"So it is!"
Zi Linling smiled knowingly.
She could feel the trace of spiritual energy in her palm being silently devoured by the mountain pillar.
In other words, the mountain pillar did not allow spiritual energy to approach.
Or rather, spiritual practitioners could not use spiritual energy to climb it.
Their divine senses would be repelled, and their spiritual energy would be devoured by it, so to reach the mountain top, one could only use the strength of their physical body.
However, each side of the mountain pillar was as smooth as a mirror, and one could easily fall off if not careful.
Once one fell from a great height, the consequence would be a pulverized body.
This was why Fu Liuyun was moving so slowly.
Zi Linling looked at Shi Jian and said, "You can go back. I want to go up and take a look!"
As she spoke, she took out ten bottles of Great Strength Pills from her embrace and handed them to Shi Jian, saying, "This is called the Great Strength Pill, also known as the Vajra Pill. After taking it, it can increase one's strength by more than ten times, which is very suitable for your Stone Clan."
"There are ten bottles here in total, ten pills in each bottle, for a total of one hundred pills. This is payment for you bringing me here. Also, go back and tell your tribesmen that I will leave after I catch that person. I will not release the evil spirit!"
Zi Linling only had ten bottles of these Great Strength Pills on her person, which she had originally prepared for herself.
As for other medicinal pills, she had quite a few, but they were not useful for the Stone Clan.
This was because the Stone Clan did not cultivate spiritual energy or divine senses; they only cultivated their physical bodies.
Therefore, after much thought, Zi Linling decided that only these Great Strength Pills were suitable as payment.
Shi Jian did not take the Great Strength Pills. Instead, he shook his head, his eyes full of hope as he looked at her. "I want to go up with you!"
Zi Linling had intended to refuse, but when she saw the determination in Shi Jian's eyes, she wavered.
"The four sides of this peak are almost incredibly smooth. Climbing it is extremely dangerous. Are you prepared?"
One had to know that to climb the mountain pillar, there were almost no footholds, so one relied entirely on the grip strength of their fingers.
Although Shi Jian's stone body was powerful, it was also bulky.
To stabilize this massive body, even greater finger strength was required.
Therefore, Zi Linling asked him if he was ready.
Shi Jian nodded and said firmly, "Don't worry, it's not my first time climbing it!"
It turned out that the Stone Clan needed to inspect the seal every ten years to prevent it from loosening and the evil spirit from escaping.
And to inspect the seal, they had to check it inch by inch from bottom to top.
Therefore, the Stone Clan had already developed certain techniques for climbing this stone pillar.
Knowing that persuasion was futile, Zi Linling could only nod and say, "In that case, let's begin. Be careful!"
She put the medicinal pills back into the Nine Spirit Ring.
Since Shi Jian wasn't leaving, she could give him these pills sooner or later.
Zi Linling placed her hand on the mountain wall.
This time, she did not use any spiritual energy.
A trace of icy coldness immediately flowed into her palm.
This coldness was completely different from the feeling of being cool.
Zi Linling was startled and immediately withdrew her palm, examining it carefully.
After confirming that it was fine, she began to ponder.
What was going on?
Why was there a feeling of coldness that penetrated to the bone?
Shi Jian looked at her actions and asked strangely, "What's wrong?"
Zi Linling said grimly, "Don't you feel that the stone wall is not right?"
Shi Jian shook his head blankly and said, "There's nothing wrong. It's always been like this!"
Zi Linling was surprised. "Don't you feel the chilling coldness?"
Shi Jian shook his head again and said, "No!"
Zi Linling looked at Shi Jian's hand, which was pressed against the mountain wall, with confusion, and suddenly understood.
How could she have forgotten that, apart from their heads, the rest of the Stone Clan's bodies were made of stone?
This included their arms and palms.
The temperature of stone was always a chilling sensation, so how could Shi Jian feel the chilling aura?
Having figured this out, Zi Linling shook her head and said, "It's nothing. You can start climbing slowly."
Shi Jian nodded and quickly began to climb.
Zi Linling mused, "Heaven is truly unfair."
But then, she began to pity the Stone Clan.
If they could have a warm heart, who would want to be a cold stone?
From this perspective, Heaven was not unfair at all, and perhaps even a little heartless.
Never mind!
Everyone had their own fate, and there was no need to be self-pitying.
However, what was that chilling sensation?
Was it demonic energy infiltration?
It should be!
Although this mountain pillar had been cut down considerably, it was still not small.
It was about two thousand meters high, with a base diameter of about a thousand meters.
And it was solid.
Even so, demonic energy could penetrate it. This showed how terrifying the evil spirit suppressed here was!
Forget it, catching the person was more important.
Zi Linling took out a bottle of medicinal pills from the Nine Spirit Ring, carefully poured out one, crushed it, and smeared it on her hands.
Then, she threw the pill bottle back into the Nine Spirit Ring and, rubbing her hands together, gripped the stone wall.
As expected, the chilling aura was blocked.
Zi Linling began to climb, her face showing a pained expression.
Don't ask why she was pained, because that pill was no ordinary pill.
That pill was called the Lightning Fire Pill. It was made with the Lightning Devouring Grass and Fire Spirit Grass as the main ingredients, and it took her two days to refine it.
The Lightning Devouring Grass was a top-grade Earth-tier spiritual herb.
It grew in areas with dense lightning and needed to absorb the power of lightning for a thousand years to mature.
Moreover, once it was removed from the lightning, it would wither within an hour, completely losing its medicinal properties.
Unless one could find thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood and use it to make a sealed container, filled with息壤 (xi rang - soil that never dries out), one could preserve the Lightning Devouring Grass for a year.
This showed how difficult it was to obtain the Lightning Devouring Grass.
As for the Fire Spirit Grass, although not as precious as the Lightning Devouring Grass, it was not far behind.
The Fire Spirit Grass was a high-grade Earth-tier spiritual herb that grew in the center of volcanoes, nurtured by the magma fire for five hundred years before maturing.
Once it was removed from the volcanic magma, it would quickly wither.
Therefore, during collection, one needed to use a highly heat-resistant container to collect some magma and volcanic ash to preserve it.
The Lightning Fire Pill required both Lightning Devouring Grass and Fire Spirit Grass, along with various precious medicinal ingredients.
Thus, the preciousness and rarity of the Lightning Fire Pill were imaginable.
The effect of the Lightning Fire Pill was to counteract all evil and poisonous things, making it an essential medicinal pill for outdoor adventures.
Zi Linling, who had spent a huge amount of wealth and time, had only managed to refine three pills.
Now, to climb this mountain pillar and resist the demonic energy emanating from the mountain wall, she had to use one.
The loss was naturally counted towards Fu Liuyun.
Zi Linling gripped the mountain wall with her fingertips, dug her toes in, shifted her weight to one side, and instantly switched hands and feet, climbing up a section.
This greatly tested the strength and endurance of the physical body, especially the fingertips and toes.