The Taoist Tiemu slowly collapsed to the ground. His internal organs have all been ruptured by Lin Feng's punch, his physical body had already died.
"My mastery in the initial stages of the Aurous Core may not specialize in physical prowess, but to have my physical body be killed by just one punch, just how high is this man's mastery?" The Taoist Tiemu panicked. He fired a ray of golden light from the middle of his forehead and started fleeing to the skies.
He placed his soul on the Aurous Core and was attempting to escape.
Lin Feng would never let him run. With a finger surging with mana from the River Styx Nirvana Mantra, he immediately locked down the Taoist Tiemu's soul.
The Taoist Tiemu had already sustained grave injuries from his duel with the playboy Hong Ye. If he is attacked again by Lin Feng, the damage to his soul would be immensely severe. His only option was to be captured by Lin Feng, and be turned into a puppet by the Unholy Marionette Spell.
Lin Feng smiled, "Will you speak now?"
The Taoist Tiemu didn't want to talk, but he no longer had free will over his body. He could only reveal everything he knew to Lin Feng.
Recently, a message had been spread from the Hundred Herbs Sect of Mount Changchun in the Great Hengduan mountain ranges.
The Sect's Grandmaster had been developing a mysterious elixir, named the Mortal Spiritual Elixir.
Rumours claim that this elixir can promote cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage up to the Aurous Core stage.
And Aurous Core stage cultivators can raise the quality of their Aurous Cores if they consume the elixir.
Rumours also claim that the Mortal Spiritual Elixir will be completed soon. That's why the Taoist Tiemu had been swayed.
And the playboy Hong Ye had obviously gotten wind of the news and was headed for the Hundred Herbs Sect.
Lin Feng raised his eyebrows, "If the Hundred Herbs Sect possesses such an elixir, wouldn't that mean that they can mass-produce Aurous Core stage cultivators?"
This was a highly frightening prospect.
For most sects, Aurous Core stage cultivators are the nucleus of the sect's power. For instance, sects like the Hengyue Faction and the Xuandao Sect only have one Grandmaster in the Nascent Soul stage residing, while the sect's Elders are only at the Aurous Core stage.
Furthermore, for large sects like the Great Barren Sword Sect, the Sword of Radiance Sect and the Intense Flaming Sword Sect, Aurous Core cultivators are similarly still the pillars supporting the sect, forming its backbone.
If the Hundred Herbs Sect can really use elixirs to mass-produce Aurous Core stage cultivators, it would be an extremely terrifying prospect indeed.
That being said, would the other great sects, in particular the local rulers of the Hengduan mountains, the Great Barren Sword Sect, just sit quietly and watch the Hundred Herbs Sect rise to power just under their noses?
Lin Feng voiced his own doubts, and the Taoist Tiemu replied honestly, "I heard the Great Barren Sword Sect had sent people to scout the Hundred Herbs Sect, and the conclusion was that, the Mortal Spiritual Elixir was nothing more than a fictitious rumour."
"But we would rather believe the rumour just in case, hence we need to start strategizing. If the elixir really exists, we should still think about how to obtain it."
Lin Feng nodded and said no more. He imprisoned the Taoist Tiemu in the Black Cloud Flag and then continued flying towards Mount Changchun.
No matter whether the Mortal Spiritual Elixir was real or fake, the Swelling Earth was still something Lin Feng needed.
Mount Changchun was at the southern region of the Great Hengduan mountain range, enjoying eternal spring and excellent weather. Areas south of the mountain were exceedingly hot, while places north of it were freezing cold.
Its location between two drastically different climates has also produced many precious herbs.
Upon landing on the lush Mount Changchun, Lin Feng followed Chen Gang's instructions and found a mountain stream. He followed the flow of the stream and before long, he came upon a cave.
The cave was huge, with countless intersecting underground tunnels stretching in all directions, more like a giant underground palace than a cave.
Once he entered the cave, Lin Feng searched thoroughly, but the results were depressingly disappointing.
After he rummaged the entire cave, Lin Feng only found a miserably small amount of Swelling Earth, even less than what he acquired from Chen Gang's Anti-water Flag.
"What's going on here?" Lin Feng grabbed Chen Gang's soul and said with a stone cold face, "I remembered you saying that, the Swelling Earth you obtained when training with the Anti-water Flag was just a small fraction of the total amount?"
Chen Gang helplessly said, "I did only take a very small portion, but maybe others have foraged here and retrieved all the remaining Swelling Earth."
Lin Feng frowned, but before he could interrogate further, he suddenly heard voices coming from the mouth of the cave.
"Who's there?"
Lin Feng quietly kept Chen Gang's soul and turned around. Two cultivators wearing green were standing at the entrance, looking at him with tense, alert faces.
The pair were only cultivators at the Qi Training stage, and couldn't see through his powers. But they sensed Lin Feng's far superior mastery, so although they were on guard, they had no intention of provoking him.
Lin Feng smiled, "I heard there's a strange soil here called the Swelling Earth, which can replenish itself and never run out, so I came just to check it out.
He turned his head and scanned his surroundings. "Just that there seems to be none here."
Before coming to Mount Changchun, Lin Feng did some background research and could recognise the clothes of the two Qi Training cultivators. This was the formal attire of the Hundred Herbs Sect cultivators.
The two cultivators looked at each other, then one of them looked at Lin Feng warily. "You came here to obtain the Swelling Earth?"
Lin Feng wavered and said, "Not exactly, I was merely curious and wanted to see it. I'm trained in water-type spells, and earth can counter water. I wouldn't seek trouble for myself."
As he said this, Lin Feng waved his hand and smashed the stalactites around him with his water arrows.
Lin Feng's Great Celestial Way of the Eight Trigrams can conjure almost anything, so creating a few water arrows was just a small feat.
Seeing this, the two cultivators lowered their hostility, one of them even smiled, "You have come at a bad time. The Swelling Earth in this cave has all been collected by our Grandmaster of the Hundred Herbs Sect."
Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.
The Grandmaster in question was naturally the formidable one in the Nascent Soul stage residing in the Hundred Herbs Sect - the Hundred Herbs Grandmaster.
That being said, the Hundred Herbs Sect was famous for crafting herbs and elixirs, its sect's spells and skills are not ideal for attacking enemies.
Most cultivators in the Hundred Herbs Sect used crafted spiritual elixirs against their opponents, drawing on the essence of elixirs to summon various spells. Their healing and recovery abilities were very strong, and they could also produce poisons to attack their enemies.
But on a whole, their attacking capabilities paled in comparison with other cultivators of the same levels.
But even so, the Hundred Herbs Grandmaster was still a true Nascent Soul cultivator, and according to legend, had already formed his soul a few thousand years ago.
Given Lin Feng's current mastery level in the Aurous Core initial stages, if he harnessed the powers of both the surrounding Purple Clouds and the Two Elements of Creation Formation, he was confident in facing a Nascent Soul cultivator in battle.
But he would obviously be seeking trouble if he was charging into another's fortress to pit against a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Furthermore, aside from the Hundred Herbs Grandmaster, the Sect would have a certain number of Aurous Core elders. Lin Feng normally wouldn't mind them, but if he were to stumble during his duel with the Hundred Herbs Grandmaster, they could pick off his weakened state.
Lin Feng decided against the idea, but without revealing it through his expressions, he shook his head and smiled, "What a shame then, I wanted to learn more about this mysterious self-replenishing soil."
The two Hundred Herbs Sect cultivators chuckled, "Purely seeing it may not even be beneficial. As you said, this soil would be the complete counter for water-type attacks.
Lin Feng smiled obligingly and walked out of the cave. When he brushed past the two cultivators, he seemingly unwittingly slipped out a question, "Oh right, I heard your sect's Mortal Spiritual Elixir is almost completed. I'm not sure how's the progress, when exactly will it be ready?"
Lin Feng was startling them intentionally. Since the Great Barren Sword Sect had already confronted them, the Hundred Herbs Sect would naturally know that the news had leaked, so Lin Feng had already anticipated any defensive measures.
Furthermore, provoking the opponent purposely would increase the chances of them making mistakes, especially if they had extensively prepared countermeasures. One slip-up from them would very well reveal a hint to Lin Feng.
Though, Lin Feng was not as concerned about the elixir as much as he was about the Swelling Earth.
Never did he expect that the two cultivators would just stare at each other upon hearing his question, seemingly at a loss.
"The Hundred Herbs Sect never had such an elixir, where did you hear this rumour from?"
"Then perhaps I was mistaken." Lin Feng carefully observed their expressions. They didn't seem to be panicking or on guard, just confused and lost. Neither did they seem to be feigning ignorance, so they probably are truly unaware of the elixir.
"Could their mastery levels be too low for them to be exposed to such news?" Lin Feng frowned, but promptly rejected that possibility. "No, if there really is someone in the Hundred Herbs Sect spreading such a message, he would definitely be doing so in his own sect first."
If that were the case, these two cultivators couldn't possibly know nothing at all.
It wouldn't matter if the Mortal Spiritual Elixir was just a rumour. But if it's real, then things would really be interesting.
News that not even their own sect's disciples have heard of, is spreading like wildfire among everyone else outside the sect.
As Lin Feng exited the cave, his eyes sparkled. "There are people outside the Hundred Herbs Sect that know of the Mortal Spiritual Elixir and have spread the news. This also means that, regardless of whether the elixir exists, there are people trying to sabotage the Hundred Herbs Sect."
In that case, Lin Feng would have no chance of acquiring any information.
After leaving the cave, Lin Feng ascended a peak of one of the mountains and gazed to the south.
There was a steep mountain penetrating through the sea of clouds. It was the main peak, Changchun Peak, of Mount Changchun, and was also the base of the Hundred Herbs Sect.
Changchun Peak was shrouded by clouds and mist. Lin Feng inhaled a deep breath, and felt a faint medicinal power spread through his limbs and bones.
The Hundred Herbs Sect was truly well-versed in crafting medicines and elixirs, even the surrounding mist of Changchun Peak is choke-full of the medicinal essence from numerous mountain herbs.
"It would be best to enter and find out what's going on." Lin Feng pondered, suddenly considering that idea again.
Turning back, he saw over ten rays of sword radiance cut across the skies, flying in from afar, heading straight for Changchun Peak.
The sword radiance looked dazzlingly colourful, yet emitted a desolate and ominous aura.
"The Great Barren Sword Sect? Just in time." Lin Feng had an idea.