Chapter 318: Exchange for Information
Yuan Ming and the bearded man followed Cui Wuran to a nearby restaurant, went straight up to the third floor, and came to a large private room.
The floor here was covered with scarlet carpets, and the four walls were carved with exquisite flower and bird patterns, and the patterns were inlaid with gems, giving it a luxurious atmosphere.
A mahogany round table was placed in the middle of the private room, and three people were already sitting there, a young man in his twenties wearing a black robe, a fat middle-aged woman, and a gray-haired old man with a rosy face.
Several people were talking in a low voice. When they saw Cui Wuran and others coming in, they immediately stopped talking and looked over at the same time.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Cui, you are finally here." The gray-haired old man stood up first and laughed.
"I was delayed on the road and kept you three waiting for a long time. I will drink three cups as a punishment later." Cui Wuran laughed.
"Let me introduce you to the three Daoists. This is Daoist Shi, a disciple of Huo Yuan Sect of Zhao State. As for Daoist Yuan, he is an old acquaintance I made in Dajin." He then turned sideways and introduced the bearded man and Yuan Ming.
"So it's Daoist Shi and Daoist Yuan. Nice to meet you." The gray-haired old man greeted them warmly, while the black-robed young man and the fat woman just nodded slightly.
The bearded man still nodded to the three people arrogantly, then pulled out a chair and sat down.
Yuan Ming did not pretend to be pretentious, but bowed to the three people in return.
Cui Wuran introduced the three people at the table. The black-robed young man's surname was Ruan, and the gray-haired old man's surname was Qu. They were both casual cultivators from Zhao State.
The cultivators in the Black Wind Desert were very wary. Except for close friends, most people only told their surnames when introducing themselves.
As for the fat woman, she called herself Gu Sanniang. She was born in an ordinary small sect in Zhao State, but she left the sect and traveled in her early years, so she was considered a half-casual cultivator.
Yuan Ming scanned the table with his spiritual sense and immediately found out the cultivation level of the three people at the table.
The black-robed young man and the gray-haired old man were in the middle stage of foundation building, while Gu Sanniang was in the late stage of foundation building, and her magic power was much stronger than Yuan Ming's. It was obvious that she had entered the late stage of foundation building for a long time.
After a few polite exchanges, the few people sat down. Cui Wuran ordered a table of sumptuous banquets. Not only did they taste great, but there were also some ingredients containing spiritual power, which would help with cultivation.
Cui Wuran and the gray-haired old man were both eloquent. After a meal, they toasted and exchanged glasses several times. The originally arrogant attitude of the bearded man was slightly lowered, and he chatted with the other people from time to time.
"You three seemed to be talking about the Soul Burial Abyss before? Did something happen there again?" Cui Wuran asked the waiter of the restaurant to remove the plates on the table and said.
Yuan Ming's heart moved. He had also heard of this place name.
The Soul Burial Abyss is a special area deep in the Black Wind Desert. The terrain is much lower than the surrounding area. At first glance, it looks like a huge abyss.
The black wind there is very frequent, and there are many strange monsters. It is said that there are some other dangers. Even if a Jindan-stage cultivator enters, he is not sure to escape unscathed. Therefore, it is called the "Soul Burial Abyss" by the cultivators in the Black Wind Desert.
"It's not a big deal. A few months ago, someone saw a thick black gas rising from the Soul Burial Abyss. The range was very wide and it went straight to the sky. It took a long time to gradually dissipate." The gray-haired old man said.
"There is such a strange thing? Don't let it be another rumor." Cui Wuran said.
"This is not a rumor. The black gas lasted for half a day before dissipating. Many cultivators witnessed it with their own eyes. It is absolutely true." Gu Sanniang said, her voice as heavy as an old cow.
"Since Fellow Daoist Gu said so, it must be correct. But I don't know if the black gas is a sign of the upcoming birth of a treasure?" Cui Wuran touched his chin and said.
"It's hard to say. Who dares to go deep into the Soul Burial Abyss except for the seniors in the Jindan stage? Even if there are treasures, it has nothing to do with us casual cultivators." The black-robed young man said.
"This change is indeed strange. I just don't know if the Five Thunder Sect, the True Gang Sect, and the Black Desert Alliance have sent people to investigate." Cui Wuran said.
The few people chatted and occasionally mentioned cultivation. Everyone present had their own experience in cultivation. After a while of communication, they all gained a lot.
Yuan Ming used some experience in wood-attributed exercises to exchange some precautions for the late foundation building from Gu Sanniang, and felt that the trip was worthwhile.
Time soon came to the evening, and the interest of the few people increased instead of decreasing. Finally, they got to the point and started talking about the exchange meeting.
However, there were only six people present, which was too few. Cui Wuran suggested calling more Taoist friends.
After the exchange just now, the few people became more familiar with each other and were no longer so wary of each other. They immediately used the communication talisman to call people.
Soon, another seven or eight cultivators came in, and the exchange meeting officially began.
Except for Yuan Ming, all the participants were well prepared.
The gray-haired old man took out a rare barrier-breaking pill. Taking it when the cultivation reaches a bottleneck can increase the chance of breakthrough, and it also has a certain effect on the foundation-building period cultivators.
The exchange item of the black-robed young man is a broken top-grade magic weapon, which is much more powerful than the top-grade magic weapon, but it has a limit on the number of uses.
A cultivator from a small sect called by Gu Sanniang took out a piece of bitter tung wood that can be used to refine top-grade magic weapons.
As for the things taken out by others, they are also of high value, and there is no waste.
Yuan Ming used ten purple incense sticks and two monster materials to exchange two pieces of ore containing abundant thunder and lightning power from a new cultivator.
He did not plan to practice thunder attribute magic weapons, but prepared them for Lei Yu.
The climate in the Black Wind Desert is dry, and it is difficult to see a single raindrop. There is no thunder and lightning power for him to absorb. Lei Yu's cultivation has been stagnant for a long time.
When it was Yuan Ming's turn, he hesitated for a moment, took out three materials and placed them on the table. They were a yellowish-brown armor, a hook-shaped purple spike, and a green ore, with a misty green light around them.
The yellow armor was the shell of a second-level intermediate rock-piercing armor, and the purple spike was the scorpion sting of a second-level upper-level demon insect purple-striped scorpion, both of which were obtained by Huazhi after hunting monsters in the Black Wind Desert.
The green ore is called Songtao Stone, which is a top-grade spiritual material in Zuo Qinghui's storage magic weapon.
The three materials all exuded a compelling spiritual fluctuation, which attracted some sidelong glances from everyone present.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Yuan is really a hidden talent. I wonder what you want to exchange for?" asked the old man surnamed Qu.
"Yuan wants to use these three materials to exchange for a piece of news." Yuan Ming said.
"What news does Fellow Daoist Yuan want?" Gu Sanniang stared at the Songtao Stone. She was just trying to refine a wood-attributed magic weapon, and this Songtao Stone was just right for her.
"More realistically, methods that can assist in forming a pill, or information on how to obtain the method is also fine. If it exceeds the value of these three spiritual materials, Yuan can compensate with spirit stones." Yuan Ming said.
Although the Soul Pill Secret Technique can increase the chance of forming a pill by 50%, his aptitude is really not good. In order to increase the success rate as much as possible, he must find other ways.
While speaking, Yuan Ming spread his spiritual sense and closely observed the expressions of everyone present.
Everyone in front of him was a foundation-building cultivator, coming from all corners of the world and all circles. Perhaps someone had come into contact with such secret methods.
He did not expect that anyone could really provide a method to assist in forming a pill. As long as someone looked different, he could use black incense to possess the body, cast a soul seal, and dig out the corresponding information.
Everyone present looked at each other, no one spoke for a while, and no one looked different.
Yuan Ming frowned and looked at Gu Sanniang and a new red-haired young man.
These two people had reached the late stage of foundation-building. If they were determined to break through the stage of forming a pill, they should have begun to pay attention to some methods to assist in breaking through.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan, don't look at me. I have poor aptitude. I can reach my current state only because of the accumulation of elixirs. I don't have the potential to continue to improve. How can I dare to hope to reach the Jindan stage." Gu Sanniang smiled bitterly and shook her head.
The red-haired young man just drank tea quietly and ignored Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming was silent for a moment and was about to take back the three materials.
"I have two methods here. Fellow Daoist Yuan can take a look." A voice suddenly came from the side, it was Cui Wuran.
"Fellow Daoist Cui has a method?" Yuan Ming was surprised.
Others in the field also looked over.
"I declare in advance that these two methods were obtained by chance. One of them is reliable, but the other has not been verified to be true or false. Whether it is really effective, I dare not guarantee it." Cui Wuran took out a white jade slip and said.
"It is enough to have a reliable method." Yuan Ming said happily.
Cui Wuran heard the words and wrapped it with magic power and sent it over.
Others stared at the jade slip with eager expressions.
Although for most of the foundation-building cultivators, the hope of Jindan is slim, as long as there is a hope, no one does not want to go further.
At this moment, a red palm with condensed magic power suddenly stretched out from the side and grabbed the jade slip.
"What does Fellow Daoist Wen mean?" Yuan Ming's face sank, and he looked at the owner of the red palm, who turned out to be the red-haired young man.
"I am also very interested in this secret method to assist in forming a pill. How about letting me participate in this deal?" The red-haired young man smiled and released a sense of consciousness to explore the jade slip.
Yuan Ming's eyes suddenly turned cold, and a blood-red knife light shot out, cutting off the red palm with a "swish".
The jade slip was also wrapped up by the knife light and flew back. The sense of consciousness sent by the red-haired young man touched the blood light and was immediately shattered by a sharp and bloody breath.
"This deal was negotiated by Fellow Daoist Cui first. If you also want these two secret methods of forming a pill, you can discuss it with Fellow Daoist Cui." Yuan Ming said lightly.
The red-haired young man's eyes turned cold, a black light flashed in his palm, a black long whip appeared, and his arm shook.
The black whip grew longer in the wind, and in an instant it crossed several feet and rolled towards the white jade slip.
"Top-grade magic weapon!" One person whispered, and the expressions of the others were slightly solemn.
Yuan Ming had no expression on his face, and his five fingers were stretched out, and the white jade slip continued to fly backwards.
The blood-colored knife light shot out again, and in a flash, it cut the center of the black whip.
This is the weakest part of the magic power on the whip. Ordinary cultivators may not be able to detect it, but Yuan Ming's spiritual sense is extremely powerful. With a sweep, any situation of the black whip is under control, just like watching the palm lines.
With a light "snap", the black whip was knocked back and spun back towards the red-haired young man.
The blood light also revealed its true form, which was the Blood-Transforming Knife. A sinister and bloody breath followed the whip and entered the red-haired young man's body.
The red-haired young man's tendons and veins were sore and numb, and the blood and qi in his internal organs were churning. He almost vomited and felt extremely uncomfortable.
The young man's face was filled with violence, and a layer of black flames suddenly surged out of the black whip, and a powerful cold aura burst out instantly.