Yuan Ming and the bearded man followed Cui Wuran to a nearby restaurant, walked straight up to the third floor, and came to a large private room.
The floor here is covered with scarlet carpets, and the four walls are carved with exquisite patterns of flowers and birds. The patterns are also inlaid with gems, giving it a luxurious atmosphere.
There is a mahogany round table in the middle of the private room, and three people are already sitting there. They are a young man in his twenties wearing a black robe, a fat middle-aged woman, and an old man with gray hair and a red face.
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Several 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 cups of wine later as an apology." Cui Wuran said with a chuckle.
"Let me introduce the three fellow Taoists. This is Fellow Taoist Shi, a high disciple of the Huo Yuan Sect of the State of Zhao. As for the other fellow Taoist Yuan, he is an old acquaintance I made in Jin Dynasty." 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, while the young man in black robe and the obese woman just nodded slightly.
The bearded man nodded haughtily to the three of them, then pulled out a chair and sat down on his own.
However, Yuan Ming did not show any pretense, and returned the favor by raising his hands to 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 State of Zhao.
The monks 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 called herself Gu Sanniang. She was born in an ordinary small sect in Zhao State, but she left the sect in her early years to travel and 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 her magic power was a bit higher than that of Yuan Ming. It was obvious that she had been in the late stage of foundation building for a long time.
After a few polite greetings, they all took their seats. Cui Wuran ordered a sumptuous banquet. Not only was it delicious, but it also contained some ingredients that contained spiritual power. Eating it in the stomach would also be somewhat helpful to one's cultivation.
Cui Wuran and the gray-haired old man were both eloquent people. After the meal, they exchanged cups and cups several times, and the arrogant attitude of the bearded man was slightly lowered, and he occasionally chatted with a few other people.
"The three of you 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 and asked.
Yuan Ming's heart moved. He had also heard of this place name.
The Burial Soul Abyss is a special area deep in the Black Wind Desert. The terrain is significantly lower than the surrounding areas. At first glance, it looks like a huge abyss.
The black wind there is extremely frequent, and there are many strange monsters and insects there. It is said that there are also some other dangers. Even if the monks in the alchemy stage enter, they are not sure of getting out safely. Therefore, the monks in the Black Wind Desert call it the "Soul Burial Abyss".
"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 shot straight into the sky. It took a long time to gradually dissipate." 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 dissipating. Many monks witnessed it with their own eyes. It is absolutely false." Gu Sanniang said, her voice as thick as an old cow.
"Since fellow Taoist Gu said so, it must be right. But I wonder if that black energy is a sign that some treasure is about to be born?" Cui Wuran groped his chin and said.
"It's hard to say. In a place like the Burial Soul Abyss, who would dare to go deep into it except for the seniors in the Danjie stage? Even if there is any treasure, it has nothing to do with us casual cultivators." The young man in black robe said.
"Such changes are indeed strange, but I don't know if the Five Thunder Sect, Zhen Gang Sect, and the Black Desert Alliance have sent people to investigate." Cui Wuran said.
A few 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. Finally, they got to the point and started to mention the exchange meeting.
However, there were only six people present, which was too few, so Cui Wuran suggested calling in more fellow Taoists.
After the exchange just now, the two of them got to know each other a lot, and they were no longer so wary of each other, and immediately called people with their messenger talismans.
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 reached a bottleneck. It can increase the chance of breakthrough, and it also has a certain effect on monks in the foundation-building stage.
What the young man in black robe exchanged was a broken top-grade magic weapon, which was much more powerful than the top-grade magic weapon, but it had a limit on the number of times it could be used.
A young monk from the 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 other people took out, they were all of high value, and none of them were waste.
Yuan Ming used ten sticks of Purple Mysterious Incense and two parts of monster materials to obtain two pieces of ore containing abundant thunder and lightning power from a new monk.
He has no intention of cultivating thunder-attributed magical weapons, which are prepared for thunderstorms.
The climate in the Black Wind Desert is dry, and it is rare to see even a single raindrop. There is no power of thunder and lightning for it to absorb. The power of thunderstorms has been stagnant for a long time.
When it was Yuan Ming's turn, he hesitated briefly and took out three pieces of materials and placed them on the table. They were an earth-yellow armor, a hook-shaped purple spike, and a piece of green ore, surrounded by a mist-like green light.
The yellow armor is the shell of a second-level mid-level rock-piercing armor, and the purple spikes are the stings of the second-level high-level demon insect Purple Scorpion. They were both obtained by Huazhi after hunting monsters in the Black Wind Desert.
The green ore is called Songtao Stone, and it is a top-quality spiritual material in Zuo Qinghui's storage artifact.
The three materials all emitted compelling spiritual energy fluctuations, which attracted some eyebrows from everyone present.
"Haha, fellow Taoist Yuan is really secretive. I wonder what he wants to exchange for?" 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 closely at the Songtao Stone. She was trying to refine a wood-attribute magical weapon, and this Songtao Stone was just in use.
"More realistically, methods that can assist in forming pills, or information on how to obtain them will do. If the value exceeds the value of these three spiritual materials, Yuan can use spiritual stones 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 closely observed the expressions of everyone present.
Everyone in front of me is a monk in the foundation-building stage, coming from all over the world and from various circles. Maybe some of them have been exposed to this kind of secret technique.
He didn't expect anyone to really provide a method to assist in forming pills. As long as someone looked different, he could use the black incense to possess him, cast a soul seal, and dig out the corresponding information.
Everyone present looked at each other in confusion, no one spoke for a moment, 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 has reached the late stage of foundation building. If they are determined to break through the core formation stage, they should start to pay attention to some methods to assist in breaking through.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan, please don't look at me. I have poor physical qualifications. My current level is all due to the accumulation of elixirs. I have no potential to continue to improve. How can I dare to expect the elixir formation period." Gu Sanniang smiled bitterly and shook her head.
The red-haired young man just drank tea quietly and ignored Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming was silent for a moment and was about to take back the 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 longing expressions.
Although for the vast majority of monks in the foundation-building stage, there is little hope of forming a core, but as long as there is 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 snatched away the jade slip.
"Fellow Literary Master, what do you mean by this?" Yuan Ming's face darkened, and he looked at the owner of the red palm, who was actually the red-haired young man.
"Wen is also very interested in this secret method of assisting in forming pills. How about letting Wen take part in this deal?" The red-haired young man smiled 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, cutting off the red palm with a "chick".
The jade slip was also caught in the sword light and flew back. The red-haired young man's spiritual consciousness hit the blood light and was immediately shattered by a sharp and bloody breath.
"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, a black light flashed in his palm, a long black whip appeared, and his arm shook.
The long black whip grew longer in the wind, and in an instant it spanned a distance of several feet and rolled towards the white jade slip.
"The best magic weapon!" One person present whispered, and the expressions of others were also slightly solemn.
Yuan Ming's face was expressionless, his fingers bluffing, and the white jade slip continued to fly backwards.
The bloody sword light shot out again and struck the center of the black whip in a flash.
This is the weakest part of the magic power of the long whip. It may be difficult for ordinary monks to detect it, but Yuan Ming's spiritual consciousness is extremely powerful. With a single sweep, he can control everything about the black whip, just like looking at the palm prints.
With a soft "pop" sound, the black whip was knocked back 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 followed the long whip and entered the body of the red-haired young man.
The red-haired young man's muscles and veins felt sore and numb, his internal organs were churning with qi and blood, and he almost felt like vomiting, which was extremely uncomfortable.
The young man's face was full of anger, and a layer of black flames suddenly burst out from the black whip, and a powerful cold aura burst out instantly.