While talking with Shi Weiming, Meng Zhang took out a profound ginseng from the spirit box he carried with him. This profound ginseng had been cultivated for over five hundred years, making it extremely rare. What's even more crucial was that in the book Shi Weiming gave Meng Zhang about the Foundation Building Pill formula, it explicitly stated that a profound ginseng of over five hundred years of cultivation was an essential auxiliary ingredient for refining the Foundation Building Pill.
Previously, Meng Zhang and Jue Ying had gathered a large amount of profound ginseng from the Purple Gold Sect cultivator's cave. Since Jue Ying found it troublesome and neither she nor her master, Luo Ye, understood the Spirit Plant Technique and alchemy technique, they handed all the profound ginseng over to Meng Zhang.
After returning to Taiyi Sect, Meng Zhang transplanted all the profound ginseng there. Over the years, these profound ginseng had been quietly growing in the spirit field. Except for occasionally being taken by Yang Xueyi for making soup, those with shallower cultivation time, they had hardly been used.
It was only after reading the book Shi Weiming brought that Meng Zhang learned about the significance of profound ginseng aged over five hundred years in refining the Foundation Building Pill.
Upon seeing Meng Zhang take out the profound ginseng, Shi Weiming's expression changed drastically. The previously cold look vanished, replaced by excitement. Meng Zhang noticed this and handed the profound ginseng to him.
Shi Weiming carefully received the profound ginseng and inspected it thoroughly. "Excellent, it's naturally grown and not forcibly ripened with spiritual energy. It can be used for refining the Foundation Building Pill."
"How many of these profound ginseng do you have? I'll buy all you have at a high price," Shi Weiming said eagerly.
Meng Zhang didn't answer but smiled and remained silent.
Seeing this, Shi Weiming calmed down and asked, "What conditions do you have for the trade?"
"I'll trade two profound ginseng aged over five hundred years in exchange for Senior Gu Tanghai's help to entangle the Foundation Building stage elder of Green Bamboo Mountain," Meng Zhang proposed.
"Two profound ginseng won't be nearly enough. Senior Gu Tanghai is a mid-Foundation Building stage expert, and he'll be dealing with Green Bamboo Mountain," Shi Weiming shook his head.
They engaged in a fierce bargaining session, going back and forth for quite a while before finally reaching an agreement. Meng Zhang would provide four profound ginseng aged over five hundred years in exchange for Gu Tanghai's assistance in confronting the Foundation Building stage elder of Green Bamboo Mountain.
Once the deal was settled, Shi Weiming wore a flattering smile and kept probing to find out how many other spiritual herbs Meng Zhang possessed.
Meng Zhang didn't have many profound ginseng that he gathered from the Purple Gold Sect cultivator's cave, especially those aged over five hundred years, which were quite rare. He wouldn't have traded them if he wasn't left with no choice. He casually responded to Shi Weiming and then changed the subject.
After agreeing on the means of contact, Meng Zhang returned to Taiyi Sect and began preparing for their upcoming actions against Green Bamboo Mountain.
Over a month later, the Mirage Desert, located over four thousand miles east of Firewell Market, had become bustling. The Mirage Desert was a peculiar desert within the Endless Sea of Sand. Its weather was unpredictable, and the dunes frequently shifted, making the terrain unstable. Moreover, illusions like mirages often appeared within the desert.
Approximately every hundred years, these illusions became more frequent in the Mirage Desert, especially when enormous palace complexes started appearing in the central area of the desert. This signified that the Mirage Secret Realm was about to open.
Initially, these palace complexes were entirely illusory, composed of clouds and smoke. Their shapes kept changing, and their locations constantly shifted. As time passed, these illusions gradually turned real. Everything inside the palaces became tangible, and halls, pavilions, flowers, and trees appeared lifelike. Ordinary Refining Qi stage cultivators couldn't tell the difference between reality and illusion.
The process of turning illusions into reality varied in time, sometimes taking only one to two months, while in other instances, it might take three to five months, or even longer. Thus, when the hundred-year mark approached, major forces in the Endless Sea of Sand would dispatch cultivators to camp near the Mirage Desert. As soon as the enormous palace complexes began to appear, they would immediately inform all parties, to avoid missing the opening of the Mirage Secret Realm.
Over a month ago, Green Bamboo Mountain had planned to attack Taiyi Sect, but then the enormous palace complexes suddenly emerged in the Mirage Desert. Experienced cultivators estimated that these palaces would become real relatively quickly, likely in just over a month. Consequently, Green Bamboo Mountain had to temporarily abandon their assault on Taiyi Sect and focus their attention on the Mirage Secret Realm. They figured they could deal with Taiyi Sect later, as it couldn't escape from there anyway. First, they had to handle the matters related to the secret realm since Mirage Secret Realm was crucial to Green Bamboo Mountain, leaving no room for distraction.
Suddenly, thunderous roars echoed through the sky of Mirage Desert. The enormous palace complexes in the center became even more realistic. Eventually, the roaring subsided, and the palace complexes stopped changing and shifting, stabilizing completely. The grand structures no longer appeared illusory but solid and lifelike.
Foundation Building stage cultivators led teams from various major forces, and numerous groups of cultivators moved from the edges of the Mirage Desert toward the central palace complexes. As they neared the palaces, all Foundation Building stage cultivators halted their steps, while Refining Qi stage cultivators continued to advance.
No Foundation Building stage cultivators dared to get too close to the palace complexes because of the Divine Ability's power, which actively repelled them. As for Gold Core stage Daoist Masters, Flying Swan Sect's Gold Core Daoist Master had never approached the Mirage Desert, for reasons unknown.
Once inside the palace complexes, all Refining Qi stage cultivators would enter the Mirage Secret Realm through the portals within. Apart from the Refining Qi stage cultivators of various major forces, many disguised and sly cultivators infiltrated from different directions.
Flying Swan Sect's Foundation Building stage cultivators paid no attention to those people. The more human cultivators entered the Mirage Secret Realm, the more dangerous it became for the demonic beasts. Eventually, the majority of the gathered spiritual herbs ended up in the hands of Flying Swan Sect through various means.
The Refining Qi stage cultivators could stay in the Mirage Secret Realm for a month. If they didn't leave within that time, they would have to wait until the next hundred years when the Mirage Secret Realm opened again. Whether Refining Qi stage cultivators could survive until then was uncertain. Theoretically, the longest lifespan of a Refining Qi stage cultivator was two cycles, or one hundred and twenty years, but most couldn't live past a hundred years.
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