Cultivation starts from devouring the Dao fruits

On the day Zhao Yu's alchemy skills broke through, the grand merchant caravan organized by Su Bingyun was already complete.

In the Market of Xiaohei Mountain, over half of the cultivators either paid a large number of Spirit Stones to join the caravan, or they joined under Su Bingyun's command.

The remaining cultivators either lacked the Spirit Stones to pay the fees to join the caravan, or they were ambitious, hoping to make a name for themselves in the Market of Xiaohei Mountain.

Although the Market of Xiaohei Mountain was fraught with dangers, it was also filled with incredibly rich resources. In the North Desolate, there were many places with resources comparable to Canglong Mountain Range, but those places were under the control of the Four Great Sects.

Ordinary loose cultivators who wanted to advance to Foundation Establishment either had to struggle in pioneering places like the Market of Xiaohei Mountain, look for relics left by previous generations of cultivators, or join the wars of the Five Great Sects, establishing enough merit to receive rewards and promotion.

Most of the people in the substantial caravan were cultivators, and some had paid a significant amount of Spirit Stones to have their families in the Ten Mortal Cities leave with them.

The enormous caravan moved along a trade route toward Cang Country.

Just ten miles out of Xiaohei Mountain Market, the caravan was attacked by a First-Order Middle-Grade Demon Beast. But as soon as the beast appeared, it was slain by the caravan's guards who activated various Magic Artifacts.

Along the way, demon beasts would occasionally emerge from the jungle, attempting to attack the human caravan, including First-Order Superior Demon Beasts.

A First-Order Superior Demon Beast could be very challenging for even a late stage Qi Refinement cultivator to tackle alone. However, as soon as these demon beasts appeared, they were slain by Su Bingyun with a swing of her Magic Sword.

The bodies of these First-Order Superior Demon Beasts were considered treasures, with their claws and teeth being particularly excellent materials for Refinement of Magic Artifacts. Cang Ling Sect was in a period of war and needed resources as vast as oceans. Su Bingyun, concerned for her sect, personally took action to slay these beasts.

Zhao Yu spent Spirit Stones to purchase the corpse of a First-Order Superior Earth Attribute Demon Beast from Su Bingyun.

The caravan would travel by day, and at night, they would camp in place and affix evil-repelling Talismans on the trees around them.

Three days later, as the caravan was moving forward, a light mist suddenly thickened, and a village appeared far in the distance.

In front of the village, there was a large wheat field, with more than a dozen farmers busy tilling, and some children playing in the fields.

There were dozens of thatched cottages and a wooden house in the village.

Upon seeing the seemingly ordinary village, the many cultivators in the caravan felt a sudden tightness in their chests and a tingling scalp, gripped their Magic Artifacts and Talismans tightly.

Zhao Yu said with a solemn face, "I remember there are no human villages on the road from Cang Country to the Market of Xiaohei Mountain, right?"

Su Bingyun spoke slowly, "That's right! This village is either built by ghosts or is an Illusion Technique! Let's take a detour!"

The dangers on the road from Cang Country to Xiaohei Mountain Market included not only various powerful demon beasts, but also terrifying existences like evil spirits and ghosts. Even experts at the Foundation Establishment Stage had perished at the hands of these ghosts.

The group took a wide berth around the village and walked through the dense mist for another two hours, when the same village appeared before them again.

Zhao Yu's face was one of grave concern as he pointed to a farmer with tattered clothes and dark yellow skin, "No, this is the same village! That farmer looks exactly like one I saw earlier!"

Fear flashed in Li Xianjiao's eyes as she clutched Zhao Yu's left hand tightly.

"It's a ghost wall!"

"Damn, we've encountered a powerful evil spirit or ghost!"

"To possess illusion abilities of such a vast range, the evil spirit or ghosts must be at least a second-order evil spirit or second-order ghost!!"

".….."

A wave of fear slowly spread among the caravan.

Many cultivators within the caravan were experienced, and they had all heard of the terror of second-order evil spirits and second-order ghosts. For those in the Qi Refinement Realm who fell into the hands of a second-order evil spirit or second-order ghost, what awaited them was endless despair. Many cultivators did not know how, but they miserably perished at the hands of these malevolent beings.

"Quiet!"

A hint of cold light flashed in Su Bingyun's beautiful eyes as she shouted sternly, and a terrifying pressure emanating from a Foundation Establishment-Level One slowly spread out.

When the many cultivators in the caravan felt the dreadful pressure of Su Bingyun's Foundation Establishment Stage, they calmed down.

Su Bingyun decisively ordered, "Everyone hold onto an evil-repelling talisman, and then enter the village!"

It was then that everyone moved towards the village.

Zhao Yu followed closely beside Su Bingyun and curiously asked, "Why enter the village? There must be terrifying ghosts or evil spirits hidden inside!"

"There must be second-order evil spirits or ghosts hidden inside the village. They have created a large illusion by utilizing their own power as well as the spiritual power, death energy, and evil energy of this land."

"To break this large illusion, one either relies on powerful mana, talismans, magical treasures, formations to destroy the entire village, or one possesses natural spiritual eyes that can see through illusions or is skilled in various spiritual eye spells that can do the same."

"If one lacks both abilities, then the most common method is to enter the village, eliminate the evil spirits and ghosts inside, which can also break the large illusion."

"If we don't enter the village, we can only stay here and eventually be drained of life. The existence of this large illusion mainly relies on the spiritual power of the land. The power of the evil spirits and ghosts serves as a catalyst; the mist will not disperse until the evil spirits and ghosts are dead."

"With every death among us, the power of the evil spirits and ghosts inside the village grows stronger. So, even though we know the village hides terrible ghosts and evil spirits, our only choice is to enter and deal with them."

Su Bingyun explained in detail to Zhao Yu how to break the illusions created by evil spirits and ghosts.

This was precious knowledge known only to elite disciples of great sects like the Cang Spirit Sect, and most loose cultivators who fell into such large illusions would have a very high chance of dying inside, naturally lacking such experience.

An old man, who was dark and skinny with white hair and yellow teeth, approached from the village, his face full of obsequiousness, "My name is Wang Dafu, the head of this village. You've had a long journey. The village has prepared food; please, come with me!"

Behind Wang Dafu were more than a dozen young villagers, among whom several village girls, despite their dark and rough complexions, were quite beautiful and delightful to look at.

Su Bingyun shouted sternly, "Activate the evil-repelling talismans!"

All cultivators in the caravan stimulated their mana, and the evil-repelling talismans in their hands ignited without wind, spreading the evil-repelling power in all directions.

Wang Dafu's face twisted violently, almost instantly transforming into a humanoid skeleton with insects crawling all over his body.

All the villagers revealed their true forms, turning into humanoid skeletons.

All the houses in the entire village disappeared, and in the place where the houses had been, there were stones, which were covered with various poisonous insects.