I am in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have a demonic beast clone!

Chapter Eleven: Talisman Treasure! The Spring of Spiritual Eyes!

Manager Wan took a deep breath and opened the fourth wooden box.

There were no jewels or precious stones inside, only a solitary, slightly worn, earth-yellow talisman.

On the talisman, a golden spear with an ancient shape and a sharp tip, seemingly about to emerge from the paper, was depicted in dark gold cinnabar. It was lifelike and exuded a heavy and sharp pressure.

Zhou Ding's eyes narrowed, and he whispered, "A talisman!"

"Fellow Daoist has excellent eyesight!"

Manager Wan praised, "It is indeed the talisman 'Golden Spear Talisman.' This talisman was created by a senior Golden Core cultivator who extracted and sealed a portion of the power of his own natal magic weapon, the 'Golden Spear.'"

Once activated, it can unleash an attack with power equivalent to about one-tenth of the magic weapon's original strength!

Although it can only be used a few times, its power is incomparable to any magical artifact.

At crucial moments, it can turn the tide of battle and even inflict damage on enemies of higher ranks!

This talisman is priced at... 1,800 low-grade spirit stones.

Zhou Ding was shaken.

This Wanbaolou truly lives up to its reputation; they've brought out genuine hard currency!

The Golden Cicada Mother-Child Blade, the Ink Scale Armor, the Heavenly Thunder Child, and the Golden Spear Talisman Treasure—each one of them is enough to make a Foundation Establishment cultivator's eyes water and heart pound.

He quickly assessed his own financial resources.

The previous sales of treasures, plus the thousands of spirit stones obtained from the cave dwellings of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

He currently possesses approximately 2,500 low-grade spirit stones.

The Ink Scale Armor costs 600 spirit stones, the Heavenly Thunder Child costs 1,200 spirit stones, and the Golden Spear Talisman costs 1,800 spirit stones, totaling 3,600 spirit stones. We are still short 1,100 spirit stones.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Shopkeeper, I'll take the Ink Scale Armor and the Heavenly Thunder Seed. As for this Golden Spear Talisman..."

He paused slightly. "The price is a bit high, and I'm slightly short of spirit stones. I wonder if I could offset it with something else?"

A knowing glint flashed in Manager Wan's eyes as he smiled and said, "Of course, our shop buys rare materials and spiritual herbs at fair prices."

Without wasting any words, Zhou Ding took out several items directly from his storage bag.

A 300-year-old "Jade Yuanzhi" sealed in a jade box, brimming with spiritual energy.

A fist-sized "Star Spirit Crystal" that shimmers with starlight.

A piece of blood-patterned stone.

These are all priceless treasures.

As soon as these items were taken out, the shopkeeper immediately examined them carefully, especially the three-hundred-year-old Jade Yuanzhi, which made his eyes light up.

After a quick and professional appraisal, the three items were valued at 1,150 spirit stones.

In the end, Zhou Ding paid 2,500 spirit stones, plus these three treasures, and successfully exchanged them for the "Ink Scale Armor," the "Heavenly Thunder Spear," and the incredibly powerful and priceless Golden Spear Talisman.

After the transaction was completed, Zhou Ding carefully put away the three treasures and left Wanbaolou without lingering.

After changing back into Huangfeng Valley clothes in a secluded spot in the market, and cautiously circling around several times to make sure no one was following him, he finally rode the Willow Leaf Shuttle back to Xuankun Mountain.

……

Inside the quiet room, all restrictions were lifted.

Zhou Ding placed the three newly acquired treasures in front of him.

The black scales of the Inkscale Armor were cool and supple to the touch, while the deep blue Thunder Crystals quietly emitted a heart-pounding aura.

A relieved smile appeared on his face.

Now, they have the top-tier Golden Light Blade for offense, the exquisite Ink Scale Armor for defense, the Heavenly Thunder Spear, a terrifying weapon capable of threatening Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the Golden Spear Talisman Treasure as a trump card.

With the addition of the talismans such as the Imprisoning Wood Talisman that he had obtained before, as well as his divine sense, mana purity, and physical body that far surpassed those of his peers, his ability to protect himself had greatly increased when he entered the Crimson Forbidden Land.

"Next, we will focus all our efforts on breaking through to the Qi Refining Perfection stage!" Zhou Ding's gaze was firm.

He put the Inkscale Armor close to his body and slowly refined it with his magic power to familiarize himself with its properties.

Several days later, the inner armor was already connected to his aura, and he could activate its defense with the slightest thought.

Just as he finished refining the Inkscale Armor and was preparing to continue his secluded cultivation.

Suddenly, a strong spiritual energy fluctuation, unlike anything seen before, came from the perception belonging to Xiao Jin in his mind!

Zhou Ding immediately composed himself and switched his consciousness to Xiao Jin, who was located in a remote part of the Taiyue Mountains, thousands of miles away.

Through the ability to hear the earth, not far ahead, from inside a thick mountain wall, a dense and irresistible spiritual energy of heaven and earth was emanating!

The spiritual energy was pure and abundant, far surpassing that of ordinary spiritual vein nodes or spiritual herbs; it was more like…

A spiritual source that gathers the essence of heaven and earth!

Zhou Ding's heart stirred, and he manipulated Little Gold to carefully approach.

Upon careful sensing, there were no traces of any array formations or restrictions around the mountain wall.

Without further hesitation, he manipulated Little Gold to use its earth-遁 (earth-遁) technique, and "swam" directly towards the source of the spiritual energy fluctuations.

The solid mountain rocks are rendered useless by the earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic that allows one to escape underground).

After passing through a rock layer that was about ten feet thick, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a naturally formed, enclosed cave about two or three feet in diameter.

There was no light source inside the cave, but it emitted a faint milky white glow due to the rich spiritual energy.

The source of the spiritual energy was right in the very center of the cave.

There is a tiny spring, no bigger than a bowl, that is constantly gushing out clear spring water!

The spring water is crystal clear, without any impurities, and every drop seems to contain ten times the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that surpasses that of the outside world!

There is also an indescribable, vibrant, and ethereal quality permeating it.

Spring water gushes out, naturally forming a shallow pool about the size of a washbasin around the springhead. The pool is full but does not overflow. Above the water surface, spiritual energy condenses into a milky white mist that slowly dissipates.

However, due to the sealed nature of the cave, most of the spiritual mist could not dissipate and could only flow back and sink, resulting in an astonishing concentration of spiritual energy within this small cave!

"The Fountain of Spiritual Eyes!" Zhou Ding was overjoyed and almost shouted out loud.

According to the original text, a few spiritual vein nodes in the world, due to their special geological structure, may form "spiritual eye objects" such as spiritual eye springs, spiritual eye stones, and spiritual eye trees, which condense the essence of heaven and earth, after millions of years of gestation.

Among them, the Spirit Eye Spring is more common. Its water contains pure spiritual energy and vitality. Long-term drinking or soaking is of great benefit to cultivation and can also slowly improve physical condition!

The spring before us is remarkably similar in its purity and richness of spiritual energy to the spiritual spring that Han Li discovered in a hidden cave in the Taiyue Mountains, as recorded in the original novel!

Zhou Ding was almost certain that it was very likely the same one!

"An opportunity! An incredible opportunity!" Zhou Ding exclaimed excitedly.

With the aid of this spiritual spring, the speed of cultivation will surely be greatly increased!

Without hesitation, he immediately controlled Little Gold to leap into the shallow spring of spiritual light.

The spring water was icy cold, and the purest spiritual energy flowed continuously into Xiao Jin's body through his skin, mouth, and nose, nourishing his demonic form and increasing his demonic power.

This absorption efficiency is far higher and gentler than consuming spirit stones.

As for Zhou Ding himself, although he was extremely envious, he could only suppress his impulse.

As a disciple of Huangfeng Valley, he could not leave the mountain gate for an extended period without reason, let alone establish a cave dwelling outside and reside there for a long time.

That's a right that only comes after you've established your foundation.

"It's alright. Little Gold absorbs spiritual energy here to grow, and its advancement will greatly benefit me. Moreover, this place is extremely secluded and safe. After I establish my foundation, I might consider using this spring as a secret cave dwelling!" Zhou Ding pondered, feeling increasingly hopeful for the future.

He told Xiao Jin to focus on cultivating and protecting the spring, while he himself withdrew most of his attention and returned to his main body on Xuankun Mountain.

Feeling the continuous flow of pure spiritual energy from his clone, Zhou Ding smiled slightly.

After taking a Qi Condensation Pill, he once again immersed himself in the operation of the "Azure Wood Technique".