Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

Lang Shiyuan, on the other hand, had returned to Golden Wind Oasis long ago. He attempted Nascent Soul Formation with a low-quality Infant Formation Pill and a Spiritual Object, but it ended in failure and his death.

Many cultivators suspected that Shen Jianping was scared off by this event, which was why he never attempted Nascent Soul Formation.

Of course, it was also possible that Shen Jianping couldn’t even get his hands on a low-quality Infant Formation Pill.

Zhang Chi also asked about the Steward from Haoyue City, Cen Huayuan, only to find that the man had already exhausted his lifespan and passed away.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators from the Golden Wind Sect were, however, still alive, as the sect hadn’t experienced any major upheavals in recent years.

However, it was very likely the two of them had already secretly left the sect and headed deep into the desert.

After gathering this information, Zhang Chi immediately had the Corpse Puppet depart and continue its journey deep into the desert.

With the map he had obtained back then, he had no need to rendezvous with the two Nascent Soul cultivators from the Golden Wind Sect. This also saved him from having his old identity as a senior expert exposed by them.

’The Hundred Flowers Palace doesn’t seem to slaughter the innocent indiscriminately, but they’re likely monitoring things in secret. The moment I reveal myself, they will definitely make a move. A pity for them, though—they’ll never know I was even here!’

’After all, even when I was gathering information, I didn’t alert anyone. As for that Lang Shiyuan... he once wanted my help refining a Nascent Soul Pill, but now, that’s forever impossible.’

Zhang Chi thought to himself as he controlled the Corpse Puppet, flying through the Nine Heavens Gang Wind Layer.

Five years passed in this way. The Corpse Puppet finally arrived near the location of the ruins.

However, because the time was not yet right, the Oasis Ruins had not appeared. Looking down from the sky, Zhang Chi saw only a stretch of rolling yellow sand with nothing out of the ordinary.

As for other cultivators, Zhang Chi didn’t spot any. The area was simply too vast; even if there were others, they would be like drops of water in the ocean—completely unnoticeable.

The Corpse Puppet immediately descended and, using an Earth Escape Talisman, sank deep into the desert.

Then, it used its Corpse Evil Power to annihilate the surrounding sand, directly carving out a space more than a hundred feet in diameter.

The sand at the edge of the space was compressed and even melted into a crystalline state, making it completely stable and unable to collapse.

It then took out Array Flags and set up the Gold Fiend Gale Array. Only then did Zhang Chi retract his consciousness, leaving the Corpse Puppet to sit cross-legged and wait alone.

「A year passed in the blink of an eye.」

RUMBLE...

One day, a tremendous roar suddenly echoed from above the desert, and the space around it began to vibrate violently.

Afterward, the phantom image of an oasis materialized in the Desert Sea.

At first, this phantom was nearly transparent, but as time passed, it grew increasingly clear.

Just half an hour later, the oasis became real, but it was only a few dozen li in area.

In other words, the majority of the oasis was still hidden in the void; what was revealed was merely the tip of the iceberg.

SWISH...

At that moment, a dazzling golden Escape Light suddenly appeared in the sky. In the blink of an eye, it reached the oasis, revealing a cultivator within.

This cultivator’s aura was incredibly powerful, but they wore a black robe, a black mask, and a conical hat, making it impossible for anyone to see their true face.

After that, more Escape Lights appeared, all flying toward the oasis.

As the Escape Lights dissipated, the cultivators who emerged were all like the first one—powerful, yet heavily concealed. Some wore cloaks, others had their faces covered; clearly, none wished to reveal their true identities.

These cultivators gathered in small groups of two and three, wary of one another, but none of them rushed to enter the oasis.

At the same time, however, their powerful Divine Thoughts had already swept across the oasis many times, yet they had discovered nothing unusual and no treasures.

The Spiritual Qi in the oasis, however, was quite abundant; they could even feel it from the outside.

SWISH!

Just then, one cultivator slapped his Spirit Beast Bag, and a golden Demon Rat with enormous ears shot out like a bolt of lightning, flying toward the oasis and landing safely on the ground.

At the same time, other cultivators began their own probing, either by activating Magical Artifacts or using Magic.

As it turned out, there was no danger at all.

SQUEAK...

The golden Demon Rat even let out a series of unintelligible cries. The other cultivators couldn’t understand it, but the Demon Rat’s master’s eyes immediately lit up, and he personally flew toward the oasis.

He soon landed in the oasis and then flew forward at a low altitude.

In the eyes of the cultivators outside, he and his Demon Rat quickly flew to the edge of the oasis and then suddenly vanished from sight.

SWISH! SWISH!

Seeing this, the remaining cultivators all seemed lost in thought. The next moment, two cultivators flew into the oasis simultaneously and also disappeared.

After that, more cultivators followed suit, and soon, the several dozen cultivators at the scene had all vanished.

Only the oasis remained.

Moreover, new cultivators continued to arrive from the distance, repeating the same process before also entering the oasis.

All in all, several hundred cultivators entered one after another before no new ones appeared.

’So it really has appeared? I should be able to perform a divination for fortune and misfortune now!’

At the same time, in the underground space, the Corpse Puppet’s eyes snapped open. It took out a tortoise shell and began to perform a divination on the spot.

Soon, a look of delight appeared on the Corpse Puppet’s stiff face. It immediately donned a mask, put on a black cloak, dismantled the array, and burst up through the yellow sand, soaring into the sky.

Then, its gaze fell upon the oasis.

It then flew over as fast as lightning and entered the oasis without hesitation. The view before its eyes immediately underwent a drastic change.

Before, whether from the outside or high up in the sky, it could only see a small patch of oasis. But now, it discovered that this oasis stretched as far as the eye could see.

When it looked back outside, there was nothing to see; even the desert seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Behind it and to its sides was only a mist-filled void; only the endless oasis lay ahead.

It immediately flew forward, quickly delving deeper into the oasis. The mist-filled void seemed to disappear, leaving only a hazy gray sky in the far distance.

If any cultivators had been outside, they would have seen it fly a certain distance before vanishing at the edge of the small oasis, just like all the cultivators before it.

’How am I supposed to get out of here later? But it’s fine. Since the divination was auspicious, it means nothing bad will happen. There’s bound to be a way out when the time comes.’

With this thought, Zhang Chi continued to control the Corpse Puppet’s flight.

He soon discovered that the vegetation in the oasis was extremely lush, and there were creatures like birds, beasts, insects, and fish.

Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi here was also quite abundant overall.

However, there were no traces of human presence.

He even soon discovered more than one Demon Beast, as well as some Spirit Grass. However, both were mostly of a low Level, only Tier One, so Zhang Chi paid them no mind.

When those Demon Beasts saw its Escape Light from afar, they immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling in fear and not daring to attack.

After another moment, Zhang Chi finally brought the flight to a halt above a dense forest.

Controlling the Corpse Puppet, he waved a hand, and a fierce wind instantly uprooted the trees and plants below, sending them flying.

Then, a large stretch of ruins was revealed below.

However, these ruins were so ancient that they were almost unrecognizable as such.

If not for the fact that the Corpse Puppet also possessed Divine Thought, and a powerful one at that—comparable to a Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivator—it would have been impossible to discover this place.

Upon closer inspection, Zhang Chi discovered that this was likely the ruins of an Immortal City.

It was just that the passage of time had almost completely erased most traces of it.

In fact, aside from some naturally grown Low Tier Spirit Grass and Demon Beasts—which had just been blown away—there was nothing of value to be found. There were no cultivator skeletons or anything of the sort either.

Even the Spiritual Vein that should have been here was long gone.

But Zhang Chi wasn’t disappointed. Instead, his heart leaped with joy. The presence of these ruins meant that cultivators had indeed once existed here.

And while ordinary items might not withstand the baptism of time, truly High Tier Gold Stones and Magical Treasures certainly could.

In addition, there should also be High Tier Spirit Grass and similar things here.

It was just that these things were not located here.

The most difficult part now was figuring out how to find those places.

After all, the Spiritual Vein here had shifted long ago, so searching based on the thinness of the Spiritual Qi was clearly not an option.

Even though Zhang Chi had a map of the oasis, it wasn’t very useful.

Fortunately, Zhang Chi still had his Divination Technique.

At this moment, Zhang Chi glanced at the map, took out a tortoise shell, and performed another divination. He quickly obtained a direction and once again flew forward with great speed.