Mortal: I, Zhang Tie, started by joining forces with Han Li to kill a strategist.

From that day on, Songyang became even colder towards Zhang Tie, not even greeting him when they met, and Zhang Tie also ignored him. The two went about their own business, keeping to themselves.

As for Zhang Tie, as long as this guy doesn't mess with him, he can't be bothered to bother with him. He'll finish this mission in a year and a half, so there's no need to get entangled with someone as arrogant as Song Yang.

Songyang is the kind of guy who's like snot; you can't shake him off and he's disgusting.

Seeing that Songyang had dutifully kept watch for half a month, Zhang Tie finally had some free time and decided to go and explore that deep ravine.

That place had been on his mind for more than half a year. It was a place with heavy yin energy, and it was very likely to contain earthly evil energy. Even if he could only find one or two bottles, it would be of great help to his cultivation of the "Mysterious Earth Containing Gold Technique".

That night, Zhang Tie quietly left the mine after everything was ready.

But what he didn't know was that Songyang had been secretly watching him, and his eyes lit up when he saw him quietly leave the mine.

"That guy was acting suspiciously, leaving the mine without telling me! He must be hiding something!" Noticing Zhang Tie's departure, Song Yang's lips curled into a sinister smile.

"Perfect timing, let's see what kind of tricks you little rogue cultivator are up to!"

Songyang had always kept Zhang Tie's lack of tact in mind. He had assumed that this guy was so tough because he had some powerful backing, but after some investigation within the sect, he discovered that Zhang Tie was just a lowly rogue cultivator.

How dare a rogue cultivator disrespect a dignified Core Formation disciple like him, even though he had done something that angered his master and resulted in him being punished and sent to this wretched place.

However, he was still a direct disciple of the Core Formation stage, and the senior brothers in the mid-to-late Foundation Establishment stage within the sect treated him with respect. How dare this Zhang guy show him such contempt!

Thinking of this, Song Yang's eyes grew even colder. A gray bead appeared in his hand. He activated his spiritual power, and the bead emitted a layer of hazy gray light, enveloping his entire body.

In an instant, Song Yang's aura and spiritual energy fluctuations were completely obscured by this halo, as if he had vanished from the spot.

This Concealment Bead is a top-tier magic artifact of the finest quality. It was one of the life-saving magic artifacts given to him by his master, capable of shielding him from the divine sense detection of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Under the cover of the concealment bead, Song Yang quietly followed.

...

Zhang Tie darted swiftly through the dense forest, carefully avoiding several areas suspected of harboring level-two monsters to prevent any unforeseen complications.

Finally, an hour later, we arrived at our destination.

The deep ravine lies between two steep mountain ranges, spanning several tens of feet in width. The cliffs on both sides are exceptionally steep, and the ravine slopes downwards at nearly a 60-degree angle. The light is dim, and the ravine is shrouded in mist, allowing one to see only a few tens of feet ahead at most.

"A semi-enclosed canyon landscape, low-lying, surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides, naturally forming a pattern of gathering energy, but it gathers yin energy!" Zhang Tie muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with golden light.

The density of the yin energy here was beyond his expectations, and this was before he had even entered the deep ravine.

From his perspective using his spirit-seeking technique, a dense, chilling aura surged from the depths of the ravine.

The presence of yin energy is a good thing, as it indicates the possible presence of earthly evil energy. However, Zhang Tie frowned slightly at this moment, no wonder the cultivators who were on duty earlier did not enter the deep ravine to investigate.

Such a dense concentration of yin energy would likely attract some yin-loving monsters to inhabit the interior.

If it's just a level 2 monster, that's fine, but if it's a level 3 or 4 monster, it's really dangerous to rush in like that!

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Tie took out the Golden Lock Ring and held it in his hand before cautiously stepping into the abyss.

A hundred feet away from the mouth of the deep ravine, a bush seemed to be gently swaying in the breeze. Song Yang had been keeping a hundred feet away from Zhang Tie. The concealment effect of the Concealment Pearl was extraordinary. Zhang Tie's divine sense swept over it several times, but he could not find any trace of him.

At this moment, Songyang's gaze was fixed on Zhang Tie, who was walking into the abyss. Seeing that he was so wary of a great enemy, he stopped in his tracks.

Could there be some danger in this abyss? Or perhaps some kind of spiritual entity?!

Very likely! Otherwise, why would someone surnamed Zhang be sneaking around here in the middle of the night? Isn't it to keep an eye on him?

Feeling as if he had figured out the key, Songyang's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected to gain anything unexpected tonight.

Who would complain about having too many spiritual items? Although he was apprenticed to a Core Formation cultivator, his master also had nearly ten disciples, and cultivation resources were very scarce!

If this rogue cultivator surnamed Zhang dared to go in, what was he afraid of? Song Yang gritted his teeth and followed him directly.

The fog in the deep ravine was thicker than Zhang Tie had imagined. In some places, the visibility was less than ten feet. Zhang Tie's spiritual sense was also affected and could only probe more than thirty feet. Moreover, the further he went in, the stronger the suppression became.

"Something's strange about this place!" Zhang Tie became more vigilant and immediately activated the Aoki True Shield to guard against any unforeseen circumstances.

Song Yang followed behind, also feeling the suppression of his divine sense. His expression turned somewhat grim. He almost lost track of Zhang Tie several times. After calming down, he was already having second thoughts, but his greed for the spiritual object still drove him to continue following.

Along the way, Zhang Tie also used the Spirit-Seeking Technique to observe continuously. There were many places where Yin energy gathered in the deep ravine, and he tried to find traces of the Earthly Fiend Qi, but he found nothing.

However, he didn't find any earthly evil energy, but he did find quite a few orchids and mystical stones. It was within Zhang Tie's expectations that these two spiritual items could appear in such a yin-rich environment as the deep ravine.

The Orchid Grass is an auxiliary ingredient for refining a Foundation Establishment stage pill, and one plant is worth more than ten spirit stones. The Mysterious Nether Stone is a material for refining weapons, and their values ​​are about the same.

Within an hour of entering the deep ravine, Zhang Tie's storage bag contained more than a dozen orchids and seven or eight Xuanming stones, making a small profit.

However, no trace of the earthly evil energy was found, which made Zhang Tie frown inwardly. Could it be that this place was simply rich in yin energy?

"Even if we don't find any earthly evil energy on this trip, these spiritual herbs alone will make it worthwhile!"

"With such heavy Yin energy, how could there be none?" Zhang Tie stopped and frowned.

Undeterred, they continued walking for another half hour, but still couldn't find it.

Just as Zhang Tie was about to give up and leave, the thick fog ahead seemed to thin out a lot. When he swept his divine sense across the area, his view suddenly opened up and a pool of water appeared. It shouldn't be called a small lake!

There's actually a small lake deep in this ravine?!

Approaching cautiously, the small lake was barely visible in Zhang Tie's sight, its surface barely a hundred feet deep, while further away it was shrouded in mist, obscuring its entirety.

But the deep black lake water made Zhang Tie realize that this small lake was probably very deep.

However, Zhang Tie was soon drawn to a spiritual herb growing on a rock by the lake. It was impossible not to see it. A spiritual herb shaped like a lingzhi mushroom was growing abruptly on a boulder. The surrounding yin energy was so dense that it was almost tangible, and visible gray mist lingered above the lingzhi mushroom.

"This is... Yin Sha Zhi? It's over a hundred years old!" Zhang Tie's expression lit up with joy after recognizing the spiritual herb.

Not everyone has a storage bag full of century-old spiritual herbs like Han Li.

Once a spiritual herb has been around for a hundred years, its medicinal power will increase dramatically, and its value can increase several times over. An ordinary hundred-year-old spiritual herb can sell for at least three or four hundred spirit stones, comparable to an ordinary top-tier magic weapon.

The Yin Sha Zhi in front of us only grows in places with abundant Yin energy. It is a relatively rare type of spiritual medicine. After a hundred years, its value will be about 30% higher than that of ordinary hundred-year-old spiritual medicines!

Although it cannot compare to a thousand-year-old elixir, it is still worth around five hundred spirit stones!