Chapter 419: Azure Forest Immortal City

After correcting the map, Sun Lingtong discovered that their previous spatial translocation escape had taken them out of the range of the Thousand Peaks Forest and into the territory of the Two Rills Nation.

Checking their status, their fire essence reserves had reached a critical level. They only had enough left for one more spatial translocation, and a short one at that, not allowing them to travel far.

With such low fire essence reserves, if they returned to their previous state, they would likely remain within the Thousand Peaks Forest, be detected by the Blood Shadow Cave Lord, and be pursued.

They needed to find a way to dispel the Blood Shadow Cave Lord's tracking methods. The Myriad Miles Soaring Dragon itself had been attacked by the Demonic Heart Cave Lord and required repairs.

More importantly, Sun Lingtong's injuries were paramount.

Sun Lingtong's previous strategy was correct: to heal, they needed to understand the specifics of his injury, requiring a clearer understanding of the Stone Monster.

However, during their infiltration of the Six Caves Sect's main mountain gate this time, although they unexpectedly learned crucial information about the mechanical carriage, they gained no further intelligence on the Stone Monster.

As for why the Demonic Heart Cave Lord discovered him, Ning Zhuo later speculated that it was likely because he had planted the Lifeline Thread on the hooded black-robed cultivator!

Ning Zhuo had indeed established many advantages in various aspects using this divine ability. These advantages easily gave people the illusion that the ability was invincible.

Now, after the incidents with Linghu Jiu and the Demonic Heart Cave Lord, Ning Zhuo was gradually understanding the true strength of the Lifeline Thread divine ability.

"Although this divine ability comes from a Venerable of the Three Sects, if it were truly overwhelmingly powerful, the territory of the Southern Bean Nation would be much larger than it is now."

Following Ning Zhuo's target, the Myriad Miles Soaring Dragon set off again.

Although they did not utilize the power of spatial translocation, the Myriad Miles Soaring Dragon's own flying speed was still considerable.

After about half a day, the two approached their destination—Canglin Immortal City.

People gradually increased in number. About thirty li from the immortal city, Ning Zhuo was the first to fly out of the mechanical dragon.

Sun Lingtong remained inside the dragon's head cabin. He needed to constantly mobilize his magic power and attempt other methods to slow down the speed of the petrification.

Ning Zhuo still wore the Myriad Miles Soaring Dragon as a belt around his waist.

He walked forward, leaping over mountains and rivers with light movements.

Along the way, the number of cultivators he encountered rapidly increased.

Not only humans, but also many bare-chested demon cultivators and rough-styled barbarian tribes.

Most demon cultivators wore very little clothing. As demonic beasts, they had always survived naked in nature. Even after becoming demon cultivators and gaining intelligence, this habit largely persisted.

Demon cultivators preferred loose, flowing clothing, such as robes and long skirts. Many demon cultivators were particularly fond of cloaks and capes.

Their clothes were often richly and vibrantly decorated with animal fur, gemstones, flowers, and plants, reflecting their closeness to nature.

Barbarian tribes, on the other hand, mostly wore animal hides, iron armor, or roughly woven straw and vines, and some even used scales.

Barbarian tribes preferred deep red, earthy yellow, emerald green, and black-gray.

They generally believed that red represented blood, earthy yellow symbolized the earth, emerald green was the mountains and forests, and black-gray was the state of everything being burned to ashes.

From this, it is evident that they worshipped battle, bloodiness, bravery, and the connection between the individual and nature.

Their clothing was much tighter than that of demon cultivators, making it more convenient for combat. The trouser legs were bound with leather belts. Female barbarian clothing was even simpler and tighter, possessing a strong sense of primal beauty.

Ning Zhuo noticed that they often held axes and hammers, and carried spears and bows and arrows on their backs. The stronger their power and higher their status, the more decorations they had on their bodies. These decorations were mostly animal teeth, bones, and fur.

Their necklaces, wristbands, etc., were all very large in size, as if the larger they were, the more they could display their own glory and strength.

These cultivators, like Ning Zhuo, were all heading to Canglin Immortal City. Some walked quickly, focused on their journey, while others traveled together, laughing and talking.

Ning Zhuo looked at Canglin Immortal City from afar, as if seeing a meandering river.

The terrain of Canglin Immortal City was not flat. It was built between hills, and the buildings were distributed according to the local conditions, scattered and uneven, but with a unique charm.

From a distance, Ning Zhuo could see the winding streets and the staggered clusters of buildings in the immortal city.

Next to the immortal city, several military camps had also been established.

The one to the east was heavily guarded, with red flags flying and a powerful energy rolling, clearly practicing fire elemental spells. The gate of the camp to the west was wide open, with a constant stream of people flowing in and out, a mix of demon cultivators and barbarian tribes, and waves of noise reaching them.

Faintly, he could see several other military camps further in the distance.

When they were ten li from the immortal city, a prohibition took effect, forbidding cultivators from flying. To enter the city, they had to walk on foot.

Normally, this was not the case. However, now was a special period. The Two Rills Nation's army was constantly gathering, and the vanguard army had already stationed themselves at the foot of the Thousand Peaks Forest. Behind them were several important towns, and then Canglin Immortal City.

As the first immortal city closest to the Thousand Peaks Forest battlefield, it would bear the important responsibility of the rear.

Therefore, under military control, flying was prohibited here to strictly prevent peeping and sneak attacks from high altitudes.

Ning Zhuo followed the flow of people and arrived at the city gate.

The city guards were stationed at the city gate, requiring each person to pay fifty low-grade spirit stones to enter the city.

"If you wish to join the army, you do not need to enter the city. The several military camps outside the city are recruiting talent! Among them, the White Jade Camp offers the highest remuneration, twice as much as the lowest, the Red Flower Camp."

The city guards shouted loudly from time to time.

Among the cultivators entering the city, many indeed heard the city guards' reminder and left the queue, turning around to head to the military camps.

Ning Zhuo paid the entrance fee and formally stepped into Canglin Immortal City.

Canglin Immortal City was lush with vegetation, and everywhere were colorful flowers and strange plants.

The buildings in the city meandered in curves and were scattered unevenly. Although not neat, the highs and lows had a unique flavor.

Ning Zhuo couldn't help but take a deep breath. The air he inhaled and exhaled was humid and warm, mixed with the fragrance of flowers and plants. Clearly, the climate here was very pleasant.

Gradually moving away from the city gate, Ning Zhuo did not go to the city center but entered the winding and narrow alleys.

Along the sides of the alleys were ancient wooden buildings, shaded by green trees. Various shops, tea houses, and restaurants—these buildings were almost entirely made of wood, with bamboo being relatively common. On the roofs or walls of the houses, there was grass weaving or vines covering them.

Ning Zhuo quickly found a place selling information.

A moment later, he left the dark alley with a few jade slips and went to a restaurant. While eating, he examined the information he had purchased.

The information was divided into three parts.

One part was about the Thousand Peaks Forest, one part was about the Two Rills Nation's conquering army, and the last part was about Canglin Immortal City.

In the information about the Thousand Peaks Forest, the first thing Ning Zhuo saw was the Ginseng Root Dragon King. This was the strongest divine being in the Thousand Peaks Forest, whose true form was a dragon-whiskered ginseng. Within the Thousand Peaks Forest, It possessed a Soul Transformation level battle power. It was the strongest enemy that the dynasty's conquering army would openly face.

Besides this, there were the Six Caves Sect, the Pale Elephant Herd, the Crescent Moon Tribe, the Ancient Vine Tribe, the Hundred Poisons Tribe... These powerful factions and organizations.

In the conquering army, Ning Zhuo saw the data on the vanguard army, information on the entire army's marshal, and the four generals currently stationed near Canglin Immortal City.

They were Lu Chi, Xu Dali, Shuang Jing, and Mulana.

Among them, Lu Chi commanded the Fire Cloud Army. This was the army whose camp Ning Zhuo saw with burning fire clouds practicing fire elemental spells when he entered the city.

Xu Dali was a mixed-blood of barbarian and demon, commanding the Barbarian Demon Army. This army lived up to its name, being composed of barbarian tribes and demon cultivators.

Shuang Jing commanded the White Jade Army, currently stationed to the west of Canglin Immortal City. Ning Zhuo had entered from the east gate and had not seen it.

However, he heard the city guards' shouting, encouraging foreign cultivators to join the White Jade Army because this army offered the highest pay.

The army used for comparison was the Red Flower Army commanded by General Mulana. According to the information, this army was the smallest in scale and offered the least remuneration.

There was also another general named Sun Gan, leading the elite Golden Halberd Army. They had set off from the capital and would arrive here within a few days.

The Golden Halberd Army was one of the imperial guards, and Sun Gan was one of the imperial guard commanders. Although this army was small in number, its battle power was particularly strong.

The Two Rills Nation's ruler dispatched this army, revealing his determination to conquer the Thousand Peaks Forest!

The information about Canglin Immortal City allowed Ning Zhuo to quickly understand this immortal city.

The tallest building in Canglin Immortal City was the Thousand Layers Wooden Block Tower, a treasure that incorporated thousands of kinds of wood.

There were two temples, the Tree God Temple and the Beast King Temple.

These two divine beings received support from the Two Rills Nation over a hundred years ago. They were once only minor gods, but now their faith had spread throughout the Thousand Peaks Forest.

When the Two Rills Nation's ruler attacked the Thousand Peaks Forest, these two great divine beings were his assistants.

From this, it can be seen that the Two Rills Nation's ruler began planning over a hundred years ago, and this attack on the Thousand Peaks Forest was by no means a sudden impulse, but a long-planned endeavor.

"Found it! In the information about the Stone Monster, it is rumored that he entered the path of cultivation as a Ten Thousand Year Earth Essence, obtained a fortuitous encounter, and integrated a fragment of the Treasure Dispensing Rock. Therefore, he mastered a divine ability called Stone-Forged Earth Treasure."

"This divine ability can turn all things in the world into stone and then temper the stone with time, causing it to gradually transform into precious treasure materials. These treasure materials are mostly metals, jades, spirit ores, and so on."

At this point, Ning Zhuo had achieved his goal.

Since the Two Rills Nation was making a large-scale attack on the Thousand Peaks Forest, they must have done a lot of research on the Thousand Peaks Forest and mastered a lot of information.

Now, Sun and Ning were temporarily unable to approach the Thousand Peaks Forest, so they would start from the latter's enemy to search for information about the Stone Monster.

Sun Lingtong frowned tightly: "Stone-Forged Earth Treasure? So it's a divine ability. No wonder I couldn't resolve it and it became increasingly difficult to resist, because even magic power could be petrified."

"Divine abilities are above spells, but isn't the Stone Monster dead? Why can the divine ability still be effective?"

Ning Zhuo shook his head: "The Stone Monster is probably dead. Both the information from the Six Caves Sect and from Canglin Immortal City say that this Stone Monster was at the Nascent Soul level."

"It was likely in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Soul Transformation stage, but failed and died."

"For some reason, the divine ability it mastered has always been in effect. But I believe that the divine ability is not actively taking effect, so its power is not great."

"Otherwise, with our small bodies, it would have been impossible to survive until now."

Sun Lingtong nodded repeatedly: "Xiao Zhuo, you are right!"

Sun Lingtong said with difficulty: "Then, now that we know this is a divine ability at work, how can we resolve it?"

Ning Zhuo sighed: "This is indeed beyond our capabilities. We can only seek help from others. The information says that there is an extremely capable physician in Canglin Immortal City, named Iron Crutch Imperial Physician, who was once the Two Rills Nation's ruler's personal physician. Let's go and see him first for a diagnosis."

"Alas..." Sun Lingtong had no better solution and could only say, "To be an imperial physician is indeed impressive. Let's go and see him then."

Ning Zhuo then quickly ate his meal and packed a portion to take away.

He delivered the food to the Myriad Miles Soaring Dragon for Sun Lingtong to eat.

Ning Zhuo constantly moved through the alleys, and according to the information, he crossed most of Canglin Immortal City and finally arrived at Tie Yi Medical Hall.

The medical hall's facade was not large, and the entrance was deserted, completely unlike the scene of a famous physician's practice.

Ning Zhuo became a little skeptical and walked to the entrance of the medical hall.

A young boy was sitting on a small stool on the inside of the large door. Upon seeing Ning Zhuo, he waved his hand and said: "You are a foreigner who came to seek medical treatment, right?"

"Yes." Ning Zhuo nodded.

"We can't see you anymore. My master has already decided to join the army. The medical hall closed yesterday, and I am the only one here to inform you all." The young boy delivered bad news.

Ning Zhuo then asked: "Dare I ask, where is Senior Zhang currently?"

"Oh, he is in the military camp outside the city. However, it's impossible for you to seek medical treatment from him. You've probably heard of my master's personality, he's very stubborn."

"Many people have already tried going to the military camp to find him, but none have succeeded."

"If you ask me, if you need medical treatment, it's better to find other physicians."

Ning Zhuo nodded, thanked the young boy, and before leaving, grabbed a handful of spirit stones and stuffed them to him.

"This is a bit difficult," Sun Lingtong said.

He had also read the information.

In Canglin Immortal City, the strongest physician was definitely Zhang Chongyi. Other than him, the others were of ordinary strength, and the possibility of treating a divine ability was very small.

"Let's go to the military camp to find him," Ning Zhuo still did not give up.

He exited Canglin Immortal City from the west gate and saw two military camps, almost side by side.

The White Jade Camp was magnificent and grand, with the tents surrounded by a circle of white jade stone walls. The barriers were tall, not ordinary wooden stakes, but carved from white jade, with numerous talismans on the surface, their aura as stable as a mountain.

The watchtowers were tall, and even during the day, they emitted strong light, scanning the surroundings.

On the golden flagpoles, the White Jade Army flag fluttered. The army flag had a base of bright white jade stone, embroidered with a silver thread inlaid dragon pattern. The dragon's eyes sparkled as if it could spread its wings and fly at any moment.

The camp gate was even more exaggerated, composed of two heavy white jade door panels, each inlaid with a large number of high-grade spirit stones.

A group of cavalry galloped in the camp. Their movements were uniform and synchronized. Each warhorse was equipped with exquisite white jade saddles, inlaid with star-like sparkling gems on the saddle seat, giving a sense of nobility.