Zhang Li slowly narrowed his eyes as he watched Zhu Yunshan leave. Faint but powerful spirit light shone in his eyes.
The mortal world was not as good as the guardian disciples had imagined.
The world of mortals was indeed gentle, but there was also rain, snow, wind, frost, open spears, and dark arrows.
In the eyes of the mortals, the disciples who came during the Gathering of Immortals were just children with gold.
Zhu Yunshan had spent all his spirit stones in a month, but that was already considered a good outcome.
Many guardian disciples had unknowingly lost their lives.
There were spirit stones, cultivation techniques passed down in the cultivation world, and even medicinal pills that could prolong one's life. Which one of them would not be coveted?
There were fights between the guardian disciples, covetous gazes from mortal experts, and schemes from cunning people. If they let down their guard, they might not even be able to enjoy the remaining decades of their lifespan.
Zhang Li could see through it all as a bystander in Jing Yang Temple.
This strengthened his determination to immerse himself in cultivation.
Whether it was in the cultivation world or the mortal world, all external objects were illusory. One's own cultivation was the true source of confidence and reliance.
"Grandmaster, Yuanqing requests an audience," a voice rang out in the courtyard.
A cultivator wearing a purple Eight Trigrams robe and a jade crown walked in with large strides. He had a long beard that reached his chest, a round face, and long eyebrows.
Xu Yuanqing was Jing Yang Temple's Foreign Affairs Elder, and Temple Master Wang Qingyang's junior brother.
Elder Yuanqing's martial arts cultivation was in the early stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm. He was also one of the top-ranked grandmasters in the entire capital of Zhao.
In this world, if a great grandmaster did not appear, the grandmaster would have control over an area.
Elder Yuanqing not only cultivated martial arts, but he also cultivated the immortal path. Although he was only at Level 1 of the Spirit Refinement Realm, his cultivation of both paths allowed him to live much longer than other martial arts grandmasters.
Jing Yang Temple housed the Way Protector Sect in the state of Zhao. It controlled the cultivation sects in Zhao and had the support of the immortal cultivation world.
Dual cultivation of immortal and martial arts was the foundation of Jing Yang Temple.
"Grandmaster, of the five spirit stones that Mr. Zhu Yunshan spent, two have been retrieved."
Elder Yuanqing walked up to Zhang Li and bowed. He was holding two spirit stones in his hands.
"As for the other stones, one was taken by the imperial family, one fell into the hands of the state minister, and the last one is missing."
At this point, he paused and said in a low voice, "It's likely in the hands of the Immortal Slaying Alliance."
The Immortal Slaying Alliance had been specially established for the Gathering of Immortals. Every 300 years, someone would lead the alliance.
However, no one knew who was in the alliance.
Once the lifespans and resources of the disciples from the immortal cultivation world were exhausted, the Immortal Slaying Alliance would naturally disperse.
Of course, the guardian disciples were not stupid.
In the past, they had gathered before the Gate of Mortals and Immortals to deal with the backlash from the mortal world.
After all, they were immortal cultivators. They were all at Level 1 or Level 1 of the Spirit Refinement Realm, or even Level 3. With all kinds of methods at their disposal, they were undefeatable when facing first-class martial artists or even grandmasters.
As long as seven or eight guardian disciples teamed up, no one would be able to defeat them unless a great martial arts grandmaster personally stepped into the battlefield.
There were some grandmasters who hunted the guardian disciples, but there were not many.
Being grandmasters, most of them had ways to obtain whatever they wanted.
Furthermore, every country had a guardian sect that specialized in dealing with situations where experts hunted down guardian disciples.
Jing Yang Temple in Zhao, the Demon Suppression Department in Qin, Jixia Palace of Academy in Chu, the Hundred Craftsmanship Hall in Wei, and Primal Demon Mountain in the northern wilderness all had inheritances from the immortal cultivation world. For one, they were left with defensive magical artifacts.
Jing Yang Temple had an Energy-suppressing Whip, which was a magical tool. It was powered by True Essence, and it could even kill an immortal grandmaster.
The other sects all had their own methods to keep the Immortal Slaying Alliance in line.
There were quite a few sects in the mortal world that had legacies from the cultivation world.
Xuankong Temple housed a large Buddhist sect called the Divine Sword Pavilion. They were known to have the world's best swords, and many large sects in the martial arts world had some kind of inheritance from the cultivation world to back them.
After all, the Gathering of Immortals was held once every 300 years. The guardian disciples had their own bloodlines, so it was normal for them to leave behind their cultivation legacies.
Most of these forces were proud of their inheritance from the cultivation world, and they were close to the guardian disciples who had descended to the mortal world.
Many guardian disciples would be invited to these large sects and become grandmasters like Zhang Li.
After dozens of years, there would always be some kind of treasure left behind when these guardian disciples passed away.
From Zhang Li's point of view, the mortal world was more three-dimensional and realistic. Everyone was made of flesh and blood, and they had desires. It was not like the cultivation world, where strength was revered and one's heart was pure with few desires. The cultivation world was almost cold and heartless in a sense.
This was the marvel of the mortal world.
The hustle and bustle of humans with earthly desires was wonderful.
"The Immortal Slaying Alliance?" Zhang Li's gaze fell on the spirit stone in Elder Yuanqing's hand.
"I heard that a guardian disciple from the immortal cultivation world was killed outside Luojing 10 days ago. Have you found any clues?"
If it was truly the work of the Immortal Slaying Alliance, there would be nothing much to it. They were just plotting against each other.
However, the guardian disciple who died 10 days ago had his center dug out, his meridians broken, and his body sucked dry.
Such methods of murder did not seem normal for mortals.
Even an immortal from the cultivation world would not resort to such cruel methods. It was unorthodox.
To Zhang Li, this resembled the demonic path, or perhaps, the work of a demon.
Zhang Li knew that there were demons in the mortal world.
Plants, animals, and living beings of the world had cultivated for thousands of years to gain intelligence and comprehend creation.
The cultivation of such demonic cultivators far exceeded that of ordinary martial arts cultivators. Once they caused chaos in the human world, the great grandmasters and guardian disciples would have to act together to suppress it.
For nearly 1,000 years, most of the missions to guard a sect included destroying demons.
Jing Yang Temple and the Demon Suppression Division had suppressed these demons before.
Elder Yuanqing's face tensed up when Zhang Li asked him about the disaster 10 days ago.
After 10 days, Jing Yang Temple had yet to find any traces.
He felt really embarrassed as one of the guardians of the sect.
"Junior Brother Qing Wu and Luo Chen have gone to investigate. The temple master's letter has also been sent to the imperial capital. He is asking the imperial court to investigate this matter thoroughly," Elder Yuanqing said in a deep voice.
Qing Wu was a first-class expert in the late stage of the Spirit Condensation Realm, while Luo Chen was in the middle stage of the Spirit Condensation Realm. He, too, was a first-class expert.
If these two investigated the matter personally, they would definitely be able to find some clues.
Jing Yang Temple led the cultivation sects of Zhao. It was a sect that protected the state, hence it naturally had many experts.
First Supreme Elder Yu Ji had reached the Innate Realm a hundred years ago. He had been traveling far and wide, so his whereabouts were unknown.
He was also Zhang Li's master in name.
Even though Elder Yuanqing and the others were not great grandmasters, there were eight of them.
Thanks to these eight grandmasters and their magic weapon, the Vitality Suppressing Whip, Jing Yang Temple was able to hold its position as the leader of other sects.
"Alright." Zhang Li nodded and waved his hand. "You may take these two spirit stones."
Elder Yuanqing's face lit up, and he quickly bowed. "Thank you for this reward, Great Elder."
Spirit stones were extremely valuable to people who cultivated the immortal path.
The spirit energy in this mortal world was on the verge of being completely cut off. The rare spirit stones were a way for these people to increase their immortal cultivation.
It was also one of the reasons why various parties hunted the disciples who guarded the city.
Elder Yuanqing and Wang Qinyang, the temple master of Jing Yang Temple, were all respectful toward Zhang Li because of these few spirit stones.
The people of the world were all panicking over a few taels of silver, and grandmasters, as well as martial arts experts, had the taels of silver that they wanted.
Elder Yuanqing left the courtyard excitedly with the spirit stones in his hands. Meanwhile, Zhang Li returned to his meditation room and began to meditate.
He did not lack spirit stones, but he would not give them to the people of Jing Yang Temple for no reason.
Human desires were endless, after all.
Besides, he was not incredibly close to the people of Jing Yang Temple.
At present, they were just using each other.
He raised his hand, and a golden light rose up. Soon, it turned into a faint, invisible light screen that completely enveloped the quiet room.
This was a defensive array called the Six Profound Elements Protection Array.
To activate it with an array disk, one needed to consume spirit stones that were placed on the array disk.
Six spirit stones were required to activate the array, and it would remain active for 10 days. Attacks below Level 5 of the Spirit Refinement Realm would basically be ignored.
Forget the mortal world, even in the cultivation world, not many Spirit Refinement disciples were willing to activate such an array.
It consumed too many spirit stones, so activating it was considered something extravagant.
Once the array was activated, Zhang Li sat down in peace and began to slowly take stock of the resources he had brought with him.
Although counting too much money would make one's hands cramp, he felt restless just leaving it there.
He then placed a storage bag on the long table, followed by a second one, a third one, and a fourth...