Yuan Ming and the bearded man followed Cui Wuran to a nearby restaurant, walked straight up to the second floor, and came to a large private room.
The floor here is covered with scarlet carpets, and the four walls are carved with exquisite flower and bird patterns, with gemstones embedded on top of the patterns to give it a luxurious feel.
There was a mahogany round table in the middle of the private room, and three people were already sitting there. They were a teenager in black robe, a fat middle-aged woman, and an old man with gray hair and a red face.
A few people were talking in low voices. When they saw Cui Wuran and others coming in, they immediately stopped talking and glanced over.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Cui, you are finally here." The gray-haired old man stood up first and said with a smile.
"I was delayed for a while on the way and kept the three of you waiting for a long time. I will punish myself with three drinks later as an apology." Cui Wuran laughed.
"Let me introduce the three fellow Taoists. This is fellow Taoist Shi, a high disciple of the Huo Yuan Sect of Zhao State. As for the other fellow Taoist Yuan, he is an old acquaintance of mine in Dajin."
He then turned around and introduced the bearded man and Yuan Ming.
"It turns out to be Fellow Daoist Shi and Fellow Daoist Yuan, nice to meet you," the gray-haired old man greeted warmly.
The young man in black robe and the obese woman just gave a slight signal.
The bearded man still nodded haughtily to the three of them, then pulled out a chair and sat down on his own.
Yuan Ming did not show any pretense and returned the favor with his hands in front of the three of them.
Cui Wuran introduced the three people at the table. The young man in black robe was surnamed Ruan, and the old man with gray hair was surnamed Qu. They were both casual cultivators from the Kingdom of Zhao.
The cultivators in the Black Wind Desert are very wary. Except for close friends, most people only tell their last names when introducing themselves.
As for the obese woman, she claimed that Gu Sanniang was from an ordinary small sect in Zhao State. She left the sect in her early years and traveled around, and she was considered a semi-religious cultivator.
Yuan Ming swept his consciousness and immediately found out the cultivation level of the three people at the table.
The young man in black robe and the gray-haired old man were in the middle stage of foundation building, but Gu Sanniang was in the late stage of foundation building and had strong magic power, which was a bit higher than Yuan Ming. It was obvious that she had been in the late stage of foundation building for a long time.
A few people sat down politely and counted with rulers, and Cui Wuran ordered a sumptuous banquet. Not only was it delicious, but there were also some ingredients that contained spiritual power. Eating it in the stomach would also help one's cultivation.
Cui Wuran and the gray-haired old man were both eloquent people. After a meal, they pushed the cups several times. The arrogant attitude of the bearded man was slightly lowered, and he occasionally exchanged words with the others.
"The three of them seemed to be talking about Soul Burial Abyss earlier? Did something happen there again?" Cui Wuran asked the waiter of the restaurant to remove the plates on the table.
Yuan Ming's heart moved. He had also heard of this place name. The Soul Burial Abyss was a special area deep in the Black Wind Desert. The terrain was significantly lower than the surrounding areas. At first glance, it looked like a huge abyss.
The black wind there is extremely frequent, and there are many strange insects. It is said that there are also other dangers. Even the monks in the alchemy stage are not sure to escape safely when they enter, so 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 near the Burial Soul Abyss saw a thick black gas rising from it. It spread over a wide area and went straight into the clouds and snow for a long time before gradually dissipating." 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 energy lasted for half a day before it dissipated. Many monks witnessed it with their own eyes. It is definitely not false." Gu Sanniang said, her voice as thick as an old student.
"Since fellow Taoist Gu said so, it must be true, but I wonder if the black energy is a sign that some treasure is about to be born?" Cui Wuran said, stroking his chin.
"It's hard to say. In a place like the Soul Burial Abyss, except for the seniors who have formed the alchemy stage, no one dares to go deep into it. Even if there is any treasure, it has nothing to do with us casual cultivators." The young man in black robe said.
"Such a vision is indeed strange. I don't know if the Zhen Gang Sect and the Black Desert Alliance have sent people to investigate." Cui Wuran said.
Several people chatted and occasionally mentioned cultivation. Everyone present had their own experiences in cultivation, and everyone gained a lot from the exchange.
Yuan Ming used some of his experience in wood-attribute skills to exchange some precautions for the later stages of foundation building from Gu Sanniang, and felt that the trip was worthwhile.
Time soon arrived in the evening, and the interest of the few people continued to increase. They finally got to the point and started to mention the exchange meeting.
However, there were only six people present, which was too few. Cui Wuran suggested calling some more Taoist friends. After the exchange just now, they knew him well, so they stopped being so wary of each other and immediately called each other with their messenger talismans. people.
Soon, seven or eight more monks came in, and the exchange meeting officially began.
Everyone attending the meeting, except Yuan Ming, was already prepared.
The gray-haired old man took out a rare barrier-breaking pill and took it when his cultivation encountered a bottleneck. It can increase the chance of breakthrough and also has a certain effect on soil repair during the foundation building period.
The object exchanged by the young man in black robe is a broken top-grade magic weapon, which is much more powerful than the top-grade magic weapon, but there is a limit on the number of times it can be used.
A cultivator from a small sect called by Gu Sanniang took out a piece of tung wood that could be used to refine the best magic weapon.
As for the things that other people took out, they were all of high value, and none of them were waste.
Yuan Ming used the Earth Root Zi Xuan Xiang, two monster beast materials, and exchanged them from a new monk for two pieces of ore that contained abundant thunder and lightning power.
He had no intention of cultivating thunder-attribute magic weapons, which were prepared for thunderstorms.
The climate of the Black Wind Desert is dry, and it is hard to see even a single raindrop. There is no power of thunder and lightning for it to absorb, and the cultivation of thunderstorms has been stagnant for a long time.
When it was Yuan Ming's turn, he hesitated briefly and took out three materials and placed them on the table. They were an earthy yellow armor, a hook-shaped purple horn, and a piece of green ore, surrounded by a mist-like green light.
The yellow armor stomach is made of a second-level mid-level rock-piercing armor, and the purple spikes are the scorpion shell of a second-level high-level demon purple-striped scorpion. They were both obtained by Huazhi after hunting monsters in the Black Wind Desert. The last one is Zuo Qinghui's stored green mineral called Songtao Stone. It is a top-quality spiritual material that emits compelling spiritual energy fluctuations, making everyone present look at him with some suspicion.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan is really secretive. I wonder what he wants to change?" asked the old man surnamed Qu.
"Yuan wants to exchange these three materials for a piece of news!" Yuan Ming said.
"What news does Fellow Daoist Yuan want?" Gu Sanniang stared at the Songtao Stone. She was trying to refine a wood-attribute magical weapon, and this Songtao Stone was just in use.
"More realistically, information that can assist in forming pills or how to obtain them will also work. If the value of this spiritual material exceeds the value, Yuan can use the spirit inscription stone to compensate for it." Yuan Ming said.
Although the soul pill secret technique can increase the chance of forming a pill by 50%, his qualifications are really not good. In order to increase the success rate as much as possible, he must find other methods.
While speaking, Yuan Ming spread his spiritual consciousness, and Bei closely observed the expressions of everyone present.
Everyone in front of me seemed to be in the foundation building stage, coming from various circles from all over the world. Maybe some of them had been exposed to this kind of secret method.
He didn't expect anyone to really provide a method to assist in forming pills. As long as someone looked different, he could use black incense to possess his body and cast a soul seal to dig out the corresponding information.
Everyone present looked at each other in shock. No one spoke for a while, and no one looked strange.
Yuan Ming frowned and looked at Gu Sanniang and a new red-haired young man. The cultivation of these two people had reached the late stage of foundation establishment. If they wanted to break through the core formation stage, they should start to pay attention to some methods to assist the breakthrough.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan, please don't look at me. I have poor physical qualifications, and my current state of excellence is all due to the accumulation of pills. I have no potential for further improvement. How dare I expect to reach the stage of pill formation." Gu Sanniang shook her head with a wry smile.
The red-haired young man just drank tea quietly and ignored Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming thought for a moment and was about to take back three pieces of materials.
"I have two methods here. Fellow Daoist Yuan can take a look." A voice suddenly came from the side, but it was Cui Wuran.
"Do you have any idea, Fellow Daoist Cui?" Yuan Ming looked surprised.
Others in the venue also looked over.
"Let me state in advance that these two methods were obtained by accident. One of them is quite reliable, but the other has not been verified. I cannot guarantee whether it is really effective." Cui Wuran took out a white jade slip and said .
"It's enough to have a reliable method," Yuan Ming said happily.
Cui Wuran heard this and wrapped it with magic power and sent it over.
The others stared at the jade slip with eagerness in their expressions. Although for most of the foundation-building earth cultivators, the hope of forming a core was slim, but as long as there was hope, no one would not want to go further.
At this moment, a red palm with condensed mana suddenly stretched out from the side and grabbed the jade slip.
"What do you mean, Fellow Taoist Literary?" Yuan Ming's face darkened, and he looked at the owner of the red palm, who was the red-haired young man.
"Wen Hao is also very interested in this secret method to assist in forming pills. How about we let Wen take a look at this deal?" the red-haired young man said with a smile, and released a stream of spiritual consciousness to explore the jade slip.
Yuan Ming's eyes suddenly turned cold, and a bloody sword light shot out and cut off the red palm with a "chick".
The jade slip can also be caught in the light of the sword and fly back. The consciousness emitted by the red-haired young man will be immediately shattered by a sharp and bloody breath when it encounters the blood light.
"This deal was negotiated with Fellow Daoist Cui first. If you also want these two secret pill-forming techniques, you can discuss it with Fellow Daoist Cui." Yuan Ming said calmly.
The red-haired young man's eyes turned cold, and a dark light flashed in the palm of his hand, and a bird-black whip appeared. With a shake of his arm, the black whip turned into green in the wind, and in an instant it rolled towards the white jade slip across a distance of several feet.
"The best magic weapon!" One person present whispered, and the expressions of others were also slightly solemn.
Yuan Ming had an expressionless face and bluffing fingers, and the white jade slip continued to fly backwards.
The flash of bloody sword light shot out again, hitting the center of the black whip.
This is the weakest part of the magical power of the bamboo whip. It may be difficult for ordinary cultivators to detect it, but Yuan Ming's spiritual consciousness is extremely powerful. With a single sweep, he can control any situation of the black bamboo whip, just like looking at the palm prints.
With a soft "pop" sound, the black whip was knocked away and spun towards the red-haired young man.
The blood light also revealed its true form, which was the Blood Transforming Knife. A sinister and bloody aura spread along the whip and entered the body of the red-haired young man.
The red-haired young man's muscles and veins felt sore and numb, and the energy and blood in his internal organs were boiling, making him almost want to vomit.
The young man's face was full of rage, and a layer of black flames suddenly burst out from the black whip, and a powerful cold aura burst out instantly.
