spirit Treasure; it won’t take more than an hour to reach the destination. Because of some special reasons, they cannot leave their ancestral land. The Chen Family is using their Clan Protection Formation to fend off the ghost creatures’ assault, they need support."

Mu Xue explained.

"Alright, I’ll make the trip with Taoist Friend Ye and the others."

Shen Long readily agreed.

"With Taoist Friend Shen’s help, success is assured. I am Ye Lin, and it’s a pleasure to meet you."

A plump old man in green robes said with a smile.

"Let’s talk on the way! Let’s hurry to the Chen Family."

A tall and thin man in golden robes urged.

Once they left the marketplace, Ye Lin lifted his right hand and a flying shuttle with flickering azure light shot out, expanding to over ten zhang in length in an instant.

He boarded the shuttle, and Shen Long and the others followed closely behind.

With a flick of a spell by Ye Lin, the azure Flying Shuttle shone with a blinding light, transforming into a long azure rainbow as it tore through the sky.

In less than an hour, the azure Flying Shuttle came to a halt.

Ahead they could see a steep Sky-Supporting Peak, with flames shooting up to the sky and numerous corpses lying on the ground.

The continuous wailing and howling sounds revealed many ghostly figures.

From a distance in the void, there were bursts of huge explosive noises, and flashes of spiritual light could be seen as a great number of ghost creatures were battling with cultivators from the Chen Family.

"It’s not good; the ancestral land of the Chen Family has been breached by the ghost creatures. Let’s exterminate these ghost creatures immediately."

Ye Lin said as he brought out a green-colored short ruler, infused it with a spell, and immediately the short ruler emitted a brilliant green light, sweeping out a vast expanse of green ruler shadows heading straight for the ghost creatures.

Shen Long brought out the Hundred Ghosts Chart, squeezed a spell, and the chart emitted blinding black light, casting out a black radiance that enveloped more than a dozen ghost creatures, dragging them into the chart.

The man in golden robes and the other two were not idle either, swiftly acting to exterminate the ghost creatures.